I should probably say now, but trigger warning for the entire book. There's blood in this chapter, but trust me, I'll be covering all sides of the spectrum that require a warning so here you go. :P

"Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up." -Neil Gaiman

'~-Spencer-~'

May 18th, 2001

I knocked softly on her front door, gazing down at my feet nervously. The door opened, and before me stood a blond-haired man who was no less than two inches shorter than me. 

"Hey, you're Spencer?" He sized me up, his icy blue eyes narrowing at my slightly formal attire.

"Yeah, that's me." I squeaked out, gulping. Even though I was taller than him, I could see his muscles rippling through his sleeves. I would not like to get in a fight with him.

He scoffed at me. "I'm Zachary, one half of the other set of twins. I'm Amelia's older brother." Zachary was really close to my face.
"If you hurt her, I will kill you." He growled, and my breath shook.

"Zachie, stop scaring him!" Amelia tugged him back, a worried smile placed delicately over her features. She was wearing a flannel overcoat with a white undershirt, and black shorts with sandals. 

"Now I feel overdressed." I laughed, taking her hand.

"You look fabulous." She brushed her free hand over my maroon tie. "This outfit suits you, Spencer."

I smiled, leading her hand so that she was in front of me. 

"I promise I'll take care of her," I told Zachary, and he nodded. 

We transported ourselves through magic to an alleyway, making sure nobody saw us. The two of us walked across the street to Carousel, an outside ice cream place. 

The sun beat down on us as we stood in line, only a few people standing before us. Eventually, it was our turn, and we ordered our separate ice creams.

"Strawberry, really?" She asked, taking a spoonful of her cone-in-a-cup mint chip ice cream and shoving it into her mouth.

"Hey, it's one of my favorites." I took a bite of mine, leading her to a nearby bench. "But, to be fair, I like mint chip, too."

Amelia cast a glance at me, then at my ice cream, and then at hers. I could tell that she was trying to hold back laughter.

"Did I miss something?" I asked, and she nearly choked on her ice cream.

"You won't get it. Not yet at least." I looked at her in confusion.

"Is it a future thing? Because I heard that some Magi have the ability to see years into the future." She nodded.

"It's not important, you shouldn't worry about it. Just don't call me "Snow White" and we're good." 

I shook my head. "Okay, I guess?" 

"So," Amelia began. "You're trying to get into the FBI?"

"Yeah," I replied. "But I'm not entirely sure that I qualify for it."

She giggled, which I found incredibly adorable.

"Oh trust me, you'll qualify for it. Aren't you like a genius or something?" She titled her head, which was also extremely cute.

"I mean, I really don't think that intelligence can be accurately quantified- but yes, people have said that I'm a 'textbook genius' so I think that counts." Her eyes practically sparkled as she heard me ramble.

"You don't think I'm annoying?" I asked, and she looked at me like I was stupid (I'm not stupid).

"No, I actually find your rambling extremely attractive." Amelia's cheeks flushed as she realized what she just said.

"When you told me you were blunt, I didn't think you were this blunt." I smiled, hopefully communicating that I didn't mean it in a hurtful way.

She laughed. "I seriously did not even mean to say that. Well- I mean- it's true- but it's not exactly something I would normally say." 

"So what's so different about me?" Amelia paused, thinking on the question for a couple of moments.

"I guess," She started. "I don't know, really. There's just...." She trailed off, clearly not sure what to say next.

Eventually, we had thrown our empty bowls away and sat there in comfortable silence.

"What's it like?" I asked her.

"Hm?"

"Ruling over an entire species, I guess."
A few moments passed by before she answered me.

"Stressful." Amelia began. "Empowering. Fulfilling. It's really made me more confident over the years." Her eyes clouded. "But, y'know," She locked eyes with me, sadness evident in her beautiful round pupils. "I always wonder if I'm... living up to what everyone expects me to be." 

She laughed, casting her gorgeous eyes at the ground. "It sounds stupid, I know, but my mother, she... was just one of those leaders. When she died, I had very big shoes to fill, and I don't always think that I'm doing a good job of doing that."

I smiled, gently lifting her chin so that we were face to face.

"I don't care if you feel like you'll never be as good of a ruler as your mother," I leaned in and paused. "I'll always love you regardless."

"That's a big promise to keep." She muttered, our lips brushing up against each other.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I have an eidetic memory," I whispered, before closing the gap between us. We moved together in perfect sync, the kiss slow, but magical. 

Amelia was the first to pull away, clearly needing to take a second to breathe. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly against my chest. 

"I don't think that'll ever get old." She whispered, and I smiled.

A commotion sounded from around twenty feet away, abruptly ending our moment together. 

"What's your problem?" Two men began to yell at each other, but there was no one else around to stop them. 
The situation escalated until the one with light brown hair growled "you'll pay for this". I was shocked to see him materialize a knife and throw the second man to the ground. 

Amelia quickly shoved the first man against the wall, despite her tiny stature. I ran over and helped the second man, who had black hair, onto his feet. He let out a gasp of horror as we watched Amelia slit the throat of the attacker, his blood spraying onto her outfit and her face stoic. I felt a shiver run down my spine, mostly from fear and slightly from attraction. She snapped her fingers, and the black-haired man's eyes clouded.

In a few moments, there was no trace that any fight had occurred, nor that someone had died there. 

The man snapped back to reality, his face appearing confused.
"What happened?" He asked.

"I think you may have fainted." Amelia lied smoothly, moving towards him. "A guy was harassing you, but my boyfriend and I scared him off." He nodded, seeming to accept this truth. After thanking us and saying goodbye, the man walked off, leaving the two of us there.

"You killed him?" I asked, my voice high-pitched.

"He was a conscious Magi harassing a human. He tried to murder the poor guy, and when I told him to stop, he said 'make me'. So I did." A smile appeared back on her face as if she hadn't just killed someone. "Anyways, let's go on a walk! I really love talking to you, and since you won't allow me to read you, there's still so much I don't know about you and so much you don't know about me!" Amelia chirped, taking my arm and leading me down the sidewalk.

This was my first clue that she was more dangerous than she was letting on. 

I should've run away, told her that I didn't think it was working out and that I was sorry.

But the truth was, I was hooked, addicted to the feeling of her lips against mine, knowing what she was capable of just entangled me further into her essence.

"Hurricanes couldn't remove you from my mind. You're my world and I'm incapable of not loving you." -Billie-Jo Williams

Here's a short chapter for you, because the next chapter just didn't fit the theme of the title. And the past needs to catch up to the present before I continue that part... so just bear with me, please! I love you guys, and thank you so much for 23 reads!