Page 119 of Goldsin

A boy born of abuse doesn’t fear fighting for affection.

“Damn it, Aurelia!” I shout. “You’re not thinking clearly! You can’t just go around killing people without knowing the consequences! You can’t just give yourself away so easily!”

She inches closer. “Watch me.” Her voice holds chilling resolve as she stares at me, daring me to stop her.

We taint the surrounding air with anger. It’s palpable between us as we feed it to one another. Her opposition is only fueling me, and as I stare down at her, green eyes blinking up at me, I can’t help but drown in how fucking beautiful she looks.

There’s something admirable about the trust, the strength, she puts in herself.

At my silence she adds, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make things right.” Her eyes narrow. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“I don’t think so.”

At my calmness she snaps, grabbing the nearest pillow and hurling it at my face. It hits me square in the nose.

I’m too stunned to react.

Her eyes round as she remains frozen, perched on the bed. Waiting.

Did she just ... throw a pillow at my face?

In a second I’m lunging forward on the bed to get a hold of her. Anticipating my move, she leaps off anddarts to the other side of the room, as far away from me as possible.

“Come on, Julian!” she laughs.

She grabs a plush elephant toy from a nearby shelf and doesn’t hesitate, throwing it in my direction. This time I dodge it.

“Is that the best you can do?” she jeers.

Did I just create a monster? Maybe I shouldn’t have woken her up. Isn’t 3 a.m. the devil’s hour or some shit?

“What? You’ve lost your words?” She snatches anything her little fingers touch and throws it at me.

A navy book first.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what a bad girl I am?”

Pink and yellow pencils follow next.

“You can’t kill Victoria, Aurelia.” She mocks me by trying—but failing—to copy my voice.

Then erasers in the shape of little watermelons hit me in the chest, and I just stand there incredulous as I watch them hit the floor.

“I’m going to have so much fun slitting her throat.” She punctuates each word, making sure I catch every single one before tossing rolled-up socks toward me.

I move my hand quickly and stop the collision midair. Snatching the pair for myself, I throw them back at her, hitting her right in the face.

Time seems to stop, and we both stare at one another, panting and wide-eyed. She glances down at the pillow and then back at me before bursting into laughter. And despite everything, I can’t help but feel a smirk tugging at the corner of my own lips.

It’s been so long since the last time I heard her laugh.No—that’s a lie. I heard her laugh a lot of times with Adrian. Too many times. But it’s been so long since she last laughed with me.

It only took her throwing a pillow at me to make her laugh. I’d let her suffocate me with them if it’d keep that serene, genuine look on her face.

“All right.” I close the distance between us. “You think you can just run around doing whatever the hell you want? Let’s see how you like this.”

Without leaving her time to react, I yank her against me, trapping her wrists behind her back with my hand. She cranes her neck back as I force her to look up at me, her chin pressing on my pecs.

Her laughter dies.

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