Puppy Love - 8. Chapter 8

Blaine sighed as he shut off the truck in front of Marks house. The trip to the police department had proved to be uninformative. Christian had done exactly what he knew that he would do. He supposedly had an alibi for last night and there wasn’t anything that the police could do. Blaine had started all the paperwork for a restraining order against Christian. When he had asked about Levi getting a restraining order he had been informed that unless Christian had made some sort of threat against Levi that there really wasn’t anything that they could do. One of the only reasons that Blaine had been able to get one was because of the threat that Christian made out at the lake.

Climbing out of his truck, Blaine quickly made his way to Mark’s door and knocked. He had a key, but he rarely used it, preferring to let Mark know that he was there instead of just walking in. He was just about ready to give up and leave when Mark finally opened the door wrapped in a bath robe.

“Hey Mark, bad time?”

“Nah, was just in the shower, don’t worry about it,” Mark said as he stepped back, giving Blaine room to walk past him.

“Figured that I should stop by and let you know what was going on.”

“Yeah, I was going to give you a call tonight. Did you ever find Levi?”

“Yeah, I found him, well, kind of. He was waiting at my camp while I was in town looking for him and then once I got back out there he had already been gone. He got my message and came back out and Ruff led me to him. That’s not what I really needed to talk to you about though.”

“Oh? What’s up?” Mark asked, leading the way into the living room and taking a seat in one of the chairs, motioning Blaine to the other one.

“Had a little visit from Christian last night.”

“Everybody okay?”

“Yeah, he just busted all of the windows on my truck. By the time I got to the truck though he was gone and of course he denied it.”

“What do you mean by the time you got to the truck?”

“That’s the other thing that I needed to talk to you about. Christian stopped by the camp site after I met back up with Levi. He made sure to tell me that he wasn’t done with me and made a point of asking about my parents. I didn’t think it would be too safe to be out there alone with him after me and so I stayed last night at Levi’s.”

“Maybe you should come stay here Blaine.”

“No, I’m good where I’m at for now, but I wanted to warn you that Christian may show up. I didn’t want you to be unprepared.”

“I appreciate that, but don’t worry about me. He probably won’t show up here, but I’ll make sure I’m prepared in case he does. So, enough about that asshole, what’s going on with you and Levi?”

“That depends on how you look at it. After the incident with the truck we went back to bed and I couldn’t sleep. After a while I went and crawled in bed with him, we woke cuddled up together and took a shower. That’s all you’re getting out of me,” Blaine said, smiling softly at the memories of the morning.

“From that smile I don’t think I want to know any more,” Mark laughed. “I’m good with the whole having a gay best friend, but what you do behind closed doors I don’t need or want to know.”

“And I’m not going to be sharing, so you’re safe there.”

“Good, that’s all I need to know. This shit with Christian aside, you look happier than I’ve seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, there’s not a whole lot that I can complain about at the moment. Ruff’s on the mend and that’s good.”

“Wait, what happened to the dog?”

“Oh, when Christian showed up at the campsite, Ruff didn’t take too kindly too him and he retaliated with a foot in Ruff’s stomach.”

“But he’s okay?”

“A couple cracked ribs, but Levi assured me that he’ll be fine.”

“That’s good, I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure everything is going to be fine. Have you gotten a restraining order against Christian yet?”

“Yeah, started the paperwork on it today and it can’t kick in soon enough for me.”

“Just remember, once it kicks in, he can’t come near you or you can have him arrested. Keep an eye out for him and if you need me all you have to do is call.”

“I know Mark, and don’t worry, I won’t hesitate to call if I need ya, but I’d better get out of here and get back to Levi’s place.”

“Don’t want to be away from him for too long, huh?”

“No, it’s not that, well, part of it is, but…”

“Don’t worry, I understand, you don’t have to say anymore, you should get going and I’ll give ya a call later to see how things are going, and to see if you’ve had any more visits from Christian.”

***

Pulling up in front of Levi’s house, Blaine could not believe the relief that went through his body when he seen that Levi had made it back home. He had refused to admit to himself how worried he had been that Christian would do something to Levi while he was out doing what he needed to do. He felt weird just walking into Levi’s house, but since he was staying there it seemed kind of silly for him to knock.

When he got inside he felt a slight feeling of panic overtake him when he didn’t see Levi anywhere. After checking the entire house he went to the back door. Relief overtook his body when he found Levi in the back yard playing with the dogs. As soon as he walked out the back door he was met by Levi’s two dogs, both of them with their teeth bared and hackles raised.

“Levi, do you mind calling off the hounds,” Blaine joked, “I really don’t feel like becoming their lunch today.”

“Nah, they only eat on command,” Levi joked back, walking up and wrapping his arms around Blaine. The dogs, knowing the Blaine was no threat to their master quickly went back to playing. Taking Blaine’s hand, Levi led him over to a couple of deck chairs seated around a table. Moving his chair closer to Blaine’s, Levi sat down and took one of Blaine’s hands in his own. “So, how did it go today?”

“Well, it went about like we figured at the police station. Christian denied any involvement and there is no proof to connect him to breaking the windows. I have started the papers for a restraining order, but when I asked them about you getting one, they said that there was no immediate threat and they couldn’t do anything until he threatened you personally,” Blaine said in disgust.

“This is the last time that I’m going to tell you, quit worrying about me. He’s not going to be able to hurt me, I promise you that.”

“I just wish I could believe that.”

“Well, believe it, because it’s the truth. Now, we didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night and I for one am ready for a nap, care to join me?”

“Do you really have to even ask me that?”

“I guess not,” Levi said, grabbing Blaine’s hand and leading him inside, Ruff following silently behind them.

“What about your dogs,” Blaine asked.

“I just planned on leaving them outside; it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve been outside for a few hours.”

“Is it really safe though?”

“I don’t see why not. If you’re worried about Christian then you shouldn’t be. The dogs will be perfectly safe, but since I can tell you’re going to worry, I’ll bring them inside. We just need to make sure we put Ruff’s carrier in one of the bedrooms. I don’t think that there will be a problem between the dogs, but until they’ve been around each other longer it would probably be best to keep them separated.”

“You get your dogs situated and I’ll move Ruff’s carrier. Do you want me to put it in the spare room or in your room?”

“Well, since he’s not used to it and still pretty whiny, we’ll probably get more sleep if he’s in the spare room.”

“Okay then, I’ll meet you in your bedroom in a few minutes,” Blaine said, dropping a kiss on Levi’s lips before heading quickly into the living room followed quickly by Ruff. Within minutes he had Ruff secured in the Kennel in the spare room and shut the door on Ruff’s whimpering and crying. He hated to leave the pup like that, but he knew that in time the pup would get used to sleeping in the carrier and would quiet down.

After making a quick stop in the bathroom he headed into the bedroom, smiling when he seen that Levi had beat him there and was already under the covers. Quickly pulling his shirt over his head he made his way to the bed. Once there he quickly shucked his jeans and started to climb into bed.

“You going to stay in your boxers?” Levi asked softly, smiling up at him.

“I planned on it,” Blaine said, feeling slightly self-conscience.

“I just thought it might be more comfortable for you, but if you’d rather, keep them on,” Levi said softly, turning onto his side and facing away from Blaine.

“Levi, I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Levi said, a slight edge to his voice.

Sighing softly, Blaine shucked his boxers and climbed into the bed, scooting over so that he was spooned against Levi’s back. Placing one arm over Levi’s middle, Blaine cringed as he felt Levi flinch. Using his arm to turn Levi toward him, Blaine looked down at the dejected look on Levi’s face.

“I didn’t mean anything by it Levi. This is all new to me, I haven’t felt this way about anyone before and I don’t want to screw it up.”

“You won’t screw it up,” Levi said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“A part of me knows that, but it doesn’t take the fear away.”

“What are you so afraid of Blaine?” Levi asked, finally looking up at him, hurt evident in his eyes.

“I don’t know. I thought I had something with Christian and then all of the sudden I found out that it was all a lie and I don’t think I could live through that again.”

“I am nothing like Christian,” Levi said vehemently, pulling out of Blaine’s arms.

“I know you’re not, that’s not what I was getting at. What I feel when I’m with you is so much more than I ever felt with Christian. I just…”

“You don’t know where to go from here. I get it. I didn’t expect this to happen either. When I was out walking the day that I met you, I seen you in the water, and I couldn’t just walk away. Something kept me rooted to that spot.”

“I know what you mean. I’m not usually such an asshole, but…”

“You had been hurt and didn’t have any inclination to risk getting hurt again. You act like I don’t understand that, but I do. I don’t want to get hurt either Blaine, but we can’t hide from our feelings either.”

“I know that, all I’m asking is that you just give me time to get used to this.”

“I didn’t mean to push you into anything that you weren’t ready for. I moved too fast and I’m sorry. I just wanted to get to know you better.”

“I know, and you didn’t push me into anything that I wasn’t ready for.”

“I would like to believe that. We can take this as slow as you want, I just hope you don’t regret anything that’s happened so far,” Levi said, thinking back to what had happened in the shower with Blaine. He had never felt anything that strong with anyone else.

“I don’t regret anything, I promise you that,” Blaine said softly, lowering his head and brushing a light kiss across Levi’s lips. “I don’t know if I’m ready for more than what we’ve shared so far, but I’ll get there.”

“Well, when you get there, let me know. We’ll take it slow,” Levi said, climbing out of bed and slipping his jeans on before heading out of the room.

“Well, I certainly screwed that up,” Blaine muttered to the silent room. Climbing out of bed he slipped his boxers on before grabbing his jeans and heading out of the room after Levi. Going from one room to another he searched for where Levi had gone. When he didn’t find him he sighed before going and opening the front door, relieved to see that Levi’s truck was still there. Not sure where else to look, he headed into the spare bedroom to let Ruff back out and was shocked when he found Levi sitting on the bed, Ruff in his lap.

“Did you need something?” Levi asked, not even bothering to look up from where his hand rested on Ruff’s back.

“Levi, I think we need to talk,” Blaine said softly, walking over and sitting at the foot of the bed.

“I don’t think now’s the time to really talk about things,” Levi said. “I need a little bit of space to think.”

“Levi please, come sit in the living room and talk to me. I think we need to set some things straight.”

“Fine,” Levi answered, setting Ruff on the floor and brushing past Blaine.

Blaine sighed as he got up off the bed and followed Levi, Ruff loping along at his heels. Knowing that Levi needed his space at the moment, Blaine sat on the far side of the couch from him before turning and facing him, one leg underneath of him.

“Levi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, I just…”

“You need time, and I’m trying to give you that, but it doesn’t really work when you follow me,” Levi said harshly.

”Not that kind of time. I already feel close to you and I want to get closer. I don’t need time by myself; I just need time with you. I’m sorry if I handled everything in the bedroom badly, I truly didn’t mean it the way that it sounded.”

“I know; it’s just that, you aren’t the only one that’s not sure of things Blaine. I’ve been hurt before too and I have a hard time trusting the men that I’ve met, but I can sense that you’re different. I don’t normally wear my heart on my sleeve so that it can be trampled, but I thought that you wouldn’t do that to me. Was I wrong in thinking that?”

“No, you weren’t wrong. I’m just not used to this,” Blaine said, scooting over closer to Levi and taking one of his hands within his own. “Don’t give up on me, okay?”

“I don’t want to give up on you babe, but I also don’t want to have to watch everything that I say or do. I’m just not sure where we’re going with this and after what just happened, I’m not sure how we’re going to proceed from here.”

“I don’t know either, just take it one day at a time and if I do anything that upsets you, please just let me know. I don’t want to upset you, and I’m not even sure exactly why I was suddenly so… self-conscious.”

“You don’t need to be self-conscious with me. I’ve loved everything that I’ve seen of you so far. I know that I still have a lot to learn about you and what’s going to happen in this relationship. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset, but it all goes back to the last relationship that I was in.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“I think the better question is; do you really want to hear about it?”

“I would like to, but if it’s going to upset you more then you don’t have to. It might help me understand more about you.”

“I was dating this guy Paul for a couple of years. It ended about a year ago and I’ve been single ever since. I thought that everything was going great, and then he suddenly started wearing clothes to bed. After that, he started working more and more hours and coming home later and later. I should have seen what was happening, but I didn’t want to. Finally, one day I came home from a long day at work to find him and one of his buddies on the couch. I didn’t think anything of it at first; they were just watching a movie. It wasn’t until I seen a condom in the bathroom garbage can that I knew for sure what was going on.”

“And you’re sure that it wasn’t from you and him?”

“No, I had taken the garbage out when I left for work that morning, so there was no way that it could have been from us.”

“I’m sorry that you were so burned,” Blaine said, closing the last bit of distance that separated them on the couch. “I see now when you acted the way you did when I went to come to bed with my boxers still on.”

“Yeah, it kind of felt like him all over again.”

“Just like you aren’t Christian, I am not like Paul. I wanted to come to bed without them, but I was unsure, of myself more than you.”

“You don’t have to be unsure of yourself Blaine, just be you, that’s the person I like.”

“I’ll try and remember that, now, how about we go and get that nap that we were going to earlier?”

“Sans boxers?” Levi asked with a grin.

“Sans boxers,” Blaine replied, getting up from the couch and leading the way back to the bedroom, completely forgetting about Ruff sleeping next to the couch.