A Butterfly's Dream - 4. Chapter 4

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Fending off various classmates and teachers throughout his day, David gladly grabbed his books and notebooks from his locker before nearly running for the twins’ car. Sighing softly, he slid into it after unlocking the door with the keys he had stolen from Markus earlier that day. He didn’t want to have to wait for the twins while they stopped by their own lockers, knowing that various people would stop them on the way out.

Getting comfortable in the back seat, his legs stretched out before him, he pulled out the two articles from earlier. Sitting with his back against the door, he started to read the second article at a more leisurely pace, taking in the details. He stopped just before he got past the title to pull out a pen, two highlighters and a yellow legal pad for his thoughts and notes. Putting the cap of the pen onto the back of the pen, he held it over the legal pad, poised to jot down his thoughts.

“Girl wakes from coma after four weeks,” he muttered, making a note of the title quickly. Going back to his reading, he took notes on the parts that he assumed would be pertinent to figuring out as to why this particular attack was so important to him. He also made sure to write down any questions that rose in his mind as he read the article.

He quickly became so engrossed in his note-taking that he didn’t notice that the parking lot was quickly emptying around him. Nor did he notice the twins coming up to the car until the doors were open and Markus was shoving the passenger seat forward. Blinking and drawing his feet back as he watched the girl from that morning climb in, he idly wondered why she was there.

“Who are you?” he blurted out, causing her to turn her bright green eyes towards him.

“My names Rachael and who are you? Markus didn’t tell me anything about another person coming with us,” she replied, her voice rich and smooth. David pinned her from somewhere near Pennsylvania or the surrounding states based upon her accent.

“I’m David. And just where are you going?” He asked, frowning at her.

“She’s coming with us to see this Clary person,” Edward answered for her as he slid into the drivers side seat. “Now, gimme my car keys, you pain in my ass.”

“Bite me,” David replies, sticking out his tongue as he handed over the keys.

”Keep that tongue inside your mouth unless you want to use it,” Markus teased, shoving the seat back before getting into the car. David quickly pulled his tongue back in and settled for flipping the smirking blond off. “Aww, you wound me with your crude gestures,” he said, fake-pouting at David.

”I’ll do more then wound you, you pervert,” David replied, smiling mischievously at him.

“You wouldn’t!” Markus exclaimed, his eyes widening in his surprise. David simply nodded and smirked as he sat back in his seat, sulking.

“You are so cruel, chérie.”

“What? Me and cruel? No, never,” David denied, looking mildly insulted as Edward started the car and headed towards the street. Rachael started to giggle madly, amused at their banter.

“So, Rachael, why do you need to go see Clary?” Markus asked her. “You never told us.”

“He’s my partner for art class,” she told him, looking him over with rather knowing eyes. David shifted, causing the forgotten papers to slip from his hands, scattering on the floor of the car.

“Shit,” he cursed softly as he bent down to grab the papers, a few of them crinkling in his hands from the effort of scooping them up in a cramped area. Smoothing them out again and placing them back in order, David noticed that one page was missing and looked about his feet, trying to find it.

“Why the hell would you want to read this stuff? It’s a cold case, isn’t it?” Rachael asked, looking at the missing page with some curiosity. David frowned and snatched the paper from her hand, putting it back among the others.

“I’m reading it because someone keeps hacking into my computer and they brought up a couple of articles. This is one of them,” David stated. Turning towards her, he caught the look of curiosity still on her face. “And no, I’m not telling you what I’m thinking or why I’m reading them.”

“Fine, be that way,” she said, pouting because he had easily read her accurately, and that he wasn’t going to tell her anything. David nodded curtly before going back to what he was doing earlier, taking notes and writing down questions as he worked his way through the article.

By the time they pulled up to Clary’s home, he is about halfway through the article. It had turned out rather long and David was becoming frustrated with reading it. Growling, he shoved everything into his bag before zipping it up and waiting for Edward to step out of the car.

Once the twins had pulled the seats forward, David slipped out and stretched his body before heading up to the door; following after Rachael. Letting her knock, he shoved his hands into his pockets and looks up at the house; feeling the twins standing before him. He blinked a few times in wonder at seeing an intricate design above the door. Something about it made him shiver in surprise and fear. The design wasn’t too amazing, just some lines warped and looped around each other, but yet it gave him an eerie feeling.

A strong looking man with dark hair that fell into his eyes opened the door just as David turned his eyes towards it. The man’s dark skin glistened with sweat and his long fingers were covered with dirt. David blinked a few times at the blinding smile that was flashed his way.

“Yes? How can I help you?” the man asked in a playful voice. He had an accent that for the life of him, David couldn’t quite place, even though he could have sworn he had heard it before.

“Hi, is Clary here?” Edward finally asked, seeing that David was a bit too lost in his mind to answer and Rachael was glaring at the man.

“Yes, yes he is. He’s upstairs right now. Please, do come in,” the man replied, moving back to let the group into the house. David stopped and looked around at the warm and surprisingly inviting hallway. Pictures lined the walls in a half-hazardous way, giving David the impression that they were put up wherever room was available.

“Are you Clary’s father?” Markus’ voice dragged David out of his wondering thoughts.

The man smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am. My name is Alexander McNamin. And you are?”

“I’m David Benbitz and this is Markus and Edward LeBen,” David introduced, pointing to each of them before holding out his hand to Alexander. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Alexander shook everyone’s hands, turning to Rachael, holding out his hand to her in greeting.

“And you, little one, are?” he asked. Rachael, continuing to glare, takes Alexander’s hand.

“Rachael Maghaun,” She replied, turning her face away. “So, where is Clary?” She asked after Alexander let go of her hand.

Once more, he nearly blinded them with his smile that he threw at them. “Upstairs. Take a left and follow the loud music,” Alexander told them, pointing up the stairs where loud music was indeed floating down from. Rachael started up the stairs, muttering a quick ‘Thank you’ that elicited a groan from the others who were far from used to such rudeness.

“Thank you, Alexander,” Markus said for the rest of them, following after Rachael with a frown. David shook his head and shoved her up the last few steps when she suddenly stopped on the stairs.

“Don’t just stop like that,” he muttered, walking around her and heading to the only closed door. Knocking on it loudly, he waited for someone to answer his knock. Listening for a few moments, he heard the music being turned down and the sound of someone walking up to the door. His eyebrows shot upwards in surprise as he looked at the mini replica of Alexander that stood in the doorway.

“Yes?” the male asked in a voice that was lighter in tone then Alexander’s.

“Clary?” David asked just to make sure he had the right person. He had never seen Clary up close before, but was instantly regretting never having done so before. The boy before him was far better looking than most of the girls that he had ever seen or fantasized about; few and far between as they had been.

Clary nodded, giving David a look over as well before locking his eyes with him. He shifted on his feet, feeling something curl somewhere deep in his soul, warming him.

”Yes, that’s me. And you are?” he asked, blinking a few times before noticing the small group that stood behind David.

”I’m David, and this is Rachael, Markus and Edward,” David answered automatically, pointing to them as he said their names. His body was feeling warmer just by standing there with the older boy. “You and I have a project to do together that is due shortly and I’m not letting you get away with doing nothing.”

“Uh, Advanced Computer Graphics, right?” Clary asked, moving back into his bedroom, a bit unstable due to the crutches that David noticed after looking down. He nodded and walked in, following after Clary. Looking around, he was surprised at just how many computers were in the room. At least three of said computers were switched on with different things running on them.

“Wow,” David whispered softly before whistling his appreciation at some of the computer equipment that was running around the room.

“Thanks,” Clary said, smiling as he settled into his computer chair, propping his foot onto an ottoman. “I’m a part time hacker for the local police station. I help my dad do it, so I need more computers than the normal human.”

“You’re one of the hackers?” David asked, sitting down in another computer chair, finding it surprisingly comfortable even as his body warmed even more at the thought of sitting where Clary had sat before, rubbing his hands over the arms of the chair. He could feel the cool kiss of the leather against his palms, smooth and soft, knowing the other man had touched it as well, David looked off, finding himself blushing lightly as the mental images rose of Clary doing other things in the chair that had nothing to do with the computers in his mind.

Markus and Edward were going to tease him mercilessly should they find out about what he was feeling.

“Yeah, but only for small-time things. I usually just help clean up the towers and their hard drives, making sure that they run properly and can do their job.” He reached out and shut down one computer before turning another one on. Sitting back, Clary waited for it to load and looked over the others that had walked in. “So, what about you three?” he asked.

“We’re his ride,” the twins answered together while sitting down on the large bed. Rachael sat on a chair and got comfortable before answering the question herself.

“We too have a project. It’s in Art class and we have to create a portfolio of our works,” Rachael told him flatly. Clary raised an eyebrow, trying to ignore the fact that David was idly stroking long fingers over the arms of his computer chair before grabbing a blue notebook, his projects due book. Watching him go through it for a few moments, David spun a few times in his chair, black hair falling into his face. Clary took a deep breath and looked up after a few seconds.