Going home together

[Otto's POV]

School ended too soon that day. Otto glanced with a strong feeling of dread at the classroom door as if it held all the trials that were sure to follow once she walked through it.

"Are you coming?" Alex asked from the other side of the door. He was waiting for her to walk home together. He didn't look worried in the slightest. But Otto knew he should be.

The longer she thought about it, the more she knew that asking Alex along had been a bad decision. The guilt was eating her alive. At this point, she couldn't even look Alex in the eyes anymore.

What had she been thinking? Asking Alex along! That must have been one of her worst ideas as of yet. She dreaded the confrontation that was sure to come. What if Alex got into a fight with Thomas? What if one of them got hurt? That would be her fault!

Otto didn't want either of them to get hurt. She wanted to call off the whole ordeal, but she had a sneaking suspicion that Alex would feel hurt if she did. She was afraid that he'd think she didn't trust him to protect her. Which wasn't the case. Not at all.

She snuck a glance at Alex by the door, but was surprised to find that he was staring at her worriedly. The words "Are you alright?" lay on his lips, ready to be spoken, but she didn't want to hear them. So she slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed him outside.

The first five minutes of their walk home were spent in awkward silence. Alex looked confused because he didn't understand why things had gotten awkward again.

"I'm sorry," Otto said as she'd glanced at him for what felt like the millionth time and felt yet another wave of guilt wash over her.

"What for?" Alex asked, the confusion visible on his face multiplying by ten.

"For this," she said as she gestured between them, but knew that she'd have to explain better when she saw a frown appear on his face on top of the confusion that had already been there. "This was a mistake. I never should have asked you to walk home with me. I'm terrified that something bad will happen to you, just because you tried to help me and now things have gotten weird between us again."

"Wow! Hold on a second," Alex interrupted. "Why did you decide on your own that something bad will happen to me? It's good that you are mindful of the future, but you can never know for certain what will happen until it actually happens. You did nothing wrong by asking me for help. Do you always blame yourself for everything?"

"But it usually is my fault," Otto sulked disheartened.

"It's your fault that Thomas behaves like a jealous stalker-wannabe-boyfriend?" Alex asked, his expression daring her to refute his statement.

"He does not," Otto chided. "And don't twist my words like that! You know that you could get hurt when things go wrong during a confrontation."

Alex sighed.

"That's my problem, isn't it? I'd rather get hurt physically than ignore a friend in need," he said and added with a playful smile: "Even if that friend is a magnet to trouble. I've seen more oddities happen to you in the past months than to most people in their whole life."

Otto released a strangled laugh.

"Funny," she said. Alex narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you really that worried that Thomas will show up?" he asked.

"Yes! I am! Why aren't you?" Otto asked, starting to feel annoyed. He was not taking her seriously.

"Honestly? I doubt we'll bump into him today," he said with a small shrug.

"He'll be there," Otto said. Even though she'd tried to sound stern, she couldn't hide the worry from her voice. Alex pressed his lips in a thin line as he seemed to think about her words.

"Would you feel better if we make a bolt for it?" he asked after a while.

"A bolt?" Otto asked confused. "You mean like run? All the way to my house?"

"Unless you think you can't?" Alex teased and quickened his pace to walk a few steps ahead of her.

"Wait, what?" Otto asked incredulously. "Was that a challenge?"

"No actually, I don't think it was. You'd never make it, running that far," he said as he glanced over his shoulder towards her, the playful twinkle in his eye glinting at her again. He was right, it wasn't a challenge, it was a taunt.

"Oh, you are so on!" she said as she quickened her pace and poked his shoulder once she ran past him. "Tag! You're it!"

"Hey! That's cheating!" he called after her and quickened his pace to catch up to her. Otto found herself cackling with laughter as she noticed him nearing from the corner of her eye and sped up in an attempt to outrun him.

They played their little game of tag all the way up to Otto's house. It was a relief to run and laugh like that.

"First!" Otto yelled as she tagged the mailbox in the front yard of her home and doubled over, breathing heavily.

"Damn it!" Alex cursed theatrically as he tagged the mailbox hardly a second behind her.

"Do- Don't give me - that," Otto said between heavy breaths. "You - You barely look - winded."

"Ah, you caught me," Alex snickered and let out a surprised "Oof" when Otto slapped him in the stomach. A verbal retort would have to wait until she'd caught her breath.

"So violent," Alex complained as he rubbed his tummy with a sorrowful expression. "I don't even want to know how you would have retaliated if I hadn't let you win."

Otto chuckled at his theatrics. She was pretty sure he was unharmed.

"Well, looks like I managed to get you home in one piece, so I'm heading home now," Alex said. He'd said it with a playful wink, but Otto felt her blood run cold.

Oh, right. Thomas.

"He hasn't shown up?" she thought out loud. No, that couldn't be right. He had never not shown up before. What did this mean? Had he changed his mind? And was that a good or a bad thing?

"No, he was there, a few meters after we started running. Just like you predicted. He didn't pursue us though. You hadn't noticed? And here I thought you were being exceptionally brave," Alex laughed.

"I ignored him?!" she asked incredulously, feeling herself panic. "I couldn't have?! What now? What if he's even angrier now?"

She groaned as she held her head with both hands.

"Hey! Hey!" Alex called out to her as he placed his hands on her shoulders and lowered his head just a little so they were at the exact same eye height. By doing so, he'd successfully limited her vision to his hypnotic blue eyes staring intently back at her.

Well, that certainly got her attention.

"Calm down," he said after she'd stared back at him in wonder for a few seconds. "Don't automatically conclude that you've angered him. I saw him earlier, and he didn't look angry at all."

"He didn't?" she asked hopefully.

"He didn't," Alex chuckled as he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze and backed away again. "And even if he had been, I'm here to protect you, remember? So don't worry so much."

Otto stared at him a moment longer.

"Yeah, that does make me feel better," she said, smiling sheepishly. The smile on his face slipped for a second. But just as soon as the smile had disappeared, it was back again. Had it been her imagination?

"Anyway, see you tomorrow?" Alex asked as he turned to leave.

"Yes! Eight o'clock at the end of the street," Otto said. "I'll wait for you for fifteen minutes, but I'll be leaving without you after that."

"Look who you're talking to," Alex scoffed. "Do I look like Jasper to you?"

"You never know," Otto giggled. "It might be contagious. Maybe you should have your blood checked to see if there's an Italian ancestor in there somewhere."

She was rewarded with his laughter echoing through the street and smiled as she watched him disappear around the corner.