Claus and Alister heard the door slam shut as they lay there motionless on the bed, a look of worry on both of their faces. Alister was worried that the exchange which had just taken place would sour Claus' feelings about the whole evening. Claus was just worried about what might happen when Lavie returned. Breaking their concentration was the sight of a pair of large eyes peering through the doorway into the bedroom.
"Claus?"
"Hi, Alvis." Claus said, flushing with embarrassment, "Uh, we-we'll be right out. Just close the door, okay?" Alister was also red in the cheeks. Alvis cocked her head slightly and blinked.
"Is Lavie gonna be back soon?" she inquired innocently.
"Yeah, she'll be back." Claus said, "Just…close the door. Alister and I need a minute to get dressed." Alister shifted uneasily beneath the bathrobe, trying to stay covered.
"Is it because you and Alister are naked?" Apparently, Alvis wasn't going to close the door until they explained what was going on.
"Claus and I found out that we love each other, and Lavie thought that Claus loved her.", Alister said patiently, "We'll talk about it some more in a few minutes, but right now Claus and I need time alone." Alvis' expression dropped and she nodded slowly.
"Okay.", she said, the rejected feeling showing in her voice. Her head disappeared and a small arm closed the door. The moment the latch clicked, Claus immediately leaped from the bed to the doorknob and turned the lock, giving the two lovers a modicum of privacy. Now safe from the little girl's curiously prying eyes, Alister dropped the robe from her chest and sighed. Claus tilted his head back and brushed his hand through his hair. Then he walked silently back to the bed and sat down on the edge His bangs flopped back down into his eyes.
"Don't blame yourself, Claus." Alister said soothingly, knowing what the young man was thinking, "Lavie will get over her feelings. We just need to give her some time." Alister crawled over to him and wriggled her arms around his body, hugging him and resting her head on his left shoulder.
"Do you regret what we did?" he asked. As he turned his head to look into her eyes, Alister smiled, then kissed him lightly on the lips.
"No." she answered. Her voice was calm but firm. "I don't."
"Me neither." He replied joyfully. His voice carried a twinge of nervous excitement. "I'd do you again in a se-…I mean 'that', I-I'd do 'that' again in a heartbeat. Oh jeez, Alister. I'm sorry, I meant…" Alister's eyebrows jumped up, then she giggled at the slip up and kissed her lover again.
"I know." she reassured him, "I'd do you again too."
"I love you, Alister."
"I love you too, Claus."
They stared into each other's eyes for another minute, then kissed again, deeper than before, and she released him from her embrace. Sliding off of the bed, Alister began to walk towards Claus' bathroom. Claus' posture straightened up and he couldn't help but to watch her nude form and smile. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder towards him.
"May I use your shower?" she asked politely. Her voice was honest and innocent, devoid of any ulterior motive.
"Of course!" he said, more than happy to oblige the young woman. Alister opened the bathroom door and entered the small room. As the sink and mirror were part of a vanity which was technically still within the bedroom, the actual bathroom only needed enough room for a toilet and shower with bath tub. She noted this and turned on the shower. The water was ice cold at first, but had soon warmed to a nice steaming rain. Alister stepped into the shower and let the warm water flow down her body, soothing her muscles and her mind. She stood under the flow for a full five minutes before deciding to actually get clean.
Claus lay down on the bed on his back, staring at the ceiling and trying to imagine what to say to Lavie when she returned. 'Lavie, Alis and I love each other.' No, that was too direct. 'It's not what you think.' Actually, it was what Lavie thought. Claus ran his hands over his face and sighed loudly. No matter what he thought of to say, he knew this was going to devastate Lavie. The girl practically worshiped Claus, and the more he thought about it, the more Claus realized that Lavie was completely convinced that they were 'meant for each other'. What had he done?
The sound of the shower being turned off broke his attention and glanced over towards the bathroom. Non-rhythmic splashing told Claus that Alister was wringing the water out of her long hair. The noise stopped and the door opened. Alister walked out of the bathroom with a cream colored bath towel around her body, covering her from her breasts to her knees. Her firm breasts bulged from the top of the towel. Claus wanted that towel to drop. But as much as he concentrated, it stayed up.
"Feel better?" he asked. Alister blinked once and looked down at the floor shyly.
"Much. Thank you." she said, blushing.
"My turn I guess." he said standing.
"I hope I left enough hot water." she responded. Claus joined her at the vanity and took a bath towel out from under the counter.
"Don't worry" he reassured her as he entered the bathroom, "I put in a larger heater last month." As he parted the shower curtain, he gave one glance back at the angel standing in his bedroom and smiled. She smiled back.
"I'll just be a minute." He said.
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The crickets were still chirping loudly as Lavie walked through town, her hands shoved deeply in her pockets to avoid the cold. She walked quickly, matching her steps to the anger and betrayal she didn't even try to conceal. Her eyes stung from crying and her nose was stuffed from crying; she had cried more in the last half hour than she had in over a year. Not since finding her father's body in Exile had she felt so sick, so awful at what she saw before her. But at least then she gained closure. What she witnessed back at her own house just opened a fresh wound.
She came to an intersection and looked at the street signs. They read Barker and Melanides. Lavie turned onto Barker, deciding to head back towards home. Even though it was the last place she wanted to be right now, she wasn't one to stay away from her own home just because she found her best friend in bed with her other best friend. She let out a single hard exhale and began walking down Barker Street. As she walked, she began thinking. Would Alister still be there when she got back? What would she say to Alis if she was? And what was she going to say to Claus?
Lavie ground her teeth in fury as the thoughts came to her. 'How dare he sleep with her behind my back!' she thought. 'Did he not know what we were? Did he not know how I felt about him? Did he not care?' Then the terrible truth flashed in Lavie's mind: He didn't know. She never told him. Her heart broke again from the missed opportunity and she burst into tears again. If she had only professed what she felt, he would have seen it, he would have known. But she had taken for granted that he had the same feelings.
Now for Claus and Alister to do…that... to her, in spite of her friendship with both of them. 'How – how dare they!' she thought, then realized that it was her own fault for not telling Claus how she felt. He could have been hers. And she lost him.
As she walked back towards her house crying, a Claudia-driven floating limousine rushed by, whipping Lavie's hair into her face and blowing a cloud of dirt onto her. Yet several dozen meters ahead…it stopped. Lavie looked up to see the vehicle back up towards her. She balled her hands into fists and balanced herself on fronts of her feet, ready to run or fight of necessary.
But to her shock, as the back half of the limo reached her and slowed to near zero, a rear side window rolled down to reveal the face of a young woman she hadn't seen in ages. Familiar grey blue eyes and long lashes couldn't hide under the makeup and dress of royalty. Lavie knew exactly who this was, and this 'girl' was the last person Lavie expected, or wanted, to be looking at.
"Tatiana?" Lavie greeted quizzically, "What the hell are you doing here?"
Royal Duchess of Anatoray Tatiana S. Wisla blinked and smiled warmly at her old rival.
"I was on my way to visit friends who live near town." the girl answered, "We arrived late so we're just now getting to their house." She noticed Lavie's slightly disheveled and tired condition.
"But, are you okay?" she asked, "Do you need help?" Lavie's shoulders slumped as she resigned to the idea of being driven home in a fancy limo.
"No" she said between sniffles, "I'm perfectly fine. But I could use a ride home."