Love Bites

extra

While at first, Teegan’s experience in the American schooling system was difficult at the very least, he managed to get by with his little charms. Being “exotic” and all, definitely had its perks, but it also meant that he was often out of the loop with his school’s methods and teachings, and homework was twice as difficult when he got down to it. In the beginning, life at UC Santa Cruz was boring, at best, despite hundreds of eager freshmen that were excited to finally be away from the demands and restrictions of parents.

Things didn’t get interesting until he met a boy named Emery in his photography class. He had soft-looking teddy bear brown hair and frightened blue-green eyes. Teegan didn’t even notice the kid at first, so, in retrospect, it’s even funny to think that they became best friends. Em made himself as inconspicuous as possible in class whereas Teegan was quite comfortable if he had to answer a few questions in front of the class (although his tongue would stumble over the foreign words English presented him which made him something of a laughingstock).

It was after an ordeal where an older, less amused student began frequently bullying Em for his woeful stutter that Tee bumped into the smaller male’s life. No one deserved to be picked on, so by his insertion to the situation, he managed to get beat up for the both of them while simultaneously make friends (if a bit ungracefully) with Emery who became a much bigger piece in his life.

On the morning they formally met, they were outside in a crowded half-circle as the older college professor drawled in his short lecture, asking various students some questions they'd need to know starting off in the class. Teegan often wondered if Mr. Owens taught Photography because he was born when it was invented, but he kept that to himself, because the man was a decent guy overall. Just slow. And a bit boring.

He looked around a bit, then pointed at his next victim: "What is the amount of light or darkness on a photograph... Mr. Chevalier?"

Teegan had cringed at the pronunciation. French last name, American tongue: disgusting. He hadn't even known that there was anyone who was likely to be French or at least descended from a French family. He looked behind him and saw his professor's eyes travel to a boy a bit younger than he was by the looks of his kind, adolescent face. His face would've been even cuter had he not been so overworked and scared. He looked as if he would bite off his own tongue.

"I... I-I believe it's..."

"What?" Owens raised a lazy eyebrow and stated blatantly, "Speak up, please. I'm old and hard of hearing."

"I... a-ah..." he continued to stutter.

Another person chimed in, impatient and crude, "Come on! Do we really have to listen to him stutter all day long before he even spits out a damn answer?" Loud. Obnoxious.

This, Mr. Owens, heard. He growled, "That's enough, Adams. Another word and you're out of my class."

Meanwhile, Emery still frantically busied himself in his wording, and finally managed to get out an answer with some trouble, "I.. I b-believe it is called 'expo... exposure,' s-sir..."

Mr. Owens, placated, nodded and sent them off to busy themselves with the prompt of the day: still-life. Emery jet on out of the crowd as fast as possible, camera in hand, and Teegan casually went after him, looking around as he went with the possibility of a subject at hand. When he caught up to the short brunette, the French boy gave a gentle smile, "Hey... The, er, guy that was giving you trouble? Ignore 'im. He's... not important. Rude. And gross..." he started, then put out his hand, "I'm Teegan."

Bewildered, he replied, "Emery..."

"Wanna hear a joke?"

Silence. That oughta be a 'yeah,' right? Teegan continued.

"What do you call a potato with glasses?"

More silence.

"A spec-tater!"

More silence. Then a head that was put down, shading his face. Teegan heard a giggle. Mission totally accomplished.

And that was that! Between terrible dad humor that Teegan got off the internet and his interest of Emery's film production, the two became fairly close despite the other's shy, reclusive disposition and his own exuberant personality. They were an odd duo... And despite Teegan's growing attraction for the younger male, Emery was swept up into someone who didn't value stupid dad jokes like another idiotic French kid did. Soon the days they spent studying together in shared classes and hanging out in each other’s' dorms shortened and almost withered away. Although Teegan had friends, Emery was his best friend. Feeling him drift away was depressing as much as it was conflicting. Especially when one-on-one encounters with Emery's boyfriend went sour… Sour enough for Tee to realize that the "cool" and "attractive" male was disgustingly crude and cruel.

Covertly, he tried to persuade Emery and warn him of how much of a jerk he was, but those days were sweet and kind to little Em. He was happy, as much as Teegan wanted to shake his head and spit on the shoes of Em's boyfriend. He let Emery have his moment of bliss, if just for that moment, and watched carefully.

But maybe it wasn't careful enough.

Teegan and Em put aside one day a week to hang out: Wednesdays! It was his favorite day even though it was the same day as his English class which he was not particular fond of. Because of both his class and the fact that he was never one to hold back, Teegan would gleefully bound his way over to Emery's apartment, excited and happy for their small amount of time together. He never knocked, so when he came in, he wasn't expecting any surprises. His wide grin was quickly wiped away by the sight of Emery.

The small brunette froze, dropping the compact mirror in his hand and letting it fall to the rug at his feet. The purple and green bruises on and around his face were swollen, and hard to miss. Teegan was reminded of a doe caught in the headlights of a car the way Emery froze and trembled with his appearance. His own body felt like it had been left in a muddy puddle and electrocuted. But that feeling of shock left his body when it filled with anger. It pooled inside of him and he felt his nose flare, tears in his eyes... Tears in Emery's eyes...

"Tee... I... It's not what you think-- I... I tripped," he tried, lamely and without conviction.

The French boy came over to his best friend in two long strides and enveloped the younger male in his arms, clutching him to his chest with a delicateness neither knew he possessed. He stroked Emery's hair, then set him back a little from his shoulders so he could look at him fully, and Tee's first glimpse was just as bad as this second one. It made his brow furrow in guilt, in sadness, and in worrisome ways.

"He did this to you, Em," he managed to get out.

Em choked back tears, resting his head back into Teegan's shoulder so he didn't have to look him in the eyes anymore.

For a few more moments, Teegan held Emery, letting the two of them simmer down in the melting pot of emotions that were previously on a high flame. The two of them quieted, but Teegan finally stirred and moved, still gentle until they parted.

"I'm going to go after him. He can't get away with what he's done to you, he just can't..." The brunette grit his teeth and calmed himself. He looked to Emery very solemnly, "Stay here, Em. I'll be right back."

It was safe to say that he went to confront Em's boyfriend. And despite Tee's "orders" for Em to stay, the boy followed a ways behind so that he was there when Teegan, the limp noodle, was battered and ready to leave. The two stumbled back with uncertainty to the apartment, matching bruises and all. Though the Frenchman lost the battle, he won Emery; if that alone was what he was able to accomplish, then that made him proud.

On the bright side, Em’s boyfriend became his ex-boyfriend, and the French male couldn’t have been happier to spend more time with his Em. Unfortunately, the ordeal left Emery quite shaken and Teegan could only do his best to comfort the damaged soul, and try to mend the pieces of his heart. As much as there was the bliss of spending time with his friend, every moment the younger male displayed the effects of an abusive relationship in distorted behaviors, a burst of flames would burst into Tee’s stomach. It was so wrong for any of it to have happened, and he partially blamed himself for not paying close enough attention.

But time goes on. Bruises will heal faster than mental wounds, but things get better (supposedly)…

Now, the beginning of December left the Northwest particularly cold, especially along the ocean’s edge. The coastal town of Santa Cruz brought in frigid breezes from the sea that rustled huge redwoods’ branches, sending prickly prongs to their place of rest. Students trampled them as they walked to their classes in thick coats and scarves; some were hit by the residual pieces that were tossed about by the gusts of wind.

The tall French boy sat near the window of his apartment, watching the sea from afar. He lived close to campus, found a job delivering (detestable) American pizzas, but now made enough to afford his apartment with the money he brought with him from France almost a year and a half ago.

Soon, he would enter an apprenticeship for architecture on the side while he went to school. He was getting closer to becoming something his mother could be proud of. He was saddened by all the trouble he had caused her—she, as a single mother, had to work twice as hard for the both of them. His failures and carelessness in the French schooling system tarnished his future, and the idea that he wanted to reboot his life by attending American college was certainly a surprise to his mother. Nonetheless, his earnest explanations won her over and he was able to reinvent himself this way.

It comes to his mind now, that if he never persuaded his mother to let him partake in adventure as big as this one, he would have never have met Emery. Today would particularly involve Em’s appearance as he gathered his courage to ask him one of the most important questions of his budding love life. As much as Teegan was a flirt, he was by no means a “man whore” in the sense he dated all around. In fact, he had never really had a relationship with anyone. No boyfriend, no nothing.

And this was why he was so nervous now. Butterflies were damned near bursting out of his stomach.

Half an hour ago, he had texted Em: ’Meet me at Cowell Fountain at noon, s’il-vous plaît. Merci. (:’

It was 11:00 am now… He decided he’d better go. He wasn’t normally early for things, but something like this was important and deserved a different approach than what was considered normal by Teegan’s standards. Before he left, he looked into the mirror on his bedroom dresser, turning this way and that way to see all sides of himself. When he deemed himself presentable, he stood there a moment more to ask himself, "What's cookin', good lookin'?" If this wasn't a confidence boost, he didn't know what was.

He shook out his hands and legs, breathed in and exhaled deeply. And so he left with nervous fists in his pockets, doing his best not to give any hints as to his intentions. He shooed away any romance that drifted in the air, tossing a stone into a tree. There. Could. Not. Be. Any. Hints!... A few doves flew in the other directions and he smirked in satisfaction. "Out of here, oiseaux!"

"Said maybe you're gonna be the one who saves me...." The words  hung on the air in the silent room for a split second before being engulfed in the void. A head bobbed along to the beat of the song as a hand was scribbling drawings in a worn out sketchbook. An occasional beep could be heard in the background but the young man couldn't hear them. The music was drowning out the periodic beeping of the heart monitor which was attached to his frail mother. Every now and then his blue-green eyes would deviate from the sketchbook and look over at the sleeping figure. A sad smile appeared on his face as his gaze softened. 'If only there was someone who could save you....' The boy  thought before looking back to his sketchbook. A sigh escaped his soft pink lips as he tried to forget where he was, why he was here, and that any breath she took could very well be her last. If there was a God out there he was a cruel and capricious bastard. Why would He punish someone  who's life was devoted to charity, serving, and being an advocate for those who needed one?

The lead in his mechanical pencil broke leaving a harsh line on his drawing. His gaze lingered on the dark, harsh, blemish upon his art work as he lips formed into a thin line. 'She always told me to turn every situation over to you. That you'd take care of it and alleviate the burned from our shoulders. That you're the almighty I AM. Well, where are you now?! Where are you when she needs you most..... when I need you most....' His vision blurred as angry tears started to form in his eyes. 'That's right....you're on vacation. Create the world in six days and after that you just decided to leave us to our own devices. Let little Lucy have fun with your creation. Abandon us like my good for nothing dead beat of a father....' A sharp pain radiated through his mouth as the young man found himself biting the inside of his cheek. His entire body was now shaking as he bitterly wept. 'She still believes in you....if you are who you claim to be.... save her. Save her from this unfair hell.' The more he took his anger out on the absent divine being the more his faith crumbled. From being someone who was at church every time the doors were open to now cursing the almighty. The young man was in the depths of despair and being held under by his own agony and pain. Any sign of hope was fading into the murky depths of his depression.
"E---Em...." The voice was faint. "E----Emery..." The young male looked over and saw that she was awake, a hand reaching towards him. "M---Mom?" There was a tremble in his voice as he was still struggling to keep his composure. A soft smile appeared on the woman's tired face. "G---give me your hand." She requested. The son extended his hand and felt the the clammy hands of his mother's on top of his. To the best of her feeble ability, the sick woman gripped the boy's hand as tight as she could. "Sweetie.... d---don't be angry..." Her words were soft. The brunette bit down on his lower lip. It was so hard not to be angry. This wasn't fair. She was too young to die. "Em...." His gaze shifted to her and he reluctantly gave a nod. "I---It's hard..." His voice was so tiny and shaking as he spoke.  An understanding look appeared on the woman's face. "It is... but all being angry will do is hurt you sweetie. And I don't want my sweet boy hurting because of me." A sharp pain shot through the male's chest. "M---Mom. No...no no no... it's not your fault. You couldn't help getting sick. It was just "bad luck"". It killed him repeating the words the doctor's told him and his step father when they found out that his mother had cancer. "It's just bad luck. Nobody fully understands cancer and why it effects some people and not others. It's just random. It isn't like it discriminates. It takes people young and old. All you can do is enjoy what time you have left..." Those words hit him like a ton of bricks. It knocked the breath right out of him as he found himself gasping for air. Three years later those words still haunted his every waking moment.

"I love you..." Those were the last words she spoke to him. The monitors rang out their shrill cries as her hand fell limp onto the bed. "M---Mom? Mom?! MOM!!" The chair squeaked as he abruptly got up, knocking the chair over, and looked around the room frantically for someone to help them. His breathing was short and rapid as he felt himself start to hyperventilate. It was as if his mind was on autopilot as his feet carried him out of the room. "Help! Somebody please help!" A nurse ran up to the frantic boy. "What's wrong?" He struggled to piece his words together. "M---My mom... my mom... she's.... I....I th---think...." His stammering almost made it impossible to spit out what he needed to say. "She's d---de---dead..." It felt like an out of body experience. As if his soul had left his body and was looking down as the scene unfolded. The nurse quickly moved past him and into the room. The mousy brunette rested against a nearby wall before his legs gave out from underneath him. His entire body sank like a dead weight onto the floor. Everything around him was moving so fast, his heart was beating out of his chest, and his ears were ringing. In this moment everything he knew changed and life took a dramatic turn for Emery Chevalier...

Moving off to college was the best thing that could have happened for Emery. The year following the passing of his mother was full of hardships and fighting. His step father was an insufferable jackass who refused to take the time to understand that people grieve differently. Mr. Step-jerk's idea of grieving included taking his anger out on Emery in the form of yelling, shoving, and insults. The phrase, "You'll never amount to anything with your stupid art!" Was often shouted before doors were slammed. Though the worst insult had to be, "Your mother believed in your silly dreams because she couldn't bare the thought of hurting you. Do you honestly think she could rest easy knowing you're wasting your time trying to make it as an artist? Haven't you heard of starving artists? What makes you think out of all the people applying that you have near enough talent to make it? You'll last a month before you start missing your doting mummy and give up like the miserable brat you are. You never stick to anything long. You're a quitter! Just like your sorry biological father was." That had to be the last straw. After that comment; Emery ran off to his room, packed a duffle bag with a few essentials, and ran off to his best friend's house.

Emery lived with his best friend Paxton during the summer before being accepted at UC Santa Cruz. Sure it wasn't UC Los Angeles or California Institute of the Arts, but it was a pretty good school. Not to mention the scenery was nice so he'd be able to find locations to shoot projects at. It was at UC Santa Cruz that Emery made a very unlikely friendship with a very unusual person. Any of Em's high school friends would have been surprised that the reclusive artist could tolerate such a goofball. All the dad jokes alone would turn off half of his "hipster" friends who thought they were "too cool" for dad humor. Em on the other hand secretly enjoyed dad humor, lame puns, and dry jokes. N--Not that he'd ever fess up that information willingly.

It was during a particularly off day that this unlikely friendship started to form.
Emery was standing in the scorching California sun with a crowd of seemingly uninterested students as the old professor took a century and a half to explain course rules and began singling students out to ask basic photography questions. Hopefully anyone who had made it this far knew the answers to the professor's questions. And as fate would have it Emery became one of the victims.

Not a fan of being put on the spot caused the young male to have a mini anxiety attack. He could feel his body trembling as several pairs of eyeballs focused on him. Instinctively he began to recoil into himself. It was as if he was trying to shrink or disappear. The teacher, ever persistent, kept trying to get his attention. However, one rude student decided to voice an opinion. A few people snickered or nodded in agreement. The negativity made Emery want to hide even more than he already wanted to. Though the teacher stuck up for him and called the punk out who had spoken so rudely. As that interaction happened; Emery was able to collect himself enough to stutter out, "I.. I b-believe it is called 'expo... exposure,' s-sir..." With that his torture for the day was over and the teacher told the class to go find a subject for their still life.

Emery had an idea in mind for his still life. He was going to take a picture of himself out in a meadow like area and photoshop in some imaginary creatures. Maybe he'd make it a series of pictures called, "Creatures of Santa Cruz" Ehhh, the title was still in the works. As Em set down his camera, a person from his class approached and attempted to converse with him. "Hey... The, er, guy that was giving you trouble? Ignore 'im. He's... not important. Rude. And gross..." Em quirked a curious brow. Well, yeah, the person was gross but that was nothing new. Adams enjoyed picking fun of him ever since orientation. He'd gotten the nicknames; Houdini and a few others from him. Houdini stuck to him because Emery never stayed in one place very long. He'd disappear in the blink of an eye leaving everyone wondering where he went.

It shocked Emery when the other stuck out his hand. "I'm Teegan.." Blue-green eyes looked to the extended hand. Was he expected to shake hands with this Teegan? But why? It wasn't like he asked to be conversed with. In all honesty he just wanted to get back to his project but, to be "civil"; Em hesitated before taking the others hand and saying, "Emery..."

Poor Em didn't get a chance to get back to his photo because this Teegan was a chatterbox. A chatterbox with a very very lame sense of humor. But it was hard not to laugh at such terrible jokes even though he tried suppressing his laugh. In hindsight maybe he shouldn't have laughed at the jokes since it only encouraged the strange foreigner.

Months passed and Tee was constantly at his side. They were an "odd couple" as many people on campus nicknamed them. Emery just ignored  the nickname and focused on his projects. Tee, ever curious, always had questions about Emery's films and often times wanted to help. It was futile to try and tell the other he didn't need assistance so Emery gave him simple tasks like going to get him coffee. How could anyone possibly screw up something as simple as being an errand boy? Though Tee, being Tee; managed to find ways to infuriate, irritate, stress, and astound Emery with his mishaps.

Telling Tee not to do something, that he was fine; especially became an issue when Emery got into his first real romantic relationship at college. Needless to say things weren't going smoothly and Teegan ended up with several bruises when he rushed off to go tell his then boyfriend off.

It had been several months since the "break up" (Tee really was lucky that Adrian hadn't broken his nose when he punched him)and Emery was minding his own business when he received a text from none other than his idiot friend.

’Meet me at Cowell Fountain at noon, s’il-vous plaît. Merci. (:’

But it was cold. Tee knew Em wasn't a fan of cold weather. Why the hell was this fool asking him to leave his nice cozy dorm room to go meet up at the fountain?

'There better be coffee waiting on me if you're making me leave my nice warm den  : / '

Reluctantly, Emery threw his mountain of covers off his petite frame and stuffed his tiny feet into some warm boots. Before leaving his room; he grabbed a large scarf, a knit hat, a baggy jacket that Tee had accidentally left over (and Emery had claimed since the other hadn't noticed it had been missing for so long) and last but not least grabbed his vintage camera which he draped around his neck. Emery rarely went anywhere without that old thing. It was basically like a part of him. More so than his cellphone which he nearly forgot if it hadn't dinged with a notification.

The walk to the fountain was brisk, since Emery didn't like the chilly air nipping at his face; and in a matter of minutes he found himself trudging up to the fountain and curiously looking around for his tall friend. "Tee?" His voice was muffled by the sounds of leaves crunching underneath the boots of students walking past. Em let out a tired yawn before calling out again. "Teegan Aubuchon where are you?!" He stuffed his hands into the over sized jacket pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels while his eyes kept scanning the area for the other. "And where's my coffee..." He muttered to himself.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best day for this sort of… interaction? It wasn’t glacial, obviously (it rarely was below freezing), but he knew Em wasn’t fond of the cold regardless. He found himself being a little hesitant, searching for some sort of excuse in the back of his mind, to say that the whole ordeal was a sham and that he really just wanted to meet up, talk, and maybe go see a movie. Yeah, a movie! There would be a new one neither of them had seen yet, right?... Just anything to avoid the subject matter he had originally (idiotically) convinced himself it was time to do. It was most definitely not the time. I mean, if he had any sense, he would remember how much the Adrian situation had nearly ruined Em. For a spell, he wasn't even sure if the Em he had first come to know would ever come back, but he found his way back, little by little. He was lucky. What if he spoiled that with his own proclamation? How greedy could he be?

He clambered into his small electric car, and, with unusual recklessness, found his way to the campus from his apartments. The haze in his head was the cause of these rather dangerous maneuvers—two close calls that could have been collisions. Definitely wasn’t his best racing day…

In the height of all this flustered cerebral activity, Teegan almost missed the buzzing of a notification on his phone as he parked off of Hagar Street. With butterfingers, he shakily withdrew his device, half-hoping that Em said that he was busy. Mon dieu, where had his bravado gone within the last ten minutes?

‘There better be coffee waiting on me if you’re making me leave my nice warm den : /’

He smiled wryly at the text. Just as he expected. He had forty minutes to grab that coffee and be at the fountain, so he decided he would get to it. He locked up his tired little car and began his trek to Cowell, past the Physical Education Center. This area was dry and patchy despite the rains, so the golden dead grass surrounded itself in dirt and mud. It was a while before getting to the Cowell buildings, but there was at least a coffee shop close to the fountain, past the library.

He took a detour to the shop, and was a little dismayed upon sight of a large amount of students in line. His impatience grew as the line moved forward at such a snail-like pace. During the shuffling forward, someone stepped on his right shoe’s laces, untying them, but he was in too much of a hurry since he was just reaching the front counter. After a quick exchange of a request and money, he was rewarded with two quickly-made steaming cups of coffee. He looked at his watch and nearly groaned with audible disgust. 11:58am. Time to jiffy on out!

With as much haste as possible, he ran back to the fountain, and was able to see Em just walking in. The shorter male was almost craning his neck as he looked around, but failed to see Teegan’s approach. He heard his name distinctly being called, and he felt those stupid butterflies flare up again in his stomach. Was... Was that his sweater!? 'Aaah! He looks so dwarfed and cute in it with the scarf!' Calming himself down was pretty useless because his blood vessels betrayed him and surged pink underneath his skin. Ah, maybe he could blame it on the cold… ’Merde!’

In his nervousness and elation upon Em, he could hardly control himself. “Emery! Hi!” he called out excitedly. The next thing he knew, he was ten feet away and stumbling on shoelaces he had forgotten to tie in all the mess. A flood of terror streamed through each and every one of his nerves as he essentially face planted onto the pavement, his own coffee being crushed into his chest, the Styrofoam doing nothing to sheild him from the boiling liquid that gushed out underneath him. Em’s cup was held high in the air, protected from this embarrassing spectacle.

Rolling over in an attempt to get away from the spilled coffee, he let out a few loud French expletives, in pain and in humiliation. There were no hints! But there was a lot of hurt. “Va te faire enculer, vous café de merde!” Teegan pulled himself up with a little effort, finding that he was only a couple of feet away from Em's shoes. Dieu, he must have embarrassed the hell out of him!

Teegan gave him a pained, miserable smile. Shrugging uncomfortably in his now coffee-stained flannel, he presented Em's coffee that he managed to save in all the commotion. "Hi," he offered again. Burns totally sucked.