CHAPTER 63 | Prospective
I stood up from the bed so fast that I bumped my head against the upper bed again. I ignored the pain as I walked towards the officer and he handed me my normal clothes. He left so I could change and I took off these horrible orange clothes to put on my regular ones. I couldn't believe I was actually free and that I was going to leave this hellhole, even though I only spent one day in it. What I wondered was if they finally realized that everything had been a misunderstanding.
The guy who slept on the upper bed must have woken up by the noise, because he sat up and looked at me as I put on my pants.
"Mark? What are you doing?" He asked me.
"I'm free." I told him with a smile.
"What? Really?"
"Yeah." I said enthusiastically, finishing putting on my clothes.
"Oh..." Was all he said, looking a bit sad.
"Hey." I approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. That Douglas guy won't hurt you anymore after that beating... Well, I hope he doesn't, but don't let that affect you. You're a strong person. When you get released, you will really be free from all of them. And you won't be in the streets for long, I'm sure you will find a better place to stay. Just... Believe in yourself."
Well, there goes my attempt at giving advice.
However, he rewarded me with a small smile. "Thank you, Mark... It was nice to meet you, at least for one day. You're a great person."
"Thank you." I returned the smile before the officer barged in again and told me to get out. But before leaving, I remembered something that I had to ask him. "Wait, I think I never caught your name?"
"I'm Nathaniel."
"Nathaniel." I repeated in my mind, going to give him a quick hug before leaving. "Take care, Nat."
"You too, Mark."
I gave him a last look before I turned around and I followed the officer out of the cell and towards some offices. Once there, I watched as a woman came rushing towards me and pulled me into a hug. It was my mom.
"Mark, my baby! You're fine!" She cried as she hugged me and I hugged her back. "I knew you had never done such thing. I know you just are not like that and yet those idiots put all the blame on you."
"It's okay, mom." I told her softly, patting her back. We pulled away and she looked at my face.
"What happened to you, Mark? What did they do to you?" She asked worriedly at seeing the bruises.
"Nothing important, don't worry. But tell me, what did you do so they could release me?" I asked her.
"I didn't do anything, son. It's someone else you have to thank." She replied with a smile and I was curious about who had been the one who released me.
So after my mom signed some papers, she led me out of the jail and we exited through a pair of big doors that opened automatically at our approach. Standing at the sidewalk was a group of familiar faces who turned to look at me as they heard the doors opening. There was Wyatt, Rupert, Christine, and Zack. He was smiling warmly at me and I couldn't feel more relieved now, after thinking that I would never be able to see his beautiful face again for a whole five years.
"Mom told me about your situation." Wyatt started, looking at me. "And we came here to see what we could do to get you out of there. Zack gave us more details about what happened, and deep inside I knew that you wouldn't have been capable of doing something like what those bastards described. So Rupert and I started an investigation and found this presumed lawyer. We found him and had a conversation with him, pretending we were interested in his service, and we found out that he was actually a private detective. He started talking about his last mission, in which he passed himself off as a lawyer, and that he was given a certain amount of money to put someone in prison, and we knew he was talking about you. He said he had to make fake tests and charges. Everything he revealed was recorded, and... The police wasn't happy at all when they heard that."
My mom put her hand on my shoulder. "As for why you got out of prison, Zack here posted bail so they could release you. Even though the police had found the real culprits already, your sentence was still there. So he used all the money that he had in his possession before your trial ended in order to take you out of that place."
I widened my eyes in surprise at Zack, who continued to smile at me. He actually spent all the money that his parents had left for him... For me.
"Now, the presumed private detective AND Scarlet's parents are going to spend a long time in jail for giving false information." Christine, Zack's aunt said.
I was relieved to know that they would be the ones who were incarcerated. They would have avoided all that trouble if they had left things like that, not try to blame someone for it.
"We wouldn't have accomplished this if it wasn't for Zacky." Rupert said this time, motioning towards him.
"I couldn't leave you there, Mark, not even after the police took Scarlet's parents to jail. I couldn't bear the thought of you staying there for that long. That's why I paid for your release. I don't care if I was left with nothing, as long as you were free. I did it because, um... Well..." He started stuttering. I knew what he was going to say but he seemed shy of saying it in front of the people who were watching him. "Because I love you."
Everyone smiled at him while he tried to hide his red face by looking at his shoes. I moved from my spot and ran towards him, crashing my body against his and burying my face on the crook of his neck, he hugged me back. I couldn't help the tears of joy that escaped from my eyes at knowing what he had done for me.
"Thank you." I whispered. "Thank you very much, Zack. I love you so much too. How can I repay you for everything you've done for me?"
"You don't need to, Mark... Having you with me is all I need." He replied, hugging me tighter.
We pulled away. I smiled at him as I wiped the tears from my face. Someone patted my shoulder and I turned to see Wyatt.
"Come here, bro." He pulled me into a hug too and I hugged him back. He patted my back and pulled away, giving me a smile. Then Rupert approached me, also smiling.
"Hey, Marky."
"Hey Rup." I smiled at him as we exchanged a hug too. It was nice to see my best friend again. "Thank you both too, for making that detective pay for his lies."
"No problem, buddy. We'll always be here for you to help you." Rupert told me and I gave them them all a thankful smile.
"So, now that my bro is here with us, what do you say if we go to my apartment and make some breakfast?" Wyatt suggested.
"Yeah, that would be nice." Mom agreed. "I know what we can make."
"Great. Then let's go." Wyatt said and we all followed him towards his car.
As they walked ahead and I followed behind them with Zack at my side, I wrapped an arm around his shoulder and he wrapped one around my waist. I turned to kiss his temple, not caring at all if we were still in the street. I loved him and I wasn't ashamed to show it.
"Thank you so much." I said again.
"You said that already, Marky." Zack said with a smile.
"I know but I really am very thankful for what you did for me... And it saddens me to see that now you don't have any money."
"Don't worry about that, Mark. Money comes and goes. We can always find a way of getting more. But for now let's just focus on our lives." He replied. I nodded and he held my hand, and so we all got inside Wyatt's car and he drove us to his apartment.
We talked among each other during the ride. I asked Rupert that why he had come here, besides helping me to get out of this trouble. He said that he was on vacation and his parents let him visit this city for some days. And Wyatt's business trip had ended already.
When we arrived, we walked into his apartment which looked kind of messy since the last time I had visited it. Mom started scolding him about it and he said he would clean up later. He told us to make ourselves comfortable while him, mom and Zack's aunt went to prepare the breakfast. Rupert approached Zack and they started talking.
"Hey Zacky, how have you been? I don't think I really talked to you, only for yesterday when you told me about Mark."
"Right. Well, I've been great." He replied with a small smile.
"Hey, um... You're still angry at me for what happened, you know... That day?" He asked in a low voice.
Zack shook his head. "No, Rup. That's in the past now. Don't worry about it. You're actually a nice guy."
"Heh. Thanks." He replied with a stupid smile. Then he turned to me. "So I guess things with Marky are going great, yeah?"
"Absolutely. Our relationship is each day stronger." I said, wrapping an arm around Zack and pulling him close.
"Aw, you two look super cute together. I never thought you'd really become a thing, and here you are now!"
"Yeah." We chuckled. "So, you and Wyatt, eh?" I asked Rupert, smirking at him.
"Shh!" He kicked my shoe. "I told you we're still trying to think things through, okay?"
"Can't you just stop thinking things and ask him on a date or something? I'm sure he'd love it."
"Nope. I still don't know if your brother wants a serious relationship, and I don't want to get too attached to him. I don't want my little heart to be destroyed if he ever wants to leave me."
"Well, you have a point." I muttered. As I've said before, Wyatt can be a slut.
A moment later, Wyatt called us to have breakfast. So we all went to the dining room and took a seat at the table. Zack sat next to me and Rupert sat opposite us. Wyatt, mom and Christine walked in holding six plates with glazed cinnamon rolls. Yummy. So we all dug into the delicious cinnamon rolls as we chatted about different topics.
"I still can't believe what happened to Scarlet. She wasn't a good girl but I didn't wish that for her." Rupert said.
"Well, it was her decision." Christine spoke. "Look at how far she went just because of Mark. I know that a breakup can be hard to get over with, but still, people shouldn't take away their lives for one person."
Everyone agreed, but that left me thinking. As I looked at Zack, I thought about how much it would affect me if someday he decided to break every bond with me, and leave me for someone else. I definitely wouldn't be able of taking the pain of that. I mean, that time when I thought he was dead, I was feeling so devastated and sad with my life, that one day I attempted to take it away. Although if Zack decided to leave me, I would know that at least he would be alive and fine. I don't know if it would hurt less, more or the same. I'd rather not think about it.
Wyatt cleared his throat. "So how are things going between you two? I remember when Zacky was a bit shorter. I see you gained some muscle too." He told Zack, smiling at him, more at his arms to be precise. I growled a bit under my breath.
"Yeah, heh." Zack replied shyly and so he and I started telling him everything we had been up to until now, excluding everything related to my imprisonment, and most of all, about Zack's fake death which neither Wyatt nor mom knew about. And I don't think they ever will have to.
After we devoured until the last crumb of our rolls, we stayed on the table as we listened to mom talking about our very first years of Wyatt and me in this world.
"Wyatt was like a freaking human tractor! He wouldn't stop moving inside my belly. He kicked here and there as if he was having a big party, and many times I couldn't sleep because of that. All his moving and kicking were absolute torture!" She said as we all laughed.
"Well, it's not my fault that I was an extrovert soul since a baby." Wyatt said, chuckling.
"What about Mark?" Zack asked. Oh no.
"Oh no, Mark worried me to death! He wouldn't move an inch! Many days I was very worried because I thought that something had happened to him. So one day I went to the doctor and told her about Mark not moving, and she said that I should talk softly to him until I got a response. So that's what I did everyday. I would talk to him while rubbing my belly, wanting him to give me a signal that he was fine, and all he did was to just give a small kick and that was it."
Everyone laughed again and I just rolled my eyes.
"You were lazy even as a fetus." Rupert snorted.
"Shut up." I told him.
"But in the end both births were beautiful." She concluded as she stood up to place a kiss on both Wyatt and I's heads as if we were babies.
It was a nice moment. I spent it with my family, a friend, my boyfriend, and my possible aunt-in-law.
================
That afternoon Zack drove us back home. The sky had started to darken by then, even though it was barely like 5 PM. It looked like a storm was near.
As soon as we stepped into the house, Zack closed the door and went to crash his body against mine, hugging me tightly. It caught me a bit by surprise, but then I hugged him too. I leaned my cheek on his soft hair as I rubbed his back.
"I thought I'd really stay there for that long." I told him. "And I thought that in that time you would forget about me."
"What? You really thought that if you had actually spent all that time in jail, I would forget about you?" He asked, lifting his head to look at me.
"I don't know... A lot of thoughts ran through my head at that moment."
"Mark, how many times have I told you about how much I love you? No matter how long we spend without seeing each other, I would never forget about you, much less change you for someone else."
I smiled warmly at him, leaning down to kiss him. "I knew you would never do that to me, and neither would I. Sorry for not trusting you... I just don't want to lose you."
"It's okay. You won't, don't worry."
He hugged me again, and we stayed there standing on the entry of our home for some more minutes until he pulled away and looked at me.
"Do you want to take a shower?" He asked me.
"Do I stink?" I asked, at which he chuckled.
"No."
"Don't lie."
"Okay, yes. But me too, so let's take it together." He suggested.
"Okay." I smiled and we walked up the stairs to the bedroom.
We stepped into his ensuite bathroom and we helped us to take off our clothes. Zack turned on the hot and cold water faucet and leveled them so it would be warm. We stepped into the shower and we started to wash our bodies. We exchanged smiles and laughs as we played with the shampoo on our hairs, styling them in different positions as if we were hairdressers. We helped each other to wash our chests, backs, genitals, legs, and feet. We also shared some kisses here and there. We were having a nice shower, even if we weren't having sex.
When we finished, we helped us to dry ourselves with the towels and we walked naked back into the bedroom. We noticed that the rain had started to pour down already. We put on a pair of boxers only before Zack went to plop himself on the bed and covered his half naked body with the sheets. I looked at him and he patted the spot next to him.
"Come to cuddle with me?" He asked with a cute smile.
The idea sounded pleasing to me, seeing that the day was cold and we were fresh from our shower. So I dropped the pants that I was going to put on and walked eagerly towards the bed, jumping on it and making it crack a bit due to my weight.
"Hey, more gentle. You're going to break it." Zack scolded.
"Sorry." I replied with an innocent smile and brought the sheets to our bodies so they reached our necks.
I shifted closer to him until I felt his body heat and he did the same. I wrapped my arms around his body and he nuzzled his face on my chest, hugging me too. Our legs found themselves under the covers and we tangled them at the same time we rubbed our feet together. The rain, although it was pounding hard outside, brought a very enjoyable atmosphere. I hummed in delight at how good it felt to cuddle with Zack.
I rubbed my hands over his back as I placed little kisses on his cheek and forehead. Zack was giggling by the time my lips started to nibble on his earlobe. I smiled between the kissing at hearing his giggles.
Zack's naughty hand found its way from my arm to one of my pectorals. I could feel his delicate thumb playing with my left nipple, rubbing it over the sensitive spot ever so slightly, but enough to send tingles of pleasure down my body.
"Mmm... If you keep doing that, you'll make me hard." I told him in a whisper.
Zack laughed and stopped his actions, deciding to continue running his hand over my tattoed arm as I continued showering his angelic face with loving kisses. I could feel his soft breathing on my chest and I was sure he could hear how my heart drummed inside it.
As I still held onto him, I moved on the bed and switched our positions so he was now lying on top of me. He looked into my eyes and I looked into his. He moved his body a bit upper so he could touch my forehead with his lips. This time I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation of his small lips showering my face with kisses. He caressed my skin and continued on kissing my face, all the while he whispered nice things to me, things like My beautiful bear, My love, I love you. With every word, every touch and kiss I felt my heart and my stomach fluttering all at once.
I shivered a bit as I felt his soft breathing hitting my ear. He licked and kissed around it with deliberate motions. Our hearts followed a consistent beat inside our chests. His beautiful voice continued to recite sweet words into my ear, creating an harmonious medley of sounds, like musical notes that pulled at my heartstrings. An action so simple, yet so powerful and sublime for me.
He withdrew his lips from my ear to look back at my eyes. We stared into each other's irises, locked on like magnets. That brace of chocolate puddles of his held a ton emotions and feelings, many of which I already identified. Our minds seemed to act at their own accord as we brought our faces together and we adhered our lips into a passionate kiss, a kiss that radiated ardent love and affection for each other.
I placed a hand on the back of his head, intensifying our kiss. My other arm was holding onto his back like a chain, wanting to feel his entire being closer to my body, my muscles, my bones and my soul. There was something about his lips and his kisses that made me feel so overjoyed and so full of life. They always left me thirsting for more.
I kept our lips sealed as I turned us around again, so now my body was hovering over his and we kept on kissing our lips. I pulled away but kept our faces close. I smiled as I leaned to touch the tip of my nose with his, moving it slightly. He smiled back and moved his nose too, returning the eskimo kiss. I started running my hands delicately over his sides, brushing my fingers and my nails ever so slightly over his ribs and near his armpits. What I obtained as a reaction was Zack giggling and squirming on the bed a bit.
I looked at him, smirking as I continued grazing my nails over his ribs. He giggled more and he even tried to swat my hands away from his body.
"What's this? Are you ticklish, baby?" I asked him.
I guess he knew by the look on my face what I was planning to do, because he started to shake his head. "No, Mark. Don't even think about-"
I cut him off as I started moving my fingers over his sides in quick movements, laughs soon started to come out of his mouth as I tickled his ribs. He was trying to push me away from him and telling me to stop, but I continued on tickling him only to hear his beautiful laugh. It was so contagious that I started laughing with him too.
My hands went up to attack his armpits, and he started to laugh more. We messed and rolled around on the bed. He managed to push me to the side, but I continued to tickle him all over his ticklish body. I got on top of him again and I moved lower on the bed, so my face was above his rising and falling stomach. Just when he thought that I was finished, I brought my mouth to his belly button, licking and blowing on it. This caused him to laugh even more.
"Mark! ...S-Stop!" He told me breathlessly as he continued laughing, trying to push my head away.
I smiled and pulled away from his stomach, letting him recover his breathing. I lied down next to him and kissed his cheek while he continued to breathe rapidly.
"You're a monster." He told me in a playful angry tone.
I chuckled. "But you love this monster. And it was fun, right?"
"Ha, for you. Let's see what you think of this now!"
As he said that, he quickly climbed on top of me and repeated my actions, grazing his nails over my sides, ribs, and armpits. I simply smiled at him, not a single laugh escaping from me.
"Go on. You won't find any ticklish spot." I told him. I even rested my head on my palms behind me, letting my armpits exposed to him.
"That's what you think." He said as he continued searching for a spot. He didn't get a reaction from my stomach, or my armpits, or my neck. He let out a groan of frustration and I chuckled at how cute he looked. "Damn you Mark!"
"I told you. I'm not ticklish."
He remained silent for some seconds, until I watched as his face lit up for a second and his pout was replaced by a mischievous smirk. Then I watched as he sunk lower on the bed and disappeared under the covers.
For a moment I thought he was going to suck my dick or something, but then I gasped at feeling something brushing over the soles of my feet and I quickly pulled them away. But whatever that came into contact with them chased after them and I realized that Zack had found my only weak and extremely ticklish spot.
"No, Zack. Don't do it!" I tried to stop him, but obviously he didn't as he pushed the sheets off from his body and I saw that his back was to me, an arm wrapped over my ankles and my feet were at his mercy. He turned to look over his shoulder and smirked again, before I felt his nails brushing over my soles, in a very slow and torturous manner, making my body squirm like a snake and I started laughing like crazy.
Soon Zack started going faster, enjoying looking at me laughing my ass off and trying to jerk my feet away from his grip, but it was impossible. His fingers tickled my toes, my heels and soles and my stomach was hurting from so much laughing. I even started to cry.
"Z-Zack... Stop!" I told him, still laughing.
"What's the magic word?" He taunted, still tickling my feet.
"P-Please! Please stop!" I begged.
Finally, my poor feet were released and I was able to take a moment to recover my breathing. Zack went back to snuggle at my side, satisfied after making me suffer.
I turned to look at him. "You're evil... But I still love you."
"I know." He smiled innocently and wrapped an arm over my chest. I pulled him closer and petted his hair. We were exhausted, naked and breathing heavily. And we didn't even have the slightest bit of sex.
The rain continued to pound with full force for the next couple of minutes, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. But I liked it like this. I've always enjoyed listening and watching the rain, in an afternoon, cuddling with my boyfriend. It all was so relaxing and such an amazing feeling.
Suddenly I wondered how that guy I met at jail was doing. I wondered if those bastards continued on harassing him or not. What if after the great beating I gave to that Douglas guy, he got so enraged with me and now he's going to unleash all his anger on that guy?
"What are you thinking about?"
I looked down to see Zack staring up at me with questioning but soft eyes.
I sighed, continuing to pet his hair. "About a guy I met in jail."
"Really? You actually met someone?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah. I had a cellmate. His name is Nathaniel. He told me that he's always being bullied by everyone in that jail. A bunch of buff and tough guys. They all mock him, make fun of him, and hurt him. I just felt kind of bad for him."
"Poor guy... What did he do to end up there?"
I told him the guy's story. Zack was surprised at hearing that Nat was gay, and because of that all of the problems started. How he got kicked out of his home and how he stole a piece of bread because he was hungry. I was sincere with him and told him about Nat trying to do something with me after I told him I was gay too, which I rejected. Zack simply nodded, but at least he didn't act all jealous or anything of the sort.
After that I started to talk him about my fight with that Douglas. I described every move that he and I used, obviously making more emphasis on my moves. I told him about how I defeated him and they had to take him to an emergency room to cure his wounds.
"Wow. So that explains the bruises on your face. Do they hurt?" He asked me.
"Nah, not anymore." I replied. But then I felt Zack's finger poking at my still bruised cheek and I winced a bit. "Ow!"
He chuckled. "Of course. I believe you."
I scoffed. "But the wounds I left on his face were way worse. You should have been there to watch the scene."
"I would have shit myself out of fear." He said and I laughed at that. "I'm glad I took you out of that place."
I turned to look at him, giving him a loving smile and placing a kiss on his forehead. "And I'll always be grateful with you for that, my angel."
He returned the smile and went back to lean his head on my chest. We remained silent for a few more seconds, contemplating our lives. Our future.
"What will we do now?" I asked him after some minutes.
"About what?"
"About us. You don't have any money." I reminded him.
"I didn't spend all of it. There's still a few remaining. What we're going to do is to continue our studies. We will finish every stage of school until we can graduate and then go to work. In the meantime, we can look for a job. Something simple. We'll earn enough to buy the necessary stuff that we need."
I nodded. It didn't sound that hard to accomplish. I've never worked before, but if it means to go ahead on our lives and continue being happy like we are now, then I'll do it. We'll do it together.
"Sounds good to me." I told him.
We continued to snuggle for some more time. We didn't even have time to go and have dinner when the soft sound of the rain carried us to our own sleep.