Midnight Kisses

X

I look at him with a smile. I know they ended on good terms. "Oh, how is she?" I ask, kindly. "She is uhm... She is fine." He stutters. He's nervous. "You're nervous, mon amour." I grab his hand and hold it tightly. Ocean and Constance walk across the street, going back over to Constance's place while Mischa and I turn the corner going to mine. "She is... she is severely hurt." His hand tightens. "What happened?!" I know how much they care for each other. "Her family does not have food. She is sick." I snap back and look at him. "I'm buying you a ticket to Ukraine. I won't hear any buts." His eyes gleaming with happy tears. He stops walking and turns to me. I turn to look at him. "You would?" His desperate and vulnerable voice rattles my skull. "I shall." I smile as he caresses my face. He quickly takes his hand away and shakes it. "Ice cream." I give him a confused look. "Ice cream shop." He points toward a building with an ice cream scoop logo. I let him pull me there and he buys us ice cream. I think this is his way of coping. Or just habit. I don't judge, I fidget a lot as well.

We sit down and eat our ice cream. Mine is a cone, one scoop of cake batter, one scoop of chocolate, and one scoop of cookies and cream. He has mint chip, chocolate, and vanilla scoops in a cup. Some person comes up to us. "Ahhhh, chillin' with the homies. Mine left me, so here I am, with thing one and thing two." I just stare at him. Mischa staring at me. "Uhm... Who are you?" Mischa asks. "I'm Allison. Nice to meetcha!" At this point, I have a frog face. "Say, you both look mighty fine." She looks at both of us. "Well, we are dating- So uh. Yeah." She looks at us, eyes wider this time. "I'm sorry! I didn't know. I was being ignorant. So, how's you two get together?" She seems genuine. "He's a transfer student, so when he first came, he wanted my help to get out of the situation he was in with our choir teacher. We quickly became friends and I started to gain feelings. We've gone through some things, but we got through it. All of it."  She smiles at me. She suddenly tears up. "That was such a beautiful story!" Mischa looks at me, insisting he talks to me in private. "Can you give us a moment?" She nods after I ask.

We have her go to a different table and Mischa gently places his hand on mine. "She is a random person. Don't just tell her everything." He isn't trying to be rude, I know that. "I'm sorry, love. I won't do it again, I promise." I slightly smile. "Thank you for telling me, darling." I say, in an attempt to let him know I'm not upset. He takes my hand and kisses it. I lift and hand and make a motion for her to come back over. "So, how's your life?" I ask her. "I recently moved and I'm living with my new roommate. He's sweet." I smile at her. "That's nice! Well, I think it's tame for us to go. We'll see you around?" She seems nice enough. "Hell yeah, dude!" Mischa and I smile and take our leave.

We make it back to my apartment and go to my mother. "Ma. Mischa will be staying with us from now on. His father is a prick and he came out, so we're taking him in." I look at him for a second to see him looking down at his feet. "Oh. Mischa, I'm so sorry! Yes, you're welcome to stay here. Noel has been helping us with money, so I think there won't be any problems." My face turns red. "Mother. We do NOT talk about my job." She laughs and Mischa looks confused. "Well, I'm glad you're safe, honey. You scared me with your last call." I felt bad hearing her say that. Mischa, still thinking of the last topic, "You have job?" I hesitate on answering that. "Yes, he works at Ta-" I stop her quickly. "MOTHER. NO." She smirks. "He works at Taco Bell." I wanna cry. Mischa starts to laugh. My face flares a hot red and I run up stairs. He doesn't follow me, but instead has a moment with mother. I try to overhear their conversation. Mischa starts, "Ma'am... I will also be going to Ukraine soon. Talia... She is very ill with no food. I have not a lot of money. Noel offered this trip. Only with your okay, I will let him pay for it. I don't want him wasting his money on me." I feel bad. I don't want to make him feel like a burden. "Honey, it's what he wants to do. He's an adult. I have no control over his own money. I think he just wants to make you happy. He also cares for the people you care for. So don't worry. He's doing good." I smile after hearing that. "Also, don't tell him anything about this. His father is requesting him, and I can't say no. I don't have legal rights. He will be staying there for I don't know how long. This will be hard to tell him. But I will be doing it soon." I cover my mouth, covering my loud breathing. I run to my room quietly and go out to the balcony. It's small, given this is an apartment.

I stand there for a bit until I hear my door creak. I wipe my tears and try to play it cool. "Hey." I keep my composure. I walk over towards him with my arms crossed. As soon as get somewhat close, he holds my face and shoves his lips on mine. I can feel the tears streaming down his rectangular face. Slowly, I bring my hands to his neck. We take steps back until I fall on my bed. He gently falls on top of me and continues the kiss. I wrap my arms around his back to close the space between our bodies. I close my eyes.

I wake up. It's midnight by now. I notice my shirt has been violently thrown over near my closet. My pants are still on. That's good. I look over at the balcony and notice Mischa standing there. He's holding a bottle? I walk over to him. I hold the rail, my hands in his peripheral vision, letting him know I'm here. "You're drinking again?" He lifts the bottle and looks at it. He sighs. "I hate for you to see me this way." He says with a sulk  in his voice. "No need for 'sorry'. Tell me why you're like this." I try not to sound rough. "There are three reasons. One of which I cannot tell." I nod, confirming he only has to tell me the two. "I am worried for Talia. And I feel guilty for taking advantage of your body." What does he mean? He didn't take advantage of me. I let him. I would've pushed him if I didn't like it. "Hun, you'll be visiting her soon. As for me, I would've yelled stop or pushed you away if I didn't appreciate it. I enjoyed it, which is why I fell asleep. I'm just not that comfortable with intercourse. Overbearing me with kisses is okay." I go to touch his hand, but he pulls his away. "I have done so much to hurt you. I feel you do not deserve me." I hug him and run my fingers through his hair. "I may not deserve you, but you deserve me. I'm here for you to lay your head on. We work together. We are a team. I can rest my head on yours." I look up at his face and smile. He grabs my face and squishes. "Ahhh, you are ridiculous. But, I must listen to the poet. His words are true." I remove is hands and give him a peck on his forehead. "Let's enjoy our time while we can." I say, forgetting that I'm not supposed to know about the whole father thing. He looks at me, too tired to be surprised. Probably too drunk. We go back over to my bed. "Good night, mon amour."