I've Been Waiting For You

Chapter 29

  The rest of the weekend Mitchell found himself enjoying his time with Markus. He always made sure he had something to do, whether it was swimming, hiking or having movie nights. Mitchell felt like he had went away on a trip. 

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Markus asked, driving him home late Sunday afternoon.

  Kev and Susan had already left ahead of them. 

"I did, thanks. We should do that again soon."

"Don't worry. We will."

  Markus pulled to a stop in front of his home, killing the engine.

Mitchell didn't move. He wasn't ready to leave Markus. It felt like his skin was being detached from his body at the thought of being away from him.

"Would you like to meet my cat?"

Markus looked at him silently for a moment. 

"Sure, I'd love to meet her."

  Markus got out the vehicle and strode around the car to the passenger side to open the door.

  Mitchell exited the vehicle, grabbed his duffel bag from the backseat and turned to Markus. 

  Markus took the bag from his hand and slung it over his shoulder before taking ahold of his hand.

  The silent house greeted him. He guessed his mom was outside somewhere tending to the garden.

"I guess my mom is out back."

"In the graveyard?"

"Not exactly. There's a small garden that she's tending."

"Hmm."

"Let's go upstairs to my room."

  They made their way upstairs to his room. After unlocking his door, he allowed Markus to enter first. He closed the door making that it was locked. No unpleasant surprise. 

Raven was asleep as usual on his pillow, but her eyes blinked open when they neared the bed. Her yellow eyes zeroed in on Markus. 

  Mitchell picked her up in his arms, stroking her fur. She purred in delight but her eyes remained on Markus.

"Markus, this is Raven."

  Markus slowly reached out to take her in his arms. He stroked her head, smiling when she pushed her head into his hand.

"You're a sweet girl, aren't you?"

"She likes you."

  Markus smiled when she licked his fingers. Her purrs brought a huge smile to his face, leaving Mitchell transfixed. 

"I guess she does."

  Mitchell's mind went completely blank as he stared at Markus until he thought his eyes would fall from their sockets.

  Knocking at his door made him blink, bringing everything back into focus. 

"Mitchell, are you in there?"

  He went and unlocked the door, leaving it ajar so he could see her face. 

"I'll be out in a second."

  He closed the door then leaned against it. "She fell asleep?"

"Yeah," Markus put her down on the bed, laughing when she switched into her weird position. "Does she usually sleep like that?"

"I think she was a human in her past life." Mitchell laughed.

"Good to know."

"My mom is waiting downstairs. Do you want to meet her? She'll be happy to see you."