1.1 | daunting medleys

forty-one | comfort and melancholy

Oliver was very comfortable.

Tabitha was quiet, and he played with the petals of the rose with one hand, while the other hand was firmly clasped in Tabitha's. She hadn't let go, and Oliver wasn't going to tell her to. Her lithe fingers played with the rings he was wearing, and every second or so, her pink coated fingernails would graze against his fingers and he would shiver, completely under her mercy. Her head was leaned against his shoulder, and her perfume coated every action she made.

"Are... Are you ever going to tell me what's going on with you?"

Tabitha looked up at him, brown eyes glossy, and nodded. "Maybe later. We could go over to the lake, and talk. It might be cold but it's really pretty this time of the year."

He nodded, and when he saw Axel walk into the garden, he shifted a little away from Tabitha so Axel wouldn't get any ideas that Oliver had probably imagined he would, not that the ideas weren't the very things he had wished for, but that he knew that Tabitha was a very private person. Oliver tried to see if her fingers were lax enough for him to want to slip his hands out, but they were still tightened around his.

"Guys, I'd hate to interrupt but classes start in a minute."

Tabitha widened her eyes, and bolted out of the garden, not before telling Oliver a very soft Bye, Ollie. The wind carried the floral notes of her shampoo, the sun's rays were dimmed, and Oliver was very sure he was blushing.

Axel clasped his shoulders, the tone would've been very infuriating, but Oliver wasn't sure of what he had deduced from whatever Axel said, he was too busy watching her leave. "You are in love with her, aren't you?"

Oliver chuckled, the scent she carried still swirling around him, hazy like a dream and very delicate, just like the girl who had the scent. "Yes, yes I am."

************

Oliver hadn't seen Tabitha during lunch, he hadn't infact, seen her during the entire school day, except when they shared their only class of the day, and he didn't bother to look for her. Tabitha was very distant during the classes they shared, probably reminiscing what she had gone through earlier, and he could see Aiden looking at her with the same lovesick expression he had, like he hadn't forced a kiss on her and caused her to vomit out of disgust. That, atleast, made Oliver happy. She didn't have the urge to rekindle her relationship with Aiden, or perhaps she was thinking about it.

During the year when Tabitha and Aiden had begun their relationship, it hadn't bothered Oliver because he didn't know Tabitha as much as he did. But now, as he stood under a tree, waiting for Tabitha to come out of school, Oliver knew that if Aiden had walked out of those doors with his hands around her, he would lose his mind. Aiden walked out, and when Oliver saw his reddened nose, he chuckled. His footsteps were hurried as he walked to the curly haired boy.

Oliver swung his bag over his shoulders and moved to walk away, but a hand clasped his shoulders threateningly. He groaned, and turned to look at hate filled blue eyes. "What?"

"Stay away from Tabitha."

He looked at Aiden, for a long time, and wondered how he was so conceited and full of hate. Then he walked away, just because he saw Tabitha and also maybe also because he wanted to spite Aiden. She had been looking for him, and when she saw Oliver, her eyes lit up. His fingers trembled, when she smiled at him. His heart rate increased, and he was afraid Tabitha would hear it over the low murmurs of the people that passed them. Sometimes he wondered what would happen if Tabitha looked at him the way he perceived he looked at her.

"Is he bothering you?" She asked, pretty eyes coated in hatred as she glanced at Aiden.

Oliver shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"I can go talk to him-" She said, and tried to bypass him to go meet Aiden, but he held her hand and stopped her. Tabitha's hands were soft, and warm. She paused, and when she looked at him, Oliver actually blushed. Red crawled up his cheeks, and he looked away from her, just so she wouldn't see the way his entire face turned red.

"I meant it, Tabitha. It's not a big deal. Let's go, I haven't been to the lake in a long time." Tabitha nodded, and walked to her car, still holding onto his hands. Before she let go, Oliver could feel the way her hands were shaking, he squeezed and she squeezed his fingers back. He put his bag in the back, as she did, and sat beside her

While she started the car, Oliver felt he would loose his sanity, surrounded by the floral hints of her perfume. Every breath he took had her perfume imbedded in molecule, and he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Oliver could feel her eyes raking over his face, and he pretended not to notice, just so he wouldn't open his eyes and give into temptation. Both of them were in their little world of comfort and melancholy, like sugar and salt, unaware of a pair of eyes following their every move with hateful, teary eyes.

***********

The lake was quiet, and peaceful. The sun would peek from beneath clouds, and lend the beautiful shimmer on the surface of the water. Tabitha was quiet, and her head was leaned on his shoulder. She had been quiet since they had arrived, and Oliver wondered if he should say anything, but he decided against it when he realized that Tabitha had been shaking.

"Do you know the reason why I love the orphanage?" She looked up at him, her eyes misty as she shook her head. "Because that's where I grew up. My father's wife thought to drop me in a town very far away from Boston, because she thought it would keep my mother away from me. My mother eventually found me when I was eight." Tabitha's eyes reddened, and she sniffled. He had told her the little snippet what he had been through, and thought it would help her realize that she wasn't going to be judged. He didn't expect the blinding sympathy in her eyes.

Sighing, he continued. "Tabitha, you don't need to feel pity for me. I'm here, aren't I?"

Tabitha nodded, and wiped her eyes. The rustle that was sounded from the bush behind them did nothing to hide the thickness of fear in her voice. "Y'know, it started when I won my first award..."