Ache With Me

The excruciating noise of my phone vibrating on my metal nightstand broke me out of my deep sleep. I glanced at the caller ID briefly before picking up.

“Max it is 8 o’clock on Sunday morning, what the fuck do you want?” I grumbled into the phone.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I had to be up early to go to a meeting and I guess I forgot what time it was. Go back to sleep.” I heard the sound of the turn signal and realized he was driving.

“No, I’m up now, tell me why you called.” I sat up in bed, rubbing the bleariness out of my eyes with one hand.

“I wanted to know if you’d like to come over and watch a movie with me once I’m done with my meeting.”

“What kind of meeting happens at 8 on Sunday?”

“I’ll tell you if you come over.”

“Oh fine, what time do you want me to be there?”

“How about two? It’ll give me time to clean up.”

“Sounds good, I’ll be there. Text me your address.”

“See you later.” We said goodbye and hung up. I tossed the phone onto the rug and fell facefirst back into the pillow. I didn’t want to be up at this ungodly hour. Thankfully I fell back asleep quickly and when my phone rang again, this time from my alarm, I’d gotten an extra three hours of sleep.

I fed Cheshire and made sure she had plenty in the bowl left so she’d have enough if I came home late, then headed to my bathroom to start getting ready. As I went through my routine of washing my hair, face, and body, I tried to decide what I was gonna wear. He wanted to watch a movie, which probably meant cuddling on the couch, but I also wanted to look cute for him. I let out a soft groan and turned to rinse the shampoo out of my hair.

I just needed to find a cute outfit that also didn’t wrinkle and wasn’t tight. Should be easy, right? I dried my hair and put on my undies for the day, then went to my closet to find something to wear. Ten minutes later all I was wearing was black underwear still, and getting increasingly frustrated.

“Fuck it!” I yelled, startling my cat. I grabbed the first t-shirt I could find and a pair of jeans, then some sneakers and a beanie. I had some errands to run before I went over to Max’s place, so I locked up and headed out into the city. Last week’s storm had rolled out of town, leaving a brisk sunny day in its place. The coat I was wearing was probably a bit excessive but I knew it would probably get windy while I was walking around.

By the time two o’clock rolled around, I was shaking from cold on the bus, hoping he had the heater cranked when I got in. The wind had picked up on my hike to a bus stop that could take me to his building and cut straight through my coat. With numb hands, I texted Max that I was close and I felt like a popsicle.

The air inside the lobby was slightly warmer than it was outside and I stamped my feet in the elevator to try to warm up a bit. The elevator stopped on the 8th floor and I made my way down to Apartment 812. I had barely knocked on the door when it swung open.

“Hey!” Max pulled me into the apartment, kissing me soundly. “Lord, you are like a popsicle. Here.” He peeled off his sweatshirt and handed it to me. “You’ll be more comfortable in this and it’s already warmed up for you.” That left him in a white tank top and jeans covered in paint splatters and holes. I took off my coat and pulled the sweatshirt on over my head.

“Thanks.” I snuck up behind him, wincing when my sneakers squeaked on the wood floors, and wrapped my arms around his waist. My excuse was that it would be easier to warm up next to him.

“Shit your hands are cold.” He caught them in his larger ones and started rubbing to bring the blood back into my fingertips. “Don’t you have gloves you numpty?”

“Didn’t think it was gonna be this cold.” I smiled up at him. “But think of it this way, you have an excuse to be close to my body.”

“Oh don’t think I didn’t notice you pressing yourself up against me, you little hussy.” He grinned back at me and leaned to kiss my nose. “Okay, you are getting a blanket and some tea, it’s like trying to make out with a snow man.”

“Yes sir.” I plunked myself down on the couch and watched him bustling around the kitchen to make me a cup of tea. “So what meeting had to take place at 8 on a Sunday morning?”

“Band meeting. It was the only time our elusive lead singer could tear himself away from his work to come meet with us.” He shrugged. “It’s a good thing we love him.”

“Well from what I’ve heard he’s good at what he does.” I’d seen some terrible quality Youtube videos of them performing in small dive bars and from what I could hear through the static, the singer was good and the band sounded great.

“I suppose.” He sighed dramatically. “Nah, Hunter’s just devoted to his work. Once inspiration hits, it’s a miracle if he even gets up to take a piss. At least I leave my apartment to move among humanity when I’m working.”

“I was actually surprised you talked to me while you were painting, I thought you would have needed to concentrate more.”

“I’m a master multitasker. And debater.” He grinned at me.

“You are such a boy.” I laughed, shaking my head. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Oh, I’m just cute am I?” He stalked towards me and I started to get very nervous. “I thought I was pretty!” He dove on top of me and started tickling my ribs.

“Ahh, Max get off me!” I squealed, trying to shove him off me. He had height and weight on me, so I was pinned under him, helpless against the assault of his long fingers tickling the living daylights out of me. Soon tears were welling up in my eyes from laughing so hard. Finally he stopped and held himself up over me.

“Am I still just cute?”

“No, now you’re fucking gorgeous.” I reached up to touch his face. The weak sunlight was glinting off the ring in his nose and the two in his ear.

“But I’m not fucking you yet.” He dropped his head to nuzzle his face against my neck. Behind him, the kettle began to scream. He groaned and went into the kitchen to turn it off. I had warmed up quite a bit during his tickle attack but I accepted the tea gratefully. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and spread it over our laps.

“So what are we watching?” I asked, watching him add sugar to his tea.

“Have you ever seen Spaceballs?” I shook my head. “Then that’s what we’re watching.” He put it into the DVD player and then let me snuggle up as close as I could with the mug of tea in my hands. As soon as we’d both finished our tea, I lay down with my head across his knees. He stroked my hair absentmindedly as we watched the movie. About halfway through, he started to jiggle one of his feet, making my head bounce up and down.

“Are you doing the pee pee dance or something?” I asked, sitting up.

“No, my leg just fell asleep.”

“Then change positions. Get comfy and then I’ll lie down again.” I wasn’t expecting him to lie flat on his back and then motion for me to get comfortable. I found a small space to fit in between his body and the back of the couch and squished myself in, resting my head on his shoulder. The movie ended and we stayed in that spot, not speaking, just relaxing there together.

We did eventually sit up and start talking and bantering as usual. Then an enormous shadow crossed over my head and something heavy landed on the back of the couch.

“Ahh, there’s my big boy.” Max hauled what appeared to be a small panther off the couch and into his lap. “This is Sylvester.” Sylvester was a very large black longhair cat with pretty green eyes. He looked like he could eat my shoes. I held my hand out tentatively for him to sniff and he butted his head against it.

“Hello beautiful.” I scratched under his chin, smiling at the happy face he made.

“I can’t believe it, usually he claws the shit out of new people.”

“My mom always said there wasn’t an animal that didn’t love me when I was a kid.” Sylvester began to purr, a loud rumbling noise that was nothing like Cheshire’s delicate sounds. We ordered pizza for dinner and sat around talking until I realized it was eleven o’clock and I needed to get home to go to sleep.

“I wish you didn’t have to go.” Max was pouting, holding his enormous cat in his arms.

“Me too, but I have work tomorrow morning and I need to be coherent.” I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his pout away. “Don’t make that face at me, you know why I’m leaving.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” He grumbled, setting the cat down. “Let me grab my keys, its way too late for you to take the bus.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about it, when my lovely boyfriend has a car.” I laughed at his mock incensed face. He walked me up to my apartment and gave me a long, lingering kiss pressed up against the cold steel of my door. Then, with a final smile at me, he was gone.

I realized I was still wearing his sweatshirt when I started to get ready for bed, and decided to sleep in it. It smelled just like him, like his cologne and mint and a hint of cigarette smoke. Wrapped up in his soft sweatshirt, I could almost imagine I was still in his arms as I drifted off to sleep.