Tonight Will Change Our Lives

"What do you mean he almost kiss you?!" Megan screamed into the phone.

Rachel bit her tongue. Rachel had hoped that Megan would take the news a little more lightly than how she was taking it now. Rachel made no response to what her friend had just screamed across the line. Why did she need to get mad? It was only Cadence Winter.

Rachel laughed. Yeah, ok, only Cadence Winter. What bothered Rachel about it was why he had left. She didn't make an attempt to push him away but he did anyway. Megan continued to rant on her side of the phone but Rachel wasn't paying attention. All she could think about was the worry in Cadence's eyes when he jumped off of her. What was he so worried about in the first place?

"-nd your mother! Oh my goodness, Rachel! You're not even listening!" Megan complained into the phone.

Rachel stared blankly at the wall space beside her window, "I told you already Megan. He pulled away before there was any contact. Why are you so worked up?"

"Worked up?! WORKED UP?! I AM NOT WORKED UP! I'm sorry if I'm worried about my friend who's being molested by the school freak!"

"It's only molestation if I didn't like it," Rachel said evilly into the phone.

"Y-you... you enjoyed it?! RACHEL! You can not enjoy it! To enjoy it would be that you like... Oh my gosh. YOU LIKE CADENCE WINTER?!" Megan breathe heavily into the phone waiting for Rachel's response.

"I don't like him like him. I mean, I think he's a decent guy," Rachel said distantly still staring off into space.

"WHAT?! ARE YOU OFF YOUR FLIPPING NUT?! You should be arrested or something Rachel. Those Winter brothers are nothing but trouble," Megan countered.

"Yeah, hey listen. I'm going to go now. I have homework to do," Rachel confessed as she looked down at her unfinished math homework.

She listened as Megan sighed defeated on the other end of the line, "Yeah ok. Don't run off and get married to Cadence just yet."

Rachel laughed and said goodbye to Megan. Now, she was alone and could think without Megan constantly babbling about how the Winter brothers were bad for her health. What had they done that made everyone scared of them? Surely there was something more than just that they were unfriendly.

She scribbled something down on her paper and looked at the window. A light pit pat could be heard against the glass. Frowning, Rachel stood up and opened the window. Peering out to the first floor, she spotted and unlikely person.

Cadence Winter.

He had that look of worry again on his face. He checked his surroundings before motioning Rachel to come down to talk to him. Rachel quickly shut the window and ran down her stairs. Luckily, her parents were in their room so she didn't have to worry about sneaking out. Rachel opened the door and rounded to the back where Cadence was waiting for her.

He hadn't noticed her when she came because his back was to her. Cadence was facing the forest but had his stare on the ground as he kicked up some dirt with his shoes. He was in clad black jeans and a black T-shirt. Rachel opened her mouth to speak but Cadence beat her to it. How did he know she was there?

"I just wanted to apologize about earlier," he said quickly.

He slowly turned to her. Rachel jumped at the intense color of his eyes. They looked the brightest that they had ever been. He must have owned contacts or something. Cadence shoved his hands into his pocket and looked at the ground. He refused to make eye contact with her.

"It... it wasn't mean to mean anything," he continued slowly, "I don't want you to get the wrong idea or anything."

Rachel watched as he struggled with his words. A lump was forming at her throat. Had she been lead on to believe.... No, her mind would not stray to that train of thought. Cadence could never have feelings for her because well, he was Cadence.

"I don't want a relationship in a way or form with you," he said bluntly, emotion lacking in his voice.

Rachel's heart received a pang and it stung deeply. Maybe Megan was right about the Winter brothers. They were just jerks that everyone avoided. Cadence's face contorted into a ball of confusion but returned to its normal state before he continued speaking.

"It'd be pretty awkward, considering we have this project to do. And uh," Cadence reached one arm behind his head and scratched it unsure, "I mean... You know... You seem like a good person and all. It's just my brother and I... We're a magnet for... uh, stuff.... so we have to look up... I mean out. Yeah," he mumbled the last part as if he meant to continue but was unsure to say.

"Cadence," Rachel said sternly, grabbing his attention.

Cadence's head snapped up quickly showing all of his attentiveness. Rachel took a step forward, closer to Cadence. He took a questioning step back but she already had a gentle hand on his forearm. He glanced at it quickly and looked back at Rachel.

"I completely understand," she said quietly, "Now I know why people don't like you or your brother. You guys are plain old jerks."

Cadence looked at her confused, "Uh, yeah. Exactly."

Rachel turned and began to walk away but stopped. No, she wasn't done yet. She turned back to Cadence and glared at him with the most menacing look ever. If Cadence had been human, he would have been shaken to the core.

"But you know what I don't understand?" She spat at him, her voice slowly rising in anger.

Cadence blinked as he watched her walk closer to where he was. What was she doing? He could no longer hear her thoughts because they were jumbled and filled with anger for Aiden and he. Cadence made a sharp intake of air before holding it as she came closer. He needed to leave soon. Why did he come here in the first place?

"I don't understand why you constantly tell me 'OH HO HO! Stay away from us Rachel Hale because we're dangerous!' But I've yet to see you do something dangerous."

Cadence narrowed his eyes at her, obviously infuriated, "That's because we've managed to keep ourselves out of situations that could be potentially dangerous."

"AND you know what else I don't understand?" Rachel continued, ignoring his remark, "I don't understand why you put up such a dense wall around you. It's always AIDEN this AIDEN that. Haven't you ever thought about what YOU might want? Or were you too busy being Aiden's little puppy?"

"Aiden is the only reason why he and I are able to survive in this crummy town. You know... everything was fine before you came along!"

"All you talk about is danger danger danger. I've yet to see you do ONE dangerous thing since I've gotten here!" She screamed at him in blind fury.

"You want to see me do something dangerous?!" Cadence yelled back at her.

"You bet your ass I d-"

Before Rachel could finish her sentence, Cadence had already grabbed her face in his hands and pushed his lips against hers. Her mind barely had time to register what had happen as Cadence's lips kissed her intensely. Against her own conscience (and much later to Megan's dismay), Rachel kissed back.

Cadence could feel himself losing control. Her lips were almost sweeter than what he imagined her blood to be. This was better than anything he could imagine. He almost felt as if he were human again. For a moment, Cadence forgot about yesterday. He forgot all the wasted time. All the answers he would never find and all the hours left behind, Cadence forgot it all. He finally felt free.

Caden,

Cadence's eyes widened and in a wink of an eye he disappeared. Rachel didn't know what had happened. Her eyes had been closed and when she opened them Cadence was no longer there. She frowned. It couldn't have been all her imagination. Rachel turned around and walked back into her home.

A small smile played on her lips.