I'm back again with another chapter of An Odd Love. And this time, it's only been five days since I updated.
This chapter is dedicated to Dr. D76567 because he gave a helpful review. It was more a flame than anything else (but still helpful).
So, now on with da story...
(Ulrich P.O.V.)
After meeting Avery, I ended up in the woods. I headed for my favorite tree and quickly climbed up when I reached it. Much to my surprise, I find Yumi walking down the path. She reaches my tree and looks up, but I don't think she sees me. She looks sad, angry and frustrated all at the same time. She begins to climb up the tree, basically right underneath me. She looks up again to see another branch and I see tears in her eyes. She struggles at a part where even I have trouble, where the branch is high and you have to jump to reach it. I smile and lean over the edge of the branch, extending my hand.
"Need a hand?" I ask quietly. Her head snaps up and looks at me. She furiously wipes the tears from her eyes.
"Ulrich? What are you doing here?"
"I was going to ask you the same question." I say and laugh. "Now come on, I'll give you a hand up." She grabs my hand and pulls herself up the same branch as me. I scoot over so there's enough room for both of us, but she quickly hugs me before I can get far.
"Thanks Ulrich." She says, pulling me closer to her.
"No problem." I say and put my arms around her shoulders.
"No, I mean for everything. Thanks." I smile at her as she looks at me. I use my thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"You're welcome Yumi. And I will always be here for you. I promise."
"I love you Ulrich."
"I love you too Yumi." I lean down and gently kiss her on the cheek. I then hold her close until she finally regains control of her emotions.
"So, do you want to talk about it?" I ask her.
"Talk about what?"
"Why you're crying." I say with a small chuckle.
"It's just that… it's nothing."
"I don't think so. Do you know how many times I've seen you cry like this? Something is wrong."
"I…." She mumbles the rest.
"Come on now, talk so I can hear you." I say gently.
"I went home and everything seemed fine. Then I told my parents about Herb." She looks away from me.
"Okay."
"Well, they asked to know a little bit more about him. So I told them a little bit, but I don't think I really put him in a very good light. I basically said he was a little twerp who was jealous of Ulrich and followed Sissi around everywhere. I wish I hadn't said that now."
"Don't worry Yumi, it's okay to be sad for Herb. He shouldn't have died like that."
"I know. And I'm not. Well, yes I am, but that's not the main reason I was crying. My Dad made a little comment about maybe Herb killed himself. I told him Herb would never do that. My Mom took my side and they got into an argument."
"I see. So they ended up fighting over Herb?"
"Yah, they did. Finally, I had had enough. I told them that no matter how annoying Herb was, he would never kill himself. I basically blew up in their faces, told them I was sick of their fighting, and stomped out the door. But it was Hiroki's face that made it all the worse." And with that, she started crying quietly again.
"Hey hey, don't cry. You don't need to cry, it will be okay."
"H-Hiroki wasn't mad… he wasn't sad… he wasn't a-angry either. He looked disappointed in me. Like he had just lost his hero…" She throws her arms around me again and sobs into my shoulder.
"Don't worry Yumi. It will all be alright. I promise." I say, lightly stroking her hair. She stayed there for a while until the waterworks stopped. Then she let go just long enough to wipe her cheeks.
"Thanks Ulrich." She mumbles quietly.
"So why did you come here? To my tree?"
"I come here all the time, but usually you aren't in the tree. So why were you down here?"
"I couldn't sleep."
"So? You could have stayed in your room."
"Odd was sleeping."
"At 7:30?"
"Actually, I'm surprised he was sleeping. He hasn't been doing much of that lately."
"Really?"
"Yah, thanks to Avery."
"What did she do?"
"Absolutely nothing. But Odd is totally head over heels for her."
"Yah, I've seen. Does Avery know?"
"Yah, but if only Odd knew…." I punch myself over and over again mentally for saying that.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Forget I said anything."
"Oh no. You're not getting off the hook that easily. Tell me."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I promised Avery I wouldn't tell."
"Oh come on. These kinds of secrets are meant to be broken."
"Not this one. I promised Avery that I wouldn't tell Odd and I am not going to break a promise."
"Do I look like Odd to you?"
"What?"
"You promised you wouldn't tell Odd. Am I Odd?"
"No… but…."
"I will keep it confidential. It's okay, you can't get in trouble for exploiting a loophole."
"Okay. Avery confessed to me that she likes Odd. As in more than just friends."
"I knew it!"
"You have to promise not to tell! That means everyone, not just Odd."
"Oh, okay." Yumi says, though she sounds disappointed.
"I love loopholes. I feel so much better now that I'm not the only one who knows." I sigh and lean my head back, just as Yumi lays her head on my chest.
"Which do you love better, loopholes or me?" I grin.
"Hmm… such a hard decision…." Yumi playfully punches me on the arm.
"Ow. I guess I would have to say… you. By a long shot."
"Right answer." She says before leaning over and kissing me gently on the lips. I put my hand behind her head and pull her closer to deepen the kiss, just as I hear footsteps walking up. I break away reluctantly and look down.
"Yumi? Ulrich? Are either of you up there?" Odd says looking up.
"Yah Odd, we're up here. Both of us." Odd begins his climb and deftly swings onto a branch next to ours.
"Hey guys." He says, not looking either of us in the eyes.
"So, let me guess. You weren't really sleeping, were you?" I ask in a not too rough voice.
"No, I wasn't. But I didn't want you to worry about me, so I faked it."
"That's nice Odd, but you don't have to fake anything for us." Yumi says.
"Yah, I know. Look, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything…."
"Nah, nothing important." Yumi says quickly.
"I uh, kind of came here for advice."
"We'll try our best." Yumi says with a smile.
"Well uh…." Odd stutters, probably not knowing where to begin.
"Just start from the beginning." I say.
"Okay. At about 7:00, I went to bed, pretending to be asleep. Ulrich came in, thought I was asleep and left, no big deal. Then I laid there for about another half an hour."
"Keep going."
"Well, someone else came in. At first I didn't know who it was. They came in really quietly and sat down on Ulrich's bed. I knew it wasn't Ulrich because he can't be that quiet. Whoever came in was really stealthy."
"Well, at least now I learned something about Ulrich." Yumi says with a smile.
"After probably about… oh say ten minutes or so, the person walks over to my bed."
"Go on." I say, now interested.
"I'll skip the details, but they kissed me."
"Wait, she kissed you?" Yumi says disbelieving.
"Yah."
"Well, I sure hope it was a she." I say casually, bringing a small laugh out of Yumi.
"After that, she left."
"Did you get to look at her?"
"No." Odd says, but something in his face says different.
"Liar," I say quietly, "you got a good look at her. It was Avery, wasn't it?" Odd looks surprised, but then he nods his head. Yumi and I exchange knowing glances.
"I'm seriously confused. Avery said she didn't love me, but this is the second time she has kissed me."
"Second?" Yumi asks.
"One day during gym class." He replies shortly. "Can either of you shed some light? Does she love me or not? I want to believe her, that she doesn't, but too many things have happened for me to."
"Odd, I understand what you are going through. I wondered the same thing about Yumi for almost a year before I finally asked her out. Just give it some time."
"Ulrich, there's a key difference. I've already told Avery my feelings, and she rejected me. You have no idea what I'm going through."
"Yah, I guess you're right… but…." I can't find anything else to say that wouldn't expose the truth.
"Odd, just give it some time. Maybe Avery hasn't realized her feelings for you yet. Or maybe this is just some crush." Yumi adds. Odd sighs.
"Thanks for the help guys." He says and hops down off the branch, down to a lower one.
"Odd, wait!" I say, but he just keeps going.
"Hey Odd, come back!" Yumi says when he reaches the bottom. Odd looks up at us and sighs again. He gives us a forced smile that looks more like a grimace, and walks off. After about ten feet, I see him raise him arm to his face, most likely to wipe away tears, and then run off to where I can't see him.
"Oh boy, I have a feeling that we didn't help at all." I say with a sigh of my own.
"Ulrich, go follow him. I have a horrible feeling that he might want to do something bad to himself."
"You don't want me to walk you home?"
"I'll be fine. I think Odd needs you more than I do right now."
"I guess you're right." We climb down, helping each other along the way.
"Goodnight Yumi, I'll see you tomorrow." I say and give her a quick kiss.
"G'night Ulrich." She waves to me as I run off after Odd. Deciding the first place to start looking was obviously our room, I quickly dash up the stairs and stop at our room. I stop and brace myself for anything I might find and open the door.
"Odd?" I walk inside and look around.
To my relief, Odd is in his bed, safe and sound. His eyes are closed, but he still had tears running down his cheeks. I take my shoes off, quietly walk over to my bed and sit down.
"Odd, if you're awake," I say quietly, "please talk to me. I only want to help." Odd rolls over so he's facing the wall. Whether consciously or not, I don't know. But I think he might be faking it again.
I quietly get undressed and crawl into bed. Before laying down I look back over at Odd.
"If you need to talk, I'm willing to listen." I say before lying my head down and going straight to sleep.
Yay, another chapter gone. Don't worry, Odd isn't going to commit suicide. I wouldn't do that to Odd.
Anyways, here's a quote:
385: Proverbs 21:19 (this is a real scripture in the bible): It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman.