The Alien Next Door

26 - Flashbacks and Food

POV: Jake
Phoenix was out for the count when I woke up this morning so I got started on cleaning up the place. I was halfway through hoovering when the hoover stopped working and I looked back over to the plug in confusion to find him standing there. "It's too early," he says grumpily. "Phoenix, it's twelve." "Still too early. Come back to bed?" He asks as he pouts. I won't fall for the puppy dog eyes just yet. "Let me finish and then I'll join you?" "Too loud!" He grunts as he goes back into my room. "I'll be five minutes!" I exclaim.

"It's been five minutes," He whispers from behind me as I'm wrapping up the hoover cord. "Phoenix," I say in a warning tone. "It has!" I turn around to look at him and feel my body relax a little. "You can clean later?" "One hug and then just let me clean." He wraps his arms around me and I fully relax into him. Only for him to lift me up and begin moving us towards my room. "Phoenix!" He starts laughing and nearly drops me but recovers quickly and manages to get me onto my bed. "Cuddles?" He pouts. "Fine! But not for too long."

"Can we go to the farm soon?" He asks me as we're laying in bed. Our limbs are draped over each other and he's gently touching my hands. "Sure, but you've got to book work off. Do you have a lot of holiday left?" I reply. "Not much but we can go for a few days. I want to go away with you again." I smile and lift his hand to my lips and give it a soft kiss. Younger me would never imagine their self in this situation. Phoenix adjusts himself and brings me closer to him. "What you thinking about?" He whispers. "About how far I've come." I reply with a content sigh. He seems to nod in agreement before placing a kiss into my hair.

I fell asleep and awoke to an empty bed. "Phoenix?" I ask to the flat. "Yeah?" He replies from the kitchen. We stay in silence for a few seconds and then he appears in the doorway with yellow rubber gloves on and a sponge in one hand. "I don't need a bath," I say as I get a quick flashback from my childhood of being in hospital. "Oh sorry! Are you okay?" Phoenix asks after he disappears and returns gloveless. "Yeah... give me a bit." I reply as I sit up in bed and try to catch my breath. "Can I help?" "Not yet," I struggle to say.

"I'm sorry," Phoenix says as he's rubbing my back to try and calm me down a little. "You didn't know. Heck I didn't even know," I reply. I'm sat on the edge of the bed hunched over breathing a little easier then before but still struggling a little. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asks softly. "It was just a flashback," I reply. I've briefly mentioned them before and he must remember because he doesn't push anymore.

"Thank you," I tell him after I know I'm fully okay now. "Anytime, I mean that." I look over at him and lean in for a kiss. "Maybe next time I shouldn't be a nice boyfriend and clean your flat." "Well, the cleaning was a nice gesture. And the flashback wasn't your fault, we can blame my noggin." He laughs in response and gives me another kiss. I tackle him into the bed and get comfy on him before closing my eyes and letting sleep take me again.

POV: Phoenix
That was slightly terrifying. Only now that he's sleeping on top of me do I have the chance to look back on the past half an hour. I look at him sleeping peacefully and continue rubbing his back. I really do love this man. I plant a kiss in his messy hair and he stirs slightly in his sleep. "Shhh," I whisper. I just want to take all his pain away.

"Good morning sleepy," I say as he lifts his head to look at me before putting it back on my chest. "Hmm," He replies. He takes his hand and pokes me in the face, I would swat it away but I'm holding onto him for dear life so he doesn't fall off of me. He continues to poke and adjusts himself on me so he's more comfortable and I'm no longer holding him up. "How you feeling?" I ask. "Better. Hungry, but better." He responds. "If you let me up then I can fix that," "But you're so comfy," he whines.

Eventually Jake let me get up and I'm now cooking some pasta carbonara for him as I know he likes it. The timer goes off and I dish it up, I didn't even have to call him because Jake practically ran in here when he heard the timer. "Here you go," I say as I hand him the plate and a fork. I couldn't even get a kiss in before he was on the sofa scoffing his food down.

"Thank you," He says aloud as we're watching modern family on the sofa.  "I mean it, thank you for everything Phoenix." He adds. "You don't need to thank me, I love you Jake and I want to be here with you through everything. Thank you for putting up with me!" "You are pretty stinky" He responds leaning away from me. I look at him is fake shock and start tickling him, no way he's getting away with that.