Chapter 14: This New Life

Two Years Later: Asheville, North Carolina

My eyes struggled to adjust to the flashing neon lights beaming all around me. It was two in the morning and the night sky brimmed with twinkling white stars. Of course, that was outside the window next to me. I'd be sitting there in a beautiful haze for what seemed like forever. The club around me was filled with so many people, all dancing and having the time of their lives. Smoke slid off my lips and into the air. As the music entranced my soul, I followed the thin wisps of white smoke as they twirled in spirals in front of my eyes. I was getting a bit tired though and it was beginning to become more apparent. I took another swig from my beer and exhaled deeply, resting my head back against the couch to gaze upon the stars once again.

The moonlight peaked ever so slightly over the mountain tops and other than the lights around me, I couldn't see any outside for miles. This place had become like home to me. Whenever I came here, I mostly lost myself in my own world to the electronic music. The air was like Christmas, filled with laughter and mesmerizing colors, and the promise of a good time. I felt my eyes getting heavy and I knew I should've started to head back to my apartment, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave the peace I was engulfed in.

"Hey man." I heard someone say. The couch seemed to sink in a bit next to me and that's when I realized that I was no longer alone. I opened my eyes and looked to my right and saw a couple of older men and a woman, each wearing brightly colored glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets. The colors caught my attention and every time they moved, it was as if the colors streaked through the air slowly. I sat up a bit and tried to clear my throat.

"Hey, what's up?" As much as I tried to not sound groggy, I felt my efforts failing me. The woman slid in closer to me, leaning up against me and smiling.

"Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, I am."

"That's good, that's good." I slowly moved out of her embrace to reach for my beer, but she insisted on re-invading my personal space. If I wasn't so spaced out at the moment, I'd have pushed her off of me and told her I wasn't interested. Looking into her eyes, I noticed she was wearing glasses. Right away, I was reminded of Julia. It had been two years now since I'd seen her, or anyone else for that matter. I wondered what she was doing at that very moment. Had she forgotten me? Had they all forgotten me? If they did, I couldn't blame them. I left without a word and with no way to contact me. There'd been two more King of Iron Fist Tournaments in that time span, and I'd skipped on both of them. I couldn't help but wonder if Julia had been searching for me. Or…King.

"Hey, wake up!" the woman yelled into my ear. I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked at her again. She smiled and nodded to the two older men behind her. I'd almost forgotten that they were there.

"My friends want to know if you want to come hang out with them." Glancing over her shoulder, I saw the couple giving me an awkward smile that turned into an uncomfortable smirk. It felt off, like the kind of smile you make when you are trying not to laugh. I moved her off of my shoulder and reached for my beer. This time, she didn't fling herself at me again.

"No thanks, I think I'm good." She shrugged at my response and looked over to the men, who didn't seem like they were going to move anytime soon. Raising my glass to my lips, I felt someone grab my wrist and stop me.

"Don't drink that." I looked up to see a handsome man, probably in his mid-thirties or so. He was tall, wearing a black see-through mesh t-shirt with a white tie loosely hanging around his neck. His jeans were ripped at the knees and covered with several blue plaid designs. He had a nice build, looked a bit tough, and wore his black hair in gelled spikes. He took the glass out of my hand and slowly poured it on the three strangers beside me. Before I could ask what was going on, the man looked at me and motioned to the now empty glass.

"These mother fuckers dropped a pill in it while she distracted you." Becoming angered, I started to stand up before I felt his hand against my chest.

"It's not worth it, man. Besides, the owner is calling the cops right now." He stood firmly in place, looking down at all three of the culprits before they got up and ran towards the exit. Once they were gone, he laughed to himself while shaking his head.

"Pathetic. They won't get far." I couldn't believe what had just taken place, I felt like I was still locked in confusion.

"Are you okay?" I heard him ask me. I looked up to him, feeling reassured by his smile. I nodded slowly, rubbing my tired eyes and slapping my hand against my thigh in frustration.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay."

"Cool. Sorry for getting in your business there, but something tells me you weren't aware of what they were planning."

"No, I really appreciate it. Thank you, umm…"

"Scott. Scott Firestone." He smiled and offered me his hand. He had a firm handshake and I struggled to find words to say. He looked down slightly, gave me one last smile, and started to turn away. Not entirely sure why, I spoke up before he could leave.

"Wait! Thank you, Scott. My name is Peter. Do you want to sit?" I motioned to the empty space next to me and to my surprise, he sat down and assumed a relaxed position. He looked down to my hand and it was then that I realized he noticed what was in it.

"Are you smoking pot?" I immediately blushed, unsure if he would approve or not. I suddenly found myself trying to come up with excuses as fast as I could.

"Normally, I wouldn't but I-"

"It's cool, man. I'm not here to judge you. I've done my fair share of partying too, believe me." I sighed with relief and exhaled my worries away.

"Oh, good. For a second, I wasn't sure if you were put off by it or not."

"I know, you should've seen your face. It was cute." I found myself slightly jumping at his words, looking over at him and quickly forcing a smile. In the time that I'd been out here, I hadn't really had much human interaction. I found it best that I kept to myself and stayed off everyone's radar. Holding the joint up, I handed it to him and smiled.

"Do you want some?"

"Yeah man, why not?" I watched as he lit the end of the joint and breathed in deeply, holding his breath for a few seconds before exhaling a burst of smoke. He coughed a little bit but not nearly as much as me, telling me he was indeed used to this life of partying. Covering his cough, he handed it back to me.

"It's okay, you can smoke it. I've got plenty back at home." He gave me a brief thumbs up before lighting it back up. A few puffs later, I joined him and before I knew it, the world had returned to this peaceful beautiful place I'd been in earlier. Only this time, I had someone with me. Looking over at Scott, I could see him beginning to go through the laughing phase. Seeing him attempt to hide his smile and laugh only prompted me to laugh along with him.

"This stuff is good, man. Anyways, Peter, what's your story? I've seen you around here and in town a lot. You don't really seem to talk much."

"You have?"

"It's a bit of a small town."

"I don't really have a story. I just moved here two years back. Really wanted to be somewhere with mountains." He leaned closer to me and nudged me with his elbow.

"Oh c'mon. Everybody has a story." As nice as he was, I wanted to leave my old life behind. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. This was a fresh start for me, a new life. And in this new life, there would be no King, no confusion, and no more unnecessary pain that I could do without. To my surprise, Scott started to change the subject.

"Okay. I'll tell you mine instead. I actually used to be famous, would you guess that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was actually a part of a band called The Bullet Slingers. Ever heard of us?" Not wanting to offend him, I feigned a smile and nodded.

"Yeah, I think so, maybe." Scott looked at me and laughed.

"You're a bad liar, you know that?" Laughing to myself, I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I was never a big music person."

"It's okay. We used to be big. But our lead singer and I were stupid enough to get involved romantically. In the end, she pretty much tore the group apart and we disbanded." Upon hearing the word, she, I gave him a confused look. This whole time, I'd been assuming that since he was sitting here talking to me, that he was gay. Had I been that off about this guy?

"Oh, yeah. I'm bisexual. Sorry, I saw you looked lost for a second there." I was shocked that he had been able to read me that well having just met me.

"Ohhh, okay. Yeah I'm not going to lie, I was a little confused."

"But yeah, after we disbanded, none of us were really able to get that solo fame. So we all kind of went and did our own things. I bartended for a bit, then I was a bouncer, and now I do underground cage matches." His last sentence threw me off.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Got a small following online. It's been a fun experience." At this point I found myself severely tempted to tell him about my life as a King of Iron Fist competitor and knowing what he meant by dabbling a bit in fame. While I was no movie star, I'd been recognized several times since I'd entered my first tournament. But that was mostly by sports enthusiasts and fans of Martial Arts in general. Against my will, I found myself opening my mouth, getting ready to relate to him on a different level. However, I began to remember why I decided to keep my old life secret. I had to bury it for good. That was the only way to leave the pain in the past. So deciding against it, I lit another drag and leaned back into the couch.

Over the next few minutes, we engaged in small talk. We filled the silence with random humorous questions. It was probably the 'high' talking but it sure felt interesting to sit and talk with someone after so long. Time seemed to stretch into nothingness and I didn't mind it at all. In fact, something felt different with this person. It was as if I'd somehow known him all my life. I just felt so comfortable being around him and I didn't have the urge to get up and walk away at any point. We found ourselves looking over at the moon together, watching it slowly fade behind the night clouds.

"You want to get out of here?" His words snapped me back to reality. Looking over, I saw his eyes were locked with mine. I found myself unsure of what to say. While I normally wouldn't have entertained the idea, I also did not want to leave his side. But I had no choice because the club was going to be closing soon. I found myself asking if I could trust this man. I mean, he'd just saved me from being date raped so surely, he wasn't a bad guy. I mentally laughed at myself. Making good choices was never my strong point. Looking back into his eyes, he smiled and patted my knee.

"Of course, I'm not pressuring you. We don't have to, you know." I'd thought about how lonely I'd been feeling these past two years. Going home to no one night after night. Having no friends at all anymore. The most interaction I'd had lately was babysitting my neighbor's cat that one week. Sighing and shaking my head, I looked at him again and smiled.

"Sure, why not?" Scott smiled and offered me his hand. Taking it, I allowed him to guide me through the club, out of the doors into the night sky, and towards his car. Shockingly, he held the passenger door open for me. This feeling had become so foreign to me that I wasn't sure what to make of it. Once he got in the car, he lowered the windows and took off into the curvy mountain road. Still being high, I was glad that I wasn't the one behind the wheel. I tried my best not to be afraid, but he was definitely a speed demon of sorts. He whipped through the winding roads with so much ease and precision. The whole time, I just kept thinking to myself, what if we go flying off the mountainside, or, what if a deer steps into the road?

Looking over, I could tell that Scott was finding amusement in my fear. Although, it was more of a rush than anything else. I'd never been in a car moving so fast before. I sunk into the seat and resisted closing my eyes. I grabbed for anything to hold onto. Over the wind, I could hear Scott playfully laughing at me.

"You want me to slow down?"

"Uh, yeah maybe that would be cool." As soon as I spoke, he floored the gas pedal and took off even faster. Feeling the momentum increase, I grabbed onto Scott's knee and screamed and laughed all at once. After a few seconds, he slowed the car down, trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard. And that's when I realized it. For the first time in a long time, I was actually enjoying being alive. I looked over, realizing I still had my hand on his knee. His smile was mesmerizing and he made me feel so happy somehow. This was a feeling I'd long forgotten. Slowly, I removed my hand and gave him a playful jab in the arm. Before long, we pulled into a winding driveway, passing through various woods and trees.

"We're here." Regaining my body's inertia back, I stepped out of the car and followed him to the front door. As I followed him through the yard, my first thought was how nice his house looked. From what I could make out in the dark, the house was big and had several walls made of reinforced glass.

"After you." Scott said as he held open the door for me. Once he flipped on the light switch, my eyes adjusted to the various pieces of modern furniture and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The house was dimly lit but it gave off a warm and cozy feel. Looking forward at the mantle ahead, I looked at the pictures he had hanging over the fireplace. Most of them were pictures of his band members and shows that he'd performed in. Several had him playing an electric guitar and singing into a microphone next to a beautiful woman with red hair. I assumed it was the ex-girlfriend he'd told me about before.

"Wow. This house is beautiful." My words trailed off my tongue matter of fact-like as my gaze continued to wander my surroundings.

"Thanks. I try to keep it updated as much as I can. Glad you like it. Would you like anything to drink or eat?"

"Oh, no Scott I'm okay but thank you for offering." As I finished my sentence, he held out his hand to me, nodding towards the spiral staircase behind him.

"Shall we?" Doing my best to hide my nervousness, I took his hand and followed him up the stairs. We walked down the hallway and I took note of the various artistic paintings that adorned the walls. Once we reached the bedroom, I was completely taken by the design of it. The entire back wall where the bed faced was made of glass. The view was breathtaking. It offered a view of the mountains, the moon and stars cascading across the sky. The room itself was spacious and its gray color scheme widened the area. The bed was larger than needed but was covered in silk-like black sheets with red trim. Other than the sound of crickets outside, the ceiling fan spun in place and gave the room a subtle soft breeze.

"It must be nice to live like this. The view alone is amazing."

"It is. But it's better to see it with someone else." Locking eyes with me, Scott pulled off his tie and kicked off his shoes. Slowly and seductively, he removed his mesh t-shirt from his body, taking a few seconds to run his fingers down his chiseled frame. His fingers reached his belt, undoing it slowly before unzipping his pants. As his pants slithered down his legs, he never broke eye contact with me. Moving towards me, he wrapped his arms around my waist and guided my hands to his boxers. I took in the various tattoos on his body that I hadn't seen before and took a deep breath as he slowly leaned down to me.

Closing my eyes, I felt his soft lips press against mine. I couldn't help but remember that the lass kiss I had was with King. I remembered that day two years ago, slowly removing his mask to look him in the eye. I kissed him for the first and last time that day. As I recalled the feeling, I could feel Scott's hands slowly gripping the bottom of my shirt and the top of my jeans. I then remembered when King came into my room and ripped the towel from my waist. I remembered giving myself to him only to understand that he would never feel the same way about me, the way that I felt about him.

Scott's hand traveled up my shirt and everything came back to me. Being stuck out in the rain, only for King to comfort me and keep me warm. Crashing through the table in the hotel, and having King spend the night holding me close. Him taking me to the hospital to get stitches after I got attacked that night at the bar. Him refusing to let me drive to get Julia because he knew I was too tired. I could almost feel him and his body heat. The ghost of a love I'd never have had finally found me. I'd spent these years running from it, but here it was haunting me again. I can't. I can't.

"Peter? Are you okay?" Scott's words pulled me out of my thoughts. He was wiping a tear away from my face that I didn't even know had fallen. Looking away, I wiped my face and forced a smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry, I don't know what that was about." I leaned back forward to kiss him again but he instead pulled me in for a hug.

"Did somebody hurt you? Is that your story?" I was shocked at his perception but found myself slowly accepting his embrace, exhaling deeply into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. Let's just get some sleep, and I'll take you home in the morning if that's okay?" I pulled away and looked up at his face and was met with a genuine smile. Moving away from me, he grabbed a t-shirt and pajama pants from his dresser and put them on. Unsure of what to do, I watched as he climbed into bed and held his hand out to me. Hesitating, I reached out to him and got into the bed with him. I laid on my side and was surprised when I felt his arms reach around me from behind. I could feel him resting his head against mine, feeling his breath trickle across my hair. Looking around the room one last time, I found myself reaching up to grab his hand as I closed my eyes. There it was again. The feeling of safety. The feeling of being understood. I didn't know what was going to happen in the morning, but there, in that moment, I wished I could be here forever.