Across The Universe

His apartment wasn't super ritzy, but it wasn't too shitty looking either.

The neighbors out right ignored him most of the time, the majority of them moved away when he moved in. Made sense, he surmised. In junior high, when he wasn't at school or he just didn't want to go, he was usually held up in here: Blasting punk albums at full volume and ignoring the complaints at his door until they went away.

It's a wonder he wasn't kicked out years ago.

The apartment itself had been a gift from his 'mother'. When he first told her of his intentions on the surface world, her exact words were:

"This really should concern me... BUT HEY! If the only son who loves me wants to fuck up his life for some misconstrued feelings of... yearning... WELL THEN I GUESS THERE'S NO CHOICE BUT TO LEAVE HIM TO HIS OWN DEVICES AND HOPE FOR THE BEST! It's what any responsible parent would do."

Yep, gotta love mum.

Not that they had contact with each other often. But still, the mere fact that they had contact at all was pretty astonishing, at least for people like them.

Most of the time it was just him in here, He didn't let any of his friends visit, whether they be actual friends or ... others. For those occasions, he would either go to their house, or rent a motel somewhere with the cash that he would bum off... someone. It was always kind of blurry by the end of it.

Point is, no one comes in here but himself.

That's just how it is... or was.

The sound of harsh breathing filled the air of the dark room. A desk sat facing the door, its surface littered with bits of cloth, cotton, and needles. The walls covered in metal band posters, and at almost every corner of the room lay a small pile of stuffed animals, varying in different shapes and sizes. At the center, opposite side of the desk, was a dresser stacked with CDs and an outdated stereo system. Finally, in the far off corner of the room, lay a twin size bed with a black comforter and sheet, both adorned with tiny white skulls and bones.

On the floor lay discarded clothing leading up to his bed. The two occupants, covered by the thin blanket, moved together at a rhythm that only got faster and faster as time went on. They clung to each other desperately as they moved, before finally tensing up and relaxing; just laying there in tangled limps, panting and enjoying each other's company. Then, with his breath caught up to him, he moved off the bed to discard the rubber.

Coming back, he found his companion turned to the wall, completely submersing herself in the blanket, leaving only a tuft of red ruby hair poking out. Gently, he lifted the comforter and slid in beside her. Just as he was about to get settled, she pulled at the blanket and formed a cocoon around herself, for which he had no entree.

"Ey!" he sat up and pocked at the heap, "You're not going to let me in?"

The only response was a muffled remark and some slight wiggle movement from the mound. With a sigh, he lay back down and wrapped his arms around his covered girlfriend.

"Look, I've already seen all there is to see. Really there's no need to be embarrassed at this point."

What would she have to be embarrassed of? Sure, she was no Alice Eve, but her body was still plenty fine by him. He had lain with a lot worse in his time, if you can believe it. In fact, if he had to put a list together, she would probably make his best top 20, maybe even best 15. She was not sexy hot per say, but she was... cute. Not like Addison cute but...

Shit.

Another muffled sound and wiggle broke him away from his thoughts. Thank god.

In an attempt to coax her out (and to distract himself from having a mental episode), he pulled the cocoon closer to him and pressed his mouth to the cotton, making sure she could feel his breath from the other side.

"Come on, luv. Let me have a look at you. It's rude to bed someone and hide." The moment the sentence left his mouth, he realized how hypocritical he was being, it failed to faze him though.

The bundle was silent; he took that to mean she was listening to him. Slowly, he began caressing her sides through the blanket; she shivered at his touch but made no move to pull away. He smirked as his efforts appeared to be gaining success.

"Come on out."

This time her voice, though still muffled by the comforter, came out quite clear, as did the sharp movement by her elbow that forced him to stop his spooning.

"No." said the blanket.

Tom looked down at her covered self, shocked for a moment before settling beside her once again, a frown evident on his face as he moved his arm back over the mound.

"Why are you being so cold all of a sudden?" he slightly tightened his grip on her, but not too tight to trigger something. "I already said you look fine. Why are you avoiding me? Or would you rather I say something more flattering about the subject."

That was a mistake. He could tell because the blanket suddenly had a spastic attack followed by a long and drowned out hiss. Tom sat up, irritated at the human girls behavior.

"This is my place you know. You can't stay under there forever." he told her.

"Humph!" the cocoon answered back.

With a sigh, Tom turned away from his girlfriend and sat at the edge of the bed, his face looked tired and irritated as he stood up, stretched his back, and let out a yawn.

"Whatever." was the last word he uttered before walking out of the room.

His kitchen was small, but what else would you expect from a one bedroom apartment. The cabinets were empty save for a box of sugar coated cereal, a tub of peanut butter, and like 25 packets of chicken ramen.

He hated ramen with a passion, but what can you do?

This wasn't the first time Mackenzie pulled something like this on him. It was almost a routine of hers. One moment they were fine, the next she's acting like some stray cat that had its tail stepped on. He chuckled at his own joke.

At the start of their 'relationship' this was almost a constant.

They'd meet up, flirt a bit (or at least he would), and then she would hiss and run off. The next day, he would do it all over again. To the point where she would actually wait near a tree everyday for him, only to deny his advances and hiss in distaste once more. Of course, this didn't stop his pursuit in the slightest.

Oh no. Not after looking through that lovely little sketch book of hers. Not after observing her body language and mannerism throughout the day, and finding that she moved in a harmonizing combination of both masculine and feminine; Both catlike and not catlike, like something else entirely.

Not after hearing all those nasty rumors about her run in with Addison, of all people. And defiantly, not after hearing that German slug refer to her as a troll after she walked past him in the halls, and when he thought nobody could hear his rude comment.

It became clear to him, in-between their hearty chats, that they both had a score to settle. It all seemed to come together after that, he hadn't realized how invested he was getting until long after their first date.

She wasn't anything special, he knew. While growing up in his mother's manor, he was taught by his estranged siblings about the ways of the outside world, as well as his overall lot in life. This was of course, before they all would take off onto the mortal plane, never to be seen or heard from again. It was not 'the birds and the bees' talk, it was the 'I need to show you something. Oh and take notes, you'll be doing this a lot.' talk.

He picked up on things like social behavior, trends, clicks, character types, positions, flirting tips, all necessary knowledge for an Incubus to know. Not that he ever needed to use any of it or anything... Heh.

He knew she wasn't special. Nobody is, no matter how much they'd like to pretend. He kept telling himself that she was just like everybody else, and one day she would leave him as the others have. Whether because she wished to, or because he had told her so, it was going to happen. And there would always be someone else who could fill in the gap, even if that person was millions of miles away. The whole thing was just an inevitable reality.

Opening up his fridge he found that it, like the cabinet, was mostly empty save for a too go box, a half bottle of mustard, and an almost depleted package of canned soda. He grabbed one of the cans and shut the fridge door, making his way to the couch. Thankfully, his TV was just as shitty as the rest of the apartment, or lack thereof. He was able to find a channel for his liking, and taking a second to open the can and take a sip, he tried to pay attention to the program without letting his mind wander to his guest in the other room.

This worked for the most part; he could feel his eyes hardening from tiredness and he checked the TV to see how late it was.

11:06 pm. No school tomorrow. Nice.

For a moment there, he almost didn't hear the small shuffle of feet, or see the shadowy figure out of the corner of his eye come out of his bedroom, but then he did.

There, standing at the mouth of the hallway, was his girlfriend. The window and the Telly were the only sources of light currently in the room, but just by glancing at her through the darkness, he could tell she still had his blanket around her body.

Looking at her long enough to acknowledge her presence, he turned his attention back to the screen, trying his best to give her the cold shoulder.

"Calm down long enough to apologize?" he asked, attention still on the program.

Instead of answering, or even giving some kind of well placed retort, Mackenzie maneuvered herself past the TV and onto the couch opposite side from where he sat. For awhile all was silent except for the sounds from the T.V. At one point, he took a chance and looked at the human beside him, not surprised to find that she wasn't paying attention to anything going on onscreen.

Just as he thought, Mackenzie was wearing his blanket like a robe. Her hair and hands were tucked into the comforter which was being clutch to her form from the inside. The only thing that was showing was her freckled face, as it contorted through various expressions.

Tom stared at her fascinated. Mackenzie's brow was curved in concentration, her front teeth bit into her bottom lip as those bright yellow eyes shifted to all sides of the room in a fast motion. After awhile her face would brighten up and she'd open her mouth as if to say something, only to shut it and return to the lip biting. She did this for about 10 minutes; sometimes her eyes would glance at him and then look away almost immediately with a blush.

Finally, he had to ask.

"What are you doing?"

His question seemed to break the cycle, as she tried to hide her face best she could from his eyes.

"...Thinking."

"Bout what?" he asked.

She turned to face him, but kept her eyes lowered.

"Just that...this has never..." She let out a sigh, "... never happened to me before."

He took a sip from his can. "What are you talking about? We've had sex before."

"That's not what I meant."

Now he was curious, why was she acting this disturbed?

"Was it not good for you?"

"No, that's not it." Her mysterious nature was getting to him.

"I wore the condom because you asked me to, even after I told you how much it dulls the whole experience."

"I told you!" she raised her voice only to lower it again as her face began to burn a bright red. "It's nothing like that."

The silence that followed was almost deafening. Tom tried not to jump ahead of himself when trying to decipher the reason for her discomfort. He knew from personal experience that there were some things that Mackenzie was perfectly fine with, where as others would make sure never cross his path again if they found out about. Then again, the exact opposite was also true; more often than not, Mackenzie would be picking apart the tiniest detail or imperfections where as others wouldn't look twice at, or would just try to ignore something so small.

No matter what though, it gave him a reason to keep on his toes.

"Well? What is it then?"

"It's..." she looked at her surroundings. "...This... this place."

This place? He started looking around and double checking to see if his apartment was more shitty looking then he first thought.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked

"It's stupid."

His head turned so fast he felt a small click in his neck as he stared at her. "WHAT!?"

She looked up at him in shock of her own words "No! No, no, no, no, no! I didn't mean... i-it's just my reasoning that's stupid!"

Oh.

"Darling, I need you to stop thinking so hard about this, and just tell me what the matter is." He swears, she's going to get herself killed one day.

Kenzie looked at her feet before answering. "You'll laugh at me."

"I won't."

She began fidgeting slightly; a blush crept onto her face.

"I've never been in another person's house before. It's really weird."

...What?

Tom couldn't help bursting out in a fit of laughter, much to his girlfriend's horror. Mackenzie's face became beat red as tears weld up in her eyes. Forgoing the blanket, she reached over to where he sat and, like a cat without claws, started batting at his head as hard as she could. Tom's laughter stopped immediately.

"Ow! Ey, stop that!"She did so after a few more hits. Her eyes meeting his, but her face was still red with anger.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!" she yelled.

Well... yeah he did, but how could he help it? One minute it was the end of the world, the next she was going on about something having to do with his apartment. He wasn't really laughing at her, more at himself and his own stupidity, but he'd be damned if he ever let her know that.

Tom pulled up a slow smirk, as he began to notice their close proximity... and the fact that they were both still very much nude.

"Your right, I did say that," He brought his face up closer to hers "but none of this would be happening..." encasing her body in his arms, their noses were nearly touching, and their lips were a hairs away from each other... just like when they first met. "...If you didn't have to think so much."

He stared into those eyes that were hesitant, but swimming with just as much emotion as his were. The two came together in a slow kiss, riddled with a passion that neither could quite place. When that kiss ended, another one took its place, and then another, until he had her all but pinned down to the couch, engaging in a heavy make out session. The TV was still playing, but it was being completely ignored at this point.

"No..." Kenzie began to resist some, but wasn't able to put much heart into it. She knew it was a losing battle. "I'm...ah...I'm… mad at you?" He was too busy attacking her neck to answer her right away.

"You might have been." he said coyly, before going back and biting a particularly sensitive area.

To this Mackenzie let out a sharp yelp. "Aah! Mmmmph!" She leaned into his touch when his mouth traveled further down, and wrapped her arms around his neck when he came back to meet her lips. They tasted like catnip and cheerios. He licked the entrance to get a better taste, and she was more than happy to let him in.

In his short existence, Tom had slept with more people then he could count, and it still wasn't enough. He knew she wasn't special. But right now, he didn't know anyone else he'd rather be doing this with.

They didn't have sex again that night, but then, he didn't really want to anyway. For some reason, kissing Kenzie felt like stepping into another world; one where it was just the two of them. No school, no pressure, no trouble from mother figures, no aggravation from annoying ex's or their pompous snobby boyfriends, just him and her. The dog and cat. The incubus and his human. Like Narnia or some shit.

It was addicting, and way too tempting not to get hooked on.

The kissing lasted for several minutes, yet it felt like so much longer for those lost in their own little world. Before long, frenching became lip locking, and lip locking became long pecks that kept getting shorter and more in between, until eventually they stopped all together. But that feeling still lingered.

Tom reached for the blanket she brought in, which fell on the floor during their tussle. He pulled the comforter over their bodies, before taking her into his embrace and nuzzling against her hair. She let him do this, but let out a small noise of begrudgement at the touch of her glorious mane. Just as he was getting settled, she let out a growl and a light kick to his feet.

Tom chuckled and smiled down at her. "Oh, whatever is the matter now dearest?"

She pouted and buried her face into his chest. "Don't ever distract me with your sexiness again."

He let out another chuckle and cupped her cheek so he could look at her.

"Can I help it if you find me so sinfully attractive?"

The answer was an immediate: "Yes."

"Heh" he pulled her closer, and rested his head on top of hers, "Extra incentive to keep me around then huh?"

"Shut it."

"Hmm." He closed his eyes, enjoying the earthy aroma of her hair that somehow also smelled like strawberries; A field of strawberries. He could smell that scent for an eternity, a lifetime if he was lucky. If he was lucky...

Toms smile dropped as he continued to hold her. One date was followed by another, and then another, and then another, it wasn't supposed to be that way. He never intends for these kinds of things to happen to him, but they always do. Mackenzie was supposed to be less of a romantic partner, and more of a political marriage, so to speak. Similar to his relationship with Camilla, except with Kenzie, the end result would have been a humiliated Serpian and a crying Addison crawling back to him.

After that? Well... they would have defiantly still been friends, if not with certain ...benefits... maybe. But then... now... this... that was... before? Ugh! she's just... so... plain looking!

And not just plain looking like common side girls that hang around the really hot ones. She was the nerdy, gross kind of plain looking. The kind of plain that was not ugly enough to warrant any attention, yet wasn't pretty enough to keep any either.

Really, except for her large unkept head of hair, she was practically an invisible nobody! And she doesn't ever do anything about it! She fucking embraces it like she doesn't even care! Toppled with being ahuman?! Someone considered overall useless and who shouldn't even be able to attend the school, or even be in the entirety of Safe Haven for that matter?! Why would he ever seek that kind of person out? Keep that person beside him? Date that person like they were any different? Like he was any different! like he deserved-

"Tom?"

Her voice broke his trance, as she looked up at him with concern. He met her eyes with great difficulty, unaware of how much he was shaking.

"Y-yeah…?" he turned away from her and lay on his back as she sat up.

"You didn't answer my question."

For whatever reason, her words ran a chill through him. She must have been talking to him while he was thinking. Still, not even knowing her question, he was willing to avoid it if at all possible

"Y-you didn't answer mine."

"What?" she said.

Damn it. He hated the way he was acting. What he really needed was the ability to turn himself off. Like a computer. Yeah, computers don't act stupid in front of their girlfriends. Computers don't have girlfriends.

Tom turned completely away from her; just stared nose deep into the couch cushion.

"Why did you reject me?" He frowned, anticipating her answer.

"...When did I do that?"

He raised his voice in an attempt to intimidate, refusing to look at her.

"Tonight! In bed! You ignored me! Even hissed at me! It was like you had just slept with a complete stranger!" He hated how petty he was sounding and curled further into himself, "It might come as a shock to you, but that's often the last thing a person wants to happen to them after sex."

In the silence that followed his outburst, Tom couldn't help but think about the bitter irony in context of what she had said to him earlier. He had been angry since the beginning really. That's the whole reason he had this set up so soon, because of the information relayed to him only a few hours before.

Cause Krisstina and Destiny just have to talk about every little thing that comes their way don't they? Oh does Rusty have detention again? I had no idea. Oh are the cheerleaders hosting an event that only half of the school will be invited to anyway? Riveting. Oh is Addison fucking his new boyfriend in the janitor's closet? Fan-Fucking-tastic.

Not that he cared or anything. Big fucking deal. Fuck Fucking...

He wasn't even phased by it.

"I'm sorry."

Tom didn't know which one of them had said it first. He wanted it to be himself to say it. It should have been him who had said it first. Complaining and bitching about whatever it is she had done. She didn't do shit and she knows it, and he knows it. It was Tom who invited her over; who wanted to live the escape in his own home and expected it to work. It did for the most part. The entire time she had been there, Tom didn't think about Addison or what he was probably doing that night with the snake turd. (Kenzie came up with that one. Heh.) But now it wasn't working. He was thinking about it. And the ironic thing to all of this: she was meant to be the distraction for him, not the other way around.

"I'm sorry." she repeated. "Like I said, this is the first time I've ever slept over at someone else's house before and... it freaked me out."

She stared at the ground to avoid meeting his eye. Tom could tell she was doing some of her strange pattern of movements, as she often did when dealing with difficult social matters.

"I know that's not a very good excuse, and I wouldn't blame you for still being angry, I- I just... ...I'm sorry."

…

…

"I-it's… i-it's fine."

He sat up and hugged her from behind. Mackenzie tensed up, obviously not use to the contact, but relaxed soon enough and leaned into the touch.

"What was your question?"

She wasn't sure if her question was even valid anymore. He had obviously answered it already by himself. No harm in trying though, she guessed.

"Are you ok?"

The T.V. was on some kind of British show that Tom really didn't care for. He knew that Kenzie was enthralled with it, and even had a few posters up in her room about it, from all the times she's had him over without her mother knowing. Tom lost count of how many times she had tried to get him to repeat lines from the show or get him to watch it with her late into the night when he thought they could have been doing something else.

This particular episode was one they had both seen before. It was the episode that took place around Christmas time or something. The main character and a little girl were investigating a crack in the girl's wall. But honestly, neither Tom nor Mackenzie were really paying much attention to it at this point. They were just blankly watching the episode while holding on to each other, not out of desperation or comfort, but just out of reassurance that the other was there.

Every once in awhile one would make a comment about this part or that; eventually she walked into the kitchen and asked him what he had in the way of snacks. They ordered a pizza from the only pizza place that would deliver to them at this hour, and once her show went off they put in a movie from his collection. They watched and talked until the wee hours of the morning, when they both eventually collapsed out of exhaustion.

In the morning, Tom would wake up with a pain in his neck and a few texts from Camilla about a new club that opened up near her place. Mackenzie will get several missed calls from her mother about her whereabouts and a severe headache when trying to think about a good excuse for not being home the night before.

But none of that mattered right now. Now the illusion of completeness had swept over the two completely. There on the couch, watching Doctor Who and eating bad pizza while snuggling against each other in a blanket covered with little white skulls and cross bones.

Knowing that the next day would probably be another shit storm of dejected feelings and doomed social interactions, knowing that this feeling of completeness probably wouldn't last and that one day this will all end in a very bad way, knowing that didn't even matter.

They didn't care.

"I'm better."

AN: This fanfic took more then half a year to make. As of the time of this writing, Zoophobia is in the process of being rebooted and it's story and characters will possibly experience changes that could possibly render everything above obsolete. For now, this writing stands as it is, reflecting the way things currently are. If in the future things take such a drastic change, then I'll consider creating an edited version that will better follow cannon.

I do not own Zoophobia or any of the characters in this fanfiction.

Thank You all of my supporters, and those of you also apart of this fandom. And also to VivziePop, for sharing her work that we all love so much.