Bites & Bruises (ManxMan)

Thirty Two

The sound of people laughing and chatting was the first thing to reach my ears and I opened my eyes to find us in a city full of life despite the fact it was dark outside.

Lights lit up the town and people were dressed in fancy looking costumes. A tired smile tugged at the corner of my lips and I turned to find Marius giving me a look whilst he paused driving, waiting for the throng of people to move out of the street.

"Why are they dressed like that?"

He shrugged and wound up his window, wafting the scent of booze through the car."Some Mexican festival I presume, did you sleep okay?"

I nodded, "I didn't have any dreams which is a first, feels odd not having them anymore..."

Marius grunted and stepped on the peddle, making the vehicle lurch forward at last and zoom down the street. "I'm surprised about that, you were talking."

"I-I was?"

He nodded, eyes back on the road now and I let out a noise before reaching over and letting my hand rest on his thigh whilst my lips brushed his stubbly jaw. Marius grunted in the back of his throat and from the corner of my eye, I could see him grip the steering wheel hard.

"I hope I didn't say anything I shouldn't have..."

"You were talking about someone called Xiander," A muscle in his cheek twitched and I inwardly cringed. "Should I be worried?"

"No, no of course not, he was my past and he's... Well, not around anymore so you have nothing to frett about."

He scoffed and it was clear to see he had no intention of believing me. I was mildly surprised he hadn't already known about Xiander, especially since he went snooping through my journal all those months ago.

"Is he mated now?"

"No."

"Do you see him much?"

"No, Marius I-"

"Do you love him?"

Rolling my eyes to the heavens I squeezed his thigh to grab his full attention before I chose my next words carefully. "He's dead so even if I did want to see him, I couldn't unless it was in the afterlife."

I watched as he glared into the dark, his beautiful eyes being lit by the street lights and Noah's beast of a motorcycle. I waited for him to say something, anything but he chose to remain quiet so I chewed on my lower lip and tore my gaze from him to look out the window.

Vivid colours blurred past us as he drove and we went deeper into the city before houses and people turned to hills and trees and wildlife again.

"Are we-"

"About five minutes away."

Deciding not to speak, I nodded softly before folding my hands in my lap and fiddling with the ring on my finger. It was a gold band with the words forever in my heart engraved on the inside, Cassandra had given it to me days after I woke up and was welcomed into this new life.

I recalled how happy and shocked I was to be receiving such an expensive, heartfelt gift from a stranger. Looking back on it now I should have seen the longing in her eyes, the yearn for companionship and it was no wonder she turned me after stumbling across my body in the river near my house.

I had had a horrible day, another awful week at college. Home life was just as bad, my mother had gone from giving me the silent treatment to abusing me anyway she could whenever she laid eyes on me. My siblings were just as bad too, picking on me and telling me how much of a abomination I was for liking boys.