From Hell Blooms Chaos

Before I knew it, it was nightfall and my eyelids wouldn't stay open. "Tired?" Fix ran his fingers through my hair and I nuzzled into his chest, replying with what I thought was "No," but came out as some foreign language. When he chuckled, I embraced the rumble against my cheek. I loved the feeling of his laugh...almost as much as I loved the feeling of--

No.

"Come on," Fix said, patting my shoulder. I groaned and sat upright as he stood up, holding my hands. "It can't be that bad--you'll have me to sleep with." He smirked as he pulled me up into him and I couldn't hide the redness became my face. I looked down and pushed myself away, dragging my feet toward my bedroom. Fix followed closely and I stepped through my bedroom doorway, pausing.

"U-uh. You can...have my parents’ room--if you want..." I turned around to face him and he frowned, leaning his elbows against the door frame. He lowered his head at me and sighed.

"Can't we just share your bed? I'd rather be closer." His god-forsaken eyes made my insides feel like lava. My cheeks burned.

"Er--I-I..."

"What? You don't trust me? Come on, I'll be a good boy." There was a hint of seduction in his voice and my insides loved it.

But I couldn't risk it. I didn't trust myself. If only he knew.

"Well--I..." A lump suddenly decided to reside in my throat and I tried clearing it away with no luck.

"That's fine, Chase. Don't worry about it." He smiled and walked passed me. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"Oh, no! You don't have to--"

"Chase. It's fine."

I don't know what it was about the way he said that, but it made my heart burst. I scrambled for some pillows and blankets, laying them neatly on the floor beside my bed with Fix's help. I sat on my mattress as Fix made himself comfortable on the floor. He finally laid down and smirked up at me. I blushed and laid down a little too quickly, awarding me with a small laugh from him. I shook my head, cursing the warmth in my face as I rolled so my back was facing him.

"Night." He uttered.

"Night..." There was a moment of silence and I began to worry about the dreams to come. "H-hey, Fix...?"

"Hm?"

The lump stopped my voice and fear crept over my mind. "Nothing... Never mind...." I tried to keep my eyes open as the silent night drew on, but I couldn't seem to be able to. The thoughts of Fix's lips and soft skin weren't helping either--that, and I was gaining the urge to just crawl into his side and sleep there. I rolled to my back but realized there was a figure above me.

A dark figure.

I opened my mouth to scream, but the figure slapped its hand to my mouth. That's when I saw the blood. It was everywhere--even soaking my bed sheets. I strained to look at Fix, but the figure just pushed on my face. Tears built up, but I couldn't do anything about them. The figure looked over toward Fix and I fought against it, despite not being able to move. It lowered its head to mine and I heard a growl that sent a chill down my spine. “Must have blood…kill…must kill…DIE!!”

"CHASE!"

My eyes shot open and I jolted upright, just about knocking Fix off the bed. My face was wet with tears, but that was the least of my problem. I searched the room and saw no blood. No figure. And Fix was alive. Alive and safe.

"You were crying and you weren't breathing... Did you have a nightmare? Was it the movie?" His voice was close to a whisper as he wiped the tears ever-so gently with his thumb. I caught my breath and sighed.

"No... I mean, yeah, I had a nightmare, but it wasn't the movie..." How could I even explain it to him?

"Want to talk about it?" After a moment's thought, I shook my head and fell onto my back. "Well," He put his hand at my other side to lean over me, his fingers still wiping tears from my cheeks. "I'm here if you ever want to." I only stared into his eyes and he frowned, cupping my face into his palms. "Just... Don't ever scare me like that..." My heart melted and I opened my mouth to apologize, but the words wouldn't come out. "Come on, let's go to bed--I am not sleeping on the floor this time. My face felt hot as he laid beside me and wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face into his neck, enjoying the warmth.

There was a beam of light that shined on my face, awakening me. The smell of eggs, bacon, and maple syrup filled my nose, leading me off my bead and into the hall. As I entered the kitchen, I saw a familiar figure at the oven. "Mom?" I wondered out loud, but my voice was groggy and undecipherable. Nevertheless, she turned and smiled at me.

"Morning, Chase." Suddenly, the one smiling at me wasn't my mother. It was Fix. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. Of course it was Fix. How could I be so stupid? "I saw you didn't have much to eat, so I ran up to the store before you woke up." I smiled and watched him as I sat down at the table. "I'm not a very good cook, but I think my pancakes are amazing." He laughed lightly, scraping a pan full of scrambled eggs. My eyes fell to his attire which consisted of his white tank top and jeans. His tank top really defined his muscles and I couldn't help but stare. He moved his arm in front of my line of vision and I noticed he had a tattoo on his shoulder blade. I was caught staring and looked down, my face feeling a little pink.

“Mama, I want tons of chocolate!" A boy's voice rang in my mind. I looked to the chair beside me and saw my little brother with a plate of pancakes in front of him. "Oh, and I wanna sit with Case!” Remembering his voice made me smile. When we were kids, he could never
say Chase, or maybe he did and thought ‘Case’ would make me mad. Oh brother…what happened to us? What happened to you? I looked over my shoulder and saw my father behind me on the couch with a newspaper in front of him, his plate left untouched. He was silent, and sometimes, I wondered if he even cared for his family. Maybe we were cursed. Maybe it was my fault they were gone.

"Eat as much as you want, Chase." Fix set a plate down in front of me, snapping me back into reality. I started on the pancakes on my plate and felt his gaze on me as I ate.

"You're not gonna eat?" I asked, looking up at him as he sat down. He shrugged. "You should eat. I can make you a pl--"

"I'm fine, Chase." He smiled, melting my insides again. "Besides, I never get to see you eat." Once again, my face went red, but I continued to eat. His pancakes were really good and I ended up getting seconds--he decided to join me that time. "Tell me more about you, Chase." He said as we sat down again. I smiled and looked at him.

"You say my name a lot."

"I like your name, is that a problem?" He smirked and my heart leaped. "From your blush I can tell it's not." He chuckled and I looked down in an attempt to hide my blush. "It just sounds so...delicious. Chase... Mmm..." His voice was low and seductive, making my face feel like fire.

"Oh, god." I breathed as he laughed.

"Now, was that an attempt to avoid the question, or are you really bothered by the fact I say your name too much?"

"It doesn't bother me that you say my name too much, but now, every time you say my name, that's all I'm going to think about." I stuffed my mouth, pretending to be angry at him. He laughed and shook his head.

"Quit avoiding the question, cutie."

I choked at the nickname and had difficulty with swallowing the pancakes.

"See what happens when you're stubborn?" Fix reached over and patted my back gently. I waved my hand at him to stop and swallowed my food.

"Well..." I coughed and went to get a glass of water. "What do you want to know?" I took a big gulp and refilled the glass.

"Anything and everything." His eyes stayed on me the whole time. Everything? How could I tell him everything? "Would it be better if I went first?" I shrugged and he sighed. "Hm... Well, I never knew my mom. She knew of me, but she never wanted to be around me. I have a brother, too, I guess."

"You guess?" I sat back down with my glass and continued eating.

"Yeah, before my mom had me, he went off to live with our grandparents. Apparently he's in the military now. He talks to my dad a lot, but I don't know him. And my mom might as well have fallen off the face of the planet. Dad used to talk about her coming back someday, but I don't think he believes it anymore."

"I'm sorry..." I frowned and he shook his head.

"It doesn't really matter. I don't have any feelings toward them. Never have and never will." He sounded strong, but I could see right through his tough-guy shell. I wasn't going to say anything about it, though. "Your turn."

"Oh... Well, I had a brother... He was my twin, actually. He was the better twin, though. Always had something to say, really good with people, and he was my parents' favorite. My mom always tried to make it seem like she loved us both equally, but I knew it wasn't true. She was a very sweet woman, though... My dad was never really around much, or at least it seemed that way... He worked a lot and usually spent more time with Chris. He used to sing to my mom a lot--he had a really nice voice... I used to listen to him at night when he sang to my mom...but he stopped after Chris died..." It was quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry..." Fix laid his hand on top of mine and I smiled weakly at him. "That's got to be hard... Especially since your parents... I don't think I'd be able to live after all that..."

"I think a lot about that, too..." I admitted sheepishly. His eyes stabbed at me with worry. "I-I... There was just...no point... The police were constantly at my door asking me if I did it...what I saw... I just... I didn't want to deal with it anymore...but I... I couldn't do it..."

"Well, I'm glad you couldn't. I don't think I'd be lucky enough to find someone as perfect as you."

Normally, I think someone would swoon at this comment, but I completely disagreed with him. I was nowhere near perfect. If only he knew. "Yeah, right." I frowned. "There are tons of people out there better than me."

"Yeah, right." He mimicked, taking my empty plate to the sink.

"Why are you doing all the work? I'm the host--see? I'm a terrible person!" I jumped up to help him with the dishes as he laughed and shook his head.

"It's fine," Fix wrapped a nicely toned arm around me as I went to grabbed the pans from the stove. "Chase." He growled into my ear and I gasped, slapping my hands to my mouth so I didn't make any regrettable sounds. My cheeks burned as I was pressed against the counter, Fix's face close to mine. Slowly, I removed my hands and wrapped my arms around his neck, our lips touching once more. Butterflies seemed to escape through my mouth and into his as he pulled me tight against him. I could taste the maple syrup and bacon we'd just eaten on his tongue and his lips--which oddly made me feel delighted. Our kiss ended gradually and he chuckled a little as our foreheads rested against each other. "Sorry... I just...can't help it when you're so close..."

"That's okay." I breathed against him as a smile grew on my lips. "I don't mind..." I ran my hands down his shoulders to rest on his chest and I could feel his heart beating underneath his skin. He moved his head away and my forehead was now against his collarbone. I felt him kiss my hair before resting his chin against my head. His fingers entwined with the hair at the nape of my neck and a blissful feeling spilled over me like a soft, warm blanket.

Then a ringing noise made my jump, causing my head to knock into Fix's jaw. "Fuck!" He grunted and stumbled backwards, holding his jaw.

"Oh my god! Fix, I'm so sorry!" I leaped over to him, touching his face, but he waved me off, laughing.

"Chase, don't worry, I'm fine." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his ringing cell phone. "Yeah?" His hand rubbed at his jaw, making me feel like a douche bag. "Not at the moment." His eyes went to me and he removed his hand from his jaw to touch my cheek. He smirked and walked away, leaving the kitchen. I watched him disappear around the corner, waiting until he was out of sight to smack myself in the forehead. I suck at this! I groaned and started cleaning off the dishes and placing them into the dishwasher. He walked back into the kitchen with his leather jacket on and his cell phone back into his pocket. "What time do you work?"

"Oh. Uh, at two."

"That's in, like, three hours. You wanna go for a ride?" He smirked and I--of course--melted.

"Yes, please!"

Fix grinned as he pulled his jacket on and ruffled my hair, telling me to get ready. After I got dressed in some old faded ripped jeans and a white shirt with my blue jean jacket over it, I met him in the living room, leaning against the front door. Fix raised a brow as his eyes examined my attire. “This is your casual wear?” I blushed and tried to speak, but Fix interrupted with a chuckle. “It's sexy.” I giggled, again, my face turning bright red as we walked out to his bike. He ran his hand over the body of his bike before sitting comfortably and giving me a helmet. I fastened it onto my head and wrapped my arms around him. "Hang on tight," he stated as the bike roared to life. He waited for me to get a tight grip around him. Then, we went off. The wind was cold against my cheeks, but it was an amazing feeling. I pulled myself closer to Fix, not wanting to let go. It felt as if everything around us was in slow motion. My heart beat fast with adrenaline as we raced around the neighborhood. He turned onto a straightaway and looked over his shoulder to smile at me. But this smile was devious. What was he going to do? He faced forward and pulled the front of the bike up in the air and my grip tightened around his midsection, fear pulsed throughout my body as I glanced behind me and noticed the ground. I shut my eyes and I felt Fix laugh as the bike hit the ground again. His shoulders shook as I brought my fist down hard against his thigh. That only made him laugh again. We raced around the neighborhood some more and Fix seemed to enjoy pulling wheelies at random, scaring me every single time. Despite him scaring me, I was having so much fun. I didn't even notice where we were when he parked in front of my house. "Play time's over for now. Gotta get you to work."

He followed me into my bedroom...

I grabbed my work clothes and turned to face him, trying hard not to blush. "U-um..."

"What? Can't undress in front of me?" Fix winked, completely making it impossible not to blush. He laughed and ran his hand over my cheek. "Just kidding, I left my wallet in here, somewhere." I wasn't sure which was worse; the relief that he wasn't going to watch me undress...or the fact that he wasn't... I sighed as he walked out of the room and proceeded to change into my work clothes.

The ride there was short-lived and kind of boring. I think we both were dreading leaving each other... The look on his face when I got off the bike confirmed my thoughts. I removed the helmet, handing it to him and avoiding looking into his sad eyes. "So, when can we hang out again?" I gave in and looked up at him. He shrugged as his eyes searched my face, "Tomorrow?"

"Don't you work?"

"Yeah," I shrugged and rubbed the back of my neck. "But what about after work?"

"We'll see. Wish you had a phone." He smirked, but there was still a hit of sadness behind it.

"O-okay..." I was about to turn around when he reached over and grabbed my hand, gesturing for me to move closer. I did.

"I'll pick you up after work tonight, but I can't stay long. I don't want you walking alone anymore." I wasn't sure if I should have been offended or flattered. I blushed nonetheless.

"I'll be fine. I've been fine all the other times I've walked home." He held my hand tighter.

"I don't care. I'd like to know you're home and since you don't have a cell, this is the way I'm gonna do it. Whether you like it or not." Our eyes locked and my heart felt heavy as my face burned. "I'll see you later." Before I could reply, his lips touched mine in a quick, heart-warming kiss.

And just like that, he was heading down the road.