C.N. - chapter 69

It looked like Wolfgang wasn't going to give in, but neither was Theo.
Theo slapped Wolfgang on the cheek. The force of her palm jerked his entire face back towards her. Moments ago Wolfgang had turned his face away from Theo, and now they were facing each other again, Wolfgang's left cheek rosy from Theo's hand.
'Why did you slap me?!' Wolfgang said angrily.
'You deserved it.' Theo said harshly, grabbing Wolfgang by the collar, 'Are you so nearsighted you can't see beyond anything but what you think? You don't know what your mother went through to get you back, and now you push her away like what she did meant nothing?'
'And what do you know about her that I don't!' Wolfgang yelled back. His voice was hoarse. 'You've only know her for less than twenty-four hours, Theo! How can you say that to me when you, like me, KNOW NOTHING!'
Dennis, Heathcliff and I flinched in unison. The sound of Wolfgang's voice echoed throughout the flyasaurus; stealth mode was on, and by the looks of it everyone was listening.
'Are you saying this just to hurt your mother, or do you really believe what you say?' Theo said fiercely. Her grip on Wolfgang's collar tightened.
'I don't care I hurt her, and you don't know anything about Laura, why are you defending her? ANSWER ME!' Wolfgang shouted back.
Laura and Mr. Kent were about to say something together, but stopped. Theo had let go of Wolfgang.
Theo was suddenly dead calm. She spoke what she said next in a plain voice, and just then I realized that Theo was a very mature person, that was all there is to it. 'I might not know much more about Laura than you, but I know something about you I've picked up during the time you were, quote-unquote, holding me captive.'
'I was holding you captive.' Wolfgang said with indignation.
'You weren't, I know this because I knew you weren't going to hurt me when you, quote-unquote, kidnapped me-'
'I did kidnap you, and I had come up with the devious plot to take you all by myself.' Wolfgang cut in, with indignation and also a bit of his slyness which I hadn't heard since Mr. Dragon/Clark Gable shot him.
'Let me continue, Wolfgang,' Theo said, enveloping Wolfgang further into her coolness, 'In that warehouse where your ex-henchmen took me, when we had that chat where you asked me to marry you, which by the way I still regard as a preposterous proposal, I knew you had not intention of hurting me, or anyone for that matter.'
'It wasn't a proposal, you were going to marry me, whether you liked it or not.' Wolfgang said.
'Stop telling me what you were going to do and just listen, I knew you wouldn't hurt anyone because you were never like that. You weren't like that when we were children and you aren't like that now. That's not something you change out of.'
'What are you saying?' Said Wolfgang. The mark Theo left on Wolfgang's cheek was fading. It seemed Theo took care not to give him a that'll-leave-a-mark slap. (My sister educated me on the different slaps the hand can administer, she was a expert at slaps from her experience dealing with rural highschool boyfriends, who she thinks are all immature and needed some slapping around once in a while.)
'You took me hostage so you could propose to me. Yes, I was appalled above all else, but also a bit flattered.'
'Aww, I knew I should have done that! If only I knew that's what impresses you, Theo.' Heathcliff wailed.
'That's sweet of you, Heathcliff, but like I said many times before, I still intend to preserve my status of being single.' Theo turned to Heathcliff for a moment and said. She turned back to Wolfgang, 'Wolfgang, someone who doesn't care about hurting other people wouldn't quote-unquote kidnap me, propose to me while pretending to act ridiculously sly and calling it true love, and then take a bullet for me to prove it to me.'
'Aww, I knew I should have taken the bullet for you!' Heathcliff burried his face in his hands. Dennis put a hand on Heathcliff's shoulder to comfort him.
Theo continued, and everyone quieted down. 'When the Dragon fired his gun, the bullet was for me, you jumped in front of me and saved my life. You cared about me to the point you would get hurt if it meant I won't, and you say you don't care about hurting your own mother?'
Wolfgang didn't say anything. His eyes were wide with surprise and realization.
'You wouldn't hurt anyone, Wolfgang. You only responded to Laura the way you did because the Dragon forced you to be someone you clearly aren't.'
Wolfgang paused to let the words sink in, and then he burst into tears.
Laura went to Wolfgang and embraced him. Wolfgang leaned into her and embraced back.
'Aww.' John (who turned the flyasaurus on auto-pilot to watch Theo talk Wolfgang to himself), Michael, Eric, Graham, Terry and Terry, Dennis, me, and even Heathcliff enunciated in unison.
Laura looked up from her embrace and smiled at Theo. Theo smiled back.
Wolfgang sniffed, wiped his cheeks, and said, 'Well, this is embarrassing.'
'No, this is my son.' Laura replied. They saw eye-to-eye.
It was a touching moment, and it lasted for a long time. When Wolfgang finally loosened his grip on Laura (because the wound on his chest was throbbing again), he still looked slightly sullen, and just at that moment something came to me which I thought could cheer him up even more.
I asked Wolfgang, 'Say Wolfgang, have you ever seen Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, Director's Cut?'
'You've seen it? Gosh, I was looking everywhere for a copy of the director's cut!' Dennis exclaimed. 'All the video stores near our place only stock the crappy theatrical version, director's cut, wow!'
'What about it?' Theo asked. Everyone looked very curious.
I took a mental note to let Dennis borrow my copy of Kingdom of Heaven, Director's Cut later. Right then, I had some explaining to do.

Now with summer starting...

We can now actually write more often! Yay!
I've updated the latest Theo chapter with some more content, as I felt it was a little too short (as well, what I had written was too short in itself to be a stand-alone). Hopefully, we'll have more time to write these next few months, though no promises on my side (as I'm volunteering and vacationing for a few weeks).
Happy reading!