Forced to have the Player's Kid (Book One of The Great Age Plague Series)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

I woke up drenched in sweat. The first thing my senses picked up was the clock-- an old thing in the hallway, ticking away the time. One the hour, every hour, it rang out, but right now all it did was tick. I noticed how cold I was, how the blanket I had used that night had fallen to the floor. I was wet-- sweat drenched my forehead. My breathing was labored and my heart was racing... Soft snores came from the floor in front of the blue television screen. Keon.

I couldn't remember what I was dreaming about, but I felt a hole inside me-- it was a creature gnawing at my heart, and it made me feel these raw, confusing emotions I couldn't put a name to. Maybe darkness. Maybe.

I found myself feeling nervous and fearful, so all I wanted was Josh. It wasn't a sexual thing, or a loving thing, or even a friendship thing-- it was a need for human comfort, warmth. I felt like a little kid, rushing off to her mother's room in the middle of the night, looking for comfort. He was all I had left.

When I entered the room, the stark contrast to the blue-tinted living room cleared my senses a bit, but not much. Silence. Darkness. A neatly made bed with a neatly tucked away Josh sleeping on his back. Keon could be described as a "messy sleeper"-- the kind of person who drooled and twisted his body in weird pretzel like shapes-- but Josh was a neat sleeper, the kind who could manage a sleeping mask if he wanted to. My guys, complete opposites as per usual.

I found myself crawling into bed, and as soon as the comforter shook Josh's eyes fluttered open; unfortunately, upon seeing it was only me, they shuttered back close. I felt a tenderness toward him, a bird in my pregnant stomach. I sighed, kissed him softly, and snuggled into his chest. Warmth. I was going to be safe.

***

The next morning, when I emerged from Josh's bedroom with Josh in tow, I was relieved to see Keon asleep on the floor, now wrapped in my blanket. I couldn't help but chuckle. Josh, who had woken up and promptly slumped off to the bathroom without so much as a "hello" joined me where I stood and saw me eyeing Keon.

"He's so much like you. You sleep like such a weirdo. Ya practically beat me up at night," joked Josh, making me laugh. After so much, he still retained a sense of humor, that kind of charming and handsome quality that attracted me to him in the first place.

I rolled my eyes, smacked his chest lightly, but didn't respond as I moved into the living room. Sitting down on the couch, I flipped through a magazine while Josh made coffee silently, and pondered over the events.

After our discussion on the porch, Keon and I buckled down to business before watching a Disney movie marathon. My favorite, of course, was Beauty and the Beast, as sometimes I pretty much felt like the less-French embodiment of Belle, but Keon liked Lion King the best, mostly because it reminded him of Hamlet. I had asked Josh to join us, but he declined, then went off to his room to smoke cigarettes and watch the last football game of the season (which, unfortunately, was a game on television that consisted of two of the six remaining high school football teams). Despite all the craziness of the last week, everything felt normal for once-- I was simply watching my favorite movies with my new friend while my only real family left hung out in the other room.

Perfectly enough, Keon made everything all the better. There was no worry- no worrying that he was alone, scared, or missing me. For once everything felt like it fell into place. For one night, I was simply able to just be happy.

Even with me sneaking into bed (quite romantically I might add) much of the calmness and normaliness remained; partly, I suspected, because of Keon's presence. Unfortunately, though, it was soon broken as Josh decided to cook eggs. Of course, I promptly ran to the bathroom and vomited my guts out.