Just Say Yes

Gage could feel an icy hand grip the top of his arm. He wasn't sure if the hand was naturally cold, or if it was because he had become increasingly hot. His mind tossed around these thoughts aimlessly as he concentrated on his breathing and shook a little, trying to regain himself.

He suddenly realized he was being tugged through the restaurant. Everything seemed to be happening so fast that, as he looked around, everything became blurry. The restaurant was busting as usual, and Gage idly wondered if anyone was staring at him. Finally he looked at the hand that was gripping his arm and dragging him through this chaos, only to see Severin.

Severin stopped abruptly to address the girl that Gage had talked to earlier. The same one Gage had charmed into letting him wait on Severin. What a stupid move that turned out to be.

"I am taking Gage home. I'm not sure what kind of policies or rules your establishment has, but if there are concerns or issues with this man leaving then you can contact my father. His name is Roy Ciucivarra, I'm sure you've heard of him." Severin's voice came out smooth and confident. Gage wondered if Severin made a habit of breaking the rules and using his family name as an escape.

Before there could be a response or uproar in the restaurant due to Gage's leave, Severin quickly escorted Gage out of the building. The cold immediately struck both of them and Severin quickly grabbed a hold of his pea coat, readjusting it. He swallowed and glanced around the parking lot with eyes slightly narrowed, as the harsh winds were somewhat destructing his vision. It was snowing harder now, and somehow the pleasant sensation Severin had from it earlier had all but dissipated.

Severin leaned in towards Gage, but kept his glance focused on the streets. "My car is over there, it's the boxy little Volvo. I'm going to take you home, so come with me." Gage noticed that the inflection in Severin's tone had softened from just a few moments ago, but dismissed the thought immediately. He was probably imaging things, and he shouldn't be analyzing things in the condition he was in. Gage was clutching the collar of his shirt and idly playing with it, as he nodded slowly and made his way to Severin's car.

As they both got in and closed the door, the world seemed to suddenly be on mute. The whirling winds and the noises of busy streets were suddenly cut off as they both were enclosed within the confinements of Severin's tiny car. It was still cold in the car, but not nearly as bad as it had been outside. Gage had trouble distinguishing the different levels of temperature, as he had remained fairly hot throughout this whole process. He continued to draw in sharp ragged breaths as he waited for Severin to begin driving.

Gage leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes as Severin turned on the car. He made a consistent effort to try and control his breathing and heartbeat, but to no avail. Before he knew what was happening, Severin had a hold of his arm.

He shifted his head to look at Severin, as Severin began to roll up his sleeves. Suddenly, Severin began tapping incessantly up and down his arm. The movements of Severin's fingers were fluid and soft, barely gracing Gage's arm - but just enough to send a tingle up Gage's spine. Severin held Gage's wrist firmly as he continued to tap on his arm.

"What ...are..." Gage paused to draw in a few ragged breaths, "you...doing?"

Severin stared at Gage's arm and did not break eye contact. "Shh, don't talk. It's bad for you. Just relax and think of happy things. I don't really know what kind of things you think are happy....how about bunnies? Bunnies hopping around in snow? Well, I guess not everyone likes bunnies. Bunnies being adorable and cute and flopping around? Everyone likes bunnies...." Severin trailed off. "I'm playing piano on your arm."

Gage blinked and let his eyes slowly move over Severin's body. Since it was night, the darkness seemed to envelope Severin in shadows, but Gage could see outlines of Severin's features; the street lamps scattered around the streets gave just enough light for that. It almost seemed as though Severin were born right from the ocean - with his milky smooth skin and soft hair that reminded Gage of ocean waves. Having Severin just hold his wrist, just touch him, just sit with him like he was was enough to begin to calm Gage down.

"I used to do this for my brother. Play piano on his arm, I mean. He got panic attacks, too - all the time. They were pretty bad. He always felt like he was dying, like his heart was going to explode...." Severin's eyes softened for a moment. "He had so much stress all the time and there was so much pressure on him..." Severin's glanced up to meet Gage's eyes. "You, too. You must be under a lot of stress. Your panic attack seemed really bad at first, back in the restaurant."

Gage's eyes widened slightly. So that was why Severin knew what to do; how to calm people down. Maybe his voice really had softened when he had told Gage he was taking him home. Gage also thought about how Severin was talking about his brother - the same boy that had seemed so disconnected was now opening up to an almost stranger. But he was even more surprised that Severin seemed concerned enough to call him down.

Gage took in a deep breath and closed his eyes again, replaying the moments that Severin's fingertips had lingered on his arm, the moments that Severin seemed to soften. He drew in a deep breath and could feel himself slightly calming down. He almost wished the panic attack would stay, so that Severin wouldn't leave him...so he could feel like Severin cared for him.

Severin leaned his head back against his seat, and closed his eyes. Together, they sat silently listening to the sounds of snow hit the earth. Even though the winds were harsh, and it seemed to be freezing out, it suddenly felt as though a blanket of warmth and calm had enveloped the two who sat in the car, waiting.

---

Gage's panic attack had finally seemed to be withering away, and Severin felt as though he was calm enough to talk now.

"I'm sorry I didn't take you home earlier, but I didn't know where you lived and I didn't want to ask because I didn't want you to have to talk." Severin flicked a faint smile at him, "panic attacks, you know? It's bad to talk while you're having one."

Gage wished he could plaster that faint of smile of Severin's in his mind, or perhaps what he really wished was that he could have been the reason for the smile.

Gage nodded slightly, "You can just start going, I'll direct the way for you. Most people don't know where it's located when I tell them the street address. Anyway, if you'll get out of the parking lot and take a right on this street I'll lead you the rest of the way."

As Severin drove in silence, Gage slowly began to notice that he was freezing. He surveyed the car and noticed that Severin hadn't started heating it up; in fact, he had turned the AC on. Gage knit his eyebrows together for a moment, but then the realization hit him. Severin had kept the car freezing because he knew Gage would be hot from the panic attack. Gage glanced at Severin sidelong with curiosity. He had probably been freezing this whole time, but he left it like that so Gage would feel comfortable....

"Do you want to listen to the radio or anything? I don't have any stations programmed in, sorry. You're welcome to find one, though - I don't mind," Severin said as he concentrated on the roads.

Gage leaned forward a little to turn the radio on, and was met with sounds of piano. Intense playing flooded the car, and Gage was slightly surprised.

"Classical? Is that what you listen to?" Gage questioned him.

Severin shrugged slightly, still not taking his eyes off the road. "I'm not really into any other types of music, I suppose. It just doesn't do it for me. Then again, I actually don't listen to classical that much, either. I'm just not really a music person."

Gage did not change the radio, instead keeping the music going. "'Not really a music person'? Funny, coming from someone who is a classically trained pianist."

Severin swallowed and his eyes seemed to narrow, but only for a brief moment. "It wasn't my decision to learn piano. I guess you could say I was 'voluntold' to learn it. I may be able to play piano, but there is nothing behind it. To me, my playing is dead. There's no passion or life behind it, but I can press the keys and make noise. That's not music."

Gage turned to face Severin fully. He was surprised by the comments Severin had made, his attitude almost seemed contemptuous. He ran his tongue slowly over his lips and then pressed them together. "You seem to dislike your music so much, and yet you played voluntarily in our art building. You're confusing, Severin. If you truly believed your playing had no life behind it, I don't see how you would ever play unless forced to. And, when I heard you play, it was more than just hitting keys. At our school, there are a lot of piano players - and I mean a lot. I've heard a countless number of people play piano, and they're all good. But they weren't like you. There was something in your playing that drew me towards it and made me want it to never end. You probably think that I'm talking out of my ass, but I'm not. I don't really know anything about classical music...but I know what I like and what moves me, and your playing did that."

Severin was slightly startled to hear his name come out of Gage's mouth. Gage had a smooth, deep voice, and there was a slight trace of an accent behind it...Severin often thought of it as "silky," but would never admit that to himself. To hear his name slip out, to hear the way Gage pronounced it....with an emphasis on the "Sev" and the rest slurred together, had surprised Severin. He felt himself get slightly hot, and immediately realized that he was blushing slightly.

Gage looked away and traced the outline of lock on the car door. "Turn left here and keep going straight. My apartment is up ahead. Also, who is this? The CD that we are listening to."

"Rachmaninoff." Severin replied.

Gage leaned back. "His playing is really dramatic sounding. It's really....dynamic? I guess you could say."

Severin grinned, "Well, he's Russian."

---

After what seemed like forever (but was really only about 10 minutes), Severin had finally arrived at his destination: Gage's home.

Gage could feel the awkwardness hanging in the air and shifted uncomfortably as Severin pulled up beside the curb of his apartment. "This would be my stop....this, uh, this is....kind of awkward for me. I don't really know how to thank people or something..." Gage thought how ridiculously stupid he sounded, and yet he continued to speak. "So...I.....than-"

Before Gage could continue his rambling ways, Severin had unbuckled and his seatbelt and opened his car door. Gage was stricken with surprise and quickly scrambled to get out of the car.

"What are you doing?" Gage asked.

Severin stuck his hands in his coat pocket and eyed the apartment building up and down. "I'm coming inside."

"You....wait, I'm sorry. You're what?" Gage stared at him.

Severin looked at Gage pointedly. "You just got over a panic attack and I'm trusting myself in assuming you're the irrational type. I didn't just go through the effort of driving your ass here and calming you down to let you stress out again. Therefore, the reasonable choice would be for me to come in to....supervise you, I suppose you could say. To make sure you don't do anything stupid."

Gage rolled his eyes and turned toward the building. Severin raised an eyebrow and began walking behind him. As they entered the building, Gage immediately went towards the stairwell.

"What floor do you live on?" Severin asked.

"The fourth floor" Gage said.

"And you take the stairs? What, for your daily dose of exercise or something? You shouldn't exert yourself after you've had a panic attack, let's take the elevator."

Gage firmly shook his head. "No. I don't like elevators, and nothing in the world will get me on one. So if you're going to go on some spiel about how I should take the elevator and it's better for me and blah blah blah, just give up now."

Severin let out a sigh and blinked in irritation. "Fine. Lead the way."

---

Gage shoved his key in the rusty door knob, and jiggled it a little. He seemed to be having trouble with the door, but he twisted it a few times and then pushed it and they were then granted access to his apartment.

As Severin stepped in, he stared around the room. It was so...bare. There was hardly any furniture, and the colors were so lifeless. Severin made a mental note of the ways he could make his apartment more welcoming, or at least a bit more decorative. Gage walked toward the kitchen and began opening cabinets.

"What are you doing?" Severin asked.

"I'm making coffee. It's caramel and Colombian. The best combination you could ever want. Would you like some?" Gage looked at him.

Severin stepped into the kitchen and slammed the cabinet that Gage had been holding open shut. He stared straight into Gage's eyes, narrowing his own. "Coffee? Like hell you are." He grabbed the jar of coffee out of Gage's hands and proceeded to walk back towards the door.

"Woah. Hey, hi, you there. Three questions: Why am I not having coffee, what the hell are you doing with my coffee, and where the hell are you going?....But most importantly what the hell are you doing with my coffee!?" Gage tightened his jaw slightly.

Severin had already opened the door and leaned back slightly to look at Gage. "You are not having coffee because you don't need the caffeine right now, I am taking this coffee away from you so you won't drink it while I'm gone, and I am going to go get hot chocolate and wafers."

Gage blinked slightly. He took Severin's last comment in, replaying it again and again to make sure he was hearing him right. "Hot chocolate and...wafers?"

Severin stared at the ceiling in frustration. "Yes, hot chocolate and wafers."

"....Why?"

"Because I had been planning on going home and snuggling up in my bed and having hot chocolate before your whole ordeal, and I'll be damned if you ruin my hot chocolate time for me. So, since I'm on Gage-watch for the night, I am going to go get some hot chocolate and wafers. I'll be right back. Don't.....don't do anything stupid. Just lay down or something." Severin began walking away and then paused for a moment.

"And don't move once you do lay down." he finished.

Gage stared at Severin as he stepped out of the door and gingerly closed it shut. He thought back to his comment earlier, about Severin being confusing. And goddamn was he confusing.

He walked over to his couch and stretched out on it. He ran his fingers over his lip ring, and tugged on it slightly, tugging it gently back and forth. He needed to keep himself preoccupied while waiting on Severin to return. He hated to admit it, but the thought of Severin coming back to his apartment...to him made Gage extremely nervous, but that nervous was strictly derived from being excited. He rolled his head to the side and stared at the neon green numbers on his alarm clock. His eyes didn't move from that clock until Severin returned.

---

Guh!! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to put up - these last two weeks were the weeks right before finals, and I'm sure you can imagine how busy it has been. I rushed this chapter a little and it's kind of short, but I mainly wanted to post a chapter before the dreaded finals week (mainly to let everyone know I'm still alive!)

And, in case you are wondering, I am most definitely now in the mood for hot chocolate and wafers.

ariesgirl - Well, even though it was bad for Gage last chapter, now his sickness worked in his favor :D! Haha, and yes, poor Severin must be like "o_o....wth...." >D

Child of the Darkened Moon - Bahahaha! Sorry! I finally had to leave off on a teaser this time xD! And now you know what happened to Gage; he was having a panic attack! Even though I kept you waiting (sorry!) I hope you liked what happened in this chapter!

Canus - Yup, he's totally a-okay! Sucked for a little bit there, though (well at least for Gage =P). Thank you for the compliment!

CaFFy - Oh! Actually, when I named Severin, I didn't intend to name him anything French (since he's half American...I just kinda chose a name I liked). And when I looked online it said it was French and I was just like "...that's convenient :D!" But whatever it is, it doesn't really matter xD

Anon - Thank you :D! I hope this chapter was cute, too ^^

HumanInfiltrator - Ahhh now I feel so bad for not updating for so long! Sorry for the cliffhanger - but hopefully that made this chapter more enjoyable.