Time and Time Again

Haha

Oliver opened the door and went upstairs, he'd been so many times the porter didn't see it suspicious at all. He went up two flights of stairs, as he had done uncountable times before. Ding! or more of a buzz was the sound of the doorbell, the mother, as usual on her phone, let him in. He made his way down the short hallway to the second door. Knocked 4 times and waited. He never knocked 4 times, always made a fun pattern so she could recognise him. Nothing. Knocked 4 times again and waited. After what seemed like minutes but was actually seconds a figure opened the door to reveal an angry girl shouting:

"Mike! I told you I wanted to be left alone! Or don't you get it?"

She looks up, since she had been searching for her younger and smaller brother. She instead found a not unfamiliar person but not pleasant at the time. 

"The fuck d'you want now?" Alex, usually not in such a mood let out. 

Oliver was still soaking in what he had in front of him. The girl he usually saw as attractive, pretty and cheerful had gone and turned into a weird humanoid. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun and covered with a light blue hood which became an oversized hoodie. The hoodie itself was ugly, and enormous. Not even baggy just way too big for her. Her face, usually a bit made up and with a happy smile, was dirty and had a frown. The hoodie covered from her neck down to her thighs and made her figure completely disappear. Her legs, usually in some skinny trouser, were in some weird striped leggings that went over her feet to her toes. A few, half painted toenails, were visible. 

The words she had said were only ones she normally spoke to people she really didn't like or while joking. Never directed at him. 

All this information took some time to set in and clearly the moments of silence were too long for her. She slammed the door in his face, just like that. She had never gotten angry at him without a clear reason. But this time, an apology and a hug wouldn't cut it. 

He went into the room, the door having no lock on it, house rules, and found the same room he had always seen. At least something hadn't changed. 

Of course the window was open and no Alex to be found inside, but still, some normality helped.

She had ran out the window to the little indoor terrace that connected with the kitchen. He was faster than her, but the family would know something was up, and he wanted to avoid that. He walked steadily to the kitchen and there she was, just finishing changing into a pair of pants and jumper. He waited for her at the door, but as she neared him, he backed away. For some reason he was scared of her. 

It was a surprise when she grabbed his hand and dragged him out the front door. They both went out, Alex leading the way to the rooftop. Yes, her house was one of the few to have a roof in Barcelona. So up they went, 8 flights of stairs. Not much to her, since the anticipation of getting fresh air was delicious, but killer to him, since he didn't want to know what the girl felt or thought of him and his actions. Of course it hadn't been entirely his fault. 

As they went up he realised he truly felt horrible, but not for what he had done, just because he had caused that sudden change in her that was just not meant to happen. She opened the door to the roof and paced around a few seconds before turning and asking:

"So?"

Oliver was scared, he didn't know what she would do to him. Yes, she was a girl, and she wasn't so crazy as to hit him, but he knew she was capable of the most hurtful words he had heard. Going to a bad neighbourhood high school hadn't helped. And so he searched his words for what was not enough time and said:

"I want to apologise"

"For fuck's sake, really? Did you really come just to say this? Maybe you actually have grown a pair...."

She knew that would hurt but she didn't care. She was aiming for hurt.