Chapter 7

When I stepped inside I decided to take a nap. It had been a long day and it seemed like the right thing to be doing. I slept on the soft leather couch next to the door. Luckily, no one was home so I had the whole place to myself to relax. Soon the darkness of sleep overcame me and a dream soon filled my vision.

                In this dream I was hanging from a building side from the top of the roof. My fingers were clawing at the ledge in front of me trying to hold on. A dark shadowy figure stood above me I didn’t recognize who it was. They stood with their foot up on the ledge I was trying to keep myself up with. In front of me, lying in a pool of blood was Phoenix. Tears filled his eyes and bubbled over the rim. His long pale arm was reaching for me as if he was trying to help me but couldn’t. For some reason he wasn’t the Hero I was looking for. Somewhere in the back of my mind I needed to be looking for someone else.

The shadow figure above me stepped in front of me taking my gaze off Phoenix and the whole situation. The darkness seemed to surround my whole entire body as he got closer. A swift kick to my head loosened my grip on the building causing me to let go of the only thing holding me up. I fell fast, Phoenix screamed, and my eyes shut.  

                A rippling pain ruptured through my body as something hit my side. I awoke just as my forehead slammed onto the glass coffee table. I toppled over onto the hardwood underneath the couch. Jerry stood above me his beard had been shaven and he wore a blue polo shirt. He must’ve had to gone to work or something. With his slimy voice he hissed at me: “You’re in my spot.” His body towered over me as he stood waiting for me to leave. He laid on the couch his gut bulging out underneath his blue polo. “People are coming over.” He spit tobacco or sunflower seeds into a cup I didn’t really take notice of what he was chewing. His words were my key to leave.

I went to the kitchen looking for something to eat or drink. The time on the oven flashed 8:30 in bright green lights. Today was Tuesday so my mother would be home in a half hour, she had to work late on Tuesdays. My forehead throbbed where it had hit the coffee table a few minutes before. I could already feel the wound swelling up on my forehead. I filled a bag of ice and took a chilled beer out of the fridge. Jerry didn’t even notice as I walked up to the small flight of stairs to my room. My bed formed around me as I lay there silently. It filled in all the creases of my body and took all the strain off of my back and shoulders. A large goose egg had begun to form on my forehead I placed the ice bag on top of the large mound. The ice cooled me down from my anger and helped with the swelling.

                My fingers popped open the beer. It fizzed up around the rim. It calmed my nerves and dulled my head pain. I shut my eyes only for a moment but ended up dozing off again.

                Loud music, yelling, and the stench of drugs and alcohol woke me up. I sighed and rolled off the bed. I finally slipped my shoes off next to the bed. The apartment was hot in the summertime�"everything was hot in the summer time. Last summer I had worked and saved all my money to buy an air conditioner. It lasted a month in my house before my mom sold it for drug money. So now all I had was an open window. Sweat beaded above my brow as the humid heat poured down on my body. The night air was a little cooler so with a loud creak I swung my windows open.

I looked to my life in the mirror that was leaning in the corner of my wall. I examined myself in the reflection carefully. Despite the ice I had managed to receive a good sized bruised mound on my noggin. I poked at the wound painfully. “Great,” I sighed to myself.    

                I leapt back onto my bed and chugged the beer which was now warm. When the calming liquid was finished I figured sleep would again be the best thing for me. Thoughts of my father filled my head so I flicked off my lamp and laid in the dark. Two bright silver eyes appeared at the edge of my bed. My body leapt in fear which in turn caused me to bash my head on the headboard above me.

                I groaned and flicked my light on. My hand went to the top of my head where it had hit the hard wood behind me. My eyes adjusted to the light and I saw Phoenix standing at the end of my bed. His white T-shirt was covered in blood. I rolled onto my knees and was at the end of my bed in a flash. “You’re bleeding!” I exclaimed in panic.

Phoenix smiled and looked down at my worried face. “I was. I’m not anymore.”

                Oh yeah�"Super Hero�"I forgot. His long brown hair was a mess sitting on top of his head and he looked more exhausted than I’d ever seen him ever. My body leaned onto the base board of my bed and I looked at the blood staining his shirt.

                My gaze shifted down how whole body. Phoenix’s sneakers were untied and his pants were torn to bits. “Are you okay?” I asked looking over the rest of him. The story behind this couldn’t have been an enjoyable one. He never answered. His legs crawled over the base board like it was nothing. I scooted my whole body back with the use of my legs as he got closer and closer. My back finally hit the headboard at the top of my bed and I swallowed a lump of fear and anxiety deep into my chest. I felt a cool breath of air fill in through my lungs. I exhaled loudly letting it back out again. He crawled over my body and put our faces close together. The air leaving my lungs stopped and I pushed my lips tightly together. His body hovered over mine with the strength of his arm. His right hand rested calmly on my chest. Our hips pressed together as he found support on top of my body. My breathing completely stopped and my muscles trembled beneath my skin. Slowly, as if he was trying to not to surprise me, his hand moved from my chest up to my neck. His fingertips rubbed gently against my skin as he moved the appendage. The hand continued up to the side of my face where it stayed. I could feel the heat radiating off of his hands into my cold skin. The silver eyes connected to his face never left mine which were shocked and frozen where they were.

When his eyes finally moved he closed the lid over them and brought my trembling face close to his. His lips came closer but missed my lips. Instead they went to the large mound on my forehead. It warmed and the pain soothed quickly. I was trying to gasp for air but only little bursts were coming in through my shock. Eventually, His head pulled away and a goofy school boy smile crossed his face. Sparks flew though my torso. His index finger tapped the tip of my nose as if he did this all as a joke. A chuckle escaped his mouth and he lightly rolled over to my side on the bed.

“Nice Room.”  He whispered as he started to close his eyes. His hands rested on top of his bloody chest and his breathing started to slow. My eyes just stared in amazement. What was he doing here? How’d he get in my room? Black bags hung deep under his eyes. His neck turned slightly and he looked at me through small slits in his heavy eye lids.

                “What happened to you?” I pointed to his shirt with my index finger that was still trembling.      

                He looked down at the dried blood on his shirt and then smiled: “let me show you.” The shirt pulled up over his head and was thrown on the ground in my room. My lips again pursed together and my jaw clenched. I didn’t know what to think. Phoenix Oreson was shirtless in my room.

As my mind returned to what he was showing me, I gasped, about five bright red holes were splattered across his chest. Phoenix’s finger traced the rims of one of the holes as if it was amusing him. I felt a lump rise inside my throat as I looked at the wounds: “I got shot saving Zane and Tex (the twins). They both got blocked into an alley and luckily for them I was there.” He laughed at a joke that I didn’t seem to think was funny. He’d gotten shot and he was laughing about it.

                I stared at his perfectly toned chest and the deep wounds protruding the perfect skin. As I stared I began to notice, Right before my eyes the red was slowly turning to pink as if the shots began to heal themselves before my eyes. Phoenix grabbed my hand: “touch them�"before they’re gone.” His body turned toward me so it was easier for me to his Pecs and he pulled my hand to his hard chest. My fingertips ran around the pink rim of one of the gunshot wounds like they were a crystal wine glass. The hole began to fill in under my fingertips. “Does it hurt?” I’d finally found the air inside my burning chest to ask him a question.

My hand flattened on his chest and, his hand stayed on top of mine. “It used to,” he smiled and curled his fingers around mine, “but I’m getting used to it. Pistols hardly hurt me anymore where shotguns can still bring me to my knees. It also depends on distance. Tonight the gun was really close, I could feel the barrel on my chest, so it was a little painful.”

                “That’s not normal, Phoenix.” I stated quite clearly.

                His eyes snapped to mine and his hand uncurled from mine. He returned it to the side of his body on the bed. “I’m not normal,” He laughed trying to lighten the mood that I continued to bring down. His hand sat back on top of mine and curled around my palm this time.

                Under his hand my fingers rubbed his soft skin. Slowly, He pulled his hand away and watched as my eyes washed over him. I’d never actually seen him up close. He and I had a PE class in ninth grade. He took his shirt off a few times, but I was never allowed to touch it.  His mouth spread into a smile exposing his perfect smile. “Go ahead,” he laughed “it’s part of the package.”

                I slightly pulled my hand off of his chest, “what package did I order exactly?”

He rolled onto his back and relaxed his arms behind his head. That’s when I realized the package was Phoenix. He was giving himself to me. Phoenix Oreson wanted me to touch his chest. I caved in.

 This time I rolled over onto my side. His whole torso was perfectly toned. I’m sure his family had a daily workout routine. Or maybe it came with the whole Superhero thing. Every tiny muscle was perfectly sculpted like a personal trainer would be. My fingers glided over his rock hard abs, they warmed my fingertips as they slid over his silky skin. The short hair on his chest stood up as my cold fingers ran over the small follicles. When I looked up at him his eyes were closed. His breathing was slowing and deepening. I pulled my hand off in hopes not to wake him. He breathed in and turned his head to me. With one swift movement his arm slid under me and pulled me onto his chest. My left arm wrapped around his warm chest. I rested my head on his shoulder. Right in that moment I knew where I was, was the most perfect place. Before I knew it we were both found in a deep sleep. I didn’t dream about anything that night instead I just slept peacefully.

When I woke up from the morning light pouring through my window; Phoenix’s fingers were running lightly through my hair. My head slightly lifted up and looked at his perfect face that was turned down towards me. His eyes opened as he felt my movement on top of his chest. “Good morning,” he whispered quiet enough that I could hardly hear. A smile unavoidably crossed my face.

                My eyes caught a glimpse at my clock and I panicked. I pushed my body up from Phoenix’s. “It’s eight o’ clock. Jo will be here in 20 minutes.” I panicked and ran to my closet. I had a phobia of being late. I had never been late for a day of school in my whole entire life. We always arrived at least twenty minutes early every single day. Today I still had to shower, dress, and do my hair. There would be no way I’d make all of that done

                “I can take you.” Phoenix appeared right behind me as he spoke his sentence.

                I spun around to look up at his calm face “she’ll suspect something, “I returned to the closet “along with everyone else.” I rummaged looking for anything to pull on over my body.

                Phoenix laughed “Calm down.”

                “I can’t.” I snapped and continued to rummage throughout the closet. I had to have something that would help me look as if I at least tried today.

                “Come here.” He was still laughing at my panic at the situation.

He had me under his spell, so I did what he asked. I spun on my heels and walked over to him. “What?” I whined annoyed at the slow pace he wanted me to follow.

                Phoenix walked to my clock. The numbers stopped dead in their tracks. Not a second blinked on the dead clock: “There you go, now come here.” Phoenix opened up his arms waiting for me to grab onto him.

                Slowly I walked over to him. We stood inches apart and just stared at each other. His large hands grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into him tightly. My arms wrapped around his warm torso and I flattened my palms on his muscular back. My head curled into his chest and I sunk my body into his. His hand cupped under my chin and tilted my head up to his. I watched his face like a hawk. “Last night was great.” I smiled in agreement. It was probably the strangest thing that has ever happened to me. Another man had slept in my bed. I was scared and at the same time felt so safe. So many different emotions were running through me at this exact moment. What am I? was the biggest one of all. Inside I knew that feelings were evolving for Phoenix. If I didn’t have these feelings he would not have been able to stay all night last night. Inside I was jumped and mixed. Phoenix’s eyes dug deeper into mine and he spoke an obvious sentence: “Collin, I know you’re confused�"I can see it.”

                My mouth opened to disagree, I didn’t want him to know, but one of his fingers covered my mouth. “I’m sorry that I caused some of that confusion.” My hand spread on his lower back and I carefully pulled my hips closer into his. A true smile crossed his face and for once he didn’t look completely exhausted. “But I want you know that you are something special to me, I know it’s sudden and rash, but you should know that you mean a lot to me. You have meant a lot for a long time.”

                Phoenix smiled and I could see his mind shift back into memory mode. The next sentence he spoke wasn’t meant for me�"or at least it seemed that way. “The first time you stepped into Mr. Marley’s class. You wore that Super Hero T-shirt.”

                I snorted, “Yeah and you made fun of me for months after that. You told the whole school I was trying to be like you.”

                Phoenix beamed and his silver eyes pulled into mine, “well weren’t you?” My hands shoved into his Pecs and we both laughed. Carefully he cradled me against his bare chest and held me there as we laughed. His thumbs stroked the back of my arms softly, sending chills up and down my arms. I tightly wrapped my arms around his torso and nestled my head in the center of his chest. We sat there silently for a few minutes, just he and I cradling each other’s bodies carefully as if they would break. He took a deep breath and pressed his lips into the top of my forehead. The moist lips stayed there for a moment before floating away. His hand went to the back of my head and tangled in my hair.

                Slowly I lifted my face and our lips met like they did a day ago on the lone beach. Phoenix’s eyes shut tightly and I mimicked the movement. When he pulled away he kept our faced close so that I could still feel his breath on top of my lips, the fresh wind grazing each skin cell across my wet lips. He gave the two flabs of skin one last peck then pulled my head back into his chest. Lightly his chin rested in the center of my skull.  

                My cheeks flushed pink and a goofy smile crossed my face deep within my skin cave. The nervousness again rose inside my chest and I felt giddy inside. My hands were trembling behind his back. So that was my answer for now. It didn’t matter how confused I was on anything in that exact moment I knew exactly what I was feeling I was�"slowly but surely�"falling for Phoenix Oreson. 

Author's Note

If you're reading this.. I hope you're enjoying it. :D