AVATAR TWOW: Torn between the 2

Chapter VIII| In that week...?

A O' N U N G
In that week...?
PT2

IN THAT WEEK...I am alone. Neteyam only comes to hand me food and is later gone as swiftly as he comes. His back retreats into those bushes, and my mouth has the thirst to yell out his name for him to stay every time. But I don't.

My eyes just watch him, quelling how much I want to reach over and swathe my arms around him, yielding him put, where he can't go anywhere else. Not to attend to his brother, but to stay with me. It is greedy of me.

He doesn't caress my face, or tap my chin—and my face yearns for it. I feel too cold with the breezy winds. My face feels too numb.

"Look who's shown up, thought you had forgotten about me for a bit," I say with chuckling humor.

The way he walks intrigues me. He walks with his chin up, and a lazy smile that can be mistaken as a smirk. His fangs are tiny—pearly white contrasting his cobalt skin. His braids rock hard from side to side, and his arms are taut at his sides. He takes up space, appearing bigger than he actually is.

His footsteps are rather lazy too. He exudes masculinity, and I admire that. He walks like how I wish I walked. My hips tend to sway, unlike his which are still.

I notice those thighs. They're thin with lean muscle, yet somehow they're appealing to my eyes. And those arms, yet again thin, but bulging with muscle. That little butt; it's plump and rather small, like his narrow hips and small waist—but still then, they're appealing. He has more than I do—a strong butt that's cute to the eyes.

He rolls his eyes and sits at the edge of the pond.

The eclipse shines at my face blindingly. Even in the darkness of the day, his eyes are still protruding—cutting me entirely and lancing through my soft heart. His eyes are softened and I can't stop staring. His eyes are full of tenderness. His skin is layered with the beam of his Tanhì all about his body.

I want to trace each dot with my finger. I wonder how warm each part of his body is...his collarbones, his belly button, his cheeks, his nose...and those veins in his neck. As I stare at him closely, I realize how feminine his features are, and perhaps he took after his mother as I did.

"You always in this pond? Don't you wander around elsewhere?" He asks. I laugh.

"What kind of idiot wanders around a place they don't know? The only wandering I do is a few meters from here." I say, "Plus, this pond makes me feel at home."

My voice fades. He lays on his back, and peers at the sky with his arms folded beneath his head. I eye the heaving of his chest and those blue nipples that for some reason tempt me.

But I shove those feelings aside. My face frowns and my words pile on with woe.

"I've decided I want to go home. Two days from now, I'll do it. I don't care for a plan, I'll find my way about just as I found here," I say.

"Alright," He kisses his teeth, too firm for my solace.

My heart tugs. I don't want him to agree. I figure I don't want to leave him. However, his face seems to waver in the slightest bit. I hop out of the pond with no reticence and I lay at his side. My face hovers over his, but he doesn't look at me. It's better that way. I don't have to stumble over my words.

"I thank you, I really do. You made this whole thing bearable, Neteyam," I croon. My long fingers caress through every one of his braids. My eyes trail about his face, "Trust me when I say this isn't my home. You are kind to me and I really like you...but family is something you don't leave. No matter how annoying. I miss them."

I really like you, I hate how much it weighs. I hate how it's layered with vast emotions I didn't intend it to. It's weighing on my heart like the aggressive pull of the sea, drowning me. If I wasn't Metkayina, I would've drowned countless by now.

He smiles forlornly and nods understandingly. "It's your life, lead with it. If that's what you want then no hard feelings. You were never meant to stay anyway. Our friendship will still be, right?"

"Right..." I say, laying my head next to his. He turns on his side and looks at me. Golden, almost green, with a pure soul into which I gaze and see me. Our heads are only a few inches away.

It's the closest I've been to a friend, physically. That's what Neteyam is—a friend, my best friend after Rotxo, and perhaps my only special friend. I have no love language, was never interested in that stuff. Even courting seems like a game of fishing and catching. I have never found love thrilling.

I like to play pranks and live life on the low. Rotxo and I would spend the most time together back home. We would mess around and joke until our stomachs cramped from laughter.

But Neteyam...I want his caresses. I yearn for his body and his ardor. I yearn to take on his million questions—every one of them. I yearn to have conversations full of life and personal preferences. I want to know his depth. I want to know Neteyam to the fullest as one has ever before. It amazes me how fond and close I've gotten to a guy. It's terrifying.

"I'm leaving," He abruptly says, getting up. I look at him with query, but I don't stop him. I let him go. And for once I don't think "Don't leave me," but rather "Stay with me."

I want Neteyam to stay with me. My fingers itch to hold him, to pull him into my embrace. Into my personal space.

He turns away and walks with his shoulders slumped and tail limp. That tail that normally swings doesn't swing. It just hangs. He doesn't turn to look back at me once. My heart aches. I watch him leave, again for the billionth time.

I already miss him: thin frame I can wrap with my arms, flicking tail I can tug and yank, and maybe caress its base.

I sigh with frustration and throw my head back, glimpsing at the stars. My eyes prickle and I let my quiet tears fall because I feel ill. Everything is making me sick. I'm losing my mind.

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