Hey Stranger

Zaid’s POV

Eventually Arden crawled off me and we moved from the floor to the bed and he curled up next to me his head resting on my chest. It was the safest I’d ever felt in my life with him in my arms like this, both of us completely quiet, contemplating what had happened between us, as I stroked his hair so contented with just holding him.

Was it wrong that we’d just met and already I’d already fucked him? I thought for a moment. No, not only had I fucked him, I’d claimed him. This boy was mine, and every part of me thought he belonged to only me. I looked down at him and noticed his eyes moving beneath his eyelids. He asleep and I smiled as he mewed softly snuggling closer to me. I didn’t know why but this felt so right, so perfect. I’d never just lain like this with anyone, with Sierra we’d have sex and then I’d feel weird and have to leave. With Arden I never wanted to leave his side…I could have stayed like this him forever even though I knew we couldn’t.

I glanced over at the clock on my bedside table. It was almost 1 o’clock and I frowned…had we really been here that long? Wow…we’d gotten to my house at about 9:30…It felt like so much shorter than two and a half hours. I sighed softly and wrapped my arms around him and nuzzled into his hair. He smelled like sandalwood and salt water…it was beautiful just like him.

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I awoke to feel Arden stirring at my side, and the sound of a car door slamming…that meant my Aunt had gotten home from work but I just pulled Arden closer. Suddenly my eyes flew open. If Nadia was home that meant it was 5 o’clock…shit…Arden had said he needed to be home before 3:30.

“Arden, baby …we have to wake up and get you home…” I said stroking his cheek. He moaned in his sleep and then his long eyelashes fluttered and he looked up at him. “I don’t want to go home…” He moaned. “I want to stay here…” He said burying his face in my chest.

“It’s five…you said you had to be back by 3:30…” I said and frowned as his head shot up, a scared look in his amber eyes.

“W-what?” He stuttered as he was suddenly scrambling off the bed and started searching the floor for his cloths pulling them on hurriedly. “I have to get home…oh my god…they’re going to kill me for sure because I’m late…” He said a worried tone in his normally confident voice. I sat up and frowned at him and he rushed about.

“You can just tell them you got held up at school.” I said stretching my arms over my head.
He stopped and looked at me with hard eyes, his shirt still in his hand. “It doesn’t work like that…my dad…he’s going to…” His voice broke and he started to tear up. At seeing him like this, something inside me shattered and I climbed to the end of the bed pulling his half clothed form against my nude body.

“Then stay with me…I won’t let them hurt you ever again I promise. I think I love you…please don’t leave me.” I whispered against his throat and for a moment he relaxed against me his arms around my shoulders. We stayed like that for a moment and then he tensed and pulled away from me and started dressing again.

“What are you doing?” I asked frowning as put his black ankle socks back on and then started to pull on his converse high-tops.

“I can’t stay okay…I have to go…you don’t know what they’ll do to me if I don’t go back right now…okay?” He said starting to tie his shoes.

I didn’t know why but I was suddenly angry even though I had no right to be. “So you’d rather get beat up than stay here with me where I can keep you safe?” I said lowly but he just kept putting on his shoes not looking at him. “So it’s true…you don’t care if they hurt you but I do.”
Once his shoes were tied he looked back up at me and he was crying. “Please don’t be like this…” He begged me. I looked at him and his eyes were pleading with me.

I looked down and I don’t know why his staying mattered so much to me but it did. “I don’t understand why you want to go back to a place where they hurt you.”

“If I don’t go now then it will just be worse when I finally do…” He contended and hearing him sounding so torn hurt me. I wanted him here…but I knew he wouldn’t.
“Then just go…” I said feeling tears rise up in my eyes.

“I’ll call you later okay when everything is alright…” He said stepping towards me to give me another hug but I turned my eyes up to him and he stopped dead. “Zaid…please understand…” he whimpered.

“Just get out!” I shouted as the first tear fell slid down my cheek. He looked at me one more time and didn’t say another word as he dashed out my bedroom door and down the stairs.

As I listening to him bound down the steps I leapt from my bed and went to the door but I didn’t have the courage to call him back, I couldn’t. My chest was hurting but I wasn’t sure why. I slipped on my boxers before I went back to my bed and crawled back between the sheets, pulling the blankets over my head and sobbed. He left…Arden had left me.
I stayed like that most of the night, crying under the covers.

At some point my aunt came in and sat on my bed rubbing my back as I wept. “Who was that boy from earlier, Zaidus?” She asked softly using her special Russian nick-name for me.

“No one…he left me to be beat up…” I mumbled to her.

She continued to rub my back. “Rodimy*, perhaps there are things you do not know about him…you just met him did you not?” I peeked out from under my blanket to look at her, what was she getting at?

“Zolotoi*, his family could be very important to him…or maybe just his house its self. Do you remember how hard it was for you to come out about what Ivan was doing to you? It is the same for him.”

I frowned at her…she was right and I hated it but at the same time I fucked it all up because I was scared for him. “But they’re hurting him…”

“Well sometimes you have to just wait for him to come to you…he will eventually I promise.”

She smiled at me before she stood. “He was quite beautiful Zaidus. And so much
sweeter then that other girl you were dating…I like him and he suits you.” She said as she crossed to the door. “You need to fix this with him before you actually lose him.” She said. “And if you do manage to get him away from those people, he is welcome to stay here with us, even in your room if you’d like.” She said and winked at me.

My jaw dropped… “How do you know I like him like…”

She cut me off a smirk on her lips. “Because, rodimy, I’ve raised you and I know everything.” With that she left the room.