When Opposites Attract - Chapter 20

First off, I’d like to answer a question that floppy Disc proposed. The reason that Kaia and Mateo’s coven didn’t know about their relationship was because none of their other coven members went to school - only Mateo and Kaia, because they all looked old enough to pass for someone who had just left school, but Mateo Kaia didn’t. Also, they both live in pretty secluded spaces (Kaia lives in a street with humans, but her house is covered by a thicket of trees). Hope I cleared up your confusion. Oh, and to Lina, I assure you that I never intended to sound snappy. Sorry if I did. =) And to those of you who asked if I made the lullaby that was in the end of the previous chapter of When Opposites Attract, yes, I did - I’m glad you like it! This chapter is dedicated to Janet, because her comment made me smile so much that it actually made my face hurt. So thank you, Janet! This is for you. =)
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‘I’d like you to come and meet my coven.’ We were sitting on the edge of a field near the park that we usually visited.

I glanced up sharply, assuming I’d heard wrong. ‘What?’

Mateo’s fingers danced across the green grass. ‘I’d like you to come and meet my coven,’ he repeated.

My mouth gaped open, ‘What?’

He rolled his eyes, ‘I said, I want you to come and-’

‘No, no, I know, I know what you said, but….why?’

Mateo laughed nervously, and I was momentarily surprised. Mateo was never nervous. It just wasn’t…wasn’t him. ‘Well, I…’

I had the odd feeling that he was just thinking of his explanation now. ‘I think, because we’ve taken our relationship public at school, then we could take it public…out of school.’

I sighed, and ran a shaky hand through my already dishevelled hair. I knew that what Mateo was asking of me would take our relationship to the next level, a more intense level. ‘I…I don’t know.’ I gulped and avoided eye-contact. ‘I mean, they don’t even know we’re friends, so-’

I stopped momentarily when something flashed across Mateo’s face, streaking through his eyes, leaving behind…pain? ‘Are you Okay?’ I asked him, concerned. I reached out my hand and curled it around his forearm, and small goosebumps rubbed against my palm. I frowned. ‘What’s wrong, Matt? Are you ill?’

He slowly shook his head, and my gaze veered away from his, and I narrowed my eyes, watching him askance. I planted the back of my hand against his forehead, feeling for any steady rising heat. I felt nothing but the average warmness I usually did.

‘I-I’m fine,’ he said, gazing somewhere past my left ear, and, once again, I found myself in a state of confusion.

‘Matt, come on. Tell me what’s wrong.’ I was persistent, but he wouldn’t let. I felt hurt. I had thought that we kept no secrets from eachother, that we could tell eachother everything. Our current conversation was proving me very, very wrong.

‘Kaia…’ he started slowly.

My hopes were instantly raised. ‘Yes?’

‘I…I need to –‘ We were cut off by a small, girlish shriek. We turned around in unison to see two small figures running towards where we were sat, with a weary-looking adult following close behind. I glanced back at the two children, and blinked in surprise when my eyes met with the very same girl that had got her Frisbee stuck in the tree.

I grinned. ‘Hello, girl with the Frisbee!’

She giggled and covered her hand with her mouth, while the woman that I presumed was her mother gave an eye roll. ‘I’m not girl with the Frisbee, silly! I’m Phoebe.’ she giggled some more and pointed to a similar looking boy standing next to her, grinning, allowing me to see that his two front teeth were missing. ‘And this is Sam, remember? My brother – the one who got my Frisbee stuck in the tree.’ She gave her brother a disapproving, pursed lip scolding look, complete with the exasperated hands on the hips gesture. I grinned; she would make a good mother.

‘I remember,’ I was surprised when it was Mateo’s mouth these words came from.

The little girl - Phoebe - turned to face Mateo and squealed even more. ‘Mum, look!’ She pointed excitedly to Mateo, who smiled, embarrassed. ‘That’s the man that got down my Frisbee!’

Phoebe and Sam’s mother - a pretty woman, tall, with a high forehead and fine, blonde hair - smiled. ‘That’s nice, sweetie. And did you say thankyou?’

They both chorused a ‘thankyou’ in that cute little voice that all kid’s have before finally growing up and being faced with the world’s cynicism.

After a few more minutes of polite conversation, Phoebe, Sam and their mother made their way, but not before their mother – Rhea, as I had found out was her name – called back over her shoulder, ‘You two make a great couple.’
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We were walking hand-in-hand along the beach, our feet digging into the golden brown sand, leaving our imprints. I liked that. A trail of us- of what we had been doing. The sun shone brightly, illuminating everything in its path, while the waves bounced back and forth.

We finally settled down onto a rocky patch near the cliff’s edge. I sat comfortable between Mateo’s legs, my back resting in his front, while my knees were pulled up to my chest, and my head was tucked back into his neck, while he planted soft butterfly kissed on my exposed throat.

‘Kaia,’ he said softly.

‘Mmm?’ I murmured distractedly, my gaze fixed on the beautiful, infused, orange and red sunset.

‘Do you…do you ever think about the future?’

I was surprised at his question. ‘Of course. All the time.’

‘What do you want to be when you’re older?’

I settled back more comfortably against him and pondered, ‘Well, I’ve thought about being a psychologist. I mean, it’s interesting if you think about it – trying to decipher the pattern of human mind, trying to crack the code of someone’s mind so you can get through to them.’

He nodded thoughtfully. ‘What do you wanna be?’ I asked him, my finger tracing circles on his knee.

‘I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. There are so many people out there who die from illnesses that can’t be cured, and I’d like to use my power to my advantage so…well, so I can help them.’ It was such a…well, such a sweet statement that I turned around and hiked myself up on my knees, bringing my face down next to his and smoothing his cheeks.

‘I bet one day you’ll be an Awesome doctor,’ I whispered, tilting my head to the side like a small child.

A small whisper of a smile ghosted across his lips. ‘I hope so.’ He circled his hand against my back soothingly.

We were silent for a few moments longer, just warm in eachother’s embrace. After a while, he said, ‘Kaia?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I…I meant what I said earlier.’

I frowned. ‘What did you say?’

He sighed and worried his bottom lip. ‘I…I want you to come and meet my coven.’

I swallowed hard. ‘Matt, you know that no one is really supposed to find out about us.’

‘I know,’ he said. ‘But…’

Something in his tone caused my senses to turn to red alert. ‘What?’

‘They…they know about you already.’

I gaped, and my eyes widened, and a lump was slowly and steadily building a block in my throat. ‘W-what?’ I choked out

He looked sad and very, very guilty. ‘When I phoned you, you remember that time when you wouldn’t talk to me because of what I did to…Dan?’ I ignored the way he said my human friend’s name, as if it were the most repulsive thing, and nodded. He continued, ‘Well, they eventually got your name out of me.’

My breathing started to get faster and faster, until I was full-on hyperventilating.

Mateo looked startled, and hurriedly jumped up onto his knees and planted one hand on my back. ‘Shhh, it’s Okay,’ he whispered, and I could feel his power working it’s way through my bloodstream, slowing down my breathing, evening my senses. ‘Just Breathe.’

When I recovered from my brief lapse, I gasped, ‘What are we going to do now?’

He still had me in his arms, and his grip on me tightened and he stroked my hair tenderly. ‘Kaia, Kaia, shhh, it’s Okay. Relax. They don’t mind.’

That stopped me short. ‘They don’t?’ I was astonished. Why didn’t they mind? They were supposed to! We were enemy covens, they were supposed to hate me and disagree with out relationship and do whatever it takes to stop it…so why weren’t they doing any of that?

Mateo shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, and I couldn’t help but pause and marvel at how beautiful he looked in the setting sun. I reached up and brushed his hair back with my fingers. ‘No. They said that…that they want to meet you,’ something in his voice made me look up. He looked strained, and he sounded strange.

‘You don’t want me to come and meet them,’ even though I never meant it, the words came out as an accusation.

His eyes flew wide open, having previously been narrowed into a sleepy, down-cast gaze. ‘What? No! No, of course not.’ I knew he meant the words he said, and I apologized.

‘Sorry. I - I didn’t mean it like that. I just…’ I trailed off and gave a shrug of my shoulders. I didn’t even know what I meant.

‘I want you to come and meet my coven,’ he said, looking me right in the eye. ‘I really do. But I really, really want you to like them.’

My face softened. Awww. He wanted me to like them! ‘Of course I will,’ I soothed, even though my words were in great contrast to what I had said to him on the first day I met him. ‘If they’re anything like you, then I will definitely like them.’

He gave that cute, boyish smile that I loved so much, and teased. ‘Okay, but don’t love them too much,’ his voice turned - mock-stern. ‘I won’t be very happy ff that happens.’

I giggled. ‘Oh, come on, they can’t all be boys.’

‘They’re not. But the guys that are there…are…ah…’

‘Dominant?’ I guessed, one eyebrow raised.

He gave a playful growl and bit into my neck. I took that as a yes. ‘Just like you.’

He pouted against my neck. ‘I am not.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Oh, well excuse me Mr. You-Can’t-See-Dan-Because-I’m-Jealous-Of-Him. Forgive me for thinking different.’

He unburied his face from my neck and swiftly swooped in to kiss me on the lips. ‘Okay, well maybe I’m just a little bit dominant.’

That earned him another eye-roll. ‘Understatement of the millennium. But that’s Okay. I like you being dominant.’

A quick flash of a grin, then–

He flew at me, knocking me back into the sand and placing himself on top of me, above me, and his face was just millimetres away from mine. ‘How do you like me now?’ His breath was low and husky, and his eyes already midnight blue eyes had darkened. The predator in him showing itself.

‘A lot,’ I whispered.

And then his face was at my neck, and he was kissing and nibbling my skin while I closed my eyes and just listened to the whooshing of the waves.

‘Tell me you’ll come and meet my coven,’

His sensual assault on my neck, my face, was making me too breathless, and he growled, ‘Tell me.’

‘Yes,’ I gasped, my hands reaching up to clutch at his shirt, anything to get him closer to me. ‘Yes.’

‘Say the words, Kaia,’ he whispered into my ear, biting my earlobe gently.

‘I-’ I cut off, gasping as his teeth sunk into the sensitive spot on my neck. I moaned.

‘Tell me,’ he carried on kissing me.

‘I’ll come,’ I panted, my fingers digging into his flesh. ‘I’ll come and meet your coven.’

And only then did he left his head and kiss me on the lips. ‘Good,’ he whispered.

I pulled his head back down to mine.