Did It Hurt? (bxb)

VIII

Oliver climbed back down the ladder to the house. Halfway down, reality struck him and he realized he'd actually bonded with Angel. Frowning, he walked like a zombie all the way to the kitchen. Simon was back on the couch with his book. He looked up when Oliver shuffled in, and laughed quietly. "Dude." he said, setting his book down and crossing his legs. "What happened out there? You look like you've seen the end of the world."

Oliver stopped in the kitchen mid-step and looked at the ground. "I hugged Angel." He whispered it quietly, hoping his brother didn't hear. He was wrong. Simon was silent for a few beats, then howled with laughter.

"The new kid that I heard about from the street kids?" he wheezed. "Jeez, I thought you two would be snogging already." He laughed some more. Oliver's eyes grew wide and a growl escaped his throat. He charged at Simon, grabbed him by the shirt and tackled him to the ground. The book clattered to the floor. Simon was stunned with shock. "I hate you too, Ollie." He grunted, reading his mind. Oliver released him and stood up, dusting himself off. Simon stood up too, and smiled a toothy smile. "Well? Out with it! Do you like this boy?" The werewolf asked. "Did you chase him down before he left the house or something? Is that what took so long?"

Oliver's eyes widened. "I did not chase him down! He had stopped to look at the constellations." It was the half truth. "And I do not-"

He found himself not able to answer Simon's previous question, which was both surprising and scary at the same time. Do I like Angel? He stood there staring at Simon, feeling as dumb as a sack of bricks. Simon crossed his arms impatiently. After a few more awkward beats, Oliver groaned and walked away. Suddenly, a sharp pain struck him in the gut. Crying out, he hunched over and cried out in pain.

"Oliver!" Simon exclaimed. He was immediately at his brother's side. "Are you okay?" He put a hand on Oliver's back. In a lower voice, he asked, "When was the last time you drank any blood?"

Oliver gritted his teeth. "I don't... need any." The pain was intense. He stood up straight and Simon dropped his hand, his expression not happy that he'd avoided the question. "I'm fine."

—-

The day was Saturday, and Angel and Oliver finally decided to meet at Lookout Point. Oliver was stopping by the store to pick up some snacks before meeting him at the park so they could walk together to the Point. The bell chimed as he walked into the small store. Country music was playing softly through speakers. I'd rather punk. He put his hands in the pockets of the midnight black jeans he was wearing, and walked briskly to the isle he needed. Oliver brushed a strand of hair out of his eye, and began browsing the candy to see which brand would be the best to tame his blood craving and turn it into a sweet tooth. Does Angel like Twizzlers? Oliver shrugged and plucked them off the shelf anyway.

He strode over to the register and placed the candy up on the desk. He rolled his eyes at the cashier who was too busy reading the newspaper to ring up Oliver's stuff. He tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for him to finally notice him standing here. "Ollie? What a coincidence!" Oliver froze and shut his eyes so tight it hurt. Olivia. He spun around slowly to face her. He made a face of disgust at her outfit. She was wearing a bright orange crop top with frills at the bottom, jean shorts that were 90 percent holes,-and not to mention they were about 3 inches too short-, and brown sandals. Her hair was in a high ponytail.

Olivia walked up to him, and glanced at his groceries. "Twizzlers? Interesting choice. Though, I think you'd rather like strawberries better." She got dangerously close to Oliver's face. So close, in fact, Oliver could see, -ironically-, what he assumed was her strawberry lip gloss sparkle off her lips. "Where are you headed? Maybe I could come with, and we could spend some time together." Oliver took a large step backward and slammed his hand down on the counter.