The Falling Man

“Are you alright now?” Gerard bit his lip and raised his eye brows at me as I took a deep breath and nodded, then bursted out laughing again.

“I’m sorry!” I managed to get out between my extensive giggling, “I can’t help it!”

We had a few drinks, only a few because he barely had half a bottle of wine left in his cupboard. And for some reason birthday cake that Ray, an apparent friend of his, had left when they first were in the apartment.

I rested my head on his lap, lying across the living room floor with him.

We had been talking about child names, what we would’ve named Katrina, and it had digressed from there. The last I could remember was talking about Spock from Star Treck.

Gerard stared down at me, smiling slightly as he brushed my bangs out of my eyes.

“I missed this a lot, you know.”

“Missed what?” I took some of the cake’s blue frosting off with my finger, and then sucked it off rather ungracefully.

He was playing with my hair now, running his fingers through it over and over again. It was making me relaxed, even a bit sleepy.

“I missed spending time with you.”

I sat up, taking the slice of cake into my hand, then taking a bite out of it.

“Of course you did,” I rolled my eyes, taking another dramatically large bite, then said with my mouth full, “It’s because I’m so charming.”

“Oh, Ana, you always knew that girls that ate all my cake and talked with their mouths full are such a big turn on for me,” he grinned, then sighed, “I only had one bite of that, you know.”

I licked my teeth clean then held out the remainder of the cake towards him, “You can have the rest, if you’d like.”

He nodded, “Thank you for being so thoughtful,” then went to take it as I took another bite out of it.

“But, it’s so delicious. I just can’t help myself, you know.”

He narrowed his eyes, “That wasn’t nice at all.”

“There’s still some left,” I looked innocently at him and held it close enough to him so he could take a bite, “You can have it. I promise.”

He looked at it suspiciously, then leaned in to bite it, just as I shoved it into his face. His head shot back in shock as he stared at me with wide eyes, utterly surprised that I had done that.

I’m not sure if I was a bit tipsy or what, but I just laughed and laughed as he wiped the cake off with his hand. I clutched my stomach and held back the tears as he stared bitterly at me.

“You think that’s funny?” The blue was smeared on his cheek and over his mouth, “How’s this for funny?”

Then he proceeded to smash whatever cake he had in his hand into my chest. As soon as I felt the sticky frosting on my skin I let out a gasp and then a shriek as he tipped me over and rubbed it into my skin more.

“Gerard!” I screamed, pulling at his hands to try to stop him from rubbing the mess on my dress, but hopelessly failed.

So, I just retaliated instead, grabbing whatever cake he wasn’t rubbing into my chest and rubbed it back onto his face and neck. He just laughed menacingly at me, holding me down with his body weight.

“You asked for this, sugar.”

“Oh, did I?” I squirmed beneath him so I could grab my glass, still partially filled with wine, and splashed it on him.

“You definitely asked for that.”

He glowered at me, and then sat back on his heels.

“That’s it, you’re going to the shower.”

My eyes widened as I scrambled to get to my feet, but he was too quick and scooped me up, throwing me over his shoulder in the process.

“Gerard!” I wailed as he carried me down the hall, my legs kicking with every hope to get away, “Don’t you dare-”

I heard the shower turn on and then felt the icy water on me suddenly as he tossed me into it.

“Oh, but I do.”

I then grabbed him by the collar, causing him to stumble into the shower with me and fall on top of me, shielding my body from the frigid water.

I heard him let out a gasp as the water hit him and he pushed me beneath the faucet in hopes to get away from it. The water poured on top of me, matting my dress to my sides.

“It’s fucking cold!” I groaned, pressing entire body against his in hopes that he would let me out.

But he didn’t move at all. I didn’t realize until I looked up at him that he was staring down at me, smiling as the water dripped from the locks of his hair and nose.

Then he leaned down and kissed me.

It caught me off guard at first, but then I simply shut my eyes and let his warm breath clash against the cold water. My hands lingered to his neck and shoulders as he lifted me up, shutting off the shower then carefully stepping out of it.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and he carried me, letting me kiss his lips and face and neck as he brought me to some unknown destination.

He laid me down on the bed, his body feeling so warm in comparison to the water he had made me suffer through, and I clung to him with every ounce of strength I had.

I never realized how much I was longing for him until now.

Buttons were fumbled with, clothes were strewn about the bare mattress, body heat quickly exchanged.

I don’t think I’ve ever slept as well as I did that night.