He's running and running. He usually doesn't run this much, but this time it seems he has a mission. He's running in a big circle, almost encapsulating the area he has claimed as his. His territory. Don't know why he'd need to do that, but he was starting to feel very protective of the little yellow house. Isn't his house, but he feels like it was. And maybe it is, sort of. He shares it, obviously, but he doesn't mind that. He also knows the forest is wholly his. He spreads his scent, marks his territory, hunts rabbits. The occasional deer that hadn't been observant enough to know a wolf roamed this part of the woods.
And he knows he has to do this. There are things in these woods. Things he doesn't want anywhere near the little yellow house.
My face was agony. A throbbing started around my eyes and ran over my cheekbones, going into my teeth. It was hard to even think when the throbbing just continued on and on.
"Here, love," Abel said softly, handing me an icepack wrapped in a towel.
I put it on my face.
"And I've got some painkillers too. Don't know if they're the right ones... I never take them myself."
"You don't get headaches?" I asked and removed the icepack, taking the pills and the glass of water from him.
"No, can't say that I do. I mean, I can, if I don't feed for long enough. But then a couple of painkillers won't help. Only blood."
"Thank fuck, painkillers work wonders on me." I took some water in my mouth and then popped the pills in, swallowing both water and pills. I laid back on the sofa and put the ice on my face. Abel lifted my legs and put them in his lap, massaging them gently. It helped distract me from the absolute misery I was in.
"Will it always hurt this much?" he asked then.
"It doesn't always. Sometimes it's a little better than other times. This time it's really bad."
"Does it help to talk about it?"
I smiled under the icepack and nodded.
"Describe the pain."
"It's like getting hit in the face. I tried that once. In a bar. Someone didn't like me much. This is like after getting hit in the head. It just keeps throbbing and banging and it's so warm. Icing it helps."
"I'd take the pain away if I could," he said softly and gently patted my leg.
"Massaging my legs definitely helps." I moved the icepack away from my eyes and smiled at my cute boyfriend.
At least, in all of this pain, I didn't have to think about school. Winter break couldn't have come at a better time. I was exhausted and wanted to escape it all. My original plan was to just bury myself in my bed, preferably with Abel and the pets, but he had a different idea. The last couple of months hadn't been fun. It was getting darker, and I wasn't only talking about the weather. Things were just not fun at school. I enjoyed the time I spent with Fred in the studio, painting and chatting shit. But the second we left the art department and went between buildings, it became uncomfortable. Hairs standing on the back of my neck, me anxiously looking around, scared to run into the business vampires.
But that was done for at least a while. And I wouldn't come back until the new year.
"Let's go away," Abel murmured softly on our last day of school.
"Away to where?" I asked, tired to the very bone.
"I looked up some taverns and B&Bs online and there's this ridiculously cute one a couple of hours into the mountains. We could hike, drink whisky from the local distillery..."
I interrupted him by pulling him down into a kiss. He didn't seem to mind as he bent down, letting me interrupt him.
"I absolutely would love that," I murmured against his lips.
"Yeah?" He smiled that one-dimple smile.
"Fuck yeah."
So, we packed our bags, the pets, and drove off into the mountains. It was such a luxury to have a boyfriend with a car. We weren't limited to the lacking public transport. We could just drive off and go on adventures. I was giddy, jazz flowing through the speakers in the Mustang. I loved the smell of Abel's car. It smelt like him and leather. He wore this perfume that smelt like a forest. All so natural.
The front seat was also just so ridiculously comfortable. The pets stayed in a big crate in the boot, which made zero space for our baggage, but it was fine. The pets were more important anyways. But hey, they could share a crate. They had become the best of friends. Even though Gary tried to tease Dave, he simply didn't react to it. Sometimes he'd just put a paw over her, trapping her under his leg and she'd obviously stop.
"I'm excited for this trip. There's a super cool underwater wildlife reservation, I really wanna check out."
"Of course, there is. So, what kind of fish live there?"
"Cutthroat trout. Lots of different trout. Artic Greyling, Mountain Whitefish, suckers..."
"There's not a fish called suckers," I interjected.
Abel laughed and nodded. "There is! They live on the bottom and like... Hoover the floor like... Plants and stuff."
"So, they're a hoover."
He laughed again. "Kind of. They have these cool ridges on their jaws that they use to just suck up everything."
"You're such a nerd. Is this the real reason you wanted to go?" I asked, teasingly.
"No... I wanted to go on a trip and just... Accidentally saw that there was this wild-life reserve." His cheeks turned dark.
"I'm fucking with you, Abel. Even if this was the reason, I wouldn't be mad. I think it's cute and I wanna share your hobbies and passions with you."
He smiled boyishly. Saying nice stuff to him was one of my favourite things in the world because he just... He smiled like I had given some great gift. He appreciated it so much and it made me feel loved too. Because he listened with his whole soul and body. The way he took it to heart, made me feel important to him. My love-language was really developing into just supporting the shit out of Abel.
We arrived at the cutest B&B ever. It was a real mountain cabin with large stones foundation, wood, intricate designs with dragons coming out from under the black roof. Looked like something straight out of a holiday film. Like these super cheesy romance ones. Now I wanted to watch all of them with Abel. But it was also massive. Like, when Abel said B&B I imagined a cute little cabin run by a pair of senior citizens. But this wasn't it at all. It was huge with even a little restaurant outside on a porch, turned to the mountains.
We got into our room which wasn't... A room. It was a suite. This really didn't seem like a regular B&B. Not that I had been to many, but from the outside it looked like this big old cabin, but the inside was highly modernised. It made me realise Abel... Didn't lack funds. He had insisted on paying for it all. I had managed to at least pay for petrol, but he wouldn't even hear about me paying for anything else.
Abel was rich and I hadn't thought much of it before because he didn't act like it.
But this was luxurious. Almost over the top. We had a fireplace in the front room, a whole wall was a window in the bedroom and the tub in the bathroom was more like a small pool. And there was another fireplace in there too.
"Abel, this must've cost a fortune..." I said, looking around the modern décor and the view. The view alone must've cost like... A month's worth of rent or something?
"Nah, and it's worth it. It's our five-month anniversary."
I turned towards him, staring at him wide-eyed. "I didn't even realise we've been together that long."
"Well, I'm counting from our first date. At the club. Where you kissed me."
I smiled and went to him, putting my hands on his hips. "You were the one who kissed me, from what I remember."
"Oh, that was all you. I was way too scared."
"Why were you scared?" I asked and slid my thumbs under his shirt.
"Because you were so cool and cute and so hot, and I just got super nervous around you." He shrugged and bent down, kissing my forehead. "I still do."
"You're crazy," I said in lack of something better to say.
"Crazy about you," he whispered and put his hands on my cheeks, tipping my head up and kissing me on the mouth this time.