Love from, Hell

Malcolm gave her a funny look. Julie scratched her neck, looking away.

One of the girls, a blonde girl with huge boobs named Nicole, came sauntering over.

"So what did you end up doing after high school Julie?" she asked Julie but looked at Malcolm, trying very hard to catch his eye.

"Um I went to KU. I'm studying biochemistry," Julie lied.

Nicole wasn't even listening. "Hi. I'm Nicole," she fawned, speaking directly to Malcolm.

He looked down and gave her one of his icy cold micro-smiles. Nicole faltered a little but smiled holding her hand out to shake. Malcolm paused then shook her hand reluctantly.

"This is Malcolm," Julie finally said since he wasn't going to say it.

Nicole glanced at Julie then looked back at Malcolm. "How do you two know each other?" she asked him.

"We met in my ecology-based economics class," Julie lied.

Malcolm looked at Julie and smiled at her, amused.

"Oh you go to the same school? What do you want to be when you grow up?" she asked Malcolm, mocking a little girl in a sexy schoolgirl way. On any other male on the planet it would have worked.

"He wants to be an astrophysicist," Julie said and looked over Malcolm, as though sizing him up and wondering whether he'd make a good astrophysicist.

Malcolm was still looking at Julie, he smiled a little more, entertained. Nicole wasn't acknowledging Julie at all and shook her hair over her shoulder, trying to make Malcolm look at her.

"Ooh. Is that, like, with horoscope signs and stuff?" she asked, grinning seductively.

Malcolm's eyes were bright, waiting for Julie's answer.

"No," Julie said brightly to Nicole.

Nicole blinked and looked at Julie and then back at Malcolm who was smiling brilliantly at Julie. Julie smiled pleasantly at Nicole, but Nicole was ogling the beauty that was Malcolm's smile. Julie wanted to elbow him to make him stop smiling so she'd leave faster. After a long minute of staring, Nicole flushed, and stumbled away, looking back at Malcolm's smile over her shoulder constantly.

"An astrophysicist?" he said very softly to Julie.

She grinned and shrugged. "She doesn't know what it is," Julie defended herself.

Malcolm chuckled very quietly. Julie wanted to stomp on his foot as every girl in his proximity stared at him.

Either Malcolm intimidated the rest of the girls or was making it clear that he had absolutely zero interest, because none of them approached him. Julie could tell that they were still staring at him and dishing about him and Malcolm seemed to either be perfectly oblivious or did not care in the slightest. Julie hoped her instincts about Malcolm being sharp were right and that he couldn't have cared less about his oglers.

As the party progressed, Julie and Malcolm split up a little. Although he was obvious competition, the boys were still welcoming of Malcolm and tried to engage him in guy talk. Julie perched herself on a chair near Andrea and Connie, though not in the group. She watched Malcolm interact. He mostly listened and nodded his head and smiled at the appropriate times. He was as good at humoring people as he was at ignoring them.

"Julie, you remember Trevor?" Connie said, as though wanting to confirm something.

Julie looked at her and nodded. Trevor had been another boy in their class and she was pretty sure he and Connie had dated for awhile.

"Yeah see she does," Connie said to her friends and then looked at Julie. "He's my fiancé," she told her.

Julie raised her eyebrows and smiled. "That's great. When is the wedding?" she asked politely.

"This Saturday!" Connie exclaimed and the girls cooed with excitement.

"Wow! That's wonderful," Julie said kindly.

Connie looked at her critically, sizing her up. "You should come," she decided. "You're so sweet. I remember you being nice in high school…" Connie continued trailing off. She took a generous sip of her cocktail. "Anyway, you should totally come," she waved, insisting. Connie reached into her purse and whipped out a think cream-colored invitation.

"I never know who I might run into," Connie giggled drunkenly and handed the card to Julie.

Julie took the invitation. Connie went on to ramble about the wedding and talk about her bridesmaids- some of which were sitting there with them. They all got swept up in wedding talk. Julie's mind trailed off. It was surreal that one of her classmates was getting married. But they weren't in high school anymore she supposed. Julie's eyes wandered over to Malcolm out of habit. He looked back at her from across the room. Julie smiled at him and he smiled back.

The night became later and everyone was getting into very drunk states. Julie and Malcolm gravitated back to each other, hanging around and observing. Julie kept Malcolm entertained by keeping a commentary of what everyone was doing. She'd started off slowly, unsure if he'd enjoy the quiet mocking of people. But he did and so Julie kept it up, smiling at him. As she drank more, her commentary got more flavorful. The boys were getting rowdy and the girls were either lolling around on each other or were in the midst of the boys laughing their drunken asses off.

Suddenly, Josh, a short dirty sort of guy, came stumbling past Julie and Malcolm and spilled his drink all over Julie's top.

"Ahh! Excuse me," Julie protested, feeling embarrassed.

"Hey don't get in the way, sister," Josh slurred at her.

Julie frowned at him and wiped her shirt uselessly. "I wasn't in the way at all," she defended.

"Yeah you totally were bitch. You were in the frickin' way." Josh leaned in, snapping at her in a voice that was several octaves higher than his normal one.

Julie could practically feel Malcolm's hackles raise beside her when Josh called her a bitch. She absent-mindedly put her hand on Malcolm's arm, signaling to not get upset, and he calmed quickly. Julie was already embarrassed enough so in a way she was glad Malcolm wasn't reacting.

"Well I apologize if I was in your way," Julie said sarcastically and pushed her hair away from her front and looked down at her shirt.

"Ahh go to Hell," Josh dismissed slurring again as he retreated.

No one, even if they were sober, could have seen Malcolm. He moved unbelievably fast toward Josh and pushed him in the chest. More than pushed him, practically picked him up and threw him. Julie gasped in shock and a few girls shrieked when Josh crashed to the ground.

Josh got to his feet with great difficulty, apparently wanting to fight back, but then stopped, taking in Malcolm. No one was going to approach him. Julie came forward slowly and touched Malcolm's elbow. He was trying to compose his face, but his expression was livid.

He looked down at Julie and she stared up at him. "Are you ready to go?" Malcolm asked his voice quiet and even.

Julie nodded. Matt went and got her coat and Andrea and Connie followed them downstairs.

"Josh was being such an ass," Andrea said stumbling on the stairs.

"Total ass," Connie agreed.

Matt handed Julie her coat. Malcolm surprised her by helping her put it on.

"Don't worry about it, Julie," Matt told her.

"Don't forget to come to my wedding! I won't forgive you if you don't come!" Connie insisted.

Although she was sure Connie would forgive her, Julie nodded at Connie and turned and walked out the door and Malcolm followed. Andrea slowly shut the door after them.

Julie trailed behind Malcolm on the way to the car. She wasn't sure how he was managing it- but he speed walked so casually she couldn't really tell that he was moving fast. But indeed he was across the street in no time. Malcolm stopped at the car and Julie didn't see him take out a cigarette but he was subtly lighting one at his mouth. Julie leaned against the car next to him. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew the smoke in a stream line. She looked up at him. He shone like a dark god in the nearby streetlight.

Julie hiccuped quietly. Malcolm glanced down at her and smoked some more.

"Malcolm?" Julie murmured after several minutes of silence.

Malcolm smoked for a long moment. "... yes?" he finally replied, not looking at her.

Julie hiccuped again. "Smoking hic is really bad for you. It's been directly linked to lung cancer," she said very quietly.

Malcolm took two more long drags then dropped the cigarette to the ground aggressively before it was burned out. He turned around and got in his car and shut his door smartly. Julie walked around the front and slid into the passenger seat, feeling light headed. She blinked, suddenly aware that Malcolm had not started the car. Usually the engine was growling delightedly before she even got in. Julie looked over at Malcolm. He was staring out the windshield, one arm resting on the top of the steering wheel.

"Why did she love him?" Malcolm demanded suddenly of the windshield.

Julie blinked- sure he wasn't talking about Connie getting married but then lost as to who he was referring to.

"Who?" Julie asked simply.

"Belle. Why does she love the beast?" Malcolm demanded again and then looked at Julie.

She paused, slightly frightened by his aggressive impatience. "Um why shouldn't she?" Julie managed to ask.

Malcolm looked out the windshield again. "He imprisoned her father and then enslaved her. He had no patience or manners, he was sullen and rude. He wasn't even human," he explained, tapping his long fingers rapidly on the dashboard.

Julie blinked and looked out the window, trying to process what he said and give a coherent answer. "Well… he turned out to be sensitive. And loyal and kind. There was more to him then what he looked like," she said.

Malcolm shook his head. "Nothing could be more than what he looked like, the awful way he treated her," he said.

Julie frowned. "No. There was, too, more to him. His personality, once he let his defences go, far outstripped his looks. The beast really had the soul of a gentleman. Belle didn't fall in love with looks, she fell in love with… you know… who he was underneath," Julie argued.

Malcolm was silent. "... But he was a monster," he said after a moment. Malcolm's voice was tortured.

Julie looked at him, lost. Clearly there was something more complex going on in Malcolm's mind and Julie wished very badly that she could know what it was.

"You can't control who you fall in love with," Julie said quietly.

Malcolm said nothing more and turned on the car and drove smoothly down the road.

During the car ride, Julie began to fall asleep; cursing her low resistance to alcohol and late hours and Malcolm's impossibly smooth driving. When Malcolm pulled into her driveway, Julie opened her eyes sluggishly. She thought that she had blinked but when she opened her eyes again, Malcolm was not in the car anymore and was opening her door. Julie heaved herself out of the car. Malcolm shut the door quietly behind her. She tried to walk up the two steps to her house but then tripped on the first step.

She felt Malcolm's arm catch her instantly. "You have a very low tolerance for alcohol," Malcolm informed her quietly.

Julie made a face. "It's really late and we were biking today on top of everything." she defended herself.

Malcolm paused. "... that is true," he conceded softly after a moment and let her in the front door.

Julie hoped he locked the door behind him because she didn't. She walked independently over to the staircase but then sighed at the flight of steps in front of her. Malcolm put one hand on the small of her back and guided her up the stairs. Julie could still feel her skin tingle and warm in the place where he touched her.

At the top of the stairs Julie regained her stability and shuffled to her bedroom. She stopped in the door frame and turned around to face Malcolm. He had paused when she had and looked at her. Suddenly she wasn't sure of what to say. Even in the dark, Julie could still see the conflict in Malcolm's expression. She wanted to ask him about it- she wanted to ask him everything. Why had he done that for her? What was he talking about with the Beauty and the Beast? Why did it matter to him? Why was he so goddamn handsome even when he was ragingly shoving guys across rooms?

"Goodnight," Julie finally whispered.

"Goodnight," Malcolm said quietly back.

Then she slid into her bedroom and closed the door behind her, leaning against it. Julie's eyes darted around in the darkness as her mind started racing. She exhaled slowly.