The first thing I notice about Tre's apartment is that it was very dark. All of the shades are drawn and there is only a small line of light peeking out from underneath them. Tre turns on the hall light and I can see a little more of the apartment in the golden glow of the ceiling light. It's surprisingly very clean from what I can see. It's a small area space, with the kitchen being immediately to the left and the living room right beside it. There's a large sectional couch on a black shag rug and one lounge chair caddy-corner to it. There's a flat screen tv hanging on the wall with a gaming system on the tv stand in front of the couch and a few small tables are scattered in between the furniture.
There's no decorations on any of the walls or on the tables. Besides the dark colored furniture, everything else is plain and white. I kind of thought him and Trell would have posters of half-naked girls on the walls are something like that, but there's no personal connection to anything in the open area. Nothing that gives any indication into their personal lives. But the apartment doesn't seem cold from the lack of personal connection, it still feels welcoming, but a welcoming only for certain people.
"My room's back here," Tre nods with his head in the left direction and he leads me past the kitchen and living room and into a small hallway before stopping at the very last door. He brings out a different key and unlocks his door.
I give his hand a gentle squeeze in mine and he opens the door. I shouldn't be surprised that's it completely dark too, but the darkness looks a little daunting to me. I feel like I'm about to be stepping into a dark world that I don't what is on the inside.
He gestures that I go first and I slowly walk into the darkness. Now I am a lamb stepping into the lions den. Tre follows me and then when we're both surrounded in the darkness he closes the door and I hear him move around and then a soft light comes on from his nightstand.
I take a moment to look around his room and it's a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Tre's large bed takes up about a third of the room and the rest of the room has a small desk with a laptop sitting on top, a dresser in the corner with a large tv on it, and a chair near the bed that has a few articles of clothing on it.
He has jet black curtains hanging over the windows and his floor is dark grey carpet. His floor is clean except for a few pairs of shoes set near the foot of the bed and in here, his walls aren't bare. There's a poster on one wall that has the Detroit skyline in black and white and on another wall there's pieces of notebook paper scattered across the wall. I step closer to the wall and see writings scribbled across the pages.
"Those are some of my writings," Tre mumbles and I look at all the pieces, each one being a different length and style. I would love to stay here and read them all, but I don't know if Tre is ready for me to read any of his works yet.
"That's cool." I smile and turn around to face him. "You have a lot you've written."
Tre shrugs. "I've had a lot of inspiration."
"So," I saw slowly and lightly kick one of my legs out. "Are we going to nap now?"
Tre looks at his bed and then to me. "Yeah if you wanna nap."
I bite my lip. His tone is very sincere and doesn't have any extra meaning to it like he's insinuating something else besides a nap.
"If you're ready to lay in a bed with me?" He smirks teasingly.
I playfully roll my eyes at him. "Shut up."
He chuckles and walks over to me, grabbing my hands in his and gently pulling me towards his bed. His comforter is really soft as I sit down on it and I take off my shoes, leaving them in front of the bed.
"Will you be comfortable wearing that?" He asks, pointing at my sweatshirt.
I look down and then nod. "Yeah, thanks."
"Okay." He turns toward his closet and opens the door, looking in for a brief moment before plucking a t-shirt off from the hangers. He grabs the shirt he has on and lifts it up and over his head, exposing his bare back to me. I was going to look away but right as his shirt came off, I couldn't stop looking at the excessive amount of black ink across his back.
There's a figure of a man right down on Tre's spine and the man is split in half. One side of him looks like an angel with wings and the other half looks like a demon. The man's arms are spread out wide like a crucifix and in each hand, it's like he's holding a balance scale. One side has a light feather and the other side has a dark feather, like a middle-ground perfect balance of good and evil together. The man is not an angel, but he is not a devil either. He's a mixture of both, knowing how to balance the two sides perfectly in order. In the space of above the man's head, there's a name and numbers below it.
Moira
42.3314° N, 83.0458° W
Every time Tre moves, the dark lines move with him like a constant wave of blackness that seeps over every taunt moving muscle. Tre turns around to face me and I see more ink across his chest and shoulders. My eyes move all over his body, taking in every detail that is inscribed in his body. His body looks so beautiful and strong. His stomach is toned with a six pack and his arms showcase the veins that pop out against his muscles.
I don't know why, but I really have the urge to run my hand across his body, tracing every muscle, vein, and inkling I find.
"Did all of your tattoos hurt?" I ask him as he puts on his shirt.
He looks down and then shakes his head. "Nah. Most of them didn't hurt that bad. The only one that actually hurt was on my spine."
"How many do you have?"
"Shit, I don't even know now. Too many to remember."
He moves towards the bed and sits besides me.
"You have any tattoos?" He jokingly smirks, already knowing the answer.
"No I don't have any tattoos, Tre," I chuckle at him.
"Would you ever get one?" He asks.
I shrug. "I don't know, maybe someday. I don't know what I'd get though. There's nothing that I would want to permanently put on my body."
"You don't ever have to get one," he says and then smiles, looking at me. "Tattoos are cool but no tattoos is cool too."
I smile at him too, this time not worrying about my cheeks turning pink. My cheeks are always blushing around Tre it's become a normal thing now.
"You wanna lay down?"
I nod, growing nervous.
I slowly move back towards the headboard, pull back his sheets and lay down on my side with my head on one of his pillows. Tre gets up and turns off the light, making the room almost pitch black. I can see his shadow form move back to the bed and I feel the bed dip and squeak at he gets in. He moves closer to me and lays on his side too, putting a hand on my waist. Our faces are only inches apart. I wonder if he can hear how loud and he's my heart is beating in my chest.
This is the first time I have ever laid in a bed with a guy before.
"You good?" He asks and his deep voice startled me a little bit from my thoughts.
"Yeah," I reply, looking straight ahead but not knowing if I'm actually looking at Tre's face or a blank space.
His grip on my waist tightens a little bit like he's reassuring me that everything is fine. Laying here engulfed in him, his warmth, his scent, his darkness; I feel safe.
I shut my eyes and relax my body, pushing all of the nerves away and letting my mind go blank. The soft humming coming from the heater is the only thing I hear besides Tre's heavy breathing.
"Tre?" I whisper after opening my eyes a few minutes later.
From his breathing, he sounds like he's already fallen asleep.
"Yeah?" He whispers back, moving slightly and rubbing my side.
"I can't sleep," I sheepishly say.
His body rumbles with a chuckle and then he moves a little bit closer to me, our bodies now touching. "Just relax then."
"I am relaxed," I tell him.
"You don't seem like it."
I sigh. "I've never been in a bed with a guy before."
"I know," he says. "I'm just laying here. I'm not gonna do anything you don't want me doing."
"I know that, Tre." I look up to where I think his face is and bite my lip. "I like being here with you."
At the moment, I can't see his face, but I know he's smiling.
"I'm glad."
"Are you tired?" I ask.
"A little. You're the one that said you were wanting to nap."
"I'm not tired anymore."
"I can see that cause you're still talking."
"Tre!" I lightly kick him and he laughs. Our eyes are starting to adjust to the darkness and I can see his face more.
"I'm just playing Eva," he says and teasingly pokes my side.
He puts his hand on my thigh and brings my leg over his. My breath hitches as our legs intertwine and his arm drapes over me. His minty breath fans against my cheeks and I clear my throat.
"Do you wanna play 20 questions?"
He chuckles at the suggestion but says, "Sure. As long as I get to ask you too."
I think for a moment of questions to ask. "What's your favorite color?"
"Out of all of the questions you can think of, that's what you choose?" He laughs.
"Hey, I'm the one asking the questions here," I tease him. "I'm just getting started."
"Okay," he sighs. "Red is my favorite color."
"Favorite sport?"
"Football."
"Favorite food?"
"Pizza."
"Can you cook?"
"Yeah I can. I actually really like cooking."
"I like to cook too. I don't know much to make but I'm good at following recipes." I say and then ask another question.
"Was WSU the first school you wanted to go to?"
"Yeah, it was kind of one the only options for me."
"Do you have any fears?"
"Not anymore."
"Why's that?"
"Life experiences." I want him to elaborate more on his ambiguous answer, but I continue on.
"Do you want to get anymore tattoos?"
"Hell yeah," he chuckles. "I'm always getting more tattoos."
"What does your tattoo on your back mean?"
It's like he freezes up for a moment. He doesn't move and doesn't say anything, like he's either deep in thought or hesitant to answer the question.
"It's an inner battle between a good man and a bad one," he finally says.
"That's it?" I ask him, wanting to know more about why he got it and what the name and numbers mean.
He clears his throat and rubs his hand up and down my leg, his light touch tickling me as his fingers lazily move across my thigh.
"The man is balancing his good and dark side. He can be an angel but also a demon sometimes. Everyone has a darkness to them, they just need to figure out how to balance it out."
"Sounds like this is spoken from experience?" I bring my hand down and place it on top of his, our fingers interlacing.
"Maybe."
I hesitate to ask him this next question but I feel like I need to know the answer to it.
"What does the name and numbers mean on the tattoo?"
He sighs and his hand tenses in mine. I squeeze his hand and rub my thumb in circles on the top of his hand, trying to add a little bit of comfort to him so he can tell me this. If it's making him hesitate this much, it has to be so important and personal to him that he never wants to talk about it. This is his truth and just from feeling the way his body reacts, it's his most painful truth.
"Moira was my mother." His voice rings out in a soft tone, to where I almost can't hear him.
"The set of numbers are the coordinates of where she's buried here."
His voice cracks and I regret asking the question, knowing how much pain and anguish I just caused him to reveal.
I lay there, not knowing what to say. I don't want to say the wrong thing to him.
"She died when I was 9 of a brain aneurysm. I found her lying on her bedroom floor when I got home from school. By the time the paramedics arrived she was already gone."
I take in everything he is telling me and I feel a tear drop down onto my cheek.
"I'm so sorry, Tre."
"It's okay." He rubs my side again. "It happened a long time ago. I got that tattoo so I'll never forget her and will always have her with me."
"Do you have any siblings?" I ask, changing the topic to a lighter note.
"I have an older brother, but I haven't seen him in years."
"What's his name?"
"Daniel."
"Did you guys get along?" I don't have any siblings, but if I did, I think I would get along with them. I really wish I had siblings to grow up with.
"Sometimes we did."
"What's one thing you want to accomplish by the end of this year?"
"To keep creating the best life I can give myself. Whatever it takes."
"What keeps you motivated?"
"Failure, success, my mom."
"What's one thing you want to accomplish in your life?"
"Making my mom proud."
"If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?"
Tre brings his hand up and run his thumb down my cheek.
"Right here," he mumbles and my body get chills. Our eyes meet each other and I bite my lip, knowing what to ask next.
Last question.
"Will you kiss me?"
He looks a little surprised at my question. I know he wasn't expecting me to ask that.
"Only if you want me too." He pauses. "Do you want me to?"
I had thought about this moment and how it would go, but I didn't think it would ever go like this. But now that we're here and after everything he has told me, I don't want this time to end with a simple, meaningless question and answer.
"Please."
He nods and his face comes closer to mine. My mind is swirling with all kinds of unclear thoughts, but as our faces get closer, I remember what Sam told me. Just follow Tre and do what he does.
So I angle my face towards his and his hand cups my cheek. Our lips only millimeters apart now and my nerves are at an all-time high. I don't know if he can feel me shaking, but his lips finally touch mine.
For a second they don't move and I wait for Tre. His lips then move slowly against mine and I move mine to match his. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. Feeling his lips on mine is a foreign sensation, but not a bad one.
Tre's lips command over mine, but I keep my lips moving with his, matching in synch. I wait for him to use his tongue, but he never does. He doesn't push it any farther, not wanting to make me uncomfortable.
My body feels very warm and I surprise myself by wanting him to use his tongue and push things farther. My lips are the only things moving slow. My blood is rushing fast throughout my entire body, lighting me up like an inferno. Igniting a spark inside me that I have never felt before.
I feel like I can keep kissing Tre all night.
He breaks the kiss first and I am left breathless, not from the kissing but from Tre and his overwhelming aurora. He kisses my cheek multiple times and I giggle, liking the feeling of his lips against my skin. He pulls away and even in the dark I can see his usual devilishly smirk.
"My turn to ask you now, Evangeline."
I return the smirk to him, challenging him.
"Ask away Trevante."