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Ben and Archer – Chapter 6
My heart is beating very fast; adrenaline coursing through my veins. I figured the pounding against my chest where his hand was resting would be enough to wake him yet he continued to sleep soundly. The room was quiet except for his soft breathing against my shoulder. He was so close I could feel the slow rise and fall of his chest against my back. I moved ever so slightly and could feel his hips up against my ass and realized that he wasn't even hard. It was just... innocent cuddling. I'll bet you he has no idea he's even doing it.
Once I was over the initial shock, I laid there continuing not to move. Truth be told, it felt good to be held in bed once again. My relationship with Stacey ended a while ago and I had been single ever since ergo, I'd been sleeping alone in this bed for a long time now. Even though it was a dude spooning up against me, and I'm usually the big spoon, it felt nice being connected with someone again. Archer has very strong arms and gives off a comforting, albeit strong, heat from his body so in a way I felt somewhat safe lying there. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath savoring the moment.
I moved to get my phone off the nightstand to see what time it was and found that it was only a little after 2am. I unlock my phone and figure I'd check out my notifications while I was awake, making sure not to move too much as to not wake Archer who was still wrapped around me.
I was just about to put my phone away when I heard a little gasp of breath and felt movement behind me.
"Huh? Shit."
Archer was halfway awake and had unwrapped himself from me and rolled over onto his back. I quickly flattened my phone against the bed so he couldn't see the dim light but I guess I wasn't quick enough.
He whispered into the darkness, "Dude... are you awake?"
I rolled over to confirm his suspicions. The moon weakly illuminated my room through the window but it wasn't enough to make out the look on his face. I could only imagine he was embarrassed, or maybe even confused, but hopefully not angry.
"Shit, I'm sorry. I must have thought you were someone else and put my arm around you when I was sleeping. But wait, you were already awake weren't you? Why didn't you push me off?" he said laying on his back continuing to speak into the darkness.
"Ehh, I was shocked at first but figured it wasn't a big deal or anything. You weren't hard and trying to make a move on me so I decided just to lay there and let you keep sleeping." I told him the truth but wasn't going to let him know that in a way I was enjoying it.
"I guess. Thanks for being cool about it. I guess I just really miss Emily or something."
With this admission, I decided to try my luck and let out a little more information. I replied, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been single for a while now so, I don't know, it felt... kinda nice I guess."
I could feel the bed shake as he chucked and was relieved that he wasn't mad. He excused himself to the bathroom to relieve himself and I rolled back over onto my right side to go back to sleep hoping that I didn't make things weird. The toilet flushed and he was back in bed before I knew it, but felt him roll the other way to go back to sleep. I'm not sure why, but I was slightly disappointed. With his absence, I pulled the covers back over myself up to my chin because I started feeling a little cold.
A few hours later, my alarm went off at 8am. I opened my eyes and reached over to silence it when I found that I was stuck, once again. I couldn't help but laugh: Archer was cuddled up once again behind me sleeping like a baby.
This time I couldn't lay there with him because I had work in an hour. He started to wake up as I pushed him off to silence the alarm as I continued to laugh at him.
"Either you really miss Emily or I'm an amazing cuddle partner," I said laughing.
He was rubbing his eyes and also laughing before he started apologizing again. He asked if I could shut the curtains because he was super hung over and the light was hurting his head and I did as he commanded.
"Look, I've got to work in an hour but I'm only there until 2. How about you just crash here and get some more sleep. I'll bring you some water and Advil for your hang over and leave it on the nightstand when you're ready to get up."
He thanked me and rolled back over and, surprisingly, was back asleep before I made it into the bathroom to shower and start getting ready for work. Even though I had a guest, I continued with my morning routine as usual. Coffee, shower, jerking off, and then checking the news while sitting in the kitchen. On mornings when I have to work the routine goes faster but I find that my days are better when I do it. I'm definitely a creature of habit.
I made it to work with 5 minutes to spare and headed out to the sales floor to start cleaning up the leftover mess from yesterday. Overall, it wasn't too bad but more so annoying, although, I would still rather be at home hanging out with Archer. Speaking of whom, he had text me around noon saying he was finally up and appreciated the Advil and water. He said he wanted to come up to the mall to have lunch but didn't want to leave the apartment unlocked so he told me he would just hang around until I got off.
"Ooooh who are you talking to?"
I looked up and my co-worker, Amber, was sitting at the break table watching me texting Archer.
"What do you mean?"
"You're, like, glued to your phone and smiling like a dork. Who is she?"
I laughed and said, "It's not like that. It's my friend Archer. We went to a party last night and crashed at my place so he didn't have to drive back to Denton. He was so hung over I just left him at my place."
He was still smiling and said, "Oh gotcha. Well that's cool that you let him stay there. And it's good to see you smiling like that again, even if it's just for your friend! I haven't seen you smiling like that while texting since you were trying to bang that Asian chick."
I blushed and shook my head walking back to the sales floor. Amber is so crazy but I love working with her. She's full of energy and somehow makes the day go by faster. She's a high school senior so we don't really hang out much outside work but she's definitely a good work friend.
Soon enough, 2pm rolls around and I start to make my way home. I was excited that Archer was still there because I wanted to go out to Alley Cats or Dave & Busters to chill and have some fun. My happiness was cut short when I got a text from Archer when I was halfway home saying "Emily and I have been talking on the phone for the last hour. I was right she was cheating on me. She's been banging some dude she met on campus. Sorry I'm heading out but I just need to be alone right now. I know you're almost home so I didn't want to leave your apartment unlocked for too long. Ttyl."
My heart sunk into my stomach. That fucking bitch. Who the fuck does she think she is fucking around behind Archer's back? He's an amazing guy and a catch!
I was feeling sick with fury for him when I saw him drive past in the black Range Rover. He didn't see me but when he drove by I could see his face was completely blank and emotionless. I know that face. That's the face I used to wear after my breakup with Stacey last semester. It's the face of heartache.
My rage turned immediately to sadness and empathy. You never want your friends to feel sad and rejected so I hated seeing him like that. I waited until I was in the parking lot of my complex before texting him back.
"Hey dude, I'm so sorry. I know there's a million things I could say to try and make you feel better but I know you probably don't want to hear them right now. So I'll just say that I'm here for you if you wanna talk or hangout whenever you're ready. Let me know. Love you man, stay strong."
He never text me back but I still felt better for reaching out to him. I know my words will sink in and he will respond when he's ready. Right now he just needs to spend a little time to himself and lick his wounds.
Since I was planning on eating lunch with Archer, I realized that I hadn't picked up anything to eat before coming back home. I was still sitting in my car so I backed out of my parking space and decided to go to the grocery store and get real food versus more fast food. Since I've been working out, I've been getting more and more conscious of what I put into my body.
Taco Bell and Whataburger started turning into Chipotle bowls with extra meat and veggies which then started turning into salads from a sandwich shop near my place. This had been going on for about 2 weeks when I broke my fast food hiatus a few days ago and picked up some McNuggets on the way back from campus. Worst. Idea. Ever. My stomach was cramping up bad from the shitty, fried food and going to the bathroom that night was an unpleasant experience.
With that fresh on my mind, I was even more inspired to start cooking for myself more. I went to the Tom Thumb off Round Grove and loaded up on all sorts of meats and frozen veggies. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the total at checkout but figured that if I saw my net total all at once for the amount I spend on fast food it would probably be much worse.
I got home and unloaded the groceries and considered brewing some coffee for an afternoon cup before a huge yawn made me realize just how tired I really was. My phone says it's a little after 4pm now so I decide to just hang out in the living room for a bit and watch some TV. I work again in the morning so rather than nap, I'll just call it an early night.
It was around 7pm before I crawled out of the recliner to go to bed and I still hadn't heard from Archer since my last text. I burrowed into my sheets after getting undressed and checked Facebook to see if he was still alive. The most he had done was change his status from "In a relationship" to "Single" and another wave of anger flooded over me thinking about Emily.
Long distance relationships take work but seriously, how hard is it to keep it in your pants? I thought back to the endearing essay that Archer wrote about her when we first met and could tell they were, at the time, a very close couple. College is all about experiences and finding yourself so I guess love just wasn't enough for her after all. In many ways, she did find herself. Unfortunately, it was in another man's bed.
I'm not sure when I fell asleep but I finally opened my eyes to the sound of my alarm going off the next morning. I shut it off and was disappointed that there was still no word from Archer. Breakups are hard but this is when you need to surround yourself with people who care about you to support and carry you through the hard times. Oh well, he'll come around in time and I'll do what I can to cheer him up and distract him.
I worked Sunday and returned to class on Monday like normal. I had only heard from Archer just a few times to reassure me that he was alive throughout the week but still needed time to himself so I just let it go knowing that he'd reach out when he's ready.
By Thursday, I was out of my mind with boredom. It had never really struck me just how much Archer and I had been hanging out lately but now with his absence I was left with hours of free time. Not wanting to start getting soft, I decided to keep up my gym routine throughout the week and noticed on the group class schedule that a beginner's yoga class happening today at 3pm.
Thinking back, I remember making a mental note to take a class when I saw Ashley and Archer coming out of one once. Since I had nothing better to do, I made my way over to the registration table and signed all the paperwork and legal releases before going upstairs to where the class was being held.
The class was mostly women and what appeared to be a thin, cute little gay couple wearing tank tops and matching yoga pants. They were smiling and laughing with each other in the corner when one leaned in and gave the other a kiss before heading over to where I was to get mats and yoga blocks for each of them.
Seeing them made me smile. I've always liked gay people and been an avid equal rights supporter since high school so it made me happy knowing they felt comfortable expressing their love freely in public. I mean, that's exactly how it should be, right?
I smiled at the one getting the mats and said, "Is that your boyfriend?"
He looked startled but relaxed and smiled when he saw I wasn't a threat or about to be mean or ugly to him. "Yeah, we've been together since the beginning of the semester. I'm Jonathan," he finished reaching out his hand to shake mine.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ben."
I grabbed my mat and some yoga blocks when Jonathan spoke to me again, "Are you here alone?"
"Yeah, my friend told me about this class so I decided to give it a try. I've never done yoga but I heard it's harder than you think. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous. I hate looking like an idiot in front of people."
"Then you should come join Aaron and I. This is only our third class so we're just as new to this as you are!" Jonathan was smiling. As far as strangers go, he's been very nice so far. Another thing I love about gay people, they've always been very open and welcoming!
I thought about it for a second and figured "what the hell?" and walked over with Jonathan to where Aaron was watching us, looking a little nervous by the stranger walking over with his boyfriend. Jonathan introduces us and I can tell that Aaron is much shyer than his boyfriend. We talked for a few minutes before the teacher began the class.
Once it was over, I just continued to lay on the ground sweating on top of my mat. My arms and legs were shaking slightly from all the poses that the teacher had us doing. I reminded myself to tell Archer that he wasn't kidding about his arms hurting afterwards. Mine feel like noodles!
Aaron tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I was going to be okay while trying not to laugh at me. I started laughing and told them how weak I was feeling. They said that's to be expected for beginners but I'll get used to it with time and more classes. They said they'd love to hang out more but they both needed to run so I thanked them for letting me join their two-man group and with that they were on their way.
I returned the mat to the storage room and couldn't help but feel envious at their relationship. I mean, that's what love is supposed to be like: fun and effortless. They've got it down perfectly so I feel like if I can find a girl to be like that with, I'll be set for life! Too bad girls just love drama and can never let things be cute and easy. No, with girls someone always has to be right and things are always passive, never just easy and direct.
"Maybe I should just get a boyfriend" I thought sarcastically to myself with a smile. I felt a little vibration in my pocket and saw that Archer had text me.
"Hey man. What are you up to?"
"Not much, just got out of a yoga class. You weren't kidding, my arms feel like noodles!"
"Lol! Didn't I tell you? Sorry, I've been a shitty friend this week. I've been just hanging out in my room sulking. My roommate hasn't been by for the last 3 days so sitting here alone is starting to drive me crazy. Can I hang out and crash at your place tonight?"
"Like you even have to ask. Pack a bag and come over whenever you want. I'm leaving campus now and should be home in about 25 minutes."
"I figured you'd say that so I had a bag ready just in case lol I'll head over in a few minutes."
"Cool, I need to jump in the shower when I get home so I'll just leave the door unlocked for you. If I'm not out when you get here just make yourself at home!"
Finally, Archer was starting to get out of his funk and we were going to chill tonight. It was still early in the day so I still wanted to take him out bowling or something to get him out of the dorm and get him moving around some. Plus, bowling is fun and we're both very competitive so this should be interesting!
I made it to the apartment first and quickly jumped into the shower. He hadn't made it over by the time I was out but was walking in the door just as I finished dressing in my room.
"Perfect! You made it! Now, put your bag down and give me your keys. We're heading out and my reward is driving your car," I said with a laugh.
"Going out? Nah, I just wanna hang out and chill. I don't want to go anywhere."
"Well too bad, we can chill but we're not going to just sit around all day. You've done enough of that for the both of us this week. No, I've got something fun planned for us!"
He looked like he was about to continue arguing but I cut him off before he could say anything else, "Keys. Now."
He sighed and smiled before setting his bag down and surrendering the keys. "Will you at least tell me where we're going?"
"You'll see!"
He smiled and shook his head but made his way to the door. I'm really glad he's not making this difficult. In a way, I think that's why he came over. He had to have known I wasn't just going to let him mope around my place. He led us over to where he parked and I unlocked the car and sat down in the driver's seat.
"Mmmmmm man. I've dreamt about driving this baby all week," I said stroking the steering wheel with both hands.
"Dude, should I leave you two alone?" he said smiling at me. Then, for the first time, in a while, he gave me his signature wink. That made me smile more than anything, he was slowly coming back to me.
I started up the car and in no time we were sitting in front of the bowling alley. I looked over and he was cautiously smiling.
"Bowling? Really?"
"Hell yeah! What better way to get over a break up then by smashing the shit out of some pins with a big fucking ball?"
"Well, you've got a point. Okay, let's go. First game is on me, though!"
With a big smile, he unbuckled his seat belt and quickly got out of the car. I wasn't far behind him and locked the Rover before heading inside. It took my eyes a minute to adjust to the dim lighting after coming out the bright Texas sun but I finally saw him waving me over to the counter where he was setting up our lanes.
"I set it up league style where we have two lanes so we can have the section to ourselves. You ever bowl league style?" he asked after we got our shoes and headed over to our lanes.
"Yeah, once. We alternate each lane between frames right?"
"Exactly. Dude, thank you so much for bringing me out here. I'm not going to lie, I was sure I wasn't going to enjoy anything you were going to bring me out to but this is actually perfect. I do want to fuck up some pins. Let's do this!"
We talked and bowled 2 rounds before sitting down a bit to catch our breath and relax. He brought me up to speed on what he had been doing since we last spoke and the few conversations he had with Emily since Saturday. I have to admit, he was keeping himself pretty composed as he spoke about everything. He re-confirmed that she had been seeing this guy off and on for the last month and was feeling guilty before she finally admitted to herself that she was falling for him. He told me all about how he had cussed her out and her feelings were no excuse to cheat on him. When he was done, he was red in the face with frustration but told me that they agreed never to speak again.
"Ben?" a voice said off to the side of me.
"Aaron! Hey, what a coincidence! Archer, this is Aaron. He was in my yoga class with his boyfriend, Jonathan. Speaking of which, where is he?"
"He's at the counter getting a lane for us. I had no idea you'd be coming here. Sorry for rushing home, it's one of those monthaversary things today so we're on a little date night. We thought it'd be fun to get out and bowl for a bit."
"Aww, congrats. Yeah, we needed to get out and stretch our legs. Been a tough week for this one," I said pointing to Archer. He was smiling politely sitting there watching us.
About the time I finished talking, Jonathan joined Aaron and put his arm around his waist. We went over introductions again and Jonathan looked between Archer and myself and said, "That's cool you're getting out. It's good to see other couples out and about enjoying themselves!"
I looked over at Archer and he said, "Couples? Oh, no, we're not a couple. We're just friends." He was laughing but Jonathan looked horrified.
"Oh Jesus, I'm so sorry! You're both just so attractive and cute together I just assumed," he finished as Aaron flushed bright red and smacked Jonathan behind the head saying "idiot!" This only made Archer and I laugh harder.
"It's okay, I've gotten that before and thanks for thinking we're attractive! I'm obviously the more attractive one here. Tall, dark, and handsome," Archer finished looking over at me flashing his bright, white smile.
"Oh whatever. You're a 5, maybe a 6 tops. What do you guys think?"
We looked over at them and they looked at each other before saying "10" at the same time. In a split second, we all broke into laughter at them answering at the same time. It felt like we were on a sitcom or something.
"I know you're both on a date night but if you wanted to join us you're more than welcome to. The more the merrier I always say!" Archer offered.
They smiled and looked at each other before Aaron said, "We appreciate it but we're gonna continue our little date night with each other. We're always so busy or hanging out with our group of friends that we don't really like giving up a chance to just be with each other. Let's exchange numbers, though. We should still hang out sometime soon!"
We did just that and they made their way to the lane they rented leaving us alone in ours. I smiled at Archer and said, "Up for another game, honey?"
He smiled back and replied, "Of course, dear!" while batting his eyelashes and we both started laughing again. We finished two more rounds before we called it quits. Bowling is exhausting but I can tell that Archer was feeling lighter than air by the time we were done. In one day I had successfully gotten him out of the house, made him interact and laugh with a fun gay couple I had just met, and then subconsciously got him to release his rage from his breakup through bowling. Damn I'm good!
He let me drive back to my place and I relished every second of it. I think he's happy to let me drive his car because he knows it makes me happy. Sort of a cheap way of saying "thank you for cheering me up dude".
I was the first one to use the bathroom and get ready for bed while he hung out in the living room going through the bag he brought over. Once I was out, I made my way over to the bed to get in and charge my phone so Archer could get in there and do whatever he needed to do before bed. About 5 minutes later he comes out and slides in next to me.
"Dude, thanks again for today and being so cool about everything, including letting me invade your bed once again. Truth be told, I was going crazy in the dorm by myself and I don't think I could have handled being there alone again tonight."
"It's no sweat, man, what are friends for? I told you that night that I'd be here for you and I meant it!"
"Well, again, thanks. I'll try my best not to spoon you again tonight," he said laughing as he rolled away from me to try and go to sleep.
I laughed and continued to lie there on my back looking up at the ceiling. I thought back to Jonathan and Aaron and how happy they are and smiled while at the same time feeling sorry for the pain and loss that Archer is feeling and going through. My thoughts dwelled on what else I could do to cheer him up and make him feel better when it hit me.
My heart started beating harder and there was a nervous chill going through my body. My mouth went very dry and I knew that if I was going to do this I only had one shot at it so I couldn't fuck it up. Without hesitation, I rolled over towards Archer and wrapped my arm around him and pulled him close to me. Instantly, I could feel his warm body tense up and his heart beating quickly against my hand that I let rest on his strong chest.
"Umm... dude? What uh, what are you doing?" he said and I could feel his heart beating even faster against my hand. Although he was questioning me, he still hadn't pushed me off.
"I'm not sure. When I woke up and you were spooning me the other night it freaked me out at first but then made me feel kinda good. I don't know, something about being held by another person. Made me think about how I missed spooning with Stacey. So, I don't know, just thought since you and Emily are through, and you've been alone for the last 3 days, it would feel good if someone held you for a bit... should I stop?"
There was silence for a bit but I could feel his heart start slowing down and his breathing returning to normal. Then he said, "No, don't stop. You're fine, I guess."
I breathed a sigh of relief and moved closer into him to get more comfortable and remove any gaps between us like you're supposed to do when you cuddle with someone. Fifteen minutes had to have gone by before Archer finally moved, but he didn't move away from me. In fact, he took my hand in his and squeezed it before pulling it in close to his warm chest.
I felt him shaking slightly and could hear him trying to silence his sniffles but I knew what he was doing. You know, breaking up really sucks. I'm glad I could be here for him to turn to at his loneliest to make him feel wanted or needed. At the very least, give him connection with another person when he probably feels like he'll never connect with anyone ever again. Poor guy, he really doesn't deserve this.
I lay there holding Archer and let him silently cry himself to sleep as long as I needed to before closing my eyes and letting myself drift off to a comfortable, albeit warm, night's sleep.