White Doves; Her Voice.

Odette informed me earlier that her sister is arriving today from France and will be staying for about five days. The plans were short notice and the flight was only arranged in the early hours of the morning - but nevertheless it's clear to me that Odette is extremely excited. She hasn't stopped smiling since the ticket was booked.

According to Odette, Evelyn's plane should be arriving within the hour. I decided to take her out for breakfast this morning considering the mood she was in, it made me happy knowing that I could make her smile like that; the act of surprise also sweeped her off her feet - I didn't tell her I was taking her to breakfast, my hand just took hers and we left.

We walked the short distance to a hidden smoothie shop close to our apartment, we stumbled upon it a few days ago when we went out for a 'stroll' - as she called it - and immediately went in, completely surprised that we'd never heard of it before. It was amazing to say the least; we just laughed and signed in our own little world, the atmosphere was peaceful, and I have Odette to thank for that - without her I wouldn't really know the meaning of peace. She's like my very own white dove.

I ordered for her, predicting what she was going to pick after merely glancing at the choice on the menu, she loves anything berry flavoured and they just so happened to serve a 'mixed berries smoothie', of course she was going to pick that! There was not a shred of doubt in my mind - I was right considering the beautiful smile that erupted on her face after I'd spoke, she had barely raised her hands up to order before I stopped her and spoke her mind, I was her voice. I love that I was her voice.

I ordered a vanilla muffin soon after with freshly made buttercream and multicoloured sprinkles for the two of us to share - Odette had had her eye on it the entire time we were there so I bought it sneakily whilst she waited outside for me, taking pictures of the scenery. It's sweet that she wanted to bring her camera along to the airport to capture her sisters first steps into the country, it's a special moment for her, definitely.

Evelyn hasn't really been out of France according to my beautiful neighbour, I know Odette doesn't really talk much about her life back in France - or about her life at all for that matter - but my senses tell me that they aren't the richest of people and aren't as fortunate as some of the posh snobs that we pass by daily. That's the thing I like about this small village, everyone is so humble and kind and grateful for everything that they have, although if you go into town they stick their nose up at you and treat you like you're some sort of village scum.

I'd rather live somewhere quaint and homely anyway, I'd rather know my neighbours instead of receiving a breathless and forced grumble during a passing in the building hallway. No thank you. I'd take chirpy and refreshing encounter any day, over a miserable sod like grumpy Dave, the previous tenant of 3b. I like to think I'm somewhat of an improvement from that, actually no, I'm a definite improvement.

Odette's index finger breaks me from my thoughts of the morning, as she signals over to a free space in the airports car park. Her excitement is uncontrollable, palpable even; her small body bouncing lightly in my passenger seat and a glorious smile gleaming across her face - in that moment I make it my life mission to make her smile like that. She looks truly beautiful, although, I seem to be saying that rather frequently lately because she always looks beautiful.

Her seatbelt is off within seconds and she's already rushing around the car to my side as I get out, her hand clasping mine tightly as I lock the vehicle, and begins dragging me childishly towards the entrance of the terminal. Despite all the excitement that she must be feeling I know Odette is also really nervous; nervous of what her sister will think of the life she's made here, the people she's met, her work and most of all, me. Over the time that I've known her I have made a large impact on Odette's life, I've become someone she can talk to frequently and spend time with if she needs to - and she's made an impact on my life, she's become the centre of it; my world seems to revolve around her every mood or thought. I crave her mind, and her beauty and words.

'She should be here any second.' Odette's hands fluster furiously to create a sentence as her topaz eyes scan the scene in front of her. A sea of rushing people, not all necessarily passengers either, some are family members or staff. I scan mindlessly also, only realising after a few minutes of searching that I don't actually know what Evelyn looks like so my attempt at helping is completely pointless.

My heart begins to thump and I take a second to stop and think why. My green eyes searching for my French beauty but panic strikes as I notice the loss of warmth from my palm. She's gone, I've lost her in this sea of people - although my subconscious laughs mockingly, at least you know who you're looking for now.

True to my own words I become stiff, and use my towering height to gain an advantage, glancing across the heads of strangers and finding Odette's beautifully crafted hairdo about thirteen feet away from me. I walk over and see that large smile I've grown to love, her eyes sparkling as she glances down at her sister - I presume. "Odette! Tu être magnifique!" Her words becoming drivel in my ears as I fail to understand their language, my high school French not really coming into much use here.

I furrow my eyebrows and watch Odette sign in a way I've never seen before - her fingers creating different patterns and her hands replicating different shapes as she signs. I don't understand, I thought I was starting to get good at this stuff. What's happening?

"Hello Harry." Now that I understand.

Evelyn is glancing up at me with a wide smile on her face and familiar bright blue eyes. "It's lovely to meet you Evelyn, Odette has told me so much about you." It's not necessarily a lie, but it's not exactly the truth - she's told me little stories of when Evelyn was born and how she used to take care of her, but not anything to the depth I'd like.

"And I've heard so much about you. From Odette's letters, she's been sending them every week since she met you." Evelyn smiles cheekily as Odette blushes, clearly having just read her sisters lips. I chuckle and wrap my arm around Odette's waist, her figure moulding to me as if it were clay being crafted into a beautiful vase.

"That's nice to know." Refraining from embarrassing Odette further, I place a light kiss to her temple, smelling the lavish scent of her citrus shampoo. I wish I could just lie with her all day on the couch and talk about travelling, and just spend my entire day learning about her. I want to reveal every secret she has, I want her trust and to know that she can come to me at any time with any problem.

"Vous êtes si mignon, comment adorable!" Her sister squeals, my reaction hopefully being the reason she calms down only seconds later.

'I'll take your things and we'll get in the car. I have so much to show you!' Odette signs happily at my side and before she can object I steal Evelyn's bag briskly from her grasp.

"I'll take Evelyn's things. That's my job, 'thing taker' and 'car driver' were my two jobs today. You can lead us to the car baby."

Evelyn practically melts at my pet name for her sister and bites her lip to hide the ongoing grin she is displaying. With a quaint nod, Odette accepts and walks beside her sister, the two linking arms and using the signing that I don't understand. As I walk behind them I realise how truly wonderful it must be for Odette, to have someone she has grown up with and feels totally herself around, someone that she can trust and rely on.

Just by watching the way the two interact reminds me of me and my sister Gemma, of how we used to laugh and talk as if we were the only two people in the world; I know that I can talk to her about anything and she won't judge me - whereas things were different for Odette, her sister was too young to understand why she didn't speak to her or why she couldn't hear her; she was alone until Evelyn was old enough to fully understand, and the thought of Odette being alone breaks my heart, she's too beautiful and perfect to spend any of her life in solitude. Every time I look at her I am reminded of just how lucky I am to have spotted her in that hallway.

•••

Odette basically signed everything on the way home; pointing out what buildings were what, in which direction she worked, and I'm pretty sure at one point she even told Evelyn what type of tree we had passed. After hauling Evelyn's bags up three flights of stairs and into Odette's apartment I went straight to the kitchen for food, I left my stash of opal fruits in her cupboard two nights ago and I'm thankful that they're still here - I know what Odette's like when it comes to fruit flavoured goodies.

"Harry," I notice Evelyn's strong accent for the first time since she's arrived, I mustn't have been paying close enough attention, I'll blame it on the rush of the moment.

"Hey Evelyn, you okay?" My concern laces through my voice expectantly, her tone seems urgent, as if something has happened.

"Yes, perfectly fine." Phew, I'm relieved. "Can I talk to you?"

For a ten year old her question puts me on edge slightly, what would she want to talk to me about? "Yeah, of course. What's up?" I turn and lean my lower back against the kitchen counter, awaiting her reply and intrigued already.

"I don't think you realise how grateful my mother and I are." Her words warm my heart whilst she continues, "my sister struggles with sharing who she is, but not with you. You've brought this beautiful side of confidence to Odette that she's hidden away for so long." She takes out a small envelope from her pocket and hands it to me, her fingers small and dainty, similar to her petite figure. "It's for you."

"Thank you." I take the small envelope and welcome her sudden embrace, picking her up after hearing a small sniffle - realising seconds later that she's crying out of happiness, and not out of sadness as I had feared.

'Is everything okay?' Odette signs, her facial features a caring expression of worry as she watches our small embrace.

I smile at my own bout of confidence and attempt the unthinkable, signing with one hand is a lot harder than it looks! 'You mean so much to me' I sign to her in return, making sure that Odette knows how truly valued and special she really is.

"They're tears of joy Odette." Evelyn wipes her eyes once I've placed her gently to the floor. "I'm so proud of you, you look so happy." The two sisters share a meaningful glance, speaking without words or hand movements, but pure familial love.

My heart leaps as two beautiful ocean blue eyes flicker over to me and she smiles deeply with meaning, a flutter coursing through my veins as the rooms intensity heightens, she almost floats over to me - so heavenly that she could be flying for all I know, her arms wraps tightly around my waist and her gaze never falters from mine. Not once.

The rest of the night is spent with takeout food and embarrassing stories from the past. Albeit I had to share a few of my own to get some rather embarrassing ones about Odette - that's another thing I really love about Evelyn and Odette's relationship, something I've noticed whilst spending time with them both together, Evelyn always knows where the boundaries are and when not to go to far, she always respects Odette no matter what, and if her sister says 'stop' then she stops, as simple as that. No questions asked.

Compared to me Odette doesn't really have many embarrassing moments, and I suppose I'm not that surprised; she had to face something extraordinary at such a young age, she had to grow up so quickly and mature to be able to understand the situation she was faced with. It baffles me how strong she is, both mentally and emotionally, she deserves a lot more credit than she gives herself.

"And there was that one time a few years ago when you were dancing and fell over. Straight onto her bum, it was hilarious!" Evelyn giggles softly, her childish laughter resonating around Odette's pristine living room. The television blares lightly, flickers from the moving pictures as well as a low rumble from the sound; scenes only being interrupted by the permanent subtitles. "Oh this is my favourite film!" Evelyn squeals and faces the screen, her blue eyes a bright crystal colour, just like her sister, staring intently at her favourite film.

My body warms suddenly as I feel Odette rest gently into my side, her touch almost feather like and unnoticeable - topaz eyes stare up at me from my chest and she offers me a genuine smile. She looks so comfortable, and not just from lying on me, but by her surroundings. So different from the first time we met, she was immensely shy and almost scared of certain things like she didn't want to take the risk... Like I was the risk.

'I'm lucky to have you Harry,' pink lips mime from below and a small rose tint flushes her beautiful cheeks. I know she's embarrassed, she always seems embarrassed at something - but I know her reason this time is because of the ten year old sweetheart sat on the floor in front of the tv, 'thank you for being so kind and welcoming with Evelyn. I'm glad she feels comfortable around you.'

'It's my pleasure.' I sign back, partly knowing that Odette wanted to have a somewhat private conversation with me, as weird as that sounds.

'You've done so much for me,' I can tell this conversation is going to get a little bit depressing if I don't change the topic - I'd hate to see Odette cry; ever since I've met her she's always been so strong and self assured, like she knows who she is. I can't handle seeing her upset about anything, and if I can help take her mind of it, then I will.

Gently and as meaningfully as I can, my lips place a soft kiss to hers - smiling internally as she makes the effort to crane her neck and reach up to me, showing that she wants this kiss just as much as I do. Her delicate hand rests on the side of my face and she takes a deep breath, holding me tighter. Soft snores break our loving embrace and we turn to see Evelyn lying across the floor in front of the tv fast asleep.

"I'll take her to bed." Odette's eyes travel up to my lips after feeling my chest vibrate. Evelyn is so light and petite as I carry her, she looks so much like her sister it's unbelievable; same eyes, same hair, same nose. I make my way back to Odette's bedroom after putting Evelyn in the spare room, grabbing my things on the way. "I'm going now, see you tomorrow." I gently lay a kiss upon her irresistible lips and turn back to the front door, however her hand pauses my movement.

'Don't go, please.' Her plea concerns me. Why wouldn't she want me to leave, I mean it's not like I'm not going to see her; nothing in this world could stop me from seeing her, but we've spent nights apart before, why is now any different. My expression seems to ask my minds questions and thankfully she answers my silent prodding. 'I want you to lie with me. Hole me.'

"Hole you? What?"

She rolls her eyes at my confusion and that's when I'm one hundred percent sure I've misinterpreted, but nevertheless I still wait for her to explain. 'H-O-L-D' she spells out slowly so my small mind can comprehend.

"Oh, hold! You want me to hold you!" My answer is more of a statement than a question, and as always, she blushes. So beautiful. "I'll hold you like you've never been held before baby." I pout with an attempted smoulder. My best sexy expression not working on her as she laughs, "you think my sexy face is funny do you? Well, we'll have to see about that!" My long fingers wriggle at her sides and she laughs silently, although hysterically, small tears of joy falling from her eyes before they are wiped away by a kiss from my content lips.

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Hi, hope you're all okay! Tell me what you think. Do you like Evelyn?

- Pianogirl56

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