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𝔈𝔭𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔡𝔢 𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔢𝔢𝔫 ✔️

But Mrs. Gibson hadn't said they'd given her any drugs. Frowning, Andy turned back to the unresponsive girl.

"Lisa, it's me, Andy. I just wanted to talk to you about last night. I want you to know that I believe you about what happened." Andy ignored the sharp glance Jack gave him and continued. "And I wanted to ask you-"

"No!" It was a shriek, raw and piercing, torn from Lisa's throat. The body that had been as still as a wax figure exploded into violent action. Lisa's light-brown hair whipped across her cheeks as she tossed her head back and forth and her hands flailed at the empty air. "No! No!" she screamed.

"Do something!" Mikey gasped. "Mrs. Gibson! Mrs. Gibson!"

Andy and Jack  were trying to hold Lisa on the bed, and she was fighting them. The shrieking went on and on. Then suddenly Lisa's mother was beside them, helping to hold her, pushing the others away.

"What did you do to her?" she cried.

Lisa clutched at her mother, calming down, but then the heavy-lidded eyes glimpsed Andy over Mrs. Gibson's shoulder.

"You're part of it! You're evil!" she screamed hysterically at Andy. "Keep away from me!" Andy was dumbfounded. "Lisa! I only came to ask-"

„I think you'd better leave now. Leave us alone," said Mrs. Gibson, clasping her daughter protectively. "Can't you see what you're doing to her?"

In stunned silence, Andy left the room. Mikey and Jack followed.

"It must be drugs," said Mikey once they were out of the house. "She just went completely nonlinear."

"Did you notice her hands?" Jack said to Andy. "When we were trying to restrain her, I got hold of one of her hands. And it was cold as ice."

Andy shook his head in bewilderment. None of it made sense, but he wouldn't let it spoil his day. He wouldn't. Desperately, he searched his mind for something that would offset the experience, that would allow him to hold on to his happiness.

"I know," ge said. "The boarding house."

"What?"

"I told Rye to call me today, but why don't we walk over to the boarding house instead? It's not far from here."

"Only a twenty-minute walk," said Mikey. He brightened. "At least we can finally see that room of his."

"Actually," said Andy , "I was thinking you two could wait downstairs. Well, I'll only get to see him for a few minutes," he added, defensively, as they looked at him. It was odd, perhaps, but he didn't want to share Rye with his friends just yet. He was so new to him that he felt almost like a secret.

Their knock on the shining oak door was answered by Mrs. Flowers. She was a wrinkled little gnome of a woman with surprisingly bright black eyes.

"You must be Andy," she said. "I saw you and Rye go out last night, and he told me your name when he came back."

"You saw us?" said Andy, startled. "I didn't see you."

"No, no you didn't," said Mrs. Flowers, and chuckled. "What a pretty boy you are, my dear," she added. "A very pretty boy." She patted Andys cheek.

"Uh, thank you," said Andy uneasily. He didn't like the way those birdlike eyes were fixed on him. He looked past Mrs. Flowers to the stairs. "Is Rye home?"

"He must be, unless he's flown off the roof!" said Mrs. Flowers, and chuckled again. Andy laughed politely.

"We'll stay down here with Mrs. Flowers," said Jack to Andy, while Mikey rolled his eyes in martyrdom. Hiding a grin, Andy nodded and mounted the stairs.

Such a strange old house, he thought again as he located the second stairway in the bedroom. The voices below were very faint from here, and as he went up the steps they faded entirely. He was wrapped in silence, and as he  reached the dimly lit door at the top, he had the feeling he had entered some other world. Him knocking sounded very timid. "Rye?" He could hear nothing from inside, but suddenly the door swung open.Everyone must look pale and tired today , thought Andy, and then he was in his arms.

Those arms tightened about him convulsively. "Andy. Oh, Andy..."

Then he drew back. It was just the way it had been last night; Andy could feel the chasm opening between them. Ge saw the cold, correct look gather in his eyes.

"No," he said, hardly aware that she spoke aloud. "I won't let you." And he pulled his mouth down to his.

For a moment there was no response, and then he shuddered, and the kiss became searing. His fingers tangled in his hair, and the universe shrank around Andy. Nothing else existed but Rye, and the feel of his arms around him and the fire of his lips on his.

A few minutes or a few centuries later they separated, both shaking. But their gaze remained connected, and Andy saw that Rye's eyes were too dilated for even this dim light; there was only a thin band of green around the dark pupils. He looked dazed, and his mouth-that mouth!-was swollen.

"I think," he said, and he could hear the control in his voice, "that we had better be careful when we do that."

Andy nodded, dazed himself. Not in public, he was thinking. And not when Mikey and Jack were waiting downstairs. And not when they were absolutely alone, unless...

"But you can just hold me," he said.

How odd, that after that passion he could feel so safe, so peaceful, in his arms. "I love you," he whispered into the rough wool of his sweater.

He felt a quiver go through him. "Andy," he said again, and it was a sound almost of despair.

He raised his head. "What's wrong with that? What could possibly be wrong with that, Rye? Don't you love me?"

"I..." He looked at him, helplessly-and they heard Mrs. Flowers's voice calling faintly from the bottom of the stairs.

„Boy! Boy! Rye!" It sounded as if she were pounding on the banister with her shoe.

Rye sighed. "I'd better go see what she wants." He slipped away from him, his face unreadable.

Left alone, Andy folded his arms across his chest and shivered. It was so cold here. He ought to have a fire, he thought, eyes moving idly around the room to rest finally on the mahogany dresser he'd examined last night.
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Hey:)
Im back with another chapter. Did some grammar check too so I think this should be good to read.
Anyway, I hope you had a great week. I was out with a friend, had a date with a guy to go out and eat something good and had fun alone, feeding the rabbits and playing with them.
Thanks for your all the votes. Just a question you can comment on: have you watched outer banks?

See you soon, Lele

Draft: 01 August 2021

Final Edit: 01 September 2023