Author's Intro/ Disclaimer: Same as always. Characters aren't mine. Long live Jonathan Larson!
When I woke up five hours later I felt much better. Collins was still holding me tight, reminding me of the awkwardness that we still had to tackle, but everything was so much more optimistic now. I moved my free hand on top of his, which was still grasping my other hand.
"Mark. I didn't realize you were awake." He let go of me except for my hand and sat up, I followed.
"Just woke up," I said, rubbing my eyes with my free hand. "Did you sleep?"
"Yeah, I haven't been up for long."
"Oh." And the awkwardness beings.
"Let just get this over with." He took my other hand in his other hand. "I am so sorry that I hurt you," he said slowly, articulating every word. "I had no idea – if I had known – if you had talked to me – "
"It's hard Collins."
"I know it's hard, but you can do it. I know you can do it. You know how I know, because we, you and I, we have a past. Back in the day, whenever you were upset about something or pissed at Roger, Maureen, or Benny, before Joanne ever came along, you always came to me. And we were always able to talk through it and work things out. And things always ended up okay. Now I'm not saying stop talking to Joanne, that woman has some good advice and can really knock some sense into both of us. But, what I am saying is we used to be friends, and now we're lovers, but we can't let that cover over the friendship that forged all of this, we still have to trust and love, and not be afraid to talk to each other.
"I was afraid to hurt you."
"Yes, but you were the one being hurt by not saying anything. No matter what, I will never stop loving you. You can call me a mother-fucking shit-head for all I care and I will still love you. Don't be afraid to talk to me. We're in this together. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Now, stop crying before you dry up like the desert. Kissing a desert is no fun. Not that I would know, I'm just assuming." We both laughed. He put his thumbs to my cheeks and smudged the tears away before his lips met mine. We kissed softly and slowly, but only for a short time before he broke it and just hugged me.
~Mark