Chapter 60: I’ll Save You from Yourself

~“What I’m yearning for is just beyond my grasp.” —McKenna Breinholt.~

Chapter Theme Song: “Save Me” by McKenna Breinholt.

HARMONY

“Feeling better?” April asks as we leave our dorm room for class.

It’s Monday, a day that usually has me feeling grumpy. But not today. Today, I’m genuinely happy because Blaze and I are back on track.

April brought my stuff back from Homewood yesterday while my mom drove me.

I was secretly bummed about that. I wanted to ride with Blaze. I could tell he wanted that too, but I didn’t want to show any signs of attachment to him with my mom around.

She notices everything, and I’m still nervous about that time she almost caught us cuddling in the hospital bed.

“Yeah, I am.” I smile as April rubs my back in a comforting way.

“Great. We were all so worried about you yesterday. Especially Kite.”

Hearing his name makes me squirm a little, but I decide to ignore the discomfort it brings. “It was just a fever. The doctor gave me some medicine.”

“Well, thank God. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Good morning.” A voice comes from behind us, and an arm wraps around my neck. “Special good morning to you, Harmony.”

“Blaze, you don’t sneak up on two women deep in conversation. You might get elbowed in the ribs,” April says flatly, and I chuckle softly.

He smells good, like he just stepped out of the shower. I breathe in the scent of his deodorant as he pulls me closer to his side.

“I think I can handle an elbow in the ribs. I’ve been burned with a hot fork before.”

~That’s sad, but true...but very sad.~

April and I exchange sympathetic looks, and Blaze sees it and frowns. “Don’t look at each other like that. I don’t feel sorry for myself, so you don’t need to feel sorry for me.”

A guy with a box of muffins is walking by us among the students in the hallway.

Blaze takes his arm from around me, and April and I stop walking as he reaches over and grabs a muffin from the box. The guy, who’s wearing big glasses, looks at him disapprovingly.

“You can’t. These are for my Scouts Club.”

“Oh yeah? Well, pretend I’m part of it then,” Blaze says before taking a bite of the muffin.

I furrow my brows, and the guy looks angry. I can tell he wants to say something else, but Blaze raises his eyebrows in a challenge, daring him to speak.

Defeated, the guy looks away and continues down the hallway.

April swats Blaze’s arm, and he winces. “That was a very ‘bully’ thing to do.” She shakes her head, and I couldn’t agree more. That was mean.

“Bully? Since when is sharing considered bullying?” He looks genuinely confused, and his cousin sighs.

“You are completely hopeless, Blaze Xander.”

“I tell my dad that all the time,” he replies, showing no sign of regret on his face.

“Anyway, see you two later, my class is this way.” She points in the opposite direction, and I wave as she walks away.

“Now to boring English. I’d rather someone put a rope around my neck and pushed me off a chair.” Blaze offers me the half-eaten muffin, and I shake my head, giggling at his comment.

“I’m good. Mr. Jones was much worse, I might add.”

“Why don’t we skip school and go to my place? My dad isn’t there, and we could watch some horror—I mean, romance movies. Whatever you like.”

I smile softly at his suggestion. “Since when did you start liking romance movies?” I tilt my head, watching as he shrugs.

“Since I saw how into it you were. Your facial expressions were more interesting than the movie itself.”

He finishes the muffin, and I smile softly. I had no idea he had been watching me when we watched that romance movie together.

I’m not a fan of skipping school, but the idea of spending time alone with him is too tempting to resist.

“Okay.” I nod. “Let’s do that.”

His face lights up at this, and it’s so beautiful that I would probably skip school every day just to see this reaction.

But of course, his handsome smiles won’t help me pass college, so skipping school today is enough. I won’t do this again.

At least, I’ll try not to.

***

~“I can be your hero, baby.”~ Blaze is clutching his chest dramatically as he sings ‘Hero’ by Enrique Iglesias. He’s clearly in a ridiculously good mood.

I’m giggling in my seat because he sounds terrible, but it’s so entertaining. I’ve missed his awful singing in his car with the radio blasting—it makes me feel alive.

I remember the day he overheard me singing while I was playing the piano in the music room, and part of what happened after that was him confessing that he’d pay to hear me sing any day.

Well, it’s pretty much the same for me. I would pay any amount to listen to his incredibly bad singing.

He’s moving his hips in his seat a bit too skillfully, and I watch him with my mouth open.

~“I can kiss away the rain.”~

I burst out laughing at his incorrect lyrics, and he looks at me, all thirty-two teeth bright and inviting. “What?”

“It’s ‘I will kiss away the ~pain~,’ not ~rain~, Blaze.”

He laughs. “Pretty much the same thing.”

“Yeah? How so?”

“Rain and pain are the same thing, you know. One’s just physical, the other’s...emotional.”

I tilt my head, intrigued by his theory.

“In movies, songs, books, and art, rain is often a symbol for sadness. It’s the gloomiest weather, right? The darkness represents the tough times you’re going through, and the raindrops are like tears.

“So, the dark clouds, which symbolize hard times, bring raindrops, which are like tears. Makes sense, right? So, rain and pain are the same thing.”

His argument is compelling. I’ve never thought about it that way before. I realize I could learn a few things from Blaze Xander that aren’t related to sex.

“You win this round.” I flash him a grin.

“Of course, sweetheart. I never lose.”

The pet name makes me blush, but he doesn’t notice as he reaches over to turn up the volume on his radio.

~“And I will stand by you, forever. You can take my breath away.”~

I smile softly.

If only he knew that he does, in fact, take my breath away.

I’m nodding along to the beat, listening more to his voice than the actual singer, when suddenly, the car jerks to a stop. A ~scraping~ sound of metal against metal echoes in the air.

“Whoa. What was that?” I glance at Blaze, who rolls his eyes at the car on his left that apparently scraped against his.

He turns off his radio, and his cheerful expression instantly turns dark.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he mutters as he opens his door and steps out.

I unbuckle my seatbelt to join him, looking through his tinted mirror to see him tapping on the window of the car next to us.

I walk around to his side as he knocks again, his jaw set. “Get out,” he commands. The window is dark, so I can’t see the person behind the wheel.

Looking at Blaze’s car, I see that it’s just a small scrape, nothing major. Maybe he could let this go?

“Blaze? It’s just a small scratch. It’s not a big deal.”

He knocks again, ignoring my comment. The person finally gets out of the black BMW. A guy.

He looks about our age, maybe a bit younger, and he looks genuinely sorry as he surveys the minor damage he caused.

“I’m really sorry. I dozed off for a second,” he says, and I can tell he’s sincere, judging by the guilt written all over his face.

I soften, but Blaze narrows his eyes and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, okay...but what are you going to do about my car?”

I wince. ~Why is he being so harsh? It’s just a small scratch.~

“I...” The boy swallows. “I don’t have much money—”

“Dude.” Blaze closes his eyes, and I watch as his temples tense. “I don’t give a shit. I just need you to fix my car.”

“I—I’ll have to call my insurance company; I don’t have much money on me. I go to Gaston’s High School, I only have—”

“Blaze.” I tug on his arm. “He’s probably a minor; just let it go.”

“Don’t your parents have money?” He pulls his arm away from me. “You’re driving this car, so it shouldn’t be a problem to fix mine.”

“I swear, I don’t have any money.” The guy looks like he’s about to panic, and I step forward.

“It’s okay, kid. You can go.”

Blaze shoots me a glare, but I ignore him.

The guy nods at me gratefully and quickly gets back in his car. He drives off down the street.

“Seriously, Harmony?” I hear Blaze say behind me.

I turn to face him. “I’ll pay for the scratch.” I start to reach into my pocket, but he hisses and runs a hand over his face.

“I don’t want your money. It wasn’t your place to step in.”

“He’s a kid. He’s probably about seventeen. He said he didn’t have any money, and he apologized.”

Blaze snickers dryly as he shakes his head, and I stare at him, wondering why he’s being such a jerk.

“Do you think saying sorry fixes everything, Harmony?”

I narrow my eyes.

“~Sorry~ doesn’t. If it did, why would we need police or laws? Why would words like ‘punishment’ and ‘penalty’ exist?

“~Sorry~ is just a word. ~Sorry~ doesn’t put broken pieces back together. It doesn’t make things the way they were, and it certainly doesn’t solve anything.”

“You can’t live like that. You can’t live this way, Blaze.”

“Well...that’s how I live. Don’t act like you don’t know that.”

I stare at him. Maybe he’s having a bipolar episode, or maybe this is just his ASPD talking. He lacks empathy and compassion for others, and I know he’s not doing it on purpose.

Now that I know about his condition, I can understand why he’s acting this way. It doesn’t upset me like it should.

I sigh. “Let’s just drop it, okay? Do you still want to watch that movie at your place? Let’s just go.”

I start to walk away when he grabs my hand. I look at him, and his expression slowly softens. “You...you still want to hang out with me after what just happened?”

I nod. “Yeah, I do.” I give him a small smile.

His lips curve slightly, and his eyes light up with an emotion I can’t quite identify. It’s not a bad one, though; I can tell that much.

“Come on.” I shrug. “Are you coming or—”

Suddenly, Blaze pulls me into his chest, cutting off my words as he wraps me in a tight embrace. His sudden show of affection catches me off guard, and I find myself melting into him.

He plants a kiss on my hair, and I hear a sigh escape his lips. It’s a sigh of pure contentment.

“I’m going to do better,” he murmurs into my hair. “I’m going to be a better man for you, Harmony...”

A soft smile plays on my lips as I close my eyes, my arms coming up to hold him just as tightly.

“I know, Blaze...I know.”