Red Hooded

Chapter 5: Visit With The Wolf...(and some tears to shed.)

I heard a knock on the door. My bedroom door. I opened one eye lazily, and waited to hear grandma's voice, telling telling me she was going to work, like she always did on Saturday. Instead, I heard nothing. The knocks turned into frantic pounding, and I got up out of bed, scared out of my wits. Grandma wouldn't pound on my door; She'd politely knock, then say what she had to say and leave. I wouldn't have opened the door if I'd known what was on the other side. I opened my door to Wolfe, who looked like he'd just run a marathon in the desert. He was panting like an animal in heat, and I felt my stomach drop to my toes. His forest-green eyes were dark and filled with agony, so much I wanted to rush to comfort him. Again. I closed the door to get his face out of my view. He simply pushed it open again with one hand. His other hand was occupied with a huge bouquet of flowers, enough to make me think he bought the whole flower shop.

"Please, Red." Wolfe said pleadingly, holding out the flowers to me. Red and blue and pink and purple flowers, all of them dewy and dripping onto my night shirt. I took them from his hand, shakily, and threw them carelessly onto my bed. Wolfe frowned, and I glowed inside. He deserved to feel bad, embarrassing me in front of Lola and Miki. I crossed my arms and glared at him defiantly, though he probably could have snapped me in half like a twig if he wanted.

"What do you want?" I snapped. Wolfe said nothing.

"Exactly." I said grimly. I pushed my way past him, ignoring the spark that I got whenever we touched. He grabbed my arm and jerked me back. His eyes sought mine, and they looked deeply remorseful and longing for forgiveness. He was giving me puppy eyes, like a dog does when they know they did something wrong and are trying to win their owner over. Ironicly, he also whined very dog-like. I half expected him to get down on his knees and give me the i'm-so-sorry-i-shouldn't-have-embarrassed-you-will-you-forgive-me-and-can-i-have-a-kiss-too routine, plus the pouting, quivering lip like I used to give my grandma when she caught me in the cookie jar. I almost wished he did. I was staring into his forest-green eyes when he kneeled down on one knee and pulled out a box.

"I've been saving this for your birthday, but I guess I screwed up, and this is the only thing that seems sensible to do right now." Wolfe said to me sheepishly (ha, ironic isn't it.)

I gasped, sounding very cliché, like from those girls in the movies about to be proposed to. He opened the box to reveal... two slips of paper. Wolfe smiled at me, his namesake wolf-like grin sending a shiver, not of fear, but excitement, down my spine. I felt stupid and blonde to think he'd propose to me, now of all times. I grabbed the papers to look at them more closely. I flipped them over to find them not just paper, but two front-row-seat tickets to a Thousand Foot Krutch concert. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Then my control broke and I squealed loud enough to wake the dead, and I grabbed him and practically knocked him over. He'd embarrassed me in front of my friends, but he got me tickets to my favorite band, so, if he drove me to the mall and stripped me of my clothes in public, I wouldn't have cared at that moment. I was going to see TFK! (Yeah, it was nine lashes before, but TFK is better. Love their song "Hurt")

"So you've forgiven me?" Wolfe asked me as he steadied himself from me nearly knocking him over when I launched myself at him. I laughed like a little kid.

"Yes, I forgive you! What did you think, that I launch myself at people just for fun?" I replied jokingly. He laughed too, a strange, melodic sound, which I was shocked to hear come rumbling out of his mouth. Then he grabbed me and kissed me crazy, until I couldn't breathe. He pulled away after a minute and rested his forehead against mine. His skin felt swelteringly hot, like he was running a fever. I raised my eyes to his and I saw a flash of red, like I had when I first met him. We were both panting like dogs, him especially, and I couldn't pull away because if I did, I knew I'd crumble to the ground. But if I did, I didn't know if he'd catch me, or if he'd let me fall and get hurt. Instead, Wolfe was the one who pulled away. His crazy lovesick puppy smile was gone, replaced with a blank expression. I thought he was bluffing me, teasingly scaring me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, playing along with his coy act. He didn't respond. I looked to his eyes so I'd know he was still smiling inside, reassuring myself he was just playing sorrow. His eyes were still their usual forest green, yet void of all emotion except for a glimmer of sadness. This was how it was going to be; he'd be happy and joyful one moment, then void and null the next. My eyes watered with unshed tears. I turned away from his pain-filled blank stare and picked up the bouquet of flowers from my bed. My hands shook from the onsurge of swirling, confusing emotions, and my vision blurred as tear after painful tear slipped down my cheek onto the beautiful flowers, shining like fresh dew, then disappearing as the flowers soaked up my pain. He frowned, and his hand came up to my face. With his thumb he brushed away my tears. I smiled, and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my chest against his.

"Thank you so much Wolfe." I whispered into his ear. He shuddered, and I felt his lips at my cheek. I pulled back and smiled. He didn't look so sad any more. I laughed, trying to change the mood and fill the awkward silence.