As a result of the welcome influx of assorted data from assorted sources, I discovered the *!$# calls-herself-a-friggin-muse lazy prat at a pigeon convention near the SF Embarcadero, mingling with her avian counterparts and harassing tourists. Understandably irate, I snatched her by the ankle and shoved her in a shiny, brand-new golden birdcage, where she's currently cussing up a storm.
For your support, your encouragement, your patience, and your aid, I thank you all. :3
At least some people don't take me for granted.
Ah, but I'm (purposely) delaying once more.
Without further ado, pigeonattack presents THE OTTRA INSTALLMENT.
"...too much work..."
~pigeonattack, on the subject of her nonexistent romantic affairs
Laura kept telling herself that things were just the way she liked them to be.
The redhead was in a big, big library full of big, big books full of big, big words about teeny, weeny microchips and nano particles.
Ah. Just right.
Sure, she was alone in this big, big library, but that meant there were zero distractions. She'd had plenty (too much) of those lately. Now, she could finally concentrate on something other than proms and goldfish and dresses and snow-white hair.
Tonight, she'd be considering the probability of the existence of the Higgs Boson.
For several hours, her eyes moved up and down the black markings on white sheets, hands moving automatically to flip the pages.
Not that any reading got done.
Her train of thoughts (all of which she shouldn't have been thinking, anyways) was thrown off course when a steadily— and quickly— approaching sound indicated a new arrival. She scowled in irritation. Wasn't a body entitled to some peace and quiet in a library? Who'd be around tonight of all nights, anyways?
Her questions were answered when a familiar but rather unwelcome face burst from an alley of bookshelves, panting hard. Laura whipped her eyes back to her book, making no acknowledgement of the newcomer's presence.
"Laura…" Otto gasped breathlessly.
"What do you want, Malpense?" Laura immediately regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. Otto winced.
"I… I just wanted to…to sit here a while," he finished lamely.
"Oh. Go ahead."
Otto seemed just as surprised as she was at this response, but accepted the assent and sat down next to her. He did not pull out a book. She could not process a single word on the papers before her. Finally, after several excruciating minutes of silence, she couldn't stand the awkward tension any longer.
"Where's Annie?" she asked, then kicked herself inwardly as another look of pain flickered across his face.
"Uh…I…kinda…left her at the dance," muttered Otto.
Laura dropped the heavy book with a proportionately heavy thunk. "No way. How could you do that?" she asked incredulously.
Otto cracked a lopsided grin. "She'll be okay. I saw Franz mopping up the spilled piña colada on her dress. He seemed to enjoy it greatly."
Laura colored at the implication. "Dirty, much, Otto?"
He grinned at the renewed usage of his given name. "Only being truthful."
She laughed, and then, suddenly, they were both laughing so hard it was as if nothing, no one, had ever come between the two. The book lay forgotten as Otto and Laura rolled around, clutching their stomachs, sniggering at what really wasn't that funny of a joke, but nevertheless had broken the ice between the two. In the back of her mind, she considered how stupid it was that their relationship was suddenly so happy-go-lucky after just a few exchanges. Meh, whatev.
Finally, after a lo-o-ong time, they were upright and next to each other, gasping for breath.
There was another silence, but this one wasn't nearly as uncomfortable. Otto was the one to break it.
"So…" he began quietly, in a rather serious tone that caused Laura to turn and face him. "I was just wondering… and you don't have to answer this right now either…"
Her heart was clichéd-ly beating like the roll of a timpani. She had a feeling she knew what was coming, and quickly composed her face into a vaguely interested expression.
He swallowed. "What… what are we to each other?"
Her heart practically stopped, the stupid hope disappearing down the drain. What the hell did he mean by that?
"I mean… well… most of the time, I think we're friends. Really, really, really close friends. So close, it's like… Anyways, then there are times when I think we're… a little… more than that… but then, especially lately, sometimes it's like you completely, utterly hate me. And I know I was a total jerk these past weeks—"
"It wasn't your fault," Laura whispered.
"Let me finish." Otto's voice had weakened, but now the tremble vanished as he determinedly continued. "I want to know… What do you think about… us?"
Laura stared down at the floor. What a question. How in the world could she phrase what she wanted to say? And how in the world had they gone from icy, to giggly, to… this— all in the space of a few exchanges?
Unbidden, images flashed through her mind: the first time she'd seen him, years ago when they were just thirteen; sitting across from him in Tech that year, also for the first time, and noticing his bright, piercing eyes and blushing (hopefully inwardly) at the realization of how frickin chic-flick-ish the situation was; the late nights spent in preparation for their failed escape attempt; every perilous instance since then that she'd been sure his luck would run out, and the terror she'd felt each time; the fury and hurt every time she saw him with that Annie…
So much to say, with no idea of how to begin.
"I…" she stammered. "I… don't hate you."
Otto looked surprised, and then a little angry. Hurt. "That's it? I pour out my heart… and that's all you can say?"
Laura took a deep breath, shaking her head. "No, that's not it. I—don't hate—you. I've always—not hated—you. With everything in me, I—don't hate—you." She put all the emotion she could muster in to the two syllables, her eyes begging him to understand. "Do you get it? I—don't hate— you."
The boy next to her sat in silence, realization slowly dawning. As soon as she saw this, Laura stood to leave. "That's… that's it," she muttered.
Otto appeared in front of her, so quickly he seemed to have materialized there. Laura blushed at the close proximity, attempting to sidestep him, until he whispered, "I…don't hate you, too."
They stared at each other. Laura searched his face, trying to discern if he really meant what she really, really hoped he did. She could feel a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Yeah." His gaze never wavered.
In the ringing silence, her suddenly hyperactive senses took in every minute detail of their surroundings: the fireplace crackling a little ways away, the smell of old books, the book shelf right at her back, his face, five inches away… no, four… oh, wait, three…
Smiling for real, Laura threw caution to the winds and her arms around Otto's neck, immediately closing the remaining distance between them. Oh, this felt wonderful, so damn good, his mouth was every bit as warm as she'd imagined, and she'd been waiting so long to do this, and to hell with any other thoughts that didn't concern what she was feeling right now, and she'd always doubted the existence of those clichéd fireworks, but she could actually see them exploding before her as she closed her eyelids, and from somewhere she could hear the song "Firework", maybe at the dance or maybe in her imagination but screw thoughts of the dance because here she, Laura Brand was kissing Otto Malpense, and it was the best feeling to finally have said (however indirectly) that she loved him, and he loved her back, after all this agony, and now she could barely form a coherent thought because his hands had moved to her lower back to pull her even closer…
When they finally broke apart, arms lingering around each other, huge grins were plastered to each of their flushed faces.
They weren't sure how much time had passed, but frankly, they couldn't care less. Just standing there in that position was heavenly.
"Do you… do you want to go to the party?" Otto asked quietly.
"Um, no thanks," Laura muttered. "I'm not into that kind of thing."
Otto grinned. "Didn't think so." He led her over to what used to be and now was again their favorite spot: a single sofa in a far corner of the library.
As they sat, Laura couldn't resist asking, "So… what's up with Wing and Shelby?"
"They're probably wearing their feet out right now… or their tongues… or their—"
"Otto, you're sick."
"Hm?"
"Never mind. So… they're together at last?"
"Together forever."
There was a comfortable silence as music from a certain ironically named musical played through their heads.
"So…" Laura mentally rolled her eyes at her third consecutive usage of the sentence starter. "…what are we now? You know, like, are we…"
"Yeah. We are."
"Oh. Okay." Experiencing another sensation of warmth that wasn't entirely from the fireplace in front of them, Laura leaned into his shoulder, the way she always had. Slightly hesitantly, Otto took the liberty of wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
It seemed that everything had changed.
In a way, though, nothing had.
They were two geeks who loved each other, but were too stubborn to admit it—
-until now.
FIN
Wow. That was exhausting, but so satisfying… even though there are a lot of things I don't still like about this chapter.
Please feel free to whine about whatever bits and attributes you didn't like.
Still, they really do love each other, don't they? I'm sorry for getting them together in the end, (how utterly orthodox) but I felt like these two kinda (or maybe more than kinda) deserve it.
If you read this story and laughed or smiled, thank you. If you reviewed any chapter, double thank you. If you story alerted, triple thank you. If you were with "Prom" from the beginning, loyally reviewed every chapter without fail, and (in some cases) reduced me to little more than a little ball rolling on the floor, clutching its stomach, thank you for keeping me going. You guys, all of you, are the reason I write.
With that said, stay tuned for the epilogue(!)
;)pidge
PS: By the way, if you caught the ironically named musical thing, you've got pigeonattack's awe and admiration. I couldn't resist. As usual. ;3
