All I Need

Chapter 41 - The First Time

"I guess...you could say this is my happy place." He turned on the lamp and sat in the chair. "I love reading. It's one of my favourite things to do."

This was something I should have known about him. The more time we spent together, the more it became clear that we didn't know anything about each other. I wanted to ask, I wanted to know his story, but he didn't open up fast. He wasn't that type of person, so I had to wait until he was comfortable. And I would wait, as long as it took for him to tell me about his life, his interests, and his issues, although I feared we didn't have much time left together.

Our story was coming to an end.

"This is beautiful, Elias.'' I ran my fingers across the spines of the books, row by row all around the room until I met him in the middle. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked."

True.

"Why is there only one seat?" I moved some of the books off of the coffee table and attempted to sit. "This isn't very practical."

Laughing, he pulled me over to where he was and sat me down on his lap. He put my thighs on either side of his so that I was straddling him. "Why would I need more than one seat if it's only me sitting in here?"

True again.

Elias carefully handled my arm while he wrapped the bandage around it, making sure it was tight enough to stop the bleeding but not too tight so it didn't cut off my circulation. He touched my lip with his finger before kissing me. It was so sweet, so tender, and so quick that I immediately yearned for more.

"Let's relax together, sí?" his arm circled my waist, holding me in place so I didn't slip off his lap as he reached for a small box on the coffee table. "Would you like to smoke?"

Once the box opened, I saw that it contained weed. I had smoked a fair amount in my teenage years, but it wasn't something I did now. I would have said no if it was anyone else asking, yet the thought of getting high with Elias was intriguing. I wanted to calm my nerves, and I wanted to do it with him underneath me.

When I nodded my head, he began to grind the weed. "I want to tell you a story about me and my brother."

Lowering the ice from my lip, I tilted my head to the side. "Of course. You can tell me anything."

Just then, he began to roll the joint. He looked up at me with his warm brown eyes while he licked the edge of the paper, instantly making my throat dry. Even in simple moments like this, he was so pretty. I felt like I didn't deserve to be this close to him.

It was hard not to admire Elias.

I moved on, trying to refocus on the present. By the way, he spoke, I could tell this was going to be important. I was about to get something new out of him, and I needed to pay attention.

"You probably think I got this scar from my father." Elias lit the joint and inhaled, allowing the smoke to flow through his lungs. "But it wasn't from him. It was Daniel who cut me."

Daniel? Cut his brother? That honestly shocked me, because I was under the impression their bond was like none on this earth. That they loved each other more than anything in the world, so the last thing he would do was hurt him.

He handed the joint to me and continued. "We spent almost every day together. He helped me learn how to fight, how to shoot a gun, how to lie, steal, and get what I wanted no matter the cost. Daniel was the man I looked up to."

I could see the sadness he was trying to hide, the same thing happened when he brought him up before. No wonder why he never talked about these things, it was too much. Every time he uttered his brother's name, all the memories came back. I knew the feeling.