BEASTLY

xxvi. do you wanna build a snowman

Mitch Grassi

We hadn't talked for two days after what had happened in the pool house. I avoided him, scared of what would happen. After we kissed and I saw his colors, I felt like life was restored. I could breathe again, yet my lungs were still being squeezed due to the closeness. He was a gentleman and knew I still needed space. He silently slipped away and got changed into his boxers first. I remained underneath the water and watched his every move until he disappeared, still not feeling confident in him seeing me in the nude. But I hadn't forgotten his touch. The color of his eyes never left me, either... not even after the colors suddenly faded. I noticed they only came into play when he was in the room with me, and he'd be the only thing with color. Avi's clothes were still black and white. Naomi's old photos and stories, black and white. But Scott was full of vivid color. It was frightening, yet exciting at the same time.

I found myself unable to get much sleep over the past couple of nights. I didn't want to be cooped up in my room and realized I enjoyed open space while no one was awake, so I often found myself resting my eyes and my body in the living room, bundled up underneath a blanket and snuggled up with my cat. Wyatt was so important to me, making sure I was never alone. Yet at nights when I would and turn, he'd get annoyed and leave me, presumably for Scott. He seemed like he was big and cuddly enough for the little guy, and I knew that Wyatt loved to cuddle. Sometimes. He was still a cat and gets irritated at the tiniest things. Oh, the human breathed and it inconvenienced me. Claw to the face. Though, today he knew I needed him. I was so stressed about the situation, and I figured I'd blew any tiny chance I had with Scott now that I decided to ignore him for two days.

He was in the same room as me, and I didn't need to see it to know it. I could tell how close he was, just from inhaling his scent. Gucci Guilty. I'd drop to the floor at the scent, so strong and prominent. It was indescribable. He was indescribable. I got weak every time he came around. Typically this was a sign that I was falling for him, but I honestly started the second our hands touched at my party, and it's lingered with me like an electric touch.

"H-hi, Scott."

He stepped up behind the couch, directly behind me, and put his hands gently on my shoulders. "Julian, you're up early."

I chuckled gently. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep." It was 5:37, the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully the blue skies were back in my life. The entire sky had squeezed itself into his eyes. I didn't want to turn around and seem abrupt, but I was excited to get to see color again.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?" He walked around the couch and sat down next to me, our inner legs grazing.

"I don't know... I guess since I can only see in black and white, it doesn't matter how light or dark the room is." It just got a bit lighter with you here. He placed one hand on my thigh, very low as to not intrude, and he pulled the hood of my hoodie off of my head, exposing my ugly. He looked at me like I was normal. I was in my old body. And he did something I didn't think would happen again. He put his hand behind my head, resting it at the nape of my neck, and then leaned in and grazed my lips, as if asking permission to go any further. It seemed so long ago since we'd shared our first kiss that this seemed foreign. I was very unsure if I wanted to allow this, though my body refused to listen to my mind. I accepted his graze and fell into the kiss, immediately relaxing in his touch, as if this was where I was supposed to be. His hand relaxed into a more comforting fit, shaping around my neck, and I angled my body to be more accessible, causing Wyatt to jump off of the couch and walk away. Something felt so right about this.

I pulled away first, almost unable to think. And then I thought to myself, but instead said it out loud since I almost couldn't tell the difference between reality and my dreams. "Everything's more colorful when you're here." He leaned in, this time resting his head against my forehead. This felt so right, yet inevitably so wrong. He shouldn't be this way with me. Our bodies don't look compatible, b he proved every negative thought I had wrong when he removed his forehead from mine and kissed me there, leaving a tingling feeling behind. He pulled my body into his, coaxing us to a comforting position, my body lying partially on top of his, his back against the length of the couch.