Chapter 20: Wednesday Morning - Purple Haze

Luis

Will was sitting at lunch in a corner by himself, as usual. I waved to my friends and teammates, then headed to his table and put my tray down.

"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked the hunched over figure staring down at his tray. Not eating. Not moving.

"Whatever." His voice was as flat and void as a newbie karaoke singer. He didn't look up, nod, nor move.

I took a calming breath and sat down. "I have a Reasonable Request. Would you tell me why you're hiding over here?"

Suddenly, his head jerked up. His eyes glowing red—lasers pointed directly at me. His gaunt, scrawny frame tensed like a hunting bow at max pull, ready to release at any second.

"FUCK YOU! I'm NOT hiding. You bastards think you can do anything..." He launched himself across the table, his body growing to something the size of the Incredible Hulk. His voice screeching...

Just like my alarm clock.

My alarm clock?

Shit.

Dragging myself from this nightmare, I moved to turn off the obnoxious sound generator. Every muscle, joint, fiber, and molecule in my body screamed at me. Had he really hit me in the dream? Damn, it felt like it.

'Fear is internal, ' said my teachers, through the fog of pink pain, as I began cursing the universe.

"I'm mad!" I screamed. It sounded to my own ears like some growl instead of words. My body screamed back at the injustice of being forced to move. Hell, even my toenails hurt.

'Anger is fear.'

"Fuck you!" I groaned to all my teachers living in my head.

'Your path is not supposed to be easy. Just the path that is yours alone.'

I moved my legs off the bed with care. Shit, I've had hangovers that felt better than this.

"I just want to be miserable!"

'Too Bad.' The alarm screeched again. Had just moving my legs taken 10 minutes?

"NO!?!" The built up adrenaline from the dream found a release through my fist.

Now I needed to get a new alarm clock. Great.

'Your choice.' Great, it's still speaking to me after I killed it.

"What choice?" I was beginning to hear actual words coming out of my mouth. Almost. It was better than a groan. More like a wounded growl.

'Your choices brought you here. Your choices take you from here.'

I made the mistake of shaking my head. WOW! A whole new set of muscles I didn't know about.

"DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! FUCK... ! Fuck! Fuck... ! Shit..." With that I managed to sit up in the bed.

"Are you always so grumpy in the morning?" Through the pink fog, I thought I heard Becca's voice. Couldn't be. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. MISTAKE! "I'd come over and kiss you, but..." There was that voice again.

"Huh?" I wanted to collapse back on the bed. Death sounded like a good option right now. How had I ever managed to do reps with 475 on the bar?

"I love you..." That voice was back. Small and ... scared. Shit.

Choices. Yeah, I said to myself. More choices. I made mine and screwed up my courage. Slowly, I forced my eyes open. The pink fog was replaced by a blinding, headache-inducing glare. Slowly it focused into an image of Becca standing away from the bed. As my vision slowly cleared, more details came into focus. She seemed small. Her eyes were red and tears streaked down her cheeks. Her nose was red and her breathing ragged from a stuffy nose. She was absolutely beautiful to me.

It didn't hurt that she was naked.

I reached out to her. MISTAKE! Thanks muscles. The pink fog was coming back. "I ... Ugh ... love ... Argh ... you..."

She took a step back, the flood now released anew. "I'm sorry ... I ... I ... thought ... you'd ... be happy ... to ... see me."

God! More choices. I need to reassure her quickly.

"Becca ... Your being here ... is..." My body was deprived of oxygen from the stress of sitting up. Breathe, bastard, breathe.

She collapsed.

Choice made.

I jumped up and scooped her up before she hit the floor. In the same motion, I twirled and sank onto the sofa. Okay, fell onto the sofa. My muscles reminding me that I shouldn't be doing that. I ignored them and wrapped her up in my arms, let her fall into her Cave.

Choices.

My next words, and the way I said them, made the choice of which future we had. The strength of my desire for one with her helped push the pain away. The warmth of my love for her eased the stiff joints in my body, and hopefully my mouth.

"Becca..." Now where did that muscle in my right foot come from? "I love you." My aching chest got wet. She was starting to move and fight against my trembling arms. "I ... I hurt ... from all the ... exercise yesterday. If ... I could..." I had to breathe. I'm sure a groan escaped as I did.

"Reject me!" She spat out, through the tears and sobs.

The pink fog completely evaporated.

While somebody might want to patent this cure, I don't think my heart could take it too often.

I tilted her head towards me and pushed my lips onto hers. The warmth, the energy flowed through me, healing me while I tried to push into her lips all my love for her. Our lips stayed closed, but the energy rose. She wrapped her arms around my neck and tried to join our heads permanently. She opened her lips and pushed her tongue against me. I held firm to the chaste kiss. Slowly, I broke our kiss. We did our kissy-break thing with short, light kisses.

"I love you." My pain gone. My mouth working fine. I put all of my hopes and dreams of a future with her into those three words.

Her eyes searched mine, checking. The hardness of the imagined rejection fading.

"Y-you still w-want me?" She sniffled out.

"More every second."

"W-What happened?" Her fear was changing to concern, her eyes told me. Something deep inside her shifted, I could feel the change in her energy.

"A weird dream and waking up in a very sore body from my torture session yesterday." She gently rubbed her hand along the edge of my jar. The warmth of her finger tips pulled the residual pain from my head. "They figured that if I could lift a 275 pound plus Principal, then setting new personal weight lifting records shouldn't be a problem. Since I made that look too easy, they decided that doing reps with high weight loads would lessen my urges."

"Where do you hurt?" I could feel her energy continuing to grow and sense a new strength within.

"Everywhere, including a few places I didn't even know existed. I haven't hurt like this since my first two-a-days back in middle school."

"Is ... Is ... Junior okay?" Concern, shock, fear, disappointment, shyness, fear ... The range and the quickness of emotions passing through her eyes was amazing. I couldn't help myself. Must be the male gene (or lack thereof) that explains what I was going to do.

"Why?" I had the most confused face on I could muster while hiding a smile.

"Well ... Er ... I ... Um ... I t-thought ... you know..." Her eyes were down, the curtain of hair threatening to close over them. Her skin beginning to turn a nice rosy color.

"Know what?" I said in a fair act of innocence and sweetness. Any second, my side was going to rupture with the built up laughter.

"Y-you know. Guys ... Um ... w-wake up with ... Er..." Rosy to fire engine red in point four microseconds.

"Wake up with ... what?" I said softly.

She looked up and into my eyes. Shit! Caught! She can read my eyes as well as I'm learning to read hers.

"You bastard! You're teasing me!" She hit me! She actually hit me! HARD! It hurt! Really!!!

"Yes," I confessed. Before she could inflict any more damage on my already abused body, I pulled her to me and kissed her as hard as she had hit me. She struggled at first. Slowly, she melted into the kiss. Finally, she started giving as good as she was getting. While our tongues waltzed, our hearts synchronized.

While the kiss was one of pure love, Junior decided to prove he wasn't broken. Becca felt his interest and moaned in pure passion into my mouth. She slowly pulled back.

"Junior still works! Goodie!!"

She actually clapped her hands, her eyes lit up, and she played patty-cake on my chest. If she had been standing, she would be doing the Snoopy Dance. As it was, it was a damned erotic lap dance.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Roared, actually. Damned that hurt. My diaphragm was in pain. From lifts? Wow!

"You can't go running with Junior like that. What would Jason think?" She was tisking like I was a little boy. With a sad shake of her head, she slid off my lap onto the floor. Her look and voice reminded me of a teacher. "You need relief."

"Ahmm..." I think that was my last coherent sound as her lips descended over Junior's crown. Her tongue traced around the ridge with unexpected trips through the slit. Her touch was as gentle as a butterfly and driving me insane. She slowly jacked the shaft while sweetly making love to Junior. What sore muscles? What stiff joints?

Now, this they should patent!

She locked her eyes onto mine. I saw infinite love and raw, wanton desire. Slowly, her cheeks caved in as she sucked more of me into her mouth. A sharp gasp strangled the moan I was about to release as she moved the head to the entrance to her throat. The suction, her lip action, and her tongue were creating sensations I had never felt. Intense. Yeah! That's the ... word...

Either seven eternities had passed or I was being a teenager. The familiar feeling in my center started building, moving past the point-of-no-return.

"Oh God! Becca..." Her left hand squeezed my balls, just right. Perfect!

"Shit! I-I'm ... Oh God! I'm..." Her eyes told me yes. Do it. Do it now. The building sensation, the tensing forced mine closed. Every muscle tensed. I felt a hundred times stronger than yesterday. She stayed with me as I began vibrating and bucking off the couch. I was seeing stars. My hands killed the cushions with the grip I used when tackling. My toes curled.

I tensed and went rigid and unloaded.

Exploded.

Deconstructed.

The only physical sense I had was waves being pushed out of my body through Junior. I heard her ecstatic groan, muffled as she swallowed. That sensation drove me higher, pulling more from me. Even after the well was dry, she sucked and swallowed. Her hands were now softly running over my abdomen and thighs. I was hyper-sensitive, yet this felt incredible. It kept me on the edge without being painful.

Some century or two later, my whole being collapsed. I fell onto the sofa and became one with it.

She slowly backed off Junior, cleaning him thoroughly. It was the most tender and loving thing I had ever experienced. I opened my eyes. It took a moment to clear the fireworks and gain focus. Slowly, the most beautiful vision emerged. My Becca, looking into my eyes. She was looking deep into my soul. What I saw in her soul was contentment, pride, joy, and unbounded love.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. Her voice sounded reverent.

"Umph. Ah ... Agh ... Er..." The delight twinkling in her eyes brought a face splitting smile to my face.

"You're welcome, My Mountain. I love you." Her eyes spoke of the infinite beauty of the universe. The love I felt sent a shiver through me. Slowly, I found my voice.

"I love you," emerged from every fiber of my being, powered by the beating of my heart.

The world was eclipsed as I was engulfed in a fierce hug. Her nipples pushing into me. Her arms around my neck. Her breath in my ear. The warmth, the absolute connection made me realize the depth of love my parents had. What Momma has tried to tell me for years. I gently wrapped her in my arms and let the feeling wash over us, our hearts still beating in sync.

Slowly, I pushed her up to look into her being again. I felt a tear in my eye. I saw hers and knew we were both just watering our love. I laid her back down on my chest, heart to heart. My tears of joy now flowed freely and I felt hers dropping onto me.

Suddenly, my body tensed.

PANIC!

Uncertainty flooded through me as easily as my happy tears a minute ago.

Becca pulled back and looked at me. Worried.

"Sorry, cara micina. This is so new to me."

"Me too." Her eyes held an intense certainty of the perfection of us that supported and strengthened me.

We both dove back into a hug and our lips met, washing away the uncertainty. A minute, a lifetime. Promises of more. We broke.

"What was that you said?" Her brow furrowed in a question, not a demand.

"When?" Confused? Me? Never!

"When you told me how new this was, you called me something..."

"I really don't remember after that kiss." She helped me lose more of my memory.

"Jason's waiting for you." That was worse than her hitting me.

"Huh?" Have I mentioned my addled mind before?

"My warrior, go prepare yourself for battle. Yet, think of me all day. Think of tonight when we share more of our bodies."

"I..." Was all I could get out as I tried to process what she'd said.

"And, I love you too, My Mountain."

With a quick peck and a wink, she let me up to start my morning routine. When I started stretching, I realized I'd never had such an attentive audience before. I hoped my muscles were warning up faster than my face.

"Thanks for the interesting beginning to my morning routine!"

"Trust me, it was my pleasure. I never thought I'd like that. With you, though ... And, the taste was something I want again." She smiled and turned pink at the same time. Junior wanted to rise up and thank her too. I managed to control myself. Somehow.

"I'm going to have to sneak over and wake you up some morning with my tongue."

"T-That would ... be wonderful." She was now glowing red, yet panting some. "For your information, I didn't sneak. Your mom let me in, after my mom dropped me off."

"I think I'm in trouble."

"I think you'll like the outcome." She turned redder, if possible, and still managed a giggle. Her nipples crinkled. I was so tempted to bend down and give each a kiss. "But, you need to get going. Jason should be at the end of the drive."

I did bend and gave her a quick kiss. But, I couldn't help it. I bent further and gave each bud a quick suck and lick. I thought I was going to have to scrape her off the ceiling.

"GO!" She screamed as she shuddered.

I was out my private entrance in a flash. I went through my leg stretches again. No sense in taking the chance of pulling something this close to The Big Game. When I came up the driveway in an easy jog, I didn't see Jason. Then a flesh colored bullet went by. He jogged back from his sprint with a big smile on his face. We were in matching uniforms today. Although Jason is shorter and smaller than me, he's still a big guy and well muscled with excellent definition.

"Nice outfit."

"Seems to be all the rage these days." We both laughed. "Actually, it feels really neat running this way."

"Our ancestors thought so."

"They didn't have a lot of choice. Now, are you going to keep up with me today?"

"You gonna keep up with me in tackling practice?"

"Let's go, slow poke." With that, he took off. Over his shoulder, "Catch me, you can tackle me."

I hauled ass after him. I really didn't want to tackle him and break our rising-star running back. Yet, the more he pulled away, came back, ran around me, and took off again, the more I wanted to catch him and slam him into the ground. Yep. Pure testosterone. Ah, teens. Quick recovery.

Most defensive linemen aren't the leading tacklers on a team. Normally, they control the line and clear lanes for the linebackers to make tackles. Yet, I was the leading tackler on our team and in the state. Also, had the most sacks and tackles for loss. Don't give me a tempting target like a running back who is showing off.

I watched him run. Time and time again, he approached me, played his little games, and ran off. I studied his movements, as I do with films of our opponents. It didn't take long to pick up his cues. Plus, I was letting him get closer and closer to me. I could have easily taken him down on his last five passes, but didn't. I'm not about to take down one of my own teammates on a hard surface road. It wouldn't do either of us any good. The way we were dressed wouldn't have helped at all.

We were passing a local park when I struck. I faked a move towards him. He cut and headed closer to the grass. Then I committed my movement to where he was ending up, struck him solidly in the chest with my shoulder and wrapped him up in my arms. I pushed him onto the grass before taking his feet out from under him. At the last second, I resisted slamming into him with all my weight. Still, there was a very satisfying whoosh of air as he hit the ground.

"JESUS!" He managed to get out when he caught his breath.

"You okay, Jason?"

"Shit, you hit East like that and we win."

"Jason, I pulled up."

"Shit."

"Hey, we need you Friday night, not smeared all over the ground in a park."

"Thanks, I think. Shit." He rubbed his chest. "What took you so long to get me?"

"I was studying you and your moves. Just like East has been doing all week. Then I waited until we were by the park."

I helped him up and we went back to our run. The blood flowing rapidly through my system was easing all the sore muscles. We ran about a mile.

"I'll be glad to tell what I saw. You know East will be keying on it." I was hoping Jason would be open to learning. We needed him for this year and to carry on our legacy of State Championships.

"Thanks." I could see in his eyes he wanted to. Good.

"At Practice, then." We consumed a bit more road.

"I thought you'd be too sore after yesterday to run."

"Your sister cured me."

"Huh?" He actually stopped.

"You didn't know she came over this morning?" I'd run by him and came jogging back.

"She did?" His eyes were huge. "My sister?" He looked like he was thinking about trying to take me out.

"Hey, dude, no offense. I've been on enough of an emotional roller coaster this morning."

"What happened?" He tensely demanded. Hey, I knew what it was like to be a brother to a cute sister.

"You probably have an idea of how sore I was when I woke up this morning."

"Yeah." He looked me in the eyes. "Your eyelids probably hurt, right?"

"Bingo. Well ... I woke up grunting, groaning, and cursing the gods. All with my eyes closed because of those painful lids. Didn't want to admit existence of the world until I had gotten full out of bed, either. Becca had snuck in to awaken me and took my mood as..."

"You rejecting her. Shit!"

"We got past it, though."

"How?"

"Jason, that's something I will NOT share with you. Or anyone."

"Yeah, but ... she's my sister!"

"All the more reason not to share it. Look. I respect her. Hell, I'm past falling for her, I'm big time gone. And ... I don't talk about what we do. Okay? Or ... Do I need to follow through on the next tackle?"

"Dude, if you hurt her..."

I stood in front of him and stuck out my hand. "Jason, same promise. If I ever intentionally hurt her, or unintentionally and then don't do anything, I won't fight back. Deal?"

"You're known as a man of your word. Deal." We shook.

"Now, before I stiffen up completely, let's get back to running." We hit the road again at a brisk jog to warm back up. While we consumed more pavement, I willed my mind to settle and compelled my muscles to get stronger, faster, and more flexible.

"So ... You guys are okay now?"

"Yeah. She reluctantly threw me out of my own room to come running with you."

"My sister? Threw? You?"

"Yeah." I had to laugh. "She hits."

"You?"

"Yep. It's abuse, I tell ya." Laughing hard and running don't mix well.

"My sister? Aggressive? Hell, sneaking into your room for a wake up..." His eyes were as large as my mom's lasagnas and he was starting to blush. He had stopped running. "My timid, vanish in any situation sister?"

"That sounds a bit like the girl I sort of knew before Monday. Definitely not the woman I'm going with now."

"My sister?"

"Do you mean that incredible human that I've gotten to know in the past few days?"

"My sister?"

"Yep. That's the woman." I took off running. Finally, I got a lead on a running back and got ahead of him. He kept mumbling something about sister as he easily caught up with me. He actually tried to tackle me by jumping on my back and wrapping his arms around my neck.

I didn't break stride. I'm not fast. I'm consistent. What's another 200 pounds?

"Damn! I can see why they use you on trick plays as a fullback. Fall down, damn it!" He struggled trying to get me to lose my balance. I think he discovered how thick my neck was when he attempted a choke hold. "Shit! At least slow down!"

"I'd throw your puny ass off, but I wouldn't want to run into Coach for the rest of my life."

He laughed with me and slid off my back. We got back up to speed.

"She says you're real gentle." I could barely hear him he was speaking so softly, looking down.

"What?"

"How? I-I ... mean ... how do you go from this ... well, this!" Using his hands, he exaggerated the size of my body, I think "To being gentle? How do you go from picking up Dr. C to being compassionate about Will?"

"Huh?" That addled bastard is back, again.

"I always turn to physical action first." His voice was small and pain was evident in his face and eyes. He was definitely related to Becca.

"Jason, that's usually my first reaction." Our pace was picking up. I could feel the warmth of my blood nurturing my abused muscles.

"Yeah, but..."

"Reactions are. They just are. Actions count. You have to learn to intercept the reaction before doing damage, then find the right action."

"How?"

"Practice. Like anything. Coaches help, but lots of practice."

"How do you do it?"

"Badly, usually!" His glare gave me a chance to get serious. "My parents got me into meditation practices early. That's a good first step of becoming aware of yourself. Then T'ai Ch'i, where there exists no move for attack. It's all about controlled response."

"Would you teach me?" He wasn't quite pleading, but something was going on. This was not the right setting. Not the right week. Yet, he was having one of those 'Oh Shit!' moments that is the beginning of real change.

"Meditation, yes. It's an easy practice to start. Matter of fact, I'm working with Becca on it."

"Hey, thanks for not calling her Bec." I almost missed a step. We slowed to a fast jog.

I couldn't help but smile. "No problem. I didn't know at first that that was your special name for her. To me, she just feels like a Becca."

"Back to teaching, why not T'ai Ch'i?" I used a bit of road to gather my thoughts.

"If a hundred people work for twenty years, maybe one will master it. I'm not a master, I can't teach you. My teacher is, though. I can introduce you."

"Does it work?"

"How many people have you seen my size that aren't klutzes in everyday life?"

"Well ... None. Except you around my sister!" He snorted. I snorted back. "Okay, introduce me and start me on meditation."

"Done. After this week, okay?" He nodded agreement and we started running hard again. We worked up to a decent pace for both of us.

"Why 'My Mountain'?"

"She likes my caves."

"Your ... What?" Did he hit a low-hanging limb? Sure looked stunned to me.

"She likes to snuggle into my chest, it's a safe place for her. She calls it her Cave." I was grinning.

"Do you have any pet names for her?"

"Yes."

"So..."

"She hasn't heard them yet." I briefly flashed to earlier. Had I let 'my dear little kitten' slip out? Well, it sounds better in Italian.

"Why?"

"I haven't used them yet. When the time is right. Why so curious?"

"I ... I'll tell you later." He blushed a bit. Must run in the family. "See you at school."

He headed for his house and I headed towards mine. When I got to my door, I grabbed a jump rope and started working it. Yes, most Mountains can't jump. Yet, this helped me with agility and balance. Plus, it is a great way to cool down after a run. I was breathing deep and doing a series of easy hand crossovers with alternating feet when Becca opened the door.

She didn't say anything, but I could see the artist creating pictures. That prompted me to do a Rocky-style finish, spinning the rope as hard and fast as I could, then planting with an arms-over-the-head victory whoop.

"Do that often?" Her breathing was a bit labored, panting, actually. That rosy glow was coming back.

"Jumping rope?"

"Mm-Hm..." Damn, those rubber legs were back, with just one look!

"A few times a week."

"Damn!" She smiled. It was ... sultry? Sexy? Passionate? Hungry? Hell! All of the above and more! Junior definitely noticed and decided to investigate.

She winked, gave Junior a short wank, and said, "You need a shower."

I took a chance. "Wash my back?"

"Some other time, stud. I have to fix My Mountain breakfast." She winked, turned, and headed in. I could only hang my mouth open and stare at her ass. Was Rosy ever going to get a workout in the shower. Was that cheating?

"No cheating. Save it for later," she said while finally disappearing up the stairs.

I did a short form for T'ai Ch'i, only 15 minutes long. Just enough to settle my body. Usually it settled and emptied my mind as well, helped me find my center. I couldn't get Becca out of my mind today. Her eyes and how I fall into them. Her mind and how it intrigued me. Her emotions and how they confused me.

After a long shower, and no cheating, I headed up to the kitchen. My teachers stressed that staying on center was not the goal—impossible, actually. Life was about how quickly and gracefully you came back to center. I could see that Becca was going to help me learn my lessons well! Hell, better than being thrown on the mat.

Of course, she does hit.

As I came to the closed door at the top of the stairs, the giggles of multiple females filtered around it. The sounds of Shostakovich mixed and obscured their conversation. The whispers, shrieks, and cackles served an excellent counterpoint to the piano voicing the melody. My hand hesitated, waiting to see if I could figure out the nature of the estrogen party I was going to walk into.

A grumble from deep within me ended my attempt at espionage. Even if they didn't hear it, I had to eat ... Now!

I opened the door.

Imprinted on my being for eternity will be the picture of three beautiful nude women in aprons. Becca was bent over at the waist looking for something in a lower cabinet. Junior really liked that view. Margie was bent over looking for something as well. When had she grown curves like that?

Momma turned and caught my leer. Giving me a wink, she bent, at the waist, and whispered to Becca and Margie. They all giggled and started wiggling their asses at me.

Oh! My! God! I'm in deep shit.

Rebbecca

I watched Luis stretch and then head up the driveway for his run. Looking around his room, I couldn't resist and dove into his bed and burrowed under the covers. Some of his heat was still trapped in the soft fabric and his scent rolled over me. As my hands found the right places, I thought how I'd like to wake up in this bed every morning.

After a surprisingly quick build and fantastic release, I just melted into Luis's scent. My head was dancing. If my feet had wanted to move, I'd be doing a happy dance. What was the line from one of Luis's songs? Something about excusing me while I kissed the sky? Bend down here, sky!

When my mind returned to the here and now, I flashed on my waking dream. Sorry Scotland, your heather just lost to Luis's covers!

'Then you'd better get past your insecurities.'

'Hi Muse. Enjoy the show?'

'Both of them!'

'Glad we could entertain you. Now, what should I do about breaking down like I did?'

'Just don't do it again.'

'Thanks, you're a lot of help.'

Yet, I did think about it. It was my choice. If I remember, Luis called it my action after my reaction. I did control that. It was time to grow up. It was time to trust Luis. More importantly, it was time to trust myself. I can do this. I have to do this.

After making the bed, cleaning up, I headed up to the kitchen.

Carmella wrapped me in a big hug, sat me down, and joined me for some tea.

"How did it go?"

Oh. My. God! Am I going to have to discuss my sex life... ? Whoa! Reaction. What's the right action? I looked at her face and saw ... love, a true concern, and caring. There was no judgment. Just empathy. Now I had a working definition of that word.

"He woke up in pain and I took it wrong." Amazingly, I didn't breakdown, didn't dissociate, didn't flee. I went through the whole episode, less the blowjob. I'm pretty sure she knew something happened, though. Yet, her questions, looks—actions!--spoke only of love, empathy, and ... a new working definition—compassion.