Chapter 2: Feelings & Flames

"Heath..." I tried to get his attention, to no avail. He continued to lead me farther and farther away from the house, his hand closed tightly around my arm, never glancing back at me once. 

"One, two, three..." Heath was mumbling quietly to himself. Counting?

"Heath!"

Finally, he stopped walking, his hand returning to his side. Slowly, he turned his head to look back at me. I blinked in surprise.

Expecting to meet those pale green eyes, I was confused yet intrigued to see they were a dark shade of red - crimson. They seemed to glow like as if...as if his irises were on fire.

"Heath..." I began slowly. "Y...your eyes..." 

"...That only happens when I'm pissed off..." He sighs, pulling a hand over his eyelids. He tilted his head back and winced in pain. "four, five, six..." After he had reached ten, he slowly brought his hand back down and blinked his eyes a few times. After a couple seconds, the red began to fade away, eventually returning to its natural color. I watched him, unsure of what I was searching for.

"...You think I'm a freak, huh?" A smile without a trace of humor lined his lips. "...I know you do. Afterall...I am one..."

My eyes narrowed and I puffed my cheeks out in anger, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Are you supid or something?!" I exploded. "The nerve! What, just because you have mood rings for eyes, that makes you a freak?! Should I start calling you Alien or something?! How dare you put me on the same level as Catallus! You're such an idiot, Heath! AND, you're a jerk! I mean seriously! You...-!" I trailed off, amazed to see Heath was...laughing. He was bending over, a hand covering his mouth at a failed attempt to keep quiet. I watched him, utterly astonished. Heath + laughing = DOES NOT COMPUTE. I didn't think it was physically possible. Any second now, I expected him turn purple then sprout wings and fly away - that seemed more likely, anyways. After a couple seconds, he cleared his throat and regained composure. The shade of light red on his cheeks let me know he was embarrassed. Heath + embarrassed = fun.

"Did I really just see what I thought I saw?" I smiled, placing a hand on my hip. "Was Heath, the robot with no sense of humor...laughing?"

"You're imagining things." He grunted, irritated. Contrary to how he spoke, a small smile was playing its way onto the corner of his lips. I snickered. After a couple seconds of comfortable silence, I sighed.

"So..." I began, swallowing my pride. "Listen...about earlier, at the party..."

"Forget about it." He said, waving a hand dismissively. Heath took up walking again, and I followed beside him.

"No." I said stubbornly. "Seriously...thank you. It was sweet." He stopped mid-walk and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Don't call me sweet." He growled. Still, I noticed there was something in his voice a little bit off. It was almost as if he'd said it a bit softer, nicer.... Who was this guy, and what did he do with Heath?

"Well, whatever." I said, as we started walking again. "It was nice....why did you do it?"

"...Maybe I just don't like public humilation." He shrugged. 

"What a saint." I said, puckering my lips sweetly. He glared at me, but again, in a kinder, more endearing way. For the first time in the ten years I've known him, I realized there was a different side of Heath. One that was more subtle, one you could easily overlook because of his sour attitude. It was...charming.

Whoa.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up.

...What?

Heath? Charming?

He was a LOT of things, but certainly not charming. Right...?

I took a quick glance up at him. In the dark night sky above, the moon's silver rays danced down onto his blonde hair, giving the illusion it was glowing. His pale green eyes seemed even lighter than usual...I couldn't look away.

Oh, no. No, no, no. There was no way. Heath? My sworn nemesis since childhood? (besides Catallus, that is, but compared to Heath, Catallus was more of a plague on my life). 

It couldn't be! How hopeless was I? I wasn't actually -gulp-....starting to like him?! My cheeks flushed. Was Uncle Braun right all along? Did I truly have "secret feelings" for Heath?! My first crush in all my seventeen years was Heath?! If anyone was going to take that spot, wouldn't it most likely be James? I mean, at least he was good-looking! Er, it wasn't like Heath wasn't good-looking, though. Unlike James, who had a sort of "poster boy" thing going on, Heath's looks were more raw...unique. Lightly tanned skin, tall, dirty blonde, and those eyes. How did I never realized how absolutely beautiful they were before?

"...Maybe I saved you because everyone was laughing." Heath said, breaking me out of my inner breakdown. That only caused me to become even more flustered. Did that mean he cares about me? He didn't like seeing me being humiliated? "...I'm the only person allowed to embarrass you like that."

I stopped. Oh, right. Now I remember why I hated him.

"You're a jerk." I growled, crossing my arms over my chest. He grinned, pleased by my reaction. I suddenly felt like a total idiot. Heath? Charming? Thinking I might start liking him? I gave myself a mental slap. Stupid.

We continued on our way back to the foster home in comfortable silence.

~~

Not far in the distance, I noticed a cloud of black smoke billowing upwards towards the starry sky. Heath and I glanced at each other then took off sprinting. When we finally arrived at the scene, my blood stopped cold. My stomach lurched and I thought I felt my heart stop beating.

The foster home was in flames.

I let out a cry of desperation, running for the house. A fire truck had already arrived, but I didn't see anyone from inside. Not Aunt Lexa, not Uncle Axel, not Uncle Braun - not one of the 500 foster kids. Heath grabbed me, and pulled me away from the flaming house. The fires were already reaching as high as fourty feet.

"Let me go!!" I screamed, not even realizing the tears streaming down my cheeks. "Heath!! LET ME GO!!!!!!" My voice came out loud, but raw. It didn't sound like me at all. I kept screaming and struggling against Heath's strong grasp, but he never budged. All I could do was sit back and watch as fire fighters helplessly tried to put out the giant flames. After what seemed like an eternity of torture, there was a thundering crack that split the air. I froze. Heath froze. Time stopped.

The foster house crumbled down, down, down.

I screamed.

Thank you so much for reading!!!!!!!!!!!! :'DDD 

These first few chapters, I just wanted to get off of my chest. The next ones will be a little shorter. :)

Ugh. I just noticed something: Heath Haine   Rune Ruri

whoops. Oh well. The name Heath has already grown on me, I don't want to change it. xDD Oh yeah. Also, I got Rune's name by combining Ruri and Haine

You probably don't care, but, you know. Fun trivia or something. xDD

Again, thank you so much for reading! :)

Again, couldn't find any pictures on the internet that I thought would look like Heath, so I drew him instead. :)