Thanatophobia (H2OVanoss)

Chapter 16

  Jonathan blinked his eyes open slowly, feeling the rough material of a couch below him. Why was he on the couch?

  Using his arms to push himself up, he squinted as light streamed in from the window. There was no window in his living room.

  He bolted up, suddenly more aware and spun around in a circle. This wasn't his house. It was well furnished, the room he was in had a large flatscreen television and tons of gaming equipment.

  An Xbox? Whose house was he in? The last thing he remembered was playing games with Luke on a Skype call, and then he went to go get some water, and then...nothing.

  Was there some sort of gap in his memory? This had never happened to him before. He decided to explore this strange house and see if he could find some sort of weapon or something telling him where he was.

He creeped out of the room into the hallway, which was painted in a shining amaranthine. He couldn't hear anyone moving, but he thought it was better to be careful. Maybe they were sleeping.

He passed the kitchen and grabbed a medium sized knife from the wooden holder on the counter. He held it close to himself and proceeded further into the house. He passed a study with some books, and one was pulled off the shelf and was sitting on a red oak desk.

He, for some strange reason, had a strong urge to look at the book and stop to read it, but his instincts made him continue his journey.

He wandered around about more until he came across a bedroom. A hockey stick hung on the door, with a Canadian oak leaf on it. Wait, couldn't Evan...

Was this Evan's house? Why was he here? Jonathan opened the door with caution and stepped inside. No one was home, judging by the made bed and the lack of people in the rest of the house.

Multiple trophies, metals, and certificates littered a shelf that was placed off to the side, and an old camera was next to some pictures.

Moving closer, Jonathan gasped at the couple in the first one. These had to be Evan's parents, they looked almost exactly like him. So he was in Evan's house, but he still couldn't remember why.

He moved around to sit on the bed, which was surprisingly soft compared to the ones in his and Luke's room. This must be what Evan does with his money; buy the softest beds ever and live luxuriously. But doesn't he get lonely?

For Jonathan, who became dependent on physical contact after living through his unusual childhood, living alone would be a nightmare. There would be no smiles, no laughter, no light touches or hugs. He couldn't fathom a life like that.

He supposed Evan had his friends online, as he played video games and used Skype a lot of the time, but it's just not the same. Then again, he and Evan were almost opposites.

  Evan liked red, he liked blue. He was tall and muscular, Jonathan was short and scrawny. And of course, Evan was beautiful. He struggled to admit to himself, but Evan was extremely attractive, and he seemed to melt in his presence.

  He knew it would never work, but despite Luke's protective warnings his heart was captured. No one can resist love. He sighed and closed his eyes,  curling up on the bed and facing the wall.

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  Evan had just gotten home from hockey practice, and his muscles were sore and tired. He deposited his bag on the ground and moved towards the bathroom.

  Before he had left earlier, he had put a change of clothes in the bathroom so he wouldn't have to walk all the way to his room.

  He got in and started the water, moaning in bliss as the heat worked its way into his skin. He sat there for a moment before reluctantly washing the sweat and other things off of himself.

  When he got out and dried off, he was about to pick up his shirt when he heard a very soft thud. It wasn't coming from the living room, so it couldn't be Jonathan (or Delirious, he reminded himself), so what was in his room?

  He wrapped a white towel around his waist and went to investigate. He crept around the corner and softly opened the door to his room.

At first, he didn't see anyone, but a shift on the bed caught his attention. He pulled back the comforter to find a small feminine figure. How did he get in here? Did he finally wake up while he was gone?

  He was about to try and wake Jonathan when he tripped and swore loudly, falling onto the bed. Barely cushioning his weight at all, his eyes met startled blue ones before his arms gave out and he collapsed.