I'll Protect You- MatchaBlossom

Chapter 6- Take That Adam!

It's now the next day, and Cherry finally gets to leave. I help him pack up his stuff. Shadow brings him some clothes from his house to wear, so I help him change into them. When it's time, I grab him a wheelchair, and help him into it. I push him out of his room, and into the elevator, then out of the hospital.

I drive him back to my house, and help him get settled on my couch. I snuggle up next to him, and hold him in my arms as we watch a movie together. Before long, we both fall asleep.

Many more days pass, and it's the day of Adam's race against Langa. I drive Cherry to S, considering he's still in a wheelchair.

We get there, and quickly join Miya, Shadow, and Reki in front of the big screen. Reki looks nervous. I place a hand on his shoulder, which startles him, before he turns to look at me.

"Don't worry," I say. "He'll be ok. He's an incredible skater. I know he can do it," I reassure.

Reki nods. "Yeah, you're right. He's got this." He smiles at me. "Thanks."

I smile back.

"I'm going to the finish line," Cherry announces beside me. He looks up at me right as I look at him. "Push me," he says.

"Yes princess," I say back sarcastically, and begin pushing him towards the finish line. I hear Reki giggle behind me, and then I notice his footsteps fall into stride behind me. "You coming too, Mech?" I ask as I throw my head over my shoulder to poop at the redhead behind me

"Mech?" Reki replies.

"Yeah, short for mechanic. I'm thinking it should be your S name."

"R- really? An S name for me? Chosen b- by you?"

"Yeah, why not? Is there a problem that it's from me?"

"N- no not at all. It's just that uh you're such a good skater and all, and you're one of the founders of S, it just, I don't know, it's a lot, and I don't think deserve that."

"And why not?"

"Well, I'm not popular, and I'm not a good skater like you or Cherry or Langa, or anyone really."

"Dude, you nearly beat Adam in a race. Everybody loves you now. There's no reason I shouldn't give you an S name."

"R- really?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks Joe."

"That's what friends are for kid."

He smiles brightly at me, and I smile back, before turning forwards and pushing Cherry.

"Now, let's go watch that boyfriend of yours beat that scumbag," Cherry says.

"Wh- what?!" Reki shouts.

"Don't think we don't know you have feelings for him, you make it quite obvious," I say with a smirk as I throw my head over my shoulder to face him again.

I watch him cross his arms, turn his head to the side, and then mutter something about having no room to talk.

When we arrive at the finish line, we watch closely as Langa and Adam are toe-to-toe in the race.

In the end, Langa wins. When he crosses the finish line, he jumps off his board and into Reki's arms, tackling the redhead in the process. They both laugh together.

"Take that Adam! You stupid piece of shit!" I yell.

Cherry laughs from beside me.

And then the unexpected happens in front of us. Langa leans forward, and presses his lips onto Reki's. Many gasps are heard throughout the warehouse. At first, it seems like Reki is just gonna sit there. But then he puts his hands on the back of Langa's head, and pushes his head down farther towards his. Almost everybody around begins cheering and whistling.

After a short while, Langa gets off of Reki, and then helps the other boy back onto his feet. They hug, and both look happy.

I take the opportunity to try something myself. I put my hand on the top of Cherry's wheelchair, and lean forward so my head is hovering right above his. I move so our noses our touching, but our mouths are still about an inch apart.

"Can I kiss you?" I whisper in a seductive voice.

"Oh you stupid thirsty gorilla!" Cherry yells. He then throws his mask down from his nose, quickly grabs the back of my head, and yanks my mouth down onto his. I smile into his soft lips, and push my mouth harder against his. I lick his bottom lip to ask for entrance, but he pulls away.

"Not here, you imbecile," he whispers.

"Fine," I say through my teeth as i cross my arms.

"Oh stop pouting, needy gorilla."

I hear all the complaints from both sets of fans. I guess they thought they could have a chance with one of us.

There's a few minutes of silence between me and Cherry as I stare off by my side, a question nagging at the back of my mind, but I'm too scared to ask it.

"What is it, dopey gorilla?" Cherry asks, clearly seeing right through me.

"Um, Kaoru-" I start, but am interrupted when Cherry hits me. "Ow."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to use that name here?" he says angrily under his breath.

"My bad, cinnamon stick boy. I'm sorry. Anyways, I was just wondering... what are we now?"

"Boyfriends, you stupid ape."

"Ok, sorry I asked." I turn away from him, and smirk at the sound of it.

After the race, I drive Cherry home in my car. He's silent the whole time, not even turning on the radio, which worries me.

"Hey, Kaoru, what's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing," he replies.

"Oh, ok," I say. I know something's up, but I don't push it. I know he'll tell me when he's ready.

I drive us all the way back to my house, then help Cherry inside. He insists on trying to walk, with my assistance of course, so I agree. I carry him out of the passenger seat of my car, and gently set his feet down so he's standing. His legs are shaking badly, and he holds onto my shoulder tightly.

"We don't have to do this Kauro. If you can't walk it's ok," I say.

"No, I can do it," he replies.

He puts both hands on my shoulder to steady himself. When he tries to move forward, his legs buckle beneath him. I catch him before he can hit the ground.

"Don't worry, I got you," I say.

He smiles faintly. I lift him up, then crouch down, placing him behind me.

"What are you doing, gorilla?" he says.

"Get on. I'm giving you a piggy back ride," I reply.

"I cannot believe you," he says as he climbs onto my back, and buries his face in my back. I catch a faint glimpse of a blush on his cheeks, and it makes me smirk. He wraps his arms around my neck tightly. I stand up and walk us into my house, where I place him on the bed. I go grab the rest of the stuff out of the car.

When I return, Cherry is laying softly on the bed. He's not asleep, but I can tell he's tired. I take my shirt off, change my pants, and crawl into the bed next to him. As soon as I lay down, he crawls onto my chest, and lays on top of my body.

"How is your chest so warm?" he whispers.

I chuckle at him. He moves his head to the side and lays down flat on me. I play with his hair a bit as he closes his eyes.

"Before you go to sleep, there's something I want to ask you," I say.

"Spit it out, gorilla," he says, keeping his eyes closed.

"Well, since you're already living here basically and stuff, do you maybe want to uh move in with me?"

"Yes, now I'm going to sleep."

"Ok grumpy pants."

After a few minutes I feel his breathing even out, and he's out.