Mesmerized

dieciocho.

"You're just in time." I smiled at Mahdi as I let him into my apartment, "I made shrimp tacos, nothing too fancy."

Mahdi hugged me and placed a sweet kiss on my cheek when he walked through the door, something about the simple action made my stomach flip. "Sounds good Santos, let's eat."

Soon, the two of us were seated at the tiny table that Lani and I rarely utilized as anything other than extra storage. I wasn't sure what it was about Mahdi Taylor, but I felt like I needed his approval and waited for him to take his first bite of food before I touched mine. A sweet smile accompanied by a nod of approval and a mouthful of taco let me know that he liked the food. We ate in silence for the most part, making lighthearted conversation here and there about our jobs, until I decided to bring up the night before.

"So did Lani grill you as much as Gabriel grilled me?" I chuckled after wiping at the corners of my mouth with a napkin. I'd asked the question despite knowing the answer; Lani and I had been awake for the better part of the early morning discussing the feelings that I had developed for Mahdi.

He looked at me appraisingly for a second before responding, "She wasn't hard on me, though I suppose that I don't seem like the type to hurt people." As if realizing what he'd said, he cleared his throat and clarified. "Not that you are either, Santos. Was G hard on you?"

"I wouldn't say that, he was just making sure that my intentions were pure; they are, by the way." I winked at him. "Continue to call me on my bullshit and we'll be great Mahdi."

Conversation lulled for a while as he digested my words, I wanted to stake my claim on him, but I knew that I wasn't ready yet; but we were on the right track. He cleared the table and moved through my small kitchen with ease as he tidied up; definitely a parent. I took that time to watch him, admire him. Though I was well aware of what he looked like, it was interesting to learn other things, for example, he bit the inside of his cheek when he was concentrating, and his eyebrows knitted together when he hesitated. Things like that reminded me that he was as human as I was; something that was easy to forget when he seemed so perfect.

"Let's go to my room." I suggested to him and smiled at the apprehension on my face. "Again, I'm not going to try to have sex with you Mahdi; my bed is more comfortable than the couch." I explained.

He chuckled as he followed me, I was beginning to think that Mahdi Taylor was afraid of me. We got comfortable on my bed, stretched out on opposite ends.

"Are all of your friends as protective as Gabriel?" I asked him while propping myself up on my elbow.

Mahdi shrugged. "I wouldn't say that, though I consider most other people to be more like acquaintances than friends.

"Ah, another thing in common." I joked, "You seem like the type to be friends with everyone." I commented, and he did; he seemed like the type to belong to the world, as though anything less would be selfish.

He shook his head in denial, "I'm friendly, sure, but I don't have that many friends. I've learned the hard way that I'm too empathetic for that; people take advantage of that."

The explanation gave cause to Gabriel's protective nature, his words from the day before echoed in my head Mahdi is too good for this world. He truly was an anomaly, someone too pure to exist amongst so much chaos.

"I don't have a lot of friends because interpersonal interactions drain me immensely. I can't stand most people." I told him as I crawled to the head of the bed where he was sitting with his back against my headboard and his knees bent. "You're one of the few that I actually enjoy being around."

Mahdi's eyebrows rose, "I'm impressed by the honesty, you're one of the few that I believe to be genuine; you don't want anything from me."

"I don't know if that's true," I rested my arms and chin on his knees as I looked at him. "I think that everyone wants something from the people around them. It's just that all the things I want from you are things that I hope to give you in return."