NOTHING

"What are you thinking about?"

Her question came through his happy haze. He lay with his upper body draped across her. His left arm reached across her body. His head rested just below her small, lovely breasts. His right cheek brushed against the soft, downy skin on her tummy. The cool, spring air from the open window left a pleasant chill on his damp skin.

"What?" he murmured, creating small, wonderful currents on her body.

Her fingers wove in and out of his curls as she considered asking the question again. "I…I just wondered," she said softly, as if she was afraid someone might be listening from outside their cocoon. "After we make love…sometimes you seem…I just wondered what you think about…"

He raised his head to look at her, and her heart melted. His long eyelashes half covered his deep chocolate eyes which looked at her with a beautiful but unsettling combination of sleepiness, contentment, and intelligence. "What do you think about?" he answered, and a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

"Uh-uh," she shook her head. "I asked first…What are you thinking about?"

"Oh," he said. "It's a contest, is it?" He lifted his body so that he loomed over her, and a disconcerting look of mischief came on his face.

"Bobby," she said, trying not to be distracted. "Really…I…I'd like to know…"

His smile became a frown as he realized how serious she was. "What…why…did I do something…Hurt you…" It was one of his great fears, that he would lose himself so much in her that he would hurt her.

She pulled him down so that his head rested on her breasts. "You never hurt me…You're wonderful…I've told you…The only time you ever hurt me is when you keep me out…When you don't let me help you…"

He looked up at her. "I…I know…In my head…I know…but…in my heart…" His large, graceful hand splayed tenderly across her left breast. "It's…it's hard to me to accept. All my life…When I let people in…They hurt me…They left me…I'm trying…Please believe me…I'm trying…"

She kissed his forehead. "I know…Thank you…" She studied him. "It's ok…You don't have to tell me…" She pulled the sheet over them.

"Nothing," he said after several moments.

"Uh…What?"

"Nothing, Alex," he said cautiously. "Right after…There's nothing…"

Unsure if this was good or bad, she looked at him.

"It…it's a good thing," he added hastily. "My head…It…Sometimes it just seems to buzz all the time…What's happened…What's happening…What could happen…What could go wrong…But right after…Nothing…It's calm…You…You…I feel safe…"

Her heart melted again. She knew that Bobby rarely felt safe.

"Before…during…I think about how I want to make you happy…How happy you make me…" He shook his head. "Happy…Happy isn't a big enough word. Joy…Maybe that's it…Love…I'm not sure there's a word for it…But after…" He looked at her, and the tears she saw in his eyes caused her own to water. "I've never had it…Not until you…To be calm…peaceful…It…It's bliss…It's wonderful…"

She took his face in her hands and pulled him to her for a long deep kiss. "How about," Alex said when they finally separated their lips. "Going to that place again tonight?"

He smiled at her. "Hey, what do you think about?"

She pulled him to her. "Later…"

END

Just a warm and fuzzy that came to me from the ether. Figure we could use warm and fuzz. And look at that--nobody in the hospital...