Ernesto X Héctor short stories

The Sofa

[in this chapter Héctor and Ernesto are both still alive.]

Ernesto de la Cruz sighed. He and Héctor Rivera had been preforming a few songs for a small group of townsfolk earlier that afternoon. Although the performance itself was not painful nor long, he still felt rather tired. Ernesto lay down on the rickety sofa and pulled a hotel provided blanket over himself. The provided blanket was given to them by the small hotel they were staying in for the night to keep, as the hotel staff happened to be quite fond of Ernesto and Héctor's music.

The sofa felt as if it had small rocks in place of stuffing and the fabric made of the same material from Hèctor's beloved straw hat; however, he was grateful for an affordable place to rest.

As Ernesto slowly fell asleep on the Sofa, Héctor uttered a few curses. The jar of pickles he was trying to open would not budge. Despite using all the tricks to opening stubborn jars that he'd learned over the years, the lid would not come off. He grumbled in frustration and went into the room with the only somewhat comfortable looking item of furniture he'd seen in the hotel room. On his way to the kitchen Héctor had noticed a red sofa. He decided to take a quick nap on it after a snack. Having abandoned his hopes of a snack, Héctor looked out the window as he sat down on the sofa. Said sofa felt rather strange, Héctor decided. He figured it was the hotel's cheap budget and bad taste in furniture. After a few more moments of staring out the window, he lay on his side.

"Héctor..?", a groggy voice questioned slowly. Héctor jumped off of the sofa. "Ernesto..!", Héctor exclaimed after realizing he had been sitting on the other man rather than the sofa. "What are you doing?", Ernesto asked. Héctor had an almost unnoticeable flush to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. "I uh..", he began. Ernesto stared at him. "Do you want the sofa?", he asked. It seemed Ernesto had read Héctor's thoughts. He had wanted to sleep, and for whatever reasons; the hotel room they were staying in did not have a bed. "If you don't mind, Amigo.", Héctor offered. It seemed a bit rude to Héctor to banish Ernesto from the sofa when he had in fact been there first.

Ernesto thought for a minute. Héctor was clearly tired. His shoulders drooped a little and he was slouching ever so slightly. However, Ernesto was just as tired. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. They were friends. He could make his offer without it sounding strange.

"We could share the sofa if you would like to..", Ernesto ventured. He kept his head down, in case Héctor noticed his faint blush. Ernesto cursed himself. He sounded like a shy schoolgirl, not the bold musician he was. There was silence.

"Alright.", Héctor murmured. Taking a step toward the sofa. After carefully crawling over Ernesto, he settled down; resting his back against the sofa's inside back. Unbeknownst to Héctor, he was partially causing Ernesto to slip off of the sofa.

After a few more minutes of hanging haphazardly off of the sofa, Ernesto turned to Héctor. He grit his teeth and quickly picked up Héctor. The scrawny musician emitted a small squeak of surprise. The others man's scrawny frame and general leanness made what Ernesto was trying to accomplish much easier. Ernesto repositioned himself so he was laying on his back. He gingerly pulled Héctor onto himself. Héctor looked a little surprised, however he didn't move away; nor complain. After a few minutes of neither of them moving, Héctor carefully nuzzled his face into the crook of Ernesto's neck. When the other didn't move or push him away, he relaxed and closed his eyes to sleep. He hoped his blush wasn't as hot on Ernesto's skin as it felt to Héctor himself.

Ernesto's face was bright red. Héctor was on top of him much like the shoddy blanket they were sharing. However, Héctor was much warmer than the blanket. After a small amount of thought, Ernesto placed a hand carefully atop héctor's back and began to slowly rub circles. Héctor seemed to relax even more, seemingly falling asleep within in a minute or two of Ernesto massaging the tenseness away from his back and shoulders.

After a few minutes of looking at the ceiling and Héctor, Ernesto himself fell asleep for the second time. Héctor kept him warm throughout the night, as Ernesto did for Héctor. In his sleep, as Ernesto had noticed; Héctor was very cuddly. Ernesto was awaken once or twice by the sounds of mice or some other small rodent in the hotel in the middle of the night. After looking around he would look at Héctor. Héctor who has his bony arms wrapped around his torso and his face affectionately nuzzled into Ernesto's neck. Ernesto could feel his soft breathing against his skin, however He did not mind. Héctor did not snore, one of the reasons Ernesto had been willing to share the sofa.

Ernesto to never thought he would think his best friend could be so adorable. From whatnot, Ernesto could see he was completely relaxed, and possibly even smile a little. Ernesto closed his eyes and fell asleep, yet again. A few hours later he was awake, courtesy of the brilliant Mexican sun, and the idiots who did not think it was a good idea to put curtains on the windows. Ernesto glanced at Héctor. The other musician was still sleeping peacefully. Did Ernesto dare to wake him? Truth be told, Ernesto was rather enjoying having Héctor as a blanket. He decided to wait for a little bit, as Héctor wasn't always the best at sleeping, often staying up late to write sheet music and song lyrics for the two of them to preform.

An hour or so later Héctor was still cuddling Ernesto. He was sleeping the best he had in weeks. He was warm, and he felt safe, however; an annoying brightness that didn't seem to go away forced him to wake up. Héctor sleepily tried to burrow away from the light, wanting to sleep for a bit longer.

Ernesto chucked. It seemed Héctor was finally waking up. It was almost 10:00. They didn't have to preform until later that night, so Ernesto supposed it was fine for them to sleep in; since the only thing they'd be able to do asides from practice in the hotel room would be to visit the plaza.

"Héctor.", Ernesto whispered, gently shaking his friend's shoulder. When all he got from the half-asleep man was a small groan he decided to just let him sleep. Knowing his own sleeping patterns, Ernesto was certain he'd wake up before their performance. Ernesto tried best he could to ignore the sun and go back to sleep.

Later that evening, after the performance, Héctor and Ernesto walked back to their hotel. Arriving at the sofa they'd slept last night, Héctor peeked at Ernesto from the side of his view. The other man seemed to be thinking the same thing he was. After a moment Ernesto lay down on the sofa, the same way he had last night. He gestured for Héctor to lie down if he wanted. Héctor gratefully accepted his invitation and quickly settled into the same position they'd been in last night, albeit with a bit more confidence than last time. In the morning, the duo didn't bother getting up before noon, as they didn't have any performances.

The pair remained cuddled up together every night that they stayed in that hotel since the first night of trial.