Free Broken Fairytales by Monica Alexander Page B

brother.
    “Ow! Shit!” I said, my hand instantly closing over the small painful circle of exposed flesh that appeared when my wrist collided with his lit cigarette . “Dammit! That hurts! ” 
    I looked up and glared at Chase, expecting him to make a nasty comment about my clumsiness, but instead he was looking at me with something resembling concern.
    “Are you okay?” he asked, lo oking down at my covered wrist. In his right hand was th e offending object I’d run into. It was now out and slightly crumbled , having met its fate against my skin . He looked at it once before letting it fall to the ground.
    “ No, i t hurts like hell, ” I said, realizing that the tiny burn was throbbing painfully.
    “Yeah, fire tends to hurt when it collides with skin. Do you want me to get you some ice? ”
    I shot him a dirty look at hearing the sarcasm in his tone. No, I did not want him to get me some ice. 
    He stared at me for a moment, when I didn’t respond, before shaking his head. “Put some ice on it,” he said, pulling another cigarette from his pack and lighting it. “You’ll be fine.”
    I huffed once in annoyance, before turning on my heel and st alking off toward the kitchen. I wanted to cry, but I was far to o pissed to let that happen. Silently, I grabbed a piece of ice from the freezer and pressed it against the seared circle of flesh, instantly feelin g relief . Ben reappeared then , holding a box of Band-A id s and a tube of Neosporin, and I realized he’d seen me get burned by Chase’s cigarette .
    “I’m so sorry,” he said, searching my eyes for some sign that I might forgive him , as he set the first-aid items on the counter .
    I sighed and nodded. “Me too,” I said , realizing how much I really didn’t want to fight with him . I wanted to enjoy our last night together.
    “I didn’t know you were that upset about Ashleigh flirting with me ,” he said, and I knew he was telling the truth. “Em, you know I’d never do anything with her, right?”
    I nodded again. “Yeah, I know.”
    I could feel the ice cube melting, water running down my arm and dripping onto the tile floor, making small puddles. Ben reached out for my wrist, taking the ice from my hand and placed it over my burn. Looking up at hi m, I knew I couldn’t stay mad. Not when he was being so sweet.
    “I think I’m good,” I said, after a few minutes. 
    The ice cube was almost entirely melted anyway. Ben removed it from my wrist, rev ealing a very red, open wound. The skin around i t was peeled back and charred. It was far from attractive.  Ben leane d down and kissed my wrist, next the burn. Without looking up, he set to work applying the Ne osporin and covering it with a Band-A id. When he finally looked up, his eyes locked with mine.
    “Thank you,” I said, grateful for his kindness after I’d just yelled at him.
    “I love you, Emily,” he said, softly. “You know I’d never do anything to hurt you, right?”
    “Yeah, I know,” I said, leaning up to kiss him. I smiled at him as he smirked down at me. 
    “ I can’t wait for later, ” he mumbled against my lips, his body pressing against mine. “Do you just want to leave now?”  
    M y second mistake of the night was hesitating. We should have just left the party then.
    “Not yet. I want to find Rachel. I haven’t seen her all night.”
    “Okay,” Ben said, looking slightly crestfallen, “but let me know when you want to leave. I’m ready whenever.”
    I could tell he could care less about spending time with our high school friends. Of course, he wasn’t leaving the next day like I was, and I wanted to get some Rachel time in before I was separated from her again .
    I leaned up and kissed him long and hard. “Later,” I said seductively , before heading toward the keg outside where I could see Rachel talking to someone.
    I noticed as I got close r that that someone was Chase. She was listening and noddi ng at something he was saying. It was a