Dark Country (Detective Loki from Prisoners Fan Fiction)

Part XII: Let Me In

“So, is that it?” I asked. We were at my place and had been unpacking his stuff, which wasn’t much. In fact, it looked like we were going to be able to transfer all his things to my place in one move.

He pursed his lips, and said, “I’m afraid it is. I don’t own many things.”

“Then it saves us from having to make too many trips,” I said with a smile.

“This here is actually the last of it,” David said as he put the large box on the floor and started to open it with the box cutter.

He was in front of me, and really going through with this, yet I still couldn’t believe that this was happening. He was actually going to live with me. Even the sound of it gave me goosebumps. It was just too good to be true. I had assumed that he would never agree to it since was used to being alone and perfectly fine with it, or so I assumed.

I was taking his clothes out from the suitcase when I asked, “How did your landlord take it?”

“Very well actually. I was on a month-to-month tenancy so I had the option to leave whenever I wanted. Besides, he’s an understanding man anyway.”

“Well, that’s good that you had a short lease.”

“Yeah, it’s more convenient,” he remarked. “Either way, I didn’t want to be tied down to one place.”

“You didn’t want to be tied down?” I had asked when what I really wanted to say was why he was moving in with me then.

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “There was a chance that I was going to transfer to PSP. In that case, I was going to have to move.”

“Call me a ditz but what’s PSP?”

“Oh,” he said with a snort, “Pennsylvania State Police.”

A pang of worry hit me as I mulled over the idea of him moving away. “Is that transfer still a possibility?”

“No,” he said with a that’s-not-going-to-happen look on his face. “I turned it down.”

Startled, I said, “Why? It sounded like a good opportunity for you.”

He froze in mid-action, and glared at me as if I should’ve already known the reason for why he passed up that offer. “And leave you?”

I bashfully smirked. “I suppose that is an unwanted consequence.” Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms embrace my waist as David unexpectedly sneaked up behind me and hugged me with a tight warm grip.

“I don’t want to go,” he whispered against my ear.

“I wouldn’t let you anyway,” I said as I leaned my head back onto his shoulder. I turned and affectionately kissed him with a lingering kiss. When our lips broke off, I added, “And, actually, I would’ve gone with you.”

He flashed his lovely wide smile, and said, “You just bought this house, though. It doesn’t make sense for you to move again.”

“Oh, David,” I started to say, “Sometimes you have to let your inhibitions go and follow your heart. That’s the whole point.”

I could tell he was questioning in his mind what I said from his slight grin and blinking eyes. He always followed the logic of his mind and ignored his heart, and hid whatever he felt at all costs. I wondered how different he’d be if he in turn listened to his sensibilities every once in a while. “Let’s finish unpacking,” he aloofly said as he resumed what he was doing before. “This place is a mess with all this stuff.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off him as went about his business. His sudden change of attitude was daunting and incomprehensible. Did he not agree with what I said? He wouldn’t be acting so coldly if he did. If I could’ve done something to remedy the situation right then and there, I would have. Instead I chose to let him be for now. The truth was that I wasn’t out to change or modify anything about him. But if he learned to open his heart some, his past would no longer be such a heavy burden and not a determinate factor in all he did. He couldn’t go on living like this, and how could I turn a blind eye to the pain it caused me to see him like this? It was going to take a lot of effort and work, I knew, but quitting wasn’t something I did well. In fact, giving up wasn’t even an option.