Mikey and the Chickadee Ch. 16

I let it happen. He came crawling over me until his face was level with mine. He lowered himself and began to kiss me. I felt his hair fall lightly against my forehead. Our mouths did not open fully; his tongue prodded gently into mine as I felt at his chest through his shirt. After a moment he stopped, lifting himself a little. "Want to shower off together?" he asked.

I made to take off my shirt and he sat up. We stripped off our clothes until we were once again down to our underwear, which was still damp with saltwater. We moved quietly to the bathroom, where I tore back the curtain and got the water running. We stepped out of our underwear, watching one another. Mikey was becoming hard, and moved toward me. He kissed me once more, pulling me close to him at the waist before we parted and ducked under the hot stream, closing ourselves in behind the curtain. He let it cascade over his hair, which stuck out at odd angles like frayed black wires after having dried freely in the wind and sun. It flatted quickly, after which the water came streaming down over his face and his stretched, grinning lips. I put a hand on each side of his head, over his ears, and brought him to me, kissing him gently. The water ran satisfyingly hot, tumbling over and between us. Mikey kissed me harder, pulling me very tightly against him, as if something were at stake in this moment, as if I might disappear if he didn't.

Once he let up, we stepped slightly out of the stream. We were both completely hard, and reached down together, feeling ourselves, and then each other. We slid our length repeatedly against the other's. Mikey seemed to enjoy this in particular. He took both of us into his grasp so that we were one doubled mass, then began stroking. This felt so good that I had to ask him to slow down after only a short a time.

"Okay," he said, and we worked separately on ourselves. We began to kiss again. I knew that Mikey was not far from his release. I built myself up so that I wasn't, either. He emitted a long, soft moan and I felt him spray in forceful bursts against my stomach. I came immediately after him, diffusing hard against his thigh. These traces of us washed quickly away, slipping between our feet and into the drain.

Afterward we changed into fresh clothes. Mikey made light of my barren refrigerator by suggesting we order takeout. Awhile later we settled into a movie, armed with clean plates and forks; various unopened boxes of American-style Chinese food formed a small city, perched at the edge of the coffee table.

Before the sun went down we walked around the neighborhood. We didn't discuss anything of consequence, but Mikey stuck close to my side as our shadows grew long. Every so often he would take my hand into his, hold it for a few seconds, then let it go.

We went to bed early. It was not overtly communicated, but I think we both felt we hadn't slept long enough the night before. We lay facing the living room and he brought his body back to fit neatly within my embrace.

"Are you still sore?" he asked.

He did not see me smile in response, and I saw little besides his thick heap of hair. "Yeah, but I like it," I said, and his quiet laugh drummed through his back. He felt big to me, superimposed. "Mikey, I have to tell you, because I'm having trouble letting it go. Out in the water today-I really did think I might not make it."

He took in a long breath. "I can see how you would feel that way. I know it must have been scary."

"I understand that things happen the way they do, and we have to let them go. I shouldn't be concerned with the disaster that didn't happen. But for some reason I can't shake it. If you weren't such a strong swimmer, you wouldn't have been able to come back for me. Or maybe you would have tried and we both would have drowned. I don't know."

"I think if that were the case, I would've known it was too far for me. I would've swam back to my phone and called 911. They would get to you in time."

"You're sure?"

I felt him nod. "It's okay, Chickadee. I know it's seems scary now, but it'll pass."

I slept deeply through the night and well into the morning. I did sense, in a delirious and far-off way, our bodies shifting through positions during the small hours, sometimes twisted into one another, sometimes separated entirely.

We drifted passively through much of the next day, carefree and uninterested in planning our next given move. We went outside, ate, came back in to watch television, went out again, and in the late afternoon, Mikey mentioned that he hadn't felt so comfortable in Corbin in a long time.

The sun became low once again and we stood beside his car. I assured him he was welcome to join me for dinner with my parents, or that I could call and cancel. After all, Stephanie could not make it this week, either.

He told me I should go, and that maybe he would go the following Sunday. "I'll drop you off, though," he said.

"Actually, we're going out this week, so they'll be picking me up. Sure you don't want to come along?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I should probably call Sophie about work tomorrow, anyway."

"Back to the grind. Have fun."

He gave me a wry smile and opened his door. Before ducking down into his seat, he leaned me against the back door of the car and kissed me. "See you tomorrow, okay?" he said. "You'd better not start avoiding me now."

The thought was inconceivable, although I suspected he was only playing around. "Of course I'll see you tomorrow. I might even show up tonight."

"Yes, do that," he said. "That's better. Now we don't have to say goodbye." He got into his car and started the engine. "Ask your parents if it's okay. You know, about next week. I don't want to come by unannounced."

I told him I would and he drove away. I lay down in the grass and pulled out my phone, staring into the black screen for a few seconds before tossing it out of reach. I closed my eyes, pressed my neck deeper into the blades and waited for my parents.