Ribs

Ribs: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"We walked along a crowded street. You took my hand and danced with me." - "Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy

The morning brings rain. It's that kind of rain that you'll afraid you'll catch a cold in until you actually step outside and realize it's warm. I feel sore, but in a good way. I feel like I've found something really important, too, even though I've just lost something.

Actually, I don't feel like I've lost something at all.

I could listen to Corey's breathing, his calm heartbeat, for forever. My head lies on his chest, the rise and fall of it making me want to sigh it's so calm. His fingers comb through my hair. We don't say a word.

You know that feeling you get when you read a word over and over? How the letters all blend together and you start forgetting what the word even means? It's all I can think about now. These past days I've spent with Corey, rememorizing them everyday, all of the memories blending together to create this single moment. But what is it? What does it mean?

"I love you." Corey says, burying his face in my hair. "And how your hair smells like oranges."

"I love you, too." I tell him, my fingers intertwining with the hand that isn't running through my hair. I sigh. "And now I kind of want pineapple." He laughs, the sound echoing in my ears.

"Pineapples?" He grins. I can imagine how the sun would gleam off of the barbel in his lip if it was out. I blush.

"Yea. You smell like them." I say. He grins.

"So you want to eat me?" He challenges. I smile.

"All the time." I laugh, and nibble on his bottom lip to prove the point.

"I thought I found teeth marks." Corey gives me a wild grin. I take a picture of it with an internal camera and store it in my mind. I sigh happily and roll on top of him.

"I wish it could be like this forever." I tell him, knowing that this world would have to shatter eventually. Then I ask, "Why weren't you at school?" A smile breaks out on his face.

"I sold the house." He says. I look at him in surprise. This was the house we always went to. "Turns out, because it was so old and whatever, it's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars." Corey runs his hand down my spine.

"Seriously? That's incredible, Corey." I say.

"Yea," He breathes, kissing my nose. "And I figured, hey, this is enough money to rent a small apartment and get Dawn to college." I stare at him, wait for him to smile and say, 'Oh yea, just kidding.'

He doesn't.

"Corey I could never-"

"Oh stop it." Corey smiles. "It's my money, and I'll do what I please with it."

"No hookers," I warn. He laughs.

"No hookers." He agrees. I blow a big puff of air out of my mouth.

"College, huh?" I roll back onto the bed. "I've never really thought about it. Or what I would do. It just always seems like that far off place that you have to pay a lot of money to get to." I pause. "And what about you? How are you going to pay for college?" He shrugs a little.

"I have a college fund in the bank that I've been adding to forever." He says simply. He kisses my palm. "Come on, don't worry about it."

Reluctantly, I accept the offer and realize just then how happy I am.