A Silent Soul- Chapter 14
#15 of A Silent Soul
Chapter 14! :D
Hello my furry friends! Your (hopefully) favorite husky back for the next chapter of A Silent Soul. I hope you brought your tissues, you're gonna need 'em this chapter (or at least I did but I'm just a big baby so w/e). I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I did writing, and I'll see you all at the bottom of the page. :D
"Hey." I stated simply, approaching the wolf from behind.
"Hey." He replied back, meeting my gaze for only a moment before looking away. Standing next to him, I grabbed his hand in my own. I was disappointed at first when I got no reaction, but after a few seconds he gripped back.
I wasn't sure how long we stood there standing hand in hand, but the moment was simply perfect. The sun had gone down allowing the moonlight to reflect off the water in front of us. The cool breeze ran through our fur, causing me to close my eyes and inhale deeply.
"Do you really like me?" Jasper's question pierced the calming silence.
"Not just out of pity for everything, but do you genuinely like being with me?" He continued. I didn't answer immediately, asking myself the exact same question.
Was Jasper really the one that I wanted to be with? Doubt clouded my mind for a moment before the soft breeze cleared the fog that was preventing me from giving an answer. Hesitantly, I released Jasper's hand from my own grip before turning to face him.
"No Jasper. I don't like being with you." I started. I could see the hurt in his eyes at my confession, but I stopped him before he could say anything. Reaching out with both hands this time, I grabbed his and held on tight. I could feel his hands shaking as I spoke.
"No Jasper, I love being with you. You've made me so happy these past few days, and I can't even begin to express my gratitude for what you've done for me. The only thing I can say is thank you, Jasper." I spoke softly, keeping my silvery gaze locked to his the entire time.
Jasper seemed to let the words sink in as a full muzzle grin overtook his face. He released my hands to pull me into an embrace, which I returned fully. I could feel his body shaking with emotion, and I was surprised to feel the wetness on the side of my neck from his tears.
"Thank you... thank you so much Elijah. Thank you... thank you..." He kept repeating as we rocked gently in the embrace. I finally pulled away slightly, using a paw to wipe some of the tears that stained his muzzle. He sniffled and smiled slightly.
"Sorry, just got a little overwhelmed there." He said quietly.
"I knew you were a softy." I teased him.
"Only for you." He grinned before taking me completely by surprise. He grabbed the back of my head behind my ears with both hands and drew me in, our muzzles meeting for the second time that day. The surprise quickly faded and soon enough I was reciprocating the kiss with eagerness.
This time it was my turn to surprise him and I opened my mouth, letting my tongue trace across his teeth. Jasper gasped in response and I quickly shoved my tongue into his mouth, exploring every crevice I could. I could feel Jasper's grin as the kiss furthered, and it didn't take long for his tongue to start fighting back.
I was overpowered and soon they traded places as it was his turn to do a bit of exploring. Finally feeling the need for air begin to slip in, we both drew back causing a trail of saliva to recede with each of our muzzles. We stared at each other both breathing heavily before I broke the silence.
"Wow. That was..." I trailed off, still dazed from the kiss.
"Awesome." Jasper finished, letting a chuckle mix with the word. We walked on the beach for a while hand in hand, simply enjoying each other's company. No words needed to be spoken during the time, the soft howl of the wind was enough for us.
"Ready to head back?" I asked him.
"Ready when you are." He replied, and we began the slow walk back to our dorm. We'd started a bit of a game on the way there, letting our tails play with each other. I had slightly less movement with my curled tail, but that didn't prevent me from wrestling back against his gray furry appendage.
Jasper held the door open for me when we reached the room, and I stepped inside before flopping down lazily on our joined beds.
"I'm going for a shower. Care to join me?" Jasper asked, and I didn't miss the mischief that tainted his voice. Flipping over on my side to face him, I lost my train of thought when my vision met the almost naked wolf. He stood simply in his black boxers that left plenty to the imagination.
"Sure." I replied, blushing slightly. Standing up I approached him, allowing my muzzle to bury into his bare chest.
Inhaling deeply I continued, "I'd like that."
"Only like?" He teased, using my words from the beach against me.
"I'd like that a lot." I teased back. Grabbing a towel and my shower gear, Jasper continued the conversation.
"What was that other "L" word you used earlier?" He grinned. Turning to face him, I booped him on the nose.
"I'd love to you silly wolf." We walked down the hall towards the community bathrooms and found that they were empty. Jasper set his basket of cosmetics down in one of the stalls and stepped inside to turn on the water. I paused for a moment to consider his question from the room.
"Wait when you asked if I would join you did you mean...?" I trailed off, assuming he would get the memo. He poked his head out of the shower curtain and met my gaze for a moment.
"Well I mean... not really but if you're ready for that...?" He replied hesitantly. I grinned at his nervousness and decided to spare him this time.
"No that's okay, I don't wanna push too far. I'm enjoying this pace right now." I replied, but I wouldn't put it past myself that that statement was somewhat of a lie. His gaze faltered for a moment but he regained his composure, nodding.
"Yeah me too. Maybe another time?" He asked.
"Sure wolfie. Another time." I replied, stepping into my own shower. There was no singing this time around, only deep shower thoughts about the day's events. Our first kiss, meeting some new friends, our second, much better kiss, and was almost invited to shower with my roommate. What a day.
I let my thoughts wander to my classes tomorrow and was slightly confused when I came up blank. Mentally face palming, I realized tomorrow was Saturday. The first weekend of the semester, there were bound to be parties now that everyone was settling in.
"Hey Jasper?" I called over the wall separating us.
"Hm?" He responded.
"Tomorrow's Saturday, got any plans?"
"Not really... there'll probably be some things going on around campus if you wanna just walk around a bit." He replied.
"Yeah probably, I'll text Rachel and Sebastian and see if they wanna go." I exclaimed, turning off the water. Jasper followed suit in turning his water off and I dried my fur the best I could before pulling my boxers on.
I made a costly mistake when I leaned over slightly to put my shampoo back into my basket as I became painfully aware of a sharp sting on my backside. I whirled around to see Jasper winding up his towel for another whip and I grabbed my own towel from around my neck to return the favor.
We exchanged whips for a couple of minutes when we were forced to retreat because of two hyenas that entered the showers. I swore that they looked identical but I was distracted by our antics as we whipped each other down the hall.
We likely woke anyone that was sleeping in the hall but anybody who was asleep before 11 needed to wake up. It's Friday night on a college campus, you shouldn't be sleeping. I was eating my words about twenty minutes later when I crawled into bed with my new fluffy pillow.
We were nose to nose facing each other as we laid there, letting our eyes explore the other's facial features. I eventually ended up muzzle deep in his chest fluff snoring lightly, his arms wrapped comfortably around my sleeping form. I couldn't argue that it was more than likely the nicest sleep I'd had in quite some time.
The next morning I was in the same exact position that I'd fallen asleep in; muzzle deep in fluff. Smiling lightly I inhaled the scent of the gray wolf that I'd very quickly come to know and enjoy. The scent was strong, but also slightly sweet at the same time, the two defining features of the sleeping form in front of me.
I brought my muzzle back up to his and pressed my cold nose against his as I waited for him to wake up. It didn't take long for the piercing green eyes to meet my gaze causing both of us to grin.
He stretched his arms out behind me before pulling me in closer. I was very fond of the contact as I buried my muzzle into the crook of his neck, sighing contentedly.
"We can't lay here all day you know." Jasper whispered into my ear.
"Wanna bet?" I challenged teasingly.
"Challenge accepted." Jasper said as I felt his arms move around to the front, going after my stomach. My eyes widened in surprise and I now squirmed to get away as he tickled me relentlessly. I finally was able to jump out of the bed and hide in the corner of the room, watching Jasper wiggle his fingers threateningly.
"Jasper 1, Elijah 0." Jasper chuckled as he crawled out of bed as well. He stretched once again and I could help but sneak a glance that didn't go unnoticed by Jasper.
"Staring is rude y'know." He teased as he pulled a black t-shirt on followed by a dark blue hoodie. I followed suit in getting dressed, a white shirt and my favorite gray hoodie with a pair of jeans as well.
"Breakfast?" Jasper asked.
"Coffee." I corrected as we left the dorm room headed for the cafeteria. Hand in hand we walked in silence as I contemplated what to do that day. No classes, no job, and my new boyfriend to spend the day with. What can we do? I wondered to myself as we walked. Then as if I'd sent a prayer to the heavens for plans a sign posted right outside the dining hall gave me our answer.
"There. That's what we can do today." I pointed at the sign. It was the sign for first football game of the season, and it was being played here at home.
"That'd be great, you should definitely text the others and see if they want to go." Jasper responded excitedly. He'd told me a couple days ago how big of football fans he and his father were, so I figured the game would be perfect.
I listened intently to Jasper's explanation of how football worked as we ate considering how I'd fallen asleep the previous time. He was so passionate about it and I couldn't help but get excited as well. I paused for a moment to send texts to Rachel and Sebastian asking if they wanted to go.
I got a for sure "yes" from Rachel and an "I'll let you know" from the bobcat.
"I doubt Sebastian will back out so for now it looks like me, you, Rachel, and Sebastian." I told Jasper.
"Sounds good. I can't wait, I'm so excited!" He responded giddily.
"I would bring some cash with you just in case you see something you like." I exclaimed.
"Yeah definitely, good thing tickets are free. I hear the team is actually supposed to be pretty good this year." He noted.
"Have you ever played football?" I asked him curiously.
"I used to be the kicker for my high school team during my junior year, but I got a job senior year that prevented me from going to the practices so they had to let me go." He explained.
"That's too bad, hey maybe you could try out for the team." I joked.
"Pssh, yeah right. I wouldn't last a day." He replied, finishing the last of his meal.
"I bet you would." I poked at him.
"Are you sure you wanna make another bet? The first one didn't work out in your favor if I remember right." He replied wiggling his fingers again. We both took our plates back to the dish return and Jasper picked up where he'd left off in explaining the various rules of the game he was so passionate about.
"So what are we supposed to do while we wait? It's only 11:00 now and the game doesn't start until 3:00." I asked him, searching for ideas.
"I was thinking about going down to the gym if you wanted to come?" He responded.
"Sure, I've got no better ideas at the moment." I replied. We swung by the room for him to grab his workout clothes before we made our way to the gym. It was a pretty long walk there considering it was almost across campus but the cool weather actually made for a pleasant stroll.
It was the first time being inside and let me say the place was freaking decked out. Every machine imaginable, not to mention the restaurant that was connected directly to it. It served food that was healthier than some of the other dining halls on campus, for the health freaks who spent all their time here at the gym.
"This place is awesome." I said, letting my gaze trace all the various machines that could more than likely work out just about any muscle you wanted to work.
"I know right? I wanna try the treadmills first." He responded, going down the staircase to the cardio section of the gym. I followed him to the running machines and he stretched out a bit before turning it on. The gym surprisingly was almost empty, save for the few people we'd seen upstairs on the other weight machines.
I grabbed the TV remote from the treadmill and flipped it on as Jasper got the machine up to speed. Once he was at a comfortable pace he set into a steady motion, letting his breathing even out.
"This is great, haven't been to the gym in forever, my dad hurt his back a little while ago so we haven't been able to get out here." Jasper said.
"How'd he hurt himself?" I asked curiously, flipping through the channels on the TV.
"He did construction work and hurt himself trying to lift something. Been out of commission ever since." He responded. I finally settled on the sports channel where the pregame show for the football game was being aired.
"Welcome back to the Lions pregame show where your Saint Leo Lions will be taking on the number 22 ranked Oklahoma State Wildcats here at home. Kickoff is at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time so make sure you're here to cheer on your Lions today in the season opener! We'll send it back to John and the gang back on the field." The brown spotted giraffe reporter finished.
"I can't wait, I think it'll be a really good game." Jasper commented as highlights from the previous season flashed across the screen. The big highlight from the year before was the upset over then top 10 ranked Stanford in the last game of the season, one of the reasons we were looked at as a threat this season. Jasper tried out a couple more of the machines before we left around 1:00.
"We should probably get over to the bus station, I think the last shuttle leaves at 2:30 and I want good seats. I just texted Rachel and Sebastian to let them know we're heading over now." I told Jasper as he changed into his normal clothes once again.
"Sounds good, let's go." He responded. Luckily the shuttle station was only a couple minutes, but the bus itself was packed full of people, almost all students. We were somewhat out of place as almost everyone was wearing blue and white colored jerseys. I made mental note to pick one up at the game once we got there, and as the bus pulled away, I couldn't help but get excited for the game.
Aaaaaand that's a wrap! Gotta bowl in the morning so I'm likely off to bed. I hope you all enjoyed the story and don't be afraid to drop a comment down below if you enjoyed or if I made any mistakes I should be aware of. And also don't forget to go check out my new story that I've started called In My Time of Need! It might be something you like, you'll never know if you don't try it out! Anyways I'll see you all tomorrow! See ya! :D