Long Way From Home.

I've been at Harley's house for almost everyday this week. My mom doesn't know that I'm here, she would probably have a heart attack, and then kill me.
Blaze was sitting next to me on the couch, and we were watching 'the hangover.' Blaze was a nice guy. Him and Harley did look a like, even though I knew they weren't
blood brothers. Harley had jet black hair, and tattoos up his arms, and which might surprise people he wasn't really 'buff.' He also stood at around 6 foot tall, Blaze had blonde hair and bright green eyes. He didn't have as many tattoos as Harley, but he had quite a few.
He was a little shorter than Harley though.

"You know my dad kind of looks like the fat one." He said chewing a pretzel. "It's actually kind of creepy."
I laughed, "Don't call him fat, that's not nice."
"How would you describe him than?" He said, pointing to the TV.
Shaking my head I said, "I don't know. Maybe chubby."
"That's the same fucking thing." He said, in disbelief.
I laughed, "No it's not. Chubby is better to hear than fat."
He got up and went in the kitchen, but not before mumbling, "Whatever, crazy."

I heard a motorcycle outside, and just knew that Harley was home. I instantly smiled. I'm not sure why, but Harley has this effect on me. Over the years I've heard all
sorts of terrible things about him. There was rumors that he is a murderer a few years back. There was also rumors that Harley had put over fifty people in the hospital.
I'm not sure if any of those rumors are true, but around me he was a gentleman.
It was never like that with Luke. Luke had isolated me from my friends. He didn't like me to have any friends, especially guy friends. He was extremely jealous and possessive.
Being as naive as I am I actually thought he was doing it out of love. Now I know it was the opposite. The door opened, and then slammed Harley looked right at me. He didn't look like himself though. He had a bruise on his eye, and blood on his mouth, and his knuckles were red and scraped up.
I knew immediately he had been in a fight.
He looked confused, and then smiled at me.
"Hey, Z."
My mouth dropped open and then I said, "What happened to your face?"
He laughed, "I got into a fight. I'm fine."
I jumped up off the couch and grabbed his face, "No you're not. Come to the bathroom I'll clean the cuts."
He smiled, "Why do you care so much?"
I gulped, and said, "It's the decent thing to do." I don't want Harley knowing that I had a crush on him, but I can't help it my mother instincts just came out.
He nodded, and we went upstairs. He sat on the toilet, and I stood in front of him. Harley was really tall. He was sitting on the toilet and was almost eye length to me.
This would have probably been a romantic moment if he didn't have blood on his face.
"Harley, what happened?" I asked, concerned.
He sighed, "I got jumped, alright. It's not that big of a deal."
"It is a big deal. You got beat up."
"First of all, I didn't get beat up." He said defensively, "They did. This was all they did to me."
I crossed my arms extremely annoyed, "And second of all what's a big deal to you isn't me. I deal with this all the time." He got up and started to walk out of the room.
I sighed, "Can you stop trying to be a big macho man for two seconds, and just let me clean your face."
His shoulders slumped, and he sighed, "Fine." Then he turned around and came back in the bathroom, and sat on the toilet again.
"I'm sorry I didn't know you were so defensive." Rolling my eyes, and cleaning the blood off once again.
He shook his head, "I'm usually not. I'm just pissed off more than usual."
I smiled, "Well no shit. You got jumped."
He laughed, "The princess swears now, huh?"
I stopped smiling and realized I did just swear, "I guess you guys are rubbing off on me."
"Good, you can't keep up this good girl routine any longer. I know you have a wild side. You just need to unleash it."
I rolled my eyes again, "Well, maybe you can teach me one day." I put down the wash cloth, "You're all done."
He nodded, "Good." He then rubbed his shoulder and said, "Zilonia, do you want to go to dinner with me later?"
He looked nervous. I was instantly confused, "Like a date?"
He laughed a little, "If that's what you want to call it."
The smile that spread its way on my face was inevitable, "Uhm, yes."

A few hours later, and Sarah running around doing my hair and make up I was done. I didn't see the need for her to do my hair though, I assume we're riding on the bike, and my hair will just end up tangled.
"You look amazing." Sarah exclaimed, looking over her work.
"Thanks, but this wasn't necessary. My hair's just going to get messed up."
"I needed to. This is a big deal for you, and for Harley."
I scrunched my face in confusion, "Big deal for Harley?"
She looked at me like I was an idiot, "Yes a big deal for Harley. He hasn't been on a date since Zoe, and you can guess how that turned out."
I nodded my head, "I almost forgot about her."
She laughed, "How could you? You can hear her terrible voice for miles."
I laughed, and then I heard Harley scream up the stairs, "You ready?"
I got up, and Sarah saluted me which I laughed in return. I walked down the steps and saw Harley smiling at me.
"You look great." He said, holding the door open.
"I told Sarah it was useless, since we were going on the bike."
He grabbed my arm to direct me to the garage, which was strange since his bike was on the street.
"We're not going on the bike we're going in my car."
"You have a car?" I asked, confused.
He nodded, "Yeah, I don't drive it much though."
We walked in the garage, and I saw a beautiful corvette.
"It's gorgeous." I said, getting in and rubbing the leather seats.
He smiled, "Don't get too rapped up. We have a 'date' remember?"
I blushed, "Yes, I know."

We pulled up to a diner, about twenty minutes later. We got out of the car, and passed a group of thugs. Harley put his arm around my shoulders, and nodded to the guys.
They did the same back.
"How is it that you know everyone?" I asked.
He laughed, ignoring my question, and opened the door to the diner. He waved to one of the busboys, and they instantly found us a seat. I swear he's like royalty.
We ordered, and ate, and started playing twenty questions.
"Favorite color?" I asked.
"Blue."
He took a drink of his Pepsi, "Do you have any siblings?"
I took a deep breath, "Yeah, I had one, Tommy."
"Had?" He tilted his head in confusion.
"He died about three years ago, he was shot."
He had a sympathetic look in his eyes, and a look of relation.
"I had a brother that died too. Blaze and I aren't actually brothers, but I had another brother, a blood brother named Marc. He overdosed six years ago."
I put my head in my hand and asked, "How old was he?"
"He was twenty. How old was your brother?"
"He was nineteen."
He sighed, "You know my mom ditched when I was a kid? I was seven. I hold a level of resentment towards her. My dad died a month before I was born. After that my brother and I lived with my aunt, she was a terrible woman. Soon after I met Blaze and moved in with him."
He looked down at the table and said, "I still think I'm the reason for my brother's death, if I would have been there more than maybe he wouldn't have put a needle in his arm."
I shook my head and said, "My dad skipped when I was kid too. I felt the same thing that you felt when my brother died. I felt like I could have done something, but trust me you couldn't have. That was their choice, and they did that to themselves. There was nothing we could have done."
He half smiled, "You're right."
That was why we had a connection. We both have lost a loved one, or multiple. Most people see Harley as a monster, but I see him as a person with a wounded heart.
I smiled, "Maybe we should get out of here."
He nodded, and he put the napkin back on the table and left a tip.

He pulled up to the corner where he usually drops me off, and we both got out.
"It was weird talking to someone tonight, about family stuff." He said, nervously.
"I know. No one ever understands."
He then got a mischievous smirk on his face, and lighting grabbed my arm and brought me to him. My heart was practically beating out of my chest. He then leaned in and put his lips on mine.
It was short, but I think that was because he didn't want to scare me away. So what I did next not only shocked him, but shocked myself, I grabbed him by the collar and kissed him.
My stomach was in my throat. He put one hand on my neck and the other on the small of back, while my arms wrapped around the back of his neck. He tried to deepen the kiss, and that's when I pulled away, because I didn't want this to escalate.
He put his forehead on mine, and said, "Tonight was great."