Species

Chapter 39

            Patrick visibly gulped. His eyes held guilt and sorrow. "You. . . .," he didn't know what to say. "You were the love of my life." He sighed like he'd let a huge secret off his chest.

       Chloe turned her attention back to the pictures in her hands, studying them intently. She looked happy and close to him. She'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't care about him. After believing her baby was dead, he was the person she feared for. She ran to his room. She cried banging on the door fearing he'd been killed. But did she love him?
      Running her eyes up and down his frame she came to the conclusion that she didn't know. Memories of their night together in Tyson's nursery flashed through her mind and she blushed.

    That's how he knew!
    "Oh my gosh!" She shrieked and his her face embarrassed.
"What?" Patrick tried you sound cool, but he sounded faintly wounded like she'd rejected him.
"That's how you knew how to  . . . 'pleasure' . . me?"
Patrick chuckled and grinned rubbing his jaw all smug.
"I was quite pleasurable, yes?"
"Patrick!"
"No. That's not how I knew. We never went all the way. Almost. But uh no."
Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. If he was telling the truth then she was impressed with how smoothly their first time had gone.

          "That's actually how we got in this whole mess in the first place." He scratched the back of his neck shame plain in his face.
"Oh God." She groaned. "What do you mean?"
Patrick took a long exaggerated breath before coming to sit on the floor at the end of his bed. He was near her but not touching or looking at her.

        "We were high school sweethearts. I was a senior. You were a sophomore. We were inseparable. I was crazy about you. But I was graduating and I had gotten a scholarship to play college ball in a different state. I'd be leaving. We were both crushed. You had been a virgin and I respected that. I was going to leave and we were going to have to break up. One night, we were talking it all over again and you told me you loved me and that you were ready. We were very much caught up in the moment in your father's barn." He scoffed and shook his head. "I was such an idiot. He caught us. Before we'd fully done anything. Threatened to kill me. I fled. Next thing I know the cops are at my door cuffing me. I'd just turned 18. You were still 16. I'd been 18 for like 2 weeks, but on that small technicality your dad wanted me locked up and gone as far away from you as possible."
             Patrick picked at his pant leg trying to distract himself and keep his emotions to himself. Chloe waited for him to continue. Her eyes were big. She felt sad. She felt sad for the poor couple being kept apart. She felt sad for the poor love sick boy who was being attacked for loving her. But that was the thing. It didn't feel like he was talking about her.
          "Drew was at my house when they came a knock in'. He told them to get there hands off me and used his name to get them to back off. He argued with your dad. Your dad wanted me to be a registered sex offender if I didn't get jail time. Drew gave him one better. I still remember his smug face."

                                 ~ ~ ~
        "What if I did you one better? What if I took him off the planet?" Drew's smug smile was beautifully painted across his face. In his nice fancy suit and cunning words you'd think he was a successful, rich lawyer. "Come on now, Steve. He'd be far far away from your little Haley."
"Chloe!" Steve and Patrick corrected him in unison, but it didn't bother him. Drew shrugged off the name.
"Whatever. The point is he'd be gone and have no access to her."
Steve was fuming mad shaking his head. "It's not enough."
"Not enough?" Drew's temper flared just a spark. "Let's not ruin his whole life because he wanted to have sex with his girlfriend. He's not a rapist or a criminal."
            
      "Mr. Harris, I would not hurt your daughter." Patrick got to his feet in his defense. "I live your daughter. I do." Steve rolled his eyes and gagged mocking him. Patrick would never admit it to Chloe be he had always found her dad to be an ass. Ignoring Steve he continued, "I just wanna play ball."
         Steve rolled his eyes and mocked Patrick some more "all I wanna do is play ball." Steve said in a high pitch whiney voice.  "Yeah, and fuck girls!" Steve yelled.
         Drew had had enough. Grasping Steve by the throat and pushing him against the closest wall Drew took control of the situation.
"Listen to me and listen to me good, you Fucker." Drew banged Steve's head against the wall with a loud thud. "I don't appreciate you talking to my brother that way you immature sorry excuse for a man. Now I'm going to take him with me so you can stop having your period you pansy. He's losing football and college. That's enough. You better not ever get in my face again. I don't ever wanna hear your annoying voice again or I will make you regret it. Do you understand?"
            Steve gave a quick nod.
"Good." Drew placed Steve back in the floor. "Now, go home and thank God your wife even lets you touch her."
                  Steve ran tripping over his own feet. Drew laughed and shook hands with the officers over seeing the "agreement".
                                   ~~~~~

     "Wow! Steve sounds like an ass." Chloe voiced her opinion sounding too amused.
"You know that's your dad, right?"
"Well, . . . I mean I don't remember him or us or anything. But still he was being an ass."
"Oh, I know."
"So . . ." Chloe fumbled trying to think of a way to respectfully ask since she had been his girlfriend.
          Patrick sighed. "What?"
"How'd Drew become so obsessed with me?"
"Honestly, I don't fully know. He hadn't even seen or met you when that went down. He ran back into your dad and that's how he saw you and I don't know if it was the taboo-ness that you'd been my girlfriend, or if it was brother competitiveness, or if he wanted you like a victory over your ass of a father. I don't know. All I know is he ran into your dad at work. He'd heard him actually." Patrick rolled his eyes remembering Steve's annoying voice. In Patrick's opinion he was the male version of Janice off of Friends. "You were with your dad. I don't know why. Maybe you were visiting him. Maybe he wouldn't let you out of his sight. I don't know. But Drew heard your dad, turned around to give him what for and saw you."

            The room was silent like Patrick was pondering the meaning of the universe.
"And now here we are." Chloe slumped against the wall and let out a big sigh. "What are we going to do? We can't survive those 'species' out there. That's the point. Drew wants us wiped out so he can start over. Do we wait here and wait for the bitter end? There's no way for us to survive. We are stuck on a fucking spaceship for crying out loud." Her anger getting the better of her and Chloe threw the pictures she'd been holding in the air.
          Tyson cooed startling her a little. She'd almost forgot about him, he'd been so quiet.
Patrick grimaced looking a bit offended as he began to pick up the photos.
What was the point? He wouldn't get to look at them much longer.

          "Please, don't throw my memories. Just because you don't remember us doesn't mean I don't. And let me tell you it's harder remembering."
"Is that why you were mean to me?"
Patrick didn't answer but turned away from her taking his photos in his hands treating them like the most valuable thing he owned.

       "Do you know where the control room is?" Chloe asked. Patrick shook his head, his back to her. Chloes sighed frustrated. Crap.
     "We are not going to the control room. We are not leaving this room."
"But you know where it is?"
"Doesn't matter we are not going."
"Dammit, Patrick!"
"No!" Patrick roared turning to face her burning with anger.
"I've lost you and almost lost you so many damn times. And you don't get it. Why would you want to put yourself in that danger?!"
She waited a moment letting his words sink in as he huffed letting his anger out.
"If we stay here, we're just sitting ducks."
Her words were true. And he knew it.

       "Oh yeah? And how are we supposed to be safe in the control room?"
"I don't know how to fly this thing and neither do you but we gotta try. The only other options we have is sit here and wait till Drew or one of his 'species' comes to kill us or somehow kill all those 'species'. Those are our options. What do you wanna do?"