Language of Love

Corpus

    I see Devin dragging Courtney out of the bar. I grab Fitz's hand. He searches my face.
   "Let's get out of here." I say, "Let's go to my place."

    He drives us to the apartment building. We take the elevator. I press 3 and turn towards him. I pull him to me and plant an ongoing kiss on his lips. When we get to our floor, our lips don't separate. I unlock the door and slam it back shut once we're inside. I pull him onto the couch and he flips on top of me. He takes a break from kissing me to stare into my eyes.

    "Are you sure?" He asks.
    "Yes. I trust you." I say. His hands reach up my shirt, he pulls it off. I unbutton his. His soft eyes look into mine.
     "I can wait, if you aren't ready." He says.
     "I can't wait." I say. With that, he pulls down my skirt.
     "Wait." I say. He freezes.
     "Are you okay? We can stop." He says.
     "I need to tell you something." I say.
     "Yeah? What is it?" He says.
     "I love you." I spill. He grins.
     "I love you too." He says. I sigh, relieved. I pull him closer and kiss him.
     "Let's continue."

     "That was amazing." I say, afterwards.
     "Yes." He agrees.
     "I'm hungry, you want pizza?" I ask.
     "Yes." He repeats.

     He puts on his pants and I get redressed. He stares at me.
    "You said you loved me." He says. I nod. He me pulls to to him. "I love you so much." He says. Those words are something I've never heard before, something that's never been said to me before. I feel a tear fall from face.
     "Are you crying?" Fitz asks, almost annoyed.
     "Sorry, it's just that no one has ever told me that before." I say.
     "I love you so much." He repeats and tilts my chin up. His thumb wipes away my tears.

    "Let's go get pizza." I say. He gives me a soft smile. I put on a jacket and huddle up to Fitz. The breeze is cold. We walk over to pizza place, but it's closed.

"What now?" He asks.
"There's food trucks, District Taco, Subway and Wendy's in walking distance." I say.
"District Taco?"
"Okay."

We walk to the taco shop. At the counter, I order two tacos. Not until I'm halfway through ordering do I realize the cashier a student at Caldwell. I don't teach him, but I've seen him around.
"Is that it for you, ma'am?" He asks.
"Mine too, we're together." Fitz says.
"Mr. Kennedy!" The student says. He follows with a sentence in German which I do not understand, at all. Fitz responds in German. Then they both start laughing. Fitz pays some amount, we were told in German, so I don't know how much and we sit down.
"I didn't get any of that." I say.
"That was Charlie, he's a good student. He likes German." Fitz says.

I smile. I'm happy. Oh, so, happy. I have a boyfriend and he loves me. He loves me. And I love him. I have a great job, the best coworkers, somehow the world feels right. It felt right, until Thursday.

I walk up the stairs, it's late. The elevator scares me at night. I had tests to grade, so I stayed at school late. My dinner was sucky, they put way to much mustard on my burger. I walk into my apartment and flop onto the sofa. I have six more tests to grade, so I decide to do three more before bed. I find a pen and lay out the tests. I forgot my answer key in the car. Damnit.

I walk down the stairs, it's dark. I walk down the path, I unlock my car. I dig through the backseat and find the answer key. I'm tired, so I give in and take the elevator. It arrives and the doors open. I step in, reading the answer key. The doors close and I notice something large at my feet. There's a person. A bleeding person. I scream and scream. Blood puddles at my feet. I arrive at my floor and I'm still screaming. I come to my senses and bend down to see if the person has a heartbeat. No pulse. The body is still warm and bleeding. I run out of the elevator, dripping in blood. Why did I have to kneel down? Why did I have to take the elevator? How did I notice when I walked in? What the hell do I do?

    I would call the police, but my phone still in my apartment. I look around for something to wipe my hands with so I can open my door. Then I see Fitz's apartment. Should I bother him? Yes.

I run over to Fitz's door and bang on it, leaving bloody handprints. One of his roommates opens the door.
"Get me Fitz." I say.
"Do I need to take you to the hospital?" He asks.
"It's not my blood, just get me Fitzgerald." I say.

"Not going to ask, not going to ask..." He mutters, walking inside. I overhear him say, "Fitz, your psycho girlfriend is here."

"Psycho?" Fitz asks.
"She covered in blood and she said it wasn't hers." The roommate says.

Fitz appears. He stares at me, then at the blood tracks from me to the elevator, and then at the bloody handprints on his door.
"What the hell happened?" He asks.
"It's not my blood." I clarify.
"I heard. Did you kill somebody?" He says a little too casually. At this point he already knows I'm crazy.

"No. I found a dead body in the elevator." I say.
"Is that your story? I found a dead body in the elevator? Why did you kill the dude? You can tell me." He reasoned.
"I didn't kill him. I found him in the elevator, I checked his pulse and that's why I'm covered in blood. Can you call 911?" I ask.
"Already on it." His roommate says.

A different man walks into view. He looks from me to Fitz to roommate #1 to the blood stains everywhere. Then, I recognize him.
"Da hell?" Says the man: Marx.
"Are you okay?" He questions.
"Not her blood." Fitz and the original roommate say in unison.
"I found a dead body in the elevator." I say.
"So you rolled around in his blood?" Marx remarks.