Acquired Tastes

Chapter Eleven

Sometime long after the food and water Roman had brought him were long gone, long after he'd fallen into a half sleep and woken up too many times to remember, after too many rounds of pushups and sit-ups to count, the door at the end of the hall opened again. Neil was on his feet immediately, watching a guard stride towards him, key in hand. Everything inside Neil hung, breathlessly, the wait agonizing. He eyed the guard as he stopped in front of the door, eyed Neil for several moments, then unlocked the door, pushing it open. Neil was out right away, terrified of losing his chance, taking off down the hall. The guard let him, and Neil sprinted down the hall, shoving the heavy door open, and sprinted up the stairs, crossing the room in half the time it should have taken. He threw the front door open and stopped for the first time, shocked to discover that it was dark outside. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, really, but this felt wrong. Either way, the air was fresh, and he was free. His legs took off, carrying him across the sidewalk to his building. He ran up the stairs, passing his floor, to Alexis's door, where he knocked harder than he meant to. He took a step back, forcing himself to breathe, as the door opened, and Jacey appeared, squinting in the light of the hall. "Oh, hey, Neil."

"Hey, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean– I know it's late. Is Alexis here?" Neil's mind was spinning, his body exhausted and hyper. Jacey nodded, pulling the door open and looking over her shoulder.

"Hey, Lexi, it's Neil."

Alexis rolled over, looking over, eyes meeting Neil's, and immediately, he was up, sliding out of his bed and hurrying over. His arms tightened around Neil, chin against Neil's shoulder.

"Fuck, man," he said, voice deep with sleep. "I didn't know when I'd see you again."

Neil felt himself melt against Alexis, surprised at how comfortable it felt; the most they'd touched before was briefly, in half-seconds and sarcasm. This was different, vulnerable, with Alexis's hair against Neil's cheek, his body warm and tired in Neil's arms. Alexis let go, running his hand through his hair. "Hey, let's get out of here," he said, grabbing a pair of sweatpants draped over the back of his chair and his shoes. Neil said goodnight to Jacey and they stepped out into the hall, letting the door close behind them. Alexis paused to pull the sweatpants on over his yellow smiley-face boxers, sliding his feet into his shoes. "What happened?" he asked, as they began down the hall.

Neil recounted the experience, relieved to get it out, relieved that Alexis seemed to appreciate how traumatic it felt despite the fact that factually, it was just sitting in a room for a while. Alexis's eyes were soft and sad, though, watching Neil talk about it, as they walked outside and made their way down the sidewalk. They stopped at one of the little picnic tables and sat down across from each other, Alexis leaning forward against his elbows, eyes not leaving Neil's as he listened.

"Fuck, man, I'm so sorry," Alexis said when Neil finished. "That's so shitty."

Neil let out a breath, feeling lighter and more exhausted now that the story was out. He leaned his chin against his crossed forearms on the table, realizing how tired was as his eyes began to drift closed. A grin slowly spread over his face, and he opened them back up, staring up into the clear brown of Alexis's eyes, the lights along the sidewalks reflecting in the nostalgic sunshine-through-dark-honey shades.

"What?" Alexis asked, already grinning.

"Lexi."

Alexis shoved Neil's face. "Don't you dare."

"Come on, Lexi, think about how traumatized I've been. You're really gonna take this away from me, too?"

"I absolutely am."

"I know you don't mean that," Neil said, giving him a big, goofy grin, and Alexis rolled his eyes at him.

When Neil woke up the next morning, he was initially surprised to find himself in his bed instead of on the floor in the basement. Just thinking about it sent shivers through his spine and he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, so he got up and got dressed. Like usual, Roman was nowhere to be found, so Neil took his time getting ready and getting out of the room.