Estate

Chapter 8- Strength of Allies

Fear had held onto one of the vertebrae between my shoulders all through the night. I couldn't quite get into a restful sleep. I sat in the Lilac Room, sipping a cup of coffee from the cheap machine in the corner. I couldn't seem to focus on anything in particular. I faded in and out, sometimes checking the clock above the doorway. It was Four A.M. when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. 

I waited patiently, hardly breathing. I couldn't imagine anyone in this house wanting to be awake at this hour. I had quick thoughts flitting through my mind of a murderer coming for me. They had already been to my room, and they were coming for me. Maybe it was Tony, wielding a knife or gun. 

"What the hell are you doing up?" 

I was surprised to see Matt standing in the doorway. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt and matching fraying pajama pants. I wasn't sure if my vision was being changed from sleepiness or if he really was a huge mountain. 

"I could ask you the same thing." I felt my eyelids blinking slower than I would have liked. "Why are you up?" 

"I asked you first." I forced my eyes downward. He stood at the machine, waiting for his coffee. I noticed him, and it wasn't just seeing another guy in the house. Matt had muscle everywhere. I just couldn't be caught looking at him. 

"I couldn't sleep." I held my cup up, almost as if I were ready to make a toast to our insomnia. I only gained a snort as a response. "Are you restless, too? Or, are you just a freak that wakes up this early every morning?" 

"Actually, I don't usually wake up this early. My routine wakes me up at six." He stopped for a moment, letting the machine spit the last droplets into his cup. The noise stopped, but neither of us moved. "I'm up because I couldn't get to sleep, too." 

"Either." I corrected him quietly. 

He fell onto the couch across from mine. I could hear the wood groan, complaining of the massive weight that it had to withstand for as long as he wished. We sat in silence, sipping away, staying as quiet as the dead. 

"I just don't know if I will make it." 

That was a shock for me to hear. He could pick us up, one-by-one, and toss us out of the boundary. Even Greg would have issues putting up a fight with the beast. 

I wanted to let the comment pass, but I felt myself speaking before I could stop it. "What makes you say that?" 

"I'm a jock in a competition with a bunch of brainiacs. If I ever get into a reading contest..." We both laughed at the thought. "I can't enter something like that. I need a physical test. If we are tossing large tires, I'll win. Lifting weights, I got it. Running a mile, sure. Chandler is a smart man, too, though. I have a feeling all of these competitions will be the same. I'm so bored, here." I noticed the shape of his lips around the rim of his cup. "I can't just sit in place, you know? I need to break out of this. I've never been indoors so much in my life." 

"I've spent most of my time indoors. This part is the cake for me." 

"I need more movement. I need more workouts. I need more people, for fuck's sake! I ain't been laid in almost a month! Before this, it was almost three times a week." 

I had no response for him. I had never been obsessed with sex or the physical side of any relationship. I was more into the emotional things. I loved talking for hours without stopping. I wanted someone that I could walk side-by-side with in the park and discuss our favorite book characters. 

"Tony is really my only issue." I broke the silence. "He creeps me out, and he keeps acting like he has something over me." 

"Like, what?" I didn't fail to notice the way he tensed. He may hate homosexuals, but he knew I was his best option. Without me, the girls wouldn't take him in. He needed to eliminate the threat to his leader.