Hunter yanks Eve behind him putting himself between her and them as he faces them down, Mark and Quinn skid to a halt the uneasiness on their faces turning to fear "Is there a problem here" I should tell Hunter what happened "These guys have gone insane! They tried to shove me outside in the snow" Hunter takes a threatening step forward "You want to explain to me what the fuck you think you were doing?" "we were just having a little fun" "what about you eve? We're you having fun" his voice is colder than the snow gifts right outside the front door. Marc forces a chuckle "We were just getting to know the new girl" "Is that what they call attempted murder these days?" he doesn't raise his voice doesn't do anything the least bit threatening and still both of them wince and even waits for the other shoe to drop. "We wouldn't have hurt her, man we were just going to toss her outside for a few minutes" "It was just a joke, no big deal" "Is that what you're calling this mess? You know the rules." what rules? And why does he sound like he's personally in charge of enforcing them "we're sorry, Hunter. we just came in off a run and things got a little out of hand" "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Hunter half turns and holds out a hand to even.
There's a look of such intense rage simmering beneath his gaze and eve instinctively knows he's turned to her to keep the guys from seeing it maybe he doesn't want them to realize how upset he is or that he's upset on my behalf. Either way he saved me tonight and I owe him. Eve reaches out for Hunters hand and though it feels strange after everything that passed between them earlier it doesn't feel wrong, his hand is strong and powerful and it feels good to have his fingers tangle with mine, it feels safe like there's no way he would ever let marc or Quinn hurt me. Eve must get too close though because Hunter shifts once again between her and marc and Quinn "what do you want to say to her?" "we're sorry, Eve that was totally uncool we didn't mean to scare you" "yeah you know, the moon is doing its thing so..." I have no idea what that means and I dont care, the only people I even care about at this school is lara, uncle reply and maybe, maybe Hunter. Eve drops Hunters hand and takes a big step back "I'm going to bed" eve turns to leave but Hunter stops her with a hand on her wrist "wait" eve halts in her tracks while hunter turns back to Marc and Quinn "this isn't over" they nod and take off down the hall running faster than eves ever seen anyone move. Hunter turns to Eve for a long second he doesn't say anything just Wow, we can't all wear Gucci all the time" yes cataloguing every inch "Nice jammies" "Wow, we can't all wear Gucci all the time" Eve lets her eyes run all over him and though it's meant to be a joke you can't help lingering at all the best parts. "Though I have to admit you carry it off pretty well" The understatement of the century "Are you okay?" "I'm fine" "You don't look fine" "Yeah well, it's been a crappy couple of days" "I bet" his eyes are serious as he looks at Eve his expression grave "You don't have to worry about marc and Quinn they won't bother you again" I should thank Hunter for helping me tonight "thank you, for helping me, I mean I appreciate it" "is that what you think I did?" "isn't it" he shakes his head, gives a little chuckle that has eve's heart fluttering in her chest "you have no idea, do you?" "no idea of what?" "that I just made you a pawn in a game you can't begin to understand" "you think this is a game" "I know exactly what this is, do you?" Eve waits for him to explain the cryptic comment, but he doesn't. Instead he stares at her until she squirms is he regretting saving me from imminent death? Or maybe he just doesn't know what to say next? If so, join the club? "Your bleeding" "I am?" Eve's hand goes to her check which aches from where marcs shoulder banged into it "Not there" Hunter lifts his hand to eves mouth and gently brushes his thumb across her lower lip, he holds his thumb up and in the dim lights eve can just see the smear of blood glistening on his skin. "Here" "oh gross! Let me-" eve reaches to wipe away the blood but hunter cuts her off with a laugh then he brings his thumb to his lips and holding eve's gaze with his own he sticks his thumb in his mouth and slowly sucks off the blood oh my god, that's the sexiest thing I've ever seen, I should be grossed out but I'm really not
Maybe it's because the swipe of his finger across my mouth feels more intimate than a kiss "You should go." the words sound like there being torn out of him "now?" Hunter's expression looks intentionally vacant like he's trying to hard not to share what he's really thinking or feeling. "Yeah, now. And I strongly suggest that after midnight you stay in your room where you belong" "excuse me? Are you seriously telling me what to do?" "I'm telling you what you need to hear" "What makes you think you've got the right to tell me anything?" for a second Hunter looks shocked and even a little amused before he deliberately blanks his face "I warned you before that you need to be careful here this isn't like your old school" "how do you know what my old school was like?" "I don't, but I can guarantee it's nothing like never moor school Hunters right - of course he's right - but I'm not about to back down. "You don't know that" he leans forwards and if he can't help himself, until his face and lips and barely an inch away from Eve's, her lips part, her breath hitches in her chest and her heart beats faster. He feels it too - ever can see it in his blown-out pupils in the way he goes wary and watchful is he about to kiss? But then he learns in further past eves mouth until his lips are pressed against her ear, she gets the sense that he's smelling her just like Marc had, although it has an entirely different effect on her. "You have no idea what I know" The warmth from his breath has ever gasped her whole body slumping against his Hunter let it happen for a second his hands on her waist, his shoulders curving down and into even. Suddenly he's gone, stepping back so fast that Eve nearly falls without the support of his body "you need go" "hmmm, hello, whiplash?" this guy changes directions so fast it's amazing he doesn't fall over. "I thought we were talking" "We were. But now it's time to go" "But -" Eve breaks off her sentence when she realizes she's talking to herself because again Hunter is gone. Where did he go? And when will I see him again?
When Eve finally makes it back to her room it's nearly 5 am, and the nausea from the altitude sickness hits Eve as she's tiptoeing across the room she barely makes it back to her bed with a soft groan. "I promise the altitude sickness won't last forever" Oh, Lara must have heard I groan. "It's not just the altitude sickness, it's everything" "I bet" Silence stretches between the girls, she's giving me the space to sort my thoughts and decide if I want to share any. After everything she's done for me, I want to open up to her and maybe she'll know what the deal is with Marc and Quinn, too. I should open up to Lara and tell her about what happened. "I know it's a big school but do you know two guys named marc and Quinn?" "yeah, I know them, they're juniors like me. Why?" laras eyes narrow onto ever "Did something happen? Did they say something to you? "They said they were fooling around, but im pretty sure they tried to kill me tonight or at least scare me to death" "they tried to do what? Tell me everything" She seems so adamant that Eve tells her everything that happened, right up until the point where Hunter saved her at least, I should probably tell her about Hunter too but I'm not quite ready to talk about him yet, I don't know what ill say. More, I don't even know what I want to say. "Those assholes! How did you end up getting away from them?" "Someone heard the fight and came to investigate once there was a witness they chilled out pretty quickly." "I bet they did, the jerks. They don't want to be reported to my dad but I swear, I'm going to kill them myself! "Why wouldn't bet do that? And why would they be outside in nothing but jeans and t-shirts?" "I don't know. But you can bet I'm going to find out."
Lara switches to mother hen mode "You probably need to get some more sleep unless you are hungry?" just the thought of food has Eve's stomach twisting in protest "I think I'm going to pass on that but maybe I should unpack my suitcase" "Don't worry about your suitcases. I already did them" "You did! When?" "After you fell asleep last night I figured if you didn't like where I put things you could change them around. But at least this way you can reach it all" "Lara you didn't have to do that, your really sweet but I could have done it." "I know. But I figured you've got enough on your plate right now so I don't mind helping when I can" "You've done nothing but help since I've got here" "It's no big deal, honest. Besides we have a party to go to this evening and you need to be able to find your makeup and stuff" hmmm, did she just casually say she expects me to go to a party with her? "What kind of party Is it?" "it's a welcome to Never Moor Academy party - for you" Eve sits up so fast that her head starts to throb all over again "A welcome party? For me? Are you serious?" "Well, to be honest, the school hosts a kind of high tea one afternoon a month to promote positive student unity, we just decided to make today's tea a little more festive for you." "oh yeah because the student has been all so welcoming so far" Eve buries her face in her pillow and groans. "I swear we're not all bad, look at Kaleb his great right?" "well... he's just one guy, people havnt really done much to make me feel like this is a friendly place." "most people are really nice here, i promise" eve thinks about hunter who can be called a lot of different things but nice probably isnt one of them "Yeah well, I find that hard to believe." "I can cancel if you want. I can tell everyone that your altitude sickness is too bad" Eve can hear the disappointment in Lara's voice even from under the pillow that's on eves face. I've got to face these prep school kids sooner of later, might as well get it over with. "No don't cancel, as long as I'm not puking, ill go" Lara plops down on eves bed beside her and holds out a bottle, she takes it "Do you have Netflix?" "i live on a mountain in the middle of holland peak, id die without Netflix" "point taken, how about legacies? I just started watching it last week" "Legacies?" "Yeah. It's this cool show about teenage vampires, witches and werewolves all living together at a boarding school. I know it sounds a little silly, but it's fun to imagine." Lara coughs, looking anywhere but at Eve "it doesnt sound silly at all, and count me in? I mean, who can resist a hot vampire?
"Hmmm, my sentiments exactly, there's just something about vampires, right? Super sexy" "the sexiest" "too bad they aren't real!" as eve watches the earlier episodes so Lara can catch up she can't help thinking about her experience earlier, after two warning from Hunter, I wonder exactly what I've gotten myself into here. Several hours later, it's time for the party. Eve is standing in front of the wardrobe picking out her outfit "What does everyone at never moor wear at a party like this?" "pretty much whatever they want, we like to take advantage of non-uniform functions." "ugh. Uniforms, i didnt even think about that" "dont you have a dress?" "you unpacked me, did it look like i have a dress?" Lara rolls her eyes as she walks to her closet "here you can wear one of mine" i think i want to wear something pretty and eye catching. Eve and lara change into their outfits, "whoa! You look smoking hot in that!" "its your dress, why do you sound so surprised? "Because its never looked like that on me. Everyone is going to be staring at you tonight." "like thats something new? People have been staring at me since i got here." "yeah, but now theyll be staring at you for a whole new reason" Eve looks in the mirror and turns to see both sides studying her reflection. "Its time to go! If we wait much longer we will be more than fashionably late." "we could just skip it all together..." "too late, everybody will be waiting for us." with a sigh eve heads out the door and starts to push her way through the crystal beads dangling from the outside of the door. "Here, let me hold those for you, dont want them shocking you. Sorry i didnt think about that yesterday" "shock me? What do you mean? "They shock everybody, didnt you feel it when you left last night?" "ummm, no" i should reach out and touch the beads again eve brushes her fingers over the glass and crystal beads, they feel cool to her touch "are you sure there supposed to shock me?" Lara stares in surprise "I've never seen that before, weird." Eve shrugs, as she makes her way down the hall she gets distracted by the most beautiful walls that eve forgets her stomach has settled down. I know lara says this is supposed to be a welcome party, but im hoping the tea just goes on as normal, my goal this year is to be as invisible as possible. After the accident everyone stared at me wherever I went which got old really quickly I mean I know it's human nature to stare but after a while I just wanted to disappear the only good thing about coming to a new school is that after a while everyone gets over you being the new girl, no one pays attention to you if you don't want them too.
Lara throws the double doors to the dinning hall opens and walks in like she owns the place, everyone in the room turns to stare at her non of which look impressed, Lara tugs at eves arm and reluctantly she lets Lara pull her into the room. As eve walks further in she sees students grouped together in various areas of the room, I guess it doesn't matter what school you go to cliques are everywhere... lucky lucky me. Eve starts looking at the different groups I think I want to look at the group at the back of the room curiosity covers the faces of eves new classmates, there all dressed in long flowing dresses or fancy pattern button ups with crystals like the ones that are draped amongst the curtains over Lara and eve's door, eve knows there lara's friends even before she waves at them excitement. "Come on! Ill introduce you." Eves heart jumps into her throat, she finds kaleb grinning and making funny faces at her and she can't help but giggle "what's funny?" Lara then sees kaleb and rolls her eyes. "Do you know how long i've spent trying to get his attention and be totally ignored before I decided to give up? If we weren't cousins and also destined best friends I would resent you" "i'm pretty sure kaleb and i are also destined to be friends too, I don't think guys cross their eyes and wiggle their eyebrows at girls there interested in" "yeah, well you never know with dra-" Lara breaks off with a violent cough like she's just choked on her own words "you okay?" "I'm fine" she coughs again, looking a little bit nervous as she tugs at one of her flowy sleeves. I should ask Lara to finish her sentence "what were you saying?" "Oh, just that kaleb can be a little drastic you know?" "No, what do you mean? He seemed pretty chill to me" Lara fakes a laugh "I didn't even know what I meant... come on! Let's meet some people"
Lara guides eves towards her friends, eve finds herself becoming more and more overwhelmed "I uh need a drink" "you okay eve?" "Yeah of course, Im fine, I just need - i'll be back" eve takes off across the room like a bullet she barely makes it to the drink tables before two very large hands land on her shoulders. "Want a piggyback ride?" And just like that eves tension dissolves leaving nothing but a cautious joy in its place. Kaleb always manages to make me feel welcome I should be friendly to kaleb "maybe, are you offering a ride?" "For you, always" kaleb puts a hand on eves shoulder "so how was your first day at Never Moor?" "Good? Just a lot to take in, you know?" "I bet. Let me know if you need anything okay? I'm always happy to help?" Eve feels herself relaxing for the first time, kaleb is so nice it's hard to worry about everybody staring at her while she's talking to kaleb. "Thanks, I appreciate it" kaleb makes a face and pretends to be all fancy, "havn't you heard?.. gratitude is so last year." Eve laughs and leans into him a little enjoying the easy back and forth, the rooms heavy wooden doors fly open into the walls with a bang that makes everyone jump. Everyone turns to look... it's Hunter, as he walks in his gaze is cold as the snow covered ground, it looks like all that coldness is directed to eve and kaleb who's arm has found its home around eves shoulders. I should turn to kaleb, oh god oh god please don't let him come over here "thanks for running interference between me and everyone else, I appreciate it" "I already told you how I feel about gratitude, how about we get something to eat and you can spend the whole time not thanking me?" Hunter head straight to eve with an icy blankness in his eyes that sends a shiver running straight through Eve's spine, eve takes a strangled breath hoping it will calm her down but it doesn't work all I can see is how he looked last night, sucking my blood off his thumb, all I can hear is his low wicked and wild voice telling me to go and all I can think about it kissing him, dragging his lower lip between my teeth and biting down on it a little bit. Eves skin heats up under his gaze, her checks starts burning up with embarrassment with the thoughts flickering through her head. The way Hunter is looking at Eve it's like he can read every one of them, Eve lifts her drink trying to look unnerved but suddenly she beings to choke.
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