Fuck it, Olive Garden, just fuck it.So now we’ve sunk to this level.I can see the fear of being alone in her eyes and I know she’s been through shit that runs deep.I just know it.
I don’t need the details to understand that it can feel overwhelming.So I just nod, even though I know I shouldn’t.I want to guide her to her bed, but she won’t let me.
“I need to brush my teeth.”She groans.
I laugh quietly.“Not a bad idea.”
“Hate you,” she murmurs, then walks past me into the bathroom.I follow because I’m scared she’ll trip over something and hurt herself.“You can too,” she says, digging in the drawer under her vanity and actually coming up with another toothbrush.
“Is that the one you usually clean between the shower tiles with?”I ask.
“No, the toilet.”She’s way funnier when she’s drunk.
I laugh and make her sit down on the lid.Then I take her toothbrush from her to put toothpaste on it before handing it back.After that, I stand there, leaning against the sink, finding the silence unbearably loud as we brush our teeth.Olive doesn’t seem fazed.After a while, she’s apparently stared at me longenough because she carries on brushing her teeth with her eyes shut.
After an eternity, she’s finished, and I can steer her to her bed.Conveniently, she’s wearing leggings and a cozy sweater, so I don’t have to face the embarrassment of asking her if she wants to undress.She looks too spent for that.
I look around as she curls up under the covers.Desk, chair, dresser, and wardrobe.Her room is as Spartan as mine, so I’ll have to make friends with the floorboards.
“What are you doing?”she asks as I kick aside some of her clothes.
“Making up my bed,” I say sarcastically.
“Don’t be an idiot.”She sniffs.“You don’t really want to sleep on the floor?”
“I don’t mind.”
“I do, though.”She scootches over a bit and turns her back to me.When I don’t move, she glances over her shoulder.“Need a special invitation?”
“Yeah,” I say.“I don’t generally get into bed with women unless they’ve expressly asked me to.”
“Oh, how proper of you,” she murmurs as I don’t budge from the spot.
“It’s impossible to do anything right for you, isn’t it?”
“No.”I can hear in her voice how tired she is.“Youcan’t get anything right for me.There’s a difference.”
“At least you’re honest when you’re drunk.”
“I’m always honest.And now get into bed with me.”
God knows why that makes me shiver, but I hide it under asigh.“Don’t you generally say the opposite of what you actually mean?”
“You know all about that, don’t you?”she says as I slide in next to her.
I grab the quilt.“Maybe we’re not as different as you’d like to think, Henderson.”
“You and I have nothing in common, Fantino,” she declares.“Nothing at all.”
I smile wearily.“If you say so...”
“You don’t know me,” she murmurs.That old classic.Her back is lying against my shoulder.I can feel the warmth of her body.And I want to put my arm around her, pull her to me, and hold her tight.I’m so screwed.
“I know, Olive Garden,” I say quietly.I know...
She doesn’t reply, and I wish I could see her face as she shuts her eyes.But I can’t.I just lie beside her and listen to her regular breathing.It gets very deep very quickly.Just as quickly as the urge grows within me to stroke the dark strands of her hair that are slanted over her face.But I don’t dare.
I’m lying next to her in her bed, wondering what I’m doing there.How we can yell at each other, hurl insults at each other, and then, a few hours later, wind up side by side in yet another darkened room.It’s like Fate gets a real kick out of forcing us together, just to see what’ll happen.If only I knew that: the next step.When Olive Garden is near, I have no idea what I’ll do next.Mainly because she makes me do the exact opposite of what I really want.Not a very cheerful fact.Because now I’m here.In her room.She’s fallen asleep beside me, and it’s doing somethingto me.Doing a whole number on me, to be honest, because in the sudden silence, I can feel everything more intensely.Every heartbeat thumping in my ears, every dry gulp, which seems way too loud.Don’t move.Don’t make any weird noises.Don’t touch her.But fuck, this bed is narrow.It would definitely be more comfortable if I turned toward her and put my arm...
