Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 182

While they waited, Theo took a moment to look around the room a bit more. If he had to guess, this had been Genevieve’s while living here. The bed had been a single, and the few toys he noted were for a child. The room itself was nothing special; the walls had been white, the furniture basic. Even the few clothes, all torn, looked like they consisted of simple shirts and pants. Didn’t every little girl like colourful shirts with bold prints, or sassy sayings? What about dresses, or fun accessories? There was none of that to be seen.

A pair of feet appeared from the attic’s hatch, catching Theo’s attention. Jacques had wandered off into the kitchen, leaving Genevieve without help getting down.

Stepping over to the closet, Theo looked up. “Want some help?”

“If you don’t mind,” she nodded, holding out a shoebox for him to take.

Reaching up, he took the offered box. It was coating in a thick layer of dust, but so was everything else in the place. Setting it on the ground near his feet, he turned back to Genevieve and held up his arms. “I gotcha.”

She slowly lowered herself through the hatch until he could get a grip her waist. Once she felt secure, she let go and Theo took on her full weight, doing his best not to drop her on the floor like an idiot.

It ended with her falling into his arms, her hands landing his shoulders. Having her face suddenly inches from his own stole Theo’s breath as he stared, wide eyed. She stared at him in return, and he could feel her fingers flexing against his shoulders.

“Get a room,” Jacques told them as he walked by the open door.

“We are in a room,” Theo snapped in response, but he and Genevieve took a step away from one another all the same. This was neither the time, nor the place for that sort of moment.

Bending over, Theo scooped up the box and held it out.

“Thanks,” she nodded, carefully taking the offered box and holding it against her chest. “We can go now.”

Curiosity made him want to ask what was inside, but he knew she would tell him when she was ready, as she had with everything else.

As far as road trips went, it hadn’t been very exciting, but Theo had a feeling their company had meant a lot to Genevieve. She didn’t say much during the drive back, but did get out of the vehicle to give Miriam a hug when they dropped her off at home.

Next they stopped at Theo’s, where she followed him to his front door.

“Thanks. For coming today,” she said once they were on the stoop.

“It was…” he trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. ‘Fun’ was definitely not the word to use. Before he was able to muddle his way through finishing what he’d started, Genevieve had pulled a gift from her jacket pocket. It was the size of a card, and a few centimetres thick. He hadn’t noticed if she’d given anything to Miriam when they’d dropped her off, so the sudden appearance of the gift was unexpected.

“…for me?” He asked, feeling dumb.

Genevieve nodded, holding it out a bit further. “It’s, uhm… your Christmas gift.”

“Oh.” For some reason he hadn’t expected her to get him anything. Theo took the gift, trying not to smile like an idiot. “If you’ll give me a second, I’ll get yours.”

“Okay,” she replied.

He held open the door, letting her step inside as his mother came out of the living room to greet them. Theo had inherited his hair from his mother, but that was the extent of it. Mrs McCullough was a tiny woman, barely five foot three, and was usually composed — it was what made her great at her job, a nurse working with Doctors Without Borders. Andy, his step-father, was a doctor for the same organization, and they spent most of their time travelling the world together.

When he wasn’t in school, Theo had always gone to visit them, wherever they were. Sometimes Pops came along, though for the last few years he’d stayed home as his health had begun to slowly decline.

This past year, he wasn’t able to be left alone, and the prospect of not going abroad for the holidays, in order to care for the old man, hadn’t actually bothered Theo very much. Now that Genevieve was in his life, it was the perfect excuse to stay home.

“Genevieve!” His mother exclaimed, quickly coming up to take the girl’s hands in her own. “I hope you had a good trip today, and that Theo behaved himself.”

“Mom,” he sighed before turning to the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”

“It’s so good to see you,” he heard his mother continue as he took the stairs two at a time. “You really should come over more often. I know Theo would love…”

He tried not to dwell on how excited his mother had been upon learning her ‘little boy’ had stopped his dating spree, and was focusing on a single girl. When she’d met Genevieve for the first time, she’d been calm and polite, but every visit since she’d become more and more excited.

Any day now he was expecting his mother to ask Genevieve to move in, and they weren’t even dating. Yet.

He barged into his room and found the gift he’d bought. It wasn’t wrapped — he thought he’d have more time — so he quickly grabbed the wrapping paper he’d planned on using and went to work.

It was not his best work, to say the least, but no one could argue it wasn’t wrapped. He was lucky the box was small, so it didn’t take long.

Nervous now, he returned to where his mother was still chatting with Genevieve.

“You’re back!” His mother grinned. “I’ll leave you two alone, then. It was so nice seeing you, Genevieve. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“Thanks, Sara,” she nodded. Theo shook his head at his mother, who’d been going on about getting Genevieve to call her by her first name for the last week or so. Seems she’d finally done just that.

“Here,” Theo muttered, feeling self conscious about the wrapping job when he realized the gift she’d given him looked far better.

They stood opposite one another for a couple seconds, neither saying anything. “…Uhm…” he began, unsure. “Am… am I allowed to open it now?”

“If you want,” she replied, glancing away for a second, as though she was worried what he might think of the gift. “It’s… not much…” she began in a low voice, as he tore the wrapping paper off and opened the box. “I wasn’t… really… sure what to get you…”

Inside was a picture frame. It was simple, the edges a deep blue, with a white trim inside the frame. The photo was of the two of them — the selfie he’d taken at the amusement park back in September. Both of them were smiling, and he could clearly remember how he’d felt while taking the picture. “I love it,” he told her after taking a moment to stare at the gift.

He wasn’t lying, either. Theo did truly loved the gift. Sure, it was simple, but it also told him a lot about how she felt, and that was priceless.

“You can open yours,” he told her, seeing that she was still holding the sad excuse of a wrapping job in her hands.

Genevieve took her time opening her gift, which only caused Theo to grow more nervous. “I wasn’t sure what to get you, either,” he explained as she opened the box to reveal what was inside.

She moved the tissue paper to show a glass figurine of a dragonfly perched on a delicate pink flower. The colours in the glass were soft pastels, and gave it a dream like quality. It wasn’t very big, maybe ten centimeters tall, and fit in the palm of her hand. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered after a moment, making Theo’s heart race at the awe in her voice.

“Dragonflies are suppose to symbolize, uhm, adaptability, and transformation… and—” He was cut off when Genevieve’s lips were suddenly pressed against his. Startled, he barely had time to register what was happening before she pulled away. As their lips parted, Theo leaned into them again, extending the moment.

He could hear his mother in the other room. She had to be spying on them, because it sounded like she was eagerly smacking Andy’s arm, as if she couldn’t contain her excitement. The thought of his mother watching was what made him end the kiss. If he could yell at the woman for being nosey, without embarrassing Genevieve, he would have done just that. *Seriously, Mom, could you at least be quiet when you’re being nosey?*