Of Shields & Trees [BxB]

06 | Almost Happy | Hard-Core

There were a few serving platters lined at the middle of the table, each dish looking yummier and more flavoursome than the next. Shopska salad, stuffed cabbage rolls, bean salad, some potato dish with melted cheese on top...

My eyes stayed on the potatoes, my mouth filling with saliva. Would it be ok if I have a taste? Just one little tiny potato piece! But with Adam's eyes trained on me I felt kinda uncomfortable reaching for the food. This was plain torture! My eyes kept drifting between the tasty potato dish and Adam's amused eyes. Until he felt sorry for me and hollered, "Mom, I'm hungry!"

"The bell peppers are still in the oven!" She replied, loud enough to be heard from the kitchen but still in a softer tone than her ill-mannered son.

Their parrot flew to us, landing on the top rail of an empty chair and started making kissing sounds. Which wasn't cute at all. Only mildly frustrating.

Ms. Buchvarova placed a round loaf of freshly baked bread on the table and took the seat on my right. She wasn't dressed as sharply as her sons. Only wearing a plain Christmas sweater over her dark denim jeans.

"If you're that hungry, we may start without the last dish," she told her son with a tired smile.

"Noah!" Adam hollered again, not bothering to move from his seat to fetch his brother. "Lunch is ready!"

"Coming!" Noah barked back.

A few seconds later we were joined by an uncharacteristically bashful Noah and a flushed Stoyan, quietly taking their seats with guilty expressions.

"What took you so long?" Adam asked, which caused Stoyan to blush even more.

"Honey boy here doesn't know how to put on a tie," his brother answered. Which would've been believable if Stoyan had his tie on to begin with. His grey T-shirt was replaced by a white linen dress shirt whose buttons weren't even fastened right, but no tie.

I tried not to think about it but... Was he cheating on Maxim?

"Did you tell him about the video?" Adam asked his brother.

"Uhm, I forgot." Noah was gazing at my friend with so much lust in his eyes that it was clear as day what they were doing mere seconds ago.

I observed Stoyan's behaviour as Adam informed him about their Christmas Eve video. He looked guilt-ridden beyond belief, his green eyes set on the plate in front of him during the whole time. He was definitely cheating on Maxim!

I tried not to pass my judgement here but I couldn't help but get mad on behalf of my friend. He was probably stranded in the social home, crying his eyes out because of his stupid mother, and here was his boyfriend, making out with another guy behind his back. When life gives you lemons, they come in a full bucket of them.

"Your shirt is buttoned wrong," I sneered at him, which made Adam pause mid-speech.

Stoyan glanced at his misbuttoned collar and muttered an apology before rushing to our bedroom.

The two brothers exchanged looks and I saw Adam smirking at his brother, while Noah just shrugged with a bashful smile.

"What did you do again?" Their mother asked.

"Nothing," Noah answered with such an innocent expression on his angelic face that I would have believed him if the evidence didn't just storm to their guest room.

I chose not to comment on it though. In a few days we would be back to the social home, never to see any of these people again... They had no business in our private matters. This was something between Maxim and Stoyan. Noah was irrelevant. Just a pretty face he met at the wrong time.

Should I tell Maxim? Wouldn't it be better if he didn't know? I've never had friends before. I was never involved in someone else's drama. I had no idea what I was supposed to do in this case.

Well, I had Alejo and Angel but since that fateful day I ended up in the hospital, I haven't been in touch with them. Not even once. Did they even know what happened? Were they worried about me? It's just that my life has been so hectic as of late that I didn't even think that someone might miss me. After all, we weren't that close. But perhaps it was worth waiting in line for a few hours just to get my hands on one of our ancient computers and inform them of my whereabouts. Yes, I should do that.

And about Maxim...

Stoyan was back, his shirt properly buttoned this time but still no tie, his favourite panda keychain dangling from his fingers. He only took it out when he was upset about something. Well, he had every right to be. He just cheated on his boyfriend! They have been together for over three years!

I took a deep breath to calm myself down, noticing that Ms. Buchvarova was interlacing her fingers for a prayer. We didn't say grace at home before each meal but I've seen plenty of movies where this was a common occurrence, thanks to my lazy mother, so I followed her lead.

"O Christ God," she muttered, "bless the food and drink of Thy servants, for holy art Thou, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

"Amen," her boys said in perfect unison.

"Amen," I mumbled shortly after.

I was just about to have a portion of that yummy potato dish I was eyeing for the last half hour when Adam screamed, "Wait! We need to shoot the table before we serve ourselves!" And just like that, I retracted my hand back to its original position.

The next few minutes Ms. Buchvarova was holding her son's expensive phone while the boys greeted their followers, Noah's hand resting at the back of Stoyan's chair. At this point I didn't know what was pissing me off more: that the meeting between me and Mr. Steamy Cheesy Potato was postponed once again, or the way Noah was shamelessly flirting with a taken man in front of his mother, or the way Stoyan didn't seem to mind his flirty glances and stupid remarks, or how their parrot was jumping up and down on the chair, whistling for absolutely no reason at all. I was pretty sure that steam was coming out of my ears by the time I was finally allowed to have a serving of my one and true love. But once the cheesy goodness reached my tongue, it was pure Heaven! All the bad in the world forgotten in the blink of an eye.

I had some potatoes, then the stuffed bell peppers Ms. Buchvarova got out of the oven, afterwards two cabbage rolls with a side of Shopska salad... It was the first time in forever since I ate that much!

The homemade bread had a coin hidden inside, which was found by my awesome self. And I almost chipped a tooth on it!

It was a tradition I wasn't familiar with but yet again, when was the last time I was celebrating Christmas like normal people? The answer is never. Apparently it meant I was going to have good luck and lots of money over the incoming year.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

I feel like my luck has turned already. I had awesome friends, no one was beating the shit out of me, and... Well, that was about it. But what more could I want, right? Maybe a nice foster family I could feel at ease with? Not likely to happen.

"Would you like some caramel apples?" Noah came back from the kitchen with a broad smile and a tray of caramel apples on a stick.

"I promised no pranks," Adam cut him off, earning a pout from his brother.

"Ok... No caramelised onions then." The blond turned back.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV, something I was already familiar with. Minus the rich lunch-turned-dinner this was how my Christmas holidays usually went. Only this time I had Noah's stupid comments to entertain me. He liked to remark on everything wrong or funny he saw in a movie. Sometimes Adam joining in his efforts.

For a single day, I felt like I was really a part of their family. It was a bittersweet notion. One that I would probably never get to experience again. But here and now I was almost happy.

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