Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Stand By Me, The Body, or anything affiliated with either.

This is just a short little one-shot that kind of came to me out of thin air. I might make it a companion piece to a full-length story later on, but I'm not sure yet. It was fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy it! :)

Flesh of My Flesh

Sunlight poured in from Chris' window, spreading itself across his bed like a blanket. It danced across the sheets, kissed bare skin, and finally came to rest on a mess of unruly blonde hair. Blue eyes opened lazily, straining against the brightness of a new day.

Chris Chambers knew it was too early to be awake, but he didn't want to bother looking at the clock for confirmation. He couldn't remember what time he had gotten in last night, or when he finally fell asleep, but he knew that it had been late.

For a few minutes, Chris just waited. He didn't feel any different. He imagined that he probably didn't look any different either. As he ran a hand through his hair, he decided that it was as messy as it had ever been. His eyes were still blue. He still had the scar across his eyebrow from when his dad knocked him with a beer bottle when he was fourteen.

Teddy had told him that sex was what made you a man, but Chris didn't feel or look especially manly.

Feeling something move ever so slightly against him, he looked down.

There she was. Brown hair, pale skin, same as ever. She sighed into his chest in her sleep and Chris pulled her just a little bit closer. He felt like he was keeping her safe. That was what a man was supposed to do, wasn't it? Keep his girl safe.

Chris smiled a little. His girl.

But Chris' dad didn't keep his mom safe, and Eyeball didn't exactly protect the girls he slept around with.

"They're just whores, all of 'em." his brother would say. "They don't want love or any of that shit. No one really does. You fuck 'em and make sure they don't steal any of your shit when they leave."

Eyeball's girls never really stuck around long after he was done, not that Chris could really blame them. He could hear them through the walls at night sometimes, Eyeball yelling and telling them to do this or that. It didn't sound loving, or passionate, or any of those things.

Chris had tried to be gentle with her, tried not to hurt her. He didn't want to treat her the way Eyeball treated the girls he brought home. His mother had told him a long time ago, back when she had to give him "the talk" - Chris shuddered at the thought - that sex was something you were only supposed to share with someone you love. Looking down at the girl in his arms, Chris didn't have to wonder if he loved her or not. He just knew. The whole reason he wanted to have sex with her in the first place was because he loved her, and he wanted to show her. He wanted to pour his love out to her, to appreciate her and be close to her, closer than he had ever been with anyone else.

When Chris was younger, back when his mom would make him and Eyeball go to church on Sundays, Chris learned that sex was something you were only supposed to share with the person you were married to. As he thought about it, Chris realized that marrying her would actually be something he would really like to do, one day. Waking up to the woman you love every day for the rest of your life didn't exactly sound like a bad deal to Chris.

He wondered if she felt the same way. She had told him she loved him last night, and Chris didn't think she was the kind of girl who would say it if she didn't really mean it. Besides, what they shared couldn't have been all for nothing. The scene played through his mind like a movie clip. He remembered the heat of her breath on his neck, the way her skin felt soft under his fingertips. He remembered his lips on hers and her fingernails on his back as she clung to him. He could perfectly envision the way her head leaned back when she arched against his body, her hips rising to meet his.

He couldn't stop the goofy grin that spread across his face at the memory. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like a man. Her soft noises of pleasure echoed in his ears, and the thought that she liked what he had done was gratifying on a basic physical level.

But sex, he realized, was more than just physical, even though Teddy and Eyeball and most of the guys he knew would probably disagree. Chris knew that sex was when she was most vulnerable. She'd revealed herself to him, all the personal, secret parts of her that no one else knew. She gave him the opportunity to hurt her, but trusted him not to.

Chris wondered if maybe that was what being a man was all about.

He pulled her a little bit closer, conscious now of the way she fit him perfectly. Her body molded to his in all the ways he never thought another person could. It was like she was part of him, and at times like this Chris could barely tell where his own skin stopped and hers began.

But they weren't just physically compatible - nearly everything about her fit him, made him happy in some way. He loved her laugh and the way she bit her lip when she was nervous. He loved the way she was passionate and could be brash and bold when he was usually calm and logical. He even loved the way she would chastise him when he did something he knew he shouldn't have.

There was no doubt in his mind that he was supposed to be there in that moment, drinking in all of the wonderful things about this woman he loved. He wondered if maybe that was what Eden was like before the Fall. Maybe Paradise was waking up to your other half, holding them in your arms, keeping them safe, loving them the best way you can. Maybe Adam felt that way about Eve, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Maybe he knew that God made her just for him, to have and hold and love. A companion. A help-meet. A friend.

And as she began to stir and her eyes fluttered open to meet his, Chris couldn't help but wonder if maybe that was God's way of saying, "This is what I've got for you, kid. Try not to lose it."

Hope you enjoyed it! :)