I'm doing another dedication 😁 Today's chapter is dedicated to my little sister in heart @annabethgranger666 for your constant support on my stories, but also for all our daily conversations! You're always there to motivate me and believe in me, so thank you from the bottom of my heart, sweetie, love you!🥰😘💕

'You knew just what I was there for

You heard me saying a prayer for

Someone I really could care for.'

Listen to this song in the part where it's mentioned 😉

Something switched again in Blade, and in all the air around, this time.

The words were perfectly inoffensive, even polite, yet the voice pronouncing them was as tight and sharp as a... blade, and when I glanced at him, I found a new side of him, anything but ordinary.

It was surely the most obvious part of him, and I'd guessed it the instant I'd been met by his sharp features and tattoos. Still, not one second had he looked menacing to me, not once had I been scared.

I'd felt many things from annoyance to freedom, and various grades of warmth, but at this moment, I didn't know what to feel anymore.

"And if she wants pancakes, I'm sure you can make an exception."

"I-I..." At least, the waiter was sure he was terrified.

The man, who must have been five or ten years older than us, resembled a scared child gripping his notebook like a teddy, and even if he wasn't looking at me anymore, there was no doubt his haughty gaze had disappeared with the color from his face.

Yet as I dared to move just an inch in the cutting atmosphere, I noticed the man's attention wasn't on Blade either, well, not on his sharp and tensed features that could have sliced anyone that got too close, nor on his piercing eyes that had lost all playful spark to become an icy expanse. The waiter was focusing on something under the table, and of course, my curious eyes couldn't resist, peeking down and almost popping out at the sight.

Jutting, sharp, shiny... a pocket knife.

I shouldn't have gasped a shaky breath, and I shouldn't have held it in my throat either. It should have been the moment I ran away; any normal person, or even anyone with a little common sense would have.

But where? Blade had taken me here on his motorbike, and I had no idea where I was.

Not that I even wondered about it. I was too captivated by the movements of his long fingers to move.

It was his hand covered with the intriguing branches designs, and seeing how he was expertly twisting and spinning the knife, I could guess he was left-handed, or ambidextrous, though it wasn't likely, since he hadn't even opened the door with the other hand.

Actually, those simple and dangerous movements of his fingers were telling me so much more about him. The way his gaze was unflinching towards the man, while he was playing with the sharp edge of the blade showed he was used to knives, or that he was crazy.

Either way, it wasn't a good sign, and the waiter surely had more common sense than me as he rushed to say,

"O-Okay, I-I'll try to see what I can do."

"Make it two!" Blade called over his shoulder as the man was already dashing away, and when he turned back to me, the only tension that was left on his features was at the corner of his lips to form his usual smug grin.

I could have almost believed I'd imagined this whole scene because the same devious playfulness was intact in his gaze.

Yet I wasn't, and neither was the atmosphere around, still marked and sliced by his knife and cold look.

"You didn't have to..." Even my voice sounded like it had been grazed by a blade, or maybe it was the sharp silence, as I stared at the guy in front of me, a million questions adding to the hundreds I already had.

And I still had no answer.

He was still a stranger to me, even if we'd shared glimpses of our imaginations, even if I'd talked with no restraint, and even if his dimple was starting to look familiar.

"It's what you wanted, and it's your birthday. What kind of birthday genie I'd be if I didn't give you what you want?" He offered me his Cheshire cat's grin, leaning closer, while I averted my gaze down to my twisting fingers, the twiddles of my thumb being no match against the voice of my conscience and all the echoes threatening to come back.

"And I don't think you'd have used your gun for this?"

My eyes flickered to his upon these words, and it was as clear as his gaze that he knew how to catch my attention, and to make me forget too apparently, since I hadn't remembered this detail.

I hadn't been completely careless following him, and I wasn't powerless.

As I looked back into his eyes and found the same look as when we'd met a few hours ago, I realized that, sly smirk or sharp knife, one thing still remained the same: the danger. It was always there in the crystalline colors of his eyes. Maybe it was less impressive when it was shining with the glow of his Cheshire's smile, but he was still dangerous nonetheless, and he'd never hidden it.

He had offered me to take the gun for this reason, and I'd known it from the start. Therefore, I had no reason to turn away now.

"A gun is a powerful weapon, and it has to be used wisely. If so, you'll never be powerless."

"Wise..." He pulled his lips to the side with a thoughtful hum, while mine formed a half-smile.

"It's someone wise who told me this."

"But pancakes are a wise cause."

Before the empty feeling could dig back into my chest, his right dimple was distracting me, and all that I had left was the warmth of the memory and a sensation of safety as I patted the gun in my bag.

I wondered if he'd done it on purpose, if his piercing gaze could see through me so easily, but it was probably another question to which I would never have an answer, and it was surely for the better.

"I'm not sure everyone would agree though." I shook my head as he leaned against the backrest with an unaffected shrug.

"And you?"

How could he look so indifferent while his eyes still pierced through me? This man was a mystery.

"I think I agree, but it's coming from someone who could eat pancakes at every meal... not really 'ordinary'." Even when I tried to be carefree, my voice was so far from his confident tone with the few underlying cracks that weren't leaving me today.

"Definitely not ordinary." He let out a raspy chuckle, going back to count the freckles all over my face.

So while waiting for the much-desired pancakes, which seemed more complicated to prepare than I'd imagined—although I had no doubt we would get them, after Blade's 'request'—I only had two choices left: stay silent and end up more cooked than the pancakes under Blade's gaze, or divert the attention, mine and his.

The decision was easy.

"And you? What's the food you could eat at every meal?"

His gaze turned wider for a second, as if he had never expected to hear this question in all his life, though it was gone as fast, not even shaking his cocky stance.

"Um... maybe pancakes too, or burgers... or ice cream!" The way he exclaimed 'ice cream' made it hard to believe it was the same guy who had been threatening the waiter with a knife minutes ago. "Well, anything as long as it's not tapioca."

No, actually, the grimace of disgust he gave was the most improbable on his sharp features, yet it didn't take away his aura of mystery.

"Tapioca is good," I argued, just to glimpse his disgusted face again, and it worked, this time, also pulling him a quiet laugh.

"You clearly haven't tried the one they served at my old cafeteria."

"Speaking of that..."

I rose to the bait instantly; well, maybe it wasn't a bait, but with my growing curiosity, I still jumped at it—the most smoothly I could.

"You clearly didn't go to Subrose high school because they don't serve tapioca, and I never saw you there. So since there's only one school in town, it's you who is 'new around'. Where were you before?"

That had sounded better in my head, and even Raymond must have had more tact with criminals.

"I'm Ford Wels here, remember, inspector?" He cocked his eyebrow, and I averted my gaze down as ironically, he was the one with an impassive yet inquisitive look.

He would not answer any personal question; it was clear, and despite my curiosity eating my nerves and my reason out, I couldn't ask if I didn't want to answer about my personal life either.

We were two strangers, and from the weight of the silence following, it seemed it wasn't only holding my memories.

However, it didn't last long as Blade switched the atmosphere again.

"What's taking so long to make pancakes? I think Ford Wels gotta pay the waiter a little visit to make him hurry..." Between his popping right dimple and tight tone, I wasn't sure if he was serious or not.

Anyway, when his hand was about to slide under the table, I didn't think, crashing mine over it, and starting at the contact, although I didn't pull away.

The mesmerizing patterns that I'd itched to trace so much, they were now barely peeking out from under my small hand, and I was even more intrigued by the warmth emanating from his skin. 

Of course, I'd been glued to his body during the whole ride, but it was different; there had been the fabrics of our clothes between us, and even the various times his fingers had grazed my skin couldn't be compared with this.

Maybe because I was the one who had reached this time, or because it wasn't just a rapid brush. My whole palm until the tip of my fingers was against his hand, and the sparking powder he'd ignited with his faint touches before was intensifying, spreading relentlessly like the rush of adrenaline coming with the trigger of an automatic gun shooting again and again.

Did he feel it too? Even when I lifted my gaze and found myself inches away from his sharp features, his eyes were still a mystery.

All I could take was that at least, he stopped all his movements.

"I-I don't think Ford Wels would threaten a waiter... not really ordinary." I was breathless as I pulled my hand away, though it was already a miracle I had formed a concrete, sensible sentence with his penetrating eyes so close.

"Maybe... And what'd Lucy Lucas do?"

When my fingers were mindlessly tracing the lost sensations in my palm, I already had trouble figuring out what I was doing as Dorothy Duncan, so Lucy Lucas...

Well, it appeared easier as I blinked around, and something caught the corner of my eye.

Lucy Lucas never doubted or listened to anything else than her instincts. Thus, I got up and sneaked my hand into my bag in search of something particular, all of this under a clear, careful gaze.

"She would put some music," I exclaimed, once more finishing in a breath as I turned around and found Blade's figure hovering over me with the same unwavering smirk.

"Nice one."

Indeed, it was what was missing in this strange atmosphere, and even if it wouldn't magically make this place a five stars diner, it could fill the silence with a welcoming warmth. I even found the perfect song for this as I focused on the shiny machine.

Though before I could slip my single and unique coin into the jukebox, my fingers were stopped, the tree design now engulfing my whole hand.

"Save your scratch."

I didn't process what he was saying as the same sparks were back on my skin, in greater numbers from my fingertips to my ear, where his lips were grazing the sensitive skin, and only when he leaned away, did I realize my hand was empty.

"Hey–"

His lifted finger shushed me before pointing to the jukebox. "It's a rip-off. I know a trick to play it freely."

"What? But it's... theft," I whispered, my wide eyes growing larger with the word.

"I prefer to call it a hook discount." He imitated my tone, except that the amusement and mischief were lighting his gaze so much that it was dazzling, and I could do nothing except watch staggered as he pulled out his knife.

Underage gun transport, knife threats, theft, I shouldn't have been surprised, but what would be next?

I glanced frantically around, exactly like the woman with the headscarf I'd noticed before, to make sure no one was looking at us, while my gaze always trailed back to Blade's inked fingers fiddling with the machine through expert movements, and I blamed the black designs for being so hypnotizing. Though it was surely because they were a part of his white skin and moved by his wicked self that it became so captivating.

"You choose." The same hand gestured at me after barely a few seconds, and meeting his sparkling blue gaze, I replied instantly,

"Blue moon."

"Are you obsessed with everything that's in the sky or...?"

"I'm an astronaut, remember?" I grinned as the first notes of the song filled the room more than his raspy chuckle, and all my doubts and questions disappeared with the silence.

All I remembered were the lyrics of the popular song, and they escaped my lips with the catchy melody, my hand flying to my mouth by reflex, after the first line.

However, as my wide eyes glanced around and caught nothing except two blue stars, I realized I wasn't Dorothy Duncan here. So I continued louder until Dorothy Duncan seemed to never have existed,

"'Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone... Without a dream in my heart...'"

I was surely singing off-key, judging by Blade's chuckles, which turned into a fit of laughter when I started to add ridiculous dance moves. Yet it wasn't mocking; his rich laugh was in fact the only thing pure about him, and it spurred me as I swirled my miniskirt and pulled my best twist moves, without missing a single 'ba-bom ba-dang' of the lyrics.

"Dance with me," I added between two verses and two heavy breaths, and the way his laugh crashed into a serious expression made mine burst heartily.

"No, I don't dance." He crossed his arms over his chest, giving me a stone-faced look, which on his sharp features became cutting rock, and it was probably the expression he used before he pulled out his knife.

But this acute detail was forgotten too at this instant. All that was left was the echo of this stranger's laughter, fresh in my memory.

"Come on, you're not the bad boy here! Ford Wels would." I reached for his arm while he still shook his head, and although the sparks reappeared, with my skin warmer and the melody around, they didn't stop my hand from sliding down his forearms and clasping his fingers. "Especially if his boss orders him."

The straight line of his lips finally went back to its initial shape, with the dimple above the right corner as he leaned closer. "Will you use your gun or your lash?"

Luckily, it was just the time the voices resumed in the song, and I definitely didn't want to miss a line. Thus, I continued with my Lucy Lucas's performance.

I didn't let go of his hand, though, the warm tingling adding to the giddy sensations as I was dancing without a care in the world, without a memory.

My head was spinning; my body was floating, and with my skin sparking, it must have resembled the feeling of getting lost in space, and freedom.

It was a wish come true, and once again, all I saw was blue.

Blade was even dancing, well, nothing like my extravagant silly, steps, but still, he was bobbing his head and swaying the arm that was linked to mine, and as his tall and dangerous body was clearly not used to dance, this sight was already as rare as a blue moon. So I savored everything about this moment.

"'Ba-dang-a-dang-dang... Ba-ding-a-dong-ding'," I ended perfectly with one spin under Blade's arm, dizzy and out of breath.

Yet my heavy pants were coming out between giggles and through my large smile, and there was no emptiness or overflow inside my chest, only the loud beats of my heart filling it and... claps of applause.

When I finally looked away from Blade's eyes, I could see that our dance had caught attention, at least, of the two old men, who had dropped their pipes in front of our show, and we laughed again at the realization, none of us caring, as we were just strangers.

I even bowed before turning back to Blade, whose gaze was still fixed intently on me.

He was probably thinking he had missed a great opportunity to gain money with the attraction of the petite and strange red-haired girl, who could shoot faster than her shadow and sing like a mad woman.

And he was about to find another of my strange talents when something caught the corner of my eye.

"Pancakes!" I tugged on his hand, which was still intertwined with mine, and I rushed to the table, where two glasses were now set, along with two large plates of...

I stopped in my tracks when the contents came into view.

It must have been pancakes. What else could those wizened round forms be otherwise?

When I slowly sat down and lifted my gaze to Blade's, the same question was floating in the crystalline shades, although we both grabbed our forks in silence, as if the pancakes had taken our voices. Well, they would have left anyone speechless.

My eyes kept flickering between Blade and the 'pancakes' because if even this scary bad boy was holding hesitantly his fork in front of the plate, it wasn't reassuring, to say the least.

In fact, I was the one to make the first move, reminding myself how much I had wished for this birthday dessert and that you could never judge a book by its cover. Or I hoped so, as I stuck my fork in the pancake, cutting the rubbery texture with much effort until I had a small piece on the tip of my fork, and I also hoped—and prayed—that the black dot was a blueberry as I brought it to my mouth.

Blade soon imitated my gesture, and surely my expression too, as the way his eyes widened and his mouth contorted reflected exactly what was going on in my palate. Though he spat it out in his napkin, while I forced myself to swallow.

"It's not really—"

"It's fucking shit!"

Even if I wouldn't have dared to say it, I couldn't think of a better word. It tasted like everything but pancake, and the texture almost resembled tapioca, yet more rubbery, with a taste between sour, sweet, and foul. What Blade had said, in a nutshell.

Plus, the taste was indelible, as I took a sip of my milkshake, and the faint vanilla did nothing to erase it, only exacerbating the unnameable savor. Still, it was nice to have something else in my mouth, even if there was no comparison with the delicious drinks of the Rose's diner.

"I understand why people don't want to eat them at any time of the day," I noted after gulping half of my milkshake to get rid of the taste, while Blade was still rubbing his tongue off with the napkin.

However, he froze all his movements when I picked up my fork again. "You're not gonna eat that shit?!"

In the few hours we'd known each other, and the many shocking things I'd done, his unaffected stance had never fallen so fast, and it was the first time he looked at me like I was an alien.

"Well, I can't leave it when I asked so much. It isn't polite." I winced, even though I wasn't sure if it was at the thought of eating those 'pancakes' or because of my conscience coming back with all the memories of times I'd had to be polite.

"It isn't 'polite' either to serve that shit. It's your birthday. You're not gonna eat that. They're already lucky we're paying for that shit."

He didn't seem to know anything about courtesy, yet he had a point. It was my birthday, and with the luck I'd had so far, it wouldn't have been wise to try it. Food poisoning would have been the icing on the cake, which was partly on my dress.

If I'd had any second thought, he had already thrown two bills on top, and before I could do the calculations, he was getting up in all his unaffected glory, leaving me to blink at the face of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who, even they, appeared grimacing in disgust.

"Oh, no, you didn't have to. I can pay, at least for my share." I rushed to follow him, being careful to not forget anything, especially not my bag and its precious content.

"Stop it with your politeness. It's nothing." He shrugged, opening the door for me again and chuckling again when I replied with another 'thank you'.

It may have been 'nothing', yet I wondered why he was doing all of this 'nothing', spending time and money to give the strange and pathetic girl a 'forgettable' birthday.

The question tickled my lips more and more as I nibbled on them, and the only answer I came up with was 'because he was a birthday genie'. Evil or not, it was the safest and most probable possibility.

"By the way, here's your coin." He pulled the circle of metal out of his jeans pocket, flipping it a few times between his fingers, like he'd done with his knife, before handing it to me.

"Oh, no, you—" My protest was cut off by his sharp gaze, and I quickly swallowed it because when he wanted to, he could let you read his eyes clearly.

"You'll need it more than me if you wanna do another Blue Moon show."

I doubted this moment would ever happen again, but I still took the coin, glancing back at the diner, which appeared perfectly ordinary, exactly as when we'd arrived. From what I glimpsed through the window, the two old men were even back to their cards. Nevertheless, now, this place would be special for me.

When I turned back in front, the motorbike also appeared the same, and too close.

"Can we walk a little?"

I knew I was asking a lot of 'nothing', but I wasn't ready to go back and face real life.

I liked the company of Ford Wels and Lucy Lucas.

"Sure, do you wanna find other birthday pancakes?" Blade pointed one hand to the right, and the other to the left, letting me choose the way.

It was both sides of the parking lot, one leading to a marked walking path in the direction of the town we could glimpse with the buildings in the faraway, where there would surely be other restaurants, or somewhere near the park.

My feet chose the latter.

"No, it's okay," I replied as we walked away from the road we'd come from. "It was already a nice celebration."

Well, we'd barely taken a few steps when I stopped, searching for the right words to thank him better than with my shy smile.

He didn't look to be fond of common courtesy though, and his intense stare was parching my mouth as I held his gaze, and once more, I was getting lost in blue.

My fingers halted their idle fiddling with the coin, itching to reach for something else. I wasn't sure what, but I was leaning towards Blade when loud applause made me jump out of my trance, and I quickly glanced around to avoid his devious smirk and try to remember where we were.

We were still on that parking lot, the diner not far, yet the applause wasn't for us; they were much louder and coming from the park, accompanied by awe and oh sounds, and before my curiosity could grow, my eyes landed on a large sign near the park gate.

'10th Anniversary of Ethel and Bobby

By invitation only.'

Just the fine letters and the golden frame were letting guess what was under the large white tent: the fancy dresses, the select guest list, the precious decorations, the delicate pastries...

"I think we can make your celebration even better and find you a real birthday dessert."

My head snapped towards Blade at the sound of this thought out loud.

It looks like Dorothy's birthday isn't finished... 👀 And we're getting to the most interesting part 😏

But in the meantime, let me know what you think of this chapter! Did you like this Blue Moon performance? And the sides of Blade we glimpsed? 😉

Don't forget to vote ⭐ if you liked it, and if you're excited for next chapter (Personally, I am *evil writer laugh*) I promise it's worth the wait 😘🔫

PS: There's a hint about the song that inspired the next chapter, those who know me well will understand 😉 So tell me if you find this easter egg!

Love you all my little rays of sunshine 🤩🌞💕