B E O B I

YEAH GUYS, FAST UPDATE.

Quick update my ass! Feel free to beat me to a pulp for that one. Here's the next chapter. Hopefully the next one won't take forever.

@Gslinger- You're a tricky one! -eyes- Well, anyhow. And they very well might be. Maybe not. You'll find out pretty quick next chapter.

@obsession- Thanks for your input! As far as errors go, that's because I'm lazy. I really do need a beta, it's just the trouble of finding someone I trust (Personality, and ability.) Plot-wise, on the other hand, you're going to have to wait until chapter 3. I have a story completely planned out, I just can't jump right in without a little background! But trust me, once chapter 3 is updated, things will get a tad more... 'Exciting'. I'm glad you'll continue reading, and I hope to hear from you again.

@benny- Thanks for backing me up, I really appreciate it. But when I post here I understand I'm subjecting my work to being critiqued. It's only fair. I can't expect for love and kisses in every review. If anything, her review made me go back and fix the errors I could catch.

@beloveless- I plead the fifth. I can't really say anything about Annalisa, without giving away one of my favorite plot moments. -cackles-

@anon- I would say [bay-oh-beh]. I'm just kind of waiting for someone to go, "LOLOLOLOL SOUNDS LIKE BOOBY!!!111oneonedogone"

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I watched him, near green with envy. I was generally rather short and lanky. Perhaps a bit pudgy around the waist, from baby fat I had never really shed. Kit on the other hand was thin and lean, tall and fit. I was truly jealous. Then again, most things about Kit I found myself envying some time or another. He turned around and I quickly made it look like I was fixing something on my pants. He came over, leaning over to look into the bucket.

“I see you won’t be swimming today!” he said with a chortle, making his way back to the water’s edge. I rolled by eyes and coughed. “Sorry I don’t enjoy freezing to death in waters colder than the ice queen herself!” I scoffed, moving over to grab up my fishing rod. Then I pushed my hand into the dirt in the bucket, pulling up a few worms. I skewered them all on the hook in a single movement, and then cast my line out into the rushing currents of the river.

He had pulled off his shoes, and finally yanked off his pants, before jumping into the river, tucking his legs up to his chest. My eyes must have widened to the size of saucers as I watched him jump in. If I had reacted faster I would have scrambled back a few feet. But instead I just stood there and gaped like a fish out of water. And then I was hit by the splash of cool liquid, squealing like a girl and jumping back.

I stared down in despair. The cloth of my outfit clung to my skin like hungry leeches, sucking the warmth out of my flesh. I felt my teeth chattering already. Kit resurfaced, laughing like a loony. “Baby get wet? Awe poor Beooo…” he sang out. I scooped up a rock from the ground and hurled it at him with all my strength. Of course it missed by a long shot (I had the aim of a drunk blind man, after all.) but it still got my point across.

“Damn it, Kit!” I shouted at him, discarding my fishing pole to the side, holding my arms out and plucking at the front of my shirt. “My mom is going to gut me if I come home wet! And it’s freezing!” I was shivering by now, the chill burrowing under my skin, jabbing at me with sharp icy needles. With a few pumps of his long powerful legs, Kit was at the sandy bank of the river, hoisting himself halfway up out of the water. He pointed over to his discarded pile of clothes.

“Just wear my pants! They should be a pretty close fit, maybe a bit loose! As for your shirt, you might as well just go topless. Unless you’re embarrassed about your stomach or something.” He said, with a cocky smirk. I froze for a minute before quickly tugging off my shirt, in a defiant manner. He just laughed and fell backward into the water, paddling around like he had been born with a pair of spare fins. He would sometimes disappear under for a few seconds, and appear twenty feet away, upstream.

I waddled over to his pile of clothes in a very ‘toddler who wet himself‘ fashion, and dug out the pants. On him they went just past his knees, but I supposed on me they would go down quite a bit farther. I chewed on my lip for a moment, before disappearing behind the shed. I pulled down my pants, realizing that my under garments were soaked as well. I felt my cheeks heat up. Sitting in wet underwear would be just as bad as wet pants. I was trapped like a defenseless rabbit with it’s leg in a snare. A rabbit with soaked underpants that were beginning to chafe.

By now I was sure my face had turned such a violent hue of red that I would have put a tomato patch to shame. I glanced nervously around the shed. So I had my choice. Either go around in wet underwear for the rest of the day, and up with all types of painful chafing, or just throw my underwear aside and go without them. Pain or embarrassment? It was a tough choice. I let out a long frustrated sigh.

Of course there was a very slim chance that Kit would actually realize that I was going without my underwear. But if he saw me waddling around like I was smuggling fish between my legs, I’d never hear the end of it. I hooked my thumbs under the hem of my underpants, and jerked them down. I stumbled into his pants, faintly aware of the scent that wafted off of them. Smelled like burnt wood and rain.

I buttoned them, and found they fit quite comfortably. Maybe a bit loose, but otherwise it was a close match. I was still blushing wildly, as I felt the coarse fabric brush against my backside, as well as other regions of the Netherlands that I didn‘t care to think about. I closed my eyes and tried my best to make my red cheeks turn back to their normal shade. If he did somehow out that I was running around without underwear on, in his pants, I couldn’t even imagine the insults he would come up with.

I returned back to the bank of the river, and found that Kit was lying out on the grass beside where my pole lay, sunning like a contented cat. I walked over to where he was, plopping down next to him. I picked up my rod, and cast back into the water. It was still cold, but not near as much now that I was out of the soaked garments. The chill from leaving the water didn’t seem to bother my companion in the slightest. Kit appeared to be sleeping, breathing deeply and soundly. I decided that it was a small blessing, and didn’t do anything to wake him. Of course he proved me wrong by speaking a few minutes later.

“I told you that you wouldn’t catch anything.” He commented in a bored tone, one blue eye flicking open, piercing through me like a laser. I took a deep breath, ready to shoot back some sort of catty response, but I let it whistle past my lips in a soft sigh of surrender. “Nope.” I replied simply. Of course I had known from the beginning I wouldn’t catch something. I never did. Save once in a blue moon. And even when I did, it wasn’t anything more impressive than a small trout. Well, except or the time Kit failed to avoid my line. He hadn’t been too happy when I had reeled in so fiercely I ripped his shorts, and the skin below it.

“Beo, do you know why I like you?” he asked, closing his eyes again. The sun washed over my skin in waves flooding through my veins like a tsunami. I could feel the faint heat that radiated off of Kit’s now damp skin, and shivered. The cold seemed to fade into the warmth. I didn’t look back down at him when I spoke. “No, Kit, I don’t. How did you end up hanging out with someone like me?” I asked the faint trace of sadness barely audible in the tone of my soft voice. But as I had expected and feared, Kit caught it easy as a cougar catches a newborn chick that‘s fallen out of its nest.

“What do you mean ‘someone like me’?” he scoffed, opening his eyes again only to roll them at me and then close them again, “You act like you’re some scum! Honestly, Beo. As much as I like you, you’re so depressing!” He laughed loudly, disturbing the serenity of the small area. It almost hurt to have him say that. Almost. I didn’t reply, so he must have sensed my discontent. The awkward silence grew around us. I shifted, hands flexing around the fishing rod. He cleared his throat, and stretched out. As if he wasn’t bigger than me as it was!

“You really are better than you make yourself out to be! Look. Tonight I’ll prove it to you. That you really can play with the big boys.” he grinned wildly at me. There was that smile again, that seemed to make me believe that I really was worth something. It made my heart skip a beat, and I was oblivious to the fact I was staring at him in silence. Perhaps if I hadn’t been so dazed by his startling smirk, I would have grasped the ominous intent behind the statement.

I reeled my line in, and threw the rod a few feet away. I fell back with a thump, and stared back up the sky. Kit remained silent for a long while, as did I. I heard the faint of rustle of Kit’s arms as he unfolded them from beneath his head. I watched out of the corner of my eye as his palm danced over the soft grass, in search of mine. I didn’t move, and soon his fingers had clasped mine. All the awkwardness faded away, and I felt a strange feeling of content settle in my heart. I felt like everything was where it was supposed to be. Of course I didn’t love Kit that way, but I did care for him as my closest- and only- friend. I knew that later on I would think back on holding hands with Kit and be ashamed at myself for doing something so childish. But for now I forced the thoughts out of my head.

“I don’t understand why you hate yourself so much.” He said quietly, as we continued to stare up into the darkening sky. I didn’t respond right away, just relishing the feel of the soft grass against my back and arms, silky wisps tickling my flesh like delicate fingers. His hand tightened around my own. Apparently he expected me to answer him. I thought about remaining silent anyway, but when I felt his fingers tapping against my skin, I realized I wasn’t getting out of it that easy. I took in a deep breath while I calculated the appropriate thing to say. There was so much I wanted to tell him. It bubbled in my throat and choked my speech, as I stuttered uselessly.

“I don’t understand why you don’t hang out with someone more interesting.” I said, chickening out. One day I would tell him all of my faults. Just not right now. He smiled and looked over at me, his sparkling eyes snaring my own, forcing me to return his piercing stare. I felt my throat close up, and my world inch to a crawl. Everything around me seemed to amplify itself. The babbling of the brook became a raging waterfall. The faint wind grew into a fierce windstorm, barreling around us. I could hear a faint whispering in the distance, in a language that seemed unearthly to my ears.

They say the eyes are a window into one’s soul. In Kit’s eyes I did see many things. Most of them I knew well, the features of Kit that I had grown attached to. Adventure and promises well kept. The warmth of a loving soul, and the ferocity of a wild tiger. And then there was something unrecognizable to me. But somewhere, deep within the confines of my own being, I knew that this was something I would never understand. And that whatever it was, it was what made Kit, Kit. The bizarre mirage world around me seemed to rocket into chaos. I clung to Kit’s hand, as I tried not to fall off the face of the Earth. The soft whispers grew into angry shouts, and dragged me out of the daze. It was like I had been drudged back out of the water after drowning.

And then it was over. He and I blinked simultaneously. I wasn’t sure if he had seen what I had seen, or if he just thought it was weird I had been staring at him. My thumping heart slowed down to normal, as I forced myself to stay alert. “One day, Beo. One day you’ll see that you’ve been fooling yourself.” Kit said, and I saw him sit up. His hand slipped from mine, and I felt anxious, helpless. He glanced down at my pants and then back towards the shed. “I think it’s about time we head back. You need to get ready.” He said, making his way over to where I had changed.

Then I blinked, and shot up quick enough to make my head spin, for two reasons. One, I didn’t have the slightest idea what he expected me to get ready for, other than bed. And two, he was going to find both my wet pants and my wet underwear. “Uh- Wait! What do I have to get ready for, uh, you can have your pants back!” I said, trying to get him to stop from finding my wet clothes. But it was already too late, as he picked up my pants, and my underwear tumbled down to the ground. They landed with a depressing thud and slurp.

I must have looked like a deer who had stumbled into a hunter’s campsite. Posed like a porcelain figure, my eyes were wide as saucers. My mouth had fallen open to form a perfect ’O’. Kit looked at my pants, then at the underwear at the ground. Then he looked at me, and then back at the underwear. Then he howled with laughter. “Oh no, you can keep the pants! They were getting too small for me anyway!” he said between panting gasps of chortling. I was blushing again, frozen to the spot. But as I would soon learn, that hadn’t even been the punch line. “I hope you know that I don’t wear anything under my pants, unless I plan on going swimming!” he yelled over to me.

I was soon rolling around on the ground, yanking off the bottoms. So disgusting! I was embarrassed to the point of my eyes watering. And then I realized I wasn’t wearing underwear, and I had slid the pants down over so I had exposed my backside. I gasped and quickly forced them back up. I was quite literally trapped in another boy’s pants. He had somehow stumbled back over to me, pulling me into a headlock and rubbing his fist in the top of my head.

I could do nothing but whimper and struggle. He was still laughing like a hyena, and eventually released me, sliding his arm around my shoulder. I noticed he was wearing my pants. They went short on him, barely mid thigh. He had the underwear clenched in his fist. I fell silent, as he ushered me away from the river. He scooped up my fishing rod, and I clung it to my chest. If I had the nerve, I would have beaten him to death with it. “Beo you’re such a pervert!“ he teased, tossing the undergarments somewhere into the distance. There was a split second, where I watched the damp fabric flutter through the air. It was a dark color. Maybe blue or black.

I realized that they were , and were in fact not my underwear. Mine had been a very distinct shade of, well, white. So that meant, they must have been Kit’s! I gasped at him, a look of disgust crossing my face. I would have to burn those pants when I got home! Burn them to ashes. In fact, I didn’t want them back! He saw my face and broke into wild laughter, winking at me. “See! Now you don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. If anything, you should be laughing at me. At least your pants cover you up! I feel like I’m running around naked!” he scoffed, removing his arms and jabbing me in the side with his elbow.

I growled lowly at him. I was still agitated, and mortified at that. He tried to grab my hand again, and I slapped it away angrily, storming a good few yards in front of him. He made a confused sound, but didn’t approach me again. I almost felt bad. Kit really hadn’t done anything. He had just lent out his pants like a good friend should. But another part of me argued that the other shouldn’t have rubbed it in my face. But when didn’t Kit take the opportunity to make me uncomfortable? A good friend shouldn’t do that! My anger blossomed again, double fold. A strangled growl escaped my lips as I continued to walk in furious silence.

I jumped when I felt rough fingertips brush over by shoulders. I looked up as Kit wrapped his arms around my neck. I began to move so I could push him off, but his hold tightened. I sighed, yielding to his hands and letting him cling on to me, as if I were his personal play toy. We stumbled along awkwardly, leaning forward into me as I tried to support his large frame. The fields of blossoming bouquets of flowers, and feathery bundles of grass were just as beautiful in the moonlight. It calmed me a little. Kit took the opportunity to draw me closer.

I stopped when he started moving his hands, as if petting me. I didn’t understand what he was trying to do. When I turned with a questioning face, he grinned apologetically, and I immediately forgot my worries. He removed his hands, and shrugged. “I’m glad your not angry at me any more. You could scare off the Devil himself with that grimace!” he commented. I rolled my eyes, annoyed again at him. I pulled out of grasp with an indignant grumble. Then I stalked forward with purpose, closing my eyes and pouting. I let my fists swing forward and cross in front of my chest.

I didn’t see him slide in front of me. He bent down and I fell over his back, as his hands wound around my thighs. He stood up and I would have tumbled forward, had I not caught his shoulders. He started off before I could even get settled. My pride told me I should jump off and just walk on my own, and that I was like a toddler child being totted around by his older brother. But my tired body shut my pride up faster than I could protest Kit’s movements, and I slumped into his back. I bounced a little every step he took, my bare stomach brushing against the exposed flesh of his back. It was nice, as the heat the aura of heat quickly penetrating my own skin.

He was humming some strange little tune, vaguely familiar, yet I couldn’t place my finger on it. Lulled towards slumber by his deep rumbling voice, my mind flicked off like someone had blown out a candle.

I must have slept the whole way through the forest, as when I woke up we were trekking through the town, only a few minutes away from my farm. The few building we passed were dark, and it seemed like no one was loitering on the streets. I was thankful no one had seen Kit dragging me around. I figured everyone’s opinion of me was low enough as it was. Kit sensed I had awoken, and read my mind as I struggled to get down. “Relax. I saw some of the guys. I told them I dared you to eat some poisonous berries, and you did. So as of now, you’re in a life or death struggle with a shrub. They thought it was pretty hardcore. If we pass anyone else do me a favor and act sickly.” he said nonchalantly.

I laughed lightly and let my head fall back down. “You’re a lying bastard, you know that?” I snorted playfully. He shrugged. “It was either that or tell them you’re my new girlfriend.” he said. I gasped and my hands flew up, as if to hit him. Then I realized that my hands were the only thing keeping me attached to Kit. I fell backward, but he continued to hold on to me tightly. He lost his balance, and rocked forward, so I fell on top of him.

He hit the ground hard, wincing in pain. My weight on top of him probably didn’t help. I quickly scrambled off of him, flipping his body over and setting my hands on his chest and shaking lightly. He gasped for air like a fish out of water, the breath knocked clear out of him. “Kit! Kiiiitt!” I urged, trying to get a response out of him. He coughed and sucked in oxygen greedily. He closed his eyes and breathed for a few seconds. Then his eyes flashed open, and a playful grin stretched over those pearly white teeth.

Before I had time to react he tackled me to the ground. He leaned down close enough that I could look no where but deep into the icy orbs that paralyzed me to the spot. His head moved closer and close. I didn’t even process the thought to struggle. And just when I thought he would kiss me, and all of my manly pride would officially be down the drain, he paused. Then he cocked his head to the right, and licked from the bottom of my chin, all the way up and over my cheek. I shrieked in disgust.

The warm organ left a trail of messy slobber all over the right side of my face. I laid there when he got off of me, screaming and wiping my face like I was being attacked by a mutant leech. He was already booking it, running away faster than I could ever hope to sprint. He yelled back to me, laughing loudly. “Be ready in twenty!” he instructed simply, before disappearing into the streets of town. I grumbled some curses under my breath, still trying to cleanse my cheek with my hand.

I snuck back into my house, before his last statement actually struck me. I still didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.

Ready for what?