sunshine_173 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sunshine_173) wrote2011-11-28 10:52 pm
sunshine_173) wrote2011-11-28 10:52 pm
Entry tags:
Adequacy of Addiction: Chapter 2
author: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sunshine_173
rating: R
pairing: BellDom
summary: Explores the darker side of a relationship; What it means to be truly addicted to someone.
feedback: I wants it, my precious.
disclaimer: I think if I owned Muse, you would know about it. They're a bit famous so I doubt it'd be something easily hidden.
warning: Cursing. Implications of sex.
note: Danke to my beautiful betalalalive23. This chapter is long overdue but c'est la vie. Hope you enjoy!
Preface Chapter 1 Interlude i
The combined scent of nearby cherry blossoms and a homeless man’s piss-covered self rammed into me with a force equivalent to hurricane winds as I stepped out of the apartment building I lived in and into the sharp evening air. The breeze ruffled my hair, still partially damp from the shower I had just gotten out of, as I zipped my jacket up higher and began to walk in the direction of the club Elise said she’d be at. It was cold, chills running up my spin with every gust of wind, for an early-March night, though I couldn’t complain; Temperatures at night in England were much colder than here.
The thought of my home country caused me to frown, my eyebrows scrunching together as I sighed. I squinted my eyes against the chill, the bitter breeze cutting into my skin. I bowed my head, tucking my chin into my chest, barreling on despite my sudden, intense desire to turn around and pretend sick. I wondered momentarily why I had even decided to leave London, to spontaneously rush to the airport with what few belongings I could shove into an overnight bag in ten minutes and get on the first flight that left, regardless of where it headed. Several hours later, I stepped out of the plane and set foot on American soil for the first time in my life.
During the flight, I had wondered if I was being irrational. I had no plan, no reason for leaving, and no idea what I was doing. I was a year out of university and I had a world of opportunities at my fingertips, yet the very second I took my first breath in foreign territory, I decided to stay. I had no friends, no familiar faces or family in Chicago. I had no recollection of ever learning much about the city, in fact. And yet, something about the place intrigued me, made me want to see more of it.
So I stayed. I used the inheritance I had kept saved when my mother passed away to pay the first couple months rent on a small, overpriced flat and shipped the rest of my belongings to my new home. The few friends I actually kept in contact with were stunned by my abrupt departure, but they understood. I needed change. I needed something different than the monotonous life I had adopted. Within two weeks I had settled in, gotten a job as a part-time cashier at the library, and met Elise. She’d initially hit on me for the first month of our friendship until the awfully embarrassing conversation where I let her know that I did, in fact, swing for the other team.
And here I am. A nearly-twenty five year old social recluse, no longer in contact with anyone back in England other than Chris – best friend of a couple decades, and forcing myself to experience what normal young adults would call a “night out.” Uneasy, I eyed the entrance of the club, a trio of casually dressed women walking in with a laugh. An older, fairly attractive man stood leaning against the wall with a cigarette between two fingers and with a smile of smoke, winked at me as I slowly approached. I sent back a small smile and inhaled deeply as I took the last few steps that would lead me through the door.
I’ll admit, I had planned for the worst, but as I looked around I was reluctantly pleased with what I saw. It was nicely sized, a handful of already-full tables to my immediate right. In the corner next to them was a large L-shaped bar raised a good couple feet above ground level with stools surrounding the perimeter of it and two frenzied bartenders rushed between laughing patrons. In the center of the place was a sizeable dance floor full of bodies jumping to the rhythm of a loud band on a stage against the back wall, the music coming from the stacked speakers on either end of the stage unexpectedly good. To the left of the stage and lining the walls were at least fifteen or more tables and booths of various sizes. The lighting was dim, brighter near the stage, and the walls were a deep mahogany wood. Other than the noise and the hefty amount of people, the setting was very sensual, the colors dark and soothing and not at all what I had expected.
I looked around from where I stood, scanning the club for Elise. After a moment of no luck, I shrugged my shoulders, sighing, and headed towards an empty spot at the bar. I praised myself internally at my good timing, for one of the bartenders was pouring a drink for the man at my right and looked up at me with an expectant smile as I sat on a barstool.
“Anything I can get you?” The bartender shouted, her voice rising above the music filling the club.
“Whatever’s on tap.” I answered back at equal volume and she nodded. I turned around in my seat, once again scanning the crowd to see if I could find Elise without having to call her. Almost immediately I spotted my short friend, brown curls bouncing as she jumped up and down waving her hand at me. She stood in front of a round table tucked into the corner of a half wall. I recognized Jacob instantly, his army cut white-blonde hair complimenting his light skin tone, dark almost pupil-less eyes smiling at the woman leaning against him as she spoke. Sam was on the opposite side, her red hair falling in waves down her front as she too caught my attention, grinning widely with a twinkle in her green eyes. Another man and woman flanked her sides, and I assumed those were the friends she had brought along. At the very end of the table sat one more person, a man from the look of it, but I couldn’t see his face as he was leaning on the two back legs of his chair, his body in shadows from the chest up.
I gestured to Elise that I was getting a beer and she nodded, sending me a wink as she turned around and sat in the chair next to the unknown man. I heard a glass hit the countertop and I turned, finding my beer sitting and waiting. I fished out my wallet, handing the bartender the proper change, and grabbed my glass before hopping off the barstool and deciding how the righteous fuck I’d make it to the table alive.
Walking down the few steps to get to the ground floor from the raised platform the bar was on, I pursed my lips and arched an eyebrow, deciding to just tuck my beer close to my chest and barrel through the crowd. By the time I’d made it a four steps I realized how counterproductive that idea was for a guy my height and weight, for every step I took I was jostled twice as many backwards or to the side. I settled with the opinion that the club had a poor layout with the dance floor right in the very middle and not much space to walk without being pressed against another body. I was amazed, honestly, by how packed the place was at only nine o’clock but I remembered that it was brand new and considered “the place to be”.
A couple minutes later and I made it the twenty or so feet to the table, a light sheen of sweat gracing my forehead and, surprisingly, none of the alcohol that had been sloshed on my shoes was from my glass.
Jacob looked up as I approached, a grin spreading across his face as he greeted me. Elise jumped around in her seat, her face lighting up as she darted out of her chair and threw her arms around my shoulders.
“It took ya long enough, Matt honey! You get lost on your way over?” She giggled, her accent tinging every syllable. “I’m so darn happy you came, I wish you knew.”
I smiled, hugging her back. “I told you I would, love.”
“God fucking damn, why are you gay, Matthew? That accent of yours gets me every time.” Sam said quickly as she arched one perfectly tweezed eyebrow.
Jacob barked out a laugh and Elise exasperatedly shook her head. “I will never understand you, girl.”
“What? It’s hot. Was the first time I met him and hasn’t changed a bit.”
I snorted. “I hate to disappoint you, Sam, but unless I’m so piss drunk that I can’t tell if your tits are real or not, don’t expect my orientation to change.”
“Always so polite,” she chuckled. “Oh, before I forget, this is Jordan and this is Michael. They’re both in my art history class.” She gestured to her friends on either side of her, and I smiled and waved back at both of them after introducing myself.
“This is my girlfriend, Catherine, as you know.” Jacob said, motioning to the woman next to him.
“You can call me Katie, if you’d like.” She smiled and reached out her hand.
I stuck out my own and shook it, her grasp firm. “I’m Matt. It’s nice to finally meet you, Jake talks about you a disgusting amount.”
She laughed at that, and I went to sit down next to Jacob. I noticed that the man who had been sitting opposite me had disappeared, and I wondered for a moment if I had simply imagined the figure sitting in the chair next to Elise.
Katie raised her eyebrows at Jacob, a smile ghosting her mouth. “I hope they were all good things.”
Jacob flushed slightly. “Of course, babe, what else would I say?”
She smiled approvingly and sent an over-the-top wink my way. I laughed, taking a sip of my beer and relaxing back into my seat.
We chatted for a good half hour about random topics and I tried my best for Elise to be more than the introverted friend who sits in the corner and laughs when everyone else does. It was nice to be out with others for once instead of sitting at my flat night after night or going off to do things alone. I’d always preferred the company of myself, loneliness not a new subject with me, and when the chance came to be around others I tended to stray from it. It was always irritating for me when I was hanging out with people I didn’t know well as I was always scared to be myself without restraint for fear of judgment, but I’ve grown out of that since I moved here. I didn’t have to worry about being the kid with the schizophrenic mother who took too many pills and a deadbeat father who skipped out on his family without a second glance. I didn’t have to worry about looks of pity or of mild disgust at my preference for men. When I moved here, I was able to start anew, and it was lovely. People only knew what I told them, what I wanted them to know. Not what they’d heard through the grapevine, which was usually twisted into a tale completely different than what it was originally.
I was shaken from my thoughts as Elise said my name loudly, her fingers snapping in front of my face.
“Ya hear me, Mattie?”
I shook my head quietly, a small smile on my face as she rolled her eyes good naturedly, the couple martinis she’d had loosening her up considerably.
“I was asking if you’d ever been on top.” She said with a little smirk.
“Pardon?” I was taken aback. Elise tended to be reserved and I wondered if I had misheard or misinterpreted her. “Top as in sex or…?”
“Top as in you do the fucking instead of the being-fucked.” A sudden male voice said from behind me, causing me and Elise to jump. I noticed Jacob and Sam fall quiet as they stared at whoever had spoken but I paid it no mind as I turned my head to see who it was.
The man that stood there was beautiful, devastatingly so. He was about my height, probably an inch or two taller, his body lean but muscle present. He was clad in dark wash jeans that clung to his skin and faded light blue converse, his broad chest covered in a white v-neck t-shirt, thin enough that I could see the outline of his nipples in the dim light. His skin was sunkissed, golden. My eyes trailed up his body, lingering at his collarbones and the column of his neck. His lips were full and I could tell I was attracted to him the moment my mouth watered slightly. His hair too was a light shade of gold, wavy and sweeping across his forehead as if it were windblown. When I met his eyes my heart stopped momentarily, an icy grey stare meeting mine with equal interest.
I was lost for words and couldn’t look away from him, the light seeming to make him glow as he stood silent and staring.
“Dominic!” Elise sounded slightly shocked and a tad bit sober, her eyes flitting back and forth between Dominic and I. “You get lost in the bathroom, hun?”
Dominic – fuck me that name just rolls off my internal tongue – tore his eyes from mine and looked at Elise, the intensity in his gaze diminishing and a half smile curved his lips. “Sorry, Elle, I got sidetracked.”
“Ah, okay. Well we have a new member in our little group!” She paused when he muttered a quiet “so I see” and swallowed tightly. “Dominic, this is Matthew – Matt, whatever. Matt, this Dominic.”
I gave a shallow nod and a smile, my eyes having not left him since he appeared behind me. “Hello, Dominic.”
He returned the smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Matt. You can call me Dom if you’d like.” He moved to take his seat next to Elise and opposite me and I realized he was the mysterious man that had disappeared when I came to the table. Thank god, I thought I was imagining things.
I was feeling particularly brave with a couple beers running through my system, though I did find the effect had lessened slightly since I met his eyes. “How do you and Elise know each other?” I vainly prayed to a God I rarely believed in that he wasn’t Elise’s new boyfriend, though that wouldn’t explain the silence that fell when he arrived.
He arched an eyebrow at my question, but Elise answered before he could open my mouth. “Oh, Dom’s my step-cousin.” Silent victory and mental fist pump. “He came in town a few hours ago. Completely surprised me when I had a knock at my door.” She smiled warmly at him, her initial shock at his appearance fading, though Sam still had yet to acknowledge him. Jacob was in a quiet conversation with Katie and I felt as if the atmosphere had tensed since his arrival.
“How nice of him.” My eyes slid to find his scanning my face, flickering to meet mine the moment I looked at him. I found it hard to swallow and I became suddenly uncomfortable at the force of his stare in front so many people. I felt like all eyes were on me when it was only his. “Do you not live here?”
“No, I mo-”
“Oh my shit, I can’t believe they’re covering this!!” Sam yelled suddenly and practically the entire club screamed at one time as the chords of a popular song came from the speakers, the guitarist’s fingers flying over the fretboard. Elise jumped up at the same time as everyone else at the table, Katie grabbing Jacob’s hand and dragging him to the dance floor. I watched, surprised at the sudden abruption, and glanced back at Dominic to find him cocking his head at me with a bite of his lips before I too was grabbed by Elise’s tiny hands and pulled out of my chair.
I stumbled slightly as I tried to gain my footing, Elise surprisingly strong for someone as tiny as she was. The crowd on the dance floor seemed to double in the time it took for us to reach it, bodies beginning to jump in unison and before I knew it I was being pulled in between them.
Within moments we were at the heart of the crowd, heat everywhere and I was overwhelmed by the amount if people pressing against me from all directions. I almost lost sight of Elise, her head tossed back and eyes closed as she began to jump as well. I was immediately uncomfortable, not at all used to being surrounded by so many bodies.
I could feel myself begin to panic slightly and nearly yelled when I felt a hand grab mine roughly, nails biting sharply into the flesh of my palm. I tried to yank my hand away from whatever weird asshole was grabbing it, but before I could pull away I felt stubble brushing across my jaw and a low, loud voice shouting, lips brushing against my ear. Dominic.
“Do you want to leave?” I could barely hear what he said but I nodded frantically anyway, not entirely sure what I was agreeing too. His grip on my hand tightened to the point of painful and I was once again being pulled away, Elise not noticing my departure.
It took several minutes for us to push out of the crowd and make it back to the table to grab to grab our jackets and then leave the club itself. No words were shared between us – he didn’t even look at me – but I felt a strange excitement and nervousness building in the pit of my stomach. I was attracted to him, I couldn’t deny it. It was like polar magnetism. But something made me feel the need to worry, something about the tone of Elise’s voice when he arrived and the silence at the table. He felt almost dangerous but I pushed all negative thoughts into the back of my head and rejoiced in the fact I was being given the opportunity to possibly learn more about him.
The temperature had dropped substantially since I’d first come here and I was immediately cold. I found myself trying in vain to refrain from letting my teeth chatter and Dominic glanced at me, amused. We settled into a fairly quick pace walking opposite of my flat, our feet falling into step with each other. I shoved my hands in my jacket’s pockets, the cold making my cheeks red, but I looked forward, bracing myself against the wind as I soldiered on beside Dominic. The cold and wind seemed to have no effect on him, simply zipping up the front of his leather jacket and pulling out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. He cupped his hand around his mouth as he brought a lighter up to the cigarette now hanging from his mouth. It took him a moment to light the end, and with a smoke and a smile he asked me if how old I was.
Random. “I turn twenty five this June.” He raised his eyebrows, looking at me sideways. “You?”
“Twenty eight this December. Tell me, Matthew, what do you do for a living?” He was quick to ask.
“I, uh, I work at the Chicago Public Library.” For a moment I felt like he was judging me, but his smile was soft. His eyes though, they had yet to lose their hardened glint.
“You’re practically twenty five and work at a library? Why? And what are you even doing in Chicago?” I was taken aback by his forwardness and the number of questions he asked, but I answered nonetheless.
“Yeah. I like books. I dunno, it’s an easy job and I don’t know what else to do. I’m a bit lost, if you’d like. I moved here on impulse a year or so ago and haven’t left yet.” I shrugged. “I like it here.”
“You sound like you’re running from your past.”
“Of sorts. What about yourself? You were cut off back at the club.” I glanced around, trying to get an idea of where we were headed but I couldn’t really find it in me to be bothered. The cold was even in the back of my mind.
“I move around a lot. I don’t really have one place I live. Just a lot of flats in random places.” Oh, so he has money. That’s nice. “I’m nomadic, if you prefer that term.”
“What do you do for a living?” He was very elusive about himself, but I craved to know more and dammit, was I going to be perseverant.
“Lots of things. I write for online journals, I critique and review, and sell advice to doctors. All-in-all nothing of importance. My father was nice enough to die with a fair share of money in his wake.”
“Sounds like me. Wait, you sell advice? What the fuck does that mean?” He snorted and began to slow down. I looked up to see that we were standing in front of the gates to a private park. He glanced at me with a grin and the next thing I knew he was half up the gate, swinging one long leg after the other before he landed on both feet on the other side. I looked at him in amazement through the iron-wrought bars.
“It means, Matthew, that I graduated high school and college both before I turned nineteen and I’m fairly clever enough to realize when some dumbass psychiatrist is diagnosing a patient incorrectly. I’ve made quite a name for myself amongst them, though I wouldn’t say what it’s necessarily legal, them asking help from an unprofessional young man like myself. Now, are you going to come over here or not?”
I stood for a moment in shocked silence before I judged the distance from the top of the gate. I shrugged inwardly. Why not?
It was an awkward moment for me, climbing up and over while trying to remain graceful, though by the time I swung my legs over the side I gave up on elegance and propriety. I hopped down, slightly hurting my right ankle, but I ignored the ache, opting instead to walk to Dominic’s side as he stood a few feet away staring up at the black sky.
He glanced at me. “Shall we?”
I nodded and fell back in step with him, admiring the garden that we walked through. “You’re an interesting character.”
“Am I? Figured I was rather commonplace.” He replied, bemused.
“Ha, commonplace, my arse. You are the least common person I’ve met.” That earned a chuckle.
“To each his own, I guess.”
We fell silent after that, just walking in each other’s company. The garden was beautiful, I couldn’t help but admit, and it smelled fantastic. He stopped for a moment, looking once again at the starless sky, and I continued to walk, slowly approaching a nearby oak.
I turned, letting my body fall against the trunk of the large tree, and I shoved my hands in my back pockets. He was glorious, standing there in the light of the full moon, its silver surface reflected in his grey eyes. His eyelashes cast shadows down his cheekbones and his lips parted slightly, and I wondered for a moment what he would look like in the heat of orgasm, straddling my hips as he rode me, head tossed back and soft whimpers falling from his lips.
He looked at me then and I felt like he could read the intention on my face, his expression unreadable, lips still parted and eyes wide. I swallowed as he turned to slowly walk towards me, almost like a prowl. I could hear my blood rushing in my ears and my heart beating to a new rhythm. I had the intense desire to back up, back away from that frighteningly intense gaze that seemed to darken tenfold since he last looked at me. I was pressed against tree and felt for a moment cornered as he closed in on me, licking his lips and tilting his head slightly.
I gulped and he stopped barely a foot away from me, close enough that I could smell faint traces of cologne as the wind blew. He inhaled deeply and tilted his head the opposite direction and I wondered what was going on in his impossible mind.
His voice was low and curious when he spoke, his quiet question penetrating the silence surrounding us. “Would you like to come home with me?”
sunshine_173rating: R
pairing: BellDom
summary: Explores the darker side of a relationship; What it means to be truly addicted to someone.
feedback: I wants it, my precious.
disclaimer: I think if I owned Muse, you would know about it. They're a bit famous so I doubt it'd be something easily hidden.
warning: Cursing. Implications of sex.
note: Danke to my beautiful beta
lalalive23. This chapter is long overdue but c'est la vie. Hope you enjoy!Preface Chapter 1 Interlude i
The combined scent of nearby cherry blossoms and a homeless man’s piss-covered self rammed into me with a force equivalent to hurricane winds as I stepped out of the apartment building I lived in and into the sharp evening air. The breeze ruffled my hair, still partially damp from the shower I had just gotten out of, as I zipped my jacket up higher and began to walk in the direction of the club Elise said she’d be at. It was cold, chills running up my spin with every gust of wind, for an early-March night, though I couldn’t complain; Temperatures at night in England were much colder than here.
The thought of my home country caused me to frown, my eyebrows scrunching together as I sighed. I squinted my eyes against the chill, the bitter breeze cutting into my skin. I bowed my head, tucking my chin into my chest, barreling on despite my sudden, intense desire to turn around and pretend sick. I wondered momentarily why I had even decided to leave London, to spontaneously rush to the airport with what few belongings I could shove into an overnight bag in ten minutes and get on the first flight that left, regardless of where it headed. Several hours later, I stepped out of the plane and set foot on American soil for the first time in my life.
During the flight, I had wondered if I was being irrational. I had no plan, no reason for leaving, and no idea what I was doing. I was a year out of university and I had a world of opportunities at my fingertips, yet the very second I took my first breath in foreign territory, I decided to stay. I had no friends, no familiar faces or family in Chicago. I had no recollection of ever learning much about the city, in fact. And yet, something about the place intrigued me, made me want to see more of it.
So I stayed. I used the inheritance I had kept saved when my mother passed away to pay the first couple months rent on a small, overpriced flat and shipped the rest of my belongings to my new home. The few friends I actually kept in contact with were stunned by my abrupt departure, but they understood. I needed change. I needed something different than the monotonous life I had adopted. Within two weeks I had settled in, gotten a job as a part-time cashier at the library, and met Elise. She’d initially hit on me for the first month of our friendship until the awfully embarrassing conversation where I let her know that I did, in fact, swing for the other team.
And here I am. A nearly-twenty five year old social recluse, no longer in contact with anyone back in England other than Chris – best friend of a couple decades, and forcing myself to experience what normal young adults would call a “night out.” Uneasy, I eyed the entrance of the club, a trio of casually dressed women walking in with a laugh. An older, fairly attractive man stood leaning against the wall with a cigarette between two fingers and with a smile of smoke, winked at me as I slowly approached. I sent back a small smile and inhaled deeply as I took the last few steps that would lead me through the door.
I’ll admit, I had planned for the worst, but as I looked around I was reluctantly pleased with what I saw. It was nicely sized, a handful of already-full tables to my immediate right. In the corner next to them was a large L-shaped bar raised a good couple feet above ground level with stools surrounding the perimeter of it and two frenzied bartenders rushed between laughing patrons. In the center of the place was a sizeable dance floor full of bodies jumping to the rhythm of a loud band on a stage against the back wall, the music coming from the stacked speakers on either end of the stage unexpectedly good. To the left of the stage and lining the walls were at least fifteen or more tables and booths of various sizes. The lighting was dim, brighter near the stage, and the walls were a deep mahogany wood. Other than the noise and the hefty amount of people, the setting was very sensual, the colors dark and soothing and not at all what I had expected.
I looked around from where I stood, scanning the club for Elise. After a moment of no luck, I shrugged my shoulders, sighing, and headed towards an empty spot at the bar. I praised myself internally at my good timing, for one of the bartenders was pouring a drink for the man at my right and looked up at me with an expectant smile as I sat on a barstool.
“Anything I can get you?” The bartender shouted, her voice rising above the music filling the club.
“Whatever’s on tap.” I answered back at equal volume and she nodded. I turned around in my seat, once again scanning the crowd to see if I could find Elise without having to call her. Almost immediately I spotted my short friend, brown curls bouncing as she jumped up and down waving her hand at me. She stood in front of a round table tucked into the corner of a half wall. I recognized Jacob instantly, his army cut white-blonde hair complimenting his light skin tone, dark almost pupil-less eyes smiling at the woman leaning against him as she spoke. Sam was on the opposite side, her red hair falling in waves down her front as she too caught my attention, grinning widely with a twinkle in her green eyes. Another man and woman flanked her sides, and I assumed those were the friends she had brought along. At the very end of the table sat one more person, a man from the look of it, but I couldn’t see his face as he was leaning on the two back legs of his chair, his body in shadows from the chest up.
I gestured to Elise that I was getting a beer and she nodded, sending me a wink as she turned around and sat in the chair next to the unknown man. I heard a glass hit the countertop and I turned, finding my beer sitting and waiting. I fished out my wallet, handing the bartender the proper change, and grabbed my glass before hopping off the barstool and deciding how the righteous fuck I’d make it to the table alive.
Walking down the few steps to get to the ground floor from the raised platform the bar was on, I pursed my lips and arched an eyebrow, deciding to just tuck my beer close to my chest and barrel through the crowd. By the time I’d made it a four steps I realized how counterproductive that idea was for a guy my height and weight, for every step I took I was jostled twice as many backwards or to the side. I settled with the opinion that the club had a poor layout with the dance floor right in the very middle and not much space to walk without being pressed against another body. I was amazed, honestly, by how packed the place was at only nine o’clock but I remembered that it was brand new and considered “the place to be”.
A couple minutes later and I made it the twenty or so feet to the table, a light sheen of sweat gracing my forehead and, surprisingly, none of the alcohol that had been sloshed on my shoes was from my glass.
Jacob looked up as I approached, a grin spreading across his face as he greeted me. Elise jumped around in her seat, her face lighting up as she darted out of her chair and threw her arms around my shoulders.
“It took ya long enough, Matt honey! You get lost on your way over?” She giggled, her accent tinging every syllable. “I’m so darn happy you came, I wish you knew.”
I smiled, hugging her back. “I told you I would, love.”
“God fucking damn, why are you gay, Matthew? That accent of yours gets me every time.” Sam said quickly as she arched one perfectly tweezed eyebrow.
Jacob barked out a laugh and Elise exasperatedly shook her head. “I will never understand you, girl.”
“What? It’s hot. Was the first time I met him and hasn’t changed a bit.”
I snorted. “I hate to disappoint you, Sam, but unless I’m so piss drunk that I can’t tell if your tits are real or not, don’t expect my orientation to change.”
“Always so polite,” she chuckled. “Oh, before I forget, this is Jordan and this is Michael. They’re both in my art history class.” She gestured to her friends on either side of her, and I smiled and waved back at both of them after introducing myself.
“This is my girlfriend, Catherine, as you know.” Jacob said, motioning to the woman next to him.
“You can call me Katie, if you’d like.” She smiled and reached out her hand.
I stuck out my own and shook it, her grasp firm. “I’m Matt. It’s nice to finally meet you, Jake talks about you a disgusting amount.”
She laughed at that, and I went to sit down next to Jacob. I noticed that the man who had been sitting opposite me had disappeared, and I wondered for a moment if I had simply imagined the figure sitting in the chair next to Elise.
Katie raised her eyebrows at Jacob, a smile ghosting her mouth. “I hope they were all good things.”
Jacob flushed slightly. “Of course, babe, what else would I say?”
She smiled approvingly and sent an over-the-top wink my way. I laughed, taking a sip of my beer and relaxing back into my seat.
We chatted for a good half hour about random topics and I tried my best for Elise to be more than the introverted friend who sits in the corner and laughs when everyone else does. It was nice to be out with others for once instead of sitting at my flat night after night or going off to do things alone. I’d always preferred the company of myself, loneliness not a new subject with me, and when the chance came to be around others I tended to stray from it. It was always irritating for me when I was hanging out with people I didn’t know well as I was always scared to be myself without restraint for fear of judgment, but I’ve grown out of that since I moved here. I didn’t have to worry about being the kid with the schizophrenic mother who took too many pills and a deadbeat father who skipped out on his family without a second glance. I didn’t have to worry about looks of pity or of mild disgust at my preference for men. When I moved here, I was able to start anew, and it was lovely. People only knew what I told them, what I wanted them to know. Not what they’d heard through the grapevine, which was usually twisted into a tale completely different than what it was originally.
I was shaken from my thoughts as Elise said my name loudly, her fingers snapping in front of my face.
“Ya hear me, Mattie?”
I shook my head quietly, a small smile on my face as she rolled her eyes good naturedly, the couple martinis she’d had loosening her up considerably.
“I was asking if you’d ever been on top.” She said with a little smirk.
“Pardon?” I was taken aback. Elise tended to be reserved and I wondered if I had misheard or misinterpreted her. “Top as in sex or…?”
“Top as in you do the fucking instead of the being-fucked.” A sudden male voice said from behind me, causing me and Elise to jump. I noticed Jacob and Sam fall quiet as they stared at whoever had spoken but I paid it no mind as I turned my head to see who it was.
The man that stood there was beautiful, devastatingly so. He was about my height, probably an inch or two taller, his body lean but muscle present. He was clad in dark wash jeans that clung to his skin and faded light blue converse, his broad chest covered in a white v-neck t-shirt, thin enough that I could see the outline of his nipples in the dim light. His skin was sunkissed, golden. My eyes trailed up his body, lingering at his collarbones and the column of his neck. His lips were full and I could tell I was attracted to him the moment my mouth watered slightly. His hair too was a light shade of gold, wavy and sweeping across his forehead as if it were windblown. When I met his eyes my heart stopped momentarily, an icy grey stare meeting mine with equal interest.
I was lost for words and couldn’t look away from him, the light seeming to make him glow as he stood silent and staring.
“Dominic!” Elise sounded slightly shocked and a tad bit sober, her eyes flitting back and forth between Dominic and I. “You get lost in the bathroom, hun?”
Dominic – fuck me that name just rolls off my internal tongue – tore his eyes from mine and looked at Elise, the intensity in his gaze diminishing and a half smile curved his lips. “Sorry, Elle, I got sidetracked.”
“Ah, okay. Well we have a new member in our little group!” She paused when he muttered a quiet “so I see” and swallowed tightly. “Dominic, this is Matthew – Matt, whatever. Matt, this Dominic.”
I gave a shallow nod and a smile, my eyes having not left him since he appeared behind me. “Hello, Dominic.”
He returned the smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Matt. You can call me Dom if you’d like.” He moved to take his seat next to Elise and opposite me and I realized he was the mysterious man that had disappeared when I came to the table. Thank god, I thought I was imagining things.
I was feeling particularly brave with a couple beers running through my system, though I did find the effect had lessened slightly since I met his eyes. “How do you and Elise know each other?” I vainly prayed to a God I rarely believed in that he wasn’t Elise’s new boyfriend, though that wouldn’t explain the silence that fell when he arrived.
He arched an eyebrow at my question, but Elise answered before he could open my mouth. “Oh, Dom’s my step-cousin.” Silent victory and mental fist pump. “He came in town a few hours ago. Completely surprised me when I had a knock at my door.” She smiled warmly at him, her initial shock at his appearance fading, though Sam still had yet to acknowledge him. Jacob was in a quiet conversation with Katie and I felt as if the atmosphere had tensed since his arrival.
“How nice of him.” My eyes slid to find his scanning my face, flickering to meet mine the moment I looked at him. I found it hard to swallow and I became suddenly uncomfortable at the force of his stare in front so many people. I felt like all eyes were on me when it was only his. “Do you not live here?”
“No, I mo-”
“Oh my shit, I can’t believe they’re covering this!!” Sam yelled suddenly and practically the entire club screamed at one time as the chords of a popular song came from the speakers, the guitarist’s fingers flying over the fretboard. Elise jumped up at the same time as everyone else at the table, Katie grabbing Jacob’s hand and dragging him to the dance floor. I watched, surprised at the sudden abruption, and glanced back at Dominic to find him cocking his head at me with a bite of his lips before I too was grabbed by Elise’s tiny hands and pulled out of my chair.
I stumbled slightly as I tried to gain my footing, Elise surprisingly strong for someone as tiny as she was. The crowd on the dance floor seemed to double in the time it took for us to reach it, bodies beginning to jump in unison and before I knew it I was being pulled in between them.
Within moments we were at the heart of the crowd, heat everywhere and I was overwhelmed by the amount if people pressing against me from all directions. I almost lost sight of Elise, her head tossed back and eyes closed as she began to jump as well. I was immediately uncomfortable, not at all used to being surrounded by so many bodies.
I could feel myself begin to panic slightly and nearly yelled when I felt a hand grab mine roughly, nails biting sharply into the flesh of my palm. I tried to yank my hand away from whatever weird asshole was grabbing it, but before I could pull away I felt stubble brushing across my jaw and a low, loud voice shouting, lips brushing against my ear. Dominic.
“Do you want to leave?” I could barely hear what he said but I nodded frantically anyway, not entirely sure what I was agreeing too. His grip on my hand tightened to the point of painful and I was once again being pulled away, Elise not noticing my departure.
It took several minutes for us to push out of the crowd and make it back to the table to grab to grab our jackets and then leave the club itself. No words were shared between us – he didn’t even look at me – but I felt a strange excitement and nervousness building in the pit of my stomach. I was attracted to him, I couldn’t deny it. It was like polar magnetism. But something made me feel the need to worry, something about the tone of Elise’s voice when he arrived and the silence at the table. He felt almost dangerous but I pushed all negative thoughts into the back of my head and rejoiced in the fact I was being given the opportunity to possibly learn more about him.
The temperature had dropped substantially since I’d first come here and I was immediately cold. I found myself trying in vain to refrain from letting my teeth chatter and Dominic glanced at me, amused. We settled into a fairly quick pace walking opposite of my flat, our feet falling into step with each other. I shoved my hands in my jacket’s pockets, the cold making my cheeks red, but I looked forward, bracing myself against the wind as I soldiered on beside Dominic. The cold and wind seemed to have no effect on him, simply zipping up the front of his leather jacket and pulling out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. He cupped his hand around his mouth as he brought a lighter up to the cigarette now hanging from his mouth. It took him a moment to light the end, and with a smoke and a smile he asked me if how old I was.
Random. “I turn twenty five this June.” He raised his eyebrows, looking at me sideways. “You?”
“Twenty eight this December. Tell me, Matthew, what do you do for a living?” He was quick to ask.
“I, uh, I work at the Chicago Public Library.” For a moment I felt like he was judging me, but his smile was soft. His eyes though, they had yet to lose their hardened glint.
“You’re practically twenty five and work at a library? Why? And what are you even doing in Chicago?” I was taken aback by his forwardness and the number of questions he asked, but I answered nonetheless.
“Yeah. I like books. I dunno, it’s an easy job and I don’t know what else to do. I’m a bit lost, if you’d like. I moved here on impulse a year or so ago and haven’t left yet.” I shrugged. “I like it here.”
“You sound like you’re running from your past.”
“Of sorts. What about yourself? You were cut off back at the club.” I glanced around, trying to get an idea of where we were headed but I couldn’t really find it in me to be bothered. The cold was even in the back of my mind.
“I move around a lot. I don’t really have one place I live. Just a lot of flats in random places.” Oh, so he has money. That’s nice. “I’m nomadic, if you prefer that term.”
“What do you do for a living?” He was very elusive about himself, but I craved to know more and dammit, was I going to be perseverant.
“Lots of things. I write for online journals, I critique and review, and sell advice to doctors. All-in-all nothing of importance. My father was nice enough to die with a fair share of money in his wake.”
“Sounds like me. Wait, you sell advice? What the fuck does that mean?” He snorted and began to slow down. I looked up to see that we were standing in front of the gates to a private park. He glanced at me with a grin and the next thing I knew he was half up the gate, swinging one long leg after the other before he landed on both feet on the other side. I looked at him in amazement through the iron-wrought bars.
“It means, Matthew, that I graduated high school and college both before I turned nineteen and I’m fairly clever enough to realize when some dumbass psychiatrist is diagnosing a patient incorrectly. I’ve made quite a name for myself amongst them, though I wouldn’t say what it’s necessarily legal, them asking help from an unprofessional young man like myself. Now, are you going to come over here or not?”
I stood for a moment in shocked silence before I judged the distance from the top of the gate. I shrugged inwardly. Why not?
It was an awkward moment for me, climbing up and over while trying to remain graceful, though by the time I swung my legs over the side I gave up on elegance and propriety. I hopped down, slightly hurting my right ankle, but I ignored the ache, opting instead to walk to Dominic’s side as he stood a few feet away staring up at the black sky.
He glanced at me. “Shall we?”
I nodded and fell back in step with him, admiring the garden that we walked through. “You’re an interesting character.”
“Am I? Figured I was rather commonplace.” He replied, bemused.
“Ha, commonplace, my arse. You are the least common person I’ve met.” That earned a chuckle.
“To each his own, I guess.”
We fell silent after that, just walking in each other’s company. The garden was beautiful, I couldn’t help but admit, and it smelled fantastic. He stopped for a moment, looking once again at the starless sky, and I continued to walk, slowly approaching a nearby oak.
I turned, letting my body fall against the trunk of the large tree, and I shoved my hands in my back pockets. He was glorious, standing there in the light of the full moon, its silver surface reflected in his grey eyes. His eyelashes cast shadows down his cheekbones and his lips parted slightly, and I wondered for a moment what he would look like in the heat of orgasm, straddling my hips as he rode me, head tossed back and soft whimpers falling from his lips.
He looked at me then and I felt like he could read the intention on my face, his expression unreadable, lips still parted and eyes wide. I swallowed as he turned to slowly walk towards me, almost like a prowl. I could hear my blood rushing in my ears and my heart beating to a new rhythm. I had the intense desire to back up, back away from that frighteningly intense gaze that seemed to darken tenfold since he last looked at me. I was pressed against tree and felt for a moment cornered as he closed in on me, licking his lips and tilting his head slightly.
I gulped and he stopped barely a foot away from me, close enough that I could smell faint traces of cologne as the wind blew. He inhaled deeply and tilted his head the opposite direction and I wondered what was going on in his impossible mind.
His voice was low and curious when he spoke, his quiet question penetrating the silence surrounding us. “Would you like to come home with me?”
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Bloody brilliant!!
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♥
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<3
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*note my pun?*
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