Chloe was on her bed that evening, she just couldn’t find a way to relax. The worst part was how she kept remembering two specific moments with Oliver, and her mind kept wandering to places. She vividly imagined him caressing her side and going up under her top, softly caressing her scar and going up to cover her whole breast with his hand. That image, that was completely fabricated, made her feel a weird tingle in her abdomen and even when she tried to shake it away her mind went in another direction. She saw him close to her face, closer and closer till he finally kissed her lips.

She rolled on a side and covered her face with both hands. What’s happening to me oh my god. Now I even imagine things? The answer was yes, yes she did. And it was also so tempting to give in to those thoughts, going even further and imagining him kissing her neck, moaning softly. She wondered how soft his lips could have been, and if all that was said about him was true. 

Oliver had quite the fame among the female fairies, he was said to be very gentle, but also very expert with all that Mother Nature had given him. People would say he was gifted in the bedroom matters. Chloe always found it a bit annoying how he was constantly praised and how he was so lascivious to keep sleeping around. It was so unserious of him. Still it did leave her wonder if he really was that good.

It was probably because of all the things she heard about him that now she kept imagining what ifs that made no sense. She wasn’t interested in Oliver in such a way, but more than that he definitely wasn’t interested in her. What had happened that morning was probably her misunderstanding his actions. He was just helping her remove an eyelash from her eye.

She rolled on her bed enough to fall down crashing on the floor. She sighed. All those scenarios were just her trying to forget reality, that Oliver was very mad at her and that she was a stupid for not keeping her mouth shut.

“I have to say sorry, I have to ask him to forgive me. I can’t deal with one week of guilt, and then meet him at the academy,” she got up from the floor and opened her wardrobe. She grabbed a top she rarely used, it wasn’t particularly comfortable for training, but fairly easy to put on when in a rush. It was a nice wrap top made of leather, it had a small button inside on a side, and then crossed on her chest to reach the buttons on the other side. It was slightly longer than she was used to, but looked very flattering.

She looked down and saw her cleavage. Was it going to help with Oliver? Nah. Her pants were fine, simple pants, just enough to be able to go out and be decent.

When she reached Oliver’s hut she took a couple of deep breaths, mustering the courage to knock on his door. “Oliver…it’s me,” she said. Silence. “Oliver please I know you’re inside, I see the light on,” she knocked again.

“I just want to apologize…can’t you see me for one second? I promise I won’t take too much of your time,” she was standing there, staring at the door but it was completely silent inside. She knocked again “Oliver are you there?” 

“Go away!” she heard him hissing on the other side. He sounded so annoyed.

“Please, it will take just a moment,”

She saw the door open a crack and saw his face, he had such a dark expression “go away, I don’t want to hear you, let alone see you!” he sounded so serious and cold “goodbye,” he said, closing the door on her face.

But she promptly put her arm inside, flinching when for a second it got trapped between the door and the frame “Please Oliver, I hate this,” she insisted, fully knowing she was one step from being a real bitch. She knew that she could have insisted only so much before becoming someone she didn’t want to be. If Oliver really wanted her gone, she was going to accept it. She only had to try that one last time.

Oliver sighed, grabbing her wrist and pushing it outside but then they heard voices getting closer and he sighed in frustration before pulling her inside and closing the door behind her. “You are not even supposed to be here,” he basically whispered “You know that if we are forbidden to chat with fellow soldiers…most likely us two chatting isn’t allowed either.”

Chloe nodded and looked down “I’m sorry Oliver. I just wanted to tell you in person, while looking you in the eyes,” this time she looked up trying to meet his gaze, but he was the one to look away.

“You… make me so mad. Why the hell did you have to meddle in my affairs? The General was going to scold me, leaving you out of it…but no, you had to try and fix things. So typical of you!” His voice was so angry and he even raised his fist and closed it in front of her, fully knowing he would have never hurt her. If she was one of his male friends maybe he would have punched her, but she was not.

She watched him and realized that she would have gladly taken a punch if that meant they could have gone back to normal. They always bickered but this time it was very bad. They were both aspiring to grow as soldiers and a suspension was definitely going to leave a stain on their otherwise spotless career. “So typical of you”, you’re right I always think I’m right and all I do is perfect… “I really have no excuse” she sighed. She reached out and grabbed his top, he was wearing a nice comfy white shirt, fully covered for once, “Just tell me what…”

Her words were suddenly interrupted when they heard voices outside of Oliver’s door and this time a knock followed by “Oli, let us in.”

They looked at each other with horror “go hide,” he whispered looking around.

“Where?” she replied with the same volume, Oliver placed a finger on his lips telling her mutely to be quiet, then he looked at the door and finally decided to push her towards the bathroom and close the door with her inside.

She crouched and tried to become as small as possible, while also holding her breath as much as she could.

“Guys what are you doing here?” she heard Oliver say, then she heard some fumbling and a door getting closed. Oh no they were inside. She placed a hand in front of her mouth to make sure she wasn’t going to produce any sound, and she listened.

“We couldn’t simply avoid you for an entire week without coming to see how you’re holding up.”

“I’m… I’m fine guys. You know it’s forbidden for us to talk now.”

“Yeah we know, that's why we are whispering inside your house…”

“So, suspended?” silence “but your knives too?” Chloe tried to listen but probably Oliver was replying only with his facial expressions.

“Ugh, it’s all because of Chloe, that stuck-up…I heard she tried to be honest and ended up making it worse.”

“Yes she always tried to do the right thing,” one of the three was definitely mocking her with his tone and she couldn’t even be mad. She just hugged her legs and pouted. She deserved those words, and she also deserved to hear them, especially because Oliver wasn’t probably going to stoop so low and tell her himself.

“Don’t be a dick…she just did it without thinking, she just wanted to protect me,” suddenly Oliver spoke and she shivered when she heard how soft he sounded.

“Protect you from what? From being a soldier?” she wasn’t even sure who was speaking because they were whispering and their voices mixed so much. She heard a sound followed by a grunt of pain. Someone got punched somewhere. Nothing serious, probably a tap on a shoulder.

“The General was assuming I did my job unprofessionally, which I didn’t…and she just… it was a mistake, guys just stop trying to blame just her. I fucked up that’s all!”

“Oh boy, your crush is showing. You can’t let it cloud your judgment. She is the one at fault…we all do stupid shit, but we keep our mouths shut,” Chloe almost hiccuped hearing that. His friends were making fun of him, but still, it made her feel weird to hear it.

Oliver cleared his throat “My crush has nothing to do with this…now go, it’s too dangerous, you’ll get reprimanded for talking to me,” he was whispering again, not sure if she heard him correctly. He didn’t deny it, but it was probably an inside joke, something they were used to saying among themselves. It was easy to target her, she was the only female soldier.

“They are gone,” Oliver told her when he slowly opened the door to find her still crouching in the corner.

Chloe stood up and followed him back to the main room. He looked slightly less annoyed than before, so she tried again “Oliver…please, believe me, I never wanted to cause this mess,” she said looking up at him. He was probably one full head taller than her, and this time she felt even smaller.

He sighed and shook his head looking away. But he looked like he was about to give in. She reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling herself slightly closer “accept my apologies… I’ll do anything you ask, mh?” and she pulled on his shirt to make him look at her. She was trying to be…cute maybe?

The male fairy raised an eyebrow and stared at her, then a mischievous smile curled up on his lips “Anything? Chloe, are you aware of what you’re saying?” his voice came out way lower than she expected and it made her feel shy for a second. Was he referring to what she was thinking? No way, was he really bringing out naughty things? When she mentioned being willing to do anything she meant tasks, like cleaning the training room by herself or, buying him groceries or something...

She snorted, “What do you mean?”

“Just that you came to my room at night, and are standing here, clutching at my shirt and promising to do anything to be forgiven,” Oliver said and shrugged, he was looking more like his usual self, maybe he was willing to forgive her after all.

“As if you’d be interested anyway,” she decided to be daring and placed her hand on the other’s chest, resulting in him tilting his head in surprise.

“You really think so, Chloe?” Oliver’s voice was low once again, and his whole demeanour made her slightly annoyed. He was somehow mocking her, almost challenging her.

She got both her hands on his chest this time, going slightly upwards with her palms flat on what were really nice pectorals. “If you happen to be interested then… I said I will do anything,” she whispered while getting closer to his face. 

Oliver was so surprised that he blushed and barely sighed in embarrassment, while slightly pushing her away. But Chloe was firm in her decision, if this could work for her to be forgiven, she could have sacrificed herself for the cause. Well… sacrificed was a bit of a stretch, the more she got closer to that body, the more she realized it could have been a way easier task than cleaning the training room and all the weapons.  

“What are you doing Chloe this isn’t like you at all,” Oliver’s voice came a bit shaky, and a frown formed on his face.

“You have no idea how hard it is for me to act like this… why don’t you simply take advantage of this situation?” the fairy replied while caressing his chest and getting slightly up in the air to be his same eye level. She got dangerously close to his lips before saying “You didn’t seem to mind it this morning,” and finally pressing their lips together. 

Did I really kiss him?