Fairytale Green

Stone motioned to the screen and grumbled ‘Why do you think I’m like him again?’

He was sprawled out on my living room sofa with one of his arms set firmly on the cushioned part of the seat behind my head.

I had never noticed how small my sofa was until the giant sat down and took up the whole space. He made everything seem smaller.

Throughout the start of the movie, I tried to budge over and give him more space. It never worked because every time I looked away and then back, he had bridged the gap between us.

‘Lurch is tall and scary.’ I explained while laughing at the figure on the screen ‘You are tall and scary.’

‘You do not seem scared of me.’ He mentioned with a frown, nodding towards our touching legs.

‘The closeness is not my fault.’ I pointed out ‘It is all to blame on your wide shoulders.’

He did not look happy as I forced myself to shimmy away further from him.

‘Move closer, Medusa.’ He demanded with a scowl.

I turned from the screen to him and raised my eyebrow while I questioned ‘Why?’

‘You are hanging off the edge of the sofa.’

‘If I move any closer then I am going to end up on your lap.’ I mentioned to him, eyeing up the small scale between our bodies.

He did not say anything. His lip quirked up as he moved his attention back to the television.

Pretending that I was unhappy about it, I let out an exaggerated sigh as I moved closer until one of my legs propped up on his.

For someone with such a cold expression and attitude, he was surprisingly warm.

He was like a giant teddy bear with a killer glare.

The Addams Family played in the background. I tried to focus on what was happening but it was really hard. Especially when Stone’s hand was nearing my leg.

His large hand ventured under the thigh of my right leg until he lifted it up and placed it on his lap.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked, my voice coming out as a squeak.

He remained silent. He only took my other leg and placed it with my other so that my body swivelled and I was lying across him.

When I watched him in peripheral vision, I noticed that he was not focused on the movie. His attention was always on me and he was not even trying to hide his fixed stare.

‘Medusa.’ He called quietly.

I hummed in reply.

‘Where is your Dad?’

The question threw me off. I wondered why he wanted to know and why the question had come to his mind.

‘He is still on his business trip.’ I answered while crossing my arms and sitting back on the sofa.

‘When is he back?’ The gravelly voice spoke as the dark eyes looked down at my crossed arms.

‘Maybe next week.’

Stone’s voice went deeper and more demanding as he interrogated ‘What does he do?’

I tried not to panic. I squeezed my arms around myself and looked around the room while I thought of what to say.

‘A real estate agent.’ I finally mustered up an answer as I started at the haunted house on the screen instead of him.

He did not look convinced. He frowned at me while the hand behind my back gently brushed my neck.

Goosebumps covered my skin as the calloused warm fingers brushed again over the back of my neck and through my hair.

I felt I had to sell the lie so I came up with an obscure excuse so he would not question it ‘He is selling houses in Paraguay.’

‘Why did you not go with him?’

‘What is with the interrogation?’ I huffed out a sigh while I replied to him “I have school. I had to stay because I need my education.’

‘I doubt that.’ Stone chuckled but it came out as low strained noise ‘You are already a massive know-it-all.’

At the words know-it-all, I grabbed the pillow from behind me and threw it at his stupid smug face.

He caught it before it hit him while his deep chuckle filled the air again. He threw the pillow back at me but with less force than I used which I was grateful for.

If he threw the pillow with even a quarter of his normal strength, then I feared I would go flying into the atmosphere.

‘Like you are not a massive know-it-all too.’ I mumbled with a slight pout ‘I know that you are secretly a nerd.’

Stone sent me a small glare but as soon as I let out a laugh at his grumpy face, his features softened.

For the next hour, we sat in comfortable silence as we watched the movie. I laughed at the deadpan humour and the eccentric darkness of the story and tried to seem nonchalant that Stone was watching me rather than the film.

It surprised me how comfortable I was in the position on the sofa. My head rested against the armrest as my feet laid on top of Stone’s leg. His large hands laid on my calves which warmed up my whole body.

When the credits to the movie rolled, I was unwilling to move. I did not want to leave the warmth that spread snuggled me like a blanket.

I sighed before looking up at him and asking, ‘Do you want to stay and watch the second movie?’

His lip quirked up infinitesimally. I had to stretch up to see it, but it was definitively a small smile.

‘There is a second movie?’ The deep rough voice asked.

I gasped in faux horror ‘You haven’t seen the sequel?’

He chuckled and lifted his arms until they crossed and rested behind his head. He wore a smug expression which I watched with intent instead of glancing down at where his t-shirt had risen at the bottom.

‘I will stay, Medusa.’ He grumbled out to me before adding in a teasing tone ‘Only because you insisted.’

Rolling my eyes as I got up, I walked away from him and through to my bedroom. I opened the drawer of DVDs and grabbed the second movie before I noticed what was on my bed.

Pete the Second was perched between my pillows.

I moved it just in case Stone seen and it made a comment about how I had it there because he had won it for me.

Not that I was planning for him to be allowed in my room. Again.

When I got back to the living room, the giant figure was taking the first movie out of the disc machine. I passed him the new one and took the old one back, our fingers brushing for a few seconds in the process.

Stone joined me back on the sofa and reclaimed the larger portion of the small seat. I was squished between him and the side of the sofa until he moved my legs back onto his lap.

As the theme song played, he looked around the cramped apartment and voiced ‘Your house is not what I expected.’

I tilted my head at him and questioned ‘What did you expect?’

‘Something more Ella.’

Preparing myself for a smart comment from him, I frowned as I questioned ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

‘Even your bedroom walls are plain.’ He uttered lowly with a rough sigh ‘I thought you would have something more green.’

‘Yeah. I hate my bedroom.’ I told him in agreement ‘I plan on painting it but I haven’t had the chance. I can’t reach the whole wall.’

‘I am surprised you can reach the door handle with your tininess.’

I grabbed the pillow from behind his back and launched at his chest. It did not do anything damage. It only bounced off him and landed somewhere on the floor.

‘You infuriate me.’ I bit out as I crossed my arms.

His lip quirked up as he looked down at me glaring up at him.

All the amusement drained from his expression, and it was quickly replaced with a more serious emotion as he demanded to know ‘Why don’t you get your dad to paint your room?’

‘I told you why.’ I swallowed down the truth and bit out the lie ‘He is in Uruguay.’

My words caught his attention because his eyes frantically scanned my face. His dark irises pierced and penetrated my soul.

‘I thought you said he was in Paraguay.’ Stone murmured so lowly that it came out as more of a growl.

‘Same thing.’ I quickly blabbered out before I sent a silent apology to the people of South America.

He narrowed his eyes as he looked away from me and down at the ground. He looked to be deep in thought as he scrubbed a hand along his stubbled jaw that was ticking in an angry rhythm.

A few minutes passed and neither of us spoke. We each took turns glancing at each other.

‘I was not shocked when I saw all your books in your room, little nerd.’ He remarked to change the subject ‘Your whole floor was covered in them.’

I ignored his name-calling and decided to be a proud bibliophile as I replied, ‘I do love books.’

‘Is Edgar Allan Poe your all-time favourite?’ He questioned before adding ‘It was on top of your pile, and it looked like it had been read a few hundred times.’

‘Try a few thousand.’ I confirmed ‘The poems and the short stories are some my favourites. I reread them like every week.’

Stone chuckled at my enthusiasm before he questioned ‘Which work by him is your favourite?’

‘That is like asking a mother who her favourite child is.’ I joked before I answered his question properly ‘I really like The Tell-Tale Heart.’

‘Is that why you let me in?’ He challenged, his dark eyes continuing to search my face ‘To kill me and keep my heart under your floorboard.’

I could feel my lip twitch as he referenced the story.

My respect for the leather jacket-wearing giant had gone up. Slightly.

To show I was not taken aback that he knew the poem, I laughed his words off ‘I only keep things that are valuable. That doesn’t include your heart.’

As an interesting scene appeared on the screen, I side glanced at him with a smile ‘So you are a book nerd then?’

The gravelly rough voice grumbled ‘No.’

‘It is okay, Lurch.’ I let out another laugh as I winked at him ‘Your secret is safe with me.’

His pupils seemed to dilate as he listened to the sounds of my laughs.

‘If you were a nerd then it might make me like you more.’ I mentioned in hopes that he would admit it.

‘You like me just fine.’ He gruffly released the sentence from his chest like he was trying to convince himself rather than me.

I looked around and noticed that I had run out of pillows to throw at him.

‘No.’ I smiled as I denied his statement ‘I really don’t.’

‘Brennan’s mom reads a lot of books.’ Stone’s deep voice mumbled quietly ‘I might have read one or two from her.’

‘What are his parents like?’ I questioned, not knowing where the sudden curiosity came from.

‘They are good people. I consider them my parents.’ He stated before he went on to tell me ‘One of the first times I got kicked out of school was because I got into a fight with this fucker that said that they were not my family because they had a different colour of skin.’

‘What an asshole.’ I said aloud.

I did not bother to ask who won the fight. The answer was obvious. Stone had to have been the tallest and most well-built person I had ever seen. He was also the most intimidating.

The giant and I fought verbally but he would be the last person I would get into a physical fight with.

I was one hundred percent sure he could squash anyone.

‘How many times have you been kicked out of school?’ I questioned, realising that he made it sound like there had been loads of occasions.

Silence hung in the air for a while.

Stone peered at my legs that were resting against his lap, and he did not meet my eye when he answered ‘Seventeen.’

‘What for?’ I asked gently, trying my best to hide my astonishment.

‘Fighting.’

‘Great.’ I joked with a teasing smile ‘I have let Rocky Balboa into my apartment.’

His head rapidly turned to the side and his eyes quickly traversed my face. His jaw clenched and unclenched in a vicious tempo as he removed a hand from my leg and ran it through his inky black hair.

‘Ella.’ His deep voice was hoarse and quiet when he assured strongly ‘I would never hurt you. I would rather—’

‘I know.’ I cut him off by shaking my head ‘It was just a joke.’

A rough, ragged breath left him as he relaxed back against the sofa.

I felt the need to change the topic of conversation, so I asked, ‘Did Brennan get into trouble a lot?’

‘Not as much as me.’ Stone answered, not meeting my eye once again ‘I usually took the blame for him when he did something wrong.’

I could understand that. Brennan and Stone were as close as blood brothers. They were raised together. I had a similar feeling about Lana who was not even my sister. I would take the blame for something she did.

I thought about Stone said he considered Brennan’s parents his own. I wondered what they thought about him getting expelled.

‘I bet your parents were not too happy about you fighting and getting kicked out of school.’

‘No. They were not.’ He affirmed with a single chuckle ‘Brennan’s mom Kelly was mad but not as mad as she was when I got my first tattoo.’

I let my gaze drift across the lines of ink on his exposed muscular arms and then I rested my attention on the large skull-covered hand.

‘You have quite a few.’ I mentioned before asking ‘How often do you get them done?’

‘I go every few months.’

‘I noticed on the beach that you don’t have your back tattooed.’ I spoke up, my words sheepish ‘Are you going to get that tatted up too?’

I let my head fall back further on the armrest so that I could see him better.

Stone nodded.

Curiosity took the better of me and I asked another question ‘So what is going to be your next tattoo?’

The corner of his lip hiked upwards, and his jawbone stuck out as he throatily uttered “I have an idea for one.’

Over the next two hours, I found it hard to follow along with the movie. The small discreet touches and the stolen glances made it hard to think about anything else other than him.

The thick muscly arms rested on my legs. He would let his vein-struck hands traverse up to my thighs. He even went as far as touching my stomach for a second.

It happened too often to be an accident.

I had moved further and further down the sofa throughout the movie. My head was on the cushioned part of the sofa and the bottom of my bum was perched on the side of his leg.

It was almost the climax of the film when my phone rang.

Tearing my eyes off the television screen, I fetched my phone and read the caller id before I answered.

‘Hi Lana.’ I spoke into the phone while I eyed Stone in my peripheral vision.

‘We haven’t spoken all day.’ She mentioned with a sigh ‘What have you been up to?’

‘Not that much.’

‘Brennan took me to this Italian restaurant.’ Lana told me with a dreamy sigh ‘It was really romantic and nice.’

‘How cute.’ I joked with a monotonous tone ‘I’m very jealous.’

‘Don’t be like that, Ella.’ She laughed before assuring ‘You know that you are the real love of my life.’

‘Yeah. I know.’ I smiled to myself as I answered her.

‘I just wanted to check in and make sure you were okay.’ Her light happy voice came through from the other end of the line ‘What are you up to?’

I looked between the television and the giant while replying ‘I… I’m watching a movie.’

Stone cocked his head at me and one of his dark eyebrows raised a single millimetre.

I sent him a glare while I spoke into the phone ‘Are you still on your date with Brennan?’

‘Not really. He is rushing to leave.’ She sighed her words disappointedly ‘Brennan is trying to get a hold of Stone.’

On cue, Stone’s phone started ringing from the pocket in his jeans.

The large man in my living room stood up with his phone in his hand. He strode away into the hallway while he brought the phone to his ear.

The last thing I heard before he disappeared into my kitchen was his harsh rough voice mutter ‘Fuck. It is quarter to nine.’

I remained lying down on the sofa as I quietly spoke into the phone ‘Do you know where the two of them go at nights yet?’

‘Brennan says it has to do with his family.’ She mentioned before moving swiftly on ‘Would it be okay if he took me to school tomorrow?’

‘Of course, it is.’ I assured her ‘My car is currently getting repaired so I will need to walk to school anyway.’

‘I love you, Freak Show.’

I smiled to myself as I said back ‘I love you too, Barbie.’

We said our goodbyes before hanging up.

Stone sauntered back into the room without a word. He picked up my legs from the sofa and then sat before placing them back down so that they were on top of him.

‘Is there somewhere you need to be?’ I asked him.

He shook his head. Once.

‘You don’t have to stay here, you know.’ I informed him with a smile ‘If there is somewhere else you need to be then you can leave.’

His permanent scowl deepened, and his eyes grew darker. He sent me a stern expression that was usually followed by a growl or grumble.

‘I don’t want you to feel you have to stay here. I can always watch the movie myself and—’

‘I am not leaving.’ He lowly growled.

I could not hold back the smile as I sank back down on the sofa and resumed watching the movie.

The television became background noise as my eyes began to feel heavy. I let them shut after it became too much of an effort to keep them open.

My body seemed to be awake because it refused to rest. It wanted something desperately.

I wanted the warmth that tickled my legs, so I adjusted myself and felt around for the source of the heat.

My hands trailed to a hard yet soft surface. I pushed it and it willingly moved so I could crawl on top of it. I wrapped my arms and legs around the something that brought me warmth and security.

I let out a sound of content as the warm pillow moved a little. It was so comfortable that I found myself relaxing and snuggling into the well-built frame.