Sweet Surrender (Short Story) ✔

4

A recurrent noise woke him up some time after sunrise.

His eyes were kind of matted because of his troubled sleep and they felt hot and swollen, hands and feet on the contrary were as cold as ice and numb. He rubbed his cheek against the blanket and drew his legs closer to his body to protect them from the cold.

The noise occurred again and he identified it as knocking at his door.

He ignored it.

It didn't stop, even increased in volume and urgency.

Still disorientated he groped for the television's remote and turned it on. Some crime series flickered over the screen and the voices of the actors calmed him enough to ignore the constant knocking.

"Lex!"

He flinched uneasily and buried his head under the blanket so Huntington wouldn't be able to see him. Reality was nothing he wanted to be bothered with at the moment.

"I know that you're in there!" the man shouted through the closed door and hammered against it. "Please open."

"No," Lex whispered and shook his head although Huntington couldn't see it.

The Asian food from the day before suddenly came to his mind and he surged up as though bitten by the bug, grabbed the container and hurried with it towards the kitchen to dispose of it in the trash can. As soon as the plastic top was closed, his fast breaths calmed down.

Determined, he faced the door. He could do this.

His hand trembled when he laid it on the handle and gathered his courage. Then he pushed it down.

Blake looked at him with piercing blue eyes and Lex recoiled reflexively. No, he couldn't do that!

"Lex..."

A hot-cold shudder ran down his spine and he felt warmth.

"I've got breakfast." Blake raised his hand which held a paper bag that emitted the smell of fresh Bakery products. "Bagels."

"I'm not hungry," Lex explained hollowly and wanted to close the door but Blake put a foot forward and stopped him. He immediately let go of the handle as if it had burned his limb.

"You should eat something," Blake reprimanded him gently and rustled with the paper bag whereupon the smell got stronger. Bagels didn't sound so bad.

"But only breakfast," he warned seriously and Blake nodded.

"Only breakfast," he confirmed and Lex invited him in with a clumsy gesture.

He felt Blake's gaze almost boring between his shoulder blades when he turned his back on him to shuffle to the kitchen, all the while feeling the smooth, cool hardwood floor under his feet. Although he wasn't thirsty he took a bottle of water out of the fridge and drank some of it. Everything to gain some distance between him and his visitor.

He propped his hands on the countertop and scrutinized Huntington extensively. Instead of a formal suit he today wore frayed jeans, just as run-down leather boots and a dark gray caban with six buttons arranged in two neat rows. His dark hair was messy, perhaps because of the wind, perhaps intentionally. Lex had the desire to slip with him under the coat and warm himself on the big body.

When Blake raised questioningly and a bit mockingly a brow he diverted his gaze. He didn't need to know that he could have been the man out of Lex' dream. He was already cocky enough.

"Take a hot shower or at least put something on before you freeze to death," Blake advised him and placed the bagels on the countertop. Lex looked down at himself and spotted the briefs. He had something on. But he would comply with Huntington's wish when it meant that the man was making breakfast that consisted of more than milk and cornflakes.