I Hope You Like the Stars I Stole for You

“Alex !” Jack and I exclaimed in unison. “What happened ?” Alex asked, looking from Pruitt, to me, to Jack. “Remember, at the party last night ? Someone put something in your drink, same with Pruitt,” Jack answered. Alex nodded, but I could tell he didn’t remember a thing. He tried waking Pruitt, but to no avail. I was pacing the room now, scared to death for Pruitt’s safety.

“What are we going to do with her ?” Alex asked me, looking kind of scared himself. Jack and I shook our heads. Just then Pruitt twitched, then made a kind of stretching movement. We all froze as her eyes blinked open.

Pruitt’s POV

I could still feel vaguely as I faded from consciousness. I felt the cold ground beneath me, and Vic’s hands on me, begging me to wake up. It was an odd sensation, like I could feel everything that was happening to me, but I was unable to respond. His arms wrapped around me and he began to carry me. I felt my phone buzz a while later; my time perception was screwed up. Vic answered it, but I couldn’t make sense of the words in my fuzzy state. All I could feel were Vic’s hands holding me, and my head resting against him. I tried desperately to speak or move, but I was unable to. I sensed when we entered my house, and I heard my mom’s voice. I wondered how Vic was going to manage sneaking my intoxicated ass upstairs, but he must have, because I didn’t hear anymore from my parents. I felt my bed underneath me, and the cool air as my clothes were removed. I stiffened mentally when I realized that my scars would be in full view. I prayed that it was dark enough that he couldn’t see them, but my fears were reality when I heard him gasp and choke back a sob. I felt so ashamed, so afraid that he wouldn’t want me anymore. But he stayed, and I could feel his arms around me until I fell asleep.

I heard when he got up in the morning, but I was still unable to wake up. It was terrifying, like I was trapped in my own body. Still, I trusted Vic to take care of me, after all, he’d stayed all night with me.
I slipped back into unconsciousness until I felt Vic pick me up once again. He draped me around him, piggy-back style, and we started downstairs. I tried to ask where we were going, but of course I couldn’t. He walked and walked for about ten minutes, and then I heard another male voice that sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. We entered a building and went up another flight of stairs, and then I was on another bed again. It smelled like boy; faintly sporty and like cologne. Vic conversed with the other boy, and I was left trying to get their attention. Someone next to me moved, and the room grew silent. What the hell was going on…

Some minutes later, and I snapped back to reality. My thoughts were clear again, and my hearing was perfect again as well. I could feel the scratchy duvet beneath me, and the skin of someone sitting next to me, and I could hear the melodic voice of my boyfriend, as well as the voices of my two friends, Alex and Jack. My body responded this time, and I sat up, blinking.

Three sets of eyes focused on me, their mouths gaping. I touched my face to make sure this was real, my eyes locked on Vic’s. “Babe !” He rushed over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. “You scared me, Pruitt.” He mumbled into my shoulder, squeezing tighter. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his lips quickly. Everything felt strange and over-done, nothing was muted anymore. The sun was bright as it reflected off the white walls, streaming in through the window in shafts. I began to feel disoriented, and I drew in a sharp breath. “ I need some air,” I announced, shuffling toward the door. “I’m coming with you,” Alex volunteered. We were both trying to get away from the tension of Jack and Vic’s stares. Again, we found ourselves clutching one another and stumbling together. “What the fuck happened ?” I asked him in bewilderment. He breathed in the fresh air, leaning against the house. He shook his head, closing his eyes and tipping his head back. Alex turned to me and spoke “The last thing I remember is you saying you were leaving the party, then I wake up and it’s the middle of the next day, and you’re in bed next to me. Not to mention Jack and uh...” “Vic.” I cut in. “Yeah, Jack and Vic staring at us like we just rose from the dead.” “You didn’t get any weird sensations ?” He shook his head. “I could feel almost everything, but I couldn’t wake up. It was crazy…” I trailed off, my voice just a murmur. “I need a cigarette.” Alex agreed, and we headed back inside.

Vic was on the computer, researching what kind of drug we might have taken, while Jack called people from the party to find out what had happened. Alex snuck behind them both and grabbed his pack of cigarettes, and then rushed back to my side. We hurried downstairs and back outside, walking over to the park. Alex lit one for me then passed it, and I took it gratefully. One puff and I already felt calmer, more sensible. We talked about the party and the crazy stuff that had been going on, and then we started talking about our pasts... The conversation was deeper than it had been the night before, then we were just getting to know the basics. Now, Alex and I were talking about how we’d each met the two men upstairs. Jack and Alex had been best friends for years now, and Jack lived just down the street. It was crazy the way he talked about him, like he idolized him. I guess Jack had always been there for him. I told him the story of how I’d met Vic, and he just nodded and smiled. He stared off into the distance, then suddenly looked back at me, his eyes piercing me. “Do you love him ?” he questioned me. Without a moment’s hesitation, I answered “Yes.”

We were both starving by now, and we decided to eat lunch separately (him and Jack at his house and Vic and I at mine) then reconvene after lunchtime.

Vic slipped his hand easily in mine as we walked, not saying a word. After we rounded the corner from the park, he stopped me in the middle of the sidewalk. “Listen, Pruitt. We need to talk.” My stomach dropped at those words, and I had an idea of what was coming next. He gently grabbed my arm and held it up, then locked eyes with me and deliberately and slowly rolled up my sleeve. “Why didn’t you tell me ?” That was his only question, not why, not when, but why didn’t I tell him. It was a fair question, really, I mean he was after all, the only person I could trust with this. “Because I was afraid of losing you.”

“Well I’m not going anywhere. No matter what you look like, no matter what happens to you. It’s not going to keep me from touching you or loving you, or even kissing you. To be honest, I would kiss you even if you were dead. So you have a few scars, so what ? It doesn’t make you any less beautiful, it only shows how strong and amazing you are. Scars don’t make you weak; they’re battle scars, babe. And you’re going to win this war, with me by your side.” He pulled me in at the waist, kissing my mouth with a fiery passion. Heat radiated off his soft lips as they molded around mine, his grip on my hips tightening. He pulled away, planting another soft kiss on my forehead. I locked eyes with him, “I love you Vic.”