Lucky for Us |
Issue 7
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Asher sat in his velvet chair that was now his for the taking, as he mindlessly sloshed around his glass of hickory spike with his hand, while he just stared into the abyss of the quiet study room that was now officially his. Everything in that home was finally his to own: the main bedroom that they coexisted in at night, the living area that they hosted gatherings in to give them a reason to be away from one other, the office that was his from the start yet she always found a reason to be in there; every single solitary corner was now in his possession.
His wife was dead. It was sudden yet quiet. However, Asher wasn’t to be questioned, as their relationship was held in high regard by everyone around them. Why elaborate when falseness is what kept them together? They were having her funeral, while her husband shut himself away in his study, drinking away as if he had any misery left in his soul. It was much too soon to ask, but it was what he already had an answer to: “Would he be willing to share his space yet again for another potential companion?” Despite the content of his own belongings, he had settled on one particular person he always wanted to share his space with. They had spent countless years together in each other’s company: in the bar, out on the town, rummaging through the stores, in the far ends of the forest, and, when they could, in the dark nights where no moon nor stars could shine upon them to ruin what could never be seen. It was not obvious at the first glance, not even to the passerby nor the companions they also had. It was never meant to be obvious to those who looked their way, even once, because if they looked a little closer, let it just be said that he would have been dead long before Asher’s wife. Asher refocused his gaze from the blurry sight of the dark multi-colored spines of books, when the door hinge creaked and the doorknob was fizzled with. In stepped into the small square room, alongside him, was the man in the black tuxedo with a rose clipped into the folds of the suit, as he held a glass of champagne in his right hand: Felix. He stopped as soon as he entered; “Oh, I didn’t realize you already had a glass.” Felix chuckled, as his eyes met with Asher’s, who was able to keep smiling yet in the event that they were in. Asher gave him a small grin. Felix was always the chap to put you in a good mood, even in the lowest part of your life. However, Asher wasn’t at that point in life yet. They both knew that. |
ISABEL PAYNE
won 1st Place of the Fiction Writing Contest. Isabel is an online university student through Indiana University Online, who is currently majoring in English. Isabel has always enjoyed writing stories. She has been writing stories since she was a child. As she has aged, she went from writing simple sentence stories with already existing characters from books and movies, to crafting her own original ideas for plots, and creating her own original characters to take part in her stories. |
“So, tell me,” Felix questioned, as he placed himself onto the miniature glass table that could have easily been broken from the slightest force of pressure, yet it hadn’t given in yet. “How is it that you are moping on possibly the best day of your life?”
To onlookers, their families and supposed friends, Asher and his wife, Amity, were seen as a well-respected couple. Felix seemed to have been the only one who was stingy the moment he saw them hand in hand. They had money, a nice home, and attention, which yes, is expected to be jealous of, but that wasn’t what pressed Felix. He saw they were a lie when their fingers interlocked, and even across the room, Asher’s eyes did not glimmer the same way as before, when all he needed in life was his best companion.
Everyone else believed they were happy, but they were just barely content. She loved his money, while he could only go after what he couldn’t in public. Everyone is expected to settle down with someone and build success from it, and as long as it fits the frame, no one will bother examining the photo. They fit that status, they just had to live in it. No one had really thought it would have resulted in an early death, but, it didn’t have to be, had she been more careful.
“I’m not sulking, Felix. You know that!” Asher snidely remarked. He continued to shake his little glass that surprisingly hadn’t spilled onto the nice rug. If what he was about to ask turned sour, then a stain on the rug wouldn’t have been as hard to clean up. He slowly placed his short glass onto the little glass table, right next to where Felix was sitting.
“I have been thinking of what I will do with my life now that the hardest part is over,” Asher started, as he bent himself over to face the floor instead of Felix, as he fiddled with his chapped hands, clenching them together, as if he was holding hands with another soul. “and I was thinking that you could have more of a part in that?”
Asher slowly looked at Felix. Felix slowly removed the glass rim from his moist lips, and placed his tall glass next to Asher’s.
“You want me to come live with you?” Felix questioned, though he knew he didn’t have to. He already had an answer; he had an answer since they met. Asher flickered a few expressions before he settled on a curious smile. Felix gasped, as if there was no air in between the two in the tiny yet filled room. He chuckled softly, and he tried to muffle his snickers from getting any louder, in order for the guests to not wonder why the sound of laughter was apparent in such an event.
Asher smiled widened as his buddy hunched himself over in an attempt to answer, but his answer became official when Felix’s pressure against the tiny glass table came crumbling down into fragments of pieces. The shards flew into the air and onto the rug that clung tight to the pieces. The champagne and hickory sloshed and stained into the rug quickly.
Asher got down on his knees to assist Felix from the floor. He heaved him from the floor, hand in hand, careful to not get close to the shards of piercing glass. Felix remarked: “Well, I guess I have to now, so I can get you a new table for me to break.” They laughed into each other’s shoulders, as they held each other so tightly, that they could feel the tiny tears of happiness fall onto their nice suits.
The door hinge started to creak, which forced Felix to immediately step away from Asher’s embrace, as they both looked towards the opening of the door to reveal an elderly lady in an apron and holding a broom.
“I overheard a large crash, and might I say Asher, you are quite the man of accidents!” The maid remarked, as she waddled herself over to sweep up a pile of brokeness. “First Amity’s vanity and now this? You are certainly a handful!”
Asher chuckled alongside her, while Felix confusingly peered at him. She swiftly sweeped up the broken shards and went back out to grab a rag to clean up the spill. That wasn’t the only spill, though. “Amity’s vanity?’ What does she mean?” Felix asked, as Asher reflected, as if he had forgotten he had a wife.
“Oh, she is just referring to Amity’s vanity she broke before she died.” Asher casually said, as he went to shut the door and lock it.
“She broke?" he questioned, as he slowly slid off his overcoat and let it slide down onto the dirty carpet. “Since when did she break anything that had her face in it?”
Asher had got to the door when the question, or rather, the remark, set into the thick room. He stopped at the slightly open door, and was ready to close it. He froze for only a moment, until he willed his hand to shut it and lock it from the outside world from entering. Felix eyed him in the act. Asher stared at the door as he spoke.
“She did technically break it, … I just helped her,” Asher whispered, as he slowly turned towards Felix. Felix blinked a few times, but he was not one to dawdle.
“Asher, what did you do to that woman?” Felix cautiously stated, as he tried to repress the tingling fear that fizzled in his throat. He watched Asher slowly walk past him, and he did not so much as glance in Felix’s direction.
Asher made his way to his chair, and was ready to sit. He knew he should have turned around, but instead, he slowly lowered himself, pivoted himself around, and let himself fall into the seat, his eyes facing the still stained carpet. He slowly looked up to meet the one he was going to have to face for the rest of his days.
“It was the only way we could be together!” Asher quietly stammered, as his eyes shot back down, only now he focused on his dry and skin-chipped hands. He had scrubbed them profusely enough that he could have easily broken the skin.
“Only way for us to be together?” Felix stammered. He threw up his hands and stretched his long fingers through his curly hair. He lightly inhaled the condensed air of the small and tense room, as he waddled about, until he finally willed himself around to face his quiet mate. “We aren’t supposed to be together!”
He took his time reaching towards Asher. They were only an arm’s lengths apart, but it didn’t matter; Asher was trying to stay as far away as possible. He did not get this far for the truth to be spilled. Felix’s shoes did not make a sound against the rug, but his shadow engulfed Asher’s short stature.
“Tell me, as if I was your wife who you are supposed to tell everything to: What the hell did you do to Amity, Asher?”
Asher slowly raised his pitiful eyes to Felix’s unimpressed stare. They were a married couple already. Asher’s eyes scattered as he bit his dry lip, before he lowered his clouded head and inhaled a few times, as if he had been holding his breath for weeks.
“Watch your breath, Asher, you may just lose it.”
Asher gripped the armrest, as he swiftly hoisted himself upright to face his opponent. “Not so much of a syllable will be uttered to anyone, or you just may meet the same fate!” Asher hissed, as he squinted his eyes and lifted himself by the toes of his shoes to match Felix’s height. Felix slightly moved backwards, but he found Asher’s aggressiveness of that to a child, as he stood on the toes of his shoes and rolled up his face like that of a pout.
Asher jolted his head to the side, where his eyes landed on the heavy door. The door was still locked, but Asher was waiting for it to swing open to this dirty confession. It wasn’t opening any time soon. They were both locked inside, and there was no possible way for them to leave each other. It was already too late.
“I shoved her into that vanity table!” Asher muttered under his breath, eyeing the spines of the many unread books. “I didn’t mean to kill her, I just wanted her to shut up!”
“Yeah, you sure seemed to. Keep talking!” Felix demanded, as he rolled up his sleeves, and squinted his eyes in curiosity, as if he was an angered parent to a rambunctious toddler who had broken their favorite vase.
Asher guiltily looked up, as the child who feared what punishment they were to ensue once they admitted the truth, about that precious vase.
“A doctor came and confirmed her death to be an accidental fall.” Asher stalled, as he twirled around his peeling fingers.
“Really?” Felix sniped, “They believed she fell backwards into her vanity?”
“Thin green paper was convincing enough to them!” Asher snapped, as he scrunched up his face and slightly gritted his teeth. He was trying to contain every bit of himself, but it was far too late for that. “She found our letters, Felix. What was I supposed to do?” Asher admitted with a heave, as he finally kept his face up to see Felix's shock.
Felix slowly lost his high horse confidence to confused shock, as he tried to swallow his fear, but the twitching of his eyes gave himself away. He slowly placed his hand to his face, and gently rubbed it to make sure he was still there.
“Our letters?’ …I thought you hid them.” Felix trailed off, as he started to stutter and shake. “Every married couple has their secrets, Felix. She was going to find them eventually.” Asher shrugged, slightly grinned and winked towards his petrified man. “You’ll understand someday.” “Asher, this is serious! You killed your wife, and it’s all because of us?”
“She should have minded her own business, and stayed out of my space. Why do you think I have been sitting here?” Asher hysterically questioned, as if Felix was an idiot.
Felix was no idiot, he knew what was really hiding between those crumpled and torn pages. He sharply turned towards a bookcase, and yanked a random book off of the shelf. The book easily opened to just a few of their hundreds of letters.
Asher blinked, as he slowly looked up to see his frazzled man.
“Felix, when she found our letters, she threatened to go to the public with them! We would have never seen each other again!” Asher expressed, as he slowly made his way back to his chair. He slightly pivoted before just slumping into the chair, as his body swung to one side and his legs rested on the armrest. “Why do you care so much about her? You hated her guts and now she is dead!”
“How about because I’ll be moving in with you?” Felix spat, as he slammed the book shut and swiveled himself around. “Aren’t you just the slightest bit concerned that I’ll be replacing your dead wife? … Wait, am I just your hand down?” He gasped.
Asher rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, stop it! You're spiraling,” he reluctantly heaved himself from his chair once again and walked over to his shaking man. He took his shaky hands and held him in his. “No, you are not her replacement. She was yours.”
They both just flickered their eyes for a few moments until Asher just pulled Felix in for a forced embrace. He clamped his hands onto Felix’s shoulders, and they slowly slid down the white collared shirt, where Asher flicked at Felix’s buttons.
“That’s all I am, huh?” Felix's thin body slightly reeled backwards, for once disgusted instead of enchanted as opposed to all the times before. Times had barely changed within a few minutes, but they surely had.
“Well, you are certainly just as unconvincing as Amity!” Asher muttered, as he straightened out Felix’s slightly wrinkled shirt for where his head had rested.
Before Felix could run, or before Asher could tear off their fabrics, another knock jolted Felix upward, yet he couldn’t move much with Asher’s hands still firmly grasped onto him. “Asher, sir,” a tired yet prestigious voice of one Asher’s personal assistant requested. “your guests are beginning to file out. Would you like to say a final piece before tomorrow’s funeral?” Silence was the only answer that was given. Felix peered down at Asher, who was still fiddling with the buttons on Felix’s shirt. Felix anxiously motioned his head towards the door for Asher to respond, but Asher simply waved his hand to quiet his silent mate.
“Tell them that I will see them when it is most convenient.” Asher said blatantly, giving no reason to what that meant. “See them out for me, please.”
Asher continued to mess with the shirt buttons, until looking back up to Felix. They were both quiet until the shadow was gone from underneath the door.
“Would you have me tonight, Felix?”
Night came quickly, as the once calm morning of early dew rose into the thick night air. Asher’s bed had never felt so full, but Felix did not feel the same way. They had been quiet for a while: no words, no movements, not even a shuffle within the sheets as Asher looked up to the bland ceiling and Felix
looked to the balcony area that was locked, where he saw the dark night sky that shimmered stars for light. Though he often fell asleep on his side, Felix could not get comfortable.
“We won’t have to meet at night anymore.” Asher interjected into the silence, as he shuffled himself to meet the back of Felix, but Felix did not move.
“What are you going to do when your family and friends ask about another man living in your home with you?” Felix interjected himself, as he wrestled himself over to meet his opponent. “How will you explain that?”
Asher peered to the side for a moment, slightly shrugged and flopped onto his back to meet the ceiling. “I’ll just have to kill them before they merely come to the conclusion.” “You are horrible with your gags”
“Who said I was joking?” Asher grinned, but Felix rolled his tired eyes and tossed himself back to his regular position. He shifted a bit in the sheets, until refocusing back to the sky. However, his eyes slowly started to wander to the empty space next to the balcony. The empty space that once held a self-absorbed mirror.
“As far as your loved ones know, you are a boring and simple man.” Felix jabbed, as his eyes dropped from the empty space to his hand that rested on his pillow.
“Yet you chose me.” Asher muttered with tired annoyance.
“I don’t think I have any choice now.” Felix muttered back, as he placed his hand under the pillow and began to hug it, as it was the only thing he could hold for the moment. Asher quickly lifted himself up, as the sheets began to flutter.
“What does that mean?” Asher barked a little too loudly, but the only one listening was the dead night. Felix swiftly swung himself around, as his long arms raised him up to tower Asher’s height. “Why don’t you just say what is on your mind?”
“I’m saying all that needs to be said, Asher! What would happen if I went forward to the public about what is actually happening between us?” Felix barked back.
“Why would you even consider asking me that?” Asher hysterically gasped, as he flashed his arms out. “You do know what will become of us, correct?”
“Tell me, would you do the same to me as to what you did to Amity, in order to save your reputation? Or would you be willing to face the horrendous slander of your loved ones?” Felix hissed, as he twisted himself back to the balcony. Despite his ravaging anger, little tears pecked through his eyes. They could have easily been missed in the dark night, but it was too late to ignore them.
Asher’s temper slowly started to fizzle out, as he noticed Felix was hunching himself over, and rubbing his long arm over his face. He slightly peered over to see the empty space by the balcony. He wouldn’t do it again. At least, not to Felix.
He slowly raised his arm, and lightly tapped on Felix’s shaky shoulder. Felix side-eyed him, unable to contain the small tears.
“Well, I only have one true loved one, and he is right here next to me, so I’m not sure why you would slander me?” Asher chuckled, as he inched his way towards Felix, making the covers bunch up into clumps. However, Felix was quick to place his hands on Asher’s shoulders to stop him, and make them face each other.
“Stop thinking about yourself, and think about me for once; think about Amity. What if she was actually the one you were supposed to end up with, and you both truly loved each other. Would you have done what you have done, and covered everything up like it was natural?” Felix stammered, as he gripped Asher’s shoulders tightly, worrying that this would be their last moment they would share. “You would lie and manipulate to save your soul if it meant you killed your best mate who was now carrying your truth with no one to tell? You would do that?”
Asher starred yet again into Felix’s eyes. They were alive, and he couldn’t tell him a lie. He sighed, slowly clasped Felix’s hands, and held him in his. Felix’s hands were soft as opposed to his own. “Well, for my best mate, no, I could not lie,” he quietly started, as he continued to look down at their hands. “If I so much as hurt my best mate’s feelings, I will run to authorities for them to throw me into cuffs, even if it means I can not hold your hand again. I only have one loved one, after all.” He finished, as he looked up towards Felix. He finally moved by slowly nodding his head, yet he wasn’t nodding out of agreement. Rather, complacency.
“Is that your apology?” Felix stated rather than questioned. He side-eyed his man. That was his man; inconsiderate and undeserving of anyone was the nicest way to describe him. No one could say who he truly was, not even Felix, other than that Asher was his, and maybe, just maybe, he was Asher’s.
“Do you forgive me, then?” Asher gently asked, as he slightly grinned with no satisfaction. He inched his way through the sheets to Felix’s side. They stared at each other for only a moment, a moment they hoped they would get to have more often. Asher slowly looked back down to Felix’s soft hands, and gently cuffed them.
“Why are your hands so chapped?” Felix genuinely questioned, as he felt the small flaps and edges of the cracked skin.
“Amity had much thicker veins than I anticipated.” Asher muttered, yet gave a genuine grin. Felix lightly scoffed for the first time in hours. The first chuckle in hours, the first needed smile to know they would be alright. Not fine, but alright. They could keep those deepest secrets by having each other at arm's length.
Asher dropped their hands and lowered himself to Felix’s chest yet again. As he rested his short stature, and his head laid against his bare and flat chest, Felix huddled his arms against Asher’s scaly back.
“I’m so glad to have you in my home.” Asher mentioned soothingly.
“I’m just glad you will let me live.” Felix remarked, although he meant it.
To onlookers, their families and supposed friends, Asher and his wife, Amity, were seen as a well-respected couple. Felix seemed to have been the only one who was stingy the moment he saw them hand in hand. They had money, a nice home, and attention, which yes, is expected to be jealous of, but that wasn’t what pressed Felix. He saw they were a lie when their fingers interlocked, and even across the room, Asher’s eyes did not glimmer the same way as before, when all he needed in life was his best companion.
Everyone else believed they were happy, but they were just barely content. She loved his money, while he could only go after what he couldn’t in public. Everyone is expected to settle down with someone and build success from it, and as long as it fits the frame, no one will bother examining the photo. They fit that status, they just had to live in it. No one had really thought it would have resulted in an early death, but, it didn’t have to be, had she been more careful.
“I’m not sulking, Felix. You know that!” Asher snidely remarked. He continued to shake his little glass that surprisingly hadn’t spilled onto the nice rug. If what he was about to ask turned sour, then a stain on the rug wouldn’t have been as hard to clean up. He slowly placed his short glass onto the little glass table, right next to where Felix was sitting.
“I have been thinking of what I will do with my life now that the hardest part is over,” Asher started, as he bent himself over to face the floor instead of Felix, as he fiddled with his chapped hands, clenching them together, as if he was holding hands with another soul. “and I was thinking that you could have more of a part in that?”
Asher slowly looked at Felix. Felix slowly removed the glass rim from his moist lips, and placed his tall glass next to Asher’s.
“You want me to come live with you?” Felix questioned, though he knew he didn’t have to. He already had an answer; he had an answer since they met. Asher flickered a few expressions before he settled on a curious smile. Felix gasped, as if there was no air in between the two in the tiny yet filled room. He chuckled softly, and he tried to muffle his snickers from getting any louder, in order for the guests to not wonder why the sound of laughter was apparent in such an event.
Asher smiled widened as his buddy hunched himself over in an attempt to answer, but his answer became official when Felix’s pressure against the tiny glass table came crumbling down into fragments of pieces. The shards flew into the air and onto the rug that clung tight to the pieces. The champagne and hickory sloshed and stained into the rug quickly.
Asher got down on his knees to assist Felix from the floor. He heaved him from the floor, hand in hand, careful to not get close to the shards of piercing glass. Felix remarked: “Well, I guess I have to now, so I can get you a new table for me to break.” They laughed into each other’s shoulders, as they held each other so tightly, that they could feel the tiny tears of happiness fall onto their nice suits.
The door hinge started to creak, which forced Felix to immediately step away from Asher’s embrace, as they both looked towards the opening of the door to reveal an elderly lady in an apron and holding a broom.
“I overheard a large crash, and might I say Asher, you are quite the man of accidents!” The maid remarked, as she waddled herself over to sweep up a pile of brokeness. “First Amity’s vanity and now this? You are certainly a handful!”
Asher chuckled alongside her, while Felix confusingly peered at him. She swiftly sweeped up the broken shards and went back out to grab a rag to clean up the spill. That wasn’t the only spill, though. “Amity’s vanity?’ What does she mean?” Felix asked, as Asher reflected, as if he had forgotten he had a wife.
“Oh, she is just referring to Amity’s vanity she broke before she died.” Asher casually said, as he went to shut the door and lock it.
“She broke?" he questioned, as he slowly slid off his overcoat and let it slide down onto the dirty carpet. “Since when did she break anything that had her face in it?”
Asher had got to the door when the question, or rather, the remark, set into the thick room. He stopped at the slightly open door, and was ready to close it. He froze for only a moment, until he willed his hand to shut it and lock it from the outside world from entering. Felix eyed him in the act. Asher stared at the door as he spoke.
“She did technically break it, … I just helped her,” Asher whispered, as he slowly turned towards Felix. Felix blinked a few times, but he was not one to dawdle.
“Asher, what did you do to that woman?” Felix cautiously stated, as he tried to repress the tingling fear that fizzled in his throat. He watched Asher slowly walk past him, and he did not so much as glance in Felix’s direction.
Asher made his way to his chair, and was ready to sit. He knew he should have turned around, but instead, he slowly lowered himself, pivoted himself around, and let himself fall into the seat, his eyes facing the still stained carpet. He slowly looked up to meet the one he was going to have to face for the rest of his days.
“It was the only way we could be together!” Asher quietly stammered, as his eyes shot back down, only now he focused on his dry and skin-chipped hands. He had scrubbed them profusely enough that he could have easily broken the skin.
“Only way for us to be together?” Felix stammered. He threw up his hands and stretched his long fingers through his curly hair. He lightly inhaled the condensed air of the small and tense room, as he waddled about, until he finally willed himself around to face his quiet mate. “We aren’t supposed to be together!”
He took his time reaching towards Asher. They were only an arm’s lengths apart, but it didn’t matter; Asher was trying to stay as far away as possible. He did not get this far for the truth to be spilled. Felix’s shoes did not make a sound against the rug, but his shadow engulfed Asher’s short stature.
“Tell me, as if I was your wife who you are supposed to tell everything to: What the hell did you do to Amity, Asher?”
Asher slowly raised his pitiful eyes to Felix’s unimpressed stare. They were a married couple already. Asher’s eyes scattered as he bit his dry lip, before he lowered his clouded head and inhaled a few times, as if he had been holding his breath for weeks.
“Watch your breath, Asher, you may just lose it.”
Asher gripped the armrest, as he swiftly hoisted himself upright to face his opponent. “Not so much of a syllable will be uttered to anyone, or you just may meet the same fate!” Asher hissed, as he squinted his eyes and lifted himself by the toes of his shoes to match Felix’s height. Felix slightly moved backwards, but he found Asher’s aggressiveness of that to a child, as he stood on the toes of his shoes and rolled up his face like that of a pout.
Asher jolted his head to the side, where his eyes landed on the heavy door. The door was still locked, but Asher was waiting for it to swing open to this dirty confession. It wasn’t opening any time soon. They were both locked inside, and there was no possible way for them to leave each other. It was already too late.
“I shoved her into that vanity table!” Asher muttered under his breath, eyeing the spines of the many unread books. “I didn’t mean to kill her, I just wanted her to shut up!”
“Yeah, you sure seemed to. Keep talking!” Felix demanded, as he rolled up his sleeves, and squinted his eyes in curiosity, as if he was an angered parent to a rambunctious toddler who had broken their favorite vase.
Asher guiltily looked up, as the child who feared what punishment they were to ensue once they admitted the truth, about that precious vase.
“A doctor came and confirmed her death to be an accidental fall.” Asher stalled, as he twirled around his peeling fingers.
“Really?” Felix sniped, “They believed she fell backwards into her vanity?”
“Thin green paper was convincing enough to them!” Asher snapped, as he scrunched up his face and slightly gritted his teeth. He was trying to contain every bit of himself, but it was far too late for that. “She found our letters, Felix. What was I supposed to do?” Asher admitted with a heave, as he finally kept his face up to see Felix's shock.
Felix slowly lost his high horse confidence to confused shock, as he tried to swallow his fear, but the twitching of his eyes gave himself away. He slowly placed his hand to his face, and gently rubbed it to make sure he was still there.
“Our letters?’ …I thought you hid them.” Felix trailed off, as he started to stutter and shake. “Every married couple has their secrets, Felix. She was going to find them eventually.” Asher shrugged, slightly grinned and winked towards his petrified man. “You’ll understand someday.” “Asher, this is serious! You killed your wife, and it’s all because of us?”
“She should have minded her own business, and stayed out of my space. Why do you think I have been sitting here?” Asher hysterically questioned, as if Felix was an idiot.
Felix was no idiot, he knew what was really hiding between those crumpled and torn pages. He sharply turned towards a bookcase, and yanked a random book off of the shelf. The book easily opened to just a few of their hundreds of letters.
Asher blinked, as he slowly looked up to see his frazzled man.
“Felix, when she found our letters, she threatened to go to the public with them! We would have never seen each other again!” Asher expressed, as he slowly made his way back to his chair. He slightly pivoted before just slumping into the chair, as his body swung to one side and his legs rested on the armrest. “Why do you care so much about her? You hated her guts and now she is dead!”
“How about because I’ll be moving in with you?” Felix spat, as he slammed the book shut and swiveled himself around. “Aren’t you just the slightest bit concerned that I’ll be replacing your dead wife? … Wait, am I just your hand down?” He gasped.
Asher rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, stop it! You're spiraling,” he reluctantly heaved himself from his chair once again and walked over to his shaking man. He took his shaky hands and held him in his. “No, you are not her replacement. She was yours.”
They both just flickered their eyes for a few moments until Asher just pulled Felix in for a forced embrace. He clamped his hands onto Felix’s shoulders, and they slowly slid down the white collared shirt, where Asher flicked at Felix’s buttons.
“That’s all I am, huh?” Felix's thin body slightly reeled backwards, for once disgusted instead of enchanted as opposed to all the times before. Times had barely changed within a few minutes, but they surely had.
“Well, you are certainly just as unconvincing as Amity!” Asher muttered, as he straightened out Felix’s slightly wrinkled shirt for where his head had rested.
Before Felix could run, or before Asher could tear off their fabrics, another knock jolted Felix upward, yet he couldn’t move much with Asher’s hands still firmly grasped onto him. “Asher, sir,” a tired yet prestigious voice of one Asher’s personal assistant requested. “your guests are beginning to file out. Would you like to say a final piece before tomorrow’s funeral?” Silence was the only answer that was given. Felix peered down at Asher, who was still fiddling with the buttons on Felix’s shirt. Felix anxiously motioned his head towards the door for Asher to respond, but Asher simply waved his hand to quiet his silent mate.
“Tell them that I will see them when it is most convenient.” Asher said blatantly, giving no reason to what that meant. “See them out for me, please.”
Asher continued to mess with the shirt buttons, until looking back up to Felix. They were both quiet until the shadow was gone from underneath the door.
“Would you have me tonight, Felix?”
Night came quickly, as the once calm morning of early dew rose into the thick night air. Asher’s bed had never felt so full, but Felix did not feel the same way. They had been quiet for a while: no words, no movements, not even a shuffle within the sheets as Asher looked up to the bland ceiling and Felix
looked to the balcony area that was locked, where he saw the dark night sky that shimmered stars for light. Though he often fell asleep on his side, Felix could not get comfortable.
“We won’t have to meet at night anymore.” Asher interjected into the silence, as he shuffled himself to meet the back of Felix, but Felix did not move.
“What are you going to do when your family and friends ask about another man living in your home with you?” Felix interjected himself, as he wrestled himself over to meet his opponent. “How will you explain that?”
Asher peered to the side for a moment, slightly shrugged and flopped onto his back to meet the ceiling. “I’ll just have to kill them before they merely come to the conclusion.” “You are horrible with your gags”
“Who said I was joking?” Asher grinned, but Felix rolled his tired eyes and tossed himself back to his regular position. He shifted a bit in the sheets, until refocusing back to the sky. However, his eyes slowly started to wander to the empty space next to the balcony. The empty space that once held a self-absorbed mirror.
“As far as your loved ones know, you are a boring and simple man.” Felix jabbed, as his eyes dropped from the empty space to his hand that rested on his pillow.
“Yet you chose me.” Asher muttered with tired annoyance.
“I don’t think I have any choice now.” Felix muttered back, as he placed his hand under the pillow and began to hug it, as it was the only thing he could hold for the moment. Asher quickly lifted himself up, as the sheets began to flutter.
“What does that mean?” Asher barked a little too loudly, but the only one listening was the dead night. Felix swiftly swung himself around, as his long arms raised him up to tower Asher’s height. “Why don’t you just say what is on your mind?”
“I’m saying all that needs to be said, Asher! What would happen if I went forward to the public about what is actually happening between us?” Felix barked back.
“Why would you even consider asking me that?” Asher hysterically gasped, as he flashed his arms out. “You do know what will become of us, correct?”
“Tell me, would you do the same to me as to what you did to Amity, in order to save your reputation? Or would you be willing to face the horrendous slander of your loved ones?” Felix hissed, as he twisted himself back to the balcony. Despite his ravaging anger, little tears pecked through his eyes. They could have easily been missed in the dark night, but it was too late to ignore them.
Asher’s temper slowly started to fizzle out, as he noticed Felix was hunching himself over, and rubbing his long arm over his face. He slightly peered over to see the empty space by the balcony. He wouldn’t do it again. At least, not to Felix.
He slowly raised his arm, and lightly tapped on Felix’s shaky shoulder. Felix side-eyed him, unable to contain the small tears.
“Well, I only have one true loved one, and he is right here next to me, so I’m not sure why you would slander me?” Asher chuckled, as he inched his way towards Felix, making the covers bunch up into clumps. However, Felix was quick to place his hands on Asher’s shoulders to stop him, and make them face each other.
“Stop thinking about yourself, and think about me for once; think about Amity. What if she was actually the one you were supposed to end up with, and you both truly loved each other. Would you have done what you have done, and covered everything up like it was natural?” Felix stammered, as he gripped Asher’s shoulders tightly, worrying that this would be their last moment they would share. “You would lie and manipulate to save your soul if it meant you killed your best mate who was now carrying your truth with no one to tell? You would do that?”
Asher starred yet again into Felix’s eyes. They were alive, and he couldn’t tell him a lie. He sighed, slowly clasped Felix’s hands, and held him in his. Felix’s hands were soft as opposed to his own. “Well, for my best mate, no, I could not lie,” he quietly started, as he continued to look down at their hands. “If I so much as hurt my best mate’s feelings, I will run to authorities for them to throw me into cuffs, even if it means I can not hold your hand again. I only have one loved one, after all.” He finished, as he looked up towards Felix. He finally moved by slowly nodding his head, yet he wasn’t nodding out of agreement. Rather, complacency.
“Is that your apology?” Felix stated rather than questioned. He side-eyed his man. That was his man; inconsiderate and undeserving of anyone was the nicest way to describe him. No one could say who he truly was, not even Felix, other than that Asher was his, and maybe, just maybe, he was Asher’s.
“Do you forgive me, then?” Asher gently asked, as he slightly grinned with no satisfaction. He inched his way through the sheets to Felix’s side. They stared at each other for only a moment, a moment they hoped they would get to have more often. Asher slowly looked back down to Felix’s soft hands, and gently cuffed them.
“Why are your hands so chapped?” Felix genuinely questioned, as he felt the small flaps and edges of the cracked skin.
“Amity had much thicker veins than I anticipated.” Asher muttered, yet gave a genuine grin. Felix lightly scoffed for the first time in hours. The first chuckle in hours, the first needed smile to know they would be alright. Not fine, but alright. They could keep those deepest secrets by having each other at arm's length.
Asher dropped their hands and lowered himself to Felix’s chest yet again. As he rested his short stature, and his head laid against his bare and flat chest, Felix huddled his arms against Asher’s scaly back.
“I’m so glad to have you in my home.” Asher mentioned soothingly.
“I’m just glad you will let me live.” Felix remarked, although he meant it.