wild // F L O W E R

“ well, I CAN’T SAY THAT I AM SURPRISED  ,”  a  boyish  grin  matched  hers  as  he  shook  his  head  to  immediately  fix  the  damage  her  delicate  fingers  caused .  “  most  people  find  me  irresistable .  eventually ,  that  is . “  nikolai  met  her  gaze  ,  seemingly  unaffected  by  the  way  her  tone  dropped  into  a  borderline  seductive  tone .  it  was  a  nice  game  they  played ,  even  if  both  of  them  were  careful  not  to  go  too  far . at  least  not  in  PUBLIC . with  that  said  ,  nikolai  was  not  someone  who  cared  much  for  caution  or  consequences  .  with  another  sharp  tug  on  her  knitted  shirt ,  winnie’s  shoulder  was  exposed  and  the  boy  gently  pressed  a  kiss  to  it ;  smirking  against  her  skin . “  well  ,  the  perks  with  certain  rich  boys  is  that  they  usually  have  no  issues  with  poor  roommates  joining  in  on  the  fun .  and  it’s  not  like  i  don’t  bother  edith  already  when  i  always  come  over  in  the  middle  of  the  night .  “  nik  pulled  away ,  swiping  the  bottle  one  last  time  and  finishing  in  two  large  sips .  “ well , valentine’s  day  is  usually  not  a  good  day  for  - as  you  said  -  ‘ bad  boys ‘ .  i  usually  find  it  more  successful  to  play  the  sweet  boyfriend   with  a  few  , different  girls  and  PRAY  TO  GOD  that  their  paths  don’t  cross . “ 

winnie laughed, her head dropping back. “it’s the ego,” she confided. “nothing hotter than a guy who won’t stop talking about how hot he is.” he tugged at her shirt and kissed the exposed shoulder and winnie let out an over-dramatic, scandalized gasp. “my word, mr. vasilier but you do take liberties. what would the townsfolk say if they saw?” still, she couldn’t deny the slight shiver that the brief contact had caused. it definitely wasn’t a lack of chemistry between them that had made her call things off. “and the perks of certain clever girls is that they don’t have threesomes with their roommates because that would be so very stupid of them. edith is polite enough not to complain about your near-constant presence, let’s not traumatize the poor girl.” a groan of protest escaped her lips as he stole and finished off her not-water bottle. “rude, nik. very rude.” his response brought a chuckle to her lips. “aw, and you were thoughtful enough to include me on your list of girls to trick? i’m so flattered. though i’d say that it’s been less effective than your o b v i o u s thievery of my vodka. because now you really do owe me a drink. but then, i would hate to drag you away from any of your girlfriends on this most sacred of holidays.”

he hummed softly , as if her response pulled him into DEEP THOUGHT ; nimble fingers moving to absentmindedly play with the fabric of her shirt . “ well , is that why you have secretly fallen in love with me ? “ instinctively , the boy had leaned in closer as he let his head fall to the side slightly . “ my impeccable skills to dress myself ? because if that is why , i am almost offended . “ nikolai let go of the plastic with ease , once again leaning back on the bench to put some more space between the two . “ for the RECORD , i usually come by your place after i’ve had my nightly dose of sexual activity for the night ; since someone .. “ the boy tugged at the hem of her sweater , as if his point poignant tone wasn’t enough  . “ .. insisted that ‘we shouldn’t do that stuff anymore’ .” nikolai pursed his lips , fighting of a smirk before lowering his voice ; always being cautious of who might be listening in . “ i just left the first date of the day , and will probably get into a fight with addison around noon and then spend the evening with brooke . that plan , however , can change if you need me to feed you chocolate and pour you champagne until this holiday is over . “ 

winnie smirked, her small fingers going up to tangle into his mess of hair and putting on her best ingenue voice. “you’ve figured out my secret, nikolai vasiliev. i’ve fallen hopelessly in love with you. the first time that i saw you properly match your shoes to your belt, my cold heart melted and i knew that i’d always be yours.” she chuckled and leaned back, letting her fingers drift lazily down the side of his face and to the leather jacket that he wore as her free hand reached again for her bottle. “that’s true. but for the record, if someone,” she grinned rather wickedly, “were to say that we should start back up again, that someone is fairly confident that she’d have a certain frustrated rich boy at her door before she had time to warn her poor roommate.” winnie’s lips curled into a grin. “ooh, a fight and an evening in? sounds almost impossibly sexy. careful that you don’t get too domesticated, vasiliev, or you’ll lose that bad boy edge that makes all the girls want to change you.”

   the woman’s voice c r a w l e d up his spine in what seemed like lightspeed. it was enough to make him stop in his steps that he so sternly directed towards the exit. instead he turned now — bright hues instantly scanning winnie. he would rather be caught dead than admitting to it but it would never be easy to look at her .. not with everything that happened between them — not when she looked as beautiful. frail fingers found the slim edge of his collar — firmly s q u e e z i n g it back into it’s right place. “well.. you see..” and there was already another coldly wrapped almost insult ready to be unleashed from his tongue but he swallowed it — going for one of his half assed not really meant smiles .. the one’s you’d see on a manager ready to seal the deal of his life. “there’s no need to be worrying about me, guinevere.” there was acid burning in his veins, he was sure of that. yet there was nothing that held him back when he cleared his throat — ready to make a run for it. “well, now.. if you don’t mind. I’ve got things to return to.” and, yes .. saying that hurt like a bitch. and, no .. he did not want to leave her like that. but what was he supposed to do?

being under his gaze, winnie felt stripped bare. not like the way that she sometimes did around douchebag guys at parties- like they were undressing her, i m a g i n i n g her. but like an x-ray used to reveal bones that had been broken. like he could look at her and see all of the ways that he had hurt her. all of the fractures that should have already healed but instead splintered. and it wasn’t fair. it wasn’t fair because after all of that time, shouldn’t it be her who could see him so clearly? she was the one who had actually cared. lithe arms wrapped across her waist as if to shield herself from his gaze, to hold herself together so that he wouldn’t see. but her smile didn’t falter.

josie raised an eyebrow at winnie , trying to figure out if she was being serious or not . “ wait , you really don’t remember what ‘alexa’ is ..? hooo boy, okay . picture , like , an in-home robot that does things for you when you talk to it . it’s all voice activated . it’ll make internet searches , tell you the weather , play you a song .. all while you sit back on the couch and don’t do anything . make sense ? ”

   there was a joke in here — somewhere. there had to be one. this couldn’t be real. this all had to be one big fat joke. ha ha, laugh it up, people. max swallowed and it felt like it took him f o r e v e r. somehow .. none of this felt right. he looked right — same face, same attitude. but there was something LINGERING. but … why? “ get a grip, man..” flat hands smoothing out bumps in his shirt — eyes turning n u m b. “ don’t make me come over there.. ” a thread without any real b i t e, as always. it was mere a cold warning — something distantly familiar. “ well, since you’re already here.. ” seconds passed by in utter silence. “ nah, forget it. you wouldn’t understand it, anyways.” with that he brushed past the person.

“ that is one of the less subtle ways to let the world know that you don’t have a date tonight. “ the leather softly scraped against the doorframe as the boy moved from his leaning position in order to cross the room. the small ache just behind his eyes were not something out of the usual; nor was it something that stopped him from snatching the suspiciously-smelling bottle from the girl’s hands and take a swig. “ where did it all go wrong, baby ? you should have let me know that you were all by yourself, i would have made sure to fit you in somewhere during the day. “ 

“first of all, baby, i don’t do valentines dates. they’re bland. prix-fixe menus and pressure to ‘start something serious’ with a guy that couldn’t figure out how to tie his own tie right? no thanks.” winnie laughed, shaking out her hair as she took back her bottle for another shot. “much more fun to get blackout and see where the night takes me. and anyways, i wasn’t so worried about making it onto your illustrious schedule. can’t remember the last weekend that i didn’t get a ‘u up?’ text from you, so i don’t see why that would change now. but i’ll bite. what spectacular plans have you got lined up for the night? ”