Those Who Fall

Matt and I were facing eachother, leaning on the arms of the living room sofa. He had half the deck of cards in his hand and gave the other half to me. We were prepping for the game Spit. If you don't know how to play it it would be difficult to explain but the set up is similar to Solitaire. I had to teach him how to play but he picked it up quickly.

"You can't do that!" I yelled, half laughing.

"What? It's the same number!"

"I know, you have to put them in consecutive order. No nines on nines!"

"You never said that!"

"Well, I'm saying it now!" I threw the card at him and he gave me a glare that burst into one of his prize winning smiles. It was like someone had bottled some sunshine and gave it to him to drink. His smile had the perfect amount of warmth and it made you want to bask in its beauty.

"Try again," I handed him his cards and shuffled my own and we started over.
A fake grunt of frustration came from his throat. "Can we watch tv?"

"What would we watch?"

"Whatever is on I guess?"

Of course the movie Mean Girls was on, one of the most quotable movies ever created, so we watched it. I laid down on my back on the couch and rested my head on his right leg, and his hand rested on my knees. When I rolled over onto my side his arm drifted to the back of the couch. When I laughed my stomach hurt so I tried to keep the laughs to a minimum. But that was difficult when the movie ended and he started singing in my face. As funny as it was he started tickling my armpits and legs. I had rolled onto the ground, careful not to land on my enlarged stomach. That pain that I had felt the day we went for ice cream was coming back. That migraine. I had forgotten how painful it was. When he stopped I thought he'd read my mind,

"Why'd you stop?" I asked.

"You know the ring I gave you?"

"Yea?" I sat up.

"Where'd you put it?"

"In that drawer over there near the stove, you-"

"I know you can't wear it around him, but what about now. When we're together?" I shrugged and went to get the tiny box and it creaked open like it did the first time he showed it to me. It was cold on my finger, like any ring would be, but it was a different cold. A cold that shocked me to the bone. I knew it was in my head but I kept staring at it while I walked over to Matt.

"It really is beautiful," I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

"Your aunt has an eye jewelry. I'm just grateful I have someone to give the ring to." I couldn't help but get red in the face. He moved in to kiss my cheek when I spoke.

"I want to do it in four days."

"Do what?" he walked to the kitchen to get some water. He filled a glass for me too.

"You know," I whispered, "whack him. Do the job." he walked back over and sat across from me in the arm chair.

"Sounds like a plan. Now, what're the details of this plan?"

I waved him over into his bedroom and I sat on the side of his bed as he stood in front of me with a hand in his pocket and water in the other. With the door locked I still felt like I had to whisper. So I placed my water on the night table and stood facing him.

"First, you're going to hide in my closet. We will have an assortment of weapons hidden in there with you. Knives. I will have a gun. I know the code to my aunt's safe so I'll put the gun in an accessible place in case something goes wrong. The goal is to dismember him and burn him on a fire that we'll prepare for this occasion. My aunt will be out while this is being executed."

"While he's being executed."

"Are you ready for this?"

"Yes?"

"I can't have any doubts. We're putting both our lives in danger here, if one of us flakes it means death. Remember, he isn't alive. You can't really feel guilty when you're sparing so many lives."

"We want to help!" I shushed so loudly before I knew who had exclaimed and Matt flinched and choked on his water as a result. Two apparitions stood on either side of Matt.

"I don't know how you can help..." Matt looked at me quizzically then his eyes widened and he put his drink down, wiping his mouth.

"Is my mom here?" he said, looking around the room.

"Both of our moms."

"We should let them help."

"I don't know how they could."

"Distractions!" my mom chimed in. "I know he can't see us but we can disorient him, help you defeat him somehow, using weapons and such. We'll do whatever you tell us to."
Matt kept looking at me and scanning the room, "what did they say?"

"They said they'd help us anyway they could."

"Yea, my mom could help me and your mom could help you. I mean we'll both need help. This could work."
I knew it wouldn't work but it couldn't hurt to try. I just didn't want Matt in the situation he was during the dance when those goons broke his foot. His health isn't exactly in tip top shape but when he offered to help I'd be an idiot to think I could pull it off by myself.

"Oh! Sweetheart! Have you set a date yet?" Matt's mother was guiding me to the bed to sit down.

"No," I said confusedly. In the moment I had no idea what she talking about until I realized I was wearing his ring. "oh, hum." My throat started closing up, my hands became clammy and my body temperature felt like my blood was close to a boil but my skin had just been taken out of a freezer. "She asked us if we'd set a date." I wanted her to know I didn't expect to live past Doomsday and if I did I wouldn't live to see the mutant spawn that was living inside of me, feeding off of me, come out.

"Who?"

"Your mom." Matt took a seat beside me and grabbed my other hand. Their arms were overlapping on my shoulders without even knowing.

"Well...we don't really know yet. We could always do it tomorrow." I think he was joking but I wasn't 100% sure. I nervously smiled and stood up, rubbing my hands together, only making the clamminess worse.

"I don't know when I want to do it. In the near future maybe. I don't want you there though," I point to where my mom used to be standing but she was nowhere in the vicinity.

"It's okay sweetheart, we get it. We'll see you the night before so you can tell us where to be and what to do," Matt's mother said and her figure disintegrated.

"They've come more freely now, and leave. And stuff," I mentioned.

"Are they gone?"

"Yes." Right then, he planted a kiss on my lower lip.

"You're amazing," he placed another one under my ear. I couldn't understand how soft his skin was. He had skin so soft it felt like a baby's skin. My clammy hands had vanished and my blood had the comfortable warmth of anticipation. I wanted more than to continue but I knew his boundaries, and I didn't want to push them. He kissed the part of my cheek under my eye without bumping into my glasses but he did fog them up a little with the breath from his nose. He moved back to my lips, which I noticed I hadn't used Chapstick on in a long time. He wouldn't let go of my neck and I'm glad- it felt safe. All my stress melted away into his hands. My head followed his hand as he moved it up and down my neck. When he finally stopped, every centimeter of my being wanted to melt into his and forget about everything surrounding us but I knew that wasn't realistic. Every ounce of stress re-entered my body until he touched me again. Our foreheads rested against each other. We both silently agreed what had to go down in four days. It was as if our foreheads resting together synchronized our internal clocks. I was hoping he didn't notice me slipping off my ring. I kissed him on his temple and went to put the ring away before I could forget again that it was on my hand.