Pookie

Well, here it is chapter 3 of pookie. I hope that you like it. Thanks for all the support and all the e-mails that I've recieved, keep on sending them, 'cause they help keeping the motivation on top. Thanks again to my editor Jack, for all the trouble of reviewing my bad english. I hope that you like it.

Note---- did you all see the VMAs? The Madonna, Britney, Christina and Missy performance was awsome, totally great, and I loved the look on Justin's face (:PPPP), anyway here's chapter 3 of pookie.

Pookie 3

"Brad?" I heard Pete ask.

I couldn't turn around, I was too stunned to even blink; so I just stared at the cage in front of me.

"Brad, my aunt said that you needed some help..." Pete said.

I sighed. I turned around and looked at the ground "I can handle it myself...don't worry..."

"Look, I wasn't going to come...but Shi can be pretty persuasive..." Pete said.

"Shi?" I asked with a little laugh.

I looked at him...he was nervous. Maybe he was also uncomfortable around me..."That's her nickname...." Pete said.

"Oh..." I said looking at Snowball. "Well, if you want to, you can start by cleaning the second cage behind you..."

"Look Brad, I want to talk to you..." he said with a pleading look.

It was that look that made me weak before, and it seemed that it still did. He still had so much power over me....!

"Well, ..talk while we're working." I said grabbing a duster.

I needed to be doing something, that way I wouldn't be nervous and wouldn't show my weak side.

"Hum....I'm sorry!" he said, still not moving.

I stopped. The duster fell to the ground. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done what I did...." he said looking at the ground. " My mom couldn't accept that a son of hers would be different...she started telling me how I should be like my brother, and how I was supposed to have a certain life..and how my family never went the wrong way..."

I was speechless. These were the words that I wanted to hear so many times in the past.And now I was hearing them from the mouth of the person that had I wanted.Surprisingly, they didn't have the effect that they once might have; he could be sorry, but that didn't take back what I had suffered; with what I went through...it didn't changed a thing.

"I'm glad that you felt that way..." I said grabbing the duster.

"Wait I'm not finished....after ...well..after I broke up with you...well I was devastated...My mom continued to pressure me and made me get a girlfriend the next day..." he said sadly.

I didn't say anything, I already knew all that.

"Well, some time after that, my aunt visited us, and well...I don't know how, but she managed to find out...and was totally different to my mother....she supported me, she said that it was totally normal....she was a great friend." he said.

"Look Pete...that is all very well, but I think that you're a little late with the explanation thing..." I said trying to sound confident.

"I know, I know...but I just needed to do this.. I needed to find some peace."

To find some peace? What about me? He was all that mattered? I was the one that got hurt, not him....!

"Look Pete, you probably went through a tough time...but let me tell you my side of the story." I said, waving the duster at him. "After you broke up with me, I was totally devastated, I thought that it was my fault, that I always made the people that I loved go away, ...first my father, then you."

"You have nothing to.." Pete started.

"Let me finish!" I said loudly, scaring myself and Pete. "I went home and cried all night, after all you were my first...first everything. I was so sad that in the morning after my mom had left, ...that I tried...I tried to kill myself..." I sighed, this was harder than I thought." Luckily Bri was waiting for me and stopped me before it was to late...."

"I didn't know.." he said sadly.

"I bet you didn't...I bet that you thought that maybe I cried, and the next day was trying to find a replacement...right?" I said, now angry. "Look, I don't want excuses, I want you to leave me alone...I don't want to talk to you,see you or even smell you..."

"But..." he started.

"I SAID that I don't want anything with you." I said pointing the duster at the exit door. "Now, please leave, I'll take care of everything."

"Just let me explain" he said

"NO....just go!" I could feel the tears forming.

He looked at the ground and left. After the door closed, I just slumped to the ground. All the tears that I had cried came back...I was so weary, so out of energy, the effort had drained me so much. Snowball sensed my sadness and coming to me, started licking my hand. That only made me cry harder, I grabbed Snowball and hugged him with all my strength, as if he was my last friend...

I remembered the morning that everything happening....getting out of the bed....looking at myself in the mirror...looking at the razor and just seeing one way, one solution. I still remembered the feel of the cold razor aginst my skin.I still remembered the scream Bri gave when she saw me...

I continued crying...Pete was gone... Finally he was gone...but I didn't feel any better...in fact I was worse....I wanted to stop crying, but I couldn't...it was stronger than me. Snowball looked at me and licked a tear that was rolling down my face. I looked at him and just hugged him even more.

....

I was walking down the street, totally lost in my thoughts, when I felt something push hard against my backpack. I turned around to find Spike jumping in front of me. I knelt and hugged him. "HI there...where's your owner?"

"HEIIIIIII, don't let him go away!" I heard Mike screaming.

I looked up and saw Mike running down the street with a leash in his hand...even when he ran he was perfect....he stopped near us, leant over, put his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths.

"Thanks for holding Spike...I don't know what got into him...he saw you and just started running." He said between gasps for breath.

He looked up at me and his face took on a worried look. "HeY, are you OK? ..You look like you've been crying."

"I'm OK..." I said. "And I'm glad Spike is OK, but I need to go."

As I was speaking, I noticed a small kitten near a dumpster. I looked closely and noticed that it wasn't moving.

"Brad? What's wrong?" Mike asked, worried.

I walked towards the cat and could see that it was having trouble breathing.

"Brad? What..." Mike said, and then he also saw the cat. "Oh shit, it looks like it needs some help, lets take it to the clinic!"

"It's closed, and today is Friday" I said, carefully lifting the cat.

"Well, lets go to my place, its right nearby, come on" Mike said. starting to walk in front of me," Come on, it's just here."

I was a little nervous about going to his place...I mean to be near him ALONE....but the cat needed help.

...

"Hang in there." Mike said caressing the cat.

We were in the bathroom, and I had been applying a bandage to the cat's leg. The leg appeared to be broken, and the cat was hungry, apparently unable to eat because of the injury. Mike was my assistant, as I was the one that knew more of animal care. I had learned something at the clinic...

I reached for a cloth. Mike reached for the the same, and seemingly without noticing, his hand stayed rested on top of mine. I blushed and took my hand gently away."Pass me that yellow bottle." I said without looking at him.

MIke passed it to me. I was still blushing, I could feel it. The bandage was done. I looked at the cat and caressed his neck. "So, what are you going to do with our patient?"

"I don't know..., I'll talk to my aunt. So are you hungry, Doc?" he said, smiling.

"Yeah, Nurse!" I said, smiling back.

"At least I'm a sexy nurse." He said, walking towards the kitchen.

I wasn't going to reply to that... His kitchen was in one word, HUGE. A person could get lost in there. It was decorated in white tones, making it look like one of those kitchens that you only see in magazines; everything was neatly clean and organized, so I was even afraid of moving a chair out of position.

"The floor won't break, you can walk on it!" Mike said while looking for something in the fridge.

I blushed again. "Sorry, its just that this place is so....so...."

"Fragile? I know....but my mom likes it this way." he said, handing me a glass of juice. "I hope you like that flavour..."

I drank a little and noticed that it was peach juice. I hated that, but I wasn't going to be rude.

"You don't like it, do you?" Mike said, smiling.

"No, I love it." I said, faking a smile.

"You know, you have a really expressive face, you can't hide your feelings....I can tell just by looking at you....that you just HATE that!"

I smiled. "Well...yes...peach is not my favourite flavor..."

"Well, I have orange juice in there, I'll get THAT for you!" he said, walking towards the fridge again. "Oh, and I almost forgot, Bri is comming over for dinner, do you wanna stay and eat with us?"

O, what a decision: I knew that I would have trouble disguising my feelings when near him, but at the same time that smile of his was irresistible...I nodded.

"Cool, you can call your mom." he said. "The phone is there."

As I walked over and dialed our number, at the same time the doorbell rang. Mike left the kitchen, and I sighed.

"Yes?" I heard my mom say.

"Mom, it's me!"

"Brad, where are you? I was getting worried!" she said.

I rolled my eyes, "An emergency came up and I'm at Mike's house, can I stay over to dinner?"

"Who's Mike?" My mom asked in a concerned tone. "Has his mother agreed to this?"

"Mom, he invited me, I'm sure his mother is fine with it..." I said trying to hurry the conversation.

"OK, OK....so you won't be over for dinner?" she said, maybe too happily.

"Mom, is John coming over for dinner?" I asked.

"Well, yes, he is now, maybe we can have a little romantic dinner..." she said and I could feel the smile in her voice.

"Look, I have to go, love ya"

"Love you"

I hung up just as Bri began hugging me. "Mike told me that you weren't looking so good.." she whispered.

"I'll tell ya later." I said, giving her a hug in return.

"Get a room." I heard Mike say, as he entered the kitchen.

"Don't be jelous, Mikey!" Bri said smiling, "So, what's for dinner?"

"Well, My mom went out with my Aunt Sheila...." Mike started.

"Wait, you're Shiela's nephew? So that means that you are Pete's cousin!" I said a bit startled.

"Yeah, he's a great guy isn't he?" Mike asked smiling.

"Yeah, totally awesome!" I said, rolling my eyes.

"So, we have to cook?" Bri said changing the subject.

....

"Mike, where's the bathroom?" I asked; they were starting to talk about Pete.

"Down the hall to the right." he said.

I walked towards the bathroom, entered and sat on the toilet. I gave a big sigh. I was feeling so drained, ...so tired. Having to pretend that everything was fine was making me even more tired. But I guess that over the years I had mastered the art of pretence. Pretend that I was normal, that I was happy, that nothing bothered me, that that girl was hot, ...when her boyfriend was the one I lusted for.

I went to the sink and splashed some water on my face. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. Even my face showed signs of tirendess. I needed to sleep and forget Pete. While I was drying my hands on the towel I noticed something shining near the sink. It was a razor. Feelings that I had felt before come back. I rested my hand on it. I could feel the cold metal on my hand.

Suddenly I felt another hand on top of mine. "Mike, what's wrong?"

"I don't know Bri, I'm so fucked up..." I said sadly.

And I told Bri about the vet incident... the converstion with Pete. Again I could feel tears sliding down my face.

"Look Brad, I know that it must've been hard, but you've gotta pull yourself together...you stood up to him...you were strong...you have to be strong again!" Bri said.

"I don't want to be strong, I just want...." I said trailing off.

"To resolve things the easy way." she said angrily. "Look, last time we kept what you did to youself a secret. You said that you were stronger and that you weren't going to try that anymore...I trusted you!"

I startd crying. "Bri, I don't know...I feel so fucked up...I don't know what to do...."

"Look, fuck Pete, he's over! You have to start things over...and right now we have a dinner to finish and a host waiting for us." she said, grabbing some toilet paper. " Now, clean your face and lets go!"

I wiped the tears my face, got up , washed my face and walked with Bri towards the kitchen.

"Everything OK?" Mike asked, looking at us.

"Yeah, Brad got stuck on the toilet!" Bri said, while sitting down.

"Very funny, Bri! " I said, grabbing a fork.

The conversation went smoothly after that and ten minutes later Bri excused herself, leaving Mike and I alone.

"So Brad, do you have any pets?" MIke asked while grabbing the plates.

"Well, I had a dog, but since it's death, my mom couldn't want another!" I said while helping cleaning the table.

Sudenly the lights went out. "Probably a power failure..." I heard Mike say.

I didn't move, I stayed still, just where I was and carefully put the glasses down. It was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. "Mike? where are you?"

"Don't move, I'll find you!" I heard him say.

I didn't move. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm and somone fall on top of me. I fell on my back and felt the other person fall on top of me. The lights come up. I looked up to see Mike's face looking right at me. His eyes, those eyes again, so deep, ...this close they looked even more beautiful.I don't know what got into me, but I started to approach MIke's face. He started doing the same. I closed my eyes, and..

"Are you guys alright?" Bri said appearing out of nowhere.

I groaned, "I'm OK, are you OK, Mike?"

"Yeah, yeah!" he said getting up, I swear that I could see some blushing.

"Good, the power went down suddenly with me on the bathroom...!" Bri said.

.....

"So, you were almost kissing him weren't you?" Bri asked me.

We were walking back towards our houses after the blackout. I had managed to find an excuse to get out of there and Bri tagged along.

"We were not!" I said, not containing a smile.

"Yes you were, if I hadn't shown up, you would probably be fucking like rabbits." she said smiling "Thank God for my timely arrival..."

"Right, like if..." I trailed off.

"If what?"

"Nothing, look here's my house, I'll see you later..." I said, hugging her.

"You're not getting away so easily." She said, while hugging me. "And forget Pete, he's in the past!"

"I know," I said. "Goodnight and thanks."

"Just doing my job!" she said, walking away.

John's car was in the driveway, so I was a little scared of walking in the middle of something. I was about to open the door when someone opened it from inside.

"So, I'll call you tomorrow." I heard John say.

Just inside the door my mom and John stood, hard close together,totally into each other.I hadn't been noticed. I cleared my throat.

"Oh, honey you're home,.. this is John. John, this is my son Brad" she said, clearly embarrased

"Nice to meet you." I said in my most polite tone.

"Likewise." he said back.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me, goodnight!" I said to both of them.

"Good night." I heard them say.

I walked up to my room and threw my keys on my desk. I lay down on the bed trying to rest. Five minutes later my mom appeared in the doorway.

"Honey, are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah..." I said as I closed my eyes.

"You look so down..." she said, sitting down next to me. "You know you can tell me anything, ....well, I'm all ears!"

AT that moment I did think of telling her everything, everything from th very beggining, ...but I knew that she wasn't going to take it lighly, I just knew!

"Don't worry, I'm ok, just tired!" I said, not opening my eyes.

"Well, then goodnight, honey" she said, walking away.

I didn't reply, I was on a jorney to dream land....

...

I woke up with the sound of something hitting the window. At first I thought that maybe it was the wind. But then I looked out and could see someone standing there. It was Mike, and he looked to be freezing.

Standing up, I went to the window and opened it. Next, the most suprising thing happened, Mike out of nowhere just leant in and kissed me fully on the lips; I was speechless, I could just grasp onto the window frame.

"This is to finish some unfinished business that we left at my house" he said smiling."Can I come in?"

I just nodded, standing there as Mike climbed in. I was stunned, totally surprised.

"You can talk now" he said smiling.

"Mike, I'm....I mean...I wasn't ..." I started.

He stopped me with another kiss. This time I was more ready and I returned it. And this time he wasn't expecting my reponse; I opened my mouth and let his tongue enter.He sure knew how to do it and didn't seemed to want to retreat. I was needing air, so I pulled apart.

"Whoa, Mike hold on!" I said. "First, tell to me....why DID you come here?"

"I was so hyped after what happened before...I mean it was obvious that you were interested, I mean you were leaning to kiss me...." He said smiling."And then, I was so happy that you liked me back!"

"Wow...you mean you like me?" I asked surprised.

He blushed. "Since that day on the beach..."

"But you're not gay!" I said confused.

"Oh really?" he said, almost laughing. "Where do you think that Bri met me?"

Suddenly it was all so obvious. Bri knew from the beggining and was always giving me these not so subtle hints about it, I was so stupid...

"You mean that she met you in a gay club?"He nodded.

I didn't know what to say or do.. I was speechless. Mike was still smiling. He looked at me, walked towards me and when he was right in front of me asked, "Can I kiss you now?"

"Look Mike, I don't think that..." I started.

He put his finger over my mouth, "Don't say anything, Bri told me that you had problems with you ex, whoever he migh be....I'm not asking anything special, just a kiss, nothing more...just a goodnight kiss!"

I agreed and let him kiss me. It started out slow, but soon we were totally into it, ..this time it was Mike who pushed me away gently. "I have to go, I understand that you aren't ready for a relatioship right now, and I can wait....but not too long..."

I nodded. "Thanks." I said.

"You're welcome." He said, while getting out through the window. "Goodnight." he said from the outside.

"Night." I said, closing the window.

After Mike disappeared into the darkeness, I collapsed onto my bed. I was in heaven. But then that heavenly feeling abruptly ended as I rememebered the vet scene; suddenly, it was as if all the weariness came back at once, I felt drained and I just had to sleep. .... TBC?

Well, sorry for taking so long....but I promise that I'll try to hurry up the next time..anyway keep the e-mails to pookie_story@hotmail.com..Thanks again for all the suport.