by Lina Langley
“Now your trousers,” Taln said.
“Flattered.” Jesse laughed, starting to undo the buttons on his jeans.
“You should sleep.”
“I should. Or we could fuck.”
“You should sleep,” Taln repeated, rolling his eyes “I have a preference for when you’re coherent.”
“I—I have a preference for when you’re on top of me,” Jesse said, winking at him. “Or I’m on top of you. Actually, you know, I have no preference. I’m not picky at all.”
Taln shook his head. “We’re not having sex right now.”
“Boo. Why not?”
“Because you are not capable of removing your own clothes at the moment,” Taln replied. “You’ve just tried to take off your trousers without taking your shoes off.”
“I just did what I was told,” Jesse laughed. “I was following instructions.”
“Take your shoes off,” Taln said. “Actually, no, just don’t move your feet. Alright. It’s done. Now get under the quilt.”
“I’m warm. Too warm for the quilt.”
“Jesse.”
“What?”
“You need to sleep,” Taln said, rolling his eyes again. “You’re really drunk.”
Jesse cocked his head. “How do you even know that?”
“I’m foreign,” Taln said. “Not an idiot.”
Taln watched Jesse furrow his brow before he laughed. “You are foreign. That is hilarious. Are you going to sleep, too?”
“Yes,” Taln replied. “It’s late.”
“Can you take your clothes off too? You know, in the interest of fairness.”
“Fine,” Taln replied. He stripped before he got in bed. “But we’re still not having sex.”
Jesse snuggled up to him, putting his mouth on the back of Taln’s neck. Jesse was warm, his skin touching Taln’s body, his hand on Taln’s stomach. “Jesus. How much do you actually work out?”
“Work out?”
“Exercise,” Jesse replied.
“Oh. I don’t know. My life was quite active before I got here,” Taln felt Jesse’s hand moving downward. He smirked. “What are you doing?”
“You seem to like it. Do you want me to stop?”
Taln heaved a heavy sigh. “No.”
“But we’re still not having sex.”
“That’s right.”
“You said you wanted me.”
“I do. I really want you.”
“But not right now?”
Taln answered in between short, sharp breaths. “Yes. I want you right now. But again, I have a preference for when you’re sober.”
“You’re sweet,” Jesse said. “Why?”
Taln sighed as Jesse quickened his pace. “Why am I sweet?”
“No. Why do you want me?”
“I don’t know,” Taln replied. “Don’t stop.”
“If you don’t want me to stop, you should answer my question.”
He stopped moving his hand, pressing himself against Taln. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer.”
“The truth is good,” Jesse said, tightening his grip around Taln again.
“Please don’t stop. It’s kind of hard to think like this. I don’t know, oh god, you’re just really nice and so good-looking.”
“You think I’m good looking?”
“Yes. I think you’re lovely,” Taln said. “Please.”
“Is that it? You think I’m nice and good-looking?”
“Yes,” Taln said, panting. “No. That’s not all of it. I’ve never felt the way I feel around you.”
Jesse exhaled quickly through his nose and stopped moving his hand. “How’s that?”
“Please,” Taln said. “Please don’t stop.”
“Answer the question.”
“I don’t know, Jesse,” Taln replied. “Oh. I don’t know. You just make me feel like I could do anything.”
Jesse laughed. “I like that. You should keep going if you don’t want me to stop.”
“It’s just hard to articulate,” Taln said, in between sharp breaths. “You make me feel good.”
Jesse kissed the back of Taln’s neck, sending a shiver down his spine. “And how does this feel?”
“Good,” Taln replied. “Really good.”
Jesse continued kissing the back of Taln’s neck. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
“Are you close?”
“Yes.”
Jesse nibbled on Taln’s ear. “It can wait.”
* * *
Jesse rubbed his eyes and sighed. “Do you have to be so loud?”
Taln smiled at him. “I’m not being loud. I brought you some water. I thought you would be pleased.”
Jesse smiled back at him. Despite the light being overwhelming and his inability to properly open his eyes, Taln looked better every day. He took the glass that Taln was handing him with a weak hand and took a sip of the lukewarm water.
“This is awful,” Jesse said, sticking his tongue out. “Couldn’t you at least put ice in it?”
“You’re very demanding lately.” Taln laughed.
Jesse closed his eyes and sat back on the headboard, considering what he meant. His memories of the night before were few and far between. He remembered getting drunk with Rayne in the bar, he remembered the Uber driver telling them that if they were going to throw up he had to pull over, and he remembered Taln helping him take his clothes off.
“Demanding? Do you mean that—?”
“See, this is what I meant last night. I like it when you remember.”
“Oh, no,” Jesse said. “Was I being pushy? I’m sorry. I can get really pushy when I’m drunk.”
“It’s fine,” Taln said. “We only went as far as I wanted to. And I really wanted to.”
“Good. I—”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m not saying that.”
“I know you.”
Jesse pouted. Taln sat down in front of him, put his hand on the back of his head, and leaned in for a kiss. Jesse kissed him back, feeling the warmth of his skin on his cheek. Taln broke off the kiss and smiled at him.
“Good morning,” Jesse said. “Thank you for the water.”
“You’re welcome,” Taln replied. “Good morning. You said there was something you needed to talk to me about.”
“Right. And I totally would, if I could remember what it was.”
Taln leaned in for a kiss again when they heard someone knock on the door. “Ugh,” Jesse said. “I should probably get that.”
“You don’t look well,” Taln replied. “Do you want me to see who it is?”
“Yes. If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course I wouldn’t mind,” Taln kissed him again before he got up.
After Taln left the bedroom, Jesse exhaled. He didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until Taln was out of his sight. He tried to think about what had happened the night before. Nothing new came to him. All the bits and pieces of information that he had seemed to be running through a distortion filter.
He did remember that he wanted to tell Taln how he felt about him. He was glad he hadn’t done it the night before, from the sounds of it. He would rather do it when they were together, alone, without his sister in the room next door.
I should ask him to go somewhere tonight, Jesse thought. Somewhere nice and romantic. Like the boardwalk.
But if he did that, wouldn’t he be coming on too strong? The last thing he wanted to do was scare Taln. And he already had to live with him. So what if he felt compelled to tell Jesse he felt the same way just because it was the sensible thing to do?
Taln had literally fallen out of the sky. He was sweet, innocent, and gorgeous. Jesse knew that Taln could do a lot better than him. Wasn’t it his responsibility, if he did love him, for Taln to get the best he could?
He needed to tread carefully. Test the waters. Not come on too strong.
He needed Tal
n to make an informed decision, something he still wasn’t sure Taln was even capable doing. As he got out of bed and put on his robe, he realized that he hadn’t heard the door close again.
* * *
Jesse walked out the bedroom to ask Taln what was happening and to start on breakfast. He was looking down at his phone when he realized that the entire living room was completely quiet. Salisei and Taln were quiet but they were never that quiet, especially because lately they seemed to be arguing a lot. He was surprised by the silence for only one second before he started to feel the cold beads of sweat on his forehead, along with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Jon was towering over Taln, his brows creased and his arms crossed over his bare chest. He noticed that the only thing Taln was wearing was his underwear. He set his gaze on Jon next. His eyes were glassy and he was smirking but he wasn’t looking at Taln. He was looking right past him, at a cowering Salisei.
“You’re not welcome here,” Taln whispered. Jesse held back a smile, trying to ignore how scared he was. Even when Taln was whispering, he sounded threatening. It didn’t seem to have any effect on Jon, but Jesse appreciated the effort all the same.
Jon scoffed. He took a long time to look him up and down, stopping when he got to his calves, to his marked abdomen, and to his face. He licked his lower lip before he turned to Jesse. “Do you collect them or something? You have a girl and a boy. What’s next?”
His words were slurred and he swayed when he spoke.
“Christ, Jon. It’s like ten in the morning and you’re already drunk,” Jesse said.
“Still drunk,” Jon said. “Still drunk. I went out last night.”
“Good for you,” Jesse replied, trying to keep his voice from breaking. “Now please leave.”
Jon smiled at him. “Or what? You’re going to cry?”
“Stop,” Jesse said. “Seriously.”
“Call the police. You’ll see how much they care about your drunk friend not leaving your house in the morning. That’s what you told them, right? That I was your friend. That it was some sort of misunderstanding? That you didn’t want to file a police report?”
“I didn’t tell them anything. You knocked my front teeth out and dislocated my jaw. I couldn’t actually, you know, speak.”
“That’s why I came to apologize! But you didn’t let me,” Jon said. “You know. Things got out of hand before I could.”
“So apologize. Then leave,” Jesse said. He sounded a lot braver than he felt. His hands were sweating. He knew he needed to keep the situation under control if he didn’t want Taln to get hurt. Jon was bigger than him and probably faster, even while drunk.
Jon tutted. “That’s not very polite. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“Fine,” Jesse replied, wrinkling his nose and crossing his arms over his chest. “Taln, Salisei, this is Jon. He was just leaving.”
“Taln,” Jon repeated. “That’s a nice name. It suits you. What is it, like, Norwegian?”
Jesse sighed. “Out. That was not an invitation for a chat.”
“Oh, please. I’m already here. What’re you going to do? We should probably talk in private, you know? Clear the air and all that.”
Jesse swallowed, his nails digging into his arms. “No.”
“You’re afraid,” Jon said, his smile widening. “That’s kind of precious.”
Jesse closed his eyes and tried to think of what to say in response. Anything could just escalate things further. He weighed his options. He wasn’t alone this time so Jon would probably not go as far as he had before. If he made him angrier, though, Taln could get hurt. He needed to protect Taln.
He opened his mouth to agree to the private meeting when Taln took a step towards Jon.
“He just told you to leave,” Taln whispered again.
“Are you his boyfriend? That’s so cute,” Jon replied. “You’re adorable.”
“Leave,” Taln repeated.
“Please, Jon,” Jesse said. “Just listen to him. I can meet up with you some other time, alright?”
“Come here,” Jon replied.
Jesse shook his head. “No, thank you. I’m fine right where I am.”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jon said. “But you wouldn’t want anything to happen to Taln’s face, would you? It’s so perfect.”
Jesse trained his gaze on Jon and walked over to him. “Fine. Whatever. Just leave him alone.”
Jon smiled, putting his arm around Jesse. “Aw, that’s so sweet. See? This is nice. You know your place. Now he knows his place. It’s great, isn’t it?”
Jesse stared at the floor, feeling the heat rising up to his cheeks. “Stop. Please. We can just talk somewhere else.”
“Let him go,” Taln said.
Jon chuckled. “Or what? You and your tiny sister are going to take me on?”
“He told you to leave,” Taln replied.
“Yeah, that’s what you keep saying. But as far as I can tell, I’m the one who has his arm wrapped around him. So I think, you know, he’s made his choice.”
“You stink,” Jesse said. “How much did you drink?”
“Enough to gather up my courage,” Jon replied. “I never meant to hurt you. I just—I was confused, okay?”
“Okay. It’s fine, Jon, I forgive you. Now please—”
“Leave.”
“Taln,” Jesse said, closing his eyes, desperately wishing that Taln had remained quiet. “Why don’t you take your sister and go?”
“You could do that. You could,” Jon said. “Or you could stay here and watch us reconcile. I think I’d prefer that.”
Taln took a step towards Jon. Jon’s smiled widened. “You’ve got spunk. I like that.”
“Leave.”
“You should back off,” Jon said. “He’s mine.”
“Jesse—”
“Taln, just do what he says,” Jesse said. “Please.”
Taln furrowed his brow. “No. Let him go.”
Jon’s eyes widened as Taln threw an uppercut at him. Jon threw Jesse across the room, onto the corner of the wall. Jesse managed to stop the impact with his hand, his wrist making a loud popping noise when he did. “Shit!”
Jesse held up his hand to his chest and tried to get in between Jon and Taln. He only noticed how much of a beating Jon was getting when he was halfway there. Taln’s punching was tireless, relentless, clinical.
Somehow Jon had ended up sitting on the floor, his arms crossed over his face in a protective gesture.
“He told you to leave,” Taln said, kicking Jon in the ribs. “You are not welcome here.”
Jon doubled over from the pain, coughing up words that Jesse couldn’t understand.
“Stop,” Jesse murmured. “You’ve won. I think he gets it. We want him to leave, remember?”
Taln scoffed but stopped kicking Jon. The latter coughed, and struggled to rise to his feet. “Fine. I’ll leave.”
“Good,” Jesse said, opening the door to emphasize the point. He really didn’t want to get the police involved. He may have to account for the fact that an unidentified minor lived with him. Not to mention Taln. “Out.”
Jon made his way to where Jesse was and smiled at him. “Fine. You know, I came here to make peace. But your boyfriend is a psycho.”
“I’m not interested in your opin—” Jesse was interrupted by the feeling of something cold and sharp on his stomach. He looked down to see a shiny screwdriver in Jon’s hand pressing into his skin through the robe’s opening. “Fuck.”
“That’s right. You think setting your trained dog on me is going to stop me from getting my dues?”
“Jon—”
“No, you don’t get to speak right now. And you, Taln, stay where you are. Otherwise this household tool goes right into your boyfriend’s stomach. And that’s not what you want, is it?”
Jesse scoffed before he spoke, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling. “A screwdriver? What the fuck is wrong with you? That’s some fake g
angster shit.”
“What did I just tell you? I thought it was appropriate, you know. Considering how afraid you are of harmless pointy things. Insurance, you know. In case you didn’t want to use your head.”
Jesse opened his mouth to speak, warm tears sliding down his cheek, when Taln tackled Jon. While Jon didn’t manage to shank Jesse, he did knee him in the crotch, so he was gasping and doubling down, barely able to see what happened next.
Taln was on top of Jon beating the shit out of him when Jon brought the screwdriver down on Taln’s side with as much strength as he could. Taln whimpered and fell off of him. Jon scrambled to get to his feet when Salisei, who had been standing by through the entire fight, her eyes huge, tried to go for him.
He slapped her with the back of his hand. She groaned as she fell back from him, her head hitting the coffee table when she did and making a horrible crunching thud noise.
Taln was holding his side and writhing in pain when Jesse finally got to him. “Taln,” Jesse said. “Can you talk?”
“Yes,” Taln said in-between pants. “I’m okay. Run.”
Jesse shook his head, not quite understanding what he was saying, before he felt the impact against his cheek. He threw a punch himself, though it was aimless, unproductive. All it did was make him more vulnerable. He felt Jon’s knee on his stomach and ended up on the floor, face up next to Taln. He stopped feeling the punches soon enough. They were predictable, one on the left side of his face, one on the right side, one on the left, one on the right. He thought his nose was bleeding but he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t in pain anymore—he was thinking about the logistics of it, about dentists and doctors and Taln. Taln. Who was probably bleeding to death next to him.
“Taln,” he whispered.
“Do you see what you’ve made me do? As soon as you apologize, I’ll stop,” Jon said.
“I’m sorry,” Jesse said.
“That’s what you said the first time, too. Do you remember that? You didn’t ask me to stop. You told me how sorry you were. You know that this is what you deserve.”
“I’m sorry,” Jesse repeated. Jon had stopped punching him and his hands were now wrapped around Jesse’s throat. Jesse tried to look at Taln. From the corner of his eye, he could see that he wasn’t writhing anymore. He thought he could see Taln raise his palm, outstretched. A blinding light washed over them, along with an unbearable high-pitched noise. The light seemed to knock Jon off of him.