The hot morning sun was annoyingly bright, too bright for my liking as the glowing rays peaked through the small gap between the dark fabric of the curtains and the large window, the light landing on my face and rudely awakening me from my otherwise peaceful sleep.
A heavy wave of fatigue washed over me, crushing my body as my weary eyes slowly fluttered open, squinting from the bright sunlight that disturbed my sleep. I let myself wake up, my heavy body barely able to remain awake as I craved to fall back into my sweet slumber.
The soft sheets were warm against my skin, the air surrounding me cool as the half-broken ceiling fan rapidly spun, an odd noise emitting. The screws were loose on the blades, making it spin at an uneven pace. It provided enough relief from the warm spring sun.
Large and somewhat muscled arms were wrapped around my body, holding me closely from behind, a shadow of warmth pressed against my back.
I'd fallen asleep in Serj's arms, getting a full nights sleep that was more refreshing than I'd had in a long while. It was probably the fact that I'd fallen asleep in the arms of someone whom I was, as much as it hurt to admit, in love with. Maybe love was too strong a word, being as I wasn't even in a relationship with this man, only recently finding that his feelings for me matched mine for him.
Serj's face was pressed into the back of my neck, his short stubble scratchy yet ticklish against my smooth skin. I ignored the way my heart swooned.
Images of the events from the day before flashed through my mind, providing a blanket of comfort, fondness. Although the memories were recent, they were already engrained in my mind, seeming so far away. It was all a heavy blur.
I felt Serj heavily exhale, his body slightly shifting, a quiet noise escaping his lips. I slightly turned so I could see him, checking to see if he was awake, and sure enough he was. His eyes were droopy, still adjusting to the daylight, slowly fluttering open. A hazy smile formed on his lips when he saw me.
The alarm clock on the bedside read 10:30, surprising me, as we'd both fallen asleep relatively early. After my call from Daron the previous day, I showered, smoked with Serj for an hour or so, ate whatever junk I had in my pantry, and went to bed, ending the somewhat eventful day. If you call smoking pot and having sex with the man you've loved for forever eventful.
It sounded weird to admit that in my mind.
"I'm gonna go have a smoke." I told Serj, slowly dragging myself out of the comfort of my bed, his arms falling off of my body.
"Mind if I join?"
"I'd prefer it."
We headed out to my patio, where I leaned over the railing and basked in the already hot weather. With summer approaching, the temperature was already in the 70-80 degree range.
I flipped open the carton of cigarettes which had been sitting on my kitchen counter and was upset to find that there was only one more cigarette left. I scowled and lit it, taking the longest drag possible, and holding it in my lungs.
"Menthol's worse for you, isn't it?" Serj read to label on the box, leaning to look at me, a stupid (attractive) smile across his stupid (pretty) face.
"Oh, shut up." I playfully slapped his shoulder, trying not to smile but ultimately giving in. He laughed back at me, coyly smiling.
"There's a party at Daron's tonight. You wanna go?" He asked me, his hand snaking from the ledge of the railing to my arm, to around my neck.
"Maybe." I responded, my attention more focused on his warm hand against my skin then it was with the conversation.
"I want to, cause Lynn and Mikey will be there. Plus Shavo and Andy of course." he added. "Dunno who else, though." My heart was beating fast, my brain not processing a word that escaped his mouth. I wished he would just kiss me already.
I wondered how things would be from here on out. Would we remain friends who just... kiss sometimes? I mean, we'd already taken it a step further than kissing, so...
I didn't want to dwell on that though. Rather than thinking for too long, I let my face inch closed to Serj's, my head tilted upwards, my eyes fluttering shut. He closed the gap between us, his lips hitting mine. His hand which sat around my neck snaked up into my hair as he gently dug his fingers into my scalp.
I swore I could never get tired of kissing him. I could never get tired of the way everything around us disappeared, the way my mind went blank and nothing else besides our lips being locked was important. My mind was a mush, slowly disintegrating as I lost all sense of my surroundings.
We slowly separated, Serj's head tilting, his lips migrating to my neck, leaving small kisses filled with passion and fervor, slightly nipping with his teeth. His free hand gripped my waist, the other one just barely spread across my breast.
He stopped and studied my face, a wobbly grin appearing. I smiled back at him, not knowing what to say, if I were to say anything at all.
☆
Serj spent the morning with me, the two of us being more than satisfied with each other's simple presence. That afternoon, he went home to get ready for the party, planning on returning to pick me up.
I was excited, knowing that Lynn and Mikey and possibly some other friends would be there. I hadn't seen them in a long time, and I was awfully surprised they didn't show up to the System show the other day.
I took a quick shower, setting aside clothes on the bathroom countertop for myself. I'd picked out that red and black strapless top, knowing full well it showed off the bruises littering my neck and collarbone, all of Serj's doing. I put on a pair of shorts, aware that it was hot out, and topped off the outfit with a couple of necklaces.
Something seemed to be missing, and I'd decided that I should trim my hair. A couple of inches, snip snip, and I was done. I didn't do too bad of a job, either.
As soon as I was done getting ready, making sure to do a good job on my makeup and straightening my hair, I put my belongings in my purse and was ready to go.
I heard a swift knock at the door, and I rushed to open it right away.
Serj stood behind the door, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, his slightly damp hair draped across over his shoulders. His eyes skimmed my body, quick to flicker back up to my face. "You ready to uh... go?"
"Mhm," I nodded. "You excited?" I asked him as we headed out to his car.
"Yes, of course. We're gonna be there pretty early so I'm hoping I'll be able to catch up with a few people while they're still sober." He lightly chuckled.
The drive was quick, being as Daron only lived a couple miles from me. We really were early, only Shavo, Daron, Lynn, and another whom I didn't know. Daron had told us that way more people were expected to show up.
A fan was running, providing slight relief from the hot air outside, just enough to keep the room cool. The counter was filled with an assortment of alcohol, all the cheapest shit you could drink. No one really cared though, because booze were booze. There was a slight cloud of smoke surrounding the living room, Lynn holding a joint and passing it around the circle.
There wasn't much room on the couches in the living room. I sat next to Lynn, and across the living room Serj sat next to Daron.
I took a hit of the joint that Lynn held and listened to whatever the group was discussing, my eyes scanning the room and watching the way everyone added their own input. I was quiet, observing everyone partake in friendly banter, rolling my eyes at the crude jokes.
My eyes landed on Serj, his dark eyes looking in my direction but his line of vision directed further down into the crook of my neck. He seemed to be dazed out, checking in and out of the conversation, only adding small bits and letting out a few chuckles.
Everyone only grew louder in volume, Daron and Lynn's laughter filling the room, Shavo leaning back and stretching his arms.
Serj was still staring at the same spot. My eyes flickered down to match his line of vision to discover what it was that was consuming his attention. I realized that it was the bruising on my neck which caught his attention.
In hindsight, it should've been pretty obvious what held his attention, but still, it never crossed my mind.
As more people started to pool in, the already smoke clouded room got more severe. I never minded that though, glad that it was enough to blur my mind. I nursed on a flavored vodka and listened to everyone talking, not minding the fact that there wasn't really a place for me in any conversation, just happy to be there.
I decided to go out to the patio just to clear my head a bit, to get a breath of fresh air. Serj seemed to be preoccupied, but otherwise I would've asked him to go too.
I sat, leaning off the railing, empty cup in hand. Without any notice, Lynn appeared beside me, a shy grin on his face. "How've you been?"
I'd always loved Lynn, grateful for the way he seemed to care. I was happy for him since he'd just recently formed a new band after his old one had broken up, and now instead of being a bassist he was a vocalist. I hoped that that would work out for him.
"I've been good, I think." I responded. "What's been up with you?"
"Been trying to get a start to the band, y'know how it goes." He sighed. "In all honesty though, I've been kinda stressed with some other shit."
"Like?"
"Got diagnosed with uh... what's it called? Tourettes. I started getting twitches 'nd shit, didn't think anything of it until it started getting worse, like my head jerks and stuff."
{i hate adding authors notes mid chapter but i would like to add that lynn strait did actually get diagnosed with Tourettes at around this time in his life.}
"Oh, I know what that is. I'm sorry about that, man." I didn't know much else to say beside sorry.
"Nah, it's fine." He shrugged, looking off at the street below us. "I got a puppy, did I tell you that? He's the best."
We continued this conversation for a few minutes, until his name was called from inside, leaving me alone again. And in all honesty, I was fine with that.
"Hey, are you alright?" I was startled yet again by someone walking out to talk to me. This time it was Serj. His warm hand brushed my unclothed shoulder, the sweet smell of his cologne washing over me, providing a blanket of comfort.
"Yes. Even better now that you're here though." I whispered. "You having fun? You don't have to stay out here with me if you don't want to." I leaned against his body.
"Don't worry about it, I wanted to see you."
I couldn't help but smile at his words. My heart still pounded whenever he was in my vicinity, my palms beginning to sweat. I didn't know why he made me
so nervous.
-
{like half of this is poorly written, i apologize. i was hoping to have this chapter reach like 3000 words but i decided that i would leave it at 2000. also, i didn't completely go through this to edit it, so im sorry for spelling/ grammar mistakes! those will eventually be fixed}