The Day of Reckoning (Prototype)

Chapter 48: Painkiller

"Ahh.. I.." Rory stumbles.

"Are you questioning?" I ask. "Or bi?"

"I-I wasn't ready for the question! Ah, I'm.. not.. straight..." He says.

"That doesn't tell me anything!" I say.

"Guess! What do you think I am?"

"Gay." I say quickly.

"N-No." He says. "Do I look gay?"

"Well, hot guys tend to be gay." I say.

Then I process what I said.

"Oh! Uh, y-you think I'm hot?" Rory asks.

"That's not what I meant! I mean, yeah, you're, uh, attractive, but I wasn't calling you hot!" I clear up.

"Oh." He says. "But, no. I'm pan." He says.

"Ohh." I say. "I can see that."

"I'm gonna assume you're bi?" He says. I nod.

"Yep. Have been for the longest."

"When did you realize?" Rory asks.

"I was 6." I say. "I had a crush on this boy, but I didn't exactly know it was a crush. I told my parents and they helped me figure out." I explain.

"Oh. So your parents were okay with it?"

"Totally. Was your's?" I ask.

"That's not really something I wanna get into right now." Rory says.

"Oh. Sorry." I say. He shakes his head.

"Some other day." Rory says. I decide to change the subject. "Let's arm wrestle! I wanna see how hard it'll be." I say.

"Okay." Rory says. We put our elbows on the table as the rain begins to die down. I put my hand in his, and he gently closes it around mine. "Let me know if I hurt you." Rory says.

"I'll be fine." I say. "3, 2, 1, go!" I start pulling back, but he doesn't budge. I try to yank him down, but he still won't move. "Heh, are you even trying?" Rory asks. I look at his arm. None of his muscles are tense!

"Y-You probably lift hippos! Hush!" I say. I put my other hand on his fist and start pulling down. "Nngh!!" I groan, but he doesn't move an inch! I try harder, still with no result. "Your hands are soft." Rory says out of nowhere.

"Wha??" I exclaim. I lose focus for a second, and my hands slip.

Its then that I realize how hard I was pulling back on his fist.

I fall back, but Rory carefully grabs my arm, pulling me up. "I'm sorry! It was just a thought." He says.

"You think my hands are soft?" I ask him.

"Ah, yeah. I mean, it's the apocalypse. Your hands should be really rough and callused. I'm just surprised they aren't." Rory says. He has a point. I don't have any calluses. Kinda weird. "Uh, do I win?" He asks. I snort.

"Sure, you win." I say. "But I can probably beat you in a fight."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" He ask with a cocky smirk.

"Unlike you, I've been trained by a veteran. I'd probably have you face down in the ground after the first few seconds." I say.

"In your dre- Agh!!" He suddenly groans. He grabs his side and sits back. "Oww... ah, fuck.."

"Ah! Is it your ribs?" I ask.

"Y-Yeah." He says. "Fuck, it hurts..."

"Okay. The rain's stopped, so let's get you into the treehouse." I say. I put his arm over my shoulder and he limps onto the pulley platform. I lift him up and he goes into the treehouse, sitting on the bench. Alfie chirps and comes over as Ell jumps onto the bench and purrs. "Hi, kitty..." Rory says.