Two days after being bopped in the head, I was cleared to resume working out moderately with the team, but not practicing. I was unsure how Lionel would act around me because he had been treating me like a baby since the accident. I woke up the day after he hit me and he was gone. I thought he had abandoned me, but he returned a few minutes later with breakfast in his hand and a smile on his face. He tried to feed me, but I wouldn't let him. We spent the next two days talking like we did in high school. We laughed and just had a good time, but we didn't talk about us. I was beginning to realize that we were both trying to avoid having another conversation about it. Michael came over to visit the first day and he and Lionel exchanged a few words before I sent Lionel to get me some lunch. Michael wanted me to petition to get a new roommate, but I refused. I told him how wonderful Lionel was being and how nice he seemed. Michael said Lionel sounded like an abuser to him. I told Michael he didn't know Lionel the way I did. Lionel was and is a harmless guy. Michael left when Lionel returned with the food, but he's called to check in on me a few times. My mother called and I told her I had an accident at practice, I didn't have the heart to tell her Lionel hit me on purpose.
As I walk in to the locker room for my first post concussion workout, I can't stop thinking about Lionel. Lionel is walking next to me with his hand resting gingerly on the small of my back. The other guys look over and most of them welcome me back. No one seems to notice how close Lionel and I are standing. Lionel walks me to my locker and opens it for me. He smiles when I say thank you. He opens my gym bag and sits it down on the bench and then he watches as I undress and change my clothes. I move too fast and I almost lose my balance, but his arms are around me as soon as I begin to fall. He stands me up straight and we look in to each other's eyes and it's a perfect kiss moment, but no where near a coming out moment. We both give sheepish smiles and Lionel lets me go. He clears his throat and steps back. I know he wanted to kiss me and I know I wanted to kiss him, but I would never kiss him in front of our teammates, and he is too much of a punk to kiss me anyway. I know I'm blushing, so I turn and face my locker and pray that no one notices. Lionel moves to his locker and changes his clothes.
I look at myself in the small mirror in my locker. My eye is still swollen, but it doesn't hurt much. It definitely looks worse than it feels. I put my bag in the locker along with my regular clothes and I shut the locker.
Some guy from the team walks over to me and says, "How long are you going to be stuck in high school?" He starts laughing.
"As long as I can." This has been a running joke since the first day of practice. Apparently the locker room is not supposed to be used for changing unless it's a game day. While Lionel and I were changing our clothes, the other guys were just sitting around shooting the breeze until it was time for practice to start.
He puts his hand on my shoulder. "Glad to have you back."
"Glad to be back." He walks away from me and leaves the locker room.
I look at Lionel as he pulls his shirt over his head. He is so beautiful. He catches me watching him and he looks away. I feel the sexual tension between us and I can't deny that it is getting stronger. I know he loves me. His actions make that clear. He may be afraid to love me, but he can't deny that he does. He's been so sweet and tender and loving these past few days. I keep watching him because I am no longer afraid of what he'll do. I sit there taking in every movement he makes as he changes his clothes and puts on his shoes. It seems like it's just me and him and I can't take my good eye off of him. I still haven't figured out why I love him, but the feeling I get when I'm around him let's me know that I do.
He ties his shoe string and looks up at me. He smiles and says, "You ready?"
"Yeah." He walks over to me and grabs my hand. `How gay,' I think, but I know he's holding my hand like I'm a child and not like I'm his lover. He lets go of my hand when we reach the door. We take a few steps in the hallway and I feel Lionel's hand on my back again. I have to contain my emotions as we walk in to the weight room. Lionel walks me to the leg press.
"You want to start here?"
"Sure." He puts the weights on and hovers over me like I might break a bone or something. The rest of the workout is just like that. We go from machine to machine with him hovering over me and babying me. I should be annoyed, but I am tickled pink. I love every second of it. I love the way he guides me from machine to machine with his hand on my back. I love the way he watches me and counts my reps out loud. I love the way he praises me no matter how poorly I do. He does a lot more reps than I do at all the machines, but he treats me like I am the strongest. The workout puts me in a great mood.
We showered after practice and changed back in to our regular clothes. As we were leaving the gym, Lionel told me he had a surprise for me. He told me he was taking me out to dinner and he put a blindfold on me. "Trust me," he said.
"I do." I tucked my arm inside his and he started walking. I did trust him. I wished I could see the expressions on everyone's faces with us walking like this. I could only imagine the thoughts that must be going through people's minds.
When we reached the outside, I heard someone yell, "I didn't know you were in to blind dudes Lionel!"
"Only on the weekend," he shouted back. The guy must have walked over to us because I heard Lionel slap hands with someone.
"What's up man? What the hell are you doing? Isn't this your roommate?"
"Yes. I'm taking him to a surprise dinner, and he can't know where we're going so I had to blind fold him."
"That's a little gay, don't you think?"
"Well what do you want me to do? I don't want him to see where we're going."
"I guess, but I gotta tell you that you guys look like two fags." He laughed and to my horror, Lionel laughed with him. "Is this to make up for that shiner you gave him the other day?"
Lionel laughed a little more. "Yeah, something like that." I was hurt that he was laughing about it and also a little offended.
I decided to speak up. "Well, whoever you are, we have to go now."
The mystery guy just said okay and told Lionel he would catch him later.
Once we walked a little further, Lionel said, "You didn't have to be so rude."
"Well he didn't have to be so ignorant."
"He was just joking. Come on man, calm down."
"Well it wasn't very funny to me."
"Relax, I want you to have a good time, so put that smile back on your face and let's enjoy the evening."
I didn't say anything else, I just kept walking with him. We got on a bus and took a ride to somewhere. My thoughts moved to what was awaiting me and I forgot about the stupid guy from school. I started smiling and fantasizing of where this evening would lead. Lionel grabbed my arm for me to stand up. "Are we there already?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Oh, so it's not far from the school?"
"Stop trying to figure out where we are and just chill. Now hold on to me."
"Okay."
We walked off the bus and it felt strange to be so dependent on him to tell me when to step. He was better this time though because I almost fell trying to get on the bus, but getting off the bus was easy. We walked for a few minutes and I heard lots of people talking around us.
We walked in somewhere and my nose was filled with the most wonderful smells. I knew it must have been an Italian restaurant. He knew I loved Italian food, especially the pastas. Some one said, "Welcome to" and I couldn't really decipher the name of the restaurant, "would you like smoking or non?"
"I have reservations."
The perky voice asked, "You do? What name is it under?"
"Lionel."
"Oh okay. I see your name, must be a special evening. Right this way sir." I knew my cheeks were crimson, but the way she said `must be a special evening' was so suggestive that I had to blush from the x-rated thoughts that invaded my head. We started walking, which proved difficult. I hit a few chairs, but I was never tempted to take off the blindfold, I wanted the surprise to be unspoiled. "I hope everything is to your liking." I heard her as her heels walked away from us. It sounded kind of quiet so I was wondering if everyone was staring at us. I didn't feel like I was being watched, but I started to get a little paranoid. Before I could ask what was going on, Lionel removed my blindfold. I was standing in a room with only one table. The table was set for two, with romantic candles and a bunch of roses on one of the plates.
"Are these for me?" I asked as I walked to the roses and picked them up.
"Yes."
We sit down at the table and I pick up a menu. I put the menu down when I see the prices. "Lionel, what are we doing here? You know you can't afford this!"
"Don't worry about it. It's covered."
"How?"
"I have my ways. Now order whatever you want and don't worry about it." He got a devilish grin on his face and opened his menu. I opened my mouth to say something, but he knew me oh too well. Without looking at me, he raised a finger and said, "Not another word about the prices."
I left it alone and opened my menu. I was about to tell him I wanted some lasagna when I started hearing this voice. The voice sounded familiar and just like the voice of someone I hated, but it couldn't be her. I told myself that until she walked in from some door. She had on black pants and a white shirt and a name tag. She ran to Lionel and he stood up.
"Hey, Babe." He put his arms around her and I felt like I was going to puke. He kissed her on her lips and I had to look away. I couldn't believe I had been so dumb. I thought this was a date. In my mind, I saw Lionel and me toasting our love over a great meal, but I should have known it was too good to be true. "Thanks for letting us eat here."
"You know you're welcome. My uncle says the meal is free, he'll do anything for his favorite niece." She giggled a little and showed all of her pearly white, perfectly straight teeth. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheeks. She giggled a little more and then she remembered I was in the room. She turned and looked at me. "I hope you're feeling better."
"Yes," was all I could muster at the moment.
"You know Lionel feels horrible about what he did. He would never try to hurt you. You're his best friend."
"Oh."
"Anyway, I'll be your waitress for this evening so what would you like to eat?" I wanted to tell her that I had lost my appetite, but I just sat there looking stupid. I looked down at the roses now sitting beside my plate. They were beautiful. I felt the tears building up in my eyes. "Aww, I knew you would like the roses," she said as she walked over to me. "I thought they were a little gay at first, but when Lionel told me that you were gay, I thought they would be perfect." I didn't know if I should thank her or smack her, talk about a backhanded comment. Since when were roses gay and why would Lionel tell her I was gay? I was too busy thinking about what wouldn't be to focus on what was really happening. She wrapped her arms around me and I let loose. I put my arms around her and cried. She put one hand on the back of my head and rubbed it gently. Damn her for being so fucking nice. How can I hate her when she is so sweet? I cried for a few seconds before I gathered myself and pulled away. I wiped my face with one of the napkins and stood up.
Lionel was still standing. I looked at him and said, "I've made a complete fool of myself. I just want to go home." I was about to walk out the door and escape the room when Lionel grabbed me and threw me up against the wall. It wasn't violent, but it was forceful.
"Look, you haven't made a fool of yourself, but you will if you leave like this." His grip relaxed a little and his eyes begged me as his mouth said, "Stay." I don't know what came over me, but I'll blame it on love. My love for him overpowered my brain. He held me waiting for my answer.
"What the hell is going on?" We both looked over and saw Taniqua staring at us. The look in her eyes told me that her brain was processing something.
"Nothing's going on." Lionel told her.
"Then what was that look about?" Her voice was filled with such venom that her accusation sounded like a threat.
"It was nothing, Baby. What is wrong with you? What kind of fucked up question is that?"
"I just."
"You just what?" He sounded like he could hit her.
"I thought I saw something. I'm sorry." Her voice was trembling and I knew I heard the unmistakable vibrations of fear.
"Maybe we should leave." He roughly grabbed my arm and started pushing me towards the door. When we reached the door, he stopped and turned around. "Thank you for setting the table. The empty plates with the roses and lit candles were nice touches. I wish we could have stayed for dinner, but Lucas is obviously a little too emotional for that. I'll call you later."
"Okay." She sounded so submissive when she said it and I wondered if that's how I sounded around Lionel.
Lionel held my arm roughly until we were outside. He shoved me away from him and said, "You want to go home? Let's go!"
Copyright Lustyville 2006 Please send comments to lustyville@yahoo.com and check out my yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustyville.