Chapter 92

Normally I liked proving that I was strong and confident, and that almost nothing had the ability of scaring me, but this time round I decided to make an exception. 

The creepy background music, the weird creatures that popped out of nowhere..the blood and gore. It was a bit too past my comfort zone, plus Kyle seemed seconds away from passing out, he had been pleading with me to turn it off for the past twenty minutes since we began watching it. He never moved from the couch though, he could have just as easily went to another room but he had chosen to remain seated on the couch, basically glued to me. And he would only glance at the screen every other minute before tucking his head into my neck and asking me to switch it off. 

The closeness was what motivated me to endure twenty minutes of that agonizing experience. It was extremely rare for him to voluntarily cling to me like he was and I found that I liked it a lot. So I used the movie as an excuse to hold him back because unlike most of the other times, he appreciated the gesture. But my endurance could only last so long. Someone's head was ripped off, and I decided I had had just about enough, I picked up the remote and turned it off completely. 

Kyle let out a deep breath of relief, then he shook his head and asked me what that movie was called. 

" Sweet Cherry, " I told him, and he leaned back, seated across the couch, facing me, one leg tucked under the other with his arms around me, then he scoffed and shook his head. 

" Seriously?" 

I nodded, my hand on his waist, casually holding him. I didn't move it at all, fearing that if I did he would grow conscious and move away. 

" That is so misleading! Who names a horror movie Sweet Cherry?!"

" The main character's name was Cherry. "

" You mean the freaky psycho that's doing all the killing? That's the main character?!"

I shrugged, then I smiled at how freaked out he still was. He still refused to face the TV even though I had switched it off. I found myself staring at him an odd amount...his lips especially. And knowing that I had literally kissed him while he had been sick and sleeping the previous week made me instantly look away. It was something I would never tell him, but I didn't regret it one bit. I happened to notice my forgotten bowl of cereal which I had placed on the couch next to me, so I picked it up and placed it on my lap. All my actions carried out with one hand because I didn't want to let go. I peeked behind him, realized that he hadn't eaten his either, probably because he had been too busy being afraid. So I could either sacrifice holding him, let him stay hungry or....

" Here, " I scooped a spoonful of the cereal and raised it up to his lips. He looked at it with knit brows, then he glanced at me. I expected him to say he had his own, then to detach himself from me so that he could prove it, but instead he opened his mouth and let me feed him. The remote which I had placed a bit too close to the couch's edge fell to the floor and he jumped, completely freaked out. His eyes wide as he looked around. 

" Relax, it's just the remote. And that was just a movie, things like that don't actually happen in real life... "

" Don't even mention it! I wanna erase it from my mind completely!"

I felt bad for having forced him to watch it. Kyle was an extremely sensitive person. He was affected by the tiniest things. He didn't like showing it but his feelings were always easily hurt. 

I fed him the cereal, and halfway through I felt his hand on my neck, his fingers slightly digging into my hair, combing through it repeatedly. He looked around the house as he slowly chewed. 

" Can we go back to your house now?" 

It sounded almost like a plea. I figured the film had really affected him.

" Let's finish this up first, then we'll leave. Okay?" 

He nodded reaching back and taking his own bowl. I hoped he would be fine once we left because at the moment he still seemed shaken. Had I known he was gonna be that affected I wouldn't have even bought the movie in the first place. There was a difference between messing with or teasing him and making him scared. It had never been my wish to do so. He quickly started eating,and I actually had to ask him to take it slow. And because I wanted to try and distract him, I thought of what I could do or say to achieve that. The first thing my mind landed on was...

" Who said you have to put in the cereal first anyways?" 

He paused with the spoon halfway to his mouth, then he looked down at the bowl before looking at me again. It was the same old furtive glances I had become accustomed to. Rather than looking at me, he would dart his pretty eyes across my face and look away. Three years and I had finally decided to let the issue slide. 

" That's just how it is, " he briefly explained, sounding sure and confident about it. He glanced at the TV then quickly looked away, his head falling to his bowl of cereal, then to mine... something was forming in his mind. I could easily tell. He looked at me with a thoughtful look, then he looked at his cereal once more. 

" This means nothing!" He suddenly declared, I had assumed he was referring to the hold he still had on me, but then he took my bowl, poured its remaining contents into his own, and placed it behind him. That left my lap free, and he used that fact to stretch out his leg. So he was seated with one leg stretched out behind me and the other on my lap. I swallowed, reminding myself that I shouldn't act weird at any cost. so I just placed my hand on his knee and focused on the empty space ahead of us. I contemplated messing with him and getting him to cheer up, but that had the potential to either frustrate him or backfire at me. He took on the role of feeding me. When he did it, it was different. I could read him quite well, so I was able to  distinguish the gentleness and meaning of his actions from everything else he normally did. He took care in scooping up the cereal, and he would place one hand under my chin to both support me while I ate and ensure nothing got spilt on me.

I failed at my mission and ended up staring again. And this time he clearly noticed. I watched as he licked his lips, then he hang his head and blinked numerous times. I lightly pressed the hand I had on his knee and he eyes the action almost secretly. Acting as if he hadn't noticed it and that it didn't bother him despite his ear turning painfully pink. He even reached up and rubbed it. 

I think about a minute passed while we remained in that weird sort of silence. Then he fed me and I instantly came back to my senses and reminded myself about not being weird. 

" If you wanna plant something, do you start by watering the bare ground or do you plant the seed first?" He randomly asked. I wondered what that had to do with anything. 

" What?" 

" It's the same case with cereal, for me at least. You can't just water something that isn't there the same way you can't pour milk into an empty bowl and put in the cereal later. "

I chuckled and dug my fingers into his waist a little, he looked down at where I held him but made no mention of it. That was such a Kyle way of viewing things. 

" You always think too much, " I told him. It was the truth, overthinking was basically one of his hobbies. According to me, there wasn't that much of a difference, the important thing was that you ate in the end. But if I told him that he was just gonna start lecturing me on appropriate cereal eating habits and I didn't want that. 

After we finished eating, we took the bowls to the kitchen where he washed them and put them back. There wasn't a single dirty dish in there and I suppose he wanted to keep it that way. While he was washing them, I had attempted to walk over to the doorway and lean against it but he had freaked out and asked me where I was going. Then he told me to remain where I was, assuring me he was almost done. So I remained standing next to him because it was clear he wanted me to. And he only seemed to go back to his old self when we left the house and were walking down the street, on our way back to mine. It was getting late, my mom called me when we were five minutes away and I assured her we were almost there. She had been busy with her piano lesson and I suppose she hadn't realized it as time flew.