17 chapter 17
A loud thunder woke Oliver from his sleep as he shivered in the cold. Vukan was immediately by his side trying to warm his cold bits. Vukan pulled a blanket over them and pulled Oliver close to him. He rubbed Olivers with his warm ones making him feel better.
Slowly Oliver started realising his position as Vukan's breath was fanning over his neck from behind and he was technically in Vukan's lap on the bed. He slowly turned his body facing Vukan leaving a hair breadth gap between them. It was intimate for both. They stared into each other's eyes for what felt like eternity.
Oliver closed his eyes and parted his lips slightly giving an invitation to Vukan. The blanket fell down as they both leaned down on the bed. Vukan caressed Oliver's face ever so gently before leaning close to capture his lips.
Vukan was almost about to kiss him but a loud bark broke the scene. Oliver woke up panting as events of the previous night eluded him to some degree as he opened his eyes with his back flat on a strange bed and with rather bizarrely colored sheets surrounding him. The stench of the air had been the first to alert Oliver, but the sight of the window, just adjacent his bed, held together by what looked like a pair of straw, caused him to look around the room some more.
Asides his bed, there was nothing else worthwhile around. The puppy was up and awake now, standing outside where it had slept and glaring right back at Oliver with sweetness in its eyes. It barked once and barked again while Oliver returned the gesture with a brief wave and a smile.
Did he just have a dream about Vukan? Shit! It was the first time ever that he had another dream other than his biological father abusing him. His ears got red with embarrassment as he ran his fingers in his golden locks.
In that moment, events of the previous night began to play across his mind; from falling over the bridge to actually almost drowning. He paused for a minute to amass every possible detail his mind could gather, before realizing he was missing one important part; Vukan.
"Vukan?" Oliver called out to his savior.
He looked around the room to no avail as he began to wonder if Vukan could have left him alone and gone back home. The possibility was unlikely and especially not after he had seen the young man risk his life twice for people he didn't necessarily have to.
"Vukan?" Oliver slowly sat up, wondering where he could have gone to.
Upon sitting up, he felt some cold air hit his chest in the oddest manner, prompting him to look down to a rather disturbing realization.
"What the fuck?" Oliver asked himself.
Even while his memory might not be the best upon initially waking up, he was certain he had slept in his clothes and not in the piece of towel he had woken up with.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" he fumed, wondering what else had been done to him without his consent.
"Oh, you're awake", Vukan stepped into the room holding a tray with cups of steaming coffee atop it.
Oliver didn't care for the beverage as he fastened the towel around his body more appropriately, yanked at the bed sheets some more to cover his entire body, and fume red in the face.
"What did you do to me?" he asked ambiguously.
Vukan shrugged his shoulders and replied, 'I don't know what you're talking about".
The fact he felt Vukan was trying to feign ignorance, only got Oliver riled up and ready to implode. He cursed underneath his breath and regretted being stupid enough to have trusted Vukan in the first place. All he could think about were the past incidents and how Vukan had acted like a sexual predator with his sister's boyfriend.
"You just couldn't help yourself could you? You couldn't leave my clothes on and you just had to take them off to feed whatever selfish and quite crazy fantasies you had", Oliver shot out with a frown. "Why did you take off my clothes? I clearly don't recall sleeping without them".
Vukan had sensed an issue would arise in the morning, but he had not expected it to be as grand as it was becoming. He remained silent as he walked across the room to drop the tray of beverages on the bed, just by Oliver.
"Give me a minute", he said, before disappearing into the bathroom.
Soon enough, Vukan returned with some drenched clothing which were Oliver's and held them up for him to see.
"I had to make the decision between watching you die of cold last night or getting you out of these damn clothes", Vukan explained.
Oliver still wasn't buying it. For all he knew, Vukan could have tossed the clothes into a bucket of water to cover his tracks. More so, he recalled being wet but not perturbed by it before he laid down to sleep.
"With the broken window and the air conditioning, temperatures fell below zero last night and I didn't quite know how to keep you warm", Vukan explained. "It was worse with you putting on these wet clothes and so I had to wrap you up in a towel, after getting them off, of course".
Oliver still wasn't buying a word from the boy as he felt his body and felt an air of violation course through him. "Did you rape me while I was asleep?"
Vukan gasped, tightened his grasp around the cloth in his hand and looked to the puppy on the floor who was a spectator to the entire drama.
'I am not a rapist", Vakun protested albeit not vehemently.
"How can I be so sure that you didn't forcefully have sex with me while I wasn't of sound mind last night?" Oliver asked again, sounding as if he was convinced that he had been raped.
Feeling dejected and pained at heart, Vukan shook his head and approached Oliver with reddened eyes.
"Where is this coming from? I mean, you and I spoke candidly last night, shared past experiences and I never even made a move on you other than when I had to change your wet clothes", Vukan explained. "Is this some kind of joke? Are you messing with me right now?"
Oliver wished he was joking. Even while he might have been saved by Vukan the previous night, he couldn't predict if the acts had been done for selfish reasons.
'You tell me", Oliver retorted. "How do you expect me to take waking up in a towel and nude from the waist down after I slept with my clothes?"
Vukan began to pace around the room with his hands placed over his head. He could not believe he was being tagged as a sexual predator. It was the last he would expect anyone to ascribe him to and while Oliver didn't seem as though he was joking, it caused Vukan some serious mental hurt.
"I swear to you that I did not molest you sexually while you were unconscious", Vukan tried to clear his name and claim his innocence. "I did to you what I believed you would have done for me in return if I was the one in your shoes, shivering and almost cold to death".
Oliver tried to access the entire situation once again. He didn't actually feel any form of discomfort or sexually induced injuries on his body, but his trust for Vukan wasn't a hundred percent yet and he wished he could make it so.
"Oliver", Vukan drew close and cautiously so too. "I know we didn't get off on the right foot, but I am not a sexual predator or a rapist and I will stand by my words anywhere and in any form necessary".
Oliver fell silent as he watched Vukan try to clear himself from the accusation.
"Yes, I have had a few flings in the past, and yes, you have seen me in some rather disturbing situations, but that is just me", he explained. "I don't necessarily go around looking for trouble and as much as I wish I can explain everything to you, I just can't".
It was saddening that their good mood from the previous night was now soured by such despicable thoughts from Oliver. Vukan did his best not to blame Oliver for the way he was thinking though. It wasn't beyond impossible for sexual predators to take advantage of other people in their lowest times, but didn't want to be ascribed to such for any reason whatsoever.
It was unheard of for him. He had gotten into some really shitty situations and scenarios but never one that had to do with rape or unlawful sexual advances.
"Yes, the Brad thing happened and I have done my best to explain things to you…. I tried when you came to our house but you kept putting me off", Vukan reminded Oliver. "I was going through some rough time during the Brad incident and I didn't know he and your sister were a thing, else I'd have chased him off before he came to me".
