A Whisper

Flashes of light made me see orange and red hues from under my eyelids as I woke up with clothes sticking to my skin, and sweat pouring down my sides like a fountain. My backside felt on fire, as did my left, and I could sense the straining of my vocal chords to keep me from screaming out in complete frustration. Upon the fervorous nature that overcame me then, to escape what seemed like death, I kicked the thin sheet down and off and clawed at my pants to allow my legs to breathe too. I was in the motion of reaching for my shirt when I elbowed something solid and heard a grunt resonate from it, making me stop before I went beyond what was appropriate.

My maniacal eyes landed on tufts of blond hair at my side and a long body inevitably drenched in sweat, as well. I realized what was causing me to suffer from this scorching heat, and without any hesitation, I placed my feet on my pursuer's back and pushed with all my might.

"Get off my couch, Beau!" I growled. "I'm dripping in a salty sea of poison because of you."

Surprised and frightened exclamations left his mouth as my friend slowly slid off the sofa and crumpled onto the carpet. The friction created from sticking to several materials all at once left him with his muscular stomach flashing and his boxers peeking out from his pants.

"Thanks, Yumi." Sleep was still evident in his voice. "You know, it's your fault you don't have fricken air conditioning in this place."

I sat up and tucked the ends of my shirt in the hole I put my head through so that I could try to air out the upper half of my body. "I never had a problem until now, so nice try. You're stuck with the blame."

Beau mirrored my actions and made it so he was completely matching- pants thrown off, and shirt tucked in like a naughty school girl. He leaned back on his hands and turned his head towards me, almost as if waiting for a snarky comment. I gladly fulfilled his wish.

"Copycat," I scoffed.

Picking up my accusation, his eyes went to scan over my figure as a sultry grin began to flaunt.

"Tease."

"Sleazebag."

He looked away with an amused face and laughed off our bickering. A moment later, his shirt fully came off and was tossed lazily at my face.

I gagged, thrashing away from the article of clothing. "Beau, you psycho! It reeks like rotting cheese!"

"Stop rhyming, then, and I won't cause you any more trouble!" He mumbled, standing to his feet.

Focusing on his movements to make sure he wasn't going to try anything else to bother me, I was too slow to retaliate when he pounced, snatching me up in his arms. He twirled me around so that he could plop onto the couch and I would be locked to his lap. His grasp wouldn't budge as I tried to break free so that I wouldn't be inflicted to sweat more than I already had. My attempts were feeble, though, and he must have realized that because his chest soon rumbled with laughter.

"You are unbelievable-!"

"-Unbelievably handsome." Beau cut in with a coy smile.

My head fell forward and landed on his chest in surrender, as my last battle cry was a burnt-out groan. "I hate you."

"Because I'm too hot, I know." He chuckled. "I'm even making you sweat from my looks."

Not being able to gather the effort to form a remark back, I shifted my position on his lap, finding my skin stick to and peel from his. A grimace settled on my face at how uncomfortable I was, but I could only stay where I was and think about how I managed to get caught up in this sort of situation in the first place...

My mind reeled back in time to when I first met the hockey player, which was at a charity event his team was sponsoring. I was hired to be the musical guest of the evening, and provide some background entertainment if one were to stop and listen to their surroundings. I hadn't caught the attention of many, considering a loud drone of voices for the most part overpowered mine. However, Beau was one of the guys who sat back in his chair and enjoyed the show I put on, occasionally turning his head to chat with who I discovered to be James Neal.

He came up to me when the event was nearly over, and I was let off the hook to have a meal before heading home to sleep. I remember almost choking on my salad because he commented on how well I rhymed while singing. What eventually came to be a habitual response later on in our friendship, I told him it was a natural function of being a lyricist and musician. Still, I thanked him for his compliment and continued chowing on my food. I figured he would have left once hearing the finality of my statement, but instead he pulled out the chair next to me and sat down in it. Beau rambled on about how he was a music lover, and even though he had a different taste of music than me, I was fascinated by how he advocated to discovering new artists to listen to. Then after pleading for my name so that he could attend more of my concerts, Beau got up and left with his fellow teammates.

Since several encounters that followed, he and I quickly became good friends. Normally it took a while for someone to break under my skin and make an impression, but the amiable and playful personality was there to draw me in. It also didn't take long before people began noticing our bond. Some would mention to either of us to go out and date, become the couple we were destined to be. Though, others appealed to us more by saying we had such a golden friendship and it should strictly stay that way, that romanticism would spoil what we had.

Beau and I never cared to discuss our concern aloud, but the look on both our faces conveyed it was a topic to push aside and not think about. However, I couldn't help but feel a kick in my heart whenever we interacted like a couple, such as what happened last night and at the present moment. The notion was trying to sway me into thinking of the possibilities he and I had if we were together. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I had to shut down persuasive thoughts more often than not. I was just lucky my attempts worked.

Right when I was about to steer clear from my unnerving thoughts, Beau's hands moved a little ways down my back to relieve of some of the heat he created already. Beau's deep voice spoke up, and with the specific topic mentioned, I was worked back into my mind.

"What are you thinking about?"

I hummed as a response, not wanting to shine a light on what we tried to avoid as good friends. Then as he seemed to let my action go without complaining, I dwelled on what partook last night, considering he had asked me the same question...

I was continuously stirring the pasta Beau made for me around my fork when he asked what was going on in my head. It was surprising that he allowed me to escape from answering yet again, which was becoming prominent in our conversations as of recent. My eyes raised to the screen door that led to the backyard, taking in how many moths had managed to cling on. It reminded me of my numerous problems wanting to enter a new tunnel of fate, like how the bugs all wanted to come in the house. Though I turned back to my food and took a bite, knowing if I spoke up, Beau would claim I was being too much of a musician- being moved by the most simple things.

After eating, I was brought to the couch to snuggle on with my friend. He insisted we watch a music channel to remind us of what kept our hearts beating, and I nonchalantly agreed. Beau pulled my arm around his torso, made a cheeky comment on how I was spooning him, and then ending up lightly snoring a couple minutes later. Confusion meddled with attraction as it took me a while to realize he must have been exhausted from the hockey game he played earlier that day, and how my nerves felt ecstatic at his touch. We fell asleep in that position only to awake all the same, but with a drastic shift of temperature around us as the sun arose.

I lifted my head from Beau's chest only to take notice of how close our faces were. With prior thoughts of his affection still lingering in my mind, I became embarrassed and my face easily flushed. The need to run away soon filtered my veins, as the core of my emotions turned flustered. I was about to make an excuse up, and say I had to go to the bathroom in order to get away from him, when his voice sounded.

"You're so beautiful, Yumi." a small smile lit up his face. "I'm not joking when I say that."

My heart felt like it was about to explode from my chest. "I'd say the same, but as I understand it, you already know that."

His laughter filled my ears, as my gaze was attracted to his pearly teeth. It was at that moment where I was about to make my escape due to having enough instability, but Beau cut me off again.

"Tell me what you were thinking about yesterday and just now." His blue eyes flashed over my body.

"Beau," I took a deep breath in before choking out, "I need to use the bathroom."

His brow furrowed in puzzlement. The tightening pressure on my back told me he wasn't letting me go until I clarified what I meant or told him the truth.

"I mean it... You know I had a lot to drink last night."

"You're not getting out of this like that." he shook his head. "I want to know what's being hidden from me."

I bit my lip and then said, "I'm not keeping a secret."

"So, you expect me to believe that for about twenty minutes in total from yesterday and today that you were thinking about going to the bathroom... I'm not stupid, Yumi."

"Yes, you are." I tried to joke, but his stare shot me down.

From past instances, I never liked to affiliate with Beau once he turned serious over something. It seemed out of his nature, definitely not a primal instinct of his. If anything, his austerity looked forced, and that only made me feel more uneasy. I began to realize exactly where I was sitting and how little clothing I was wearing. This was the longest I've had contact with him with essentially only our skin touching. Other times were in the pool where it was common courtesy to brisk by or tackle each other in the water. Here was an out-of-the-ordinary circumstance, and a nerve-racking one at that.

Turning bashful, I did all I could to block myself from Beau's heated gaze. I averted my eyes, pushed as far back as he let me, and unraveled my shirt so that it looked normal again. However, before the cloth was able to completely cover my stomach, Beau's hands interfered, keeping it propped up as he gripped my sides. An internal gasp caught in my lungs, and against my will, I found myself staring at him again.

"You don't normally act like this, Yumi..." his thumbs circled in my skin. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?"

"Because Beau..." I finally whined, but stopped before my voice could waver.

"What, what, what?" he asked softy, placing his forehead on mine. "What's the matter?"

"I don't want to tell you... I mean," I pressed my lips together, "I just can't tell you."

His fingers stopped moving, giving me a bad feeling in my gut. I could almost as if sense he knew exactly what I was so keen on not letting him know. After all, we both chose to never talk about him and I being a couple, and it was a mutual topic we decided to push away. It wasn't like there were any other problems in our friendship we so strongly kept at bay for a reason.

Beau suddenly cleared his throat and moved his head into the crook of my neck. A long sigh brushed against my skin, sending me rigid.

"I thought we promised not to bring this up, Yumi."

Tears were edging to fall, and it made me want to scream at how emotional I was being. I didn't like being dramatic, and neither did Beau enjoy seeing me this way. Therefore, I had to hold back a sniffle.

"Yeah," I mumbled. "I know."

"How do feel about us? I mean, have I been making you uncomfortable? Is it your time of the month or something?"

"Beau!"

"Sorry," he laughed, removing his head from my shoulder. "Just tell me your thought process on this... and I'll tell you mine."

My eyes shifted between his, trying to detect an honest glint to them, but I knew it was a stupid thing to do because he never once before lied to me. So, I gave in.

"I don't know what started it, but lately I've been feeling a prick in my heart whenever I see your face or you touch me... It makes me think of what people have said in the past about us, and I try to block it out, you know?" I ran a hand through my hair. "Because you are always around me, the thoughts keep coming back, and stronger each time. Maybe I'm noticing the extent of how nice you are towards me, but I like everything we have... more than a friend should, I think."

I watched as Beau swallowed, taking my information in. It got to the point where I literally felt I was going to let loose my bladder because of the intensity of my fear. To be basic about this, I just confessed my love for one of my best friends. There was now a reason why I suddenly wanted to die.

To take me out of my miserable trance, Beau moved his hands down to interlock with mine. I could sense a change of disposition within him as his cheeks grew the tiniest hint of red. He kept his eyes down for a majority of the time he reasoned with me.

"Listen Yumi," he began, "I don't want to sound blunt about this, but I don't want to lose our friendship-"

"-Stop. I already know how the rest is going to go... I shouldn't have said anything at all."

"I'm not going to stop because you didn't let me finish. If anyone should be stopping something, it's you with assuming the worst of things."

Feeling insulted, I gave him a cold stare. The fed up sensation that was gradually building throughout my time sitting on his lap got to me. I didn't like how stressed my insides came to be, and how he seemingly lacked the common sense to quit urging me on with his actions. My hands itched to slap him, but like parents soothing their angry child, his did that. Never once did his fingers stop stroking my palms, and that eventually calmed me down enough to hear what he had to say.

Beau went to quickly wipe at his now sweating forehead, before picking up where he left off. "I was going to say that even though I don't want to lose my friendship with you, there's always another level of just that, which can be obtained from being in a romantic relationship with you... I wasn't going to shut you down, and now that I know how you really feel about me, it only seems like the logical thing to do to keep us being friends and even more.

"Besides," he took a breath in. "I was actually starting to feel the same way about you, even though my Twitter feed basically denies me of wanting to date anyone."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing at that. Beau always had a way of lightening up moments in time that had grown too fragile to manage, and I was glad he chose now to act on it.

"So, does this mean we're 'a thing'?" I asked.

He grinned, "Yes, I guess we are."

"Good... Can I go to the bathroom, now?"

I found it hard to believe once Beau shook his head, but he was quick to enlighten me as to why.

"We need to seal the deal, silly!"

"Um, okay, I guess..." I smiled. "Nice rhyming, by the way."

"Thanks, I learned from the best."

My hands nearly performed the slapping I wanted to do previously, but now it was because he was acting too cheesy and my emotions couldn't take it. Luckily, Beau leaned over to kiss me then because there was nothing more I could utter that could have made the situation any better.

"I still think you're beautiful, Yumi." he said, once our lips separated.

"Oh, shut up!"

His arms then moved me to his side, instead of releasing me like I wanted, and a moment later my body was curled into a ball from Beau tickling me.

His smile flashed once more, "You're welcome."