Are You Seriously Asking That?

"You're seriously weird." Tae mumbled, slumping back down and turning away.

"Thanks man." Carmela faced away from him and curled her legs to her body.

"Aight, well Imma sleep for real now. I don't wanna talk to you either..."

"Wait, but... What were you gonna say?" She pushed her weariness aside, suddenly feeling curious about his words.

"Ha, why do you wanna know? You never ASKED to know."

"Oh my lord, it was a joke, Tae. A joke."

"You know, your sense of humor is shit." Tae grumbled behind her.

"I'm working on it. Now tell me what were you gonna say!"

He said nothing from behind her, and Carmela quietly moved to face his back. But he was already turned, lying towards her. His hair had fallen delicately into his eyes as he gazed at her. He swiftly wet his peachy lips with a fast swipe of his tongue, and Carmela felt her cheeks burn. Regain yourself girl. But oh hell, why did he look so sexy in the dark... STOP CARMELA STOP.

Carmela brushed her bangs out of her eyes, gazing at the boy across from her. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought she was visibly shaking. Why did he make her feel this way? She had never EVER felt like this before.

"Carmela... are you... are you really okay? I mean, those two assholes looked like they really hurt you..." He looked her directly in the eyes as he softly spoke. Carmela felt her eyes irritate and blinked fast, surprised at his sudden worry.

"I... well-- I'm fine now. I was just super scared... they didn't really hurt me that bad..." Carmela breathed, lost in his dark eyes. She couldn't really hear what she was saying.

"That's good. 'Cause when I like, came... that jerk was on top of you and--" He took a deep, shaky breath. "He was like touching you... and fuck... I didn't even know what to do. I-it was so... horrifying."

"Tae... It wasn't that bad. He only touched me a bit... up here. But I'm used to guys doing that anyway..."

Of course she'd been involuntarily touched. What kind of girl hasn't? Some guys think that boobs are there just for them to touch. They don't think of them as an actual hurting body part that belongs to a human. There were so many guys like that at the clubs Carmela went to. But the drinks were good, and they'd make her forget the disgusting reality of the feeling.

"H-has that happened to you before?" Was he seriously asking that?

"Are you seriously asking that? It's literally a man's world." Carmela said angrily.

"What? No it's not."

"Dude, were you born yesterday? Women are only there to suffer."

Tae turned onto his back and gazed at the ceiling with squinting eyes. Carmela was confused at his reaction. She wondered what was going on through his mind.

"That's not fair." He softly whispered.

"What?" Carmela perched up onto her elbows, gazing down into his thinking eyes.

"What's happening. What happened to you. That's not fair. Just because some fucking people can't control their dicks, shouldn't mean that you-- other women suffer because of it. It's fucked up."

Carmela felt her arms wobble and fell back on her pillow. Her heart was thudding uncontrollably. Did he seriously just say that? But that's... but he's a... how did he know... what?

"Carmela... I'm never gonna let... anyone do that to you again." He whispered and turned his head, looking down at her wide eyes. Her breath caught at his gentle words, as the hairs on her body rose with goosebumps. She tried to squeak out something.

"W-well... I mean, I-I can take care of myse--"

"I know you can. Of course you can. I was just saying... as a fellow colleague." He cleared his throat quickly and rolled away from her.

What? Carmela felt her heart swell as she replayed the words in her head. Who was this guy? She had never met a man who spoke like him... how did he feel that sad about her situation? How did a man feel sad for her pain? She thought by now he'd try to touch her or get with her.... but he... he was just worried about her? Oh f-fuck...

"T-Tae?"

"Hm?"

"Look at me." She whispered.

"Okay." He rolled back over, facing her, and Carmela sucked in a breath at his handsome face.

"Did you really mean... everything you said?"

"Well... yeah? I did, that's why I said it."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Nothing, you can go back to sleep."

"Okay?" He faced away from her confused stare.

She still couldn't wrap her head around his words. Was he actually a man? How did he-- how did he say those things about women? How did it feel like he understood her pain?

But then the memory of his tears on the bench came crashing back into Carmela's mind.

("My dad. He beat my mom until it killed it her.")

Carmela felt awakened by the sadness that crept into her senses. She closed her eyes, engulfed in the hurting memories of her own and the boy lying next to her. She just wanted to reach out and hug him.

"Tae?"

"Yo, what now?" He groaned.

"Um... thank you."

"What?" He rolled quickly over, lying dangerously close to her.

"I-I'm not saying it again."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm just not."

"Fine."

"You can... you can turn back now and sleep. I won't wake you again."

"Okay." He whispered, but he still lay there, his face inches away from hers. Carmela shivered from their nearness and chewed her bottom lip nervously. Why was he staring at her like that? Go back and sleep please!

But her voice was lost, when he raised his hand and softly grazed his fingers over her cheek, brushing the strands of hair away from her eyes. Carmela stood frozen and tried to control her heart and breathe normally. His touch left a burning trail on her skin that prickled as his hand moved away. She'd been touched plenty of times before, but it didn't.... it didn't feel like this.

"Goodnight." With that, he slowly moved away from her, but he continued facing her. Carmela couldn't stop looking at him. She felt drunk by his touch, and wanted more of it. But she took a deep breath as he closed his gentle eyes.

Was she really falling for him?