Courting Tragedy

Courting Tragedy (7)

7

I sat down on a stool at the counter and he set a plate of eggs in front of me. I thanked him and dug in, surprised that I could ever be so hungry. When I finished, I realized I couldn't let go of my fork; my fingers weren't moving. I stared at my hand in shock. Of course my muscles had been all crazy last night, but it should have worn off, right?

I heard Gage giggle and I glared up at him. He put his hands up in an I'm-innocent gesture and my fingers relaxed. I didn't know how he had done that, but I wasn't going to let him know that it affected me.

"I think that you're playing with me. And I think that it isn't fair that you're messing with me and I can't fight back." I picked up my napkin and daintily wiped my mouth after my short speech.

He hung his head momentarily before looking up at me. "I'm sorry, and you're right. It's not fair. Can I make it up to you?" He gave me puppy-dog eyes, and I immediately thought that if he had given me this face when he showed up in my house, I would have gone with him with no questions asked.

I sighed in defeat. "Sure. What are you going to do?"

He grinned, his whole face lighting up. "I have a great idea. Do you trust me?"

My heart dropped. No. I didn't trust him. I had grown to accept him and even to enjoy his company at times, and I was willing to lay in his arms during a storm, but I kept thinking about the fact that he had taken me out of my house while I was unconscious. I know that he said I was a part of this royal guard or whatever, but it might take me a little bit longer to actually consider him someone that I trust.

When he saw the look on my face, something changed in his eyes. They softened, and he looked at me a little differently. "Let me rephrase that. You don't need to trust me with your life. I just need to know that you'll trust my judgment in movies."

I smiled in relief. Movies were something I could handle, even in my state.

"Yeah, I trust your taste in movies." I said softly.

He took my hand without a word and towed me down another hallway. We ended up in a living-room that looked nothing like mine. While mine was patterned and haphazard, everything in Gage's room looked like it was straight out of a design magazine. The furniture was black and leather, and his TV was not only cased in a black and glass stand, it was HUGE! I have never seen such a huge TV before in my entire life.

He settled me onto the couch and walked over to TV stand. He began rummaging through a drawer in the stand, and pulled out a black leather case of movies. He popped one into a DVD player and settled next to me on the couch. I was slightly apprehensive about sitting near him during a movie he'd chosen (I mean, c'mon; I could see him picking out some terribly gushy movie or something else that would be awkward for me) but I acted like it didn't matter.

"Gage-" I started but he cut me off.

"Shh! It's starting," He whispered as the previews ended and the movie started with a scene of a lake at night.

It wasn't long before I realized that he'd picked a horror movie. Let me just say something right now; I don't like scary things. I don't like horror movies, I don't like being alone, I don't like the dark in general. Right now I was experiencing two of those three things, and I was scared out of my mind. At one point during the movie I buried my face in his chest, clutching his shirt. He chuckled at first, and then realized that I was truly afraid, not playing.

"Emory, are you okay?" He asked, worry in his voice.

I shook my head, not willing to get even a glimpse of the people being torn apart on the TV.

He sighed. "I try to pick a movie that isn't gushy because I knew that it would be awkward, and I end up scaring you half to death. I do apologize." He rubbed my back slowly and I heard the movie being turned off. I didn't move though, as much as I knew I should have.

Remember earlier how I'd said that there were two parts of me expressing opinions on what to do in certain situations? Well, mostly in situations involving Gage? Unfortunately, they were back. the bigger part was, again, telling me to keep holding on to him and stay in his arms where it was warm. The smaller part was screaming at me to get the hell away from him. Basically, I ignored the small part and didn't move.

He seemed surprised that I was still so close to him, with how stand-offish I'd been in recently, but all he did was wrap his other arm around me and move into a more comfortable position. I sighed softly, moving my head a little so that I was laying more securely against his body.

It was still early, probably about 11:30, but I was ready to sleep already. I'd been feeling tired since that stupid storm at my house and right now my eyes were closing without my permission. I drifted for a little while, finding myself in that place somewhere between dreams and reality. It had probably been about a half hour when I felt Gage trying to get up without waking me.

I clung tighter to his shirt, and he paused. "Please, don't leave me." I whispered.

I could feel his confusion, but he settled back against the couch and pulled me up higher so my head rested at the curve of his shoulder.

"You're very strange, and I don't know what to make of you," He spoke so quietly that I knew I wasn't supposed to hear.

I turned my head so that my face rested against the skin of his neck and he stiffened. I just smiled, feeling his skin under my lips, and fell asleep to the steady thrum of his pulse