Impress Me Not: Neon Underground

Chapter 68

"Hey," Mateo grabbed the pack of cigarettes. "You can't, Mel."

Instead of leaving his hand empty, Mateo put his own hand in it, intertwining his fingers with him. It had only been a day since they had gotten back from the hospital, and he was still trying to get up and do things. Mateo understood why Anton was so worried about him now, because Melvin didn't seem like he really wanted to relax, even though that's what he was talking about originally.

"This isn't exactly something you can quit cold turkey, you know," Melvin complained. He didn't seem to have the energy to fight him on it though. Mateo still had time to toss the pack out of sight before crawling under the covers with him.

"Try it," he told him. "You can put all your anger and frustration on me." He didn't have anyone in his family that tried to quit smoking, but he had heard enough from his old coworkers. The main reason they couldn't quit was because they would get really angry, or nervous. If that was the case with Melvin, then Mateo could handle that. It wasn't like he hadn't seen the man angry before.

"You're a strange man," Melvin said, tightening his grip on Mateo's hand. "You know my anger is going to be different from the type that turns you on, right?"

"You mean you aren't going to want to choke me when I take a cigarette away from you?" he smiled, kissing the man's neck when he had the chance. "I'm shocked."

"You really think I can just quit it like that?" Melvin asked, leaning into him. He had gotten a lot softer now. He still ate and could go to the bathroom. But he mainly stayed in bed. Mateo had been watching his breathing the whole time just to make sure it was okay. It still didn't sound normal, but it was manageable.

They had a lot of visitors from Melvin's family that day. Vladimir, one of Melvin's older cousins, had come by to make sure that he was okay. He was a doctor, which Mateo didn't know at first. He had told him at the hospital, but Mateo hadn't really been paying attention. Everything about that night was a giant blur that Mateo wasn't even sure he wanted to try and remember.

"You have to, Mel," Mateo whispered to him, holding him as tightly as he could without causing him pain. "It's the only way you have a chance to make it out of this."

It might not be the only chance, but if Melvin continued to smoke, then Mateo knew it was just going to turn into something horrible. He hated the smell anyway, so this worked out in his favor. Melvin seemed all for trying to quit that first night, but he was changing his mind as time passed.

"You aren't supposed to be good for me, you know," Melvin smiled a little. "You're supposed to be a brat still."

"And you're supposed to be healthy," he said, snuggling up to him again.

"I never promised that I was," Melvin answered. "I honestly never thought I was going to make it this far in life."

"Why?" Mateo asked, immediately concerned. "What happened?"

"I lot," he sighed, closing his eyes. Mateo knew that he wasn't going to sleep. He had done that a lot throughout the day. Sometimes he would nod off, but most of the time he would wind up talking to Mateo randomly, when he least expected for him to still be awake.

He also seemed to know every time Mateo got out of the bed, because he would wind up saying something to him, or doing something that he wasn't supposed to. Like find a random pack of cigarettes, and try to smoke them.

Mateo was so glad he didn't have a job right then. Because dealing with this man was about to be his full-time, and he wasn't even going to complain about it.

"Does it have anything to do with why you hide your neck so much?" Mateo asked. He was surprised the man was letting him close to it. It didn't seem to bother him too much right then, thankfully. Instead, he leaned into Mateo's lips every time he brushed them against his warm skin.