Oreo

Chapter 8: Blackout

Romeo's POV~

I woke up, unsure what to think.  My eyes stung from the tears shed the night before.  It took me a moment to notice how close I was to Orion, but I was still hugging my Squirtle.  I couldn't recall grabbing him last night after Orion found the marks.  The last thing I remembered was...

My face heated up a bit and I rolled away.  How embarrassing... hugging a stuffed Pokemon is childish enough, but I turned into a complete baby last night.  Talk about mortifying...

There was stirring behind me and I could feel Orion sit up.  I could hear him rub his eyes.  "..Romeo? You awake?"

Don't answer, don't answer, don't answer! "Yeah..." Fuck...

"Okay." He said.  "I'm calling us out of school for the day."

At this I rolled over and gave him a questioning look.  "What? Why?"

Orion chuckled.  "Are you really asking that?  After what happened yesterday, I'm not sure it's a great idea to go to school today." He explained.  "You need time to wind down from all that bullshit.  Relax.  Refresh.  And don't you dare go thinking that I'm going to let you return to that place by the end of this week.  You're staying and that's final."

My cheeks burned a little but I hid my face in the Squirtle.   It was true that I didn't really feel up to facing the bullies at school.  I would probably snap, finally, or something close to it.  Even with Orion there to put them in check, I would be able to feel their hateful stares.

"Not to mention, it's likely that bastard will probably go looking for you there.  He doesn't know where I live, so you should be safe." Orion promised.  "We'll just stay here for the day, and maybe go food shopping tomorrow.  Sound good?"

I nodded, trying not to seem hesitant, and rolled over so he could see my face better.

"Cool." He grinned.  "How do pancakes sound~?"

A small smile cracked my face as I nodded again.

He cheered.  "Great!  I'll get them started!" He hopped up and ran to the kitchen.  Meanwhile, I rolled over once more and checked my phone.  The time was 10:15am and my phone was at 14%. I was too busy having a meltdown last night that I had forgotten to plug it in. 

Oh well.. According to the time, we were both already late for school.  Shrugging it off, I stretched and sat up.  My shirt was still off and I traced my collar bone with my fingertips.  After a moment, I pulled my mind away from thoughts that i couldn't recollect and quickly threw my shirt back on.

..... What do I think of this guy?  I've only known him for barely six days now and he's already done so much for me... What am I supposed to do?  I'm so confused... Shaking away my thoughts, I decided to turn his television back on and put on Toy Story 3.

~

Orion's POV~

Once the pancakes were finished, I dished them onto plates and turned off the stove.  I snatched the chocolate syrup from the fridge and some forks before taking the plates with me back to the room.  I had called up the school before starting on them and excused us both, saying we were sick. 

Romeo was watching Toy Story and looked over at me as I came in and handed him a plate and fork.  He accepted and his eyes almost lit up when he saw the chocolate syrup.  I snickered and forked it over as well as I sat down next to him.

He poured some on his breakfast and handed it back to me.  "... So you called?"

"Yep." I replied, prepping my own food.  "Piece of cake."

"Kay.." He said.  ".. Thanks again."

"No problem." I said, putting the chocolate aside.  "It's my pleasure."

Time was then filled by watching the movie and eating our pancakes in comfortable silence.  It was refreshing to sense that Romeo's aura felt much more relaxed and calm compared to how tense he had been yesterday.  Hopefully today and tomorrow would be enough to temporarily mend his wounds.  I don't know all of the details, but I won't ask until he's more stable.  He's probably experienced enough pain to last a lifetime.  Maybe even a couple.  Needless to say, I will do whatever it takes to ward off that man and anyone else who tries hurting him like that.

I glance over at him for a moment as I chew a bite of food.  His eyes were fixated on the television and seemed to be in a completely different world.  Likely one of his own mental safety mechanisms.  Sighing internally, I reverted my eyes back to the TV before he could notice.

~

Romeo had excused himself for a shower so I sat playing a video game.  We had gotten bored with the movies for a while and decided to try some other activities since we had a lot of time to kill for the day.  Also, video games helped keep my mind distracted off of other things.

As I was about to finish off Heihachi and Jinpachi, the light from the television as well as the room suddenly went out and I could hear the life die from my playstation. A power outage?  Now that I think about it, I think it's still snowing.

The sound of the shower running died and I could hear the curtain get pulled back.  I got up and grabbed my flashlight from under the bed.  Unfortunately there weren't any candles so if I could just find another flashlight.  Then we would figure out what to do from there.

I got up, flickered the flashlight on and stepped out the front door real quick, to look around.  The whole apartment complex was powerless.  Shrugging, I went back inside and closed the door.

The bathroom door opened and the humid air smelling of shampoo filled the hallway, drafting throughout the apartment.  Romeo stepped out wearing tan cargo shorts and a white tank top with a towel on his head. "... Rion?"

I stood with my back to the wall, flashlight off, and waited for him to walk down the hall.  There was the soft and steady rhythm of his steps on the carpet.  As he was about to enter the living room, I jumped out in front of him and blinked the flashlight on and off.

"Really?" He held a hand in front of his face.  "What are you, ten?"

"Eh, sorry." I lowered the light.  "Sheesh, don't you know of fun?"

"There were a lot of things I couldn't do or wouldn't allow myself to do..." Romeo stated.  "So I guess you could say I'm jaded.." He turned and made his way back to the room.

"Okay, sorry, sorry." I replied, following him.

He took a seat on the bed.  "So what are we going to do now?"

I raised an eyebrow as a bunch of ideas popped into mind but only smirked and shrugged them off.  "Well.. video games is off the table."  I checked my watch.  "It's about lunch time.  We could go out to eat, if you're hungry.  Maybe it will be back on by the time we get back."

"M'kay." He stood up and pulled the towel off his head.  "I should change into warmer clothes then."  He grabbed some jeans and a green long sleeve shirt.  He stripped off the one he was wearing and pulled it on over his head.

Leaving the flashlight for him, I walked out since I knew the place better than he did.  I grabbed my key from the hook by the door and then a jacket from the back of the couch.  All hopes were set to no one recognizing Romeo, so that no word could get back to that fuck-face.  A sigh escaped and I grabbed my wallet from the counter.

Romeo came down the hall with the flashlight wearing his shoes and coat, having changed into his jeans as well.

"Ready?"

He nodded.

"Cool." I opened the door and he flicked the light off, tossing it on the couch.  We went outside and, after locking the door, headed down to the street, through the snow and trudged on our way.  "Want some phö?"

"Sure.." he replied.

"Awesome~!" I grabbed his hand and started marching to the nearest phö restaurant.

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