Dancing with the Shadows // #wattys2019

Chapter 7

Caia's head was buried in her books when the door buzzed. It didn't even really even register that it had, and she continued to scan her notes as she heard her roommate's footsteps move across the living room to answer it. She heard voices mumble for a few seconds, a pause, and then a door opened.

"Kimber!" She heard Tina call from the other room.

"What is it?" she called, vaguely,

"Can you come here for a second? Please."

Caia finished the sentence she was reading, stood up and stretched, before making her way to the living room.

"What's up, Tina? I've really got to—" But she knew exactly what it was when she saw Tina holding the door open to a scowling, shaking Cedric.

"Wh...wha..." She couldn't get her brain to work as he stood, frozen in her door frame.

"Uh, you know what, I have to go to the store real quick, we're all out of paper towels, so I'll do that, and, um, yeah," Tina grabbed her purse from the hook by the door and dashed outside, squeezing past Cedric, leaving the two of them staring
at each other.

"What are you doing here? We're not coming to you guys until—"

"I have to talk to you," his eyes bored into hers, and that, combined with his scent after a few days apart, made her shiver.

"What did you say to her to get up here?"

"The truth," Cedric took a step into the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

"The truth? You've never met her before, you didn't know if she was a were or not, how could you risk something so—"

"I said I was from near your hometown and that I needed to talk to you about your father," his eyes flashed back to black.

Caia swallowed. "We're going to have to have a discussion on stranger danger when she gets back," she grumbled.

Cedric didn't laugh.

"You didn't tell Jerome you were coming back."

"No, I hadn't yet."

"You hadn't told your parents you were coming back,"

"Is there a point to this?" Caia was feeling guilty. She hadn't known how to tell her parents Cedric was back in her life. That he knew where she was, but she wouldn't be coming back to take Jerome's title. That she'd probably be taking the Gamma title of Wild Thunder. These were discussions she wanted to plan out how to have.

"He said you haven't been back in four years. Four fucking years, Caia."

She raised her eyebrows.

He looked around the apartment, at the tiny space, at the art on the walls, at the small kitchen with the bright colored backsplash, at the brick wall with the large TV mounted in the center.

"You ran to this, you'd rather stay in a damn closet than come back home," his angry voice was laced with something else. Sadness. Regret.

Caia took a deep breath.

"Cedric. That is not my home anymore. This? This is mine. I worked for it. I built it. I looked for weeks with my friends finding something we could all afford, that was in a location we all liked, that worked for all of us. We've spent two years decorating, putting it together, making it ours. This is my home. That is my parent's home. Do I miss them? Sure. Do I ever wish I could visit there? Not anymore. So, if you want to insult what I have worked for, walk out that damn door right now because I am not listening to it. You came here uninvited and I am not putting up with any of that shit."