Justin
It wasn't the first time that I was woken up by a feeling of a warm body climbing into bed with me right before dawn. I opened one eye to make sure it was Jhondie and not some really strange new kind of burglar and then shut it again as she snuggled against me. I wasn't expecting her over that night but I didn't care. It was hard to get her to lie down for more than a few minutes and over the last week or so, I don't think she slept once. So whatever the reason for her to show up, I didn't care. I just stretched out, wrapping my arms around her and rubbing her back lightly. Peaceful and comfortable.
So when she jumped up, yelling at me all of a sudden, it was, to say the least, like getting a face full of cold water. "STOP PETTING ME!" she screamed all of a sudden.
"Huh?" Not everyone can be a master of words at 4:07 AM.
"I'm not a pet!" she snapped. "You can't just stroke me and think I'm going to purr and crawl up in your lap! It's not going to work!"
I managed to blink and sit up at the same time. I had never claimed to understand women and never would make that claim, but this was stumping me beyond all reason. "What?"
"Don't pet me," she repeated slowly.
I thought about what I had done. "Okay, so a week ago you liked it when I rubbed your back and now it's not okay?" I blew out a breath. I had been asleep for barely three hours and trying to have a conversation like this. Not going to happen.
I shook my head. "You know what? Don't answer that. It's too early and I'm too tired. You know where the computer and the fridge are. Do whatever you want. I'm going back to sleep." And then I fell back onto the bed.
I heard her walk out of the room and the door shut softly. I think I would have felt better if it had slammed. Slammed doors were signs of momentary irritation. This wasn't momentary, but damn it, I was sick and tired of this crap. I laid there for what must have been two hours. Sleep was not going to happen. I glanced at the clock. 4:16 AM. Figures. I got up, more grateful than anyone could imagine that I didn't have class until 2:30 the next day.
As I reached for the handle to open the bedroom door, the door suddenly yanked open and Jhondie walked right into my chest. We both took a step back, startled that the other was there. There was just enough light to show that she had been crying. And it hadn't just been in the last few minutes either. Your eyes didn't get that red from just a few minutes of tears.
She came back to me instantly, her arms encircling my neck and holding onto me tightly. I still had no clue what the hell was going on, but I wrapped my arms around her and tried to come up with a coherent sentence. I normally don't require a lot of sleep, but I did need some to function intelligently. This was a situation that should be handed after a good night's sleep. But I still gave it my best effort.
"Baby..." I said, but she cut off my words with a kiss.
"Just kiss me," she murmured against my lips. "I'm...It...Just don't stop kissing me, please."
Under normal circumstances I would have known that something was very, very wrong and would then get her to sit down with me while I got out of her what happened. But at that moment, it was more like my mind went "she wants kissing...I can do that!" and the next thing I knew we were falling back into my bed. Trying to get out of her what was wrong was important, even at that moment, I knew it, but after way too much abstinence and way too little sleep, getting her out of her pants was far more important.
Jhondie suddenly stopped moving and caught my face in her hands, our eyes meeting. The pain reflected in them tore into me deep enough to finally start waking me up. I didn't care if sex was going to have to wait or not. I had to make whatever it was that was hurting her stop.
"Tell me you love me," she whispered in a small voice. Okay. She was still making easy requests of me. This I could handle.
"With all my heart and soul, cariƱa," I whispered back to her.
"Tell me you need me." I didn't understand the desperation in her voice. I knew I should be questioning her but this seemed like the better way to get results. Maybe had I gone with instincts and made her talk, it would have saved a lot of problems down the road, but again, it was the middle of the night and what I was capable of doing was rather limited at the moment.
"I need you like I need air," I replied, caressing her face and hair. "I could live without you for about as long as I can go without breathing." For whatever reason she was asking me questions that she already knew the answers to, it seemed like what I was saying to her was helping in some strange way.
Now she was crying again, just a few tears, but she was pushing out words through them anyways. "Tell...tell me you want to be with me."
I kissed her. It seemed like the best way to explain everything to her. Why doubt me? Why doubt us? If I had been more awake it might have pissed me off, so I guess it was a good thing that I wasn't. Both of us stopped talking then and just concentrated on what was here and now. Touching and kissing and caressing, letting things come together on their own until both of us were exhausted and satiated, collapsing together in a tangle of arms and legs. Then would have been the best time for talking. I could recognize that. But her eyes were closed and she let out a tiny little snore. Good call, love, I thought and the next thing I knew the sun was rising and I was alone in bed.
I blinked a few times and got up, not sure if last night was a dream or real. From the way I was feeling, chances were that it was real, but it was still a tough call. I pulled on some shorts and went into the living room. Jhondie was out on the balcony, wrapped up in my bathrobe and leaning on the railing.
I went up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and snatching her cup of coffee with the other hand. The fact she didn't threaten my life for stealing her coffee was not a good sign in the slightest. She didn't say anything actually, just turned her head so that her face was resting against my neck. I put down the coffee and held her there with me for a long moment.
"I'm sorry," she finally said very softly. "That's what I was going to say last night, but I don't think those words made it out."
I smiled. "I read between the lines. What happened?"
She burrowed tighter against me. "Kayla...she tried to sneak her boyfriend in last night and I caught them...it wasn't pretty."
I winced. Not pretty. Yeah, I can imagine that. "So I guess I should get dressed then, huh?"
Jhondie looked up at me, confused. I smiled at her. "I told Kayla I would put a hurting on her if she made you upset. I am, as always, a man of my word, you know."
That got a wan smile in response. "I don't think that's going to be needed. It'll all blow over soon enough. Everything's going to be great the next time she wants to borrow a dress or skirt or something."
I think I wanted to believe her. I wanted to think positive that everything was just going to blow over. It was just a squall in the storm of adolescence. I should have questioned further. I should have gotten more information. I should have found out what had really happened and everything that had been said and done. Should...should...should. But I didn't. I had a lot of other things on my mind and it seemed to me that Jhondie was completely ready to get back to her old self. Hindsight is 20/20, I know, but it still drives me crazy to think of all of the torment that was to come. All because of a single missed moment of time as we stood in the early morning sunshine.
It wasn't the first time that I was woken up by a feeling of a warm body climbing into bed with me right before dawn. I opened one eye to make sure it was Jhondie and not some really strange new kind of burglar and then shut it again as she snuggled against me. I wasn't expecting her over that night but I didn't care. It was hard to get her to lie down for more than a few minutes and over the last week or so, I don't think she slept once. So whatever the reason for her to show up, I didn't care. I just stretched out, wrapping my arms around her and rubbing her back lightly. Peaceful and comfortable.
So when she jumped up, yelling at me all of a sudden, it was, to say the least, like getting a face full of cold water. "STOP PETTING ME!" she screamed all of a sudden.
"Huh?" Not everyone can be a master of words at 4:07 AM.
"I'm not a pet!" she snapped. "You can't just stroke me and think I'm going to purr and crawl up in your lap! It's not going to work!"
I managed to blink and sit up at the same time. I had never claimed to understand women and never would make that claim, but this was stumping me beyond all reason. "What?"
"Don't pet me," she repeated slowly.
I thought about what I had done. "Okay, so a week ago you liked it when I rubbed your back and now it's not okay?" I blew out a breath. I had been asleep for barely three hours and trying to have a conversation like this. Not going to happen.
I shook my head. "You know what? Don't answer that. It's too early and I'm too tired. You know where the computer and the fridge are. Do whatever you want. I'm going back to sleep." And then I fell back onto the bed.
I heard her walk out of the room and the door shut softly. I think I would have felt better if it had slammed. Slammed doors were signs of momentary irritation. This wasn't momentary, but damn it, I was sick and tired of this crap. I laid there for what must have been two hours. Sleep was not going to happen. I glanced at the clock. 4:16 AM. Figures. I got up, more grateful than anyone could imagine that I didn't have class until 2:30 the next day.
As I reached for the handle to open the bedroom door, the door suddenly yanked open and Jhondie walked right into my chest. We both took a step back, startled that the other was there. There was just enough light to show that she had been crying. And it hadn't just been in the last few minutes either. Your eyes didn't get that red from just a few minutes of tears.
She came back to me instantly, her arms encircling my neck and holding onto me tightly. I still had no clue what the hell was going on, but I wrapped my arms around her and tried to come up with a coherent sentence. I normally don't require a lot of sleep, but I did need some to function intelligently. This was a situation that should be handed after a good night's sleep. But I still gave it my best effort.
"Baby..." I said, but she cut off my words with a kiss.
"Just kiss me," she murmured against my lips. "I'm...It...Just don't stop kissing me, please."
Under normal circumstances I would have known that something was very, very wrong and would then get her to sit down with me while I got out of her what happened. But at that moment, it was more like my mind went "she wants kissing...I can do that!" and the next thing I knew we were falling back into my bed. Trying to get out of her what was wrong was important, even at that moment, I knew it, but after way too much abstinence and way too little sleep, getting her out of her pants was far more important.
Jhondie suddenly stopped moving and caught my face in her hands, our eyes meeting. The pain reflected in them tore into me deep enough to finally start waking me up. I didn't care if sex was going to have to wait or not. I had to make whatever it was that was hurting her stop.
"Tell me you love me," she whispered in a small voice. Okay. She was still making easy requests of me. This I could handle.
"With all my heart and soul, cariƱa," I whispered back to her.
"Tell me you need me." I didn't understand the desperation in her voice. I knew I should be questioning her but this seemed like the better way to get results. Maybe had I gone with instincts and made her talk, it would have saved a lot of problems down the road, but again, it was the middle of the night and what I was capable of doing was rather limited at the moment.
"I need you like I need air," I replied, caressing her face and hair. "I could live without you for about as long as I can go without breathing." For whatever reason she was asking me questions that she already knew the answers to, it seemed like what I was saying to her was helping in some strange way.
Now she was crying again, just a few tears, but she was pushing out words through them anyways. "Tell...tell me you want to be with me."
I kissed her. It seemed like the best way to explain everything to her. Why doubt me? Why doubt us? If I had been more awake it might have pissed me off, so I guess it was a good thing that I wasn't. Both of us stopped talking then and just concentrated on what was here and now. Touching and kissing and caressing, letting things come together on their own until both of us were exhausted and satiated, collapsing together in a tangle of arms and legs. Then would have been the best time for talking. I could recognize that. But her eyes were closed and she let out a tiny little snore. Good call, love, I thought and the next thing I knew the sun was rising and I was alone in bed.
I blinked a few times and got up, not sure if last night was a dream or real. From the way I was feeling, chances were that it was real, but it was still a tough call. I pulled on some shorts and went into the living room. Jhondie was out on the balcony, wrapped up in my bathrobe and leaning on the railing.
I went up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and snatching her cup of coffee with the other hand. The fact she didn't threaten my life for stealing her coffee was not a good sign in the slightest. She didn't say anything actually, just turned her head so that her face was resting against my neck. I put down the coffee and held her there with me for a long moment.
"I'm sorry," she finally said very softly. "That's what I was going to say last night, but I don't think those words made it out."
I smiled. "I read between the lines. What happened?"
She burrowed tighter against me. "Kayla...she tried to sneak her boyfriend in last night and I caught them...it wasn't pretty."
I winced. Not pretty. Yeah, I can imagine that. "So I guess I should get dressed then, huh?"
Jhondie looked up at me, confused. I smiled at her. "I told Kayla I would put a hurting on her if she made you upset. I am, as always, a man of my word, you know."
That got a wan smile in response. "I don't think that's going to be needed. It'll all blow over soon enough. Everything's going to be great the next time she wants to borrow a dress or skirt or something."
I think I wanted to believe her. I wanted to think positive that everything was just going to blow over. It was just a squall in the storm of adolescence. I should have questioned further. I should have gotten more information. I should have found out what had really happened and everything that had been said and done. Should...should...should. But I didn't. I had a lot of other things on my mind and it seemed to me that Jhondie was completely ready to get back to her old self. Hindsight is 20/20, I know, but it still drives me crazy to think of all of the torment that was to come. All because of a single missed moment of time as we stood in the early morning sunshine.
