Amare

Chapter 2

Case Day

Day 4

02:35am

"Where am I?"

Oliver whirled around after he heard those words. Mai was standing at the threshold with a confused and worried look on her face. Close to she looked sleep-deprived, pale, and sweaty. Something unpleasant gathered somewhere in his abdomen, causing his chest to contract painfully – was that worry?

Mai staggered. Oliver reacted automatically, moving forwards at a brisk pace. He watched her teeter on her feet with disapproving eyes, but she seemed to gather herself and steadied on her feet. Oliver stopped halfway, his feet faltering – uncertain whether to approach her or not.

"Naru..."

Mai stretched her arm drunkenly towards him, her head tilting back on its own accord. He didn't like the way that his heart was beating at all, in small, pinprick like sensations that seemed to draw the boundary between Mai and him. He was restricted; he didn't know whether he would be able to control himself around her anymore – the strong beating of his heart made him sure of that fact.

She loved Gene...

And there was no changing that.

Mai faltered again, this time she wasn't able to keep her balance. He reacted. He caught her limp body under the arms, preventing her from falling and hitting her head on the floor. Mai hauled herself up, and leaned against Oliver for support, her head resting in his 'breaking' chest and her hands curled up against the warmth of his rigid body.

Mai seemed to be a little too warm against him – fever? He couldn't tell, not when she was dangerously close to him, and his adrenaline-ridden body. No wonder his mouth was feeling dry.

"Mai...you're sleep-walking."

His voice was hoarse, and quiet against the top of her head. He pulled away from her, keeping a protective hand under her elbow. He pulled her sleep-ridden body to the couch. Mai groaned sleepily.

"I don't wanna move," she tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he was too strong for her right now.

He let go of her as soon as they reached the couch. Mai fell unceremoniously onto the couch in an exhausted heap. She had enough sense left in her to curl up properly on the couch with deep, relieved sigh. Oliver gave a long, suffering sigh and made to move away.

Kissing Mai...was definitely an accident. Impulse as he had stated it. Normally functioning on impulses wasn't what he abided by, or practised. His actions were always thought out, so there was never a room for any mistakes, or any scenario that was left unexplored. On the rare occasions when he exhibited his impulses, he would usually be faced with a consequence that was the result of unprecedented actions – and hence sometimes accounted for accidents. Like the time one week ago – to which he was regretting even now.

In the periphery of his vision, Mai shivered violently. He halted in his tracks, his body was rigid, his brain in a flurry of conflict. He glanced back at the apparently sleeping (and cold) Mai with a contemplative expression.

He was wearing a coat – which was already warm due to the amount of time that he had been wearing it due to the chill that seemed to settle down every night. He gripped the fabric at his arm with long, delicate fingers and turned around after reaching his decision.

He took his coat off, and threw it over Mai. She snuggled under the warmth with a sigh. Oliver turned away quickly, not wanting to be distracted any further. Chill rung through his body without the warmth of his coat, but, oddly, he didn't seem to mind. He could live like this.

There was a rustle from behind; most probably Mai was shifting under his coat. He ignored her etched presence in his mind, and tried hard not to think of the distraction. This would only be possible if he could erase that picture from his mind – the time when Mai had run through the tree tunnel like a fairy of nature or something or the other. Mai had demanded the car to be stopped, and Lin being the considerate person that he was of Mai's wishes had done so. She had proceeded with 'kicking' him out of the passenger side of the car, and glared viciously when he wouldn't acquiesce with her dim-witted and childish wishes.

He learned not to be nonnegotiable when he was facing a violent woman at hand with unfulfilled desires of running through a tunnel of cherry blossoms like a small child of all things – ignore the attractive, charming, and adorable traits that go with such a child.

Not to mention that his leg had hurt for several hours afterwards.

Mai had danced away from him, ignoring his jibes, with a tinkling laugh that had caused Goosebumps on his arms. He had rotted away in pissed off mood as he had waited for her curb her 'wild' side. She had returned with a beatific smile on her face that he hadn't quite managed to erase from his mind since then – which was almost four months ago.

It was that smile that lingered in his mind like a frame-worked picture of all things.

There was a groan from behind, and a loud rustle. He tried to ignore the ever-growing presence of Mai in the back of his mind, but his restlessness took over, and he found himself turning around to look at the waking up Mai.

Mai sat up looking much more awoke then before. She looked up straight into Oliver's midnight-blue eyes and froze in place.

"Naru..."

Mai's voice was a weak whisper. Her cheeks flushed scarlet with remembrance. Mai looked awkward, and uncomfortable.

"You were sleep-walking," he informed, turning away from her briskly.

"Was I?"

He heard her, but it was low enough for him to ignore. Exasperatingly, he wasn't able to diminish the rigidness in his shoulders, that he was sure was visible. More than half of his brain was actively interested in what was going on behind him, than what the monitors were currently showing.

Mai didn't see the coat on her, until she shifted and it fell off of her. She gazed at it for a moment, before comprehension dawned in her, and she blushed even more. She peaked tentatively at the black-haired man in front of her.

Oliver felt Mai stand up, the other half of his mind that had been struggling to maintain his previously unbreakable concentration faltered completely and he found himself focusing entirely on the small (read: magnanimous) presence behind him. He felt her light footsteps making for him, and stop somewhere close behind him. He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, which was gone before he could really sink it in.

"Naru, your coat," she said.

He nodded once, not sparing her a glance. He felt Mai sinking behind him – his heart jumped in hurt.

"Thanks...for um, lending it," Mai's voice came off weaker than before. He didn't reply this time, making a show of writing in his notebook. Though, he knew that he didn't pull it off. He knew that Mai also knew as well that he was just playing around.

"Don't..."

Her voice was breaking off, he felt himself breaking as well – somewhere in a part that hadn't been touched before, he was breaking as well.

"Don't...ignore, please,"

There was a sniffle. He dropped his pen. It clattered to the floor like a coin, and lay still after some half-hearted rolls on both sides. Oliver stared at it.

"Don't...ignore me, please,"

Another sniffle, a sob, and he felt his forehead heat up.

"It hurts...it hurts like hell,"

The pen faded from his vision, but he didn't move. His grip tightened on his notebook, and his hand shook. There was something stuck in his throat, he couldn't say anything – he didn't have anything to say.

"I can't bear, because...I love you,"

Oliver's eyes flashed, and head snapped up so fast that he cricked his neck, and the notebook fell from his hands and landed with a dull thud beside the pen. He turned around, staring at the softly crying Mai with wide eyes.

Before he knew it, he had grabbed both of her arms, and tugged her closer, his face breaking into a dangerous expression. Mai winced at his tight grip, but didn't pull away.

"Me..." he began with a menacing tone, "Or...Gene?"

"You...it's you, Naru. God damn it, it's you," her tears stopped.

There was a heartbeat of a moment, then –

"Always..."

Oliver's eyes flashed again, and he dropped her hands. He felt all energy drain from his legs. He touched his forehead in a daze, and ran a hand through his hair in distraught.

"Say something..." she wiped off her tears, "What happened that day" –

"Was an accident," he said, but he didn't look at her, "An accident, Mai,"

Mai took a step back, "An...accident?"

Oliver looked up, his face showing lines of exhaustion, and nodded silently, looking away.

"You mean...I got worked up...for nothing?" Mai deflated – cracking visibly. She almost broke as well, but before he could say anything Mai shook her head. And gave a weak smile. Oliver stared at her, a little disbelieving at the girl – no, woman in front of him.

"I'm sorry...for giving you a hard time," she fought for control, unaware of the amount emotion that she was causing Oliver to show at the moment, "I do love you...I really do," she gave a smile, "But there's no point if you don't love me back."

Mai took another step back, "I'm a bother, aren't I? I won't bother you. I'm sure that there'll be someone...for me,"

Oliver's eyes flashed again at that, and an image of Mai with someone flashed through his mind.

He hadn't known when he had tugged Mai to himself, or when their lips had connected once again. All he knew, against the pounding of his heart, was the feeling that flowed with it.

He felt her arms go around his neck pulling him closer. He ran a hand through her short, soft hair in a slight frenzy. His other hand curled tentatively on her hip. Their lips were slow, gentle – unpractised in their enthusiasm, and their delight. He felt her tighten her straining grip on him.

Needing air, Mai broke off.

"Idiot..." Oliver muttered against her lips.

Mai drew back, blinking several times at him. Oliver dropped his arms from around her.

He gave a breathy sigh, covering his warm face with a hand. His lips were still tingling with the sensation from Mai's lips. He was rendered speechless (if he hadn't been that before) with a painful smack to the top of the head. He looked down at glaring Mai with confusion.

"You asshole!" she yelled angrily, "You took way too long,"

Mai was crying again, though he doubted whether they were tears of pain anymore. He himself felt something closing in his chest. Benignly, he smiled at her. Mai's cheeks coloured a bright red.

Amare...wasn't so bad now. Not when the sort of person he loved was Mai.

A/N: There you have it. Hope you liked it.

Anyways, a helpful review by Rhiannon the Mage alerted me of the fact that I was using Amare in the wrong sense. I amended my mistake in the previous chapter. I replaced Amare with Amore.

Amore means love; Amare means to love.

Hopefully, it was cleared up.

Don't forget to review!