CHAPTER SEVEN: UNTOUCHABLE

The devil's agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not? 
-Arthur Conan Doyle

The four teenagers were still outside though it was past midnight and pitch dark, their game of Hide and Seek quickly turned into something more serious in all their eyes.

Hiders went to extreme lengths not to be caught and the seekers often used their best friends to find them if it went on too long. A point system was made, so far Xavier was the best seeker and Calum was the best hider.

Emma would be better, if she didn't nervously laugh every time a seeker got close to her and found herself quickly loosing point. The angel was caught giving her pity time and purposely ignoring her tiny giggles, though he could very easily pin-point her location.

Her best friend and Xavier offered little mercy.

Though after a little while, they did agree to the fact all the lights fading the darkness away would be cut off, and the hiders would be able to run away. That brought the rule that hiders had to be touched for five seconds to be caught, but after everyone discovered catching the Wolf boy was impossible, the catching rule went back to normal.

Jessamine was surprisingly scary at the game, not being able to see anything but would snap her head right towards the hiders and freeze, as if stalking prey.

She was crazy, and would laugh after before chasing her prey down.

That, however, was her downfall, as she would often slow herself and let everyone slip away.

Currently, they were starting a round after Calum had caught Xavier because he, trying new spots, was sitting on the pool's diving board and had no place to run without getting wet. Emma hadn't moved from her hiding spot from the previous round and realized that a moment too late after the Devil's low counting had cut off—he had found her when trying to hide himself, and nearly got caught by growling at her.

That being said, he was either purposely giving her time to move, or already in the area just waiting to pounce.

She didn't like how likely the last option was.

The Hilton's home was large, their backyard was even bigger, there was two sheds, a pool and a back deck as well as large flower bushes and a few trees, as well as a low roof to hide behind.

Being as stunningly smart as she is, Emma knew at this point that they all knew she was afraid of heights due to a day in photography class where she feverishly refused to join them all in one of the large willow trees Xavier liked so much. That meant none of them would expect her to be on the roof of the tallest shed, where it was flat and stable and even had a ladder on the side.

Emma was right about that, just forgot that for everyone else this wouldn't be a smart place for them to hide, but a regular one. Something Xavier proved, and proved again when she heard him grab the metal ladder with a sharp 'ting' while she was picking up the courage to swing over the edge to get down.

It would worse at this moment too, because she knew anyone could jump from this height and be fine, hell the top of the shed was only an inch or two from Xavier and Calum's height.

She was just scared, apparently unreasonable.

Not to mention, being hunted down by who is most likely the scariest person she knows when the consequence to losing is decided by the winner—considering both groups, that was probably Jessamine, and her being her best friend would offer no peace—wasn't exactly a safe feeling either.

Though, it probably shouldn't have thrilled her the way it did.

Adrenaline rushes never bothered Emma, which in retrospect that and her having suicidal tendencies wasn't a good thing when merged together.

"You up here still, Princess?" Xavier asked, his smirk all too obvious in his voice.

"It'd be stupid to say no, right?" Emma asks in reply, glaring at where his silhouette pulls itself over the edge, further alerting her to his presence. "Stupid Wolf senses."

He scoffs, "You're the one who didn't change your hiding spot."

Emma continues to grumble, arms crossing. "You're annoyingly good at this, you know that? Why can't you go find Jessie, you need more points, she needs less. It's simple math."

Shrugging, Xavier sits on the roof next to her, ultramarine blue eyes glinting ever so slightly in the brief light the far street sign provides. The look he's giving her, a familiar one, sends her heart racing.

Being around him wasn't as thrilling as it would seem, really.

It was normal now, comfortable too.

Once a few moments had past, and bickering between them and grumbling on Emma's part ended. 

The more Emma tried to look around, the easier it was for her to see in the dark and knowing how easily and quietly Xavier moved she didn't doubt that his eyes adjusted well before hers -that or he just expertly knows his way around and given this is his house, that's quite possible. 

But even as she could now see—kinda—everything around was just boring and distracting all in one. 

She leaned back against the half edge and closed her pearl grey eyes, making Xavier fully turn to her, not expecting this reaction. Emma didn't care what he thought at the moment and just focused on the sound. 

Moments of peace was rare, there really was nothing around. 

The soft sounds of Xavier's breath, a few chittering bats somewhere above, crickets and the low sound of the water moving just barely in the pool because of the wind that whistled around the roof top.

Emma wasn't even that scared anyone, even if the fading adrenaline still buzzed in her ears. The wind was nowhere near biting, but in contrast to the hell-fire radiating off of the devil, it was cold.

The brunette blinked her eyes opened and looked back over to Xavier, who was still content in the quiet moment between them. Despite already knowing how he felt under her fingertips, Emma hadn't really ever taken the time to memorize Xavier and could scold herself for it. 

Xavier Wolf was a built, tall boy who was known for his sharp looks and square jaw. He was hot, that much was obvious. But he was also kind of pretty, with his contagious boyish grin and crinkling blue eyes when he laughed. With his soft touches and the small half-looks he'd give when he's being playful instead of cocky.

And his dimples.

Oh god, his dimples.

Past the details of his face, that she also was scolding the night for hiding, Emma was able to focus on his expression—the lazy smirk splayed on his lips, one black eyebrow raised, how he didn't care to brush the classical black hair from his face. 

Xavier's attractive and he knows it. 

Emma gently placed her hand on his cheek before slipping her fingers down to trace his jaw. It wasn't often at all that she got to touch him freely, entirely on her own accord. 

The Devil didn't specifically put up a boundary or say she couldn't, hell they had sex, touching wasn't a problem for them—touching without sex involved, without explicit purpose, with no rush, just intimate closeness and silent thoughts—but things like this were rare.

Still, it was half shocking when instead of touching her back or asking for more, the Wolf boy just shut his eyes and leaned into her touch. She continued to trace his jaw before lightly touching along the ridge of his cheekbones, then pressing down on his dimples and thumbing the slant in his nose -proof he's broken it.

It was safe to say at this point, their game was forgotten.

Xavier gives a small gasp when Emma presses down on his bottom lip, and she realizes that he had been holding his breath, hands clenching on his lap as she touched him. 

It was moments like this that reminded Emma as much as he affected her, and was the most annoyingly smug asshole about it, she affected him too. This didn't feel like a moment to be cocky about, didn't feel like she wanted to brag. 

This felt soft, like she could do it for hours or until he finally caved and kissed her the way she's dying to be kissed.

What would be the point of kissing though, when it didn't lead to sex. When kissing like this, sweet intimacy, wasn't something friends did. They weren't friends, you see, but they weren't anything more.

Which would not be what their bodies would say. 

Or maybe Emma was overthinking again and needed to let it go, that labels didn't matter because it was obvious, so so obvious, that the Devil liked her. It's the only conclusion that made sense.

Still, sometimes it confused Emma to realize that when some people heard Devil they thought of her Wolf boy, how they thought he really was one. They had no clue just how human he was.

People, especially the half-developed idiots in her school, talked about him like he was untouchable. Like he wasn't human, or at least didn't have human feelings just because he looks a little scary, how the growling and the sharp teeth could make him something demonic more than merely abnormal. 

Like a fallen angel that was unshakably violent, heartless, a monster. Not that them thinking that was all their fault. 

Xavier was cruel, Emma will admit that. He hasn't beaten more people than she's known, she's been arrested more times than she can count on one hand. He's bright, sometimes scarily so, but instead of using that for purely academics he uses it to observe people. 

Maybe that would be so bad, if he ever shared what he noticed. 

But he doesn't.

It made sense to Emma, why people would be scared of him. Hell, if they weren't, something was probably wrong with them or they were okay dying just like her.

Because they've never kissed him like she has and held close enough to make the entire world disappear, they've never been beneath him with his teeth digging into their shoulder but his hands on their waist being so, so gentle that it almost hurts more. 

They didn't know what it was like to feel safe in crowds when he was walking behind them, or how he was always just one call, if not one pleading look away. 

They didn't know what he looked like when he smiled, or bit his lip and threw his head back. 

They didn't know he was probably the most dorky and passionate person in the world when it came to Photography, or that he liked the slow, sappy love songs that made her own best friend gag and slam the radio off. Or how deep his dimples were, how he has two on the left side of his mouth or that there's a scar on the side of his jaw often hidden by stubble or the slight tilt of his head.

This was the same boy who likes to cuddle after sex and growls if she moves too soon but he's also the one who uses that same growl to scare someone he's already broken the bones of. So she gets why she should be afraid of him. 

Yet she also understands how she'll never be able to. 

Xavier himself knows this probably isn't a good thing, knows he'll probably give her pain just like everyone else she's around. They're young and reckless and fast-falling, heartbreak and pain is inevitable.

None of this stops Emma from cupping his face with her hands and pulling him close.

"Kiss me." She says, and ignores the pull at her heart as he presses his lips into her palm, fingers gentle as they turn her wrist.

The Devil grins, pressing another kiss teasingly to her cheek, "Took you long enough to ask."

Then he kisses her and it feels like the universe paused itself, just to make time for the two of them.

No one can touch them when they're like this.