55 Paper Kites - Bloom

The suffocating silence as they forced themselves to finish their food strangled Maxen in his seat. Olivia was spacing out the entire time and he badly wanted to speak about anything random but the gloomy air around her made it hard for him to see through her.

Maxen was not a patient man. Oftentimes he would apply his patience to more important matters, for example: Peace talks or dealing with terrorists. Yet here he was, holding every inch of his patience as he watched the lady who stole his heart absentmindedly slicing through the small portion of fish that didn't need to be sliced. The poor thing was the size of a crumb. Another moment passed by and Olivia was almost finished with only a bite of food left on her plate.

As if by divine intervention, Olivia finally made eye contact, relieving Maxen from his misery. Under the table, he impulsively locked her legs with his and yanked it closer to him, slightly nudging Olivia in her seat with her bum sliding down up to the edge of the seat.

"You brute! How can you handle me like that?" Olivia hissed, she dropped the silverware in her hands and planted her palms on the table for support. The sudden attack by the little prince drew her out of her reverie which made her fuming. However, the chuckling portrait of Maxen across her was so handsome, she was momentarily infected and wanted to laugh too. It took every ounce of her not to smile as she reminded herself that she's mad. Yes, she's mad right now.

'Don't let that clear blue eyes fool you, Olivia,' she reminded herself.

Letting go of Olivia's legs, Maxen placed the wine glass from his hand down on the table and said, "Sorry not sorry. But you were spacing out the entire time." He waited for Olivia to straighten up in her seat before he reached out for her hand that was now holding a silver knife.

"What's bothering you, Olivia?"

'This is a mistake, Maxen,' her mind forced her to utter the words yet her mouth said otherwise. "Nothing."

"Doesn't look like it. You can tell me anything. I'll take it with a grain of salt."

'Us is a mistake, Maxen,' her mind forced her again, her knuckles turned white as she gripped the silverware with the sheer force of keeping things to herself.

She could feel the thorns that surrounded her heart tripling the pain exponentially as the memory of the times that she had to let Lance do as he pleased and pretend that everything was okay between them replayed in her thoughts. Everything was replaying in high-definition.

Across her, Maxen searched Olivia's eyes and saw nothing but a blank pair of hazel brown eyes staring blankly at him.

'What is she thinking this time?' he wondered. Clueless. For the first time in his life, he was clueless about what he needed to do next. Most of the time he'd be three steps ahead for everything; may it be about royal matters or about military missions. But the enigma that he called Olivia was there across him, confusing him and making him second-guess himself.

The stifling silence forced Maxen to stand up. He waltzed to her seat and offered a hand. "Care for a dance, Olivia?"

His presence snapped her out from her trance. She glanced up and saw Maxen's pleading eyes. She could feel it, how he's trying to put his best foot forward only to take two steps back each time.

Accepting his offer, she quipped, "Ok? Should I pick the song? Alexa…" She randomly pointed her hand on a nonexistent device in her flat. She didn't have that lying around but the thought of playing with his emotions excited her.

She watched as Maxen's face slowly painted a frown. She knew how royals valued their security that even the hottest gadgets in the market would not even reach their gates. It was as if the royals were stuck in the sixteenth century for one could not see a single gadget laying around except for a telephone.

Smiling, she waited for Maxen's carefully thought-out reply. "That's not safe," he finally muttered to which Olivia let out a burst of carefree laughter.

"Of course I don't have those kinds of things laying around," she reassured before taking his hand.

They walked to the living room and stood facing each other.

"Okay, this is weird," Olivia commented before taking a sharp breath when Maxen's hands crawled to her hips, pulling her and closing the gap between them. With their height difference, Olivia's face planted on his chest where she could feel the beating of his heart. She sealed her mouth and let the natural rhythm of his heart play in her ears.

Behind her, Maxen tinkered on his phone and picked the song he heard that morning on the radio. He thought about Olivia as the song played in the car en route to the hangar that he eventually downloaded the song on his phone.

Maxen threw his phone on the couch after he pressed play, the strum of guitar strings filled the big and open space. He arched his back and pulled his hands away that a little frown painted Olivia's face, which he certainly loved seeing. That meant that she likes him holding her, right?

The lyrics of the song started playing as he hovered his hands over her ears, pretending to peel off an imaginary mask that Olivia was wearing.

"You don't have to pretend when you're around me, Olivia."

His simple words, short and sweet, coupled with the hauntingly beautiful song in the background made Olivia's eyes turn hazy. Confused at the whirlwind of emotions that played tricks on her.

~In the morning when I wake

And the sun is coming through

Oh you fill my lungs with sweetness

And you fill my head with you~

He pulled her up that her toes are now sitting on top of his, their faces, now closer. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, right? So he wanted to see her eyes closer. He wanted to see her soul. He wanted to see beyond what her words and actions said.

The song played the words that Maxen wanted to tell her and let her know so badly.

They swayed around the room in missteps and awkward fashion that Olivia started laughing. However, he started singing and Olivia's laughter turned into a smile. She looked at Maxen, confident even when her face blushed pink.

~Can I be close to you?

Oh-oh-oh-ooh, ooh

Can I be close to you?

Oh-oh-oh-ooh, ooh~

"You're not much of a singer, are you?" she commented.

"Nope, but for you my baby, I will sing," was his smug reply.

"Don't, please. It's scratching my ears," Olivia rolled her eyes.

Maxen laughed, his chest that rumbled in glee bumped against Olivia. The motion startled her that she hopped off his feet, losing her balance in the process. On reflex, Maxen caught the small of her back that they are now dipped at a safe angle.

"According to the script, we should kiss," Olivia jokingly said to lighten up the mood.

"I think we should."

It didn't take a second for Olivia to gather herself as Maxen dipped his head, planting a soft yet deep kiss on her lips. He slowly pulled her up and deepened his kiss, prying her mouth open for him to taste her sweetness. As time trickled by, his soft kisses turned into a needy one. One where he sucked the life out of her that she had to hang on for her dear life, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Olivia fought back and kissed Maxen with equal intensity as his, letting the moment play on itself.

Olivia thought, 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I want to get laid tonight.'

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