~PAXTON~
The sounds of heavy pittering and pattering of rain can be heard on the windows outside. When I look down in my arms, I feel like I am tumbling through space when I see la belle completely on top of me, her legs interlaced with mine like a perfect double helix and her arms bear hugging me on both sides of my waist. How can someone so enriching and sacred be hated by practically the whole world? I can't comprehend their insolence. She deserves all the love, respect, kindness, and everything more. I'm bummed I can't give her the first. Maybe in the future when I actually have a career, a home, or at least the guts. But not now... I can't desert my moral obligation. I must maintain discipline. We must remain... friends.
That also means waking her up. It's eight in the morning already and people will get suspicious. It will definitely provoke a certain man-beast if he catches us in bed together even if we are just platonic friends. I feel bad for literally dragging her out of bed yesterday, so I should probably try something a bit more polite. I inch my hands over the skin on her arms, my nail just close enough to tickle her. Gradually, I make my way up her arms to her shoulders and lastly settled on the side of her neck. She shivers when I linger just above her clavicle so I did it again. Her eyes flutter open and a smile appears. She holds my hand over her soft spot, warmth immediately flowing through us.
"Sup," I said, my voice hoarse.
"The sun," she said cleverly, standing up and stretching.
I roll my eyes and hold up my arm for her to lift me up, "You're an optimist."
"Better than a cranky crone in the morrow," she lifts me up with a sensational grin.
"Nah, any personality of yours is special. Even if you holler at me like a hag," I wink and she knits her brows, "How do you even put up with that? Literally, no one besides Bennet keeps a cool head around me in the morning."
"I don't know. Maybe I am just too cool," I suggest, raising my brows.
"No, that's definitely not it," she taps her chin, but then shoots up as if an answer popped into her mind.
"WEEEeee," she jumps into my arms, nearly knocking me to the floor. "What in the world?! What are you doing?" I sputter, repositioning her so her back is under my arms along with her legs. I blow her hair out of my face and eye her questioningly.
"Aha. Do you have children?" she spews at me and I almost drop her, my head spinning out of control like teacups, "What? Are you drunk, Chrysos? Of course, not. I'm a... Never mind. Where in the world are you pulling your madness from this early in the morning?"
"Awww, you wee lamb. Hehehehahahaha. I didn't need to know that, but good to know. There are only two possible theories that I have for your tolerance. One, you have strong maternal instincts and have grown accustomed to young children. Or you're frighteningly patient and are indifferent to my habits," she lists out.
"Oh... I never thought to think about it. I am definitely not indifferent to you," I gulp.
~FLASHBACK~
"Pa Pa. PAX!" A bunch of five-year-old twins jumped on top of me in the early morning and I began tickling them, "Y'all babies! Come hereeee. Ticklee! Tickle! Tickle. Now off you get, teeths brushed and I will get you your shirts." They scramble off of me and bounce to the bathroom. I trudge to my sister's side of the room where she looks absolutely horrendous. Her party shoes are strewn about and her makeup is all smudged. I picked her up in my arms and bring her to the bathroom, helping her change out of her alcohol-stained dress. After the loss of her fiance, she has been completely devastated. Mother is still out at the NICU and I do my best to take care of everyone, even as I struggle to stay afloat in school by myself.
~END FLASHBACK~
"PAXTY!" Poke!
Chrysos pokes my cheek and I return to reality, "Sorry. Yeah, old habits never left me I guess."
"Do tell. Www-wait, d-don't if you don't want to. I saw it made you conflicted, so don't feel pressured," she said.
"It's cool. You're kinda right about the first one. I am not a mother, nor do I plan to be one soon. It's just I used to be close with my siblings. They were two twin five-year-olds; Precious and Prince. And my older sister; Ruby. When my mom was at work, I assumed her post as a mom, taking care of each of them, being woken up by them each morning, waking up my sister for work, dressing the little ones, and making their meals. You remind me so much of them, like a blend of grumbly and hyper," I open up.
She thumbs my cheek like Precious used to do and I shiver, "I love it. You're such a great big sister. And one day you'll make an excellent mum."
I... I-I-i I don't know what to say to that.
"Um-m-mm. Maybee?" I said as I set her down in her bedroom.
She scratches the back of her neck, "I made this awkward didn't I?"
"Just a tiny bit. But it's alright. It's nice to talk about them. Remember them."
"If I may, what happened? It's just, you speak of them in the past tense," she notices and I hold my breath, "Another day perhaps. I don't want to ruin your vacation with my past."
"Our vacation. That's fine, but I'm here for you mate. I'm your best friend," she nudges me and I nod, "You are." Holy kebabs!
I head to my bathroom and clean myself up from my disheveled state. I go downstairs and see Stephen packing his briefcase and Nicole playing with Spade.
"What's taking Chrysos so long?" Stephen checks his watch.
"She needs a bit of persuasion in the morning," I shrug, chomping on an apple.
"Ugh, I swear that girl thinks she is always some kind of princess," he grumbles and stands at the foot of the staircase, "BYE CHRYSOS!" And he slams the front door behind him.
"Where's he off to? In the rain," I look out and watch the torrential downpour.
"Poker with some rich lads at a pub or whatever," Nicole sips her coffee, mocking his snobbish attitude.
"You're saying it wrong. Poker with his posh lads at the club," Chrysos corrects, startling us, "I didn't mean to mock..." Nicole stammers but Chrysos laughs, "It's fine. He is a snob whose brazenness needs to be corrected. Honestly."
I slide her daily coffee and she sits on my lap, "So ladies, seeing as it is just the three of us today, what fun things would you like to do?"
"Gastrovascular?" I smirk.
"Is that Latin? Visne ad bore nos?" she whacks me behind the head.
"Y'all be speaking Latin now? Why can't it just be English?" Nicole throws up her hands in the air.
"Says the one with French, ASL, English, and Spanish on her resume," I throw back at her.
"Sorry. Sorry. Why don't we play hide n seek? We got the house to ourselves and I don't see Mrs. MacCready hear to yell at us not to touch anything," Chrysos said.
"YEAH!" I clap in agreement.
"What are we? Four?" Nicole buries her face in her hands.
"Pwetty pweaseeee, Nicky," we pout.
"Buncha babies. One, two..." she begins counting, and Chrysos sprints off my lap while I run off in the opposite direction.
Guess where I hid, YUP. Inside the wardrobe of a spare room. Come on, if you had the chance, you would wish you could fall into the Western Woods too. However, instead of winter coats, I am surrounded by period traditional dresses and suits. Woah, they are hella fancy, and I hope I don't rip any of them. I especially love this one. Deep purple, silk victorian aristocratic tuxedo, matching midnight black dress pants, and embroidered tie.
"Wow," I marveled, touching the smooth threads.
"AHA! I knew it!!! Can't believe you actually chose to lock yourself in the wardrobe," Chrysos bangs open the door, giving me a heart attack.
"AHHHHhhhhh," I scream.
"Wow, okay. Dang. You were right. I didn't think that literally," Nicole came in out of breath.
Oops, I forgot we were playing hide n seek. Oh, I won.
"Ooooo, Paxton. You cliche. That gives me a brilliant idea. Let's play dress-up. Paxton's the model," Chrysos suddenly says, taking all of the clothes from the wardrobe and dumping bundles of them into Nicole and I's arms.
"Wait, WHAT?!" I try to argue against her preposterous tomfoolery.
"OH, I like that! YAS!" Nicole runs out of the room, while Chrysos is shoving me from the caboose.
"I hate this," I said, swatting her and she just skips off into Nicole's room. They lay out each set of attire which included dresses of all shapes and sizes and suits in an array of colors.
~FIVE MINUTES LATER~
I feel absolutely exposed. I'm only in my bra and short shorts as they made a pile of outfits for me labeled; swoon, laugh, and bleghghhh.
"Now come on. Strut, my lady. Like I taught you!" Chrysos commands me and I runway modeled for her AGAIN.
"Awww, I missed your first one. That must have been adorable. You look so cute," Nicole giggles, snapping shots of me and I swear I will murder her after this.
I felt pretty good in some of them; dresses and suits alike. Others, I scratch at in annoyance. My companions begin roleplaying like judges.
"My dear old brother wouldn't like me wearing it. I LOVE IT!" Chrysos mocks.
"Ah, what a beauty! It spells, will you marry me already?" Nicole winks and I throw a shoe at her head.
The girls take turns trying on outfits and although some of them are laughable while others wanted to make our eyes gauge themselves out, we found styles that we seemed to like. I eyed the purple tux that I had been feeling for and grabbed that first, running it to my room before they can even ask. "That one I called dibs," I shrug and they immediately called dibs on their favorite, locking it somewhere else. Once the piles were now heaps, we begin collecting them and stashing them back inside the wardrobe.
In high spirits, we go to the kitchen where Bennet had already laid out our lunch; orzo pasta with mushrooms.
"We literally have two days free this coming week. And you want to stay in and read a book?" Chrysos tazes me on my side.
"Even Spades disapproves," Nicole adds, pointing to the yawning doggo.
We are eating our lunch at the dining table, while writing our creative ideas for the two freebie days on the fifteenth and sixteenth.
"I am a simple gal. Give me Shakespeare, Dickinson, R.L. Stine, a fanfiction. I can easily amuse myself," I said.
Chrysos grabs my paper, reads it once, and crumples it into a ball. Spades immediately caught it and began chewing it up.
"Thy creativity would even offend a babe's crayon. Nicky, please tell me you won't send us to a grave," Chrysos pleads. I believe she's just exaggerating. I have pizazz.
"Alrighty! Ahem. First, we go village shopping. I've heard there are many quaint little shops all around England that we could find for ourselves. Next, wine tasting. Third, picnic. Fourth, barn dance. Fifth, I scoop horse poop. I scoop horse poop????? PAXTON!!!!"
I sprint off my chair as she claws at my arms. She chases me around the massive wooden table and we circle each other on opposite sides.
"Mother! Help ME!" Nicole calls to Chrysos who is casually marking Nicky's paper and ignoring us.
"Hahaha, Chrysos is my best friend and she wouldn't dare hurt me," I said proudly.
Nicky charges toward me, but I run farther away. Without noticing, Chrys sticks out her foot and I trip over. I shift myself so I land on my back. Nicole takes the opportunity to pounce and paw at me like a dragon. Spades joins in, licking my face.
"Oopsie. I thought you are supposed to expect the unexpected," Chrysos smirks, sitting on the tabletop.
"Traitors!" I shove the two animals off me and threw dog drool at Chrys.
"Yuck! This better wash out or you owe me a new shirt," she groans, wiping it off with her arm.
"Yeah, yeah," I roll my eyes as Nicole hauls me onto my feet. Chrysos leads us into the parlor where Bennet is throwing pillows and blankets everywhere. To the side are three wine glasses and an array of wines. Nicky and I look at each other in confusion.
"Well, don't just dally there all day. Help me build our fort," Chrysos snaps us back to reality and throw us pillows. One of them hits my face and I send a murderous glare to Chrys.
For the next ten minutes, we compile each pillow and cushion, stacked, and balanced them to make a decent pillow fort. We squeeze ourselves into our little tent, but it's just a little bit cramped. Nicky and I are able to sit up, our heads hitting the blanket above. Chrysos sits on my lap and lays her legs on Nicky's lap as she passes us the wine glasses.
"I really liked Nicky's ideas. I'm not inviting you to any parties, Paxton. So, wine tasting for all of you. And I think village shopping is perfect for the fifteenth. As for barn dancing, I have a better idea. I spoke to Stephen on the phone and drum roll.... We're going to be hosting a masquerade ball," she announces.
Nicole and I gasp in unison, "NO WAY!"
"Yes. I have always wanted to do something as magical as a Ball, not mingle with old oligarchs, but with my friends. Stephen will invite some of our neighbors, a celebrity or two as extras, but most important is you guys," she squeezes us together.
"You would host a ball? Just for us? That's insane," I burst out.
"I ain't complaining, but damnnnn," Nicole wowed.
Chrysos chuckles, "Best friends do insane things for each other."
She pours for all of us.
"To friendship. Something that I certainly would never have thought to have found during the most malevolent crisis in my entire history," Chrysos raises her glass.
"Cheers!" we all drink to her and pass around the wine bottles.
At the first sip, I didn't really like how bitter the wine tasted and settled on the sparkling cider instead as my compatriots indulged in the rich wines.
"Shoon may ze Wellerman come," Nicky belts.
"To bring the shuuugar and t-t-tea and rum," Chrysos slurs.
Yeah, they're drunk. And yup, here I am being the responsible friend. Again.
"Okay, that's enough out of y'all," I take the bottles and glasses from them and bring it to the kitchen. When I return, I find the fort completely collapsed and the two of them squealing like pigs underneath. Oy vey.
"Come on. Get out," I grab their legs and drag them out from underneath. They are laughing in hysterics, hiccuping at the weirdest fascinations.
"Lookie. Chrysos, your girlfans hererre," Nicky stumbles, her arms limply swaying.
"Shrereree ithh? I hravvee a beauthiful geerlfren," Chrysos slurs, falling straight into my arms. Oh, gosh. What is happening?
"Ugh, come on," I hoist her by her waist and carry her in front of me, her legs wrapped around my stomach. Her arms around my neck and head laid down on my shoulders. Nicole follows behind me, swaying side to side. Bennet comes out of the dining room and bugs his eyes when he sees us. "Can you help take Nicky to her room?" He nods and drags Nicky by the wrist.
"You're so stwonnggg and soft," Chrys pouted, poking at my flesh.
"You shmell like honey," Chrysos sniffs and I roll my eyes, "My shampoo, Chrys."
I jolt when she nibbles my neck, "And taste like coconut." OH, MY UNIVERSE!
"Body wash," I blush and recompose myself, laying her down on her bed, but she won't let me go. Chrysos looks me in the eyes groggily, then down to my lips. Subconsciously, I looked down at hers. She bites down on her lower lip and looks at me entrancingly.
"Kisshh me," she whispers leaning closer so that our noses booped.
"I-I-... W-we can't, Chrysos. You're drunk, love. You don't know what you're saying," I set her down and draw the covers over her. In just a few seconds, she passes out. I part her hair away from her face and gently plant a kiss to her forehead, "Sweet dreams, you goober. You're really intent on sending me to heaven. You kill me with every beautiful sound and playful action. You keep knocking down my walls, leaving me defenseless. My queen, please have patience for me. I promise, one day I will confess to you how much I really love you."
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A/N: In Vino Veritas