Oliver looked on amazed as his witch dipped a little backwards, his hand still had a light grip on her upper arm. To an onlooker it would seem like they were in the midst of a slow dance. Oliver kept on watching as her lips uplifted themselves into...
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Jason got out of Oliver's room looking quite dejected about fifteen minutes later, and not giving Elli or Misha a look he walked away.
Misha scratched his head. "Well, that just says things didn't turn out chummy between the brothers."
Elli agreed completely.
She walked in the room to find Oliver still at the window. The air however had turned thicker, it was obvious that his mood was responsible for that.
Wordlessly, Elli walked up to him despite the hesitation, despite knowing very well that she didn't know this Oliver.
Coming to stand beside him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't look up at her touch but let out a long breath, eyes staring out at the night sky.
"Joshua's my step brother," he told her.
"And you guys are estranged," she said carefully.
Oliver's lips pursed with a smile that was not his regular smile at all. "That's quite obvious."
A couple seconds passed between them. Elli didn't know whether to ask him or just let it be. Surely, sharing would strengthen their relationship but forcing to share might just destroy it all.
Oliver feigned a cough to grab her attention. "You're not an intelligent decision maker, Elli, so you can halt your mind-machine now."
Elli looked down at him. Tilting her head to the side and not really paying any heed to his jibe, she blurted at last, "Are you going to ever tell me, Oliver? Tell me about you, all of you?"
Because after all, it was not really in her nature to wait or leave things unexplained. At the end of the day, she was who she had always been—her father's only daughter, proud fighter, friend of a friend, enemy of an enemy.
She threw garbage then fell in love, and definitely not to just lay back and see only half of what her life partner to be was really made of.
How could she just sit back and not know what had happened to make her Oli's eyes look so dim now!
How could she just rest in peace without taking revenge on his behalf!
"When my father married Joshua's mother and brought her home, I really was happy thinking she was going to be love me like a mother would—fill our lonely home with laughter and happiness. But proving me wrong she became my worst nightmare," Oliver trailed off, his eyes distant and thoughts into another world—one dark world.
By habit Elli's hand went to her stomach, seeking strength from her baby, like always. "Did she...," she faltered, shivering slightly. The answer was very clear. "She hurt you, didn't she?"
He didn't give her a reply. There was simply no need to.
"Joshua's older than me, he was his mother's perfect shadow. Throwing me around became his favorite pastime—at home, in school... pretty much everywhere. Soon my life became hiding all the time, feeling so low of myself. I became a social recluse, they made me that. But that was until I finally up and left, right after getting done with high school. I made a new life for myself," Oliver paused to inhale a breath, an expression of relief came over to his face.
