Uncharted

He didn’t want me to leave.

I had no idea what was going on in Desmond’s perfect head. One minute he would be super sweet and thoughtful then before I knew what was happening be would turn into a total asshole. He left me speechless. I never had any idea what to expect from Des, it was always a guessing game. I never knew if I’d piss him off and unintentionally start another fight or have a normal conversation with the guy.

“Why would you do that?” Des asked. All the playfulness seemed to be gone from his voice at that point.

“If I’m thinking about it logically, it makes sense. I can do the same job in America…where I have people who actually care about me. I have my family and a few friends who miss me terribly. Ireland is beautiful…but something is missing, you know?”

“Cooper and I care about you, we’re your friends.”

“Des, you hate me half of the time and Cooper barely has time to sleep let alone socialize with me.” I groaned and rubbed my hand on my face. “I should just go home.” I concluded downing the last of my wine.

“I don’t hate you, Ollie!” Desmond defended himself. “You’re like…the coolest girl I’ve ever met.” He crushed his cigarette under his shoe. His perfect green eyes seemed even more perfect that night. They were clear and bright, glimmering sort of.

I felt myself blush “Thanks for trying to cheer me up Des but-”

“No. I mean it. I’ve never met a girl like you before, Ollie. You’re so down to Earth and you love horror movies which is cool as fuck…and you’re actually starting to get decent at video games. And like…you’re really fucking pretty and you have no idea, no idea. You’re intimidating as fuck…I don’t even know what to say to you half the time because I get so tongue tied when I’m around you because I just want you to like me. I just fuck up and say the wrong things all of the time.”

I blankly stared at Desmond, my cheeks felt like they were on fire. He had been drinking as we all had but he seemed extremely intoxicated. What he said was really flattering. However, I doubted there was any truth to his words.

“Desmond, you have had far too much to drink tonight.” I stated while I laughed, trying to brush off what he had just said.

“And you need to stay in Ireland because I’ll miss the fuck out of you if you leave.” Des said smirking at me.

“I’m not making any promises on that one but I can assure you I’ll still be here when you wake up tomorrow.” I said somewhat bitterly.

“Good. I’ll take that.” Des leaned his back against the wall as he took a deep breath.

Snow was beginning to float down from the sky, unfortunately. There was already a thick layer of snow covering everything and more snow was the last thing we needed. Yet neither Des nor I made a move to go back inside where it was warm. We just stayed silent and still letting snow land on our noses and eyelashes.

“It’s snowing.” Des finally spoke breaking the comfortable silence between us.

“It is.” I confirmed.

“We should go inside.” He said quietly.

“Probably.” I agreed.

Des and I made our way back inside. Cooper was passed out on the couch. A few random people were hanging around chatting. Des set off searching for Moira who was nowhere in sight. If Cooper and Des were both occupied there was really no reason for me to stay any longer. Plus I was exhausted from my travels.

“Coop?” I shook him lightly.

“Yeah?” he said sleepily but his eyes opened wide to look at me.

“I’m going to head out now. Thank you for inviting me to your lovely party.” I said smiling at my entirely plastered friend.

Cooper laughed sleepily but before I had time to realize what was going on he had pulled me down onto the couch with him. “No. Stay and cuddle with me.”

“Cooper.” I whined as I began to squirm in his grasp. Finally, I slipped out of his arms and stood myself up and straightened out my dress. Cooper pouted at me and held is arms out toward me like a child.

“Sleepover?” he asked cutely.

“Fine.” I agreed, being too exhausted to ever try to fight with him about this.

“Grand. Shall we then?” Cooper offered me his arm when he stood up from the couch, wobbling a bit in the process.

“Indeed we shall.” I mustered my best Irish accent trying to replicate his.

“That was wretched. Never do that again.” Cooper laughed. I noticed then that absolutely everyone had left. Cooper and I were the only ones left, besides Des and Moira who I assumed were around somewhere.

“Give me clothes!” I demanded once we got into Cooper’s bedroom.

Cooper ignored my demand and kicked his pants off and flopped down face first into his bed. “Closet.” Was all he said.

I took no time digging through his closet; I found a pair of black sweat pants and a white v-neck. I slide out of my dress know very well that Cooper was still face down on his bed and slid on his clothes. I flicked the lights off and closed his bedroom before I crawled into his bed. Cooper instantly wrapped his arms around me; he tangled his fingers in my hair, playing with it.

I was asleep in a few minutes.

&&

I woke up and took in my surroundings. Cooper’s arm was still slung over me. He was snoring softly besides me. I was shocked that he was still there. Normally when we’d have sleepovers he’d have been at the hospital for hours before I even woke up. I heard clatter from the kitchen, meaning Des and Moira were probably awake and getting ready to do whatever they had planned for the day.

“Morning love.” Cooper said burying his face into my neck. He pushed his cold nose against my skin which made me squirm.

“Your nose is like an icicle. Get outta here.” I laughed and pushed his face away from me.

“YOU CAN’T ESCAPE MY LOVE!” Cooper screamed so loud that my ears began to ring and pushed his nose against my skin again. This time he tickled my sides at the same time make me scream and throw my body around trying to escape him.

“Stop!” I said through my laughter and gasping for air. Surprisingly, he listened to me and stopped attacking me.

We settled into a comfortable silence. I closed my eyes and thought about trying to go back to sleep. I really didn’t want to be awake because then my mind would start analyzing everything. Desmond really had my mind in a constant mess. It was like he was constantly trying to mess with my head. Maybe he was. I don’t know.

“What’re you thinking about?” Cooper asked quietly, I opened my eyes and looked over at him.

Sometimes I hated how blue Cooper’s eyes were because it made me feel like he could see directly into my soul.

I shrugged, not wanting to burden Cooper with my worries.

“I’m assuming you didn’t know about Moira.” Cooper said softly. “They’ve been on and off for the past year or so. I really don’t think he cares for her much.”

“Oh, how romantic.” I laughed and rolled my eyes for good measure.

“Well, at least you didn’t fuck him when he had a girlfriend.” Cooper said, instantly earning a smack in the face from me.

“Don’t talk about it.” I scolded Cooper realizing Des and I had yet to discuss that situation. I was hoping he would have forgotten about our fight before Christmas.

“That was uncalled for, Olivia.” Cooper pouted and rubbed the spot which I had just smacked.

“So I’m not a home wrecker?” I asked, feeling slightly better about myself but not much.

“Not at all.”

“Oh thank God!” I cheered and threw my arms in the air triumphantly.

Suddenly, the bedroom door creaked open and Des stood there shirtless with his sweat pants hanging low on his hips as usual. His hair was its normal disastrous mess, shooting up in every direction. My eyes went directly to the spatula that was grasped in his tattooed hand.

Des scratched the back off his head awkwardly. “Um, I made breakfast. So…if I’m not interrupting anything…uh. There’s food.” And with that he disappeared out of the doorway.

“Fuck yes!” Cooper cheered and launched himself out of the bed at light speed. I could hear the sound of his bare feet smacking against the tiled hallway as he ran toward the kitchen. I laughed to myself and made way down toward the kitchen.

I was shocked for the second time that morning when I found an enormous amount of breakfast food piled on the table. It was like a picture out of a cooking magazine. That just reminded me of what Cooper said the night previous about Des being a perfectionist. I sat down across from Cooper who shoved a fork full of pancakes into his mouth and then grinned cheekily at me.

I shook my head began filling my own plate as Des took a seat at the head of the table between Cooper and myself. I was into my second bite of toast when I realized that Moira wasn’t at the table and there were only three places set.

“Hey, where’s Moira?” I asked as it just dawned on me.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Des said flatly as he reached for a plate full of bacon. I looked from Des who had no emotions on his stony face to Cooper who had his face contorted into a mix between curiosity and concern.

That’s when it dawned on me that maybe I wasn’t the only one who went outside the night before to clear their head. Des was out there to clear his head too. I was too focused on my own misery to notice his.