Caged

Early morning light flooded Brian’s small bedroom, washing over Zack’s features slowly. The warmth and light of the sun’s delicate rays worked the Aralaysian out of sleep gradually, as they were something extremely familiar to him.

Not long after, his eyelids fluttered to uncover the two beautiful, sea-green orbs that were his eyes, which took in his new surroundings; his new home.

Recalling the previous night, the shared memories and the venting to his new friend, Zack turned onto his back, sitting up in Brian’s small, twin-sized bed. He rubbed at his eyes, smearing his already-smudged makeup further, as he suddenly wondered where his new friend had gone.

The angel’s soft eyes flitted about, searching the span of the tiny bedroom for the older boy. However, all he came to find was what must have been the sandwich that Brian had made for him the previous night.

At this, Zack smiled; he must have been asleep by the time Brian had returned with the snack he’d promised. His human friend truly did have a thoughtful nature.

And with seeing the sandwich, that small gesture of kindness, Zack remembered the last few things he’d said to Brian; particularly one of the last things Brian had said to him.

“Then… you wouldn’t be here with me.”

The words echoed in Zack’s head, now, and he wondered why they hadn’t registered last night. The things he’d said had hurt Brian… he remembered watching him slump over, hiding his face from Zack’s view. But he’d never responded to the sentence, and even after that, Brian had stood and offered to cater to him.

A heavy sigh embellished the air before the young boy as he shook his head and stood, attempting to decipher his actions the previous night, and ultimately deciding that he’d simply been over-thinking his own situation; that he’d gotten distracted with it.

In any case, as he stood, he realized that he had never given Brian the opportunity to show him what was supposed to have been his room, now. Zack assumed that this was where Brian had gone for the night, as his own bed had been occupied.

However, the angel stopped himself, having to go no further than just outside his friend’s bedroom doorway to know where Brian was.

As he stepped into the hallway, Zack heard muffled, broken sobs radiating from one of the next rooms. He recognized them as Brian’s.

The petite boy continued down the hall slowly until he was able to distinguish which of the rooms his close companion’s cries were coming from, coming to realize that Brian was
only two rooms down from where he himself had slept.

Swiftly, Zack twisted the knob of what appeared to be the extra bedroom, folding his wings down to fit through the doorway as he stepped inside.

However, he found Brian’s sobs to be subconscious; his friend was still curled under the sheets, innocently asleep. Whatever was in his dreams, in any case, was hurting him, and Zack couldn’t just let that happen.

The young creature dove to his friend’s side, kneeling at the head of the bed as he peeled the sheets away from Brian’s face, noting the light sheen of sweat and tears that coated his forehead and cheeks.

Gently, Zack shook the older boy’s sleeping form, speaking his name softly. This caused Brian to awake with a start.

He gasped, wrenching straight up in bed; his soft, brown eyes—now red and swollen with tears—flitted around in the most frantic of ways. Finally, the teenager’s distressed orbs came to rest on Zack’s calm ones, a spark of realization dancing through his features.

“Z-Zack?” Brian murmured, his tone of voice—just like yesterday—all but screaming “help me.”

“Brian?” the younger of the two murmured, cautiously climbing under the sheets of the bed to sit beside his shaken friend. Brian seemed hesitant in opening himself to the angel, although he had accomplished that very feat several times yesterday.

Zack knew why this was, however, and another sigh was drawn from between his lips as his eyes sparkled, a dazzling, deep blue color, speaking regret.

“Brian, I’m sorry about last night… I got caught up in myself and I didn’t realize…” he sighed, trailing off as his eyes glued themselves to the soft white sheets that covered both his and Brian’s laps.

Once Zack heard a mumbled “S’fine” from his side, he drew his eyes back up, his gaze colliding with Brian’s. “Tell me what’s bothering you..?”

At this, numerous tears welled and raced onto Brian’s already-raw cheeks, leading Zack to instinctively reach out and pull him against his chest, embracing him tightly.

Though the angel’s embrace was comforting as it always was, Brian’s spoken thoughts were the same. “I don’t know how.”

And that was the stark truth. Brian didn’t know how to fess up to Zack that the room they sat in had caused his extreme emotions, his nightmares. The nightmares were something that he hadn’t experienced since months back, just weeks after McKenna’s
death.

“Try, at least..?” Zack asked softly, his eyes sparkling with empathy. Brian couldn’t help but be lost in his sapphire gaze, the familiar warmth sparking in the center of his chest.

“Well, I… I…” he mumbled, trying his best to put together a half-way audible sentence. “It’s the room…”

Zack’s expression grew confused, and immediately, Brian’s stomach dropped. “I mean… it was McKenna’s…” he sniffed, and the bewilderment on the smaller boy’s face only grew. It was only now that Brian realized he had never told Zack of his young sister.

“Who was McKenna..?” he asked quietly, recalling the first few moments in the alley, when Brian had said that the only person who’d ever cared about him was gone now; dead. The angel had instantly assumed that his human friend had meant a girlfriend of some sort.

Brian sniffled again, tears racing over his cheeks once more. “Sh-She was my younger s-sister… She was kidnapped, a-and… a-and…” Brian sputtered, slight coughs escaping his lungs. It had been so long since he had told anyone of this.

Zack stopped him immediately, placing a finger to his lips as his soft brown eyes became frantic. Suddenly, he didn’t want the other boy to go on; and he knew that Brian didn’t want to.

“Shh…” he almost cooed, smoothing Brian’s messy hair down against his head. “You don’t have to explain yourself…”

Giving a single, shaky nod, the 18-year-old sunk against Zack’s chest, resting there, sobbing. “Thank you, Zack…” he muttered through his tears. “Th-Thank you… it’s the n-nightmares, I used to g-get them wh-when my mom and I first f-found out a-about how sh-she..” he attempted to explain, though the last word was lost within his erratic breathing.

The smaller boy gave a soft nod, continuing to twist the ends of Brian’s hair around his fingers. “I’m here for you… I won’t go away…” he murmured into the crying teenager’s ear. This seemed to calm him somewhat; the coughs slowed and gradually stopped, but the silent tears remained.

Zack was still somewhat stunned he had expected Brian to bring about a girlfriend of some sort for sure; not a little sister. That was the way he’d made it to sound in the alley the previous night.

And as the red-eyed, messy-haired boy peered up at his divine friend, he saw this shock on his face. “What’s wrong..? Did I… Did I say something wr-wrong..?” Brian murmured, pulling up from Zack’s gentle embrace.

The realization that his confusion had shown plain on his face hit Zack, and he glanced down at Brian, eyes sparkling as he shook his head gently from side to side. He only hoped that his curious friend wouldn’t notice the deep crimson flush that decorated his cheeks as he spoke.

“I just thought… I mean, I don’t know, I guess I expected a… a girlfriend or something… rather than a sister.” he spoke softly, the redness in his pallor intensifying.

And oh, did Brian notice it. The pinkish tint that littered his friend’s cheeks stood out like a brightly colored circus clown in a black and white film: Something no one, Brian especially, would have expected.

“Oh… no, I’m… I-I’ve never been in a relationship before.” he admitted sheepishly as Zack’s eyes delved into a deeper shade of green that must’ve spoken for embarrassment.

“Oh, me neither…” Zack muttered, gluing his eyes to the sheets once again. A soft smile touched the other boy’s lips as his head fell slightly to the side.

“If you were from this planet, I would say that I didn’t believe you.” he smiled gently,
causing the warmth in the angel’s plumped cheeks to grow slightly.

His eyes sparkled their normal jade once again as he brought his gaze back to Brian’s. “I could say the same for you.” he murmured. It was Brian’s turn to blush. “You seem like the kind of guy who’s already had more than a few girlfriends…”

“Too bad I swing more towards a boyfriend, huh?” Brian smiled, although the smile fell right off of his face as soon as he realized what he’d said.

His face paled to a ghostly white, while Zack’s flushed an even deeper red, his head swimming.

The young angel didn’t understand the feeling of lightheadedness that overtook him as he stared into Brian’s deep brown eyes, which were now swelling with tears.

“I… I didn’t mean… Zack…” Brian sputtered out absently. The truth was, he knew that he meant it; he just hadn’t meant to say it straight out to the perfect boy sitting before him. His string of mindless babble continued until an intense impulse pushed Zack, who had
found himself staring at Brian’s lips, up into a kneeling crouch, hands placed gently on
Brian’s shoulders.

The flow of absent words ceased as the older boy realized what was going to happen next. Oh god. What would he do? The look in Zack’s eyes said it all. It wasn’t quite the lustful “I want you” look, but it was far from his normal, friendly smile. There was anticipation mixed into the gentle expression; the same kind of anticipation that Brian felt in the center of his chest as he stared into Zack’s eyes, and a feeling which only grew as Zack’s perfect lips neared his own, their faces inching closer.

Gently, Brian allowed his eyes to flutter closed, allowed the beautiful angel to disappear from in front of him. He hadn’t known how badly he wanted this.

However, there was never any contact made, at least as far as lips went. The older boy let out a soft, breathy whimper as he felt Zack’s head come to rest on his shoulder. The splashes of his warm breath so near had disappeared and left the skin of Brian’s lips feeling especially clammy.

Inches from what he’d been about to do, Zack had veered off course; all because of a small twinge in the back of his mind that so clearly said ‘this isn’t right’. A twinge that only existed because of the vulgar things he had always been taught. There was always going to be that nagging voice in the back of his mind—and he knew he wouldn’t be able to get rid of it.

Engaging with a human—let alone another boy, which was likely to be twice as upsetting—was against the law in his world, even though he knew for a fact that he had taken quite the liking to Brian. But after less than a day..? Was that really… right? He sighed.

“I don’t mind, Bri… really.” the smaller man murmured, closing his eyes as he pulled his friend into him for an awkward hug. Obviously not, the angel thought.

This time, Brian sighed, already having convinced himself that what had just happened was merely a fluke; something that he’d built in his mind to be more than what it was. The response he gave was no more than a shake of the head.

He knew now, the feelings he possessed for the young boy in front of him were real. What he didn’t know, was how to reveal those feelings without making a complete fool of himself.