Fall ❈ Benny Rodriguez

xviii. beautiful light

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN!
BEAUTIFUL LIGHT　UPPERMOST

　

　

BENNY TRACED PATTERNS against my bare back with a gentle finger. Relishing the feeling, I lay atop his chest, eyes closed, ear pressed to his chest; his heart was finally calming from its previous erratic state.

　Everything felt so perfect. So utterly calm. Lying in Benny's bed, light muffled by his dark curtain, the quiet broken only by soft music. Feeling his warm skin against mine, in spite of the drying dampness, was comforting. Being with him, period, was enough to send me into a state of serenity—especially after a morning like this one.

　And it had been a very interesting morning, indeed—more so than usual.

　A smile found its way to my lips. Benny was tracing letters onto my back now; I recognized an L and an O back-to-back.

　Being with Benny felt right. Even this, this thing that I had once feared so badly. Not only the act itself, but showing myself to someone without the slightest curtain used to terrify me. And probably it still did—just not with Benny, who seemed to love every bit of me, simply because it was me.

　It amazed me when I realized that we had only been back together for little over a month. Like before, when we had only spent months as a couple, it had felt like years. In spite of the time that had separated us, I still felt as though Benny had been mine forever. Everything had fallen immediately into place, and there they remained. Thank God.

　"You know," Benny's soft, husky voice broke through the peaceful quiet, "we have school in, like, five days."

　Behind my closed eyelids, I rolled my eyes. I felt too calm to open them, or to move much at all. My voice was almost a whisper when I said, "Ugh, gag me."

　Benny chuckled, sliding his hand to cup my shoulder. "S'okay. Two more years, and we're out...of high school, at least."

　"A lot can happen in two years. I hope we're still together then."

　He gave my shoulder a soft squeeze. "Oh, you're not getting rid of me yet. I'm holding onto you forever, whether you like it or not."

　A smile tugged at my lips, and I burrowed deeper against his chest. "I love you. I know I say it a lot, but I do."

　"Don't sound so apologetic," Benny said. "I love hearing you say it. But I love you. More than anything in the world. And you know what?"

　"What?"

　"More than baseball." He said it in a joking (yet honest) manner, but it lit my veins and shocked my heart. He had said as much before, even before I'd moved, but it still meant an insurmountable deal to me.

　The new buzz of electricity moved me; I folded my arms over Benny's bare chest, rested my chin atop them, and locked my gaze on his. His lips, wet from his tongue, were pulled into a smile. He looked wonderful, one arm folded back behind his head; even without trying, the muscles in his arm bulged, and the veins had popped with his previous...efforts.

　"Baseball, huh?"

　"Yep."

　"Your dream. Your destiny."