Super Avenged

I snapped into an upright position, gasping for breath. I couldn’t remember the details of my nightmare, but telling from my heavy breathing and the fact that I was drenched in cold sweat let me know that I’d rather not know the details of my nightmare. I propped myself up with my palms, taking deep breaths. Not bothering to check the time, I kicked the sheets off of my legs and slid off of the bed. The night outside my window was still dark, and that was the only time mechanism I really needed.

I emerged out into the living room and walked over towards the couch. I turned on the lamp sitting on the nightstand beside the couch. Then, I went into my studio, grabbed my sketchbook and sketching supplies, and then went back out into the living room. It was a ritual of mine, when I couldn’t sleep, that I would turn the lamp on and just sketch until whatever kept me from sleeping was gone. It usually worked, but something told me that no amount of sketching would ease up what I felt now.

I folded myself upon the couch beside the nightstand, curling my legs to sit Indian-style. I opened my sketchbook to an empty page, grabbed my pencil, balanced my sketchbook against my thigh, and began to draw. Without thinking, my hand slid smoothly across the page, drawing first a halfway-intact heart, and then a dagger running straight through it. I paused for a moment before drawing splashes of blood in. Then, I began to shade in whatever needed shading.

As I meticulously shaded in the sketch to perfection, a tear dripped from my jaw onto the paper. I impatiently wiped the tears away with the back of my hand, barely pausing in shading. More tears came, though, until they were dropping onto the sketchbook and smearing the sketch like it sat out in rain. My fingers jerked open, and the shading pencil dropped out of my hand. I pressed my face into my palms, fighting against the sobs building in my throat.

I felt the couch sink as Jimmy sat down next to me. His fingers curled gently around my wrists and pulled my hands away from my face. I didn’t resist at all, and stared tearfully up into his blue eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to restrain the tears, but they only came faster, slipping past the seam of my eyelids with zero trouble whatsoever.

Jimmy’s arm wrapped around me and pulled me against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his ribs as his other hand stroked my hair. Finally, after a few minutes, I pulled away from him. Jimmy reached over and brushed the tears away from my cheeks. Then, he pressed a kiss to each cheek and swept my hair back behind my ear.

“Finish your drawing, and then try to get some sleep, okay?” Jimmy said quietly, his thumb brushing against my jaw. I swallowed and nodded. Jimmy rose to his feet and retreated back into his bedroom, the silent consolation.

As I finished shading my drawing, my cheeks tingled from where Jimmy’s lips had made contact with my skin. My tears had completely dried up practically the instant his lips touched my skin. And his hug had eased the pain in my heart. By the time I closed my sketchbook and flipped the lamp off, I had figured out why.

I was falling in love with Jimmy Sullivan.