104It was like watching an old 35mm film he thought as he tried to make his eyes focus. Shapes and shadows swam across his vision.
"Who's there?" he shouted to the shapes. He noticed that his voice was clearer.
"It's me, of course," replied the shapes. "You're dreaming."
He felt a pair of hands slide by his hips, pulling him into an embrace.
Lowering his head, he inhaled the scent of the stranger and recognised the distinct aroma.
"Matt." he whispered.
"Bingo."
He continued to drink in the intoxicated smell. "Aren't you gonna eat me?" Matt teased.
R shook his head.
"This is enough."
Matt pulled back just as R's eyes focused on his decaying face.
"Shame." he said before tearing out R's windpipe.
-o-
His eyelids slid open, adjusting to the sudden rush of light. He stared upwards to allow himself to return back to reality.
R sometimes dreamt but his dreams were usually little more than whispers and mumbles of his past life.
He crooked his neck to look at Matthew but no one was next to him.
Momentarily falling about by trying stand up, R scanned the room to see that Matthew and all of his belongings were nowhere to be found.
"Matt?!" he wheezed out as he felt something not totally unlike panic.
He stumbled into the main room of the shop and saw that the cabinet had been shifted to the side and the door was open.
Now he was panicking.
The sunlight lit up the deserted street and shone in his eyes as he ran out. His stumbling turned into a deformed run as he headed for the car.
Why had Matt been so stupid? He's probably dead... or worse.
"Hey, where are you going?!" said a voice to his left.
R nearly fell on his face as he stopped to turn to see Matthew standing in the door of a convenience store.
"Thought... you... dead..." he groaned as he shuffled towards Matthew.
"Nah," he replied as he grinned and held up a tin of beans. "Just checking if they had anything worth looting, which-"
R swung his arms around him and held him tightly. Matthew stood there holding the beans, not sure what to do.
"Thought...you...," R whimpered into the crook of his neck. "Dead."
"Hey, c'mon now, it takes a lot to kill me." he assured R as he returned the hug with his free hand.
"Lonely... forever." he barely whispered. Matthew almost never heard him. He rubbed R's back as he was unsure or what else to do. In his mind he smiled as he realised how ridiculous this situation would look to any of the Living.
Or the Dead.
"Come on R, look at me."
He tilted his head back and looked at Matthew. R looked like a defenseless puppy to Matthew, and not the killing machine he actually was. His eyes were slightly red.
He dropped the beans onto the dusty ground next to him and lifted his hands and cupped R's face.
"Do you seriously think I would have done that? Gone and left you without a second thought?"
Shrug.
His expression still reminded Matthew of a wounded animal.
He pulled R forward a little and kissed his cheek. The skin was cool against his lips.
"Right, come on, help me with some of this stuff." he said as he let go of R and turned to go back into the store.
R stood there for a little while, touching his cheek. He felt heat rising up them.
He was blushing.
Blushing required blood flow.
Blood flow meant-
"Are you gonna help me or are you just gonna stand there all day?"
He snapped out of his thoughts and dragged himself into the store to help Matthew.
-o-
"Just put it there. Thanks." said Matthew before closing the trunk. He patted R's shoulder before getting into the driver's seat.
R stood around awkwardly before Matthew opened the door on the passenger's side. Taking this as a sign, he climbed in.
They sat in silence as R watched Matthew pick at his nails, clearly deep in concentration.
"What wrong?" he asked quietly.
Matthew didn't immediately look up, but when he did he regretted it as he saw R's inquisitive eyes look at him sadly.
"There is colony that I'm travelling to. A colony of the Living," explained Matthew to which R nodded. "But if you came, R, they'd destroy you." he finished with a whisper.
R nodded again.
"Because I'm dead."
"Because you're dead."
R touched his cheek.
"And you're alive... because blood runs... through your veins?"
Matthew frowned.
"Well, kinda, yeah, and I have a heartbeat."
R slid his fingers around Matthew's wrist and lifted his hand to his face.
His brows furrowed as he cupped R's cheek. "But... your cheek is warm... how is your cheek warm?" He slid his hand down to R's chest. No heartbeat. "But how-"
"I blushed." he said levelly.
Matthew stared at him, beginning to smirk slightly.
"You blushed?"
"You kissed my cheek and I blushed." he replied without pausing.
Matthew's smirk disappeared. His hand remained on R's chest.
"Why did it make you blush?" he asked.
"You mean a lot, so when you did it my body reacted to you," he explained. "You give me life, Matt."
They looked at each other for a second before Matthew leaned in and kissed R on the lips.
Warmth began to trickle across R's face from his lips and slivered down his back down to the tips of his toes like electricity. It spread from his back to all along his arms and up to his fingers which caused them to tingle. His whole body was warm apart from his chest but all of the heat began to converge there. Matthew felt the change under his hand as he kissed R. He also felt something else.
He felt R's heart beat.
And beat.
And beat.
And beat.
A/N
I don't think I can express how sorry I am for my lack of updates.
There's been a lot of changes in my life right now and I've been adjusting and I haven't had any time to write, but here it is! Unbelievably sorry for the long wait.
So, this is the end! I hope you guys enjoyed it!
This won't be my last story with R and Matthew, I'm definitely going to be writing a sequel about the Stadium, etc. I won't spoil too much.
But all you need to know is that his name is Matthew Bradley, he is 18, and he is most certainly not alone.