Fever Dreams

	Sensations came back to him slowly at first, in a dreamy haze. He noticed the lights were low and pink, that soft electronic music was coming from somewhere. It was quiet, soothing. His consciousness collected itself slowly, then all at once. He blinked and his vision was clearer, but the haze remained.
	He was dizzy and detached from his situation. He was lying down, in a bed he supposed. A thin blanket covered him up to the waist, but the air was warm, he didn’t need it. He tried to lower his arms, which he found were strangely over his head. He felt fabric rustle tightly against his forearms and the clank of light metal. His arms did not move more than a few centimeters.
	Strangely, it wasn’t a real concern. None of this felt real enough to be a concern. He yawned absentmindedly and continued to look around the room. A clock and a boombox rested next to a lamp on the far side of the bed. He moved his gaze across the room. Dressers, a door, a tv, a desk, a window with the curtains drawn tightly. A comfortable looking room, but not his.
	He took a deep, shaky breath, finding it hard to come. Further, it came with a sharp pain in his sides. This prompted him to look down, only to find his torso tightly bound in bandages. Somewhat disturbing, but he did not linger on it. His eyes drifted down; he didn’t seem to be wearing pants but it was hard to tell with the blanket. He felt something on his ankle, and saw a leather cuff attached to the bedframe, with a chain that disappeared under the covers.
	The music thrummed hypnotically in the background, and the boy sighed dispassionately, before adjusting to a more comfortable upright position. The room spun, which would be disorienting if he didn’t feel so detached. He listened to the music, trying to place it, as the door swung open.

	It took him a moment to focus on the newcomer. A girl, taller than he was (though that was not saying much.) She had long, frizzy dark hair that was kept out of her face by a scrunchy. Dark eyes, no apparent makeup, relaxed and confident posture. She was wearing an open fuzzy robe, a t-shirt with some band name on it, and a flannel pajama bottom. She had the air of someone spending a lazy day inside. He had no idea who she was.
	“Oh, you’re awake!” She seemed pleasantly surprised. “How are you feeling?”
	“Not bad.” He answered somewhat robotically, trying to find his voice. “How are you?”
	“Alright. I had a pretty slow day today. Do you want any water or food or anything?” She fished a small vape pen out of her robe pocket.
	“Nah, I’m good.” He intoned, watching her take a few puffs.
	“Do you want a hit?” She asked, gesturing towards him with the pen.
	“I don’t smoke.”
	“It’s weed.”
	“Oh. Yes please.”
	She smirked and walked to the bedside, holding the pen to his lips. He inhaled and released a little too quickly. He took another hit, this time holding it too long. He coughed slightly as he felt a pleasant high rush over him, dulling the pain in his side. The girl walked over to where the table with the tv and picked up a phone, changing the music to something with a similar style but a groovier vibe.

	“Why am I tied up?” The boy asked in the temporarily empty air. There was a brief moment of tension. The girl ignored it, instead swaying to the new song as it started. As it built, she twirled laughing, then facing the boy again.
	“Do you like it? The song, I mean. The other playlist was too chill.”
	“From where I’m sitting it has a bit of a ‘Reservoir Dogs’ vibe.” He said somewhat darkly.
	“I’m not much of a Tarantino fan.” She said, moving to the opposite side of the bed.
	“That’s fair, he’s overrated honestly.”
	“Besides, isn’t he known for, like, classic rock?” She sat on the bedside, taking another pull off the pen.
	“Yeah, it wasn’t a good comparison honestly.” He took another drag when offered, then continued. “This has, I don’t know, a very ‘online’ sound.”
	The girl frowned. “What, are you saying I’m too online?”
	The guy looked up at her. “Yeah. I mean, the lights, the dance, the vape. I could go on.”
	A smile broke on her face, and she melodramatically fell backward laughing, feigning indignation. “Shut uuuuuuuup!”
	She rolled over and offered him the vape again, which he took another pull off of, again coughing. “This is good.” He coughed again and caught his breath. “This is strong stuff.”
	“Not really, it was a pretty cheap dab pen honestly.” She stared at him as she took another pull herself. Her gaze unnerved him somewhat. She was awfully close, and he was feeling awfully dizzy. He turned toward the ceiling so he wouldn’t have to look at her. Distantly a twinge of discomfort stuck in the corner of his mind.

	“I guess my tolerance must be low.” He got the sudden urge to wake up, snap to his senses, or something else along those lines. His mind swum, still confused and hazy.
	“Must be.” The girl’s voice was low and close in his ear. Her hand ran through his hair, her touch as soft and distant as every other sensation he remembered. His mind raced, unable to find anything solid to hold onto, unable to linger even a moment.
	He didn’t notice as the girl swung herself on top of him, straddling him. He only noticed when the spot of the ceiling he was staring at was instead filled with her face, grinning down at him. He blinked in confusion, trying to parse what he was seeing, feeling.
	He had no time as she pulled his face to hers, pulling him into a deep kiss. Very real sensation shot down his spine. The feeling of her soft lips on his mouth. Her tongue darting across his lip. The sound of her breathing softly through her nose. The feeling of her hot breath down his neck. The pressure of her body rubbing against his. The taste of her lip balm. The smell of her body.
	His mind, previously detached and dispassionate, suddenly rushed back into his body. Still hazy, but far more solid. He was not sure of anything, but there was a sudden undeniable reality to his situation. His mind was full to bursting and he desperately wanted to sort through it, but instead he decided to kiss her back. Her breath quickened as he did so.
	They hung like that for several moments more, until she finally broke away, sitting up and smiling stupidly. He looked up at her, suddenly she seemed very attractive. Her expression inviting and warm, her body elegant and frankly, from his position, a little awe-inspiring. A deep primal part of him felt a connection, a desire to be hers.
	She paused a moment too long, however, and the boy’s conscious mind came roaring back. His eyes, which had been glazed over with desire, locked with hers, instead cleared and focused for the first time in what felt like a long while. His thoughts came racing back, and the brief spell was broken. As she tried to lean back in for another kiss, he turned away.

	“No, wait. Stop.” He glanced back at her, to see her face filled with a sudden frightening wave of intense stormy emotion for a split second, only to clear to a gentle concern.
	“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Her hand brushed his face and went to his side, but he shook his head.
	“No, it’s just…” He struggled to find the right words, failing, instead asking bluntly “Who are you?”
	The girl smiled patiently at him, which he found an odd reaction. “Oli. It’s alright, this happens a lot.”
	“I’m -“ The boy began, but the girl cut him off.
	“I know, you’re Casper.” She smirked, “’Like the friendly ghost.’”
	She said that in a tone as though she knew he hated when people asked that. His eyes narrowed, now slightly suspicious.
	“What did you mean ‘This happens a lot?’” The girl brought a hand to her temple, still patient but clearly finding the conversation tedious. The boy did not care terribly, having now much more pressing things on his mind.
	“I mean that you’ve been asking me that ever since I found you, lying in the snow in a park. That was a few weeks ago. Whenever you wake up you have a hard time remembering, but it will pass.”
	His blood ran cold. “A few weeks ago? I… I don’t remember…”
	The girl lay down beside him, holding him close, hushing him. “It’s alright. It’s alright. You’re safe now. I don’t know what happened either. But you’re safe here, you’re getting better.”
	She was reassuring, but her tone clashed with the absurd reality the boy found himself in. “And while I was recovering we uh…” He swallowed, blushing “We’ve kissed like that before?”
	The girl’s face also turned red, and she looked away. “Well ah not exactly. When we kissed before you were never quite this… lucid. Uh, before.”

	The boy tensed at the implication. Vague memories were trickling back to him. The feeling of being carried. The feeling of a fever, and a wet sponge on his forehead. A terrible feeling of pain. But none of being kissed. Questions surfaced in his mind that he thought better not to ask. He was suddenly terribly aware of the bindings on his arms and leg, and the intense expression that this strange girl sometimes seemed to wear.
	For her part, she clearly noticed his rapidly shifting mood. She cupped his face in her hands and turned it towards her. “Hey. Hey. Don’t do this.”
	“Do what?” The boy snapped, annoyed.
	“Overthink!” The girl was clearly frustrated, but she sighed, looking back at him with a plaintive pout. “Please, just go slow. And don’t act like you don’t want this. Like you don’t want me.”
	Her voice was again a soft and heavy purr in his ear. She leaned in close, now whispering.
	“This time you kissed me back.”
	He shivered in her arms as she buried her head in his neck, kissing him softly. The boy’s brow furrowed as he mulled. She was oddly convincing, but in a way almost too convincing. As though she were inside his head, pulling all the right levers to get what she wanted.
	Further, some part of him felt as though he was taking all of this far too meekly. The haze in his head wasn’t helping either, he was faintly worried that there was something seriously wrong with him that he couldn’t begin to place.
	But then again, with these thoughts wasn’t he doing exactly what she accused him of? Overthinking?
	For her part, she was relaxing quickly. Moving over him again, this time twining his free leg between her own. She wrapped her arms around his head, and pulled it into her chest, planting her face in his hair. She inhaled deeply.

	“You need to tell me what shampoo you use. I can barely smell it in your hair anymore.”
	“Oh God, I barely remember. It’s something fruity I think?” His voice was muffled, and the girl started chuckling. The boy blushed deeply again.
	“I uh didn’t mean that in, like, a homophobic way. I meant like-“ He was cut off as the girl once again grabbed his head, unexpectedly pushing it deeper between her breasts. He squirmed frantically, and the girl closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. After a moment she let him pull away, gasping for breath, face beet red.
	“Don’t do that!” He demanded indignantly, staring angrily up at her.
	His sudden and rough introduction to her body led him to almost unconsciously look her over again. It was hard to tell at first, but he supposed her body type could best be described as “athletic.” Not that she was lacking in curves, of course, he had just had the unwanted pleasure of being intimately introduced to some of them.
	Rather, she was solidly built with a long squarish torso. This appearance was reinforced by what she was wearing, her loose t-shirt and robe generally seemed to obscure the shape and size of her bust and her flannel bottoms generally seemed to do the same to her legs and butt, which the boy now realized were actually rather thick and shapely.
Not that he was looking at that. Nor at her breasts, where he could now more clearly see two small bumps poking up the fabric, no doubt stimulated by his face moments ago. All in all, she had an oddly contradictory appearance. Well built and statuesque, but also curvy and very casual looking.
	The girl smirked mischievously down at him as he stared up at her, before roughly pulling his head back to her chest, dragging it back and forth quickly, cutting off his protests. The feeling of her soft flesh through the fabric was embarrassing but at the same time uncomfortably exciting. Finally, she released him and he fell back onto the bed, panting and glaring but without comment.

	“I told you to stop overthinking.” The girl got off the boy and momentarily got up, tossing off her robe and retrieving a water bottle from somewhere under her bed. The boy sat sulking. The girl cocked her head. “Just tell me what you’re thinking right now, be honest.”
	“That this is some ‘Misery’-ass shit.” He grumbled. The girl chuckled, taking a sip from the water bottle.
	“Oh, I know that one, it’s Steven King, right? I like him.” She sat beside the boy, who didn’t respond. “So what, are you going hit me over the head with a lamp? That would be a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?”
	She made a good point, he supposed. Though the situation she had put him in was clearly not right, she had not really threatened him. The worst she had done was be too forward. Far too forward. He found himself quietly muttering “Yeah, it would I guess.”
	“Alright!” She suddenly sat up and smiled manically. “If you pinky promise not to hit me over the head with a lamp I promise not to break your legs, deal?”
	 She extended her pinky. The boy maintained eye contact with her, annoyed expression clear on his face. He shook the chain that was binding his arms to the headboard.
	“Right.” She leaned over him and wrapped her pinky around his, shaking on it. “I can’t promise I won’t shoot a cop, though. Sometimes the pigs have it coming.”
	“Um… Right.” The boy said, unsure but totally mystified as the girl leaned back.
	“Fuck the police.” She said.
	“Fuck the police.” The boy echoed.
	“How are you feeling?” The girl asked again.
	“Overwhelmed.” The boy answered honestly after a moment.

	“That’s alright, that’s totally fine.” The girl said quietly, adjusting her position so she was now sitting next to him. “Let’s just sit for a while and drink some water. Smoke some more, maybe. We can watch something, like a movie or just random videos or something.”
	“That sounds nice, yeah.” He meant it. He found himself relaxing somewhat as the girl set the tv. She leaned against him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. After a moment of hesitation, he leaned back against her as well.
	They sat watching stupid mindless videos for a while, and the boy started to find himself enjoying himself for the first time in a while. The drugs helped, as did the videos keeping his mind away from his situation. The girl was likely right, he figured, about one thing at least. He did tend to overthink things, and overthinking at present would only make things worse for him.
	So, when her hand drifted from his shoulder to his chest he said nothing. Her fingers flicked past his exposed nipple and he shivered slightly, despite himself. The girl noticed and smiled down at him wickedly. For his part the boy stared at the tv, making no comment. The girl lightly traced a circle around his nipple, which he tried desperately to ignore. Finally, she stopped, and he exhaled in relief.
	Without warning she pinched him, hard, on the nipple she’d been playing with. He yelped as a wave of pain and pleasure danced across his chest, racing up and down his spine. He turned angrily at his tormentor, sitting up and snapping again, “Would you cut it out?”

	She gave him a toothy grin. “Why? Are you sensitive there?”
	“Of course I am! Everyone is! Knock it off!”
	“Sorry, I was getting bored.”
	“It’s only been ten minutes!”
	“Alright, alright. I’ll leave you alone.” After a moment of wordless fuming the boy leaned back against her again. After he had settled down somewhat she decided to keep poking.
	“You know, I’m not wearing a bra.” Her cheeks burned somewhat, but her heart raced when she felt him squirm slightly.
	“Yeah. I know. I could feel that earlier.” His tone was less angry, and increasingly resigned. This did nothing but encourage the girl.
	“Really? You must have a sensitive face.” She teased.
	“What does that even mean?” He complained.
	“You tell me, you’re the one with the sensitive face.” She ran a hand over his cheek. “Damn, your skin really is soft. Do you moisturize?”
	“No I don’t moisturize.” He replied indignantly.
	“I’m jealous. Your skin is softer than mine.” She mused, only half teasing. She played with his hair a little. “Soft hair, too. It’s pretty.”
	“Thanks.” The boy grumbled. He had a mop of shaggy blonde hair, which mixed with his soft pink skin, petite and thin frame, and pale blue eyes gave him a meek, almost girlish appearance. He didn’t really care, he was comfortable and confident enough with his gender, but he was hardly used to people making comments like this.
	“I mean it! It was one of the first things I noticed about you!” She was off on a tangent now, and the boy was nervous about where it may be headed. “You know… I have a dress that would look good on you. An Easter dress I got when I was a girl, I think it would fit you! It’s blue, it would really bring out your eyes.”
	“What? No, I’m not going to wear your dress, I’m not a girl.” He was more confused than anything, her line of thought was even more bizarre than he anticipated.
	“Who says you have to be a girl to wear a dress.” She grumbled, before going on, “I’m just saying you’re pretty. In a really cute way and I think you should know that. It kind of sticks in my head, having you around just makes me… Happier.”
	There was a brief silence, filled by the videos still playing on the tv. The boy blushed deeply, feeling conflicted about the unexpected praise. He swallowed, and responded quietly, stuttering slightly, “Thank you. No one has ever said anything like that to me.”
	“Well…” The girl started quietly, leaning in close, “Someone ought to. Someone ought to tell you that every day.”

	She moved to kiss his neck again, and he made no attempt to stop her. Emboldened further by this, she kissed him harder, rougher, sucking right where his neck met his collarbone.
	“Stop it…” He muttered weakly, being ignored as she continued her hickey. His weak protestations and slight movement seemed to encourage her, finally releasing him with a wet slurp. She leaned back to admire her handiwork, and satisfied with it, went back to kissing him lightly up and down his neck.
	He shivered, which prompted a quiet giggle from the girl. She continued down his collarbone to his chest. Despite himself he felt his breath quicken, and his heart pound. She again oriented herself to straddle him, and he lay helpless under her. He was tired, worn down by her nonstop pressuring. Maybe if he let her do as she pleased she would eventually leave him alone. Plus, he could hardly deny the feelings building deep in his core.
	The girl suddenly sat up straight, her faced flushed with a mask of that same intense expression that had earlier unnerved the boy. She looked him over with a certain hunger that made him feel very small, and very vulnerable. She grabbed his chin and pulled it down, smiling widely when he obediently opened his mouth.
	“Good boy.” She murmured quietly.
	She leaned toward him, closing her eyes. In the last moment, however, he turned. Again quietly protesting, “No, wait, stop…”
	She paused for a long moment, millimeters from his exposed upturned cheek. Without warning, she tightened her grip on his face. She roughly dragged her tongue up his cheek to his ear. She growled, “Make me.”

	She jerked his face roughly to meet her own, pulling him in for another kiss. This one far more aggressive. After a moment she broke away. “Kiss me back.”
	It was a command that was impossible to argue, not that the girl gave him any time to. The boy closed his eyes tightly and willed himself to lean into the kiss, his mind stuck on the intense expression on the face that was now pressed tightly against his own.
	He tried to think about anything else as his chest felt tight and full of confused emotions. Confusion and anxiety about the holes in his memory. Humiliation and shame that this girl he barely knew could treat him like this while he was powerless to stop her. A degree of fear about her as well, he had no idea what she was capable of or why she had decided to keep him like this. Above all of this was the dizzy, dreamy feeling that he been feeling since he woke up. He was starting to feel like he was losing his mind.
	Yet beneath those heady feelings were deeper, more primal ones. Though reluctant, his desire was real. The girl on top of him was gorgeous and the kind things she had said about him frankly made his heart flutter. A part of him did not want to deny her advances, part of him wanted them and more.
	With his mind split like this he found himself completely unable to think of anything but the present, not that the girl was giving him much choice in the matter. She gripped his hair tightly with both hands, propping them both up on her elbows. She kissed him passionately, but inelegantly.
	She used far too much tongue, probing into his mouth aggressively. Too aggressively, as their teeth brushed against each other’s for a moment, an unpleasant feeling that she hardly seemed to notice. Her breath got quicker, her grip tighter, and she pressed her body even closer to his. The increased pressure strained the boy’s shoulders, but he thought better of commenting on it.
	Abruptly she pulled away from him, causing his eyes to flutter open. For a moment they stayed connected by a thin strand of spit that ran from his bottom lip to hers. He stared up at her nervously, not daring to move or say anything. They both were breathing heavily. She seemed lost in thought, a dreamy expression making those thoughts utterly unreadable.

	In the dim pink light, her lips seemed to glow red. Her eyes seemed to twinkle. Staring up at her, the boy realized she had very regal features. A strong jaw, an angular face, and of course those intense eyes. But little features seemed to soften it somewhat. Her lips were soft and wide, her cheeks pillowy, and a button nose. Her features were further softened by her often goofy expressions, much like the one she had now.
	As he was thinking this, the girl’s expression morphed to an equally silly one. She broke out into another wide grin and her flushed cheeks reddened, which was only accentuated by the same lights that played with her lips.
	“God, you’re cute. Cute, cute, cute.” She punctuated each compliment with a soft kiss on his forehead, before pulling his face close for another deep kiss.
	As she held him, the girl was making quiet, happy noises. Throaty and low, somewhere between a sigh and a moan. It was strangely endearing. Though conflicting emotions still raged in his mind, deep down he decided he could bear this. If this was all his immediate future held, he could bear it.

	After a long while like this, the girl rolled off of him and reached for the remote, turning off the tv and putting music back on, again in the same style but with a more heady, psychedelic vibe. That accomplished, she rolled back over onto the boy.
	“I like this.” She said quietly, tracing the boy’s face with a finger. He shivered at her soft touch.
	“I can tell.” The boy said, his thoughts slowly pulling back together.
	“You take orders well.” The girl teased. The boy did not respond. After a moment she added, “Oh, don’t be like that.”
	“Like what?”
	“Quiet!” She sighed. “I didn’t expect you to be this quiet. You were more talkative earlier.”
	This piqued the boy’s interest, pulling him out of his reverie. “Really? What did I say?”
	The girl frowned and sat up a bit, looking away as she did so. When she spoke she seemed to choose her words carefully, giving him something of a nonanswer, “Not much that made sense, honestly. But you did say a lot.”
	“I’m usually more talkative. Recently I guess I’ve been feeling more contemplative.” The boy admitted, staring up at the ceiling. He turned to her, adding, “And by ‘recently’ I mean since I woke up earlier. I still don’t really remember too much before that.”
	The girl broke his gaze, looking uncomfortable. She cleared her throat, returning to the previous subject, “One thing you said a lot was uh… Nice things. About me.”
	She locked eyes with him again, but this time he broke her gaze. Her expression seemed expectant. He blushed somewhat, worried about what he might have said. He hadn’t meant to lead her on. He hadn’t really meant anything, frankly, considering he couldn’t remember it. The girl didn’t seem to appreciate his silence, pressing further.

	“One of the first things you said to me was that you thought I must be an angel. It was pretty corny, but I liked it.”
	“Oh God…” He groaned, wanting to disappear.
	“No, no, it was cute! It was cute!” She ran a hand through his hair, comfortingly. She smiled sheepishly, continuing. “But if you’re so embarrassed by it, you could, y’know, say something else to make me forget about it.”
	“I don’t think that’s how that works.” He complained
	“Give it a try.” She pouted a little, for effect. He sighed, racking his brain for some vague platonic compliment.
	“You’re very… Tall?”
	She frowned. “Is that really the best you can think of?”
	He sighed and laid back, his head bouncing on the pillow. “It’s hard to come up with something on the spot!”
	She leaned over him, staring down at his bright red face. “Just be honest, don’t overthink. It’s alright to say something embarrassing.”
	He groaned, and she laughed. “I’m not going to leave you alone until you do!”
	“Fine!” He relented, figuring anything would be better than her continued pestering. “You are really, really… Intense.”
	She raised an eyebrow, but he went on, his thought quickly turning into a rant. “You make it hard to think of anything but you when you’re around. You get in my head and you make me dizzy. You make me feel like I got drugged, and I know I got drugged, but I can’t do anything about it because I got drugged! I get all sorts of feelings, feelings that you put in me and I can’t stop them. It’s just…”
	He swallowed hard. “It’s easy to get lost in you.”

	She stared down at him, wearing an expression so surprised it bordered on shock. After a moment he felt her shiver, hanging her head low while she exhaled sharply.
	“You know…” She began, her voice low. “That would be alright.”
	The boy tensed at this. He asked suspiciously, “What do you mean?”
	Her head snapped back up, “You don’t have to worry. Just get lost in me.”
	They stared at each other for a moment. The intense expression on the girl’s face seemed to cut deep into his soul. He struggled to read it. After several long moments he finally found words to respond quietly, “I’m sorry, I don’t think I can.”
	The girl’s intense expression twisted, and she sat back cupping her face in her hands. The boy held his breath, feeling icy adrenaline race through his veins as the girl sat still, seemingly in agony. Finally, she spoke, her voice still muffled by her hands as she lowered them to her sides.
	“That’s alright. That’s fine, I understand.” She wore a strained smile, and a mad manic light danced in her eyes. “I’ll help you.”
	He squirmed under her as she shifted her weight, laying on top of him now. He felt a bead of nervous sweat form on his forehead as he watched her. He thought about his restraints, and finally started thinking of a way he could maybe slip them. Unfortunately, this was complicated in that he didn’t even know what they looked like or how he was bound, making any thoughts of escape difficult at best.
	“The biggest issue is that you’re too stuck in your own head.” The girl kicked her legs in the air playfully, poking him gently in the forehead. “We’ll fix that.”
	Hot tears of fear brimmed in the boy’s eyes as a knot of dread weighed heavy in his chest. “Please don’t hurt me.”
	The girl shushed him, putting a finger to his lips. “I won’t hurt you Cassie, I’d never hurt you. I’m going to help you get better.”

	“C-Cassie?” he stuttered.
	“It’s what I’ve been calling you, but you’ve been asleep.” She giggled madly, “I hope that’s alright.”
	Her tone was playful, but that did nothing to ease the boy’s discomfort. He answered quickly, not wanting to upset her. “Sure, it’s fine.”
	“Good, good.” She cooed while running a hand over the boy’s cheek, making him wince and squirm.
	“Oh no don’t struggle.” She laughed as he stilled. “I like that about you. You might struggle a bit, but you’d never fight me.” Her eyes narrowed threateningly. “Not that you’d win if you tried to fight.”
	With that she slowly ran her hand along his face, down his chest and lower still, the girl twisting around to get a better position.
	“What are you doing?” The boy hissed, his breath being crushed out of him by the weight of the girl now sitting on his chest.
	She didn’t answer immediately, instead tracing a meandering path down his body. She traced a light loop around his navel, sending shivers up and down his spine. Her fingers danced across his increasingly sensitive skin, and he struggled for the breath to tell her to stop. Suddenly, though, her hand left his body and snatched the blanket, tossing it off him.
	“I’m just getting the blanket.” She said coyly. The boy nervously crossed his legs best he could, the chain on his bound one clanking lightly as he reached the extent of it. Thankfully he seemed to have underwear on, but he did not like being so exposed.
	“Aw, are you trying to be modest?” The girl rocked on his chest, shifting to a more comfortable position. The pressure was heavy, but what was worse was the way the thought of being pinned like this excited some base part of him. “It’s alright, I know you’re hard.”
	“Fucking Hell.” He wheezed, cheeks burning.
	“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” She teased, shamelessly adding “Why do you shave down there?”
	He didn’t answer.

	“Come on, tell me!” She insisted, bouncing on his chest. He winced as another sharp pain shot through his side, though the girl didn’t seem to notice.
	“It looks… Neater that way.” It sounded even dumber out loud, but it was true.
	“You’re so vain!” The girl giggled again, finally moving off him, allowing him a few moments of regulated breathing. She now sat cross-legged near the foot of the bed staring at him, that same wild look in her eyes.
	“You know,” She began, nibbling on her lower lip. “I like the feeling of having you under me. And I think that you like the feeling of me on top of you.”
	“Oli, please…” The boy looked away, heart pounding.
	“Oh, say my name more! I like how it sounds when you say it.” She grabbed the boy’s leg forcefully and pulled it away from the other one, causing his body to tense. His head snapped back to see what she was doing.
	She was looking down at his exposed crotch, mischievous expression painted all over her face. One hand held down his unrestrained right leg, but the other hovered slowly toward the joining of his thighs.
	“Oli, no!” The boy yelped in surprise.
	“’Oli, no!’” The girl echoed while giggling, imitating his voice.
	He pushed himself as far back away from her as he could, but it wasn’t much more than a few centimeters. The girl took this in stride crawling toward him to make up the distance, her hand still creeping toward him. Finally, he was stuck, at the edge of the bed with his ankle restraint keeping him from moving any further back.
	The girl’s hand paused just above his crotch. Gingerly, her fingers brushed the fabric of his underwear’s waistband, slowly sliding lower gliding lightly over the thinner fabric beneath. He tensed, which caused a shift under the fabric. The girl hummed tonelessly in anticipation, lust clear in her expression.
	“No! Don’t touch me there!” The boy’s tone was pleading and insistent, desperate even. He was uncomfortable with kissing this girl he barely knew, but ultimately he could deal with that. This, however, was way too far. He did not want this, even if his body did.
	The girl paused and looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mad, predatory glint. “Where, here?”

	She roughly grabbed his dick through his underwear, biting her lip again as she felt him up. The boy jumped and thrashed at her touch, desperate to get away. Suddenly he slipped off the side of the bed, his restraints painfully pulling and twisting his body at uncomfortable angles.
	The girl sighed, annoyed that he had interrupted her game. She got up and walked to the side of the bed where the boy now hung suspended. She looked down at his struggling body before she finally bent down to grab him, rolling him back into place. His joints ached at the experience, and he shut his eyes tight in pain.
	“That was stupid.” The girl said, frustrated and looming over him menacingly.
	“I’m sorry!” The boy replied, silently cursing himself for apologizing for what was an entirely reasonable course of action on his part. “But I barely know you! I am nowhere near ready for something like that, we need to get to know each other and… and…”
	He was unsure how to best phrase his discomfort at this particular situation or his desire not to be tied up in a way that would not upset his captor. He did not have a chance to either as she chose to fill the empty space he left herself.
	“We know each other, though! You’ve been here for weeks, and I’ve waited all that time for tonight! There were some times when I was worried that, well.” She cleared her throat, moving away from an apparently unpleasant thought. “That doesn’t matter. I just… I’ve never had someone depend on me as much as you have! I’ve never had so much control over another person! I’ve never felt a connection like this and I know you feel it too! It’s not fair to make me wait any longer! I’m in control! I…”
	Her rant was escalating and getting less stable. The wild look in her eyes gave them an almost otherworldly look, like a woman possessed. Her voice was raising with every sentence, gesturing more and more enthusiastically. As the boy watched on in terror he began to wonder if he was going to leave here alive.
	“I…” The girl suddenly got very still, her body becoming rigid and stiff. “I think I love you.”

	She blinked and the madness in her eyes seemed to clear. A nervous smile spread across her face, as well as a bright red blush of embarrassment.
	“Not to be the type of girl who says ‘I love you’ right off the bat, I uhhhh, I don’t want you to think I’m a psycho or anything.”
	The boy didn’t say anything, simply blinking away tears of fear that he hadn’t realized he had been holding back. He watched in shock as the girl walked to the opposite side of the bed, retrieving her water bottle.
	“God I’m embarrassed, let’s just uh forget I said anything.” She took a sip, then laughed nervously. “Fuck, I can’t stop talking, I’m such a dumbass. I swear I’m not usually this awkward.”
	She sat on the bed and put her head between her knees groaning. She sat back up and looked over to the boy.
	“You’re not upset, are you?” As she asked this she finally seemed to notice the look of abject terror on the boy’s face.
	“Hey are you alright?” The girl asked, full of concern. Her eyes widened in fear. “You didn’t get hurt, did you? When you fell earlier?”
	She reached over him, running her hand over his bandages to check them. He winced at the touch, making her more nervous, but nothing seemed to be outwardly wrong with him.
	“No. I didn’t get hurt.” The boy choked out.
	“That’s good. I think I got you healing right but uhhh I’m no nurse, all I’ve got to go off of are videos on the internet.” The girl grinned awkwardly, but the boy was barely listening.
	“Oli please let me go.” The asked quietly and coolly, forcing any tones of desperation or fear out of his voice.

	She paused, and started to chew nervously on her thumb. “No, I can’t. I’m sorry, I know you probably would have wanted to go to a hospital or something but the way I found you… I was worried that if anything happened to you the police would get involved and then they’d come here and I’m sorry, but I can’t let that happen. I just can’t!”
	She was rambling, and the boy felt a cold wave of despair wash over him. He was trapped, subject to the whims of this strange woman. He did not even know where he was, even if he could find some way to escape for all he knew he would just be stuck somewhere for her to eventually find him. He was doomed.
	“Plus,” She continued, still trying to justify her kidnapping. “Hospitals are dangerous nowadays! You could get sick if I brought you there and in your condition that would be really bad! It’s better for you to stay here. With me.”
	He didn’t respond, simply laying still in hopeless misery. The girl continued rambling nervously, “If you want I could do a more thorough check, make sure everything feels alright. Or if you’re in any pain I could probably give you some more stuff for it. I already gave you a shot for it today but a little more should be fine.”
	His eyes widened at this. He didn’t like the thought of being injected with painkillers. He asked intently, “A shot? What have you been giving me?”
	“Morphine.” The girl looked away sheepishly, like a kid caught doing something bad. The boy tensed up and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted. “I had to! Other things weren’t working! You were in pain, I couldn’t stand to see you suffer like that!”
	“Where did you even get morphine?” The boy complained.
	“I’ve got a good plug.” She smiled reassuringly. “It’s alright, you’ll be fine! I’m being careful.”
	“I don’t need any more.” He said coldly.
	She smiled sadly, reaching out to run her hand through his hair again. “Alright, that’s good. Let’s drop it then.”
	He thought with frustration that that was hardly the subject he even wanted to talk about in the first place, but did not see much use in continuing this one-sided conversation. She was not going to let him go, so what was the use? He was dimly aware of the girl looking him over, still absent mindedly chewing on her thumb.

	“What?” He finally asked, fed up and frustrated.
	“Huh?” The girl asked, surprised by his interjection.
	“What are you doing? What do you want? You’re staring at me.”
	“Oh, sorry.” The girl said shyly. “I’ve just gotten used to looking at you like that I guess, usually you don’t notice because you’re asleep. But it’s much better now, you’re so cute lying there-“
	She was cut off by the boy groaning as his cheeks started to redden. “Enough with the compliments.”
	“Oh you don’t need to be embarrassed! But if you don’t like it I’ll stop-“
	She was interrupted again by the boy, who now looked a little annoyed. “The compliments are fine! But it never ends at compliments, does it?”
	She smiled coyly. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”
	“You’re very predictable.” The boy declared.
	“Am I?” She asked innocently.
	“No.” The boy changed his position as he thought about it. “Only in some ways.”
	“Good answer.” She smiled slyly. “Otherwise I would have had to do something to surprise you.”
	“Please no more surprises.” He begged.
	“No promises.” The girl gave him another toothy grin, laying back resting her head on his stomach. “You’ve surprised me, too, you know. I had no idea you were so confident.”
	“What do you mean?”
	“You’re sure of yourself. Most guys aren’t. Either they act tough or they’re pushovers. I uh thought you might be more of the pushover type, no offense.”
	“None taken.” He grumbled.
	“Good. It was mostly just based off of looks, since you’re small and kind of scrawny. Hell, I could carry you all the way back here no problem after all. So I thought you’d be a nervous little thing. But you’re not. I thought I could push you a little and you’d give me whatever I wanted. But you haven’t, because you’ve got that odd sort of confidence.” She turned to look him, a dreamy lovestruck expression painted on her face.
	“Is that a good thing?” He asked, unsure of how to feel.
	She thought for a moment. “Yes. I’d say it is, honestly I respect you more for it. This way I have to win you. And I will win you. It’ll be a hunt. A battle. It will be more fun like that. It’ll be… Hot.”

	The boy swallowed dryly. He thought he could see that terrifying manic light dance in the girl’s eyes for a moment, but it passed. He hated this limbo, this purgatory of unsureness that this girl kept putting him in.
	“You scare me.” He admitted, quietly.
	“Good,” she began, smiling warmly, “that means I excite you.”
	“No!” He complained, exasperated. “It means you scare me! Don’t try to make it all poetic.”
	“Fine.” She grinned more widely. “But I excite you too. You can’t deny that.”
	He didn’t say anything, blushing under the girl’s mischievous stare.
	“Say it.” She commanded, sitting up slowly. “Say that I excite you.”
	He stayed silent, not making eye contact with the girl.
	“Well okay then. I guess I’ll just have to prove it.” The girl teased.
	The boy looked at her nervously. “What do you mean?”
	Instead of answering the girl wordlessly grabbed the hem of her shirt, pausing long enough to watch as the confusion in the boy’s expression melted away. Seemingly satisfied that he knew what she was about to do, she raised her shirt swiftly, flashing him. Her now-free breasts bounced as she stretched to get the shirt the rest of the way off.

	“What do you think?” The girl asked, blushing a little in an embarrassment that was rapidly being replaced by giddy, hot excitement.
	The boy was unsure what to do while she took off her shirt, he thought that making a big show of looking away or shutting his eyes would only look childish and stupid. Yet he did not want to stare at her, sure that that was what she wanted. So, he kept his gaze steady for a moment before looking away, blushing.
	Her chest was impressive, her breasts not huge but large enough to hang freely, giving them a lot of bounce. In the center of each breast was a small pink nipple, which seemed to grow perkier now that they were exposed to the air outside of her shirt. Something unexpected grabbed his attention as he noticed the tone and definition on her abs. She didn’t have a rippling 6 pack or anything, but he could see a few faint lines of muscle under her creamy skin.
	He looked away, trying to push down any lewd thoughts evoked by her impressive body. “Okay, okay. You excite me. Please put your shirt back on.”
	“I told you you take commands well. But no, I don’t think so.” She cooed, crawling over him he began to squirm, pressing her chest to his own. “Because you excite me too. And I can finally do whatever I want with you.”

	“No,” the boy’s eyes grew wide and fearful, “you can’t. Please, I don’t want this!”
	“Yes you do,” the girl said seductively as she slid off her bottoms, revealing her toned thighs and round ass, contained by her plain black panties. “I can feel your dick poking me.”
	To emphasize she ground her hips against his unexpectantly, the pleasurable pressure bringing a quiet, uncomfortable moan to his lips. The girl loomed over him, eyes closed in pleasure as she played with him. Slowly she slid up his body, leaning over him to reach a small bottle of lotion from her nightstand.
	“You ready?” She asked in a low, raspy voice.
	“No!” The boy desperately tried to find an excuse that could free him. “Please I’m… Scared.”
	Her eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’ve never…”
	“No! No, this isn’t my, uh, first time. It’s not that, it’s what if… What if you, you know…” He had trouble talking about these sorts of things in the best of times, and this was hardly the best of times.
	“It’s okay, I’m on the pill.” She assured him, taking a guess at his fear. “You’re not going to get me pregnant or anything.”
	“But I still don’t really know you!” He forced a crazed smile to his face, trying to bargain. “Please, just give me one day! It’s too soon to do this.”
	The girl frowned, frustrated, and shut her eyes tightly. “We’ve been over this! Everything is perfect for tonight, it’s all like I imagined. It’s everything I wanted! You’ve kept me waiting this long already, you have no right to make me wait any longer!”
	The boy felt anger bubble up in his chest, and it came out in a shout. “It’s my damn body! You have no right to treat me like this!”
	The girl got quiet and the boys heart pounded in anger and fear. Silently she stood up at the side of the bed, looking down. “’No right.’” She scoffed under her breath.
	She looked back at him, the wild rage flashing fiercely in her eyes clashing with her quiet but intense tone. “You know you were dead when I found you. No pulse, not breathing, covered in so much blood. I brought you back! I nursed you back to health, all by myself! You said…”
	Her voice caught with emotion. “You said you owed me everything. So, I plan to take everything. You have no right to deny me! I don’t care what you say.”
	“Because Cassie…” She said quietly, a wild lopsided smile spreading on her lips. “I own you. You’re my pet. My toy. And I’m going to fuck you silly.”

	She grabbed his waistband and pulled it down roughly, exposing him. His cock poked in the air, apparently that part of him at least was willing. The girl pumped a small handful of lotion and grabbed it tightly, causing it to throb and swell in her hand.
	“No! Oli, please stop! No!” The boy’s voice got shriller and more desperate as her touch forced a wave of pleasure through his body. He thrashed against his binds while the girl giggled, playing with his twitching manhood. It felt somewhat small in her hand, though that suit her small lover fine. It was cute, she thought.
	The boys cries of protest got breathier as the girl teased him with her hand. She ran her thumb over the head of his cock and smiled happily as he squeaked in pleasure, shivering up and down. She finally let go, but the boy still thrashed weakly, mindlessly trying to get away.
	His already hazy mind was now filling with an increasingly lewd haze of lust. His waking mind hated this gross violation of his boundaries by someone who was practically a stranger, but deeper down there was an undeniable part of him who reveled in being forced like this. A part of him felt a certain perverse rightness in this experience; she longed to control and dominate and he had a deeply hidden dark desire to please and submit.
	The girl, meanwhile, had stripped out of her panties and climbed back on the bed, straddling him. The boy struggled lightly with no effect as she placed her hands on his waist, holding him in place. The boy’s eye’s flicked between the girl’s lusty eyes, down lower to where her midriff melted into a small neatly trimmed bush of curly black hair.
	Lower still he could see her pink clit and vulva, already dripping wet. He stared pleadingly at her, but saw no mercy in her eyes, only desire. He felt a thrill of passion and fear as she grabbed his dick again, holding it still as she lowered herself towards it.
	His breath caught as she ran his cockhead over her wet slit, and he heard her moan low and heavy. He struggled weakly, but she kept her grip on him. Finally, their eyes met and she smiled wildly with a faint hint of smugness.

	“Wait, no-!” The boy shouted desperately as she forced him to penetrate her. His body curled in pleasure at the sensation, her pussy was tight and unbelievably hot. The pleasure was tainted by his disgust at being forced to feel these things, and he thrashed desperately to get her off him.
	She laughed maniacally in pleasure as he bucked against her, bucking herself against him in kind, though much harder than the boy was managing. He was panting and had his eyes shut tight, his face screwed in shame and pleasure. She took in the shape of her lover as she bucked, his pale pink body was wonderfully curvy for a boy, and his shaggy hair spread messily on the pillow like a little halo.
	She smiled, thinking back to the time the boy called her an angel. Now, with his delicate features and gold hair, he looked like a fallen angel. And it was her absolute pleasure to defile such a heavenly creature.
	She leaned over and grabbed ahold of his face, pulling him into a sloppy kiss as she continued to ride him. The boy’s protests now were replaced with soft trembles and moans of pleasure. His writhing now seemed less like any attempt to buck her off and more simply the result of his body involuntarily reacting to the rough fucking he was receiving.
	For his part, thoughts of fighting her advances, thoughts of anything really, had melted away. They were replaced by pure sensation, pleasure mixing with fear, apprehension with anticipation. He had had sex before, but it was generally a dispassionate boring affair. This, on the other hand, clicked in a way he had never felt before. It was overwhelming.
	Her body rocked his own, he felt as though he were melting into her as she slammed his hips into the bed again and again. Her mouth was on his too, cutting off his breaths as he tried to fill his lungs. She was all he could feel, all he could taste, all he could smell. TO him she was was all consuming, all encompassing.

	She broke off the kiss and noticed with amusement as the boy’s mouth still hung open panting. She leaned back, picking up the tempo of her thrusts, which sent her unwilling partner into another intense set of throes of passion. His convulsions felt good for her, too, she moaned low and arched her back as the boy’s cock twisted pleasurably inside her. She adjusted the motion of her hips to grind her clit more against the base of his penis, which he seemed to enjoy as well, moaning softly.
	As much as she loved the feeling of him inside her, what she loved more was the power she felt like this. It was a dark thought, but some part of the girl thought his passionate, useless refusals made this all the better. She loved the thought that she could so utterly dominate his body that his cries of desperation and fear turned to moans of pleasure.
	The boy was still squirming cutely under her, his body now a mess of sweat and other fluids from their furious lovemaking. He had surprising stamina, but she knew he probably couldn’t last much longer like this. She bit her finger, thinking about how he was not just going to cum inside her, she was going to make him cum inside her.
	Her perverse thoughts went further afield, thinking ahead to what other things she could make him do in the future.. All sorts of ways she could bind his lovely body. All sorts of ways she could tease him or make him pleasure her. She wanted to try them all, but for now she’d be satisfied with this.
	“God, you little slut.” Her voice was thick and heavy, teasing more than cruel. Though she certainly meant it! He had spent the night acting like some honorable maiden, yet here they were fucking like animals. He wasn’t too good for her, they were equally lusty freaks.

	The boy’s mind pulled together some as her heard the girl speak. He blushed at the lewd words. His eyes fluttered open and he saw the girl staring down at him, a wild lusty look on her face. As she chewed softly on one finger, her other hand absentmindedly ran through her hair, letting it down.
	Her body bounced passionately on his own, her breasts dancing wildly out of rhythm with the music that still played over the creaking of the bed and the wet slapping of her pussy against his body. Her abs were clearer now, straining to keep up this wild out-of-control pace, and sweat made them glisten in the low light.
	From this angle she seemed nearly Amazonian. She was not hulking, but compared to the boy’s own petite frame her lean and muscular body seemed huge. The only part of her that wasn’t lean or muscular was her chest, which was fortunate for her he supposed. She managed to walk the line between wonderfully feminine and powerful.
	He felt a dizzy headrush at the thought of her. She seemed more than human, like some sort of goddess or demon that could get in his head and so utterly overpower his senses. The thought caused something deep inside of him to stir, some deep perverted kink, and he felt his muscles twitch, the beginnings of an orgasm he was desperately trying to stop.
	The girl could feel him twitch, too, and could tell from his strained expression he was close. It made her giddy, but she wanted more. She wanted him to surrender, to really recognize her dominance. She leaned over him again.

	“Say my name!” Her tone was breathy and insistent, bordering on desperate.
	“N-no!” The boy never wanted any of this, and now he could finally have one small act of defiance. It would not preserve any of his dignity, but it would satisfy his own petty sense of spite.
	“Do it! Please!” She was unexpectedly fixating on this now. She could feel his body tensing, she knew she could force submission from his body, but she wanted more! She wanted his mind, his heart, his soul!
	“Nnnnnnnn…” A refusal died on his lips as he threw his head back in intense pleasure, waves of hot intense passion washing over him. He felt as his balls tensed, as his thighs spasmed, he gasped suddenly shouting out, “Oh God, Oli!”
	She was shocked, not really expecting him to actually do it. She could feel him swell inside her, followed by the odd feeling of him cumming. She was euphoric, this was all she wanted and more. As his body stilled in a post orgasmic stupor she slammed her hips up and down on him, her passion fueled by her own growing feelings of climax.
	“Haha, you said it! Fuck, you actually said it! God, Cassie you slut, I love you so fucking much!” She felt her own pelvic muscles flex and tighten as an orgasm built. She finally slowed, rocking and grinding her hips against his as the pleasure made her face and neck twitch.
	She felt a rush of intense sensation as her her vulva and clit swelled, a shock of pleasure racing through her. She doubled over at the intensity of it, falling over onto her lover. In doing so they separated with a wet sucking noise, as she shook with another delayed wave of pleasure she ground herself over his exposed midriff, covering his belly in a mixture of their comingled sweat and cum.
	“God, that was so good. You were so good.” The girl praised breathlessly. The boy, however, barely noticed. He felt like he was short-circuiting, his mind empty and body wracked with messy sensations of pleasure and dull growing aches.

	He wanted to stay in this haze. He didn’t want to think about what happened to him, he just wanted to enjoy the feeling, and for a moment he did. Oli was whispering sweet nothings in his ear, touching him lightly all over and in that moment… He was happy.
	Then he felt a deep icy pit of shame build in his stomach. His eyes widened in horror as a sick feeling filled him. The pressure of the girl on top of him did not feel so warm and intimate anymore, it felt smothering. Her quiet voice only brought back the thought of what she’d called him… Slut.
	The insult, though playful, cut deep into him. Not just because it was an insulting and humiliating thing to be called, but because deep down that excited some part of him. Maybe he was a slut. Maybe was nothing more than her pet now. Her toy. Her plaything.
	He was sure she had planned on this from the start. At least the start as he understood it, from the moment he had woken up earlier. He had been opposed to it at every step, but at every step he was outplayed, outmatched. Maybe she was just better than him.
	The girl, ignorant of the thoughts racing through his head, rolled off of him and pulled him into a deep hug. She buried her face in his neck, enjoying his smell, enjoying how it mixed with the hot smell of sex and sweat in the air.
	She pulled him into yet another kiss. He was not really kissing her back, but she hardly cared at this point. She had gotten all she wanted, she had gotten more. The night had been perfect, her lover perfect, and things were only going to be better from here. He belonged to her, which was perfect because her heart belonged to him and him alone.
	She broke the kiss and sat up on one arm, resting her face in her palm, her expression utterly lovesick and euphoric. She sighed happily, and stretched, noting with amusement how tired the muscles in her hips and lower abs felt. Fucking him had been an unexpected workout.

	The girl got up slowly, unsteadily, and started gathering her discarded clothes. The boy said nothing, and barely even watched her as she went around the room. Neither of them said anything as she left to tidy herself up.
	After a moment she came back with a washcloth and walked over to her lover, lovingly mopping up the mess she had made all over him. She was almost sad to do it, loving the cute messy look, but she figured it was smarter to clean him now than later.
	Finally, still not looking at her, the boy spoke quietly and evenly. “Are you done with me for tonight?”
	She thought it an odd phrasing but didn’t linger on it. She smiled, “Oh yes, you were great.”
	“Untie me.” He asked, insistently but very quietly. “Please.”
	She paused for a moment before answering nervously. “Yes, of course!”
	She walked over to her nightstand, opening a drawer and retrieving a small key she used to undo the cuffs that were keeping his arms up. She put both the key and cuffs back in the drawer as the boy slowly lowered his arms.
	They were still tied tightly together with a long scarf, but finally having full motion in his shoulders felt fantastic. He sighed in relief. The girl came back over to him and undid the knots that kept his arms in place, carefully unraveling the bindings.
	She beamed down at him, but he couldn’t meet her gaze. She didn’t seem to notice and walked away to put away the scarf. The boy turned on his side and curled up. He wanted today to be over. He wanted his head to clear. He wanted to stop feeling things.
	The girl climbed into the bed beside him and, taking his posture as an invitation, curled up around him, spooning him. She liked cuddling like this, and she played with his ear absentmindedly. His face burned.
	A part of him was angry. At her, at himself, at the world. Why couldn’t she just leave him alone? Why couldn’t he have one moment without her? Without her reminding him what she had done to him? He felt dirty, used. Hot tears of shame stung at his face.
	“How are you feeling?” She murmured innocently.
	That sent him over the edge. A rough shaking sob forced its way out of him, and then more. He grabbed at his face, wanting to shut out everything, wanted to melt away. He wished he was anywhere else.
	“Hey, hey, hey!” The girl said, increasingly nervous. She had anticipated some tears maybe, but not now, not like this. She pulled him over on his back, so she could see him better. “What are you crying about?”
	“You-” The words rough and full of grief, caught in his throat. “You raped me!”

	The accusation hit the girl harder than a slap to the face. She swallowed hard, a ball of nervous emotion stuck in her throat. “Hey, come on now…”
	“You did!” The boy insisted. “I said no! I told you to stop! But you didn’t care!”
	She smiled nervously and her face paled. She hadn’t expected him to react like this. “Babe, you’re confused, please I know this has been a lot to take tonight but we can talk about it in the morning! You’ll feel better then!”
	He rubbed his eyes in frustration. They were red and angry, and they finally met her gaze, though part of her wished they hadn’t.
	“Oh, so now you want to wait until tomorrow.” His tone was sarcastic and mean. “Don’t try to do that thing. Don’t try to fucking gaslight me, at least give me that much respect.”
	“Cassie…” She was at a loss for words, drowning in his sudden flood of emotion.
	“But I guess you’ve been doing that all night, haven’t you? Was anything you said to me true? All that talk about how you saved me and how you love me, but then you rape me! I can’t believe I thought for even a moment that you actually cared about me.”
	That was a step too far. The girl’s soft and reassuring (if nervous) expression suddenly shifted to one of surprise. Then it hardened, and she glared down at him with intense and angry eyes.
	“Fine!” The girl shouted with an intensity that shocked the boy, shutting him up. “I raped you! But what are you going to do about it? You’re not leaving. Even if you could, what, would you call the cops? Tell your friends? What are they going to do? Un-rape you?”
	“I-“ He started, but she cut him off.
	“Shut up! God, you’re acting like I did something terrible to you! But you liked it, don’t fucking deny that!” She turned, grabbing his shoulders and pinning him to the bed with a force that surprised both of them. Tears welled in her eyes now too, and she spoke low and emotionally. “And didn’t lie about anything! I care about you, I did save you, and don’t you ever say that I don’t love you!”
	She rolled back on the bed, holding her face in her hands. “You fucking dumbass.”
	The boy rolled away from her, his shoulders still shaking from silent sobs. He tried to force down feelings of guilt that he found suddenly building inside of him. They were not real feelings, he argued with himself, the girl was just trying to manipulate his emotions. Trying to make him feel guilty for something she did to him.
	As much as he rationalized, though, the pain and hurt in her voice seemed real and that haunted him. Again he found himself at war with his own emotions. His disgust and horror at being raped clashed with his bizarre desire to comfort and even apologize to his rapist. It tore him to pieces inside, and he thought it just his luck that she had somehow even denied him his right to simple self-indulgent grief.

	After a short while of the two lying in discomfort the girl got up and switched off the lights and stereo. The room grew dark and quiet, and still as she got back to bed and pulled the blanket over the two of them. After a long moment she rolled back over, again putting her arm around the still crying boy.
	“Hey, it’s alright. Every couple fights sometimes.” She ran her hand through his hair, and held him tight. “We’ll get through it, we’ll feel better in the morning.”
	The boy swallowed hard, anger burning deep in his gut. In response he muttered resentfully, “You’re sick.”
	“Yeah.” The girl whispered quietly with a tone of grief and deep sadness that cut through him. “I know.”
	The boy sniffled, but no more tears came. He was exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. The girl played a bit with his hair and ear before wrapping her arm around him tightly. He did not stop her. As much as her touch tortured him, the comforting warmness of her body against his own was inviting and relaxing. Her breathing got slower and deeper, and he found his own following suit. Finally, he drifted to sleep in his lover’s arms.