Ebony and Irony

-Claudio-

Here I was, walking downtown with a beautiful girl on my arm, in a sea of lights.
Lydia loves these lights...
Olivia is my focus tonight.
I smiled down at my petite date, and her answering smile dazzled me.
I missed her smile.
I cast my eyes up, searching the board above the ticket booth at the theater for our destination.
A "SOLD OUT" sticker displayed along the whole row of titles for Harry Potter, and I swore I heard Olivia swear under her breath; the sound was almost comical if I hadn't have seen what I thought I saw. Shaking my head, I grabbed Olivia's hand-- I saw her smile-- anddragged her urged her along behind me, out of the crowd and over to the restaurant I thought I saw them go into.
"Dinner?" I suggested with a coy smile outside the Italian place, and her whole face lit up as she nodded erratically, grabbing my hand and towing me inside behind her.
Inside, I scanned the place.
No way in hell that they'd come here...
And then I saw the flash of golden hair I'd been looking for, paired with a mind-blowing white shock next to it.
My blood heated in my veins, and Olivia and I were seated.

The food was good, though I barely ate any. My eyes had been too busy looking at the table next to us, and my stomach was too busy doing scared little flips.
How dare she?
My mouth wasn't busy, it was mashed in a hard line that let Olivia speak during the course of the evening; I kept checking my watch.
Every time I tried to excuse myself to go home-- I really didn't feel well-- she would correct me; I kept calling her Olivia instead of her preferred 'Livy'.
She noticed my distraction, though I thought she wouldn't, and when she reached across the table and cupped her hand over mine with a sympathetic smile, I secretly exhaled.
She really was a cute, kind girl, and if it was any other night in any other place with any other table neighbors, maybe I would've flirted and laughed and called her Livy with the right amount of care in my voice. But it wasn't, and I didn't.
And I felt bad enough as it was.
We stood up after they had already left-- I was sulking and Livy wasn't having much fun.
I walked her to her apartment and gave her a smile and a kiss on the cheek. She waved at me as I turned my back with not even a "good night", and I saw her porch light turn off in the corner of my eye.
Guilt gripped my stomach, but I waved it off as anxiety filled in.
Where to look, where to look....

-Lydia-

I walked in the door, mouth spewing words a mile a minute-- if you can call what I was doing walking.

I was being dragged in by the elbow by a grave-faced Claudio Paul Sanchez.

He took me through the kitchen, where our mother sat, and I locked eyes with her, words still flowing; I was sure my eyes were begging her to help me, but Claudio didn't give her enough time to decode my expression; we were up the stairs and behind his bedroom door before she could even stand up.

I sat on the bed, mouth now clamped shut as I prayed he wouldn't yell at me; he stood, cool and resolute, back against the door across the room.

We sat-- technically, I sat, while he stood statue still, glaring at me-- in silence for a solid half hour before I got up, shooting him a murderous look, and went into the closet to change into more comfortable clothing. Obviously, I wasn't going to eat or use the bathroom tonight, the way he was holding up. I would be stuck here forever.

When I emerged from the closet, peeking my head out around the wood, I found him with his head in his hands on the bed, back hunched in a miserable manner. My brow furrowed, and I tiptoed over to him, wrapping my frail arms around his frame.

"You're mad at me," i deduced. "Absolutely pissed."

He nodded, and I sat down, arms still around him. If he was crying, he was doing so silently and soblessly.

"I'm going to sound absolutely stupid here, but--"

"You want to know why."

His voice was a mumble, and I rubbed his arm soothingly as best I could from where we were, and I simply nodded.

"Simple," he told me, raising his head-- he had been crying. "You ruined my date."

Deja vu swept over me, and I suddenly knew how he felt when I had gone out to coffee with Lyle that afternoon. I didn't blame him now. My tactic had been far more underhanded.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, knowing it wasn't enough. He kept still and quiet. "It was stupid... childish... immature...," I trailed off, feeling hot tears fill my eyes at the truth of my own words. I pressed my lips closed and waited for him to add more adjectives to belittle me. He didn't. He didn't say one damn word, and I was left stewing in my own loathing.

"I know how you felt when I went out for coffee with him," I informed him. He still hadn't moved. "All that anger and jealousy. I don't even know that girl you were with... Olivia, was it?"

My tone was bitter, hard. I felt ridiculous, but I couldn't help myself.

I sneered, and stood up, pacing the room now as he looked up at me, fresh red rims around his eyes.

"I've known Lyle since I was practically born. You've known this girl what, two days?" I glared murderously at him and his tears. I wanted him to fight me back, not cry. I paused in front of him.

"Why did you even go out with her?" My voice hissed from my teeth, and he looked up at me, mercy screaming from his eyes.

"I wanted her to be you."

I shook my head, dubious to the actual truth in his words, though somewhere deep down, I knew he wasn't lying.

"That's a crap answer. You can do better than that."

He took a deep breath and raised his whole head, looking me full on in the face.

"I wanted to be the one to take you out first. I wanted to see that movie with you. I wanted to walk you home laughing and holding hands. I wanted to be the special one, not Lyle. Then I saw you two at the restaurant, the restaurant I was going to take you to if I ever got the chance. Not that you ever gave me the chance.

"I couldn't keep my eyes off you the whole night. The minute we stepped into that place, I knew I'd find you, and I did. I sat not five feet from you, and all you could do was laugh at his stupid jokes. They weren't even that funny! You stood up and left, and I felt like a piece of me left that place with you.

"I didn't know where you were going, or what you were going to do with him. I couldn't have you hurt, Claudia, I couldn't."

I ignored the use of my full name, and could only stare at him as he buried his face in his hands once more. His words were still seeping into my skin, and I couldn't focus on anything else.

"I couldn't keep my eyes off you the whole night."

I shook my head, as though trying to dislodge water from my brain.

"What are you saying?"

My voice was weak, like I had gargled with Drain-o.

"Jesus Craig Christ!" he yelled, standing up as he threw his hands up before grabbing my arms; his eyes looked slightly crazed, just the way I felt. "I'm saying I effing love you, Lyd. Could you work with me here?"

I didn't flinch away from his loud voice the way I normally would have.

"I effing love you."

My wide eyes could only see his eyes, equally crazed, and before I knew it, we were a tangle of limbs on the bed, mouths working furiously against one another.

"I effing love you too," I whispered as we pulled apart, mouths red and throbbing. Our eyes sparkled triumph, and I felt like I could rule the world; Claudio would be my Queen, of course.