Darling I Do

As the weeks went on and many cohorts passed, I wasn't surprised to be standing next to Ava in a line to The Maine concert. Oliver, Nathan and Charlie were parking the car and buying we came in elsewhere.

"I'm so excited for this." Ava was tugging the hem of her shirt looking positively radiant, "Though standing in this line is bloody annoying."

A couple of teenage girls in front of us were making little paper towel wrapped gifts for the band. They decorated it with permanently inked hearts and cell phone numbers. They giggled ferociously as they wrote band ships and all sorts of profanity.

"I agree." I closed my eyes and buried my face in my scarf for a minute weighing down the misery that composed my heart. A warm hand in this bitter cold grazed mine and I opened my eyes to Oliver smiling.

"Are you cold?" He whispered into my ear. He was at such a close proximity to me that all the heat radiated from to him to me. I shook my head no. The line began to move forward, and the girls in front of us only seemed to get louder. Their excited shrieks turned more raucous.

Ava was giggling faintly into Nathans neck as he leaned down and whispered something to her. Charlie looked like a third wheel as he shuffled from one foot to another, rubbing his hands together.

In an attempt to make him feel more comfortable, I extended my hand and held out peacock hand warmers I had. He grinned, and accepted them, stuffing both of them in his pockets.

"Look at you, making friends." He pointed out.

"It's a rare event, you won't see it often." I joked.

"Ah but you've done it so well with my friends. I think they like you more than they do me."

"All part of my master plan. First your friends, then the world." Shaking my fist for emphasis.

He snickers and lays his hand over my fist. Immediately, like an automatic reaction, it relaxes. His calloused warm hand over mine was enough to bring a small smile to my face. He smiled back, stroking my hand with his thumb. He wrapped his other arm around my neck and I rested my head on his chest, curling my arm around his back. His heartbeat was rythmatic and brought me to a trance. I could only think of us. Him and me, alone but together. No screaming girls, no waiting, just us. His chin rested on top of my head and he said quietly, but loud enough for me to hear only "Don't forget me, when you're off conquering the world." And honestly, I felt wanted for once.

I mumbled a response, but I don't think he heard me. The doors of the venue opened suddenly and people poured into the stadium. And the people moving along the line, made us pull back almost instantly and we remembered where we were and how many people could see us.

Ava let go of Nathan and linked arms with me and we walked in with the boys trailing behind us. We all stayed close together so the crowd of people would separate us.

Once the band came out, though, it didn't matter anymore whether my friends were beside me. I swayed with the music and lost myself in its pounding notes. Only one thing kept me part of this world, and that was Oliver's hand holding mine the whole time at the concert.

~*~

When the concert ended, we didn't wait for the band to come out. Although we wanted to, Charlie was beyond wasted and Ava was complaining about the cold. And we realized it was three in the morning and we had class in the morning. We piled in the car. Ava sat next to me in the middle, Nathan on her right. Oliver was driving and Charlie drunkenly yelled shotgun. Oliver started the old sputtering car and drove out of the parking lot. The girls outside screamed. I looked out the window and there was John O'Callaghan. He was bobbing his head from one fan to another, signing autographs and pictures. He looked nice. I wish I could have met him.

It was an hour drive back home and on the way we dropped Nathan and Ava off at his house where he lived with his brother. As soon as he was turn and Oliver was about to start to start the car, Oliver yelled out the window, jolting Charlie awake. As Charlie slurred words, Oliver pointed at Charlie and jabbed a finger into the air in their direction.

Nathan's eyes widened, like he had remembered something. He dragged Charlie out the car , supporting him with both his weight and Ava's. They both smiled and waved us off. I climbed into the passenger seat, and not realizing then. It was so obvious how they smiled, like they knew something. Oliver's eyes sparkled, but let on no answers. He switched the song from The Used, to a song from Lydia, which was more suitable for a quiet winter night like today.

I bunched the fabric of my sweater in my hands to keep them warm. Oliver noticed, and laid his warm hands on mine, which I greedily held.

"Why are you always so warm?" I asked as I traced the protruding vein on his hand with my index finger. His hand shuddered and held mine tighter.

"I don't know. It's always been like that. Just lucky, I suppose." He smiled, still looking at the road, he asked, "Why are you always cold?"

"Terrible luck, I guess." I muttered under my breath. He heard and chuckled.

"Don't say that. I think it's pretty lucky."

"Why is that?" His fingers intertwined with mine, his thumb stroked my hand, his lips kissed the back.

"I can hold you more. Keep you warm and stuff." He finished hasty and when I looked over, he was blushing. His eyes met mine, but darted quickly back to the road.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Oliver wasn't the one to blush. He was the one to be smooth talker, the guy who flirted with ease. But then in my mind, I smiled shyly.
He offered to walk me to my apartment, and I almost said yes, if it were not for the looming shadow near the door. I recognized the posture. It slouched slightly and I saw the shadow hand hold a cigarette.

The air was stuck in my throat, but managed to say no. Hesitant at first, he tried to protest, "It's no problem, are you sure you don't want me to walk you?"

"It's fine Oliver." I gave in to the urge to see the figure standing outside my apartment.

I was about to get out of his car, when he, almost like a feather, grazed my arm and held it. When I turned around to look at him, his other arm held my face, and kept it dangerously close to his.

He didn't lean in, we didn't move. We were just so close to each other, just like at the line outside the venue, that the thought of that man outside my house, was paid no attention. I only focused on those green eyes hungrily looking at mine. And that's when I did the daring.

I kissed him.