The Winter's Widow (ADIYA VERSION)

Part Two~

Before you read: Please know, I do not agree with things mentioned or done in my stories, secondly, you are all absolutely beautiful beings and I can only hope and pray you love yourself as much as I love you. Perfection may not be achievable, but you all come pretty close in my eyes!

"Why Oatie?" Zoya wondered quietly as she watched him dish something into a dog bowl.

"He likes oatmeal" Aditya gestured to the dish as he placed it on the ground. "And uh" he scratched the back of his neck, a sheepish grin on his lips, "So do I".

There it was, something to pay him back for his kindness while also sweetening their relationship so in times of anger he would hopefully remember that she hadn’t always been worthy of a beating. "I can make you some, if, if you like?" Pink rushed to her cheeks as he turned to look at her.

His eyes shone as he took a seat, barely able to keep his excitement in, he clapped his hands "Yes, please". It had been so long since anyone had even offered to make him anything, so he wouldn't turn her down, he craved a home-cooked meal and her arrival was beginning to make his lonely house a home.

Pouring some oats in a bowl, she tipped some milk and water in slowly, mixing as she did it “Um” admonishing herself for not knowing in the first place, she turned her head over her shoulder “Where is the salt? Do you have any fruit?”

Pointing to the side, he opened a cupboard “Fruit goes up here, I should’ve shown you before, but I forgot” he chuckled lowly, head hanging over her shoulder as he watched her chop the strawberries. “Sorry” he laughed again, “I like watching people cook”.

Unable to help herself, she smiled “It’s okay, you have nothing to be sorry for” she hadn’t meant to repeat his earlier words, but they seemed so fitting. His excitement was similar to that of a child’s and at that moment she couldn’t imagine him even hurting a fly.

“Hey, that’s my line” he tutted, “Ooh what are you doing with the orange peel?”

For a mere second, she froze. It had been her first telling off since she got here, now it wouldn’t be long till it became a repeated occurrence and his fists joined in the fight. “It adds a zing, so I save it for when it’s cooked” she sifted the ingredients into a saucepan and lit the stove. Stepping back, she squeaked when her back hit his chest “S-sorry”.

He smiled “You have nothing to be sorry for” winking, he took a seat atop the table, hand brushing Oatie’s fur. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?”

He barked, lapping up the attention before approaching Zoya, lifting a paw and running it down her side to make her look his way.

Turning off the stove, she held out a hand, then ever so slowly allowed him to sniff it before rubbing behind his ears.

“Anyone would think he loves you more than me” he shook his head in mock disappointment.

She jumped back “No, no, he doesn’t” she knew jealousy was always a great motivation for someone to lash out, if a man even looked her way she’d be beaten before, now if Aditya thought she was getting more attention from his dog than he was, he may lose it.

“It’s okay” Aditya took a seat. “Love is shareable, we all love many people and we love them in many different ways, how he loves me isn’t how he loves you and vice versa” he knelt beside him. “Guess that’s why I love animals, an animal doesn’t worry about you loving them, they just love you anyway” his throat became dry. “Oatie was a rescue dog, he’d been abandoned young, his mum had been taken to be taught how to fight so people could bet on her, like me he was alone in this world, but when I saw him that all changed, it took me time to form a bond, he was scarred and in ways so was I, I know lonely like the back of my hand, what I don’t know is companionship” he fell quiet.