Follow You Home

When I wake up, I still have a pounding headache. I drag myself out of bed and go into the bathroom and open the medicine cabinet and pour myself out two Advil. I stagger out to the kitchen and wash them down with a beer, then go back into the bedroom and get dressed. When I'm done, I go into the living room and look out my front window. No more cops in the parking lot, just two elderly neighbors feeling their way into parking spots. Good deal. I sit down on the couch and relax with my beer until it gets dark and then I get up and turn the lights on. After a while I start pondering dinner, when someone knocks on the door. I check the peephole before answering. John is on the other side of the door. He's wearing work clothes and he looks like he's not in a mood to be fucked with. I move to the side and he walks in. I close the door behind him.

"Want a beer?"

"No. We need to have a talk."

"Should I sit down?"

"If you want." I continue to stand. We stare at each other for a moment.

"So, speak." I say, waving my hand in a circle.

"This is getting out of hand." he doesn't need to elaborate. I know he's talking about the stalker. I don't say anything.

"I want you to come stay with me for a while, until they catch this bastard." Immediately I clench my fists and start shaking my head.

"And before you even open your mouth, you don't get a say." I grab my empty beer can off the table and hurl it at him. He ducks out of the way and it hits the floor with a metallic clang.

"How dare you! This is my life. How dare you just order me to leave my home just because you say so."

"This is about your safety. Or have you forgotten already that you just got shot with a traquilizer dart this afternoon?"

"I am not leaving my apartment. I did my time living with you. I'm not doing it again."

"Is that why you're acting this way? Because of what happened a fucking month ago? This isn't about us. This is about your safety. You aren't safe in your apartment anymore."

"And how do you know I'll be any safer in your place?" I shoot back.

"Because I can protect you."

"You work all day!"

"No one would think you were there. It's the only option right now."

"No, the only option is I stay in my apartment." he rolls his eyes.

"I didn't want it to come to this. But, I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way..."

"What does that mean?"

Before I can even react, he comes forward and scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder. I yelp in surprise.

"John! Put me down! Goddamn it!"

"Where's your purse?" he asks, moving through the house. He locates it in my bedroom and starts turning lights off.

"John, you fuck, put me down!" I yell as he carries me out into the hall.

"Would you shut up?" he says, locking my door. I start pounding on his back with my fists.

"Put me down! When you put me down, I'm gonna fucking kill you. I'll tear your fucking balls off!"

"I look forward to it." He turns around and starts down the hall when one of my neighbors doors open. Mr. Bowman comes out and stares us down.

"Just what do you think you're doing to that young lady?" he says to John.

"Listen, my girlfriend is being stalked by a crazy person and I'm not in a great mood. It would be in your best interest to go back in your apartment, lock the door and forget this conversation." he says in a tight, threatening tone. Mr. Bowman glares at him and then backs into his apartment and shuts the door. John carries me down the hall and starts down the stares.

"You're going to hell for threatening an old man." I comment.

"I was going to hell anyways." he mutters. I close my eyes and sigh. He walks around the corner of the building and crosses the street. I catch the sight of his truck as he walks around it. He sets me on my feet and opens his truck door and with one hand, lifts me by my arm and dumps me in the passenger seat. He slams the door shut and walks around the front of the truck. He gets in the drivers seat, shoots me a dark look and then puts the truck in gear.

"I don't understand why you're in such a bad mood." I say.

"Because I have to deal with you."

"No one asked you to do that. I can deal with myself just fine without you."

"Yet who do you call whenever you get in trouble?" I give him a death glare and then turn and stare out my window.

When we get to his house, we get out and he meets me at the front of the truck and basically sheilds my body with his while we walk up to the house. Once we're inside, he leaves me in the front room and stalks into the kitchen. I give his back the finger and drop my purse on the floor, before joining him. He's draining a beer when I come in.

"I'm sleeping on the couch." I say. He looks up at me.

"The hell you are."

"It's too complicated. If I'm just staying here for safety reasons, we can't sleep together."

"We're adults. I can sleep next to you without tearing your clothes off if you can." I roll my eyes off.

"I'll take my chances on the couch." I say, turning around.

A few minutes later, he goes into his bedroom and comes out with a blanket and a pillow. He dumps it on the couch.

"Goodnight." he says.

"Night." I strip down to my tank top and undies and set up my bed on the couch. John turns the lights off in the kitchen and retires to his bedroom and closes the door. I lay down and pull the blanket up to my chin. I lay there for ten minutes and then roll over. After another ten minutes I roll over again. Two hours later, I still haven't slept a wink. I heave a sigh and heave myself off the couch and stalk into John's bedroom. I walk around to my side of the bed and crawl in. He moves around and I know he's awake.

"Not a word." I say.

"I knew you'd come around, cupcake."

*****************************************************

When I wake up, John is awake, staring up at the ceiling. I lay on my stomach and lean up on my elbows and look down at him.

"I need clothes." I say. He looks at me.

"Call someone you trust to go to your apartment and bring you some things you need."

"My friend, Val, has a key."

"Go ahead and call her today." I roll out of bed and go to the bathroom. When I come back, I sit down on the foot of the bed.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask, looking down at my hands.

"You stay with me forever."

"Ha ha. No really."

"I'm serious." I know he's joking around, but I kind of want to explore the topic.

"We're not even serious."

"I told your neighbor you were my girlfriend." he points out.

"I think you kind of jumped the gun, being you were in the process of kidnapping me."

We both ponder that. John and I are not good talkers. We come from long lines of families that don't talk about important shit. We talk about everything else. But feelings, shit, as far as I know, no one in my family has them. It's just the way things are in big Italian families. Talking about relationships has never been a strong suit of mine, and John and I have never discussed how we feel about each other. It has just gone without saying that we care about each other more than we let on, but neither of us are ready to take the next step, so now we're just dancing around the subject, going from day to day, not really knowing where we stand.

"I've gotta get ready for work. Call your friend." he says and climbs out of bed and walks into the bathroom and shuts the door. I heave a sigh and walk out to the living room. I pull on my jeans and grab my phone and dial Val's number.

"Hello?" she answers.

"Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I need you to stop by my apartment and pick me up some clothes, enough for a while...and bring them to John Kristaldi's place."

"What the hell is going on?" she asks.

"I can't really explain right now."

"You're really staying with John Kristaldi?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"OK, I'll do it. I'll be there in a couple hours. Any specific things you want me to bring?"

"Anything you would need if you were away from home for a while."

"Got it."