The Delivery Boy(boyxboy)

Chapter 19: Warm Hugs and History Books.

I would like to leave this city
This old town don't smell too pretty
And I can feel the warning signs running around my mind

And when I leave this island
I book myself into a soul asylum
I can feel the warning signs running around my mind

So here I go
I'm still scratching around in the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind is very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away

You're half the world away 

-

Axel

Xavier Alexander was incredibly warm.

There was something wrong with me.

And Xavier Alexander was incredibly warm.

It wasn't the sweat or the heat that had settled over his skin after his game – it was just him. It was his scent; it was the way his skin smelt. He was warm coffee on cold days and nights spent under warm blankets. He was the feeling of fresh dew in the morning and the way the sunlight glided over the leaves in the evening. He was the exploding colors of the sky when the sun was disappearing and the first few rays of sunlight in the morning. He was fresh skies and new countries and belly laughter and pizza places. He was the small and warm things in life that I had never accounted for.

And as I nestled my face into his neck and breathed in deeply, my fingers began shaking and my heart began racing – and the familiar stinging in my eyes made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

I hadn't hugged anyone in a long time.

And no one had ever hugged me. I didn't get hugs. I didn't get hugs when I went home. I didn't get hugs when I had had a bad day. I didn't get hugs when I was crying my eyes out in the bathroom because I wasn't good enough. I didn't get hugs when I got a good grade or when the coach said I was a good captain. I didn't get hugs when I got first place in a competition or when I cooked something good. I didn't get hugs at things normal kids my age got at. I didn't have anyone to give my those hugs.

And he was hugging me. And he was warm. And I was making such a big mistake but I felt just like a little child again, running to my mom with a scraped knee and a tear stained face and feeling her warmth heal me.

"Strawberries," I heard him say, his voice deeper than before. His arms weakened around me and I moved back slightly – embarrassed at just how tightly I had been holding him.

"What?"

"You smell like strawberries." He surprised me by leaning forward again, arms by my sides – and sniffing my hair. "And air. And...peppermint. What the hell do you shampoo with?"

I could feel a smile coming on my face as I kept my face down, unwilling to look at him, "A wise man never reveals his secrets."

"Are you a wise man?"

"Not nowadays, no."

He moved back a little more, his green eyes boring into mine. They looked livid and intoxicated and alive and absolutely fucking beautiful and I couldn't fucking breathe.

"Good," He smiled, eyes gleaming mischievously, "Wise men never get to have much fun, anyways."

"Are you trying to corrupt me, Xavier?" I teased, completely withdrawing my awkward arms from him and standing at a distance. I could feel my cheeks burn from the way he looked, from the way his eyes met mine.