Beneath the Willow Tree

Chapter 15 Say I Love You

~

After several hours of riding in the car, Melody, Oliver, and Karen finally reached the hotel and got checked in. They got two different rooms (one for Karen and one for the other two) at opposite ends of the hallway "coincidentally". When Melody and Oliver set their stuff down, Oliver's phone buzzed and he groaned, "Damnit, the race got pushed back until the day of the polo match."
"I guess that means you can spend tomorrow showing me around since I haven't ever been here." Melody said.
"Actually," he said, looking back down at his phone, "we are going to chill out at my family's house according to my ever-so-great mother."
Melody laughed, "Why?"
"They have all of my jockey stuff and I haven't seen them in almost a year, so I am being forced to be surrounded by a bunch of kids and my annoying cousin Sheila." He faked a chill and Melody raised a brow.
"Is she the same age as us?"
"No, she's like your sisters age, but she doesn't seem to understand that I am not like...that."
"Like what?" Melody held back a slight laugh.
"I don't know if it's still counted as incest if it's with your cousin, but she hits on me all of the time and it's weird."
"Don't worry baby, I'll protect you." Melody patted him on the head and laughed.
"Holy hell," Oliver said, rubbing his eyes, "okay, well I am going to bed."
Melody wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his shoulder, "Can I come too?"
"Of course." He kissed her hair and she let go of him.
"I'm going to go chamge into something more comfortable."
"And by comfortable you mean my boxers and a t-shirt right?" Oliver said as he kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed.
"Maybe..."
She rummaged through Oliver's suitcase for a moment before sauntering off to the bathroom where she could get ready for bed. When she came back out, she smiled and rolled her eyes. Oliver had fallen asleep with his book open on his chest, That's just like him, melody thought, falling asleep with a book rather than turning off the lights. What a dork.

She picked the book up off of his chest and set in on the nightstand. He slightly stirred and mumbled something under his breath, but didn't completely awaken. Melody was honestly glad that he fell asleep, she knew how bad his insomnia could get and how tired he must have been. She crawled into the bed next to him and clicked off the lamp. For a minute she lay there awake, listening to the subtle sound of Oliver's breathing. It was uneven and slow, yet oddly comforting.
For her, just knowing that someone was there made her feel comfortable. She wasn't alone.

~

Melody woke up the next morning to a certain someone lightly kissing her neck. It was soft and warm and made her giggle sleepily, "What are you doing awake so early?" she said as she rolled over to face her star-brained boyfriend.

"I've been up for a while, but everyone gets bored eventually." He smirked suggestively at her and she blushed.

"For a punk kid you sure are needy." Melody moved closer to Oliver and moved his hair out of his face.

"The only thing I need is you." He kissed her and his hands found their way up her shirt. She grumbled something under her breath and swatted his hand away.

"Not right now. Tonight, if you arent a dick today, maybe I'll let you have some as a good luck present for the race tomorrow..."

He rolled her over so that he was on top of her, "But this will make me happy."

"I don't care, you have to earn it." Melody shook her head.

Oliver grabbed her hands and locked their fingers together, but also pinning them to the bed, "Come on," he sang into her ear, "I know you want to."

"But I'm not going to." she sang back.

"Please...for me?" He kissed her jaw and down her neck but Melody held her breath to not show any signs of pleasure or want.

"No...plus, later you'll want it even more and won't take it for granted."

Before Oliver could say anything else, something tapped him on the side of the head. He blinked a few times and looked down to see a gold wrapper with the words MAGNUM written across the front. Melody busted out into a laughing fit and Oliver just closed his eyes and sighed, "You couldn't have knocked?"

Karen stood with a blank face and one hand on her hip, "You two are so gross."

Oliver narrowed his eyes and passionately kissed Melody, causing her to squeak and Karen to sigh and turn around, "Just get up and get ready." She said.

"You can't say it's gross!" Oliver called after her, "How do you think I was made?"

Melody started laughing again and pulled her hands up, causing Oliver to fall on his elbows and their faces to be centimetres apart, "Kiss me like that again." She whispered.

Oliver kissed her again like before, only with real passion instead of mock lust. It sent all of the blood rushing through her body to her cheeks and she loved it.

"We need to get up," she mumbled against his lips.

He groaned and kissed her quickly before rolling over and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, "I don't wanna' go." he whined.

"It could be worse--we could be with my family." Melody said.

Oliver laughed sarcastically and stripped off his shirt. Melody stood up and traced the lines in his back, but stopped when she reached three horizontal lines that went down his spine, "What are these from?"

"Oh, the scars?"

"Yeah," Melody traced them with the tip of her finger.

"They are from about two years ago. I was in the middle of a race, the people on either side of me got too close and ran into my horse. Well, it tripped and rolled over me, of course, breaking my back and something else. I have a hard time remembering some things and I had to have surgery three times and went through 9 months of physical therapy, but here I am."

"Damn..." melody sighed.

"It was a while ago, so it doesn't matter." Oliver turned around to find Melody suddenly serious.

"Promise you'll be careful tomorrow. That could have easily killed you."

"From what I've been told I died once on the way to the hospital. I don't remember a lot from a day or two before the race, or even falling. The next thing I knew I was in the ICU with a broken back."

"Well, just promise, okay?"

He kissed her on the forehead, "I promise."

~

Ok. So. That's why Oliver doesn't race as much as he used to.
ALSO just a gentle reminder that they are Juniors in high school. Which means he was a sophomore when he broke his back. (I wonder if melody stepped on a crack in the pavement, hehe see what I-ok never mind)

Anywaysssss luv you guys ❤️

Kthxbai
~Aria