An Unlikely Holiday Pairing: Pt. 02

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her, not used to seeing her light up at him like this.

"What?" he asked, half laughing, and now very curious to know what she was thinking as her eyes told the tale.

Madi took a deep breath and leaned forward slightly before sitting back abruptly, being coy to keep him interested.

"No, no... nothing," she said, barely containing her laughter as she waved him off and covered her mouth.

"Madi, come on, what? What is it?" he asked again, now matching her energy and tone and unable to resist smiling.

Her eyes lit up, softening a bit while being inviting as she spoke while letting her voice trail off, leaving it open-ended. "With the gym closed... there are better wrestling partners... if you want a good physical workout..."

Oliver, suddenly consumed by a growing sense of lust, read her tone, her words, and her facial expression just as any other horny young male would. His heart started to beat faster and his eyes seemed to be unable to break contact with her own. He wondered if she could look more beautiful. His spine straightened a bit, back extending to bring his chest to puff out ever so slightly as his shoulders also pulled back from their otherwise hunched over position.

"Oh, yeah?" he answered. "Like--"

"Ollie..." Madi said slowly, almost sensually as she dropped her head a bit and looked up at him with her big doe eyes, warm and soothing.

"I think you should wrestle Uncle Ed!" she exclaimed, breaking into laughter and casting away whatever flirtatious atmosphere Oliver thought was being created between them.

"What? Madi! He's like a twig. I'm not actually trying to hurt anybody," Oliver exclaimed, jerking his head back though amused at the suggestion. He chuckled as the thought of the old grump, donning a singlet and snarling like a rabid dog, ran through his head.

"Well, thought you might want to get a win," she laughed while shifting in her seat. She already knew that he would refuse, but still found herself enjoying the banter too much to quit.

"If I want a win, I can just pin you tonight," Oliver shot back with his quick wit and an overconfident grin. Suddenly, his eyes widened and a surge of heat ran through him like lightning as he himself heard the words that he uttered. "I-I mean like we can wrestle! I was just kidding though."

Madi picked up on Oliver's panicked and nervous body language, a rarity for him, as he's otherwise calm and collected.

She smirked and nodded with a slight eye roll, scoffing and keeping it light and playful. "You wish, Ollie. I've dated a wrestler or two before... I can hold my own."

He knew what she did. In that moment, he knew that she chose to avoid calling him out and making it awkward. Madi had always been emotionally intelligent, and Oliver was well aware of that fact.

"I guess we'll see," he replied with a brief moment of hesitation, otherwise, coming off smooth to recover.

Oliver rubbed one sock-covered foot against the tile, creating friction as he started to realize something odd and confusing about their exchange. He stared down at his plate, furrowing his brow.

The fact that Madi didn't call him out left him briefly considering something he didn't even think was plausible. As far as he knew, she didn't know about the spooning incident, being fast asleep until he woke her. He replayed her movements and interactions from the moment she came downstairs, it now occurring to him that she had been acting differently the entire time. He'd been so wrapped up in his own thoughts and thinking things from his perspective that he missed the forest for the trees, not noticing that Madi herself was acting more like a girl with a crush, being playful and flirty, than just solely being his normal feisty, sassy, and sometimes bratty step-sister.

Madi went about her business, finishing her plate more slowly as the more playful banter, even flirty to her, caught her off guard. She didn't know why, but her original plan that she had settled on before making her way downstairs, the one that she had rehearsed in her mind to ignore and stay away from Oliver--to tell him that she was going to sleep in her own room again--fell to the wayside once she saw him sitting at the table.

As she started to get lost in her thoughts, she couldn't understand why she didn't harbor any ill will towards Oliver for groping her last night, even if it was unintentional and in his sleep. She saw it not as his fault, but more so a product of sharing a bed with someone and not maintaining much of any physical space between them, let alone a barrier.

What bothered her was the utter lack of awkwardness about it on her part. The fact that she even caught herself checking him out in bed before getting in last night also struck her. The fact that she clearly couldn't stop herself from flirting with him just now drove her up the wall. She shook her head, trying to put it aside for the moment.

Distracting herself, she glanced out the window, blinding herself with the brightness of the snow before turning her head back and spotting Oliver walking past her.

"Oh, it would be nice if you made more sugar cookies. I really liked the green tree-shaped ones," Oliver ordered with a casual tone, playing on the fact that the girl was probably going to make more anyway.

He came up behind her chair and placed his hand on her shoulder while reaching over with his other hand, over her other shoulder, to swipe a sausage link. He grabbed it and crammed it into his mouth before she could spin around to stop him, not that she particularly cared. She wasn't a heavy eater anyway, and her plate had enough food for her twice over.

"Don't tell me what to do, Ollie," she replied, taking agency of herself by answering before her seemingly natural inclination to flirt took over her again. She shimmied her shoulders to shake him off.

"Good girl. I expect a lot of the green ones that I like then," Oliver declared, promptly planting a firm kiss on top of Madi's dirty blonde head of hair, pushing her head down like a spring before he backed off and stepped away from her.

"UGH! Oliver!" she squealed, throwing her arms back aimlessly and missing him as he was already out of her range.

Her eyes uncharacteristically followed his movements like a magnet as he walked off to lace up his boots, put on his winter coat, and put on his gloves before stepping out to shovel snow. She kept watching, sitting halfway turned in her seat, arm over the back of the chair, and one leg folded with the sole of her foot planted against her other leg's inner thigh. She didn't want to avert her gaze, mostly in case he came back and did something childish again. She did linger for another reason, a reason she wasn't yet ready to confront.

With the door closed and Oliver outside, Madi turned her attention to the fact that Oliver had cleared and put away his plate, likely when she was deep in thought. However, the small vapors of steam still rising from his lonesome coffee cup drew her in, a realization now that she didn't have one at all. Spotting the empty carafe in the machine on the counter, she turned her attention back to his cup.

Madi reached out and grasped the handle, noting that most of the coffee was still there. She took a sip and claimed it for herself.

"Hmm..." she mused, staring down into the abyss of black liquid. "Vanilla and caramel flavoring in his coffee? He doesn't like that... I do."

*****

"Ed, you coming?" Rick asked in earnest as he turned to the side and inquired of the older man. "Come on, we're making memories here!"

Hours later after breakfast passed, Oliver had the walkways and driveway cleared, and he and Rick added more lights to the house at the insistence of Uncle Tyler. Despite not living at the house, Tyler went overboard on the light wars with the neighbor across the street, spotting an opportunity to put that other comparable house to shame with the numerous extra boxes of lights that he discovered hidden in the garage on his own during a self-guided tour.

Uncle Ed sat in the oversized recliner near the decorated Christmas tree and fireplace, adjacent to the main couch, sipping his cup of coffee. The ugly red sweater that Madi's mother, Wendy, got for her much older brother, Ed, caught the girl's eye as she pressed up on the back of the couch, resting between shots.

"Ed?" Rick called again, noticing the man's transfixed gaze on something.

Unbeknownst to Rick, Madi had her head cocked to the side, maintaining prolonged eye contact with Uncle Ed while striking an unprecedented awkwardness as he returned the cold gaze. Knowing it rude to stare, she quickly discovered that the old man wasn't the type to back down. She couldn't bring herself to stop, wanting him to break first.

"No, I've got 68 years of the most important pictures and memories up here in the old noggin," he replied, not breaking contact with Madi until she felt too uncomfortable to maintain the current course.

"Okay, suit yourself," Rick said with a cheery smile before turning back to get Wendy, Uncle Tyler, Aunt Helen, Madi, and Oliver ready for the next picture.

Oliver slowly reached over beside him, and tapped Madi on the small of her lower back before wrapping his hand around her waist to pull her closer to him. "Switch with me, Madi. Uncle Tyler is too tall."

Tyler turned around and chuckled, overhearing him. "Good idea, I'd slouch, but my wife wouldn't be too happy about that."

Aunt Helen playfully patted her husband's thigh and just smiled.

Madi listened to the words being said, noticing that Oliver was still holding her by the waist. She seemed unbothered by his touch, uncharacteristic for her when considering their typical relationship.

Oliver slid his sister over, trading places with her before then letting go. He deliberately touched her, going out of his way to make every effort to be more physical in his interactions with her. All of it in the hopes of putting to rest this crazy notion that he might actually be more than a little sexually attracted to his gorgeous step-sister.

"Ollie, wipe your lip," Madi said with a light smile, turning her eye to him and pointing with her finger, moving it closer to his face before pulling back. "Your green sanding sugar lipstick smeared."

Oliver raised his eyebrows, reaching out and wiping quickly before another picture could be snapped. "Those cookies were great, but you used too much green."

"Well, it's what you wanted, so don't complain," she whispered back, shaking her head playfully. She stopped, catching herself again being overly friendly, overly flirty, overly talkative with Oliver.

A few shots later, Uncle Tyler stood up and ran over to Rick, nearly tackling the man as he grabbed the camera out of his hands. "Rick, you and the family, just the immediate family."

Madi turned her head to her brother, looking up at him as her body posture perked up. A bit hesitant and a bit nervous, she softened her voice before whispering to him. "Ollie... after this one, let's get a picture... just us."

Oliver looked over at her and quickly tried to avoid seeming overly interested in her idea.

"Sure," he said as he shot her a quick smile and gave a half-hearted shrug.

Rick, Wendy, Oliver, and Madi went around to take a seat on the couch. With only three main spots, Oliver sat against the arm opposite of the one his father took. He moved over slightly for Madi to sit between him and their mother, both women on the inside of the couch. He put his hand down on his thigh, resting against the side of hers in the process, mostly due to the lack of space. The contact struck Oliver differently this time. Unlike times in the past, he wasn't quite feeling that he was pressing up on his sister by accident. It felt more like he was pressing up on a girl he was interested in, like with ex-girlfriends in the past.

His gaze went to the side, towards her as he spotted his father's arm and hand draped across the top of the couch, prompting him to do the same with the top of the couch directly behind Madi.

Madi smiled and ignored the slight touch of Oliver's hand against her thigh, finding no real reason to be bothered by it. Pulling away to break the contact would've felt forced to her, and even if she wanted to, it felt too comfortable to her to just leave it alone.

"Great shot, a lovely family from all angles!" Uncle Tyler bellowed before he started to walk back to the group.

"Hold on, Tyler," Ed chimed in, deceptively quiet up until now. The old coot had been seemingly watching everyone like a hawk, being studious. "I thought I heard that Madison wanted a few pictures with Oliver... just the pair of them."

Madi blushed, now feeling a little embarrassed to hear it out loud in front of everyone. Oliver looked over at Uncle Ed still sitting there like a judgmental lump wearing a grin, and then turned his head to Madi. He looked at her slightly red face and saw her shuffle her feet.

"No, it was my idea. I wanted to get a few holiday pictures with Madi. Just me and her. Might not get a chance next year," Oliver said, exuding confidence while sitting up straighter, covering for his sister.

"Aw, that's so cute, Oliver," their mother said, reaching over and stroking his cheek, to his dismay.

The pair had their pictures taken, innocent and not suspicious in the slightest. Oliver had his arm wrapped around Madi's shoulder for the shots, pulling her close to him. Neither seemed to mind too much, mostly due to the family wanting them to look like they were caring siblings.

"You know what would be a really cute holiday picture? Oliver in a Santa suit and Madi sitting on his lap like she's asking for presents," Aunt Helen beamed with a smile, then quickly scowling at her husband for a moment. "Unfortunately, someone forgot to pack his Santa suit or we could've had some really festive holiday pictures."

Madi and Oliver turned and faced each other for a moment, still sitting thigh to thigh on the couch before both nervously declined, finding the prospect of being even remotely more affectionate in front of others to be undesirable. Highly unusual to not lash out at such an inappropriate idea, Madi couldn't describe why she was slightly hesitant to even say no or why she even had to look at Oliver first to gauge his reaction, nearly deferring to him to decide. Finding herself a bit confused by her own feelings and everything else from the morning onward, she shot up from the couch, causing Oliver's arm to slink off and fall to the cushion.

"It's getting a little warm in here... I'm going to go out for a walk," she said abruptly.

"I'll go with you, honey," her mother suggested. "I could use a bit of air too."

*****

The light crunching of snow underfoot always felt strangely satisfying and therapeutic.

Madi crunched along, her boots compressing the thin layer of snow that was building up as the light flurry falling all around her produced a rather quieting, but fitting scene. The falling snowflakes, new, refreshing, unexpected, but pleasant, seemed to match the feelings that she started to have for Oliver: new, refreshing, unexpected, but pleasant.

"It's about a boy, isn't it, Madi?" Wendy inquired, determined to figure it out as she had her eyes trained on her daughter.

"Mom..." Madi whined, walking side by side with her mother. Both women marched at a leisurely pace.

"Sorry, not boy... a man," her mother said, correcting herself considering that her daughter was no longer the 12-year-old girl when such talks were commonplace between them.

"No, I mean--"

"Madison. I won't pry, but I know you, honey. You're so distracted and I know being home for the holidays is not great for your love life..."

"I'm not in love with this guy... like that," Madi said, nervously fiddling with her red scarf around her neck.

"So, it is a guy. I knew it!" Wendy giggled, ecstatic that she was making progress.

Madi rolled her eyes and looked off to the side at the houses across the street.

"So, if not about your love life with this guy, then... your sex life with him?"

"MOM! So much for not prying!" Madi nearly exploded, defensive and very guarded.

"Sorry!" Wendy exclaimed with her hands up and an overly sarcastic tone. "Madison..."

Madi's beauty didn't appear out of thin air. Her mother possessed a similar beauty to that of her daughter, though more refined and mature. Not a trophy wife to be left on a shelf or to show off, Wendy was a prize, a prize who knew her beauty and her value as a mother, a wife, and a lover. With that kind of a woman as her mother, Madi was used to getting her man, but for obvious reasons that her mother could never know, the girl was in uncharted waters now and desperately looking for the life raft.

Wendy sighed, wanting to tip-toe around the issue delicately and with poise to avoid antagonizing her daughter and causing her to shut her out.

"Okay... is he single?"

"I think... yeah, yeah he is..."

"Okay... is he the ex-boyfriend of one of your close friends?"

"No, definitely not..." Madi replied, now starting to think about the times that she berated her friends for commenting about her "hot brother," and how she jealously guarded Oliver as if he was a toy not meant to be shared.

"Okay... well... honey, does he know that you like him? Some guys just need a woman to be really direct or they'll just never catch on. Is... he one of those guys?"

Madi shook her head, not entirely wanting to entertain this conversation, but she did begin to find her mother's general approach to this to be more rational than her own.

"I-I don't know exactly. It's just different... he's close to me..."

The girl continued to walk on, deep in thought. After a few moments, she realized that her footsteps were the only ones that she could hear, her mother having stopped already. Madi slowly stood still, but refused to turn around, fearing that her mother had pieced it together. The trotting footsteps approached. Madi gulped. Wendy placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, turning her so the two were face to face, eye to eye, despite Wendy being a few inches taller.

"Madison. Honey, if you both want each other, then there is nothing wrong with dating or having sex with this man, okay?"

Madi looked at her mother and simply smiled, appreciative of the womanly advice, taking it to heart. Without the full context, it almost came across as permission to engage or a reassurance of her shifting feelings. The feelings, though new, were familiar, not familial, but natural.

Wendy patted the girl's shoulder and turned back around, both women now starting off back home.

"Whatever inhibitions you have about this guy... let them go. Just be natural with him and see how it turns out."

Madi beamed. She didn't know why it was so important to hear these words, but they strongly resonated with her being. Unlike talking to her friends, some even expressing interest in dating Oliver, talking to Wendy was like talking to a true friend. The affirming and encouraging nudge to follow her feelings and embrace her affection and interest in Oliver served to cut through the muck and make it easy for the girl to move forward organically.

*****

Oliver laid in bed, just under the sheets with them pulled back. He stretched his back and released, letting the tension of the day dissipate from his body.

"That feels good," he muttered, exhaling and closing his eyes for a moment as his entire body sank into the bed, head into the pillow.

Within a minute, his door creaked open. Oliver opened his eyes and immediately looked over at the door, spotting Madi in loose grey sweatpants and a light pink tee.

"Got tossed around pretty good today?" Madi inquired, closing the door behind her. "I'm surprised Uncle Tyler waited until after dinner. I thought you guys would've done it hours earlier."