Noah & Navid

Chapter 10- West Hollywood

"You have to meet me halfway here. Try to get along with my friends. They are important to me. They want to get to know you too. We can't just be with your friends. None of them like me anyways except Aram." I softened under his touch, but I was holding firm.

"They like you! Of course they do! No, no. You misunderstand, my sweet princess." He started to laugh and sniffed back his nose.

"And I'm not a princess!" I yelled and interrupted him with a light push to the center of his chest. "I'm a boy!"

His laugh spread into a wide grin and look of admiration that I spoke up.

"You are MY princess. Is not insult! Is promise! I know you are boy, but to me you receive my seed, my gifts, my love. Is my promise to defend and serve you with all that I am. You are one who rule my heart." He looked at me pleadingly.

"Ok." I chewed my lip as it spread into a smile.

"And my friends. They like you of course for sure! But in my culture. When two are together as one, there is stronger and weaker of partners. It is respectful to address the stronger only. We are together as one. I am the hard, protective shell and you are the beautiful and delicious inside." Navid kissed me. 

"Like M&M's?" I laughed. 

"We are like M&M! I am candy coating. I am the first that is encountered and addressed. To look away from you means they respect that you are protected under me. I am responsible for you and the first to get hurt or pay the price. They know that if get too close to you, the wrath of your protector would be stirred. I cover my prin... baby."

Navid had been working on using analogies. This one wasn't entirely awful.

"Aram is nice to me. He does talk to me. Does he not respect you?" I asked.

"Aram is like my brother. What I protect, he also cares for. We grow up in families that are very close and are friends since birth. If he had a you, I would do the same. He also may have eyes for you, but would never take what is mine." Navid rubbed my cheek.

"Ok..." I nodded. "Promise me you'll try with Erik though? He's not a bad guy, and he defended and took care of me long before you met me. I wouldn't be the same without him. He stood up for me so people left me alone."

"This is good. Ok. I promise... can we go now? I take you for special things tonight and I am develop headache from too much English. Your language hurt my brain," Navid said and nudged me back towards his car.

We got on the freeway and headed down towards the city. 

Navid called my dad from the car and got his permission.

"You sure you want to go here? We could go to Santa Monica pier tonight and ride something and play the carnival games. I win big for you! We find dark place on the beach to lay together!" Navid said as he exited Wilshire. 

He kept my hand in his lap and rubbed it gently every time we slowed for traffic.

"Maybe another night. But tonight I need this... ok? And I'm paying! No argument." I proclaimed. I hadn't paid for anything with him before.

Every time I took out my wallet with him, he looked at me like I was insulting him. I hadn't made an issue out of it because I really had no job or money and my dad doesn't make much. My father had greatly enjoyed the savings since I still had the lunch money he'd given me the first week of summer school.

"You kill me, Noah. You really do," he laughed, but turned east towards the gayborhood. 

He parked on a narrow little side street and seemed to zip into a spot barely big enough to fit his car.