A Heart of Gold

Skylar’s chest feels tight and it feels like he can’t breathe. His ears pick up Becca’s voice, but it sounds faint and blurred, “Oh, we seem to have a quest. Well, the more the merrier, right?”

He can’t concentrate enough to answer, for his ears are drawn to the blissful, almost inaudible thump that echoes inside his head, spreading warmness throughout his body. He’s completely mesmerized. Becca notices this too and puts her hand on Skylar’s shoulder, shaking him a little, “Hey, Skylar, are you alright? You look kind of flushed.”

The edges of the hole in his chest pulsate in the same rhythm as the beating of his heart. He can feel his whole body responding to the beat; his stomach churns, in a good way, and his toes tickle. But then everything stops just as quickly as it started. Skylar blinks rapidly and shakes his head clear of his thoughts before gulping and looking at Becca.

“Sorry. I’m fine, I just tend to space a bit sometimes,” he smiles awkwardly. What he said was a lie though, but he had to come up with something to explain his odd behavior.

“That’s okay. Just put your jacket on the coat rack and come on further in. I want you to meet Joe,” Becca says and heads towards what Skylar guesses is the kitchen. He does as told, dropping his duffel bag on the floor and follows her nervously, wiping his suddenly clammy hands on his jeans. He doesn’t really know what to expect, but hopefully Becca’s boyfriend doesn’t mind him staying at their place for the night. He wouldn’t like to get thrown out on the streets in a city he’s not familiar with this late.

Upon entering the room, Skylar sees it in fact is a kitchen; a small but cozy one, with a few plates and tableware lying around. It’s nothing like the one in his former home; it looks more like the heart of the house than his ever did.

Skylar’s attention is drawn to the table in the middle; there are two men in their early twenties sitting around it, laughing and greeting Becca, who also smiles and jokingly scolds them about something. The bigger one of the men is obviously Joe, for he is noticeably taller and thicker than the other. He has a buzz cut and very muscular arms and chest, probably legs too. He looks intimidating, but the smile on his face tells otherwise; his white teeth shine brightly against his dark skin. He must have Hispanic blood in him.

The smaller man, who looks a few years younger than Joe, isn’t as buff as him, but has still some muscle; he’s nothing near scrawny. But that’s not what catches Skylar‘s attention, no. It’s the way the light shines on the man’s light brown hair, and the way his dark brown eyes sparkle and his plump lips curl into a dazzling smile. Even though the man is kind of slouching in his seat, in Skylar’s eyes he looks graceful, and so damn beautiful. Skylar feels a bit scared, for he hasn’t felt like this towards anyone after he joined ‘The Family’. Sure, he had found some people mildly attractive, but nothing of this scale.

When Skylar finally gets his eyes off of the man, he sees that Becca is now sitting opposite to Joe and is looking at him and beckoning him to come away from the doorway and join them. Joe and the man are eyeing him curiously, but don’t say anything. Skylar swallows the excess saliva in his mouth and walks to the table, sitting next to Becca.

“So, this is Skylar. He helped me carry all the stuff I bought from the auction, I couldn’t have done it by myself,” Becca introduces him. Skylar smiles timidly, not liking the intense stares. “The one sitting in front of me is Joe, my big teddy bear. But you already know that, don’t you?” Skylar nods slightly while the man sitting next to Joe snickers at him, probably about the teddy bear comment, which gets him a glare and an elbow shoved into his upper arm.

“Don’t laugh, you idiot,” Joe grunts, his voice booming deep from his chest. The man rubs the spot where he got hit and pouts at Joe, “Jeez, that actually hurt!” His voice is higher than Joe’s, but that’s expected. It’s also a bit husky which makes Skylar’s knees tingle. “Well I wouldn’t have had to do it if you hadn’t started to laugh at me. It’s that simple.” Joe sounds annoyed, but doesn’t seem to actually mind it, and neither seems the man.

“C’mon boys, stop that! You’ll give a really bad first impression to Skylar here,” Becca exclaims and sighs lightly. Then she turns to Skylar, “Don’t worry though, they’re actually good friends and usually don’t act so immature. Oh, and the one who started this all is Payton. He’s also my boss at the antiquarian bookshop.”

So his name is Payton. That suits him perfectly.

Both Joe and Payton turn to Skylar and Joe is the first to offer his hand. Skylar grabs it and shakes it firmly; he doesn’t want to seem lazy by doing it too sloppily. They exchange greetings and then it’s Payton’s turn to shake hands with Skylar. When their hands touch, a tingling sensation starts to travel through Skylar’s arm making it harder for him to concentrate on the situation. He doesn’t let it show on the outside but keeps a straight face and smiles at Payton while greeting him. It looks like Payton felt something unusual too; his response is a bit shaky and his eyes flicker strangely. After letting go of Skylar’s hand he seems to sink into his thoughts.

Joe grabs Skylar’s and Payton’s attention when he clears his throat crossing his arms over his sturdy chest. “So, Skylar, you’re not from around here, are you?” he asks and smiles friendly. Skylar fidgets with his fingers before answering, “Um, yeah, I’m originally a few states over. Just got here today.” They talk for a while about how he has liked the city so far, and Skylar is sure to mention the friendly people living in there. That gets the three of them laughing, making Skylar smile slightly. They seem to like him. Slowly, Skylar can feel himself relax.

At some point, Becca and Payton start to talk about the shop and how their business is going. They tell stories about difficult customers and weird places they have visited while looking for sellable things. Joe must have heard the stories a thousand times, but Skylar listens intently, because he doesn’t really know that much about different kind of lives, other than the one he used to live. Then Becca begins to tell what she bought from the auction earlier that day, mentioning quite a variety of furniture and ornaments, including the old gramophone.

“You won’t believe how damn heavy that thing was! It seemed completely hopeless for me to carry it back to the van, but luckily Skylar was nice enough to help me,” she points out and pats Skylar’s shoulder. He just smiles.

“I really couldn’t have left you there trying to carry it, you looked like you were about to drop it. And besides, who wouldn’t want to help a damsel in distress?” They all laugh at that. Becca and Payton engross in a conversation about the gramophone, in what shape it is and how much they could sell it for; judging from their enthusiasm it truly was a find. Joe looks like he’s interested in what they talk about, but Skylar doesn’t seem to be able to concentrate enough to follow them. Instead, he watches carefully as Payton’s lips move when he speaks, and how his face lights up, occasionally followed by a breathtaking flash of white teeth. Skylar sighs softly and smiles a little.

Suddenly Becca slaps herself on the forehead and exclaims, “Damn, I’m such a bad host!” Everyone looks at her surprised. “I haven’t even offered anything to eat or drink for Skylar or Payton,” she clarifies and stands up from the table and looks at them. “Sorry. What would you like? We have soda, apple juice, water, and I think I remember seeing a bag of cookies somewhere around here.” She’s looking expectantly at Skylar.

“Uh, I don’t really need anything, but I’ll have a soda, please,” he says and smiles politely. Becca nods and turns her head to look at Payton. He thinks for a moment before asking for a beer, making Becca roll her eyes and smile.

“He has only been able to drink legally not even a year and he’s already a complete drunk,” Becca sighs to Skylar and winks after to tell she’s only joking. Payton puts his hands to his heart like he has been hurt and whines in mock hurt, though not quite succeeding in it; he’s laughing too much. If Skylar’s heart was still intact, it would surely melt from the sound. It’s just so perfect.

Becca starts to go to the fridge, but gets stopped by Joe who asks her, “Can’t I get anything? Or is this for guests only?” She looks at him for a bit before a mischievous smile appears on her lips.

“Well, I might bring something for you, but I’m not sure if you deserve it. You’re also a host so you should’ve notice our mistake,” she answers. Joe doesn’t get baffled but instead widens his eyes and looks up at Becca hopefully while saying, “Please, pretty pretty please?” Eventually Becca gives in and agrees to Joe’s wish. When she reaches the fridge, Joe yells her to grab him the same as for Payton, plus cookies. She just laughs and throws a beer can to him before walking back to the table and setting the rest of the drinks on it, telling them to take their own while she hunts the cookies down. As she goes past Joe, she bends down to give him a quick kiss.

Skylar can feel the love radiating from those two and sighs softly, wishing he would have something like that, with his heart safely inside his chest beating for the one he loves. But that’s not possible, not now at least. Finding his heart is first in his list. Then, maybe someday, someone would come and sweep him off of his feet and love him for the rest of their lives.

Skylar gets pulled out of his thoughts when Payton offers the soda can for him. He grabs it thanking him and opens it up, taking a gulp of the gold orange liquid inside. Payton has already gotten his open and takes a sip directing his words towards Skylar, “They go well together, don’t they?” He’s talking about Joe and Becca. Joe is looking at Becca who is bustling around the kitchen, with pure love reflecting from his eyes. Skylar nods.

“I’ve known Becca since high school and Joe almost the same. Joe’s a nice fellow. The only thing Becca -and everyone else- should be careful of is that damn look of his, though.” Skylar looks curiously at Payton, silently telling him to continue. “You saw what Joe did earlier, when he wanted a beer? Doing all that stuff with his eyes? Usually people call it puppy dog eyes, but I have dubbed it as ‘The Look of Pure Deceit That You Should Always Fear’. He’s gotten away with too much shit when he’s done that.” Payton smiles and adds, “I wish I had that ability.”

Just then Becca comes with the cookies put in a small bowl and sets it on the table, sitting down. Joe grabs immediately one and smiles at Becca, “Thanks babe.” He gets a smile in return. Skylar decides to taste too and takes one from the bowl. When he is retracting his hand, it collides with Payton’s, for he had also reached for the bowl. They both jerk their hand back and utter a laugh awkwardly, staring at each other for a while.

Joe breaks that moment when he leans forward and looks at Skylar, saying, “I hope you don’t me asking, but why did you move here? Was it because of school or what? You seem too young to move for the fun of it.” Becca and Payton turn to look at Skylar, who is feeling a bit awkward. He’s not sure what to tell them, honestly. Biting his lip, he thinks. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad telling them at least some of the reason why he left home.

“Um, I just turned 18, and that’s basically why I left now. I couldn’t have done it earlier, but I had wanted for a long time to just go; leave my old home and life back and start anew somewhere better. I don’t have money to go to college or uni, so um, I think I’ll just find a job,” Skylar explains quietly, not feeling too sure about himself, just realizing he really needs to start looking for any jobs available. And quickly; he doesn’t want to bother Becca and Joe too much and his cash doesn’t last much longer anymore.

“Oh, so you didn’t have much of a… home there, huh?” Joe asks and sips his beer. Skylar just shrugs his shoulders, not wanting to answer.

They all sit in silence drinking for a while before Joe says, “Well, whatever made you leave your home, it’s back there and you’re here. And if you need any help with anything, we all will help you, right?” Becca and Payton nod in agreement, which makes Skylar smile.

“So he can stay the night here?” Joe turns to look at Becca, looking a bit surprised. “I kind of promised him that he doesn’t have to go to any of those greasy motels, you know the cheapest ones?” Becca says and looks expectantly at Joe. Mentioning the motels makes both Payton and him grimace. Joe gets his mouth open to answer, “Of course he can stay. I just said we’d help him, why would I kick him out the next moment?”



Later that evening, Skylar lays on Becca and Joe’s pull out couch in their living room, thinking. A few hours ago, after Payton had left them, saying something about going to check on his aunt or something, Skylar had felt a couple of thuds inside his chest, as though they had been resonating from the heart itself.

It’s hard for him to grasp the fact that he’s met such wonderful people here; first Becca at the auction and then Joe at the apartment, and they’ve been so hospitable. And Payton. Oh, how wonderful the man had been, with his good looks and most importantly his joyous attitude and evident passion for his job. Sure, Skylar can’t really say he knows the trio yet, but hopefully they turn out to be the good friends he needs. Before in his life, people were most likely to let him down than help him, so he’s obviously in a need for any trustworthy people. Previous disappointments make him a bit skeptical, though. But there’s just something that makes him like them, and trust them.

Skylar decides to start looking for any vacant jobs around there the first thing in the morning. Joe and Becca might know some, but he’s not counting on getting hired, for he doesn’t really have any qualifications; he didn’t go to high school. But he can’t afford to be pessimistic, not now.

As Skylar falls asleep, the last thing in his mind is Payton who is smiling brightly, encouraging him to keep going.