Chapter 6!
Title: "Pull"
Disclaimer: I own nothing!!
Note:… Okay… there's no excuse for being so embarrassingly late with this update (except writer's block and laziness… x.x… [My most extreme and sincerest apologies to 'Nekkun'!!... I hope you haven't lost faith in this story just yet!])… but I really hope you enjoy this chapter despite the lateness of it....
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She was getting really close.
I still hadn't decided if I even wanted to kiss her.
I know I was in line for that very reason… but I definitely wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for Uncle Oscar.
And I definitely wouldn't feel like the back of my neck was on fire, wondering if the man behind me was thinking about me or the girl in front of me.
Did he even care that this girl was getting really close to me?
Why did I care so much about that?
And why did I care that he had done this previous festivals?
The roaring from across the street turned into white noise as everything suddenly seemed to be moving so slowly, but too fast at the same time.
I closed my eyes, not really wanting to see what was happening.
And then that was when something changed.
I felt a sudden tug on the back of my collar.
A hand landed on my forehead.
A moment of silence passed until I saw what exactly just happened, and all hell broke loose.
I couldn't see clearly.
I felt familiar fingers covering my eyes.
But I could definitely see that the girl in front of the counter was still leaning over, but she wasn't facing me anymore… her lips were locked with the owner of this hand across my eyes.
Everything finally registered after a second.
What the hell!?
"Gi-!" I was interrupted by the yells and crashing from across the street.
"She's really going crazy!!!" Several people yelled the same sentence at different times as they ran from the area, some of the others actually seemed to gather and holler cheers like they were watching a fight.
I could hear what I recognized as Alice's voice yelling and shouting… tables and chairs splintering.
Then suddenly, there was a raining of meat from the sky.
What the hell is going on?!
The hand suddenly disappeared from my vision.
The girl was backing away from the counter, looking over across the street with an entertained expression at whatever havoc was occurring over there.
I couldn't make sense of anything.
And then a familiar sensation came over me.
I was suddenly being dragged backward when I didn't expect it… this had happened to me not to long ago… and the hand that was curled around mine was the same one as before, too.
I turned around as soon as I could process everything, barely catching a glimpse of the masses of people surrounding the stage, Uncle Oscar running over to the crowd, cheering, too.
And then it was all gone.
We had turned a corner, I could only see a dark brick wall.
I looked down to the hand around mine, trying to really think about what was going on, but my brain wouldn't work right when Gil was touching me.
After last night, I was so aware of the way his hands felt on me.
I didn't really notice it when we had turned another corner… but it was really dark now.
My eyes finally registered from the different light levels as I was trying to catch my breath.
… It was one of the back streets. Nobody was around, and the buildings were so tall that the shadows covered the entire street.
We were really far from the festival now. I could only hear a few rumbling cheers over whatever that crowd was freaking out about.
Then I noticed a closer sound, right next to me.
He was breathing deeply, too, leaning against the wall, staring upward.
All I could so was look at him for a second.
…
Was it strange to think he could actually be beautiful sometimes?
… Probably.
But I knew it was probably really strange to suddenly feel some sort of… pride… about the fact that he was my…
…
When his eyes looked down and over to me I realized that I had been staring.
I almost looked away until I immediately had to start laughing.
"Oz?..." He called my name quietly, evidently clueless.
I pointed my finger at his hat, my index finger raising higher and higher as I was suddenly sliding against the wall towards the ground.
It probably wasn't a good idea to laugh so hard after running so hard.
But I just found it so hilarious.
I had spent a moment actually appreciating how handsome he was, not knowing just how ridiculous he looked with that piece of sliced ham hanging off of the rim of his hat.
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Raven followed Oz down to the ground, more than a little confused about what the boy was laughing at, but when Oz pointed towards Raven's hat, sliding down the wall weakly, it didn't take him long to see what was so funny.
Raven picked off the slice of ham as quickly as he could, throwing it to the ground with a single flap.
He almost joined Oz in the laughter ...
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"How did this happen?" I finally found my words, feeling a little bad for ruining whatever the moment was before I start busting up in inappropriate laughter.
He smiled at me for a second before he sat down, leaning up against the wall, next to me.
I had to take another breath after seeing that smile.
The way he smiled… it wasn't a normal one… well, thinking about it, I don't think Gilbert had a 'normal' smile, but I knew it wasn't a smile he would give to anyone else.
It was like it belonged to me.
His voice woke me from the quiet happiness of that moment.
"I was just letting a certain stupid-rabbit blow off some steam." He explained simply, still looking me in the eye.
I reached up to my forehead, suddenly remembering the recent feeling of his hand on it as he pulled me away from that counter.
… That must've been when he…
"So you did that so I wouldn't…" I trailed off as it was suddenly a little difficult to keep my eyes on his… that is until I remembered something else about what happened at that booth.
His lips… on hers…
"But why'd you- with her-" I spoke up a little urgently.
"I didn't want to!" He said loudly, hurriedly wiping his mouth on his sleeve determinedly.
I had to chuckle at his reaction… it reminded me a lot of how he used to act.
I suddenly didn't care about what happened at that booth anymore.
"You're such a kid," I joked just like I used to, back when I was actually a year older than him, trying to lighten things up.
I suddenly noticed he wasn't smiling anymore.
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"You're such a kid…"
Oz said those words just like he always used to, but now those words meant something different to Raven.
Raven was forced to think about how much he wasn't a kid anymore…. How innocent Oz was compared to him.
… He's still only 15… he hasn't had the time I've had to grow up yet….doing this now… it can't be good for him.
"Oz… " Raven started a conversation he knew wouldn't leave this relationship unscathed. "… about last night…"
"Meow?"
Cold shivers ran down his spine he heard that sickly noise.
"Did you say something?" He asked a perplexed Oz, hoping that the boy had just, for some reason, decided to play around with animal sounds.
"No…" Oz said carefully, suddenly eyeing something to Raven's right.
…. Raven turned very slowly in that direction, preparing himself.
But right when he thought he was ready, there it was. A pointy-eared little demon smiling up at him mischievously the slice of ham hanging from its pointy jaws.
His entire body froze in a slow creeping terror.
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I could literally see his eyes glaze over as he suddenly stopped everything he was doing, including finishing that ominous sentence he had started…
It was probably wrong of me to be grateful for his fear of cats (or to actually think it was kind of cute)… but I really didn't want him to start the conversation I knew he was about to.
That conversation where he'd endlessly blame himself for something that wasn't his fault... a conversation that would only be one-sided since he never listens to me when I try to ease his guilt.
I picked myself off of the ground slowly.
"Nya..." The little gray kitten mewed up at me as I walked over to it.
It chewed on the little piece of ham happily as I picked it up for a moment. I was really very cute… but to him, this little thing was a demon capable of horrible deeds.
I let it go, giving it a nudge in the opposite direction with the tip of my boot.
I slowly turned back to him, calling his name as I did.
"Gi-"
"There you two are." A sly, playful voice interrupted me.
"Break?" I heard Gil call up to the man who was leaning against the corner of the wall, staring at us with a slightly amused expression.
How long had he been standing there?
"A certain B-Rabbit has been creating a little too much excitement over at the festival." Break brought both of us back to reality. "It'd be best if we calmed her down now, before the police get involved… or maybe that'll just add to the fun." He remarked quietly to the little puppet on his shoulder which teetered from side to side with rickety giggles.
"I'll go take care of it now." Gilbert suddenly got to his feet, walking away farther from me.
"If you will." Break commented with his usual condescending tone. "But after you tame the rabbit, I'd like you to tell everyone to meet at the mansion for tea." Break added as politely as was possible for him.
"Yes…" Gilbert said gingerly before he turned the corner, disappearing.
Something wasn't right.
He was acting a little… off.
I guess Break-san's sudden appearance threw him off... or maybe it was just the kitten...
Inside I knew he was probably brooding about the conversation he didn't get to start just now.
I started to make my way towards the festival too, following Gil's trail, but I was stopped before I could get to the corner.
"Oz-kun." Break called over to me, waving his hand to me.
"Yes?" I took a step over to him. I hadn't had expected him to say anything to me.
We never really talked much, I think it was because he once said I 'wasn't much fun to play with'... but I didn't mind.
I walked over to him as he pushed himself away from the wall, still not facing me.
His hand landed on my shoulder delicately.
"I have something I need to speak with you about after I discuss our next plan to the group." He gave me a side-ways glance.
I felt my brows furrow with a little confusion.
"About what?" I asked simply.
Even though his request sounded a little ominous, it couldn't be anything that bad, right?
"It's a secret." He raised a single finger to his lips, smiling an impish grin down at me for a moment. My previous hopes faltered with that suspicious response. "Now go and help our melancholy friend catch your bunny."
I couldn't say anything about that joking last sentence, or ask further about this 'secret' when he started to push me around the corner as he walked the other way.
I slowly picked up my pace, adopting my previous route to the festival.
What was that about?
What would he want to talk to me about?
What 'secret'?
My mind flashed to my recently created secret.
… Gil…
He and I… what we were now… Did he know?
Is that what he wanted to talk about?
Did he see us?
Could he just tell?!
… And why was it a secret?
I guess since neither of us have told anyone else… and we've tried to hide our feelings from the others…. And every time we're together we're always worried about somebody finding us… or was that just me?
…
But most importantly…. Why was I hoping Break didn't know about us?
Why was the thought of him, or Sharon, or Alice, knowing about what was going on between Gil and I, a little scary?
…
Did I want to keep this a secret?
…
My mind was suddenly bombarded with too many questions, none of what has happened these past few days seemed real... and now, I was being forced to look at everything from everyone else's point of view...
... This relationship would look really strange to them...
.... wouldn't it?...
I ahook my head of that thought quickly. I really couldn't think about that right now.
… I just wanted to know one thing.
What was this 'secret' Break needed to talk to me about?
I almost thought about going back and asking him what was going on… but I was more interested in how Gilbert was doing.
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He walked into the dining room a little slowly, trying not to care that everyone was staring at him.
He was the last one to show up for Break's awkwardly-scheduled 'tea-time'.
He looked up from his feet just for a moment, and instead of his eyes meeting Sharon's contented gaze, Alice's determined glare (she still hadn't forgiven him for breaking up her antics from that afternoon), or even Break's amused stare, Raven's eyes met the innocent, wide-eyed look of those emerald eyes that he had seen more of in the past few days than he used to.
Oz offered a weak, but still real, smile just as Raven took his seat at the long dining table.
Even though Raven had been feeling more than a little dejected about the fact that he had been interrupted so awkwardly from saying what he wanted to that afternoon… he was a little happy he hadn't said anything.
If they had had that conversation, Oz probably wouldn't even look at him anymore.
Raven felt his heart tighten a little at the thought.
… If Oz did know about what I'm so worried about… it would just scare him even more, wouldn't it?
But before he could carry those hurtful thoughts any further, he was interrupted.
"Well, now that everyone's here, I want to share what our next mission will be." Break announced abruptly, walking in from the balcony, calling Sharon's attention from her tea, Alice's attention from her endless loot of barbecue meat, and Gil and Oz's attention from each other.
"'Mission'?" Raven repeated Break's word-choice to himself a little quietly.
"That's right, Raven-kun, 'mission'… one that'll require the help of everyone." Break talked down to Raven as he walked over to the table.
"What do we get in return?" Alice grumbled through her chewing teeth… her mood was still sore.
Raven couldn't help but agree with her question, though.
"Well, Alice-kun, I'm not sure if you can hear me properly over the grinding of chicken bones between your teeth…" That snapped more of her attention to him as she half-scoffed/half-choked. "… but this mission has a lot to offer." He answered as vaguely as possible.
Raven found it even more difficult than usual to trust Break.
He was always at his worst when he was scheming things, especially when he kept those schemes a secret.
. . .
"So… what do we have to do?" Oz spoke up after the long moment of silence when nobody exactly knew what to do (except Break, who seemed to be having too much fun waving this little top-secret plan of his in front of everyone).
"I'm glad you asked, Oz-kun." Break was suddenly at full energy again as he reached into his breast-pocket right after he popped a hard candy into his mouth. "We have to find… this girl."
At that he placed a small, rusted locket necklace onto the table. Raven could tell right away that this trinket was really very old.
The little locket was already open.
Two tiny sketches were professionally pasted on the inside.
Raven, Oz, and Alice leaned over the tabletop to take a closer look as Sharon merely sipped at her tea… Raven wondered whether she already knew what was in the locket or not.
Of the two sketches, only one was clearly visible… it was a young girl, younger than Sharon looked… she was smiling brightly, adorned in an extravagant dress and expensive-looking jewelery.
"Who is she?" Oz asked after looking at the picture for a couple seconds.
Raven could swear he saw this sketch before… or a painting of it…. Somewhere…. Years ago.
"Lydia Sinclair." Break answered. But something was different.
Raven immediately understood from not only Break's drop in tone, but from the last name of this girl.
Break wasn't 'Break' right now… not when his eyes were still looking at the locket on the table with that expression… Break he was Kevin.
He could hear Sharon clear her throat a with a little warning form the end of the table… probably trying to get Break's attention away from whatever dark realms of the past it was wondering.
Raven quickly realized that this 'mission' wasn't going to go as smoothly as he had hoped... but he didn't know how much worse it was going to get with the role that Break was planning Oz to play in it.
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