Steven and I arrived back home safely. The pizza delivery guy was waiting in front of the door, tapping his feet whilst glancing at his watch; wondering where the people were. We descended slowly, I then walked over behind the pizza guy and tapped his shoulder.
He jolted as he gave us a startling countenance. "I-I'm sorry?"
"The pizza," I said. I pulled out my wallet and took out fifteen bucks. I lent it to him as a replacement with the pizza. His body trembled as he tried to observe me, which I gave him with narrowed eyes. He avoided my blank eye contact, moving in a side-wise motion, awkwardly embarrassed.
We both entered the room and settled in to feast for pizza and some orange juice. Accompanied by binge-watching on Netflix shows like Stranger Things, She-Ra and the Princess of Power, and the American Horror Story. Each time I glance at Steven having fun, I noticed how glad he must be, and that he is putting a smile on his face. It made me happy to see him in a state he is satisfactorily pleasing every part of the moment.
But something disconcerted me, which made me question a lot.
The kiss.
Did it mean anything? Why did my body felt like it was drowning in heavenly clouds?
I guess it was just the moment that pulled me in. But why, though? Surely, it didn't mean to be unintentional, that Steven has fallen over heels to his gem—me. I didn't want to put emphasis on it, yet despite the ignorance on the matter, my mind couldn't stop from getting into the focus of Steven getting fluttery around me, it's driving me insane for an unknown purpose.
The kiss—it felt good to feel that feeling, though I argued it was nothing but just a peck on the lips. Then again, what do I know? Confused feelings make little sense to me. However, I couldn't stand a chance at it. Ugh! I tried stalling, but it never worked, it's making my gem heart fluster intensively even if I try to think aside.
I'm just confused.
I sighed in silence. "I hope I am."
The night went on and our enjoyment finally faded. Steven's head was on my shoulder, dozing off. He made soft snores as he snuggled right next to me, curling up as his arms intertwined with mine. I lifted him bridal style and carried him to his bedroom. I rolled the sheet on top of Steven and tucked the edges underneath him. I stared, watching him sleep while he twitched his lips.
I was about to leave the room when my ego made me stop. I ran my fingers on the door frame and softly clenched it. I balled my other hand and looked back at Steven. I find it hard to digest how numb I am of wanting to feel the same thing Steven feels. It's intimidating. He may look like a cute oddball, but deep inside, he's still a person suffering from problems—difficult ones—and challenges he couldn't handle on his own. It's not enough just by telling him to be okay, I want myself to crawl inside his skin and feel everything he feels. He's been in so much pain, and I want to be in pain too.
I just wish I can connect with your emotions, Steven, no matter how sentimental it may be... I want to understand the pain you feel so I can give the care you truly deserve.
I went back to Steven and sat beside him as I held his hand, rubbing his knuckles with my thumb. Later, I placed my hand on his chest—his heartbeat, neutral and light to the thump. I caressed his face afterward, his rosy cheeks appeared as he twitched his head to lie on my hand. It made me smile.
I leaned toward him closer than ever and kissed his forehead. It took long for me to let go of that peck, for I felt something powerful aroused inside of me.
My chest reacted, it glowed as I could feel an emotional pain and heat inside like I pierced it unintentionally. On that same occurrence, my face burned unexpectedly and for a strange reason. Strange... good, strange. I don't really know what's happening inside of me, but as long as I'm okay with the sensation, do I even have to give a darn thing about it? Probably not.
Steven smiled lightly in his sleep, probably because of what he's dreaming. I smiled along with him, which is very peculiar because we did it simultaneously. Was it just a coincidence?
I shook my head and left the room. I closed the door behind me and leaned against the wall. It's such a weird thing because I have not done it before and it's not something I'm used to do or will ever do most of the time. I mopped the sweat on my forehead with my forearm as I let out a sigh.
This is really messed up.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING
I pulled the tray out of the cabinets and placed the plate stacked with pancakes and a glass of orange juice. I brought it inside Steven's room and placed it on top of the table. He's facing at the window as the sun glowed at his face. He was still snoring, wrapping his arms around his pillow.
"Steven, wake up." I sat beside him, wiggling his shoulder. "I made breakfast for you."
Steven turned to look at me. His eyes squinting, making constant blinks in irritation of the sunlight glaring upon him. He rubbed his eyes and smiled at me. "Morning, Pink."
"Morning, Sunshine. You must be hungry. I made a blueberry and raspberry pancake drizzled with maple syrup and orange juice to freshen it up," I said. But all I received was a furrow of his brow, his red ruddy face and his expanded glossy eyes. I did not understand why he did it. Did I say something wrong?
"What?"
He fumbled, "D-Did you just ca-called me... 'Sunshine'?"
Oh, shoot. I just said something different, didn't I? Sunshine, to Steven? This is going out-of-hand for me. My lips were quivering because of it and my skin hair stood on its end.
"What? Okay, I didn't say nothing!" I rebuked as I turned to face the door, trying to force a blush. I picked up the tray and served it to him, "Come on, get up and eat; your food is getting cold. It ain't fun when it gets cold."
"Yeah, just like when she never talked to me for about a month." Steven sat up and fixed the sheets, yet he frowned.
I titled my head, looking at him weirdly. "Really, you're going to pull this now?"
"Alright, I'll stop talking." Steven chuckled as he lifted the fork and knife and sliced a bit-sized chunk of the pancake. "Thanks for making this." He inserted the pancake in his face hole. "You didn't have to do it, though, but it's nice."
"Glad you liked it," I replied.
There was a smudge of pancake on his lip, which he hasn't removed it nearly after the course of the meal. He belched softly and chugged down the orange juice. Still, the smudge was still there. It was bothering me. I reached for my hand to wipe it off.
His cheeks getting all crimson red. "What are you doing?"
"Removing the smudge." With my thumb, I mopped the stain on his face. A few seconds later, I realized his facial hair was growing long. It made me cringe and narrow my eyes. "God, your facial hair deceives me, like I keep seeing John Wick at the backyard repeatedly."
"And what are you going to do with it, Mr. Chad Stahelski?" Steven set the tray aside and leaned toward me with a teasing look.
"I'm going to do a director's cut, literally, by shaving it."
He shoved my shoulder. "Now you're being ridiculous. Why are you the one who is going to do it?"
"Because you lack in energy and immune yourself with pure laziness, and then I'm going to sue you for looking like a 30-year-old."
"Bu—"
"No, but's," I said as I stood. I took off my shirt, revealing only in my pants. I threw it at the laundry basket and went over to the cabinets to get two towels. "Come, I'm going to take a shower. Take a shower after I do."
He stared at me in a flush. His lips quiver as his breaths sharpen, which I had no clue what it meant. Maybe he's looking somewhere else. Could it be my abs and guns?
I looked down at my body and back to him. "What, is it your first time looking at these?"
He blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"My abs and biceps, does it stun you?" I questioned, but he responded with a nervous shook of his head. "Then why do you look so tensed?"
"No, I'm not!" He flustered and yanked the towel from my hand as he sprinted at the bathroom.
I let his face get washed before shaving. After doing so and exfoliating his skin right after, I added shaving cream to his face and took the razor out behind the mirror. I began at his left as I moved on to the other side afterward.
I've never done this at all to a person, it makes me feel very uncomfortable to do something without their permission, but why does this feel like anything out of the ordinary, like I had the desire to do it?
It made me stop shaving when I accidentally glared at Steven's lips. It looked pinkish-red, glossy, and soft... it triggered me back to the kiss which still, I couldn't get out of my head. It's bothering me and brought me out-of-focus on the thing I'm trying to do. My face burnt slowly inside as my chest thumped in a slightly fast pace and my lips shivered. I'm about to snap due to this fluttery sensation.
"What's the matter, Pink?" Steven asked.
I shook my head no and gulped. "Nothing."
I continued to shave his facial hair until I finished it. I head over to take a shower for not longer than ten minutes. While I was beneath the shower head, I held my chest and figured how I became so suddenly emotional at things. I wasn't supposed to be this way, yet I did it in a split of a second without thinking about it.
Yikes.
I came out of the shower, and Steven followed. I dried myself and wore my black star shirt and my fitted jeans. I combed my pink pompadour hair and used Bench men's cologne that has a fiery yet mild and refreshing smell. I applied it all over me.
Somebody made knocking sounds out of the blue. Who could it be? I shifted over to the front door after fixing myself and swung the door open—it was Oliver, Jefferson, Patrick, Thomas, and Darwin.
"Hi!" Jefferson waved at me nervously. "Uh, is Steven here, is he okay?"
I nodded as a response.
"Right." The five were mumbling at each other, and I was just standing there obliviously confused of the situation we're in. The atmosphere surrounding us was undeniably uncomfortable.
"W-We just came by to check if he's, uh, okay... that's all." Oliver said awkwardly as he nodded. The four did the same thing in unison. After a brief pause, he spoke, "Well, it was nice seeing you, again."
The guys were backing up slowly, about to leave. "We'll just go to work and—"
"No, stay." But I insisted them to remain here. I swung the door fully open and let them in, sitting on the sofa as they waited. I went back to the bathroom to inform Steven. He was humming Sadie's favorite song and also his, the one he performed during Beachapalooza.
"Steven," I called. He stopped humming. "The idiots are here."
"Them? What are they doing here?"
Steven got out of the shower a few minutes after and immediately got dressed. He soon got out of the room after fixing himself. The guys jumped off the seats after seeing Steven in an uncommon state. They all gathered to give Steven a warm embrace.
"Hey, Steven, how you feeling?" asked Jefferson.
Steven replied, "Slightly okay, slightly getting better."
"That's good to know."
Thomas said, "Man, Mr. Wilkins was right about you; you grew fat and dull!"
"How did he know that?" Steven furrowed his brow.
"He saw you came out of the hospital yesterday."
All of them sat back at the sofa; that included Steven. I remained at the side because would I sit beside them? I turned cold and silent as a post again, trying to observe what they're doing. Steven gave me a pleasant smile when he looked at me and patted his hands on the sofa. Am I supposed to follow it? It left me no choice. I went over to sit beside him.
"We missed you at work, Steven," spoke Patrick in a melancholy tone. "It's not fun when you're not around."
"Yeah, dude, Patrick's been crying in the corner for days like a freaking baby." Darwin pointed at him, grinning in laughter.
Patrick smacked his head. "Shut up, deep shit! You're just saying that because you don't want to tell him what happened when he was gone."
"What is...?"
Oliver smirked as he crossed his arms. "Oh, Steven, you won't believe what happened to Darwin when you weren't around. He had to do his tasks and taking your place as a server at the same time. Man, this guy nearly fainted of tiresome!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Oh, didn't you?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain why you complained, 'Aw, I wish Steven was here to help me out' if it wasn't for nothing?"
"I—" Darwin suddenly trailed his eyes off and gritted his teeth. He sighed. "Okay, that was because I was losing my sanity. Come on, everybody does that!"
"Uh, no, just you," Oliver replied in a savage way. "I'd rather take a break and drink a lot of water than to complain when you're feeling getting beaten up by faith."
Jefferson held Steven's hand. "Well, the important thing is that you're okay, and we're pleased to hear that."
Steven smiled, yet it faded a few seconds later. "I really want to go to work. I can't just sit here doing nothing?"
"I don't think you can handle breaking a sweat yet. You need to recover from your condition to get back to work." Thomas leaned closer to him.
"What am I going to do, then? Roam around the house, observing the things happening around me, watch a human-alien gem show on Cartoon Network with some LGBTQ+ themes?"
All of them looked at him suspiciously, furrowing their brows.
"In fact, that's exactly what you're supposed to do," I spoke, breaking the silence. "You don't have to drain your body by working, otherwise, it will worsen your condition. Your skin is fragile, your sanity rate is still low, and your body isn't capable of doing anything tiring. If that's the case, then I'll do it. Since I know how to be a server, why shouldn't I be your replacement?"
"You think you can handle it?" Darwin said.
"I'm a part of him, so basically whatever he knows, I know too." I looked at him with permission. "If that's okay with you?"
He only sighed.
I turned to face him completely. "I'm worried about you. I don't want you to get in any danger. So please, let me do this for you."
I held his hand, which made him blush. I pouted to persuade him, which it worked; he smiled. "Okay, I trust you on this."