𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 | 𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐢 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐳

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 16

midnight rain

chapter 16 "ALL THE LOVE WE UNRAVEL"

all text in italics is spoken in catalan/spanish

"LIV! WAIT! come on liv, don't do this," pedri chased her through the corridor, earning some glances from the staff.

"don't do what?"

"shut me out. you did it before and you're going to do it again." olivia let out a scoff, turning to face him. she couldn't believe him.

"congratu-fucking-lations, you're a fucking fortune teller. would you like a medal?

PEDRI let out a huff of annoyance. "maybe you should stop focusing on your own feelings all the time! gosh, you're so stubborn and insufferable these days, it's like you don't want to listen to anyone but your own mind!" he watched as her face turned a color paler. he wished he could've taken back what he said and believed it was just the lighting, but his heart thrummed louder than his mind could scream. "liv, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

olivia walked away from him, just as he had done with her. but for the first time in a while, he felt nothing. and it terrified him.

*****

"QUIERO ESTAR contigo, y vivir contigo, y bailar contigo. tengo que tener contigo. una noche loca!" Sira screamed as she twirled around the kitchen, a bowl of popcorn bouncing in her arms. To her, there was nothing like the feeling of screaming to Enrique Iglesias, aka the 'hottest man to have ever lived', in her words. While a quarter of her intentions were to distract her friend from the relationship crisis she was going through, three-fourth was to jam to the Spanish singer. And what other song was better to dance to than Bailando. Sometimes Sira imagined Enrique Iglesias' very hands wrapped around her. She swung her hips side to side, raising one of her hands to open a cabinet, the other remaining very dedicatedly wrapped around the bowl. Sira knew the seriousness of the situation, and in between all her silly dancing and Enrique Iglesias, was a very fine line named romance. She liked to call herself cupid sometimes, earned well at the sight of two blossoming relationships which she had very nicely put together. Speech went from 'never seen her' to 'never looking back' and there was nothing she would have done differently. So, when Olivia had ended up on her doorstep, Sira's eyes twinkled in delight at the possibility of a new couple in her hands once again.

HOWEVER, all the happiness she'd once thrown hands at vanished once her music made an abrupt stop. "What do you think you are doing?" Sira frowned at her slouchy friend who'd perched herself on the kitchen stool, her finger lazily pressed on the speaker button. She watched as Olivia swung her head down and onto the platform, rubbing her face slightly on the marble before meeting Sira's eyes once more. The corner of her eyes grimaced at Sira's empathetic face.

"Stop it. Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" A line appeared between her brows as she gave her a once-over.

"Don't feel pity for me," Olivia sniffled. "I don't want your pity. I want your help."

SIRA'S EYES glazed over Olivia while setting her popcorn on the counter, before hoisting herself up on the stool next to her friend. "You're hurting, Liv, and it's okay. It's okay to let your guard down a bit so your friends can help build your wall a bit stronger the next time. I'm your friend, and so is Charlotte and Mikky. We love you, and we trust you. Trust and love are built over time. Everything takes time and effort, and it's not one-sided. I don't know what happened between you two, but I can assure you that you cannot trust or love each other in a period of 4 months. And if you feel obligated to love him, maybe it's not love at all. Sometimes all the love we unravel isn't supposed to be for us. It's about falling in love, not being drunk on it."

A second of silence passed between the two as Olivia thought through her words. "But isn't that same? Being drunk on love can go as deep as falling in love."

The corners of her mouth twitched upwards, a small, sad smile etching itself across Sira's face. "Perhaps. But when does getting drunk ever truly last?"

The two shared a quiet moment as a wave of sadness washed over them. A mutual understanding crossed between them as Sira enveloped her friend in what she guessed was a much needed hug. They didn't know how long they'd remained in that position, but it felt like seconds. The minute they pulled away; Olivia felt her body jolt in a strong shiver from the loss of heat. She felt herself let out a breathy chuckle at the loud crunch of popcorn, Sira pocketing the grain into her cheeks. A true chipmunk moment. It seemed the great senses that ran through the chipmunk blood didn't flow through hers, as they both jumped at the sound of the door slamming shut.

IN CAME A soaking wet Mikky Kiemeny, her hair drenched with rainwater. Sira arched an eyebrow, taking notice of the umbrella held in her hands and her extremely sodden sweater. "What floodgate opened on you?" she snickered, tossing yet another handful of popcorn into her mouth. And the atmosphere was bare of any sentiment from the moments prior, the trio falling into their usual playful banter.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, which I'm sure you didn't, it's been raining for the past 30 minutes."

Olivia had noticed but had chosen not to ruin the rare, raw emotion from her friend.

"And if you hadn't noticed, which I'm sure you had, I called you both 8 times. So, pardon my French!" 

NOW THIS, Olivia hadn't noticed. And she was pretty sure that wasn't how the phrase was supposed to be used, but thankfully, had decided to remain quiet in the midst of a dangerous moment. She let Mikky continue her useless rant and instead decided to munch on some popcorn. She hadn't known such a small action would set her friend off. "Would you both stop eating? I'm soaking wet on this beautiful carpet-" Sira pulled out a blow-dryer from a drawer, handing it to Mikky. Clearly, this girl had a death wish. She watched in anticipation as Mikky bore daggers into Sira's eyes. A vein popped out her neck as she began her way towards the Spaniard. "You little twat-"

OLIVIA SWIFTLY slid the bowl into her hands and jumped off the stool, making her way towards the couch. Literally feral cats, she rolled her eyes before they found their way to Mikky's bag. She squinted as she caught view of a red cloth peeking out from underneath the zipper. Her eyes darted between the cat fight and the back a few several times before she made her way to the bag, unzipping it and pulling out what seemed like a jacket. A jacket that looked oddly familiar. "Sira, have we seen this before?" The two girls stopped in the middle of their brawl to face the Argentine.

"What the actual-"Sira couldn't continue her sentence as she felt a palm thud against her mouth. The jacket was whisked out of Olivia's grasp and Mikky stared at her friends, eyebrows raised and nose flaring.

"Can you two leave it please?" She gasped in exasperation.

"TOO LATE." Sira had already snatched the phone from Mikky's pocket before jumping over the couch to Olivia. She swung the device around wildly in the air as her finger swiped around the blue screen. Her eyes scanned over what felt like a billion names until she hit jackpot. "Aha!"

"What where you doing calling Matías?" Sira pulled out her index finger to point at the Dutchie, a beaming grin settled on her face. She felt like the Spanish Sherlock Holmes.

"Wait. Matías from the hospital?"

Sira nodded before turning towards Mikky, who seemed terribly annoyed with her friends. "Nothing, can you leave it now?"

"This is his jacket, Mikky."

"So?"

"So, we're saying be careful. If you are talking to him, and it was him that you sneaked out of this place the other day, be mindful. He doesn't have the best history with relationships." Mikky softened her gaze at Olivia's words before blinking twice, a sign that she'd understood. Sira and Olivia watched as Mikky gathered her stuff and made her way upstairs, leaving behind a spreading pool of water on the floor. And sometimes it felt like that: Olivia would be a pool of water and her friends the carpet, that would dutifully soak up all the remained.