Chapter 20




My apologies. Things got a bit...out of hand there. If any of you are offended, just remember, I'm not forcing you to read this. Point is, there will be no further discussion of what went on last...
"You totally did it last night, didn't you?" Scar was sitting across from me at the breakfast bar, grinning through a piece of toast, "You totally did."
"Shut up Scar," I told him.
I'd woken up before Winx, and had figured I might as well let her sleep. I assumed Scar would still be asleep, and such I'd expected a nice quiet morning. Make some nice, quiet, non-interrogative breakfast, eat quietly in my peaceful non-interrogative kitchen, all by my non-interrogative self. And yet, here I was with Scar.
"Admit it, you totally did it."
"Shut up Scar."
He took a big chomp out of his toast, (seriously like half of it in one bite). I took a sip of my coffee, and started reading the paper. But no sooner had I gotten past the headline when.
"Just admit it."
"Shut up."
"A simple thank you will suffice."
"Shut up."
"C'mon, you owe me one."
Crap. In the grand, regretful, totally sucky sort of way that there was no way around, I did owe him for his little gift from the night before.
"...thank you..." I mumbled.
His doggy ears twitched with his little sense of accomplishment, "What was that? Didn't quite catch it."
"Thank you Scar, o' friend of mine who has always been there for me in my times of need, like the time I broke my leg or the time I had my tonsils removed or the time I was about to get crushed by that bio-freak and you saved me."
He nodded, content, "See, that wasn't so hard was it?"
I couldn't help by smile a little. As much of a pain in the ass he was most of the time, he was still pretty much a brother to me. I finished off my coffee and skimmed over the front page. Scar took another huge chomp of his toast and looked over at the paper.
"Anything good happen lately?" he asked.
I shrugged, "Not really."
I finished my coffee, and set down the paper. Scar reached over and grabbed it before I even got up. I swiped up my cup, and scars plate, then brought it over to the sink. I figured I had some time before Winx woke up, I could make her some breakfast.
And so I did. I put my masterful chef skills to work, and prepared a large spread of eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, toast, and coffee. I set it out on the breakfast bar in my usual spread, then looked over at Scar.
He surveyed the spread precisely, the reached out, and pushed the hash brown plate a centimeter towards me, "There, mui perfecto."
What would I do without Scar's sense of perfection on food layouts.
"G...good morning," came the familiar soft voice I looked forward to every morning.
Scar and I bot turned. Winx had dressed herself in one of my black button down t-shirts. It was a bit big, but she actually looked pretty cute in it. Scar gave me a nudge with his elbow, whispered 'picked yourself a good one, Grimmy', then started for the doorway.
"I already ate so, I think I'll leave you to love winged-critters alone," he shot me another one of his 'you guys totally did it' looks, then left us to ourselves.
I looked at Winx, then at the bar, "Made ya breakfast, if you want any."
She stood there for a moment, then allowed her slight smile, "Thank you."
We walked over to the breakfast bar and sat down beside each other. We loaded our plates, picked up our forks, and started chowing down. Well, I chowed, she ate slowly like she usually does.
Needless to say, it was a quiet morning. All things considered, I was grateful. After what happened last night, I'm not sure what I would have said anyway.
"Hey Pete," she said once we'd finished eating, "about last night..."
Ok, time to apologize. I let things get out of hand, I shouldn't have done what we did. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm...
"...thank you," she said.
...
Welp, that let the air right outta me. Of all of the possible things she would have said, 'thank you' was not what I expected. I just looked into her deep pale blue eyes, the same pale blue eyes that gazed back at me.
"Y...you're...welcome?" I said, not meaning it to sound like a question.
She smiled her slight smile again, she could tell I didn't quite understand. She stood up, lifted her plate, and carried it over to the sink.
"I...like being around you..." she said, "Spending time with you, being with you, whenever I can. You saved me...from the lab, I'll always remember that, and always be thankful for that. But not just that. Ever since, you've been nothing but kind to me. You always go out of your way for me, and make sure everything is comfortable for me. Even when we went back to the lab, you held my hand whenever we were close enough to."
She looked away for a moment, the way she always does.
"You're always there for me, ever since then. Ever since the day we met you've always been with me whenever I needed you. You've offered me so much. You welcomed me into your home, offered me your own bed. You've...just...everything you've done. It's...amazing. I've never felt  kindness before, until I met you. And...whenever I'm with you, I just feel safe and warm, like nothing will ever hurt me because you're there."
She stopped for a moment to take in a breath, then continued.
"You showed me caring, and consideration...and even love. You were the first person to ever show me love. To ever hug me, and hold me, and kiss me. And you never ever hurt me. Not once have you ever done anything that made me sad or uncomfortable. And even last night...I...I wanted to do it. I wanted to be with you. I wanted to show you how much I love you..."
I saw a single tear run down the side of her cheek, and drop to the floor.
"And then, you got up and made me breakfast."
She finally looked back at me, and I could see that single tear had been a tear of happiness.
"So...thank you. For everything."
I slid the chair back and stood up. I wasn't exactly sure what to say, and I probably should've given it more thought but, I just said.
"No problem."
Her lips curved into a full smile. She moved over to me, leaned against me, and hugged me tight. I put my arms around her, and returned her embrace.
"Aww, ain't this touching?" Scar waltzed into the kitchen casually, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
We released each other. Winx's face was a little red, mine probably was too. I looked over at Scar. He grabbed some left over hash browns, downed them, then walked out.
"Carry on with whatever you guys were doing, I'll leave you alone," he said as he walked out of the kitchen.
So, we were alone again. We looked at each other, and smiled.
"I love you," I told her.
She smiled a little more, and nodded, "I love you too."
Somehow we were back in each other's arms, but this time we were sharing a kiss.
Y'know, things have been pretty crazy lately. It's like my not so average life has been flipped upside down, and all different and stuff. But it's not a bad thing. In all the madness of this past month, I can honestly say, I'm happy.
Bring on the bio-freaks, bring on the mutants, bring on everything they've got. I'm ready for 'em, and I'll fight 'em til the day I die.