"Then and Now" - Day 3, Chapter 1
#2 of Then and Now
As before, please tell me if I've made grammatical or chronological errors in the story, and enjoy!
Check out my profile for the previous parts.
Sunday, 20th October 2010
Chapter 1
If I had to describe the previous night in a single word, it would have to be loud. The regular moaning wasn't too bad on the ears (In terms of loudness, of course - but then, the louder the moans, the better job I was doing) but when Li hit an orgasm? I thought the windows would shatter. Luckily, I had my room made more resistant to noise to be able to sleep through the Sounds of New York - Nee-na-Nee-No, Fupfupfupfup, [Insert sounds of domestic abuse here], etcetera.
I just hoped the neighbours wouldn't call the cops.
I woke up voluntarily, just after eleven. Three hours later than usual, but then I went to sleep two hours later than last night's story came to a stop. Well, I say went to sleep - more like passed out with an exhausted wolf lying on me.
Li's muzzle lay on one side of my chest. One arm laced around my stomach, a leg over mine. A very clichéd position, but she found it comfortable and I didn't feel like arguing. The covers were pulled up to our waists, under them I could feel a considerable patch of wetness.
"Little wolf got excited." I murmured.
"Yah, she did." Li replied.
"Did I wake you?"
"Nope. I woke up about ten minutes ago."
I started to caress Li's ears, brushing her hair as gently as I could. "You know, I think you lied about those seven years of abstinence."
"Are you suggesting that I've been unfaithful?"
"Nothing like that. I just remember how fond you are of plastic versions of male body parts. Even better if they run on batteries."
"Busted. Yeah, but artificial is as far as I got."
She raised her muzzle to look at me, those intelligent green eyes searching mine.
"What about you? If you had a party at the Playboy Mansion, I kinda don't see how you've remained true."
"There was a time when I thought you weren't coming back. During that time I was at the Playboy mansion, and then at a bar in Florida where a very pretty Lioness spilled a tray full of beer on me."
"Thought so." Li sighed.
"Didn't have sex with the bunnies, though."
"Eh? Alright, hold it. Gotta get comfortable for this."
She rolled off me and sat down on the bed cross-legged. At the sight of her, a tent started to form in the covers.
"Better start talking, Richie, because that snake looks very appetising."
"Okay. Which story d'you want to hear?"
"Would you be okay with finishing last night's story? Leave the more erotic ones for tonight?"
"Of course."
***
The next morning, I woke up with a happy wolf fur lying on top of me. What recollection I had told me that she decided to cuddle up as much as she could after a slow and romantic session of love-making.
I brushed a bit of red hair back from Li's muzzle. Ever so slowly, her eyes opened and she smiled.
"Good morning." I said.
Li cringed. "Did something die in your mouth?"
I cringed back. "Says the girl with dog-breath. Pee-hew!"
We laughed together.
"You know..." Li's paw wandered down to my thigh. "I'm up for another round."
"I'm not-"
"I wasn't asking."
"No, no. I mean, I need to go to the bathroom."
"Oh. Sure." Li slid off me. I got out of bed and pulled my clothes on, leaving the socks off.
"I'll be back in a moment." I said, leaving the room. Straight to the living room and my bike bags. I opened the right one and dug around inside, finally pulling out the box. I checked if the necklace was still inside, just in case. It was, of course.
Next, I went to the front door and looked out through the peep hole.
"The flowers are here already, Richard." Someone whispered. I pivoted, acknowledging Brandon's presence. I hadn't heard him approaching, but then he was a tiger.
"Great. That's a load off my mind. By the way - what time is it?"
"It's... Ten past ten."
"Well, I'll go drag Li out of bed."
"I should mention," Brandon stopped me. "mom and dad invited all of Li's friends over for a pool party. There'll be girls all over the place, fur and non-fur. A trust me when I say, my sister is extremely territorial. Just... Be careful who you let near you."
"Won't there be other guys at that pool party?" I asked.
"Just you and me." Brandon grinned. "And my dad's got us these tuxedo bottoms and bow ties to wear."
"You're joking."
"Nope. Lots of fun!" He slapped my shoulder and walked off towards the kitchen.
Once I managed to convince Leanne to leave the bed and get dressed, we walked to the back garden, where a large basket filled with different colours of tulips waited.
"Oh my..." Li was speechless. I knew she loved tulips, so I did my best to make her birthday memorable.
"That's not half of it." I took the black box from my pocket and held it out to her. She was hesitant, but opened it.
"I... This... It's beautiful!" She threw her arms around me and kissed me hard. By hard, I mean her tongue was forced inside my mouth and her claws poked into the back of my neck to make me push back. When she was sure she'd left her taste in my mouth, she switched to a simple hug, whispering in my ear. "I love you so, so much."
"I love you too. Want me to put it on you?"
"Yes, please." Li let go and turned while I picked the necklace up with the greatest of care. I clipped it on for her. Andy and Lisa had come out to see what was going on. When Lisa saw what her daughter had been given, she leaned her head on Andy's shoulder.
"It's the same colour as your eyes, Leanne." She said. "Richard must really love you."
"Your mother and I thought you might enjoy this..." Andy held out a voucher for a Spa treatment, made specifically for Wolf furs.
"This is wonderful. Thank you. But... I'd like to be with Richard today."
"Don't worry about me, sweetheart. Go and relax a bit."
"You sure? I can stay."
"Yes, I'm sure." I kissed her on the muzzle - just a quick peck.
"Oh no you don't!" She grabbed me by the collar and we kissed again, this time in full view of her parents. It was quicker than before, and she had a few words of advice afterwards. "When you start something, you'd better damn well finish it."
"That's my girl!" Andy laughed. "Now, you and your mum go enjoy yourselves. We'll watch the game until you get back."
Once the girls were gone, we began to work at setting everything up. The pool was large, in the shape of an eight. One side was deep, the other gradually got shallower until it changed to a Jacuzzi. We carried sunbathing chairs, parasols and towels outside. A large table also went, then was covered by a large amount of plates. There was even a poolside bar with most kinds of alcohol imaginable.
Just doing that took two hours, leaving us one more to party-proof the house by moving all of the fragile stuff into the cellar.
"I've never seen anyone do this. Usually, they're just cleaning up the mess in the morning." I told them.
"Well, I prefer to have to pay less in damage to the household." Andy shrugged, holding what looked like a priceless vase.
"Fair enough."
After doing that, Andy took us to his and Lisa's bedroom.
"Strip, both of you."
"Uhm." I stared at him.
"You took a shower, I know it. Now strip before I use these-" He flexed his feline claws. Enough to change my mind.
I went all the way down to my boxers, then was handed a pair of tuxedo trousers and a belt.
"Whoever invented this look had strange preferences." I remarked.
"Oh, it'll be fun, trust me." Andy was very reassuring. "I tried it once during College. The girls couldn't get enough of me."
"It's not that I'm worried about - what if Li sees me with another girl?"
"Bah, don't worry. If the girl is coming onto you, there's nothing to worry about. They'll find out whose property you are sooner or later."
"Whoa, we're going into ownership now?"
Brandon handed me my shirt cuffs and bow tie. "No offense, but it's pretty obvious who's the dominant one in the relationship."
"Alright, you got me."
"You boys ready?" Andy queried.
"Yep." Brandon answered.
"Do you have any hair gel and a comb?" I asked.
"Ah... Brandon?"
"Yeah, one sec." The feline ran off, tail following the path of his body, albeit with a certain delay. He returned with a blue tube and a black comb, one side of which had finer needles than the other. I took the tube from him and squeezed the gel out on my hair, rubbing it in.
"Mind if I ask what you're doing?" Brandon was watching me. I guess curiosity is a natural trait of the feline kind.
"Just watch." I finished with the gel and combed my hair back. Andy grinned.
"To paraphrase the Frosties Tiger, that idea is grrrreat!"
"Yeah... Even I think you look hawt." Brandon added.
"Alright, I'm going to go and visit the girls. Expect the guests to arrive in... Ten minutes. I say 'Good luck' to Brandon and 'Have fun' to Richard. Toodles!" Andy sped off.
"I think it's only fair that I mention I've never carried a drinks tray."
Brandon laughed. "No, no. We're just here to look pretty. I'll be mixing the drinks, you'll be handing out the towels.
I thought it over. "Exactly how many girls are we expecting."
"No more than thirty."
I felt my jaw drop. "The two of us entertaining thirty females?"
"Well, it's a birthday party for Leanne. A few will stay the night for a sleepover. It's basically a girly party."
Ding-dong. Said the doorbell.
"I'll get that." Brandon left me alone by the pool. I leaned on the bar and waited.
Five partygoers entered - all furs. Two wolves, a husky, a ferret and a panther. I don't know why I feel the need to mention this, for some reason every wolf fur I've met that wasn't male had C cups in the least. Breast sizes of most other furs were coincidental.
Both wolves had deep red fur, the husky was a silvery-gray with blonde hair, the ferret white and the panther black (duh).
"Brandon, won't you introduce us to your friend?" The panther asked, looking me over with a grin.
The bare-chest tiger followed them out.
"That's Richard. Li's BF."
"Ooo, a new boytoy!" The husky giggled.
"Brandon, can we play with him?" One wolf teased.
"You know Li better than I do. If you don't think she'll tear someone apart..."
"Nah." The panther strutted over to me and wrapped one leg around mine in a half-straddle. What caught my attention (aside from the grinding) were her eyes. Big and yellow - not shining as much as Li's, but attentive and smart. "If you give me a kiss, I won't embarrass you in front of your girlfriend..."
"How exactly do you plan to do that?" I felt her tail tickling my back. Cats have a lot more control over the muscles in their tails.
"Oh, the usual. Pounce on you... Give you a tongue bath..."
I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
"No... I meant a real kiss..."
"What are you-"
Her paws locked on the back of my head and dragged me forward. Athletes are physically strong, and this one was no exception. I couldn't get away from the French kiss she performed, cat tongue lolling around in my mouth.
The other girls cooed and laughed. So did Brandon.
At the end of the introduction , she pulled my lower lip out with her teeth.
"Thank you." Just like that, she rejoined her group of friends and they went off to change into bathing costumes.
***
"You never told me Morgan came onto you." Li said. While I was talking, she had changed position to lie on her side, also pulling the covers up to keep warm. With one free finger, she traced patterns around my torso.
"She was really sweet." I shrugged. Leanne's expression changed. "No, I mean personality wise. I didn't want you to get mad at her for teasing me."
"I wouldn't have gotten mad. She's my friend, after all. Maybe I'd have ruffled her fur a bit about shoving her tongue in my man, but hey."
"Well, I don't regret my decision."
"No reason to." She said, then put on a half-smile. "Two questions. Which muzzle do you prefer?"
"Oh, yours, by far. Her tongue was a bit too thin for my liking."
"And how bad did it get?"
"What?"
"The snake."
"Pretty bad."
***
I walked as casually as I could to the kitchen, where I snatched the ice bag from the freezer and shoved it on my crotch. The first ten minutes, and I was already having issues. Brandon appeared in the doorway, leaning on the frame with his arms crossed.
"This is going to be... Problematic." I breathed. Forgot to do so during the kiss.
"Yah, for you. But come on, d'you really think none of them have seen a hard-on before?"
I changed the subject. "Why did your dad say 'Good luck' to you?"
"Because I'm trying to score today."
"Oh, right. I guess you'll get hauled off to your room by a horny gang of furs and leave me mixing drinks for the rest."
"No..." He approached, slapped a paw on my bare back, "I think you'll be the one to get hauled off." And chuckled evilly.
Ding-Dong.
"Can I just hide for the remainder of the day?"
"Nope."
While Brandon went to the door, I returned outside. Here, the furs had disrobed and were already in the pool, wearing overly revealing bikinis.
"Hi, Richard!" One of the two wolves said. It struck me then: They looked exactly the same, aside from their haircuts. Twins.
"Hey." I walked behind the bar, finding some soda cans and ice. "Can I get you girls anything non-alcoholic to drink?"
"Aww, no booze?" The ferret moaned.
"Not until everyone's here. Can't let you get a head-start - after all, it wouldn't be fair."
"Hmph. Got Pepsi?" Morgan - the panther - asked.
"I have."
"Then we'll have four glasses of Pepsi, please."
I took four glasses from the cupboard and scooped ice cubes into them, then poured a can of Pepsi in each one. Feeling lucky, I took the tray and placed the glasses on it.
Ever so carefully, I carried it over to the girls.
"Th_aaa_nk you." Sung the ferret.
"Could I ask your names?"
The ferret told me her name was Cayleigh, the Husky was Danielle, and that the twins were Lacey and Stacey.
"And you already know Morgan. Very well, I might add."
Morgan blew a kiss. I caught it and put it in my pocket.
Over the next hour, the rest of the guests arrived in steady bursts. About ninety percent of them were furs of different species - ranging from wolf to lion to cat to fox and all the mammals in between. The three or four women that weren't furs were also stunning, but I'd gotten so used to having Leanne around that they lost their shine. I mean, who wants boring old humans when you can get hot, passionate wolves?
The time came when everyone arrived, but by then I was too busy serving drinks to notice. Pepsi here, Cola there, apple juice all over the place. Confusing, but fun, and the girls were very forgiving if I made a mistake.
Taking Morgan's advice, they told me that if I gave them a kiss on the cheek, they'd forgive me. Something in the back of my mind told me to make more mistakes, but I stopped myself.
I was discussing with Brandon who we both found to be the hottest in the party when Morgan called.
"Boys!"
We turned. The whole party had banded together in the pool and on its edge, lining up in two neat lines to face us.
Simultaneously, they whooped and pulled off their Bikini tops.
It's fair to say that both our jaws lost their hinges that moment.
"So... Many... Tits!" Brandon whispered.
"Hold that thought." I told him, quickly pulling out my cell phone. I switched to camera mode. "Say cheese!"
"CHEESE!" A collective shout.
Snap.
"And that will stay with me forever." I grinned.
"Mobile phones have bad image quality." Brandon told me, regretfully, since the girls were fastening their bras on again.
"Not this one. 8 megapixel camera."
"You lucky bastard! Give me that!" Brandon tried to snatch the phone from me. I stopped him.
"Calm down, I'll print you off a copy."
"I'll hold you to that." He chortled. "It's not every day thirty girls flash you at the same time."
"Certainly isn't."
We both heard the door open. Brandon ran off to shush the girls while I flicked off the lights, making everything go dark.
Trudge by trudge, Leanne entered the back garden. I hit the lights.
"SURPRISE!" Another shout. Only I didn't shout.
I stood there, frozen, mouth agape.
Li's fur had been washed and conditioned, now having the appearance of pure silk. Her tail was puffed and brushed, looking like one big fluffy feather. Hair stylized into a kind of mullet - a big plume at the front, then a bobble at the back to give her a pony tail. Nails done with shining red paint, fangs polished to a pearly white. She wore a new T-Shirt and classy jeans that brought her waist out even more. Around her neck hung the emerald, shining in the light just like her magnificent green eyes.
Morgan shouted at Leanne to get her attention on me. "Kiss the poor guy before he blows a gasket!"
Li turned, smiling. Her arms gently wound around my neck and her muzzle joined my mouth. In that single move, her waist pushed up against mine and my hands went to her sides.
Applause and whooping from the party. I could have stayed there for days - everything about Leanne made her irresistible. Her looks, her behaviour, her smell. The way her fur felt to the touch.
But, inevitably, we had to stop the kiss, lest it got out of control. Our arms remained in place.
"How do I look?" She asked, smiling, eyes locked with mine.
"Words cannot describe just how beautiful you are." I whispered. "I would love to get you alone right now."
One of her hands dropped from my neck and went to my buttocks, squeezing hard. "And I could just eat you up right now."
"Save it for later. Go have fun with your friends." I kissed her on the cheek and she let go of me, allowing me to continue with what I was doing.
***
"Oh, I remember the hard-on you had when we hugged. Felt like an iron bar was poking into me." Leanne was lying with her muzzle on my collarbone, arms around me. I absently stroked her hair.
"Heh. Just like you to spoil such a beautiful moment. The lights turn on, we hug, we kiss, we say we love eachother and bam, 'Is that a nightstick in your pocket, honey?'."
"Did you really mean what you said back then?"
"My beautiful furry wolf, you would have given a boner to a paralysis victim."
Li giggled. "I got suspicious when my parents dropped me off and drove away. Even more so when I saw the shelves cleaned of pottery and china."
"But you still walked into the surprise."
"Yeah, and it was great." She didn't say anything for a few moments. Then; "Do you still have that photo you took?"
I reached over to the bedside cupboard and took out a photo of that very day. Thirty women, mostly furs, with their bras removed, shouting 'cheese'.
"It's laminated." Li noted.
"Well, yeah, it does get lonely here."
"Eww!" Li faked mock disgust. Her free hand slipped under the covers. "Not anymore, I hope?"
"Not anymore. Now I've got something better than the photo."
Leanne raised her head to give me a kiss on the cheek, then put it back down to where she felt most comfortable.
"Keep talking, you might just give me more ideas."
***
Despite my protests, saying that she'll ruin her fur, Leanne changed and jumped into the pool. The party was in full swing now, with Brandon mixing the drinks and flirting with the girls. Far as I could tell, he had his pick of the bunch - or so I thought.
Lacey and Stacey approached him, asking to be taken to the bathroom. He wasn't one to argue. From where I stood, I observed the twins pull him into his room and slam the door.
"Well, he scored." I murmured. "A double whammy, too."
"What's that?" Megan, a friendly lion fur I'd met a few minutes back, asked.
"Brandon. The twins got him." I turned to face her. Here's a fact; feline furs have very cute faces, with very big, pretty eyes. Playful by nature, but more submissive than wolf furs. There are exceptions to what I say, but overall, the stereotype is there.
"Ah. Any idea what they're doing?"
I was sure the question fell because she wanted to talk to me some more. So, my comedic side showing, I cupped my hand and put it to my cheek, then pushed the opposite cheek out with my tongue. Viola, a fake blowjob.
Megan giggled, which made her bikini wobble. Very pretty.
I looked over her shoulder to where Li sat in the Jacuzzi, talking and laughing with one other wolf fur, Danielle the Husky, Morgan and Cayleigh. The night was upon us - with the sun gone, the light wind made me feel cold. I mean, I didn't have fur and I didn't have a shirt. Without one or the other, I was bound to shiver.
"You okay?" Megan asked.
"Yeah, just a bit cold." I replied.
"Then come with me." She took my hand in her paw and led me to the Jacuzzi - a large hole in the ground, about four metres across. The girls all looked at me curiously.
"I haven't got swimming tru- GAH!"
Li had reached out, taken hold of my belt and dragged me down. I took a shallow breath before hitting the water, but still managed to choke. The Jacuzzi was deep enough to cushion my fall, then the girls caught me and pushed me back to the surface.
They were all laughing when I emerged, coughing and spluttering.
"Sorry, Rich." Li apologized. "Couldn't wait for you to get in here with us."
I dragged myself to the side of the small pool, only to be surrounded on both sides by furs. Li put her arm behind my back and leaned on my shoulder, while Morgan just snuggled up to me. The wolf and Danielle got close to Morgan, while Cayleigh and Megan got close to Leanne.
"D'you feel like a pimp yet?" Megan asked, smiling.
"I have no idea how a pimp feels on a daily basis."
"Well, you have hot girls all around." Cayleigh said.
"In that case, I feel very lucky." I ran my fingers through Leanne's hair. "And I feel very, very, very lucky to know Li."
"You mean you feel very, very, very lucky to be screwing Li." The other wolf corrected me. Memory told me her name was Leah. Dark hair flowing down over dark fur, blue eyes shining out over her muzzle. Shorter than Li in height, but still pretty.
"I don't feel shame in admitting that she's the one doing the screwing."
"Well, can you blame her?" Morgan asked. "You look so delicious in that outfit..." She ran her tongue over her feline lips, reminding me of the kiss we shared. I shut my eyes, trying to prevent the inevitable re-emergence of the trouser snake.
"Aww, I think Richard's uncomfortable. How about we make him feel less self-conscious, girls?" Leanne looked around. Nods from each fur in the Jacuzzi. And then the bras came off.
"See? Now we're all bare."
"Do all of your friends take pleasure in giving men hard-ons, Li?" I glared at the red-haired wolf sitting next to me.
"Not all of them. Morgan isn't usually like this. I guess she just really likes you."
"Oh yeah." Morgan nodded. "The things I'd do to you... If only you weren't Leanne's man..."
I noticed someone exiting the house and looked up.
Lacey and Stacey wandered out, smoothing down their fur and talking privately, grins on their muzzles. Brandon stumbled out after them, fur ruffled, hair all over the place and bow tie undone. I waved to him, so he approached.
When he got within a metre of the Jacuzzi, he collapsed into a sitting position. He glanced over the fur girls, bras removed, and gave off a disappointed and frustrated groan.
"I got more than you." I teased. "You got two, I got six."
"It felt like it was six." Brandon panted. "Holy shit, they were demanding. Again and again and again. Thought they'd kill me."
I spotted something. "Is that the first time you've had sex?"
Brandon froze, eyes wide.
Bingo.
"Oh. My. God." Danielle gasped, then laughed hard. "Seriously?"
Brandon covered his face.
"Danny! That's mean!" Cayleigh shouted. Danielle shut up. "Get in, sweetie. We'll make you feel better."
Brandon did, then Cayleigh and Danielle snuggled up to him.
"Sorry if I embarrassed you." Danny kissed him on the cheek. "Didn't mean to."
"It's okay. Not like virginity is common at my age."
"Well, you got rid of it." I told him. "Although, it might have been easier to hit on a single girl first. Maybe a cat."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Brandon whined.
"Hey - I assumed you were pussy-savvy. And it was just ignorant to assume you could handle two wolf furs at once." I nodded to Leanne, who was happily listening to me while I berated her brother. "I can barely handle one."
Brandon didn't respond to that.
"So, how long is everyone staying?" I brushed my hand over Leanne's breast, moving down to her bikini panties, to show what I meant.
"The party will officially be over in half an hour, then everyone will start leaving. I think Cayleigh, Morgan, Danielle, Leah and Megan will stay the night."
"And then we'll all play spin the bottle!" Morgan whooped.
"Fun." I sighed. "I'm sitting in a Jacuzzi with six extremely hot furs who all took their bras off to make me feel better."
"Is something wrong?" Leanne was concerned by my tone, letting go only to look into my eyes.
"No, I just never expected my life to go like this. I-"
Leanne's paw clamped down my mouth, stopping me.
"Shut up and kiss me."
She didn't give me much choice in the matter, but I complied happily. Li moved one leg over to sit on my lap, steadied herself by leaning on the edge of the Jacuzzi and kissed me. Her tongue worked its way around, as if to say 'Hi, how are ya, nice to see you again.'. It was long, sensual, passionate.
It ended with a pop on my part. Li smiled, sitting back on my side.
Brandon's mouth was wide open, and a very obvious tent was in his tuxedo bottoms. I grinned.
"It's wrong to fantasize about your own sister, Brandon."
Cayleigh looked down, having to cover her mouth to stifle laughter.
"Come on. I'll help you sort that out." Cayleigh got out of the water and pulled Brandon with her. They went back into the house and, I guessed, into his bedroom.
"Speaking of which..." Leanne was staring at my trousers. The snake was getting harder to ignore.
"Alright, I think it's time the Birthday girl got some privacy." Morgan got out of the pool, putting her bra back on. "Alright everyone! Thank you for coming, I would like to declare the party officially over!"
There were some groans, but the guests began to leave after picking up their clothes. Leah and Danielle said their goodbyes and left with the main group.
"This was fun. Thanks for the invitation, Li." Megan said, clipping on her bra. "And I hope I'll see you again sometime, Richard."
"Likewise, Megan."
At the end, only Li, Morgan and I were left outside.
"Excuse me, but I really need to use the restroom." Leanne left me alone in the Jacuzzi, also ignoring her bikini top. Morgan (once she was sure Leanne was gone) walked over to me. I was out of the water by then, removing the wet collar and shirt cuffs.
"I know you love Leanne. I'd never do anything to change that." She scratched the back of her head, looking away from me. "I have this funny feeling we'll see eachother again. But... In case the feeling is wrong, could you kiss me goodbye?" A hopeful look at me.
"Don't you have a boyfriend, Morgan?" I took her hand in mine to show that I wasn't outright rejecting her.
"No... Bad luck streak."
"You are a beautiful panther. Just because you had some bad luck doesn't mean you'll be lonely forever."
"Guys don't really find my front too attractive."
"Doesn't automatically make you ugly. I mean, this-" I pushed her chin up with the index finger of my free hand. "-and this-" Then, I squeezed her ass, which made her whimper. "-is absolutely stunning. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
It wasn't enough to change her mood, so I put one hand on her waist, the other in her hair and kissed her as softly as I could. I was aware of the risk I was taking. Kissing another girl in my girlfriend's home? A disaster waiting to happen.
But Morgan needed reassurance. Something really bad had to have happened to put such a pretty girl in such a state.
I didn't drag the kiss out - simply stopping when I felt it was enough. Morgan's eyes were still closed, her lips still pursed. As tempting as it was, I couldn't give her anything more.
"T-thank you." A single tear slid down her cheek. "I should go."
And she went.
***
I ended the story on that note, staring at the ceiling. We had gotten dressed, changed the sheets on the bed and went downstairs, where I lay down on the couch with my head in Li's lap.
A tear swelled in my eye and rolled down my temple.
"Why are you crying?" She asked.
"Two years ago, a black Panther fur was wheeled into the ER with a Ketanol overdose."
"Morgan." Li whispered.
I nodded, managing to hold back the tears. "She took the whole fucking bottle. Dialysis couldn't help her, but it kept her alive for two more hours. Morgan recognised me. We talked. I asked why she did it. She said her boyfriend left her for a model who didn't have a flat chest. She took those pills because some asshole broke her heart."
I couldn't stop it anymore. I sat up and put my hands in my face.
"She... She asked me to kiss her. Because her boyfriend never did." I wheezed. The tears were flowing freely now, dropping on the floor. "I kissed her... On the lips... And she flat-lined... Couldn't bring her back..."
Leanne put her arms around me. I buried my face in her shirt. We sat there, a reversal of roles. She did her best to hush and comfort me, but it wouldn't have worked. An old wound was re-opened, and the only way for it to heal was for it to be cleaned.
"I couldn't work." I told her, after the initial hit of sorrow passed. "Whenever I heard a monitor flat-line, it just made me want to burst into tears."
"You can't blame yourself. It wasn't you who left her."
"Knowing that doesn't change the way I feel." I stood from the couch and wandered to the kitchen. In a floor-level cupboard, hidden amongst cooking wines and oils, was a half-drunk bottle of Brandy. I took it out and unscrewed the cap.
"You don't drink." Li had followed me, now standing on the other side of the counter.
"I do if I need it." I tried to raise the bottle to my mouth. Leanne's hand appeared over the neck and forced it back down with a thud.
"Drinking that crap won't solve your problems. It might make the pain hazy, but all you're doing is pushing it deeper."
"Which is exactly what I intend to do." I tried again. Again, she shoved it down.
"Why won't you let me do this?"
"Because you're only hurting yourself. Let go of the bottle."
I did.
"Now listen to me. You did your job. You made Morgan comfortable in her last moments. You did what you could to make her happy. You made her feel loved, both there and before."
"Before?"
Li shut her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again, they were solemn. "Before the party, her fiancée left her. You were the only man that ever kissed her with any emotion, and that love kept her alive for five years. Kept her hoping. I'd hazard to guess that the kiss you gave her on her deathbed was something she held onto as she passed."
I stared at the counter, fresh tears rolling down my face.
"Do you understand?" She asked. I wiped my nose and faced her.
"I did all I could. Whatever I could have given her, I did."
"Yes." Li walked around the counter, my gaze following her, and put her hands on my shoulders. "Please, Richard, stop beating yourself up over the misguided judgement of some hormone-filled prick."
I hugged her again. Previously, when I remembered Morgan, all I could do was sit in my office with a bottle of whatever alcohol was on hand and cry. More than once the glass in my window looked all-too welcoming. A jump, a vertical dive and the pain would be gone for good. No need to endure, no need to remember.
But suicide is never the right answer. In a way, Morgan cemented my desire to help others, to do whatever I could, whatever was in my power.
Leanne broke through that pain, leaving only the good resolution in my mind.
"Thank you. I... Needed that."
"Any time."
I let go of her. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"I think I'll cook this morning."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, why not? Afraid I'll set your kitchen on fire?"
I laughed. "No, I just don't want to see that beautiful tail of yours burning to a singe."
"Oh, don't worry. You just go sit down and watch my ass move around the kitchen - I put these jeans on just for you."
I glanced down, she struck a pose.
"Yah. I'll just... Go do that."