Taking the Leap

Chapter 5 part two

~Achilles~

It was probably on our seventh roller coaster that I remembered why I hated them so much. Xander was strapped in from beside me, chattering away as the coaster slowly climbed towards it's peak.

"And y'know, if this is the biggest coaster then I'll be a little disappointed. The rush just isn't as thrilling as I thought it'd be." He said, above the noise of people screaming and the sound of it slowly climbing upwards.

We were on the kind of ride where we were strapped standing up, and this next dropwas worrying me. Damn, we were almost at the top. I braved a look down and everything looked like ants. Ants and smears of colour.

The ride hesitated at the top. "Fuck." I whispered.

Xander was loud from beside me. "Oh come on, Achilles. It won't be that b—" And then he was screaming as the roller coaster lurched down into a free fall and hurtled us at lightening speeds through the park at death defying drops. My stomach heaved and curdled and I was focused enough on my own fear that Xander whooping and hollering was just a backdrop.

#

I clutched weakly at Xander's shoulder, touching him for the first time since the night I'd met him. "I think I'm done with roller coasters for the day."

Xander seemed concerned as we picked up our bags from the cubby after we'd gotten off the ride. "Do you need some electrolytes? I can buy you something sweet. Lemonade. Would you like some lemonade?"

He steered me to a bench and I tried not to feel too pathetic. My stomach was in knots. The ground felt unsteady. I couldn't even handle a roller coaster. What kind of grown-ass man couldn't handle a roller coaster.

Xander rocked on his heels. "Don't move, okay?"

He scampered away, disappearing into the crowd of light and noise and so many children. I pushed my hands into my hair, trying to calm down. This was supposed to be fun. I tried to convince myself this was fun.

Xander came back a few minutes later with a slushee that he carefully put into my hands. "Can you drink that? I didn't know what flavour to get, so I just told the guy whatever was the sweetest. I think the flavour is called Spellberry Pinkalicious."

That got a laugh out of me and Xander gave me a soft smile, sitting beside me on the bench. The feel of his thigh against mine was more comforting than I thought it'd be.

I drank the noxiously sweet mixture slowly. "I'm sorry." I said between sips, starting to feel like the ground was stable again. "I'm ruining your first amusement park experience."

"No, Achilles. You're not." He patted me on the thigh. "I don't care about roller coasters." He did that funny thing with my bracelet again, slipping his fingers under the band and touching my skin. "I just wanted to spend time with you."

#

Lunch was a couple burgers for me with just enough condiments not to make my burger soggy, and Xander age some veggie dogs along with a corn on the cob slathered with sauces.

He caught me staring at him eat and he gave me a smile full of corn husks. Damn, he was so adorably weird. I felt considerably better than the post-roller coaster fiasco and I wondered if Xander also needed to eat blood.

"But, do you need to eat anything else?" I asked awkwardly, my eyes fixated on his mouth.

He chewed before speaking. "Like blood?" He distended his fangs and I was shocked at how quickly the sharp, serrated canines dropped down. He really was a fucking vampire.

I must have looked as flustered as I felt and he laughed as the fangs receded as quickly as they came. "Don't worry, I eat when I need to. You know we should go out for dinner some time." He seemed nervous suddenly, fingers reaching for and not picking up his food. "I know this great vegan place. Their chocolate cake is to die for, ykno? When we get back, maybe we could go there, sometime? Or, something."

I stared at him, and he stared back until I coughed and changed the subject. "What were you composing in the car?"

He hesitated, frowning. "I make my money through composing. Do you know the Galatrickiton series?"

"No way...That space opera series from the 80s? The remake was just at the top of the box office last week, right?"

"Was it? I've never actually seen the movies. I keep getting invited to premieres but it's not like I can go."

"So your apartment, the silk pajamas, all this expensive stuff. You can afford it because of the royalties?"

He nodded. "Yep. You know if you don't want to go out with me, you can just say so."

I looked away, picking up the map on the table and seeing that we weren't too far from the acrobatic show. "Why don't we head to the acrobatic show?"

#

I knew I wasn't ready for Xander in swim shorts. I just knew it. For some reason he took longer than me to change and I was so embarrassed I had to look away when he came out of the changing room. I just couldn't get it out of my mind that all he was wearing was a pair of blue swim trunks.

He was talking quickly, as we went to the lockers we rented talking about how he wanted to try all the water rides, and did people get stuck in those, hopefully not because that would be humiliating.

"Are you listening to me?" Xander said, moving in front of me and stopping me in my tracks.

I stared at his eyes, not looking anywhere else. My eyes betrayed me then, inhaling the slight yet chiseled plains of his chest and his stomach. He was nearly hairless and I was normally attracted to men with bodies closer to mine, hairier, more muscle on them and bigger. But Xander's body was jaw dropping in a way I'd never noticed anyone's was before.

He was just way too fucking hot.

Xander touched my shoulder, with a pleased note in his voice. "Oh, honey, my eyes are up here."

I flushed, feeling my face heating up. Xander didn't tease me too badly, and we had a good time on all the water slides, the heat of midday being relieved by the coolness of the water.

I couldn't help it. I was reluctantly  having a great time. And I knew that even if the water was nice and the pool was cool, and the sun was high, the reason I was having a great time was because I was with Xander. Because I liked his smile, and his laugh, and how he didn't take himself seriously at all. And I didn't know how I was going to survive the rest of this road trip, not by a long shot.

#
Overall thoughts?
Ugh why is Achilles so afraid to be into guys? I want him to just get over it. He needs to live his truth.