Lost, But Not Without Cause

A story of a man with a sad, dark past.

Chapter One

     They both layed there in the dark hotel room, silent. He occupied one of the beds, her the other. It was sort of an akward situation, to be honest.
     It was the school's annual trip, and they had both been dragged along as chaperones. Here they were, halfway across the country now, in some hotel room, with another parent they barely knew. Both of them, single parents, they had been forced by their children to come along.
     She spoke up first, to his surprise. "Would it be alright if I slept with you? I really hate sleeping alone if I don't have to" she said, with a bit of nervous remorse in her voice.
     "You know we're not supposed to be fraternizing on a school trip" he replied, with a chuckle in his.
     "I didn't say 'Let's F**k,' I asked if I could lay with you." He lay there silent for a moment, knowing that they both had the same thought on their minds, but that he had made it painfully obvious.
     "Sure. Why not?" She slowly got out of her bed and slid under the covers next to him. Him and her both just looked at the ceiling, each too nervous to glance at the other. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he mustered the courage to speak again.
     "What would your husband say?"
     "Nothing. He'd be too f****n drunk to get words out. That's why we're divorced."
     "Oh... I'm sorry."
     "What about your wife?
     "She left right after my daughter was born."
     "I'm sorry... Well. Aren't we a couple of winners?" The sarcasm in her voice offered a bit of humour that lightened both of their spirits. Besides both being dragged along for some trip, now they had something else in common. And that made things that much easier for them both.
     Single parents as they both were, they seldom had someone that they could relate to, and in the most unlikely of events, here it was. A friend, someone to confide in, and release pent emotions to. He heard the sad (yet not so uncommon in the south) tale of how her husband had lost his job and luster for life, and had become another abusive drunk. The all-too-familiar story, screaming and beating included. She finally got smart when her son was old enough to start repeating things her husband said. When he even knew how bad things were, she knew it was time to get out. She packed her things and left, following it up with a divorce. She hadn't seen him since, and didn't regret it.
     It felt good to get it off her chest. That feeling of catharsis is always so wonderful. To be able to finally let go, and know that there is someone else who understands how you feel, someone who can sympathize.
     However, his story proved to be a bit more heartwrenching than hers. His story, was a bit more atypical, a little darker.

Chapter 2
    From the very start, theirs had been a tale of true love. In high school, his best friend had dated her, and used her. He never understood how the guy had done it, taken such a sweet, loving girl, used her like a w***e, and then tossed her to the side. After he witnessed it all, he started talking to her. He learned a lot about her that most others never did. She was older than them both, actually a college student, while they were both still in high school. Their relationship had left her sort of fragile, afraid to put faith back into loving another, in fear of being used once again, as she had all her life. All the time, he was there for her, someone to talk to, and she came to love that about him.
    Over a few months, they grew close and talked constantly, telling each other things they both thought they'd never tell another soul. They started hanging out, going to parties together, and socializing instead of just talking. It was a nice change of pace.
    The night they got closer was interesting one, to say the least. A friend of his was courting her younger sister, and they were having a little party at her apartment. All had been drinking, but the younger sister had definitely found their limit, and the night eventually rounded to an end. The young couple went off to her bedroom to retire for the night, and our couple decided to sleep in the living room. They folded out the futon and got comfortable, talking into the night.
    The conversation turned to them, and how close they’d gotten. “I’m really glad we talk like this. You’re always there for me…”
    “Of course. I case about you. Why wouldn’t I?” After a moment of silence, she asked “Why do you? Why me? What makes me special?” He thought a moment, but he decided to just be honest, and say exactly what was on his mind. “Because… Because I love being around you, and talking to you. Because, I love you…”
    There was a silence, and he almost regretted saying it. Maybe he’d said too much, maybe he should apologize. So many thoughts ran through his mind, he almost didn’t notice when she rolled over to face him. She glanced into his eyes and kissed him. It was one of the most passionate kisses that he’d ever have in his life, one that he could never forget.

Author's Note

Luckily, I had this one saved while I was still working on it, so here are the first two chapters, with hopeful promise of more on the way.

Reviews

[October]

This is really good.
Like, I'm not just saying that. It's great.

I got a little confused about the second chapter, though.
Were you going back to the past? When they were in high school?

But yeah, great write. I can't wait to read more.

[mrowepat]

Great write Captain!!! If you decide to expand this a bit more, let me know. This left me wanting to know more, especially about "him" and what happened, and what will happen. This feels like the start of a novel!!!