I sat on the hood of my truck, sketching the mountainside off to the west, singing along to a country song as I worked. With my wrist in a brace, I couldn't bull ride or play guitar, leaving me to find other creative outlets to keep my mind off things. I looked down at my sketch and then back up at the mountain, attempting to make them look similar, which was much harder than I imagined. 

The sun had begun to hide behind the mountains, causing a beautiful silhouette. I hummed along to the music, my worries slipping away, soothed with a comforting melody. Orion said he was going to teach me about self-defense today, but when I went to the guest house, he wasn't there. I decided that instead of trying to figure out what that meant, because most things he did were confusing to me, I could spend some much needed time alone doing normal things. Like sketching and not dodging alien monsters that wanted to steal other aliens' lives.

The song ended and I started to sing a song I started writing a while back.

"Whispers of love hung in the air,

Through my soul they traveled,

Without a care,

Brushing my face and my hair,

Love touched me here and there,

Everywhere."

I shivered as the sun went down, casting a long shadow across the field, turning the world cold. Picking up my sketchpad, I went inside, eager to get warm. Burrowing into a large hoodie and fuzzy socks, I crawled under the covers of my bed and pulled out my worn-out copy of Shakespeare's "Much A Do About Nothing," and began to read, jumping to my favorite section of witty banter.

Waking with a start, I blinked, trying to process the darkness around me. The world outside was completely dark and my book was on the ground next to the bed. I had fallen asleep. 

There was a sudden knock on my window, pulling me from my drowsiness. Who or what would be knocking on my window at— I glanced at the clock— one in the morning? 

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up, trying to decide if I was hearing things. The knock came again. Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed the lamp next to my bed to use as a weapon, and slowly made my way towards my window. I was on the second story, so anything knocking on my window couldn't be a good sign. 

Do those monsters climb? Would one knock?

As I reached the window, I put the lamp down and stared, confused. Orion was on my window sill, looking pale. I shoved open the window. 

"Alina," he whispered and fell through my open window and collapsed onto the floor of my bedroom, face first.

Gasping I leaned down and shook him. "Orion." He didn't move. 

"Orion!" I hissed not wanting my dad to hear me and come running in with a thousand questions that I didn't have answers to. 

He just climbed in my bedroom window. No, I don't know how? No, I don't know why? No, I wasn't doing anything with him. 

"Orion get up!" 

He didn't move. I was suddenly terrified that he had just died in my bedroom.

And of course if he does die, everyone will think I did it. I've made my threats pretty vocal... CRAP.

Reaching down I pushed him onto his side before touching his neck, looking for a pulse. Do aliens have those? 

His heartbeat was strong. I let out a sigh of relief, his body was warm under my fingertips. I left my hand on his neck far longer than was necessary, the warmth calming me, helping me think.

Pulling my hand away, I looked him over. He was breathing normally. His black hair plastered to his face with sweat. He seemed exhausted, small bruises under his raven-colored lashes. I spotted blood covering his shirt on his left side.

"Orion..." I gasped, suddenly frightened. I had never said his name out loud before. It was oddly thrilling, making my heart hammer as his name left my lips. But the feeling was quickly replaced with panic. 

"What do I do? I don't know how to treat an alien... Orion. Wake up." He didn't move. I bit my lip. "Don't hate me for what I'm about to do." I swallowed and then slapped him across the face, startling him awake.

His onyx eyelashes fluttered as his eyes flickered open. He groaned. I covered his mouth with my hand so my dad wouldn't hear. Orion's eyes focused after a moment and he looked up at me. I lowered my hand and put several fingers to my lips urging him to keep his voice down. "Orion. What happened?"

"I'm okay," he whispered. "Just need..." and he collapsed again, unconscious.

I stared down at him, my heart racing. "Seriously?" 

My hands shook, panic starting to take hold again. "Don't blackout." I slapped him again, but nothing changed. Dang, it Orion! What do you need? 

I quickly snuck downstairs and brought up the first aid kit, my dad's snores nearly shaking the hall as I moved past his room. I had never been so thankful that he was a deep sleeper in my entire life.

Kneeling beside Orion, I cringed at the source of the blood as I peeled away his blood covered shirt. He had a large cut on the right side of his ribcage. I was hit with a mix of shock by the large scary gash, and awe that his chest looked so human. So attractively human. My face turned red and my breath caught. 

Strong muscle coated him, carved into his skin in a way that left me speechless. Clearing my throat, I forced myself to stay focused, and quickly began cleaning the wound and bandaging it. To my relief, the gash was shallow. After a moment of hesitation, I pulled his shirt off and took it to my bathroom. Soaking it underwater, I rubbed out the blood furiously, trying to keep my hands from shaking.

His blood was red. Just like mine. 

It was comforting and strange to learn. He seemed so human at times and so alien at other times. I brought his shirt back to the room and hung it on the windowsill to dry, letting the evening breeze into the room. 

Pulling a blanket out of my closet I pulled it over him— to keep him warm for however long he was planning on staying in my room in such a dramatic fashion— and stared down at him unsure of what else I could do to help.

He was so beautiful. It hurt to look at him. It's only fair. Beauty like that isn't meant for this world. It's stupid level ridiculous. 

I slowly settled down next to him and gingerly placed his head in my lap, feeling his forehead. No fever that I could tell. Do aliens get fevers? I stroked his hair out of his face, the strands like silk between my fingers. It took up a calming rhythm, as his hair fell through my fingers, like water down a waterfall.

It was soothing and soon, I fell asleep with his hair in between my fingers, my head resting against the edge of my bed, his head in my lap.

...

"Alina," Orion whispered. I opened my eyes and looked down. He was looking up at me, his head still in my lap. He looked paler than before.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, groggy, rubbing at my eyes.

"Yes." 

I pulled my fingers away from his hair, self conscious. 

He slowly sat up, the blanket falling off of him. Orion looked down at his bare chest, confused. "Where's my shirt?"

"Oh. Sorry." I scrambled to my feet and pulled it from the open window sill and handed it to him. "There was blood on it."

I looked away as he pulled his shirt back on. "What happened to you?"

He winced as he pulled the shirt over his head and down over his strong muscular chest. "Got into a fight. You should see the other guy." I didn't laugh. 

He saw my face and turned serious. "I am okay. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Why did you come here? I didn't know what to do." I shook my head bewildered, anger coating my tone.

He glanced away, face unreadable. "I... because... Because I wanted to."

My heart raced, blood roaring in my ears. "Why?"

His eyes filled with specks of purple and his hair flared with the same color. He leaned towards me. I felt stuck. What is he doing? 

He leaned past me and pulled the blanket over my shoulders.

"Thank you for looking out for me." He wrapped the blanket around me.

I nodded, my mouth dry. "You don't look okay."

"I want to show you something," he said gently. Orion stood up in front of the open window. The sun streamed in. He lifted his shirt and pulled off the bandages, allowing the sun rays to hit the gash. I watched as his wound slowly began to knit closed until it was nothing but pink new skin.

I gasped and placed my hands over the new skin, in awe. I ran my fingertips along him, transfixed by what just happened. I heard him take in a quick breath. My face flamed red as I realized that I was touching his bare skin, his abs like a girl drooling over a rock star poster. I pulled my hands away and took a step back.

"Sorry. Your hands are cold," he said sheepishly.

"I shouldn't have done that," I said looking away. "You healed yourself. Is that one of your superpowers? That you heal in sunshine?" I sputtered out quickly, brain struggling to get back on to appropriate topics.

He nodded. "If you want to call it that, yes."

I laughed. "Wait, seriously?" That's incredible!

He gave me a smirk. 

I grew angry. "So you were fine the whole time! You scared me half to death!" I punched him as hard as I could in the arm with my unbraced hand. It felt like hitting a cement wall. I howled in pain. WHAT IS HE MADE OF?

He looked confused. "Wait. You actually thought I was in trouble? And you cared?"

"Of course I did! I'm not heartless!" I said through clenched teeth as I shook out my hand. It had its own heartbeat as it throbbed. Great. Now I need a brace for this hand. Two hands in braces and one stupid alien that still needs a good smack, who is also apparently completely fine. Stupid Glow Boy. "Why did you scare me like that?"

He laughed, rubbing the back of is neck. "I really didn't mean to scare you."

Suddenly the door to my bedroom opened. Turning, I saw my dad rub his eyes as he poked his head in. "You okay hon? I heard shouting."

My eyes went wide and my heart stopped. 

I am screwed. How would I explain Orion? "I... I.." 

I turned. Orion was nowhere in sight. I plastered on a smile as I looked up at my dad. "Sorry. I hit my hand against... a stupid wall."

"Well that was dumb," he said, looking confused. I could imagine Orion laughing wherever he was hiding. "Maybe save those punches for the more deserving next time." 

He muttered something about controlling my temper and closed the door. 

Sinking down on my bed, I placed my hand over my heart, letting out a large sigh of relief. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, but what else was new with Orion around. 

Suddenly Orion was standing in front of me, sending my heart screaming again. I jumped back but closed my mouth before I could give another yelp. "What the hell!" I hissed. "How'd you get outta here?"

"Like I said..." he sat down next to me on the bed in a flash. "I'm fast." 

He beamed, clearly pleased with himself and in a flash, laid down on my bed, causing me to jump up and sit in a chair across the room. He was making me dizzy with all of his super speed moving. "It's nice to get to be myself with someone. It gets so irritating pretending to be as slow as humans. You guys waste so much time."

I crossed my arms. "That explains why you can beat me at chores. I knew there was something wrong with that."

He gave a lazy smile, too at home on my bed. "I don't make bets unless I know I am going to win."

I gave an irritated grin. "So in short, you don't bet."

He chuckled, oddly delighted. "Exactly."

I rolled my eyes. "What happened to you last night?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, looking tired. "I... had a few visitors to take care of."

"Where?" I whispered.

"Destrocoments a few miles south. So I tracked them down before they came any closer." He leaned up on his elbows, his obsidian eyes gentle. "You're safe."

His eyes became unreadable, filled with specks of purple again. And then just as quickly, they were gone. He picked up my sketch pad, which I had left on my nightstand, and opened it, leafing through the pages. I quickly jumped up and snatched it out of his hands.

"Okay, I am glad you think we are bonding. But you NEED to get outta here. My dad is not an idiot. He will see you leave if you stay any longer. I only let you sleep on the floor because I thought you were dying. And since you are not, beat it."

He chuckled lightly and quietly moved to his feet. "Thank you for the hospitality of your floor. Meet me outside in ten minutes. It's time to train." And with that, he was gone, disappearing in a flash, all proof of him, gone.

---

Thank you for reading chapter fourteen! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes!

UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY! (I'm changing update days from Wednesday and Friday to Monday and Wednesday.)

Alina learned something new about Orion, will that ability come in useful later on? 

Orion is going to start teaching Alina self defense, what will he be teaching her?

Orion seems quite comfortable in Alina's room. Will she have to continue kicking him out?  

CHAPTER QUESTION - Has someone in your life ever given you a scare, leaving you to think they were seriously hurt, but were actually fine? Were you angry with them?