My Messy Life

Chapter 7

Brandon stopped before he opened the door to his dorm. He took a deep breath and turned to look at me. "I don't spend a lot of time in here, so it's not very, uh. Well it's not very clean."

"Are there bugs or small fury rodents inside?" I asked cautiously with huge eyes. He just laughed.

"No, no. It's nothing like that. Here, just come inside." He finally opened the door and walked in, holding the door open for me. It was the exact same lay out of the two bedroom apartment style dorm Erica and I had. There were some clothes on the couch and shoes by the door, along with a gym bag. It needed to be vacuumed and dusted but other than that and some dishes in the sink, it was great.

"You live like a normal guy. There's nothing in here that I can't have cleaned up in ten minutes." I knew Brandon was a bit embarrassed about the mess but it honestly wasn't that bad.

"Which room is yours?" I asked him and he lead me down the hall. His room was in the same place my old room was which I thought was funny.

"So I'll just put my stuff in this room?" I asked as he opened the door for me.

"Yeah, my old roommate just kind of left everything except his clothes so there is still quite a bit of stuff in here. The dresser and closet are empty though." I walked into the room and looked around. There were basketball posters on the wall, a guitar in the corner as well as a TV.

"Brandon, are you sure it's ok for me to stay with you?" I'd probably asked him twenty times but I felt like I was intruding on his life. I'd pretty much come into his life and taken over. I felt like I was smothering him.

"Davis, I swear if you ask me that one more time I'm going to duct tape your mouth closed. I promise on everything that you aren't bothering me. If anything, you're helping me not go back to Erica. I'm usually a sucker when we break up. I'll be alone and think about all the bad crap she does to herself and how I can't just leave her alone, but now she's Mike's problem. I don't feel bad for her at all." He smiled down at me and placed my bag on the bed in the spare room.

"I'll just take some of my clothes out and put them in the dresser. I'll start looking for another place tomorrow." Brandon's face turned down and he looked pissed. I frowned up at him, unsure what I'd said to make him so mad.

"What?" I asked him carefully and took a step back from him. Brandon looked at my defensive stance and his whole face changed.

"Something happened to you. You move away from people when they are angry. It's like you can't be too close, like you think they will hurt you." The last few words became softer like the puzzle pieces were clicking together in his mind. I'd never told anyone about my abuse at home and I wasn't going to start now.

"No, it's not that at all. I'm just an anxious person. I don't like confrontation." My voice shook and it was clear he wasn't buying my story but he didn't push it. He pulled my book bag from my arms and placed in on the bed next to my clothes bag.

"Come here," he said softly and held his arms out, offering me a hug. I moved slowly to him until my face was against his chest and he finally wrapped his arms around me.

"I'd never hurt you. I'd never lay a hand on you in anger in any way. You could make me the most mad I'd ever been in my life, but I'd still never take it out on you."

"I know," I responded softly and he kissed the top of my head. His hands trailed up and down my back, making me relax slightly. I could really get used to this. Brandon was great.

"Are you hungry, babe?" His lips were suddenly against my ear and he stuck his tongue out and ran it across my ear, making me giggle.

"Oh, that tickles? How about this?" I forgot that his arms were still wrapped around me, causing me to be locked in place against him with no way to escape. He squeezed my sides and tickled under my arms until I begged for release.