The Overly Complicated Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) Villain

Chapter 8

Elliot

Chloe sat in front of me at Cafe Caffeine sipping her caramel cappuccino. I was constantly scanning the restaurant, fearing that Bleddyn will rush in at any moment in my body.

"So, you were saying that Nihil seemed off?" She caught me off guard with her question over the heaping trash pile I laid out for her on the walk to the cafe. I was not a bad liar, you must become fluent in lying to become such a good supervillain, and apparently diving into the persona of Bleddyn Bird was not as hard as one would imagine.

I'm sure he's having a blast being me right now. Actually, I'm sure of it.

"Yeah, it was as if his mind was somewhere else, like, entirely, especially after he fired that gun. I still don't know what it does-- probably best that I don't. It seemed to cause him much grief."

"And after he shot the gun and you fell?"

This part I didn't need to make up: "He ran to me and pulled me out of the range of any possible cameras. He asked me all these questions and all I could think about was kissing him. He looked worried, Chloe, really worried." That's because I was.

"Did you kiss him?"

"No, I figured it would scare him off." It wouldn't have.

"I mean, you never know. He could be crushing on you as much as you are on him. Don't dock yourself, B., you're a catch."

"I wish I could just--" I was cut off by the flash of my face looking through the cafe's window, directly at me. "Shit."

"What is it?" Chloe eyed me carefully and set down her cup.

"Can we raincheck? I just remembered that I have a meeting with a professor today about finals."

I stood abruptly and as I left I heard Chloe call out, "On Sunday? You haven't even started studying!"

I had no time to respond, for I was already out the door and trying to avoid the gaze of Bleddyn. However, a few blocks away from my apartment--not Bleddyn's-- I was pulled into an alley.

Bleddyn

I finally found the crazy love of my life: he was with Chloe at the coffee shop I work in, he would have to do harder if he were trying to avoid me. It was odd-- seeing myself act like a weird reflection of what I would actually be doing.

I knew I could catch Elliot though, so once I saw him leave I followed him through the hoards of people, always keeping his-- my-- hair in eyesight. He did it nicely, I'm not surprised, but I also never thought he could work with my long hair. This guy will forever surprise me.

I was able to duck into an alley and before he was able to completely pass it, I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the alley.

I kept my hand firm on his arm and hurried further into the alley behind my apartment building. I heard stammering that quickly stopped once he realized there was no escape. He would have to answer to me. The sun was high in the sky but covered by the buildings on both sides of us, making the winter wind bitting.

"Bleddyn, slow down, what do you want?" Elliot asked. I didn't look behind me to answer, instead I just plowed ahead to the back door of my apartment building.

"Keys." I motioned for him to hand them over, "Then we'll talk."

Elliot ruffled through his coat pockets before protruding with my keyring. I grabbed them and unlocked the back door mainly used for emergencies. After opening the door, I motioned for Elliot to go in first. He did. I followed.

We took the elevator up to my room, the silence was tense but both of us knew we couldn't talk here: it was imperative that, even though we knew each other's identities, no one else would.

Nearly a minute after exiting the musty elevator, I unlocked my apartment door and the two of us entered.

"So are you going to tell me why you brought me here, or do I get to play a fun guessing game?" Elliot collapsed into the couch in Nihil's overly dramatic finesse. Oh, how can I stay mad at him for long, he's just so damn hot.

"Depends on how long we are like this."

"If my calculations are correct then it will be midnight tonight, I believe that is when the swap originally occurred." Elliot lifted his head from the arm of the couch and looked at me, "Are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to take a seat? You're making me stressed more than I should be." He was snappy-- not his normal snappy-- his worried snappy. I knew the difference.

"What happened to the man who wanted me to read translations of love poems out loud to him?" The words started flying out of my mouth before I could stop the tidal wave of flirtatious quips I had been stockpiling for a year. "You seemed so relaxed, as if nothing could stress you out. Is being in my body so stressful? Is being in the enemy's apartment so stressful?" He sat up and we locked eyes as I neared the couch. "How could little ol' me stress someone like you out?"

Damn, I was good. His face grew the pink I knew from my own reflection. I neared my face towards his until I felt his breath brush my lips and nose.

Would it be weird if our first kiss was in each other's bodies?

Yes, it would.

I didn't back off. I knew the smirk that laced my face-- I had fallen in love with it-- that sounded narcissistic without context.

I could only hear blood rushing in my ears and my hands shook on the back of the couch.

I was leaning, to be clear, one hand on the back of the couch and another on the arm where Elliot's head lay only moments before. I didn't know what was running through his head: I couldn't read the face he adorned in front of his magnificent mind. But I knew what I wanted to do and maybe, just maybe, I would have the courage to just lean in and close the gap.

Maybe I would be lucky and he would kiss back.

Maybe I would be able to breathe his breath and he breathe mine.

Maybe with this other face I could do it.

Maybe.

Or maybe he would kiss me and I wouldn't have to worry about the fears and anxiety that plagued my mind, infiltrating every sweet sensation and turning it sour.

I could almost feel his lips on mine, or mine on his, as if it were happening right now, in the present, no more running. No escape.

I knew what I would do next, if it weren't in my mind.

Elliot

Shit, Bleddyn was a good kisser.