To Our Only Hope

Part Four: Ben Darling

I jumped off the bed and swung the bedroom door open, sliding in my socks on the tiled kitchen floor. "Ben! You came! I thought you had work today?" I tried to slide into a coordinated stop in front of my amazing boyfriend, but instead slid into a very uncoordinated fall. Directly onto my bottom. "Ow." I giggled. I jumped up and hugged him at maximum strength, probably squeezing the poor guy half to death.

I noticed Linus had followed me into the kitchen, and I had almost landed right on top of him.

"Did you have a nice trip? I'm glad you took it this fall." He joked, laughing at my excitement. "But really, Vick. You okay?"

"I am now! I'm so glad you're here!" I squealed, and kissed him on the cheek.

"HEY RED! AM I INTERRUPTING ANYTHING?"

"Adrianna! You're finally here!" I squeezed her in a death-hug, too. "How's Poppa Jared?" Jared is Adrianna's biological father, who married my mother a few years after my father was put into prison for domestic violence charges against me and my mother.

"He's great! He finally took up that job offer at the Apnor Square Arcade! Now we can go out and have game nights on Sundays since we don't have work on Sundays, anyways!" She jumped around me in circles. "Arcade games, not football games, Linkin." She said, realizing Ben also looked excited.

"I know, Adrianna. I like A-games too." he sighed.

She rolled her eyes, "Nobody calls Arcade games A-games anymore, Link. OH MY GOODNESS IS THAT ANOTHER KITTEN?! WHAT'S HIS NAME RED, HUH HUH, HUH?" she squealed, her posture going rigid, like a predator about to pounce on her prey.

I turned around, picked Linus up, and giggled. "This is Linus." I said, smiling. "I just got him today, actually. A Fate came over with a nice little box, and this pretty little guy was in it."

"Oh, cool! He's a cutie! Cool eyes! Nice shade of red too, exactly like yours." She examined him closely, stroking his head and scratching beneath his chin. "Which of the Fates brought him?"

As she scratched behind his ears, he sighed in content "This is nice... I think I am fond of this 'Adrianna'."

"I believe it was Future. She had that all-knowing Glimmer in her eye. You know, Present is a little too modernized, and Past is practically a Nudist with her Fig Leaves."

"Yeah, I remember. Dad and I had to meet them when him and your mom finally got married. He has soft, sleek fur, very well-managed. His ears are unusually large, but that only adds to the cuteness factor." She giggled "He looks well-fed and properly groomed, and from what I can tell, he looks like an oriental Shorthair breed, but his fur is too long to be full-bred Oriental. Maybe there's some tabby in him? You can see the striping in his undercoat. Overall, he's a healthy cat, very beautiful."

"Thanks, Adrianna. I'm glad my sis is studying to be a vet. You can help me with all kinds of stuff." I said, setting him on the floor. "But remember he isn't either of those breeds. He's actually a 'Hellcat'."

She looked at me confusedly, then looked to Linus, who nodded his head.

"Ah, whatever. Real breed or not, he's still a cutie." She said, patting his head tentatively. "I'm hungry." She skipped away and rummaged through the freezer.

For the following four hours, the four of us watched two movies and ate half of the food in the pantry. Then Ben had to go to work, he said he had the boss push back his hours so he could spend some time with me. Adrianna ended up falling asleep with Linus curled up in her lap. Another two hours passed, and Adrianna woke up to her phone's alarm. She had to go, too.

When she left, I looked at the clock, and noticed it was 11:30 at night. I was exhausted. While Adrianna and Linus were sleeping, I was cleaning up the mess we had all made. I fed Linus some bologna from the fridge and gave him a saucer of milk and a bowl of water. I went to my room and curled up underneath the covers. Linus finished eating and hopped up with me, snuggled into my torso, and curled into a ball.

I woke up, and I couldn't see anything. I felt something breathing on my face. I reached up and picked Linus up off of my head. "Crazy cat." I muttered, chuckling. I lay him under the covers and fell asleep again.

I woke up a second time to my phone ringing. Again, I couldn't see. I sighed, and moved Linus off of my face again.