Mixed Feelings - Chapter Three

I was walking through the dinning room when I almost ran right into Mark that came through the door. I was startled at first, but he walked right up to me as if nothing had happened the other night when he walked out on me after I had rejected his advances.  

"I'm sorry for walking out on you the other night. I was just frustrated, that's all. I don't want to push you into things you don't want to do," Mark explained. 

"Can you forgive me?" he asked. I couldn't say no, he was looking at me so pitiful. 

I'm not mad at you, I just don't want to rush into anything so fast," I told him. "Of course, we don't need to rush anything, let's just take it step by step," he replied.

Then he leaned over and kissed me. The kiss didn't long, he pulled away before I had time to even register what had just happened. It was not what I had expected at all. It took me off guard and it felt a little awkward. But I guess that's what first kisses are suppose to be like.

Later on that evening me and Mark were outside shooting some hoops. It was nice to just have some fun and not worry about anything. It was like the old times when we were just friends and not trying to make it all complicated.

I was winning in points when Dimitri showed up. "Its dark, you know how your mother doesn't want you out after it's dark. "Yeah it's late, I better be getting home too," Mark said. Mark walked over to me, giving Dimitri a look before he leaned over giving me a quick peck on the cheek. "See you around," he said before he left. Still standing outside with Dimitri, I watched Mark drive off. When he was gone, I turned to Dimitri. "What was the rush?" I asked. "It's late, neither of you need to be out this late," he said, then he turned and started walking into the house.  

I went inside and got ready for bed. I must have drifted off to sleep pretty fast. It was in the middle of the night when I woke up to strange noises.  

When I sat up, wiping sleep from my eyes, I noticed that the sounds were coming from outside. I slipped off the bed, heading for the window. I moved the curtains, peering outside to see if I could see anything.  

It was dark, all I could make out were two people fighting out by the garage. I squinted, pressing closer to the window, when they came into view. 

It was Dimitri and Chris sparing with each other. I continued to watch them, it was like watching a dance as they exchanged blows with each other. They both exchanged dangerous punches and kicks. They were both good, only getting a few hits on each other. I continued to watch as they continued to fight each other. 

I found myself drawn to them, I had no idea that both of my guards were hot. I had never paid attention before, I was always paying attention to Mark. As I watched them fight, I didn't realize how well trained they were in fighting. I had never watched them spar like this before. I started to feel guilty having these thoughts about my guards, knowing I had a boyfriend that was so in to me.  

Then something unexpected happened, their movements speed up and they were matching each others moves as their movements became blurred. They moved with such fierceness, that a faint light radiated from their movements. I blinked several times to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I look again and was shocked at what I was seeing. When they finished fighting, I watched them walk out of sight, shoving each other as they made remarks to each other. They seemed to get along pretty well when they were not in public. I went back to bed, letting my mind play back their fight. I drifted back off to sleep. 

The next day, I went out to play some ball with Dimitri, there he was in a black sleeveless tank top that showed off his lean muscles. He was breathtaking, how did I not notice him before. He tossed the ball and it bounced off the rim, heading right back at him. He shifted as the ball flew past him, barely missing him. 

I started to giggle, that's when Dimitri looked over at me with a weird look. "What is it?" he asked as he stood there waiting for my reply. "I thought you would be better with your kind of skills," I said as I giggled again. "Hey I might be good at fighting, but I'm not perfect," he replied.

It was the weekend and my parents were going to be away on business. I was instructed to stay with my two guards today. They chose to spend their time working out, so I had to had to hang with them in the gym. I had nothing better to do anyway, Mark was not coming over today, and I didn't want to hangout at the mall when my guards had to keep in shape. Chris burned up the treadmill and Dimitri was lifting weights, while I tried doing some stretches.  

As I was stretching, I looked over at Dimitri. I watched him work out on the bench, wondering how I never noticed how hot he was. He was lifting weights, not even paying me or Chris any mind. I continued to watch him, when I noticed a tattoo on his upper arm. It was only visible when he was in his work out clothes. It was always covered up when he was working. It looked like a beast with wings, probably had something to do with his job as a guardian. They took their jobs serious, that is what made them good at what they did. I finally made myself look away to go back to doing what I stared to do in the first place. I had to quit staring at him.  

That didn't last long, my eyes wondered again when he moved to kicking at a wooden dummy. He was graceful and precise with each kick. I bet at this point I was staring with my mouth hanging to the floor. 

Dimitri finished up with his workout, leaving me and Chris in the gym while he took a shower and changed. Dimitri came back in, when Sandy came through the door. She walked right over to him, starting up a conversation with him. They talked a few minutes, when I noticed Chris staring at Sandy. I knew that look from anywhere, he had a crush on Sandy. As they continued to talk, I found myself a little jealous of the way her and Dimitri could talk with such ease. Dimitri usually kept himself at a distance with me, other than for the first time the other day when he was trying to cheer me up. If I was a betting girl, I would have thought she had a crush on him. I looked over at Chris and he just looked crushed.  I couldn't blame him, I was getting a little jealous myself. Then I realized with a strange clarity, I had a crush on Dimitri. How did this happen, I thought to myself. He was older than me, it was forbidden to date a guardian. He wasn't a royal, but man I would break the rules for him any day.

"Stay here with Chris, me and Sandy have some work to do," he told me before he left. I watched him leave, leaving me and Chris to relax while they did whatever they had to do. I sat down on the bench as Chris settled down on the floor. I couldn't help but be nosy, "I see how you look at Sandy, you like her don't you?" I asked. He looked at me like I just figured out a big secret. "Yes I have liked Sandy for a long time. I just can never get up the nerve to ask her out, plus I think she likes Dimitri. I see how she looks at him.," he replied. "I don't see it, I think you are just paranoid," I told him. "Have you seen the guy, he's a walking hunk!!!" he said with amusement. 

"You are not giving yourself enough credit, I think you would have a chance, just as much as Dimitri. You should just ask her, I think she would go out with you, then you wouldn't keep wondering what if," I told him.

"Yeah, what about you little miss? I have seen how you have been staring at Dimitri all day. I can't blame you, most girls do that around him," Chris huffed. "Well that's different, I can't be with Dimitri for so many reasons. For one, he's older than me, my guardian and he's not royal. It's forbidden for us to be together," I replied. "I guess we both know how each other feels then," Chris  said. Dimitri poked his head in the doorway, get dressed, it's spar time. 

Chris headed to go get changed and I went outside to join Dimitri and Sandy who were already dressed in their training clothes. Chris joined us only moments later, wearing the same training outfit as Sandy. Dimitri wore a completely different outfit than the two of them. It was the same outfits they had on the other night I watched them fight each other. I jumped up and took a seat on the picnic table to watch them do what they do best. First up was Chris and Sandy, as Dimitri stood by observing them to teach them better techniques and point out any flaws they had.

Sandy was deadly, she could jump at incredible heights and could dodge kicks and punches with graceful movements. She was really good at it, she was sleek and tall with movements like a dancer. She was beautiful, I found myself wanting to be a lot like her. 

Chris tried really hard to get a blow in on her, but she was fast.

Then it was Dimitri and Sandy's turn. She was able to block a lot of  Dimitri's blows, but she wasn't as good as him. They didn't have the experience that he had, he grew up training to be a guardian and even had a fight with a Night Walker. That's how and why he was so good and why he was selected to teach others how to protect themselves and the ones they were protecting. He had faced them before and knew what they were like. They said he almost didn't survive, his skill and training that he had, allowed him to escape before they had a chance to kill him.  

Sandy was taking a few blows from Dimitri, so he slowed down to show her a few different moves. 

Dimitri was done and headed back into the gym. Chris walked over to Sandy that was picking up a towel from a nearby chair. I could hear them talking, as Chris was crushing on her. She seemed interested in Chris, I could see it by the way she was looking at him. I was a little surprised, all this time I had thought she had a crush on Dimitri. 

The next day after school, me and my best friend were walking home with Chris and Mark. Mark was paying no attention to me while he was talking to Chris. Out of nowhere she started drilling me, "Ok tell me!" she started. "There's nothing to tell," I replied. She was looking at me like I was full of crap. I just wasn't wanting to tell anyone about my crush on Dimitri. I knew I could trust her, but I wasn't sure what all these feelings I was having for Dimitri were, and what I truly felt about Mark. 

"Ok I get it, you and Mark!" she started just as I cut her off. "No, not that," I replied.

Then she did it, she used her magic. If had no time to react when I was hit right in the face with a cloud of mist. I was putty in her hands as I looked over at Mark and Chris who were laughing at us. "You," is all I got out as the spell began to work. "I see you guys later," Mark called out as he walked over to his car. 

"Tell me what's got you so distracted?" she asked.

I struggled to keep the words from coming out, but the truth spell left me not choice. "I've got a crush on Dimitri," I replied. She started to giggle. "I knew it, I knew you were acting strange. I can't blame you, he's very handsome. The best part of it, you get to see him all the time. What about Mark?" she asked. "I don't know, I'm not sure what I should do," I replied.