Disclaimer: The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.
I'm going to make a major change in the characters. I will go back and change the rest of the story soon. The character of Roman will now be Seth and Albert will be Roman. I just think Roman will be a better fit for the part now that I've gotten further into the idea. I'm not ready to develop an OC for that part at this time. I hope it's not too confusing and hoping that maybe you will like the change. :D
Chapter 9
Roman laid beside me on his bed, hovering over me. His fingertips softly swept a strand of hair away.
"Oh baby," he fussed over my bruises. "I wish you'd let me do something about this."
"What can you do Roman?" I sighed. "Nothing but get yourself arrested."
He touched his forehead lightly against my temple.
"I can't stand seeing you hurt." He growled. "Your father …"
"It wasn't my father." I confessed. "Not this time."
Roman searched my eyes. I know he shocked and even more baffled. It seemed to bother him more that he didn't have a target to be angry at. I couldn't really tell anyone what was going on. I didn't know where to begin.
Randy stormed off that morning. He went back inside the school and I guess back to his normal life. I didn't expect him to understand why I chose not to see Mia that day, even though I really wanted to. I'd wanted it for so long, but I had a problem that day that I would not expose my Mia to or her family. Honestly, I was glad Randy stomped off. He had always been the pushy type. I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't stop until he made me tell him everything. I didn't need that in my life anymore. With Randy, I had learned to hide everything I didn't want to talk about really well. My home life, my father's abuse – everything. I didn't feel like hiding everything. I just wanted to work through it in my own way.
"You know I'm here for you."
"I know."
I grew closer to Roman than I ever imagined I would. I mean the guy used to be my bully and now he was suddenly my best friend. The only true friend I could claim and again I found a place where I felt safe. We went to his house that day. He lived in the trailer park across from mine. I never knew he'd lived that close, but I was glad he did. On really sleepless nights I would crawl out my window and climb through his. And sometimes he would show up at mine.
Roman's father had abandoned him over the summer. He'd just taken off one day and had never returned. Roman wasn't too upset about it. He didn't have to deal with his old man's abuse anymore and the under the table work he got at the pallet yard paid the bills.
Yes, I was sleeping with Roman and had been for some time. Roman had never done one thing to coax me into his bed. It had just happened. It happened pretty quickly. Only a few days after he cornered me in that storage closet at school. He invited me to a bonfire at his house that weekend and I went. I'd had a rough night at home. I snuck out my window and instead of going to the park, I wandered toward the glow of the fire across the highway.
A smile crossed Roman's lips the moment he saw me standing in the tree line watching them. I showed no interest in being there. I couldn't smile and I really wasn't sure what I was walking into. I wasn't even sure what to expect when he approached me and invited me to sit next to him in a double fold out camping chair. The music was blaring loudly and he had to lean close to speak into my ear.
"I only have soda." He said, handing me a Dr. Pepper with an apologetic smile.
"That's all I drink anyway." I laughed. I guess his friends gave him a lot of crap about the lack of alcohol.
"I don't drink either."
"I don't believe you." I took a big gulp. "The big bad bully doesn't get drunk?"
"I swear. I can't stand beer." He threw an arm around me casually and kicked back. I think he did to get comfortable. It didn't seem like a flirtatious or seductive maneuver to me. "I don't mind a shot of whiskey every now and then, but getting drunk isn't fun no matter how much these bozos talk it up."
"Depends on your definition of drunk, I guess." I wasn't convinced.
"Getting sick." He admitted. "Who the hell wants to spend the night puking in the toilet. I did it once. I felt like I was going to die. That was enough for me."
"So you just get buzzed from time to time then."
"Not as much as you're thinking." He gazed. "I've seen too many drunks in my life. I think you have too."
"Don't try to pick me, Roman." I spat. "I'm too smart to give you ammunition to use against me."
"I think the party moved on without us." We looked up and saw we were alone. All Roman's friends had left without a word and neither of us had noticed. "They never stay long unless I find a case or two to keep them occupied."
"Nice friends."
"They're young."
"You're the same age."
"I don't feel like I am." He sighed. "I need to put this thing out." He crossed his small back yard, picked up a hose and spent a long time extinguishing the fire. I wasn't ready to leave yet, but I stood and stretched.
"I'll see you around." I turned to leave even though I had no intentions of returning home.
"You don't have to go." Roman seemed to know what I was thinking. "You're welcome to hide out here. We can watch some movies or something."
I hesitated.
"Everyone needs a safe place to go."
I wasn't so sure I would be safe behind locked doors, alone with Roman. But a light rain had started and I didn't feel like laying down in the woods like I usually did. I followed him inside. He went to the kitchen first and opened the cabinet.
"I don't have many snacks." He seemed to be apologizing again. "I have crackers, tuna." He pulled a tube from a box and a can of tuna fish, then opened the fridge. "I have a block of cheddar and half container of cottage cheese."
"You're joking?" I leaned against the counter, crossed my arms over my chest and watched him prepare the tuna salad the way he liked it.
"You like this stuff?"
"Yeah." I gasped. "I thought I was the only one with weird cravings."
"The delicacy of the poor." He chuckled. "Do you like onions?"
"Love them."
He opened a container and poured in a few diced onions. He must have eaten onions in everything. Most people didn't have a container of already cut onions in their fridge.
"What do you think?" He scooped some of the concoction on a cracker and popped it into my mouth without a warning. I barely got it all in and I had to catch it with my hand. "Edible?"
"Yeah." I answered with a full mouth and laughed. Roman had a way of making me laugh that night and that was a pleasant surprise.
"You eat like a pig." He teased me, then carried the snack back across the living room and went through a door. I stood in the door frame as he flopped down on the bed.
"I don't bite." He insisted, flipping on his television.
I slowly entered the room. Slipped off my shoes and sat Indian style on his bed, keeping a big distance between us on that queen sized bed.
"I made the snacks." He spoke casually. "I'm not putting the movie in the player too." He nodded toward a box on the floor. "I don't have cable so you'll have to see what you can find."
"A chick flick?" He groaned and rolled his eyes. But I didn't miss the twinkle in his eye and the smile when he gazed back at me.
"I like rom coms." I shrugged. "And I haven't seen this one."
"You've never seen 50 First Dates?"
"I'm not allowed to watch TV at home."
"Brutal." He handed me a prepared cracker. I popped it in my mouth, then took the fork out of his hand and dipped it in the cottage cheese. It was weird. I didn't mind sharing a fork with him.
"That looks good." I commented. We didn't say much as we ate and watched the previews.
"I think I have that one."
"Ugh! I can't eat anymore." I had eaten more than I ever remembered eating before. I think it was the first time I ever felt full in my life. My stepmother liked to ration food. Well my food. She gave me exactly one cup of bland cereal in the morning and filled an old orange juice bottle half way with milk. I didn't' eat lunch at school because they never gave me money to and they refused to fill out the application for free lunch. And at dinner, if I wasn't being punished for something, I usually had a boiled chicken leg and a piece of bread. I didn't dare ask for anything else or second helpings because Pam would lose her mind. She would scream at me and said seeing the extra pounds I carried made her sick to her stomach. I didn't think I was fat, but she always saw something jiggle when I walked by. Hell, all I ever saw in the mirror was my ribs. But I guess junkies saw all kinds of things.
I watched the beginning of the movie intently, keeping all my attention on it. It really was a rare treat for me to see a movie anywhere. After a while, I relaxed and laid across the bed. I propped up on a pillow and laughed so freely without worrying about irritating anyone. Roman didn't seem to mind the way I laughed and his bed was so comfortable. He had three mattresses piled up with no box spring and it felt like what I imagined a cloud would feel like. But hey, I was a girl who usually slept on the floor or the ground each night.
When the movie ended, it was two in the morning. Roman got up, popped in the movie I had liked the preview for, then returned. He skipped the previews this time and we were watching another comedy that made me laugh. But I was getting tired. My eyes were really heavy.
"Are you cold?" He flipped back the comforter and we both maneuvered our bodies to get between it. The summer was ending and at that time of year we only felt it at night. Roman didn't have electric heat or a fireplace. It seemed like we each knew the same hardships that other people we knew had never had to worry about. I think that may have played a part in bringing us together.
I snuggled against him that night. I felt warm and comfortable. He moved closer to me, embracing me as we tried to stay awake to watch the movie and after a few minutes I felt him harden.
"I'm sorry." He quickly said the moment he realized I'd felt it. "You're really pretty, Joey."
He pulled away from me respectfully. I turned to face him and stared into his eyes, searching for something mischievous. I gazed for dishonesty and manipulation but I saw nothing that hinted that he'd been planning anything. I laid my head down on the bicep he held behind my head and he laid close to me, one hand on my waist, above the blankets.
I think we both fell asleep because the sound of static on his TV woke me. It woke us both. He twisted around to find the remote, turned off the television and laid back down. That's when our eyes met and our lips just leaned into each other. I didn't think about anything but how wonderful it felt to be touched that way.
The sun was rising when we were finished and I sat up, intending to leave.
"Don't go." He pulled me back. "Lay with me a little while."
We were together a lot after that, but not every time we were together. Sometimes we just fell asleep next to each other. It just felt right and I loved the way it felt to lay naked beside him. He had been working out a lot and had developed firm abs, but I had liked him the way he was before too. He really wasn't as mean as he tried to be. He was always sensitive and sweet to me. He never once told me he loved me, but Roman didn't have to say those things to me. I could see it in everything he did.
What I liked most was the way he didn't have to label our relationship. He didn't have to broadcast it. Didn't feel the need to show it off and neither did I. We never hid it either. We did what we wanted, when we wanted to. No matter where we were.
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