Forever and Always, Olive

Chapter 11: Is That Some Sort of Code?

I return the hug awkwardly, feeling his warm skin beneath my fingers as I lightly touch his back. He really should put on a shirt. I hear footsteps thumping down the steps but Abel doesn't let me go. My cheeks are red as I feel him nuzzle his face into my neck. His breath is shaky yet I can only focus on the footsteps behind us. I hear Maddox clear his throat. "Sorry to interrupt whatever this is, but we're going to Cassidy's house, unless you'd like to stay here, Olive," he comments.

Abel finally releases me and turns to his brother with wide eyes. "I almost died," he informs him, as if on the verge of tears.

"What?" Maddox asks with a lost expression on his face. He looks between me and his brother in a state of pure confusion.

"She saved my life," Abel explains . Maddox still looks lost, so he continues. "I was eating grapes and I choked on one. She gave me the Heimlich and here I am- living, breathing, giving up on grapes forever."

"You gave him the Heimlich?" Maddox questions with a repressed snicker. I glare at him and roll my eyes.

Luckily he didn't walk in on that because he'd never let me live it down.

+ + +

We arrive at Cassidy's house to find that everyone else is already here. Maddox was too busy making fun of me and ended up getting us lost somewhere in a heavily wooded area. We had to call them so they could lead us back to her house, seeing as we were in the middle of nowhere. I slam the door shut and Maddox glares at me. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care?" I reiterate the words he says more than five times a day to me. He seems to catch on to my wordplay because he lets out a quiet breath. Winona told us to just come in when we arrived so I walk up the steps and open the door enough to slide in. I make it a point to close it behind me and listen to Maddox grumble something about me being childish from the porch.

Winona hugs me before making a comment that causes my face to burn red yet again. Just when I thought I was in the clear. "You smell like Abel," she notes as she takes another sniff of my shirt.

"That's because she gave him the Heimlich," Maddox announces his presence as he shuts the door behind him.

"Is that some sort of code?" Nicholas wonders from the couch.

"No, he was choking on a grape," I attempt to explain.

"Is that also a code?" Nicholas leans in with furrowed eyebrows.

I sigh and give up on clearing things up. "So what are we doing here?" I ask curiously.

"What do you guys want to do?" Winona poses the question to everyone. I snuggle up against the couch arm and start thinking to myself. They all start talking indecisively while I stare into space, lost in thought.

"Olive!" Maddox calls, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I look up and slowly blink myself out of my trance.

"What's up with you?" Cassidy asks curiously.

"She's probably still daydreaming about how my brother hugged her," Maddox teases as he drops onto the couch across from me. I glare at him and shake my head.

"I'm not," I inform everyone.

Winona and Cassidy snickering quietly and eventually Nicholas and Jackson join in. Maddox simply smirks smugly, which earns a raised middle finger from me. Once the teasing dies down, we decide on a movie to watch, seeing as we couldn't agree to do anything else. The movie isn't all that great, probably because Nicholas strongly suggested it and he likes movies that are from the early, early days. Most of us agreed because he promised it was good and we didn't feel like searching anymore.