Running From Him (ManxMan) ✔️

Chapter 37: He Admits It

🏃Clark’s POV🏃

Seeing that it was so early, the last person I expected to see when I turned my key and opened the door was Santiago. Yet, there he was, hair loose and curly around his face and eyes wide yet tired. He was sitting on the floor next to our shoes, head looking up from an awkward position that was still pointed towards the front door.

Several emotions came to me at once, far too many to ever count or name. All I could think of was one action. To fall into his comforting arms and cry.

So that was what I did.

Santiago, as always, took my sudden reaction in stride. He pulled my shaking sobbing body further into himself and hugged me until I began to fall asleep.

The last thing I heard was Ethan’s surprised reaction due to my sudden presence, but I could not hear Santiago’s reply. I was already asleep.

~~~~~~~~~

I awoke with a groan, eyes unfocused and blinking slowly. They blinked with more effort than I expected to feel first thing in the morning. It felt . . . it felt as if I hadn’t slept in three weeks and only took a 30-minute nap. It was odd to feel so off first thing in the morning, and it only got weirder from there.

I turned my head to the right, expecting to see empty space and possibly some of my dirty clothes. Instead, I found myself face-to-face with a bush of curly dark hair. I’m embarrassed to admit that the first thing I did following that acknowledgment was sniffing it.

I am incredibly curious about how hair smelled, like, all of the time and this was a rare opportunity to smell some. After a couple of huffs though, I quickly began to realize that it was, as I should have suspected earlier, Santiago’s hair. Which meant that Santiago was lying down next to me.

Fantastic

I will not dissect whether that statement was sarcastic or not. Judging from the deep and gentle breaths being released from the taller man, I assumed that he was still asleep.

I quickly decided that I wanted it to stay that way and began to carefully make my way out of the bed. It was very nerve-racking and it felt as if every shift was not only extremely loud but the noise that would awake the tanned man.

None of them did, though, and I was soon in the bathroom and getting ready. I got ready silently, my mind purposely blank and focused on only the action that I engaged in moment by moment.

When I exited the bathroom, Santiago was sitting up on my bed, staring at the bathroom door with unfocused eyes. They focused immediately when they were set on me.

“Clark.” He muttered, standing up and staring at me with calculating eyes. I turned my head to avoid his eyes and rushed over to my closet. But Santiago was not taking my silence. “We really need to talk.”

I shook my head, reaching for the closet door to pull it open.

“Santiago, we have been through this countless times before.” I sighed, biting my bottom lip harshly. “You keep forgiving me and coming back to talk but when will you learn that I don’t want your help!-”

Santiago’s back pressed into mine from the back, his hand covering mine on the door handle and successfully trapping me against the closet door.

I got a flashback to when Kevin had done the exact the something, momentarily creating a strong feeling of panic inside of me. A feeling that was quickly overpowered by something else.

I . . . blushed.

Thousands of thoughts about Santiago and only Santiago seemed to flood my brain and soon I was ducking my head to hide my heated face. Butterflies erupted in my stomach and my body instinctively leant back into him to further enjoy his warmth.