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Not wanting to go back to the emotional turmoil Caden’s soft breath had lifted her out of, Hallie closed her eyes, trying to shut out the world, wanting to only feel Caden’s arms around her. Instead, she got a flash of her glimpse from last night. The scorching flames shooting up to the sky. No buildings or visible location. No people. Just flames. Hot and loud. Red, orange, with big sparks. She opened her eyes with a jolt.
Caden’s arms loosened around her, then tightened again. “You okay?” He asked, his hushed voice filled with concern.
Hallie nodded, swallowing back the momentary panic that flooded her. Then she whispered, “I was just thinking, would you mind if we stopped at the grocery store on the way back? I could make us some dinner before you have to leave. I mean, unless -”
Caden smiled down at her and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her head. “I would love that. Thank you. And thank you for coming with me.”
“You’re welcome.” Hallie leaned into him, content to be his pillar of strength as much as he was hers. She loved the feeling of his arms enveloping her. His soft puffs of air grazed against her temple. She was surrounded by him. Protected by him. Just like she had been last night. He’d clearly felt her shudder when the glimpse went through her, but he hadn’t said more than just to ask if she was okay. He wasn’t freaked out, nor did he try to ignore it because it made him uncomfortable. She only hoped her ability wouldn’t prove to be too much for him.
***
Caden followed Hallie around the grocery store pushing the shopping cart as she filled it with all the ingredients to make a baked mac and cheese dish. “I thought we could both enjoy some comfort food tonight,” she said. And he couldn’t agree more. Though the comfort he found in simply being with her far surpassed anything any food could give him.
When she’d told him about not having pancakes unless she was at her parents’ house, he’d assumed she didn’t cook, but apparently Hallie could cook, just not pancakes. That made him smile. He liked that he could offer her something that meant so much to her that she couldn’t quite do herself.
They were standing in the produce section looking at all the possible fixings for a salad. “Romaine or Iceberg?” Hallie asked, bringing his attention back to the present moment.
“Romaine.” Caden answered.
Hallie smiled. “Good choice.” She put a package in the cart. “Okay, we’re done, and now I’m super hungry.” They made their way through the store to the front and got in line at one of the registers where there were just two people ahead of them.
He stood with Hallie next to him and a little ahead of him with his hand on the small of her back as he scanned the store for any possible dangers. It was something he always did, wherever he went. It was originally part of his training, but had become second nature to him.
While his eyes continually scanned their surroundings, his thoughts were on Hallie, and how he wanted to invite her over to his place. But he’d left his apartment a mess, and he didn’t want that to be her first impression of him. Daily tidying would have to be added to his list of things to do in the mornings if he wanted to have her over.
He watchedas Hallie paged through a celebrity gossip magazine. She skipped over some stories, while getting engrossed in others. Suddenly, she grabbed a hold of the cart as if she’d lost her balance, but nothing and no one had touched her. Caden closed the small distance between them and placed a hand under her elbow for extra support. “Hallie?” He asked.
A moment later, she brushed a hair out of her face and smiled up at him. “I’m okay.” She put the magazine back on the rack just as it was their turn to pay.
Caden wanted to ask about what had just happened, which seemed oddly similar to whatever she’d reacted to back at the funeral, but he’d wait until they were back to her apartment. He had a feeling what it could be, but he hoped he was wrong.
***
Once they got back to her place, they changed out of their funeral attires into jeans and t-shirts, and Hallie put her hair up in a messy bun near the top of her head. She looked relaxed, and the light in her eyes every time she looked at him let him know she was happy. He loved that about her. If he had gone to the funeral alone, and then gone home, he would’ve been a wreck the rest of the day and probably stuck in a pit of depression and self-loathing for all the things he could’ve done that may or may not have saved Beeker’s life.
Having Hallie with him kept those thoughts at bay. Even without any armor or weapons, this slip of a woman was protecting him from himself, from his demons, and he knew he would do anything to help her with hers.
Hallie set him up chopping the veggies for the salad while she prepared the baked mac and cheese. “Hallie?” He asked as he stood beside her in her small kitchen. “What happened back at the funeral and then again at the grocery store?”
Hallie carefully emptied a box of pasta into a pot of boiling water before she spoke. “It was just the fire. There’s nothing we can do about it and I won’t stop seeing it until it happens.”
A cold shiverran through his body, as his hand with the knife stopped mid-air. “What does that mean? You won’t stop seeing it until it happens?”
Hallie shrugged. “That’s just how it’s always been. The universe feels it has to remind me of what’s to come. Once it happens, it stops. Until the next one. Then it starts all over again.”
Caden couldn’t believe what she was telling him. And she was saying it like she was relating last night’s game stats instead of this earth-shattering information about her ability.
She kept seeing the horrific events over and over again? Caden swallowed back the bile that threatened to rise from the pit of his gut, and returned to chopping the carrots, not sure what to say.
Suddenly, Hallie bolted to the television and turned on a news station. A reporter with long dark hair and dark eyes sat at the news desk. “A breaking story tonight unfolds as two teenagers are rushed to the hospital with massive burns after a bonfire they startedgot out of control. Both teens are in critical condition as they fight for their lives in the burn unit. There were two other teens present at the scene who were left uninjured.”
The reporter was about to segway into another story when Hallie turned off the TV. “It’s done,” she said, and walked back to the kitchen to check on the pasta.
Caden stood, unmoving in the middle of the room. His legs felt glued to the spot as he watched her go on with her life. She wasn’t uncaring. Just the opposite. Her expression was contrite, her eyes shone with tears, her mouth was pursed and her cheeks pink. She knew how to deal with it, while all he could do was stand there processing.
Once the mac and cheese was in the oven, Hallie turned to face him. “I just like when it’s over because the fog in my head lifts and I can really feel like myself again. At least for a while.” When he didn’t say anything, Hallie said, “I know it’s a lot. If this is too much -”
At that moment, Caden pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his mouth attacking hers with such vigor that she opened for him instantly and his tongue barged in with an urgency he couldn’t rein in. He led her toward the bed and lowered her on her back, following her down as she went, never separating his mouth from hers. Breathless and hungry with desire by the time he pulled back, she lay with her head on the comforter, looking up at him, uncertainty blazing in her gaze.
