Falling

18

Carson Hughes

I never knew how much I craved the feeling of having someone leaning against my body, secured under my arm, until Vinny  was there. His smaller body fit perfectly next to mine as our breathing matched the same rhythm. He was much calmer here with me than he had ever been the last few times he was at my house. Instead of sitting alone on the other couch with a rigid posture, he sat against me with our bodies together. I felt as though this was progress, a step in the right direction of us gaining each other's trust.

Vinny rested his head on my shoulder and had his arm loosely wrapped around my waist, his fingers gripping my shirt. His gaze was set on the television, an episode of That 70's Show playing, which I learned was Vinny's favorite show. He was appalled that I had never seen it and insisted we watched it.

He chuckled softly every so often, causing him to shake lightly against me. I looked down at him, causing his gaze to turn up to me.

"There you go fuckin' staring at me," Vinny teased with a small grin.

The mark on the side of his head where he had hit it a few weeks ago had healed but left a mark. Now when he smiled, it indented on his face which I couldn't help but find endearing.

"Watch the show. You can't tell me you don't find it funny," he added.

"It is funny," I agreed, no longer feeling embarrassed at him catching my staring. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Vinny shrugged, directing his attention back to the television and shifting his hand to rest on my stomach.

"What did you tell your parents you were doing after school?" I asked, changing the subject. We weren't at the stage in our relationship where I felt comfortable forcing him into things, especially since he was obviously capable of making his own decisions and hated when his family tried making them for him.

"I said that I got detention for falling asleep in class," Vinny told me, keeping his eyes on the television.

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "And they believed you?"

Vinny shrugged. "It's not that hard to believe. It's something I'd do. I used to fall asleep everywhere. It made my grandmother so mad."

"It seems like it doesn't take much to make her mad," I replied and Vinny laughed, sitting up slightly so he could look at me.

"It doesn't. She's fucking crazy," he said, shaking his head. "That whole family is. I don't know how they function."

"Have you seen them since the cookout?"

Vinny shook his head. "They say we isolate ourselves from the family, but they pretty much ignore us until they want to blame us for something."

Hearing Vinny speak about his family made me sort of glad I didn't have much of an extended family. My mom had a sister, but she lived across the country with her family, and I didn't see any of my dad's family. Sometimes I wished for a family I could be close with, but I supposed not having one was better than having one like the Taylors.

"Mostly they blame my dad for keeping me from Robbie," Vinny added, referencing his biological father. "As if that's not also my choice and none of their business."