She wore fire like a crown and when the Devil looked her way you can be sure he winked.
-JM Wonderland

Hayden just finished explaining to Xavier and me that it was all his fault, that Camille was a cover since Hayden knew Cameron was more likely to go easy on his sister than her asshole boyfriend and he knew what my reaction would be if I found out, but didn't think I would find out because he thought Cam wouldn't tell me until he looked everywhere.

The Devil's fists clenched and I heard his deep breath. "So you knew that Emma'd panic. That it would hurt her?" 

Everyone could hear how deadly his voice was, I was the only one who wasn't afraid. 

"Yea...yeah I guess." Hayden mumbles.

"So you intentionally did something that you know would hurt her?" Xavier voice is cold as Hayden nods, I step forward as his back muscles flex. "Good enough for me."

Then suddenly Hayden is on the floor and Xavier stands over him, shaking out his now injured fist with a shrug. 

Thankfully the idiot with a bloody nose quickly scrambles to hit feet, accepting the fact that he was punched and can do nothing about it.

"And you said my actions were extreme." I mutter, getting a eye roll from the Devil himself. Turning to Hayden I quickly usher him out of the house, stopping him on my front porch for a second. "Is Cam going to be here?"

He nods, a small smile making it's way on his face despite how bruised it is. "Yeah, he just had to go do something first." 

Soon he's gone and a breath of relief washes over me. 

I close the door, leaning against it while carefully clutching onto my dad's dragon ring again. 

"That's how you got scars." A deep voice in front of me says, I open my eyes and lift my head to see Xavier leaning against the living room's entrance watching me. 

Frowning I give a confused look. 

I don't have that many scars, most of them are from goofing around or from my grandparents farm -the one I go to every summer.

There's one on my knee cap where I trusted Cameron enough to catch me when I jumped down from the horse pen's fence. Some on my ankles from the roosters. One on my arm where I broke my wrist, on my hip where I feel on a shovel that Julian had propped up after we helped his mom plant her garden. A ragged one on my scalp where my mom smashed a bottle into me.

It takes me a few seconds to realize he's talking about the three small ones I have on my palm, where the dragon currently is held.

"Uh, yeah." I say frowning. "How did you notice those?"

The Devil shrugs, eyes drifting down to my clenched hands before snapping the blue back to my grey. "My observational skills are pretty sharp."

Right, wolf and all.

Just then the door bell rings, I twist around and open the door just a crack -throwing it wide with a smile when Cameron's face pops up. 

He laughs and pulls me straight in for a hug, I wrap my arms around his waist. 

"Cam. You're here." I pause, looking at the bag in his arms. "And you brought doughnuts!"

"It's odd that you're more excited about food than seeing me." Cameron chuckles, knowing not to take any of it to heart. "Hayden dropped by?"

I nod, glancing back to where Xavier is standing -watching us with a strangely guarded expression. "He got punched."

Cam winces, tsking at me while pointing a finger in my face. "Did you break his nose again Ems? I told you to stop punching that hard, you always bruise your knuckles too much." 

With a scowl I throw my hands up, thankful I'm not sore like I was yesterday. 

"I didn't punch him! Xavier did, I was just the one that let it happen." I explain, crossing my arms defensively. "He had it coming for always messing with you and making me get in the middle."

"Oh," My cousin says, shrugging. "That's okay then."

He shoves the bag of doughnuts into me, I gladly take them but chase after him with a glare as he bolts straight to the spot I was laying comfortably on in the living room before Hayden got here.

"Why is it okay for him to punch people but not me?" I ask defiantly. "And that's my spot, asshole."

"Oh please, the only spot you need is called Xavier's Lap and it's right over there." He points to where the Devil sits in a arm chair, watching us with a smirk -meeting my gaze with a wink that makes me flush. "And he's better equip for it. Chances are they won't punch him back, but you hurt yourself punching and will get hurt if they decide to hit you back. Just looking out for ya, Ems." 

"I can handle myself." I say defensively, glancing back to Xavier. 

He actually does look pretty comfy. 

With a raised eyebrow he offers me a hand, a clear invitation to prove Cameron right. With a inward sigh I grab it, letting him pull me towards him.

Lifting my hips up Xavier sits me in the center of his lap, tucking a arm around my waist as his other hand rests across my thighs -his fingers brushing a gentle pattern on the top. The Devil's head rests on my own, his chest to my back.. 

The most comfortable place I could be.

I consider it the safest too.

"Yeah," Cam snorts. "But obviously he handles you much better."

"Shut up." I hiss, narrowing my eyes as I notice the duffel bag by his feet. "Are you spending the night or something?"

"Yeps." Is all he says. 

"Why?"

"Camille's insane and Hayden's spending the night. I don't want to hear that so I'm crashing here until morning. Where's Jessie and Jules?" He asks, I nod at his explanation. 

"Jessie is with Cal, her boyfriend, in the basement and Julian is back at college. Missed your chance dude." I snicker at his expense. "Should have come when I moved out." 

"I was with a chick." He whines, making Xavier chuckle under me. I'm sure his grin is feral. 

"And that's more important how? Chances are you don't remember her name but they're your family man. Dick move to bail out just for a quick fuck." Both me and Cameron wince at his harsh words. "Sorry." He says, his fingers start moving again. 

"Moving on," I declare awkwardly. "We need something fun to do tonight."

Bending his head Xavier's lips land next to my ear, making me shiver as his lips brush against me. "Like the fun we had last night?" The Devil asks suggestively, making me instantly blush and jerk away from his mouth. "Or something else?" He asks this in his normal voice, loud enough for Cameron to tell he's looking for suggestions.

"Hold on," Cam scrambles up. "I'll go find something to do with Jessie, she's always good at these things." We watching him leave, the second he does I look up to Xavier.

"Something else." I tell him, putting my hand over the one he has on my waist and pushing my fingers through his. 

He's so warm to me, like literal fire without burning. 

Hell fire, if you will. 

I wonder if my coldness ever bothers him.

He's also a giant to me, and now I'm wondering if my shortness is ever an issue for him.

"Is there anything you don't like about me?" I ask, twisting more so I can look him in the eyes while he answers me.

Once again he looks surprised at my question, about why I ask and what kind of answer I want -but with him I know it doesn't matter what I want he'll tell me the truth. 

He doesn't care about the consequences of the truth, but sometimes when he knows the truth is better kept a secret he stays silent.

It's why I don't ask Xavier questions he wouldn't give me the answer to.

Like why it's so difficult for us to be together but so easy for him to let us be together.

"Yeah," The Devil nods his head. Curiosity fills me, and he sees this. "Want to know?"

"I think I do now but that might change depending on how long you take." I grin, knowing I'm just kidding. If he doesn't like something about me that's honestly his problem. 

"Be warned," Xavier smirks. "You're you...this could take a while." 

I swat his shoulder, telling him to get on with it as I glare at him.

Rude teenagers.

Bah.

"I don't like the reason you have scars on your palm." He starts. I look away from him, ashamed. "I don't like how I can tell without asking you think it's your fault." That's because it is.

"I don't like when someone says the word 'bitch' just a little too loud you perk that cute head of yours up and look around like someone said your name." I'm used to someone calling me names.

"I don't like how you don't know how beautiful you are, even if now you accept you aren't ugly and I don't like how you don't notice all those people staring at what's mine, simply because you don't think you're worth looking at." Xavier says this with his blue eyes burning. 

What's mine.

I gulp, my eyes widening. 

He means me.

But he won't make me his.

Why does that hurt so much, we agreed to figure this out but it seems like the only thing I'm figuring out is him. 

I already know what I want to do here.

"I don't like how reckless you are sometimes, in those moments you act like you're immortal but all I'm thinking about is how easily you could die." My grey eyes widen as his body tenses, purely at the thought of me hurt.

I twist myself, straddling his thighs with my hands on his chest. He runs his hands over me, as if checking for injuries before they hold my cheeks between them.

The blue looks between me, as if trying to figure out something.

"I don't like how you act like getting hurt isn't a big deal." The Devil's voice is deadly. "But you getting hurt to me...that's the biggest mistake someone could make. And you laugh along with the people that hurt you, you joke while glass is pulled from your skin and you tell the ones that make you fall that you love them without telling them to stop. It's infuriating."

"I, I they don't mean to hurt me." I try to defend the Thatch siblings, Nolan, Cameron. The ones that have hurt me. "They just don't know it happens so easily. I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

"It shouldn't be a big deal," Xavier agrees. "But it shouldn't be a deal at all. There should be nothing to talk about here. When you punched the glass and Julian was doing a shit job of helping you you said nothing. When Jessamine fucking stabbed you with a pencil you laughed as if it was the funniest thing on earth. I can name more, but I shouldn't have to. I don't like that with you, I shouldn't have to but I could."

"I don't know how to, to respond to that." I stammer, eyes growing glossy. "They don't mean to hurt me." I find myself repeating this.

"I know." Xavier says, pulling in my head to peck my lips. I close my eyes, leaning further down until I can rest against his collar bone. "I don't like how hot you are."

"Hey!" I pull away at this, sending him a glare. "What's not to like?"

The Devil chuckles, his thumb brushing the sensitive spot on my neck he likes to bite so much. "Nothing, that's the problem Princess. You make me do things I've always been able to control," At this his velvet lips press into that very same spot, his teeth scraping against my skin. "Make me want to kiss you so fucking much, sometimes I think if I ever lost control and did that how much I want you'd never breath again." My breath hitches as he kisses the corner of my mouth. "Your cute little nose scrunches when you don't like something makes my heart pound and those giggles -fuck, they make me want to have you right then and there. The small pout you get when you find something sad make me want to do anything to get you to smile."

He confesses this all, and I feel my breath stall as I turn red -my own heart going berserk. 

Looking into his blue eyes, seeing how dark they seemed to get and I'm sure mine followed suit, I am unable to resist the urge to kiss him. 

He grabs my hips, pulling me up him as our lips work together -from there it quickly becomes I make out session.

"Oh my fucking god!" The familiar annoying as all hell voice of Cameron screams. 

I jerk away, Xavier biting my lip from surprise and being unwilling to pull away. He body thumps to the floor as he starts to dramatically roll around, I would yell at him to get up but I'm still catching my breath -my chest rapidly moving up and down in sync with Xavier's.

"My poor poor eyes, I'm never going to see again." Cam wails. "Why, why, why did you have to be on him? Doing that? My poor eyes. It was like watching a blob fish attack something much much much prettier." 

At this I glare at him, knowing in this situation I am the blob fish and the Devil, the Devil of all things, is the much much much prettier thing.

I can't disagree but still, how rude!

"Get up," Xavier literally growls. "Why the fuck did you come in here?"

Cameron's wild movement's instantly stop at the sound of the deep noise, he shoots me a look almost to ask if he should be afraid. 

I nod with a wide smirk, pleased with my Wolf boy scaring my cousin.

"We're playing truth, dare or shot." He explains, scrambling to his feet.

"We'll be there." The Devil declares, adding a deadly force to his glare. "She's not a blob fish and go away." 

I chuckle as Cam instantly does what he says, leaning down to kiss under his ear along his jaw -one spot on his body that I know gets him worked up in seconds. 

Then I shoot off his lap, dashing straight down the stairs before he can come out of his daze and bite me as a punishment for leaving him hanging.

Serves the Devil right.