Toys are 2 play

16 Pure as snow

Angelina's

If those flowers hadn't come from some crazy idea Sebastian had had, there was no other meaning for them; so the thing I did after realizing the source was crouching down and inspecting the bottom of the vase, dirt by dirt. Not literally because I got the note as soon as the first branches were cleaned. It was small and folded, white paper, mysterious in a way that made you want to read it in the dark yourself. I began to unfold and there were 3 letters at the top: Ang; and I unfolded more letters: Angelina; and I knew there was a message under my name that I needed to read before somebody...

"Angel?"

There came a muffled squeak, right from my mouth, that sounded like guagrh! and suddenly the note was gone inside of my fist behind my back, because all I could see was the owner of that voice walking towards me in huge winter boots that made his feet seem way bigger than normal; they had brown animal fur on the top like an Eskimo, but the top of Oliver was normal jeans and leather. The tip of my fingers scratching Sebastian's message began to itch.

"Hey."

"He-ey" - If he noticed the flowers, the itching, the note...

He took my arm, but without moving himself he moved me towards him. My hand closed tight while his jacket was embracing my dress and the coldness from the leather touched my skin. He was hugging and I didn't know where that hug came from. He simply did without any warning and it was so good and so increasingly calming that I wanted to breath before it ended. I hugged back because I needed it, I needed all the hugs in the world... and then he kissed the side of my neck, very lightly: "I own you an apology, Angel", he said, "I am sorry for being rude to your friend; I know you have a consideration for him and I don't blame you for that. I was afraid because I don't want to lose you. You are my best friend."

"Am I?" I said - hadn't realized I was holding my breath, and he looked at me with those eyes. But his stare was different today, because the green was somehow pale like masses of liquid newspaper.

"Angel", he giggled, "you're my best friend. Every time I hurt your feelings I know I've done something wrong and always come to apologize, which is something I am doing right now... so say that you accept my apologies."

It was more like an order than request but he kissed my cheek and when he looked at me again I smiled. With no other gestures we went to his bedroom, while he pulled my left hand, the other was protecting Sebastian's note.

Oliver's bedroom was incredibly wide because it had a wall of mirrors (top to toe), from which he constructed a secret way-out and also bathroom. It was incredibly comfy too, maybe because of the lighting, deep orange and scarce, that reflected on the dark wood of his furniture and would give the air a feeling like a hidden shelter in the tropical woods. Oliver pulled me to the bed and we dived together into the pillows and cushions. I kissed his lips while he kissed mine, we made out for some minutes before he said "wait, just a second...", and moved a hand to his belt. Between the tickling sound of metal against metal I flipped the note over my hand, and before anyone noticed I threw it on the other side of the bed. It made no sound. I wondered where it had landed and if I would ever be able to get it back. I also wondered if I was doing the right thing, keeping this secret away from Oliver while I was in his room, taking advantage of his sweetness and love.

The next thing happening was him taking something from his jeans and quickly advancing with it toward my face. I screamed, my hands instinctively went up, I kicked him and asked irritated what the hell was that, imagining a knife, a weird substance, a rat... Only to hear him chuckle as if I was a very adorable girl afraid of monsters. I surely was but would never admit, so I looked up and saw it was a knife, with a black cable and big top. He held it lazily over my face but with concern enough not to make it slip through. I knew it was just a safety object that he would carry around for the day and now was getting rid of. The knife was thrown aside, Oliver adjusted himself by my side, smoothing my hair and expressing how grateful he was for having my trust. He went forward for another kiss but I wanted more so I grabbed his head with both hands - it was my turn to smooth every part of him.

I was falling asleep, between his arms like a treasure that needed to be kept; we had been breathing in unison since the last meaningless sentence was said long time ago, and now the smooth orange light wrapped me in that bed and I could sleep for ages... "Angel? Are you awake?"

"Hmm?"

There was pause and I thought I had heard wrong so I went back to sleeping. "I need to go", he said suddenly, and I looked up to see his big working device, Aleksei's chat opened.

"What happened?" I asked while Oliver pushed the covers, in some way very upset. He didn't answer because then his shoes were missing. I got up suddenly, my body became electric and I was up like an energized flea ready to jump on whoever moved. I stayed there watching him scan the room while one side of my brain ordered me to stay calm and the other hurried me in a frenzy of action. The more Oliver looked for his shoes a thousand more volts tapped in my brain and I literally lost control when he crossed to the other side of the bed.

"Angelina!" He exclaimed between range and incredulity, coming toward me without having the patience to look at my face. On the floor was his so sacred reading lamp, broken and lonely. "You better not say a word; I want this room exactly the same way it was before and bye, I need to go."

It was one of those sentences coming with a definitive period, to end conversations for a week. He took the boots he was wearing before from behind the mirror and off he went, probably forever, like he normally did. Oliver could become a jackass sometimes, but it was his fault because he deserves the job he gets. I wouldn't stand in the middle of his room waiting while he was yelling at people or something; I had a letter to read, and a vase of purple Aubrietas to water.