Hot and Cold

The Outing

'Making it up' turned out to be.. well, a date, technically. This had made Madeline nervous, as she'd never been on one before.. She'd never even had her first kiss until last night, and even then it had been sort of thrust upon her. However, she had to remind herself that it was Ivan, after all. She didn't want to upset him again like this morning, so she went along with it gladly, which made Ivan happy, of course. Madeline still wasn't sure how to react with both Abel and now Ivan's actions that proclaimed their feelings for her.. She did hardly know Abel after all, although he had been in all of her classes at school; and Ivan had been her closest friend as far back as she could remember. His sudden actions bewildered her.. normally he was very sweet, kind, and considerate.. not that he wasn't now; he had just become.. well, more protective over her. She supposed that his dark, possessive-sounding growls and looks he gave her were part of his mental disorder, which had grown considerably since his parents had died. It didn't help that the other kids in school picked on him and he often responded by resorting to violence. He always seemed to enjoy it, too; the other being in pain. Maybe he was a masochist..? This frightened Madeline a bit, seeing as though he had gradually but also suddenly taken a liking to her.

Ivan was standing at the door, grinning brightly and ready to go. Madeline smiled at him nervously, causing him to pull her into a warm, reassuring embrace before the two headed out into the porch, making their way to the street. The tall, ashen haired Russian took a deep breath of the crisp, Autumn air. Winter was on its way. This made him smile again - he loved the snow and the cold.

The two entered a little cafe after walking around a bit. Madeline loved the way it smelled - like pumpkin spice, cloves, cinnamon.. Ivan looked over with a smile and went over to a little table that had two chairs, pulling one out for Madeline. She murmured a thank you, habitually in French of course, and took a seat while Ivan took his; trying not to shy away while pinned under his intense violet gaze.

It was a few minutes before a tall male briskly strode over to take their orders. He did a double-take once he looked to Madeline, sharp emerald eyes sparking with envy and a bit of hurt when he saw who she was with. Clearing his throat, he then spoke. "Can I get you anything?" Madeline was looking down at her fingers, which were nervously twined together, but quickly looked up at the waiter when she recognized his voice. She looked like a deer in the headlights. Ivan, however, was promptly glaring daggers at the Dutch teenager. Traces of longing in his expression vanished once Abel coolly looked to meet Ivan's death stare. "E-eh.. Hello, Abel," Madeline put on a nervous smile for what seemed like the millionth time today. "Hello, Maddie." He replied in a curt tone, looking over to her and allowing her a small, rare smile. Ivan remained quiet, but didn't stop glowering at him. He rose from his chair, which made a hair-raising shriek across the floor, and started towards Abel, grabbing him by his collar and slamming him into the nearby wall. Madeline gasped, nearly letting out a shriek of her own, and jumped out of her chair. It flattered to the floor as it fell backwards. She put her hands around Ivan's torso and tried to pull him from Abel, who was sharply glaring at his attacker while struggling to break free. Her attempts were futile, as to be expected; she was the second biggest country in the world, but wasn't that strong at all, unlike Ivan, who was the biggest. Abel was a small country, but still a lot stronger than her -- not more than Ivan, however. Ivan's free hand reached back to swat away whatever was trying to pull him back. He hit Madeline square in the side of the head with a lot of force behind it, which sent her back and on the floor. This enraged Abel, and he broke free while Ivan had looked back to see what he had hit since it was so easy to break free from. He dodged another grab from Ivan and hurried over to Madeline's side, lifting her up from the floor. She was holding her head where Ivan had blindly struck her, silent tears falling in succession and rolling down her pink cheeks. Ivan took a step back, horrified to see that it was her that had tried to pull him away from Abel; that he had hit her. He took another step back, then was running from the two on the floor and out the door of the small cafe -- which was empty, save for Madeline and Abel now.

Abel had went to the kitchen to get a little bag of ice for Madeline, and now she was sitting on the edge of the counter, holding the bag to her quickly bruising blow. Ivan hit hard, even without particularly meaning to. Her glassy indigo gaze was steadily trained on the floor as Abel came back from the kitchen a second time, but now had two steaming cups in his hands. He frowned at the sight to her looking hurt, and deeper than that, depressed. Hopping up onto the counter beside her, Abel offered her one of the cups. Madeline looked over and smiled a little bit, accepting it and wrapping her cold fingers around it after setting the ice bag down. Heat pricked at the coldness, and she exhaled softly, raising it to her lips and taking a small sip. The rich taste of hot chocolate flooded her mouth, and she smiled a little more, as if it was warming her up on the inside. "Th-thanks.. for everything.." Madeline murmured quietly, leaning over to gently rest her head on Abel's shoulder. This made him lean down -- he was considerably taller than her, like most other boys and a majority of girls -- and lift her chin up to face him. He stared at her ever so slightly trembling lips and leaned closer to meet them with his own. He'd never kissed a girl before, let alone one he felt this way about. Madeline's hot cocoa nearly slipped from her hands, her eyes - still glassy from her tears -- fluttering a little before she lifted a hand up to rest on the back of Abel's neck. He thought that she was about to slap him, but eased up at her touch, and slid his arms around her delicate torso and tugged her closer to himself while deepening the kiss. It wasn't rough, but did have longing and a sliver of possessiveness, a bit like Ivan's. She tasted like the Dutch chocolate he'd made her drink with, and also had traces of maple syrup.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry they've been so short, but I'm on a roll today. :'3

As always, love you guys and hope you enjoy the dramaticness!~ There will certainly be more to come. XD

~Canako