Oscar holds my arms as I frantically look around me, my ears turning in every direction, searching for any sounds that might indicate the presence of Jay as my eyes scan everything at reach for any clues, but it's like he disappeared into thin air.
"Cat, what's wrong?", Oscar asks me worried, but I ignore him, I don't have time for him now. "Talk to me! What happened?", he insists. I shake my head. Before I figure out what happened I need to calm down, and like it or not, Oscar can do that, or rather, he's the only one capable of doing that.
I shake my head again and look up to meet his coffee eyes. "What happened?", he insists, but this time I'm unable to answer since I'm already lost in his eyes. What was it that had me stressing? I forgot. Well, in that case it couldn't had been that important.
He strokes my arm and I wake up from my daze. "I-uh-I thought I heard something", I say looking down so that he doesn't notice I'm lying. He frowns but lets it stay. "So-uh-what did you come here for?", I ask nervously, fidgeting with my thumbs while my eyes wander around the room.
He tenses. "I just wanted to check on you, but if it's not a good time I can leave", he says stepping away from me.
"No! Uh, you don't have to, you can stay... if you want", I say looking down. He's the person I trust the most right now, yet I still get nervous around him sometimes.
"That'd be nice", he says smiling and I find myself staring at him again with a stupid smirk painted on my face. I look away and step into my room.
"Come in", I say sitting on the floor under a ray of sunlight coming from the window, I see a faint smile on him at my feline behavior "Take a sit", I offer. "Wherever you want", I add looking around my room and realizing there aren't that many possibilities since the only things in here are my nest, made of destroyed blankets and sheets on a mattress, and a sofa I use to sharpen my claws.
He looks around before deciding to sit under another spot of sunlight. I look around, unsure of what to do. "So, I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier, I shouldn't had said that, I'm really sorry", he says looking at me with honest eyes.
"Why? I mean, you were right. If anything I should be the one apologizing, you're always doing so many things and I just never thank you for that, you've saved my life", I say looking deeply into his eyes.
"That was nothing, you've done way more for me than what I could ever return", he says taking my hand in his. "I should be the one thanking you", he adds. I look down, not knowing how to answer to that.
He cups my face and gently lifts it up, he strokes my cheek with his thumb, he smiles and I can't help but do the same. I love little moments like this with him.
"Why?", he asks lowly. I look down, I know what he's referring to.
"You should go", I say not wanting to answer him, but somehow still hopping that he stays.
"I just want to know why", he whispers, not moving from his place. "Is it because I look like my siblings? I remind you of them? Is that it?", he asks insistent.
"You are nothing like them", I say lightly.
"No? What's the difference then? Is that a good thing?", he asks smiling. I laugh lightly "I want to know. What difference is there between me and Jacob? Or me and April?", he asks raising an eyebrow.
"Jacob had darker eyes, and his fur was practically black, and he had always this cold stare, unlike you, and he never smiled. You're always smiling!", I answer half laughing.
"He did smile, but it was only for you", Oscar says sincerely. His comment leaves me confuse. So they did notice that?
"I guess", I shrug
"What about April?", he asks changing the subject.
"Apart from the fact that she was a girl?" I comment. He rolls his eyes and I continue. "She had light brown fur, almost a cream color, and her eyes were more of a chocolate with coffee while yours are a coffee with chocolate", I explain "besides that, your personalities were pretty similar".
"So I remind you physically to one of them and personality ways to the other", he states. "That's why we broke up", he concludes.
"They have nothing to do with us", I say, even though it's not true.
"So you don't miss them?"
"Yeah, a lot. Don't you?" I ask confuse at the tone of his question.
"I didn't have the same relationship you had with them, being the youngest and all, I got a lot of bullying", he shrugs. I frown, it's true that siblings and friends are very different things, you can chose one while the other you're just stuck with. I know what it's like to be the odd one out in the family, but I never really noticed any bullying towards him, and I used to spend a lot of time at his place. "But to be honest, I do miss growing up with them, the fights, the dares... I would do so much just to prove to them I wasn't weak", he says with a smile of nostalgia. I smile at him, we rarely talk about the past.
"Yeah, I do remember that", I state as the time he was dared to jump from the roof comes into my mind, or the numerous times they dared him to fight me, I would often let him win.
We continue talking about the old times at the village, laughing and smiling as we remember the little monsters we were. We end up sitting against the wall, way closer to each other than when we started.
"You know you're even more beautiful when you smile like that, right?", he says out of the blue, and my heart skips a beat.
YOU ARE READING
Free yet trapped
Storie d'amore"Just tell me already!", he says impatiently though still with a smile. "Fine!", I mutter irritated. "They did a bet over when we were getting back together." As soon as I say that I question why on earth I didn't lie, then again, Oscar knows when...
