Under Normal Circumstances

Waffles

I rolled my eyes.
"He's so weird," I agreed as I walked past Slivko and sat down at my vanity with a sigh.

My tear stained face was a red puffy mess. I took a tissue and began cleaning up when I noticed Slivko in my mirror. He was standing in the middle of my room with his hands in his pockets, looking around like he was at the most fascinating exhibit at the museum.

It was odd to have him standing in my room. I got so used to him dressed in camo and surrounded by jungle or helicopters, that red bandana wrapped around his head and danger surrounding us. Now here he was, clean and dressed in a nice suit, right in my room. It let me imagine just for a moment that we were just normal people whose biggest problem was what movie to go see on a Friday night. But that made me wonder if Slivko and I ever would have gotten together without all the madness.

Slivko caught my eye in the mirror and a little smirk formed on his face.
"I know," he sighed as he took a seat on the foot of my bed.

"What?" I asked, having no clue what he was talking about.

Broken from my thoughts I hurried up and powdered my face as I waited for his answer.

"It feels normal for a second, right?"

His words almost gave me a chill and turned to look at him instead of his reflection.

"Yeah," I said surprised, and his smile got bigger. "How did you-"

"Hey, you're not the only one with an imagination, you know?" He grinned at me.

"Well, I know but-"

"Come on!" Jared bellowed just outside my door, soon visible in the doorway.

"In a minute!" I snapped back at him and when he opened his mouth to reply I grabbed my tissue box and made to chuck it at his head.

As Jared retreated, Slivko grabbed my wrist and put the tissue box back on my vanity, leaning close by my face to do so. I caught a whiff of his scent and felt my cheeks go red.

"May," he said softly as he held my hand and placed the other on my knee.
My heart fluttered as I got to see every shade of brown in his eyes.
"So everything thats happened has been big and scary and definitely not normal," he emphasized. "But after a while all the little things will feel real and normal again. Like hanging out in your room one day won't include a funeral and mass emotional breakdowns. At least, not on the good days."

A smile broke out on my face as I listened to him.

"So, waffles?" He asked hopefully, looking up at me.

I took a deep breath as my eyes roamed over his adorable face. I reached up with my free hand and brushed his hair back from his face and ran my thumb across his cheek.

"Waffles," I agreed.
———————
Slivko had taken off his jacket and his white sleeves were rolled up, his forearms flexing as he steered my car. He had on his aviator sunglasses and the breeze from the open window ruffled his hair and his loosened tie. Jared and Billy were making a ruckus in the back seat, but I barely registered it. I was just staring at this gorgeous guy driving my pink caddy. Oh if anyone I knew could see me now. What would they think?

"May!" Jared shattered my daydreams. "Could you stop drooling long enough to tell him which way to turn?"

I threw a sideways glare at Jared and tried to ignore the adorably raised eyebrow hovering over Slivko's glasses.

"Take a left," I instructed sheepishly.
I made sure to multitask properly after that, the directions and the ogling.

We soon pulled in at the diner, the neon lights flashing on the hood in the now fading sunlight, Moonlight Drive. I felt better already, I really loved this diner. I dragged my family here so many times, I'm sure that's why they suggested it. It was stuck in the 50's which was fun to me. The waitresses wore poodle skirts and the floors were black and white checkered tiles. The booths and stools were minty green and all the chrome reflected the pink neon lights. Not to mention the over the top, excessively decadent ice cream and mind blowing waffles.