Red and Black – Chapter 5
So I'm starting this chapter in the air, if everything goes to plan then I will finish in the air too and you'll get two chapters in one day but if I randomly change writing styles half-way through you'll know that I landed and went to bed before finishing it.
Does the cabin air on planes make anyone else's throat sting or is it just me? Never mind, I'm rambling,
So here's what you missed on Glee:
Gordon thought that he was the last one in the changing room. There was something about the emptiness of a large space that he enjoyed; perhaps it reminded him of the ocean.
He finished pulling his team shirt over his head and started putting his damp kit back into its bag. He was suddenly startled by the slam of the door opening, Konstantinov, the Russian swimmer stormed in in a rage. He was looking high and low all around the changing rooms for something, tearing the place to pieces in the process. He violently threw towels out of their baskets and pushed soap bottles off of their shelves, his grunting getting louder and heavier as he went on. He finally stopped his rampage and turned around sharply and began striding towards Gordon at an alarming pace.
Gordon tried to step away but his back was quickly met with the cold tile wall. Gordon was beyond intimidated, Konstantinov was twice his size and a dangerously fierce opponent in the pool; he silently prayed to God or whoever would listen that he wouldn't be torn to shreds by the mountainous creature before him.
"You," he spat, in a thick Muscovite accent that only made him more threatening.
"'Vhat you do wiz' my soap?" Konstantinov was now inches from Gordon's face, and at this stage Gordon doubted that all the self-defence lessons in the world could not have prepared him for this; Gordon accepted that there was no chance he could fight his way out of this, he was strong in and out of the water, but not enough for Konstantinov.
"Nyet, nyet!" (No, no!) Gordon managed to splutter out, racking his brain for any Russian that John had taught him.
"Ya nyet iimit muulo!" (I no have soap!) Gordon could barely breathe, his accent was terrible and despite his best efforts he knew that his sentence didn't make much sense; even if words were now his only defence. Konstantinov picked Gordon up by his shirt, sliding him up the wall and bringing him to face height. Konstantinov growled with rage and Gordon squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away, waiting for death. Gordon reckoned that at this height he could probably kick Konstantinov in the balls and make a run for it, but even then there was no guarantee that he would be able to get away fast enough without being caught, and even if he did he would probably get suspended from the Olympics altogether.
"Hey!" Gordon opened one eye on hearing the mystery voice, the light on his face meant that Konstantinov must have turned his head to look at the voice. Gordon tried to think of who it was. British? Gordon thought, he couldn't quite tell.
"You left your soap in your shower you great wanker." Yep, he thought, definitely British. Konstantinov took one last glance at Gordon and, without warning, dropped his shirt and left him fall to the floor. Gordon was grateful to have the wall to hold him up after his shock, and that he now had a breathable amount of air around him. He looked up to see who the mystery voice belonged to, it was Anderson; his British opponent, so this guy was his saviour.
Anderson handed Konstantinov the soap without a word, but Gordon couldn't take his gaze off of Anderson's menacing eyes as they stared at Konstantinov, daringly; and he could only think of his luck that it was this person who had basically saved him from annihilation. After the seemingly long stare-down ended between the two, Konstantinov walked out of the changing rooms; his face still furrowed with anger.
Anderson ran towards Gordon, and his heart started pounding more than it had done when he was literally three centimetres away from death. Gordon hadn't noticed that he was still half-shaking and half-standing since he had been entirely concentrating on someone who was not himself. Anderson gently grasped Gordon's forearms and pulled him up to a stand. Gordon quickly noticed that his mouth was gaping open in awe, and shut it just before Anderson made eye contact.
"You alright, Tracy?" He said calmly, Gordon struggled to find an answer; struck in amazement for the man holding him up; even just by the fact that he had bothered to step in, and that he was a brilliant swimmer, and damn he thought, the hair. In his paralysed state of simultaneous confusion and enlightenment, he had forgotten entirely about giving him an answer.
"Um, yeah, I, thanks; I mean..." Gordon tripped and fell over his own words and saw no way to redeem himself. Great, he thought, now I really look like a total idiot.
"Are you sure? He deserves to be kicked out of the race tomorrow, frankly; I thought he was going to eat you or something. I can speak to the board if you like, get him suspended." Gordon chuckled slighlty, and was touched his humour and his offer.
"No, don't worry, I um, we, err..." Gordon noticed that Anderson was still holding onto him, and that he could feel his pulse; it was racing as fast as his. Was it down to adrenaline? Or shock? Or was he experiencing the same thing as Gordon? Gordon felt a panic rise in him at the prospect, he breath shortened too quickly for Gordon to keep up with himself. Oh god, his thoughts were bouncing off of each other and everything in his throat started to stick, am I about to have a panic attack? Oh please God no.
"It's just, I didn't want to fight him in case he was stronger or he killed me, or I couldn't get away fast enough, or in case I got suspended, but now I'm more concerned about he'll say about you I mean..." Gordon felt something stop him in his way, stop his aimless ramblings; something soft and warm pressed against his lips. He looked down to see Anderson, Gordon almost pulled away by accident; his mind had become a flustered tornado of disbelief that this was even happening to him.
In that moment, Gordon threw away all elements of sanity and care; he pressed harder into the luscious kiss, conforming to it, living by it for those few precious seconds. He felt Anderson lean into the kiss, accepting that he was being kissed back and delicately reached up to cup Gordon's face and bring him closer. Gordon felt weightless for the first time in his life; he exhaled sharply as Anderson released himself suddenly from their heavenly embrace. Every vibrancy about the moment evaporated and vanished; Gordon looked up and only saw Anderson's shameful expression.
"I'm sorry, I ummm, need to, sorry, um, be... somewhere." He ran out of the changing rooms faster than Gordon could quite grasp, he tried to yell after him:
"Wait..." But he was not heard.
Gordon sat down on the bench beside his bag, and for the first time that day; he truly smiled.
YOOOOOOO! You got two chapters after all! 1320 words is like, double what I had intended on writing for this bit and sorry that it's such a cliché moment but I'm dehydrated with nothing better to do.
And BestUsernameEver54321 you got that kiss you wanted, and don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from!
I promise to update soon, maybe tomorrow, or today? I don't know, time zones are weird.
Continuing my shoutout for Artemisdesari, she is still the true homie and is an absolute dear!
Please R&R for free space kittens, now with extra fluff.
Salutations, my good citizens!