The Wall and the Flower

Chapter 7: The Talk (Claire's POV)

The loud chatter of the diner only intensified the awkward air around us. Pietro sat in the middle on one side of the booth while Wanda and I sat on the other side across from him. His hands were folded on top of the table and his eyes flickered between us. His face was void of any emotion and he remained silent for multiple minutes. The whole table was quiet, neither me nor Wanda spoke, the both of us just wrapped up in our own thoughts. In the time that we sat there, a waiter filtered past our table a total of five times, each time asking us if we were sure we didn't want anything? On his fifth return to our table, just to get him off our backs, I ordered a burger, fries, and a large soda. Wanda and Pietro looked over at me, their brows knitted in confusion.

"What?" I asked. "I'm hungry and he wouldn't leave us alone."

Wanda turned around and faced Pietro again while he shrugged and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair, messing it up even more. He took one deep breath and slowly released it, laying his hands flat against the table.

"Okay. In a calm and rational way, please explain to me what exactly is happening," he said in a quiet and calm voice. Wanda dropped her hand down onto the leather booth and reached out, grabbing mine. Very briefly my fingers brushed against her pulse point, feeling the erratic beating that amplified her nerves louder than her facial expressions.

My fingers laced around hers, calming her down instantly. Slowly, I raised our conjoined hands and rested them down on the table, watching as Pietro's eyes moved down to our hands.

"Wanda and I are...together. We just got together and didn't put a label on it, but if you had to call it something, I guess you could say we're dating," I said, tightening my grip on Wanda's hand. She surprised me by reciprocating when I expected her to try to pull away. Pietro nodded. Wanda's other hand wrapped around my arm and pulled herself closer to me.

"Claire and I confessed our feelings for each other earlier this week, and since then we've been testing the waters and so far, we're happy." She looked over at me and smiled such a beautiful and bright smile I thought I would go blind. I leaned my head down and kissed her forehead before resting my head against hers.

Our waiter came back again and placed a big plate in front of me and left. I picked up my knife and cut my burger in half and took a bite. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I moaned at the taste, the grease dripping down my chin. Wanda grabbed a napkin and wiped the grease off me and took a French fry off my plate, popping it in her mouth. I nudged my plate towards her, silently offering her the other half of my burger. She smiled and hesitantly took the knife and cut the half again. Wanda excused herself and climbed out of the booth, disappearing as she walked towards the back.

"So...you two are on the same page...?" Pietro asked gesturing to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my mouth full after I took another bite.

"You know what I mean."

"I really don't."

"You two feel the same way about each other? There's an...understanding?"

"Well, if I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure the extent of her feelings, but as far as I know, yeah, we're on the same page."

His hands folded once again as he sat up and leaned forward a bit.

"How do you feel about her?"

His question shocked me. I froze as a went to take another bite of my burger. Looking up at him, I set it back down on my plate and wiped my mouth. I looked down at the table in silence, collecting my thoughts. It was a silly question, honestly. I mean, now that he knew about us, it was clear to see that my feelings for Wanda were nothing short of genuine. But, maybe that's not what he asked. What else would it be though? What other answer could I possibly give him besides that? Wait a second. That's not even the main concern.