Like A Bullet [P.M.]

Chapter 36

We headed back to the house to eat dinner, since the sun was starting to set. Laurel tried to keep herself warm with her wet underwear. She then walked towards me and into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her as we made our way into the street, then into the house.

"I'm going to take a hot shower." She said, hanging her jacket on the coat rack. "I'm in the mood for Italian today."

"Okay. I will prepare the ingredients for some pasta, maybe?"

"Pasta. That sounds delicious." She rubbed her tummy and proceeded to go upstairs. I looked back at the kitchen, so big, full of possibilities. I started thinking that if Laurel and I, well, got married, we could just live up here. It's nice and peaceful. Just the two of us. Probably with one or two kids.

How did you go from thinking about pasta to having children?

Anyway, I ran to the cabinets and grabbed all the ingredients to make a rigatoni pasta with grilled peppers and onions. Something my mother had taught me when I was eight. My mother had given up some of her time to teach both me and Wanda, some basic dishes for the daily life.

I cooked the rigatoni, then I grilled the vegetables, cutting them into bite-size pieces afterwards. When the pasta was done, I set it apart to a bowl and added the vegetables. I then topped it with parmesan cheese and basil. All in under an hour. I took out two bowls, very fancy ones, and I placed some pasta in each one. Then, down the hall that lead to the basement and the laundry room, another door caught my eye. I ran to it, opening the handle and walking down the steps. What I found was extremely amazing. It was a wine cellar.

I looked around, passing my fingers through each of the dust-covered bottles. Some even dated back to 1934. Laurel's parents were quite the collectors. A sudden chill ran through my back as I turned around to spot Laurel's figure standing by the doorway.

"Amazing, right?" She grinned, walking past the door.

"Yes, truly spectacular." I gave her a smile, setting my eyes back on the bottle racks.

"Pick one." Laurel said, crossing her arms at my side.

I turned to face her, a confused expression covering my face.

"Pick one, for now." She gave me a nudge, "the food's getting cold."

I agreed, moving away from her to the different racks around the room. I eyed every one of them. One of my childhood friends had a father who collected wine bottles as well. He told me all about his father's precious treasures. I finally found one that looked appealing and I carefully pulled it out towards me. I held it in my arms as I walked towards Laurel.

"Let's eat."

We walked up the stairs and Laurel grabbed the bowls from the kitchen counter. I settled down the bottle in front of the fireplace, on top of the blanket I had placed as well. Laurel came with the two bowls on both hands, and utensils on top of them. I ran to get some wine glasses in the kitchen, coming back to see Laurel already putting down the bowls on the blanket. I gave her an appreciative smile as we both sat down beside the fireplace. We dug into the pasta, both our eyes widening at the first spoonful inside our mouths.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Laurel shoved another spoonful into her mouth.

"Thank my mother. She taught me." I took a piece of onion into my mouth, quivering at the strong flavor in my mouth.

"You never speak about them. Your parents." She set her bowl on the coffee table, wiping her lips with a napkin.

"I do not like to." I bowed my head. I really didn't like to talk about them.

"That's fine. At least you had Wanda to talk to. My father just shut me out."

"It must have been awful."

"It was. I had all these emotions bottled up inside of me." She started to water up, "I didn't know what to do with them. So, I shut my father out as well."

I stayed quiet for some seconds. I knew what it felt to have emotions all bottled up. But I did have Wanda. She didn't have a Wanda.

"Wanda always took care of me emotionally. I always protected her from harm."

"You spent all those years wandering alone with her?" She finally raised her head, her eyes shining with the fireplace light.

"We were all we needed. Me and her."

"I understand." She cleared her throat, before taking a deep breath. "When my dad and I stopped talking for the first few days, I wanted to prove that I was still strong, that I didn't need him or his money. The only thing I asked him was an apartment, and that was it. He stayed out of my life, I stayed out of his. Win win situation."

"You did not speak to anybody about your mother?"

"I wouldn't, I couldn't talk to anyone." Her voice broke at the last word.

"Talk to me then. Talk to me."

We spent an hour talking about our parents and I finally spoke to her about what was it like inside HYDRA. Her face was completely blank the whole time. I knew why. The things they did to me and Wanda were inhumane. We then washed the dishes together and walked upstairs. We turned off the dozens of lights that were turned on and locked ourselves in the master bedroom.

"I am going to take a shower." I muttered, grabbing my night clothes and heading inside the bathroom. Laurel nodded as I closed the door.

Bathtub or shower? Definitely shower, bathtubs were weird. I opened the water faucet and changed the water temperature to my liking. I slid off my clothes, throwing them to the corner of the bathroom. Then I stepped into the shower, cringing at the sudden hot water. After about fifteen seconds passed, I heard the door creak open.

"Laurel?" I said, turning to hide my parts.

It was silent. I tried to look through the humid glass, but it was no use. I opened the humid glass door that lead into the shower, and a pair of lips suddenly crashed into mine.