A Year Without Breathing
He was a 21 year old recovering addict. She was an out of control 17 year old. When his uncle asks him to take her in after the death of her dad, they'll both find out what it means to go a year without breathing….
Chapter 4- Exhale
---
Rikku….
Let it ease out….
11:23pm
"Number 19. Almost done." I say to myself as I type the last bit of #18 down on the newly assembled computer. Gippal did it this Saturday. I watched him and was amazed at how fast he did it compared to my 9 hour attempt. He seems to be growing fond of me. Well at least I think so. He actually talked with me that night. Even if it was a brief conversation. I saw him that night, how hot he was. Not physically but literally. He reminded me of my mom….. When she got like that, she'd want me to make her ice cream. Like I did for him that night. And afterward she'd be better.
But I never knew why she'd be like that. I knew she was…...sick….or at least that's what daddy told me. But Gippal he's different. I can feel it. Maybe I'm wrong but something in his eyes draws me to him. Makes me want to know more. Which is why I was thrilled he agreed to our little game. But that thrill soon turned to frustration. The first day I had 3 questions lined up. The first one was 'why are you in this quiet beach house in Santa Barbara?' Of course being reticent as he was he told me 'next?' I fussed that that was the easiest one and he simply said that he wasn't going to answer that one. Which he was aloud to do. But it still made me frustrated.
I held myself up in my room for the past 2 to 3 days working on my questions. Ones that he couldn't possibly avoid. I had gotten to 12 earlier this evening and decided I needed a drink. So I went a got a few beers. Okay….6 beers. And I was now on 7. I was tipsy and I was having a hard time thinking out my questions. So I saved my draft in word and turned to hit the power button off but my elbow knocked over a few of the empty beer bottles, causing a domino effect. I quietly cursed to myself as I threw them in my waste bin.
Though I had my usually music routine playing on the stereo that I got, I heard a knock come to my door. It was subtle but I heard it just fine. I knew who it was; we are the only two in this house, so it had to be Gippal. I turned off the screen to the computer and went to turn the music down a little. He knocked again, but just when I went to get it, he let himself in.
"Hey, you still up?" He said. He seemed tired, yet had a nonchalant feel to his walk as he came in.
"Yea, I was working on something." I told him. He walked over to my desk as I closed my door.
"Was it emptying my fridge of my beer?" He said. At first i thought he was mad, but when I turned he was sitting at my desk grinning at me.
"I felt like a drink." I said as innocently as i could. But my hole practically broke when a dirty thought came into my mind. The cause was the site of Gippal leaning back in the chair looking devilishly sexy. He took a sip of the beer and licked his lips. I'd love to be the one licking those sexy pinkish lips. It was almost his skin tone actually. Not pink. Tan.
"Well next time you feel like a drink, Ms.17-year-old, don't choose my beer." He said his attempt at sounding serious failing. I grinned and rolled my eyes at him. I made no promises. I went to the desk and took my current beer. I had a sip and leaned against the desk in front of him.
"SO what brings you here?" I asked him. He shrugged as he had begun to twirl one of the old beer bottle caps.
"What were you working on?" He asked. I decided to give him the same response he gave me. He chuckled at the gesture.
I went over by the bed and sat down my beer on the nightstand. Then I flopped right down on my stomach. I reached back behind me and got one of my big fluffy pillows. As I set my head on the soft cool cotton, I sigh contently.
"Stuff." I told him.
"I'm surprised you haven't asked me any questions." He said after a moment.
I rolled onto my back and looked at him through half closed lids. He had a strange look in his eyes. Made a sensation slowly occur in my stomach. He licked his lips and I looked away.
"Well SOMEONE wanted to say no to the very first question, so I had to work on them." I told him. He chuckled.
"OH." He finished chuckling but I heard the smile in his voice. "That's why you've been locked up in here."
Now he was just making small talk. I stretched and yawned. Liquor made me sleepy and its normal effects are starting to wear on me. I could almost barely keep my eyes open. The room went quiet for a second before he broke it.
"I have a theory." He said.
No he didn't. He was using my ice breaker. I would've been mad but when I looked at him, he gave a dazzling smile that made me want to play along.
"A theory about what?" I asked him.
"You." what a shocker.
"Any developments in this theory?"
"Yeah, but I don't know if I'm ready to bring it to a conclusion yet. I think further investigation is needed." He chuckled. He had been chuckling a lot lately.
"So now you want to ask questions?" I pondered.
"Nope." He said without hesitation. " I have more fun imagining than you giving me answers."
I waited for him to say something else, but as my eyes closed i heard another sound. He was suddenly out of the chair and the bed went down beside me. He was lying beside me. I could feel his body heat. He was close. I didn't open my eyes. Nor did I tell him to get out of bed. Or my room. I found myself enjoying the scent of him. His cologne. His breathing was quiet but I still heard it.
"I'd prefer if you let me have my fun imagining." He said. But it sounded so naughty to my ears.
"It's almost midnight." I said to him. I opened my eyes to find him grinning. A sexy grin. The change of subject was to bring my mind out of the gutter. "Why are you in here instead of asleep?"
He shrugged again. He seemed to like using that response for everything. I didn't expect him to answer anyway. I sighed in defeat. But then he surprised me with an answer.
"For the company, I guess." He sighed.
"You wanted company in the middle of the night?" I questioned his excuse. It seemed fishy but something about the way he said it made me believe him. "You know many people SLEEP this time of day."
"I don't sleep much anyway." He told me.
"Oh, please" I snorted. "Your in your room when I leave in the morning and still there when I get back at 3"
"Doesn't mean I'm asleep." He corrected me.
"What in the hell would you do for like 8 hours in there?" I questioned him. I was skeptical now, but learning a little at a time.
But he didn't respond. So I thought out loud to fill the silence. "So you don't sleep. You stay in your room all day. You disappear every Tuesdays and Thursdays. You come to a 17-year-old's room in the middle of the night..." I paused to look at him for a moment to throw him off with a weird conclusion. "I'd say you were a double secret agent or alien or something with a thing for under aged girls."
He chuckled. Once again, no response was given. Just adding to the mystery that is him. I noticed his eyes briefly scan my body before returning to my face. This man, who I haven't known more than 2 weeks, is in my bed in the middle of the night, and I'm not saying anything about it. I feel so at ease near him and so comfortable.
"No that's not it." He finally said after a few more moments of silence. "I just like the idea of having company across the hall instead of having to go out for it."
"Oh, so your here to talk?" I asked. I was hoping he'd say no and we'd start making out but.......
He found it amusing. He grinned, which made me grinned. For a moment we looked at each other but then that look came back and I closed my eyes to rest.
"You want me to leave?" He asked me. And then a strange feeling came over me. I couldn't put a finger on it but it was caused by the idea of him leaving. I didn't want to sound desperate because he was a mystery man in my bed. But I wanted him there. By me. I reached behind me and found a second pillow. I tossed it in his direction and I heard him catch it.
"You want company? You got it." I said. He chuckled then it was another period of silence as he lay down beside me and I began to fall asleep.
"A penny?" He finally and broke the silence.
"For what?" I was confused. I yawned and turned on the side he was on.
"Your thoughts." He told me. "First coming here, did you hate it?"
"Kind of" I said. I didn't know if it was above a whisper. He sighed.
"Do you hate it here now?" He asked me. I had to think about it. I didn't hate this part at all. But it could change. I don't even know him. He could be something horrible but....
"I'd have to get back to you on that." I said. After that the quiet wasn't broken again. We laid there. In silence. But it was comfortable. Comfortable company. I haven't had that in a while. I fell asleep soon after fully at ease.
---
I awoke to find an empty bed. Normally this would be okay. I wouldn't of thought anything about it. But normally I don't fall asleep with my 21 year old housemate in it. So I get up and just as I was about to get dressed for school, I remember I don't have school today. A teacher work day or some crap. So I decided to shower and change into some clean shorts and a brown tank. I was in the midst of drying my hair when I realized I hadn't heard a thing this morning. This normally wouldn't bother me. But last night he said he didn't sleep while I wasn't here. So what did he do?
Deciding to let my curiosity get the best of me, I went across the hall to his closed bedroom door. I put my ear to the dark mahogany wood but no sound comes from his room. Not the slightest sound. I decided to take a chance and peek in. I slowly turned the doorknob and prayed that this door didn't squeak. And thankfully it didn't.
I got my very first look at his room. And what I saw surprised me. Although any clue of his personality would surprise me. His walls were a warm tan color. Almost creamy brown. His walls had ceiling to floor stocked bookshelves. 1 0r 2 posters. His floor to ceiling wall length window was where his desk was. An exact replica of mine. Computer and all. He had wood floors to match the rest of the house. But he had a brown and blue squared area rug under his bed. This is where I found him.
In a light mahogany brown sleigh bed was Gippal. A blue bed set covered his lower half. Nothing was on his upper half. All there was were two black band arm tattoos. On his upper arms. Other than that, his beautifully sculpted body was free for my eyes to appreciate. Which they did gladly. I don't know how he could be so built but still not go out of his room. I didn't see any gym equipment. And I haven't found a gym in this beach house yet.
I pushed the thought to the back of my head. I wanted to see how far I could go with my curiosity and thief like stealth skills. A gift from my mother. So I made my way to his bed. I spotted a book or something on the nightstand and wanted to see what it was.
But as I reached his bed, I just happened to step on the one floorboard that had the slightest squeak. But that squeak was enough to make him stir. This man slept really light. I did my first instinct and ducked. But it seemed that he didn't wake from his slumber. He only shifted slightly. I sat Indian style on the floor and carefully slid the book off the nightstand.
And it was what I saw that made me gasp. It was what I saw that made him finally stir and wake up. It was what I saw that made me stop breathing for a second. Taking me back in time to about a few months before daddy died. A moment I wanted to forget and leave behind me. But it was here in the form of my housemate. The one I was beginning to have a crush on. The one who I thought was this mysterious, sexy, mature, bad boy. But it was what I saw that broke that image….or maybe it made it true. All too real.
DAY BY DAY: THE PERSONAL HELP GUIDE FOR THE RECOVERING ADDICT
Okay…..its okay….Just let that deep breath ease out…..breathe….
Okay that was chapter ….4? I apologize for the weight. I recently started an anime club at my school and along with school, it's hectic. But only 2 months until c&R beings again. SO stay with me as I work on this story. R&R.
Xoxo,
Ayata-Ayumi