Fugitive

Part 7

I couldn't bring myself to tell Rosie my real name. 

Meanwhile, Ray came to wake me up in the middle of the night, looking like he had been awake for days. "Jack, listen. Rosie just can't know everything." 

"Got it." I rolled my eyes as he crossed his legs at the foot of my bed. A single lamp on the nightstand was dimly filling as much of the room with light as it could. I felt like that lamp: doing as much as I could, but still feeling like there was so much left to do. 

"You know," I told Ray, "you and Rosie have a lot in common. I'm starting to regret telling you I was about to tell her my real name." 

"I don't think you get it, Jack. Rosie is innocent, and I doubt you want to change that about her." 

"It depends." 

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" he whispered harshly. 

"No, no, I didn't mean for that to sound inappropriate. Just, hear me out." 

"No. No way. You're nasty. If you wanna have at my sister, don't drag me into it." 

"No, Ray, please! It's not that," I chuckled. I reached out my hands to his and squeezed them. He yanked his own hands back and frowned at the door.... looking like a child again. "Would you.... actually be upset if I.... If I liked Rosie?" 

His nostrils flared for a split second, then he tensed every muscle in his face so that I couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or flat out pissed. "You can't drag her into every detail because she'll just be in as much danger as the both of us. If you cared about her like I do, then maybe I wouldn't have to sit here and explain it to you." 

"I never asked you to be here, Ray. I never prayed for some street smart baddie like you to come into my life at the most convenient time and hide me away from my mom so that I wouldn't get caught for a crime I didn't commit. Even in this moment, I thought I'd get some sleep, but then you showed up and starting interrogating me about what I've told your sister. When will it end? When can I go home? When can I just find a nice girl, settle down, and make a name for myself that doesn't include a criminal record?" I panted lightly with my hands, face up, on my knees. 

Ray's face was unreadable, until he turned towards the little amount of light shining from behind my shoulder. He looked distressed in ways I never thought imaginable. His eyes were glazed with tears, his mouth was curved, but sucked in, and his nostrils were flaring in and out at my remarks. He sat up and moved closer to me. "...." He didn't say a word as he continued to close the space between us in the bed. 

I began to lean back from the lack of air I was getting in the massive room. "Ray, what're you doing?" I held up my fists over my neck, not in offense, but defense. 

Ray climbed over me until I was on my back, and my head was on the sheet, with a plush pillow on either side. I squinted my eyes shut, but still felt his leg swing over my waist and help him to tighten his hold on me. I was speechless, paralyzed, but most of all.... relieved. 

Every ounce of guilt that piled in me around Rosie seemed to be pouring out onto Ray. His body pressed onto mine and every bad feeling went from my chest to his. Even with his breath upon my face, I couldn't feel stressed or worried. I was content in his arms. I wonder if he knows what he's doing. Maybe he's really more than just street smart. He knows how to calm my nerves and I like it.

What I didn't expect was Ray's nose brushing ticklishly over my cheeks. I grinned as I lay beneath him, completely at his disposal. No matter how harshly I waited for him to treat me, he just brushed the tip of his nose against every inch of my face and rubbed his cheeks against mine. I thought I was about to get a beating! Why is he coddling me?!