Chapter 14 - Marco
I stood in the parking lot, shifting my weight from one foot to the other for what felt like the hundredth time.
My fingers kept fidgeting with the strap of my backpack, twisting it around my wrist until the fabric dug into my skin.
The academy grounds were almost empty now.
Most of the students had already left hours ago, their fancy cars pulling out one by one while I stayed rooted to the same spot near the front gates, just like Alexei had told me to.
He said he would pick me up.
But he wasn’t here.
I glanced at my phone again even though I already knew the time. Almost an hour. My stomach twisted into a tight knot. He forgot. That had to be it. He got busy with whatever terrifying things he did when he wasn’t tormenting me and he just… forgot.
The thought made something weird settle in my chest. Sadness. It was sadness, wasn’t it? I didn’t know why that feeling was there at all. This was good. This was what I wanted. I didn’t want him to pick me up. I didn’t want to be near him.
I should just go.
No one was really here anymore. The last few stragglers had disappeared while I was standing here like an idiot, staring at the road like some abandoned puppy.
The sky had gone gray, and now a cold drizzle had started to fall.
It wasn’t a full rain yet, but the drops were already soaking into my shirt and making my hair stick to my forehead.
I had been standing out here since the final bell, and the chill was already creeping into my bones.
I couldn’t really risk getting a cold. I looked down at my sneakers, watching the little puddles forming around my feet. The water was starting to seep in through the sides. My toes were already cold.
I really should go.
But what if he comes and I’m not here?
The thought stopped me in my tracks. What if Alexei finally showed up and I had already left? What if he got angry? He told me to wait. He made it sound like an order, not a suggestion. And I didn’t really want to test him.
I wrapped my arms around myself, hugging my own body tight as another gust of wind blew rain into my face.
He probably wasn’t coming.
He had probably gotten distracted by something more important than me.
Or maybe he had never planned to come at all.
Maybe this morning had just been another one of his games, another way to mess with my head until I was twisting myself into knots over him.
I should have known better. I should have just taken the bus like I always did.
At least then I wouldn’t be standing here in the rain, feeling this stupid, empty sadness that I had no right to feel.
But still… I couldn’t make myself leave.
What if he saw the empty spot where I was supposed to be waiting and decided I had disobeyed him on purpose? The thought made my chest feel tight and small. I didn’t want to make him angry. I really, really didn’t. Angry Alexei was terrifying.
I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, hunching my shoulders against the rain.
I was being pathetic.
I was still hugging myself in the rain, teeth starting to chatter, when a large shadow suddenly fell over me. It blocked out the gray sky completely. My breath caught in my throat. I looked up, water dripping into my eyes, and there he was.
Alexei.
He stood over me like he had appeared out of nowhere. Before I could say anything, his hand shot out and grabbed my arm.
“Why are you standing out here in the rain?” he asked. “You’ve been waiting this whole time?”
I blinked up at him, rain sliding down my cheeks. He seemed mad. So I managed to make him angry after all. Of course I had. I always did something wrong.
He pulled me toward his car, which was parked right at the curb.
The passenger door was already open. He guided me inside with a hand on the back of my neck.
His touch was surprisingly gentle even though his voice was hard.
I sank into the warm leather seat, my wet clothes sticking to me as he closed the door.
A second later he was in the driver’s seat. He reached into the glove compartment without a word and pulled out a pack of tissues. Then he leaned across the center console. One hand came up and tilted my chin up.
He started carefully wiping the rain from my face.
“You could get sick.”
I sat there frozen, watching him. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.
“I waited,” I said quietly after a moment. “I didn’t want to give you a reason to kill me.”
Alexei’s hand paused. His eyes flicked to mine, still mostly blank, but I caught the slight tightening at the corner of his mouth.
He finished wiping the last bit of rain from my chin and tossed the tissues aside.
Then he leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his wet hair, pushing it back with clear frustration even though his face didn’t show much.
“You have to stop thinking I will kill you at everything you do. I was late, something came up. That doesn’t mean I was going to hunt you down for leaving.”
“But you told me to wait. And you get angry so fast. I kept thinking if I left you would show up and I wouldn’t be here and then… I don’t know. It would be worse. You’ve done worse things for smaller reasons before.”
Alexei stared at me for a long moment, his expression still mostly unreadable. Only the way his fingers tapped once against the steering wheel gave anything away.
“Stop assuming that every time you move wrong I’m going to snap. I’m not that unstable.”
I swallowed, still twisting my sleeve. “It’s hard not to assume. Like right now. You’re mad. I can tell even if you don’t show it much. Your voice gets sharper and your hands get tight.”
Alexei turned his head to look at me fully and sighed. “I’m not mad that you waited. I’m annoyed that you stood in the rain for an hour. You’re shivering and your clothes are soaked.”
He pulled away from the curb. Rain kept tapping against the windshield while he drove, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the gear shift.
The car pulled up in front of my small house, and I was already reaching for the door handle before Alexei had even fully stopped.
My clothes were still damp and cold against my skin, and all I wanted was to get inside, change, and maybe hide under my blankets until the tight feeling in my chest went away.
But the second I stepped out, Alexei killed the engine and got out too. He followed me up the short path to the front door.
I stopped at the door, keys already in my hand, and turned to face him. My heart was beating way too fast.
“Um… thank you,” I said, trying to sound normal. “Now you can go.”
Alexei arched one dark eyebrow. Without saying a word, he reached past me, took the keys from my fingers, unlocked the door himself, and pushed it open. Then his hand landed lightly on my lower back. It was firm enough that I had no choice but to step inside.
He followed right after me and closed the door behind us.
My parents weren’t home. Mom had her treatment today, and she usually had to stay overnight at the hospital. Dad always stayed with her. Luca was probably over at his friend’s house again. That meant the house was completely empty.
Just me.
And Alexei.
He looked around the small living room, then turned his green eyes back on me.
“Where is your room?”
“W… what do you want with my room?”
He gave me a look, just a slight narrowing of his eyes and a tiny tilt of his head. I swallowed again and quickly pointed down the short hallway.
“It’s there.”
Alexei reached out, took my hand in his, and started walking, gently pulling me along with him. I followed because I didn’t really have a choice.
When we reached my bedroom door, he pushed it open and guided me inside. The room was small and a little messy, my bed unmade from this morning. He looked around once, then asked, “Bathroom?”
I pointed to the door across the room with a shaky finger. “There.”
He let go of my hand and disappeared into the bathroom for a minute.
He came back a moment later with one of the clean towels from the bathroom closet. He walked straight up to me, looked down at me and said, “Sit.”
“Why should I sit?”
His hands landed on my shoulders, and he gently pushed me down until I was sitting on the edge of my bed. The mattress dipped under my weight.
Alexei knelt down in front of me on the floor, the towel in his hands. Then he reached up and started carefully drying my hair.
His fingers brushed against my scalp through the fabric every now and then. I sat there stiffly at first, hands gripping the edge of the bed.
My heart was still racing.
“You don’t have to do this,” I mumbled after a few seconds, voice small. “I can dry my own hair. You… you can go now if you want. I’m fine.”
Alexei kept drying my hair without looking up. “You’re still shivering. And your hair is soaked. You’ll get sick if you leave it like this.”
“I won’t,” I said quickly, even though I wasn’t sure that was true. “I can take care of myself.”
He finally glanced up at me, towel still moving over my hair.
“You stood in the rain for an hour because you were too scared to leave. That doesn’t exactly scream ‘I can take care of myself.’”
My cheeks burned. I looked away, staring at the floor instead.
“You’re being… nice,” I muttered quietly. “It’s making me more nervous. Usually when you’re around me you’re either scaring me or kissing me or both. This is different. I don’t know what to do with it.”
Alexei kept moving the towel over my hair.
“I’m not being nice. I’m making sure you don’t catch pneumonia.”
I let out a shaky breath and looked down at my lap again. My hands were still gripping the edge of the bed.
“Okay,” I whispered. “But… you can stop now if you want.”
Alexei ignored that and kept going, moving the towel to the back of my neck and then carefully around my ears.
“I’ll stop when I’m done.”
Alexei finished drying my hair, the towel moved over my curls one last time before he stood up, folded it neatly, and set it on the edge of my desk.
He walked over to my closet without asking and pulled the door open. He looked inside, then glanced back at me.
“Get undressed.”
My arms immediately wrapped around myself, eyes wide.
Alexei turned to face me fully, one hand resting on the closet door, studying my expression.
“Don’t forget I left my marks on your ass. I saw enough last time. Change.”
I felt my face burn hot. “I—I,” I stammered. “Turn around.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“I really don’t want to get undressed in front of you,” I muttered.
My body wasn’t anything special. I knew that.
I wasn’t built like the rich kids at school with their perfect everything.
I was small and skinny. Not that I cared what he thought of my body…
but still. The idea of him seeing me like that made my skin crawl with nerves.
Alexei’s head tilted slightly. He must have seen something in my face because his eyes narrowed just a fraction.
“Are you shy,” he asked, voice low, “or insecure?”
I swallowed hard. “… isn’t that the same?”
“No.”
He clicked his tongue once, then he threw a set of pajamas at me and turned around, facing the closet instead of me.
“I’m giving you one minute,” he said over his shoulder. “And then I’m turning back around.”
My eyes went wide. “One minute?! That isn’t enough time—”
“One minute, Marco.”
I panicked. I scrambled off the bed so fast I nearly tripped over my own feet. I yanked the top over my head, almost hitting myself in the face with my own arm, then peeled off my soaked jeans. They were halfway down my legs when I stumbled again, nearly falling forward onto the bed.
“Ah—!”
I caught myself on the mattress and quickly stepped out of the jeans, heart racing. I started pulling the pajamas on as fast as I could.
I could feel Alexei’s presence even though he wasn’t looking. The countdown in my head was loud.
I finally got the pants on and yanked the shirt down over my stomach.
“Okay,” I said quickly, voice breathless. “I’m done. You can turn around now.”
I wrapped my arms around myself again out of habit, even though I was covered.