To the Moon and Back

Charlie's POV
"Come on Luke let's go!" I call my little Staffy puppy that sits on his doggy bed and he immediately jumps up tail wagging and gallops towards me. He is such an adorable little creature that he always puts a smile on my face.
He has been so patiently waiting for me to finish my drawing that I give him some extra cuddles.
"Let's go painting" I say shouldering my backpack and taking his leash off the hook by the door and putting it around my neck, because I hardly ever use it on him, he is so attached to me already that he never runs far away. Although he has been with me for only a couple of weeks it feels as if we are already a team.
I open the big metal sliding shutters that makes up my apartment door. Well I call it my apartment when in reality it is just one huge room in this abandoned industrial building on the outskirts of Baltimore. A lot of other artists have their studios here and most of them live here although that is officially not allowed.
I run through the backyard which is filled with broken rusted cars and other old machinery and lots of garbage and chase Luke when we literally run into a guy that just walks around the corner.

"Hey, Sharky" he calls out and steadies the both of us after the impact "where are you off to so fast?"

"Oy, Ex-oH, I'm out making a little money on the streets, and you? Just coming back from tagging?"

"Yeah, did a whole train side today!" I have to show you the pics later if you want. He gives me the broadest smile and shakes his dreadlocks.

"Of course! Cool mate, see you later." We fist bump.

I go down to the bus stop to catch the downtown bus and get off at the mall.

When I reach my usual spot in front of the entrance I unpack my chalks and start on my pavement drawing which I have decided will be a waves and dolphins motif for today.

I am nearly done with my painting and people start throwing their spare change into my SnapBack that I have placed on the floor in front of it when Luke, who was sitting and guarding my backpack suddenly jumps up and starts running to a guy that I have noticed standing and watching me for some time.

He is tall, skinny and wears a black hoodie, a beanie and sun glasses.
Luke starts jumping the guy and I get up calling him back.

"Luke come back here, what are you doing? Luke! Luke Skywalker come here now!"
The guy bends down and cuddles my dog, well now he will not come back on his own, so I go over to him to pick him up.

"Hey mate I'm sorry." I say.

"Luke Skywalker? Really, are you a Star wars fan? " the guy asks me. I am able to take a closer look, from what I can see of him he has a nice smile and feathery brown hair that peeks out from under his maroon beanie.

"I'm not obsessed with it but I like the movies, yes." I pick up the dog and turn him onto his back where he wiggles and kicks his feet to get to the guy and probably lick him to death.

"Your puppy is so cute " he says and tickles its belly. When he straightens up again I notice he is wearing a Star Wars shirt under the hoodie.

"Oh, looks like you're a big fan though. Hi, my name is Charlie but everybody just calls me Sharky." I introduce myself stretching out my hand for him to shake.

"My name is Alex, nice to meet you and you could say that I'm obsessed with space" he really has a nice voice and a cute smile and dimples, God I love dimples! I would really like to see his eyes but they stay hidden behind his sunnies.

"Why Sharky?" He asks.

"When I first came to the States from Australia whenever I said my name people misunderstood because of my accent and I also like the ocean so I think the name fits me. Some friends claim it is because it is dangerous to live around me. But that is like so not true." I joke.

"I like what you did there" he nods over to my pavement drawing.

"Thanks, it's sort of my hobby, I make a bit of money and I get to meet some nice people." I smile at him shamelessly flirting.

"So if that's your hobby what do you do as a job then?"

"Oh pretty much the same I draw and design. I do a lot of licensing, my drawings end up on surfboards, skateboards, t-shirts or as tattoos, who ever wants them. And I work for a comic magazine as well." I shrug feeling uncomfortable speaking about myself.

"That sounds interesting I would like to see your works." He takes off his glasses now and I look into two almond shaped pools of melting chocolate. Omg I looove almonds and chocolate. I have to look away quickly to not start drooling over this guy.

"The walls of my apartment are full of them and I have loads of sketch books at home. When I'm finished with my painting you can come to my place and have a look if you'd like?"

I normally don't take guys that I don't know back to my place but for this one I make an exception.

He considers my offer for a moment then smiles "Let me just shop what I came here for and I will pick you up on my way out?"

"Cool. See you later." I wave at him and get back to my painting.

Alex's POV

I watched this kid crouching around the pavement making a chalk drawing of ocean waves and dolphins. It was really good. I was intrigued how she moved around the floor to finish the huge piece always sure where to add or change something.

Suddenly her dog that has been patiently sitting there came galloping over to me. He was cute, a black body with a white head and a little black spot above the eye. I played with him until the girl noticed.

She called him and then stood up to walk over to me, that's when I saw her face for the first time. She was older than I had guessed, from her movements and dress style I had assumed she would still be a teenager but she was probably in her early twenties. Ragged streaks of blonde hair looked out from under the faded black hoodie she wore. Her eyes were a dark blue and had an amazing sparkle to it.

"Hey mate I'm sorry" she says with an accent when she picks up her puppy.

I stare at her for a moment because she is really cute. I hope she hasn't noticed. I ask her why her dog is called Luke Skywalker.

She smiles at me and it is like a sunrise on her small face.

Wow, this girl is different, she doesn't wear makeup or girly clothes still she is extremely sexy, she seems so natural and confident.
We talk a little bit. I would like to get to know her better, that's why I agree to look at her works when she invites me home.

Charlie's POV

I finished my piece and sat beside my cap to collect some more coins from the people walking by, when I see Alex return. He carries two shopping bags and we go to his car where he puts them in his boot before opening the passenger door for me. I pick up Luke and hold him in my lap. Alex walks round to the drivers side and sits down.

"So where are we going?" He asks as he lowers his hood and I notice he has a scull and bones tattoo behind his ear.

"Just go south towards Cherry Hill Park along the 2 and then left, I tell you when." He starts the car.

"So what are you doing for a living?"I ask when we leave the parking lot wondering what a guy looking like him would have as a job. Definitely not accountant or something boring like that.
Probably gang member hence the tattoo.

"I sing and play guitar in a band" he answers with a smile.

Okay, that would have been my second guess.

"What's the name of the band?"

"All Time Low" he nearly mumbles.

"Wow, they are pretty popular. I heard some of your songs, I like them although I'm more into punk music." I tell him.

"Thanks, yeah, we are getting really big with the last album." He seems almost ashamed by the fact and that makes me smile.

"But hey, we ARE punk music." He argues after a moment of thinking, acting offended but his voice shows he's not serious.

"He he, nah not really mate" I reply patting his shoulder condescendingly just to wind him up.

"Whatever" He huffs and then we drive in silence for a bit.

When we finally turn off the road towards the old industrial building where I live in, he seems shocked.

"You live here?"

"It's cheap, and you can do whatever you want" I shrug "come on in, it's like the Tardis, it looks better from the inside." I joke.

"Okay, so now you're a Doctor Who fan as well? Can you get any more perfect?" He jokes but I have to turn away to hide my blush.

When I open the metal sliding door he notices, "You don't even have a lock on your door."

I laugh, "remember? it's dangerous to live around me. So I don't think a lot of criminals would want the hassle, robbing me. Besides I don't own anything that's worth the effort."

I raise my hands and swirl them around my almost empty living space.

"Cool" he looks at the huge window that takes up nearly one whole wall from floor to ceiling.
Then he takes in the rest of my loft.

"It really looks better from the inside and I like all your artwork." He points at the wall that is covered in pinned up sketches and finished drawings and studies.

"Have a seat" I point to one of the two couches that apart from my bed and my workspace are the only furniture.

Then I go to the kitchen area and get two beers out of the fridge and hand him one.
"Or do you want something else" I ask.

"No, no beer is fine." I hand him my sketchbook and go back to the kitchen bench to get a bowl of cereal for me.

I sit down by his side handing him a spoon and motioning for him to eat out of my bowl if he wants and start to dig in.

"And what do you say, do you like some of the stuff? I've also been working on a graphic novel for quite some time" I ask between two mouthfuls.

He looks up from the book with a wide smile.

"I love your drawings and I would like to show your tattoo designs to a friend if you don't mind, do you tattoo them as well ?" He finally starts to take some food in after I had swayed the bowl in front of his face a couple of times.

"NO! No I could never hurt someone, I can't even hurt myself. I am not good with pain, see I don't have any tattoos or piercings on me.
Although I always wanted to have a lip piercing but never really got round to it. I even bought a ring once."

We chat away on our second beer when he sees my comic collection and immediately starts flicking through it. He picks up the one he likes best and we end up on the couch reading it together, I snuggle up to him and we laugh a lot because this one is about a really funny French dude that always gets in trouble.

"Hey he is a lot like me" I say, "he always has this awesome ideas that turn to shit afterwards, it's not so funny in real life though" I add.

I think Alex is not only hot he is kind and nice as well which is a rare combination. By this time I am a little tipsy and get into party mood. The good thing about the place where I live is that nobody cares about noise, we have several band practice room on the ground floor and I can turn up my music whenever I want. That's what I do now and I go to the kitchen to search the cupboards for some liquor. I find am almost full bottle of Jack Daniels and take two glasses with me.

When I return. Alex slouches on the couch and smiles at me, his eyes following my every move and checking me out. I had pulled off my hoodie when we came in and was only wearing a black cut-off shirt and my skinny jeans and I was barefoot.

He had taken off his hoodie and his beanie and he ruffled his hair so that his locks were swept across his forehead. He looked even better now. I was tempted to run my fingers through his hair and kiss his pink lips, but of course I did not do it.

We each took some shots and started to dance to the music or rather rock out to it, because most of that playlist was punk and some hardcore. So we got pretty drunk in no time and giggled and staggered so much that we had to sit down. I looked in his eyes as he smiled back at me and there I had a great idea, or at least I thought it was a great idea.

Alex's POV

This girl was wild and hot and I really had a good time hanging out with her, the best in a long time, when we collapsed back onto the couch she looks at me and I can see the sparks flying in her eyes.

"I have a brilliant idea,"she said. "you could pierce my lip, like now. I trust you. What do you say?"

What? Why? I don't even know how to do this!
This is a crazy idea! But I am drunk and the thought of it is also exciting and so I just shrug.

She already got up looking for something and came back with ice cubes, a safety pin and some rubbing alcohol and a little golden ring. She placed everything in front of me on the table and started to explain.

"Okay, this is how you do it," she giggled in excitement "first we clean everything with the alcohol, we cool the spot with the ice until it feels numb then you just take the pin and push it through and then we put the ring in. Done."

I just nodded. She pushed up close to me and whispered "let's do this."

And I could feel her breath on my face, she was so close that it made me dizzy.

I prepared everything how she had told me then I held the needle to her lip and looked into her eyes, I had expected for her to keep her eyes shut in fear but she just stared into mine as she steadied herself with her hands on my thighs.

"Now?" I asked her. She just blinked her eyes once in agreement and didn't move.

I took a deep breath and shoved the needle through her lip. It went through easy and I pulled it out. She smiled.

Our faces where inches away from each other and I just stared at her lips.

"This is bleeding a lot" I said and just bend down and sucked in her lip to drink away the drops of blood, she tasted sweet and metallic. This whole thing was such a turn on that I could not stop myself.

Charlie's POV

I was pretty drunk and the pain from the needle wasn't as bad as I imagined but when Alex sucked in my lip he practically instantly started to kiss me and I felt like a wave had just collapsed over me.

I took in a sharp breath through my nose and kissed back although that increased the pain in my lip, but this just added to my excitement.

Now I didn't hesitate anymore to grip his hair.

Alex pushed me back onto the couch and lay on top of me with his full weight. Which was equally exciting.

We started a make out session of which I can't really recall much and ended up just falling asleep together on the couch.

Next morning I awoke nuzzled into his chest, his arms around me. I look up to watch his sleeping face, he looks really peaceful. I smile and feel a stinging pain in my lip, that's when it all comes back to me. I look at the table where the little golden ring is still lying there, we didn't bother putting it in last night, so I slowly snake myself out of his embrace, take the ring and go to the bathroom.

I look at my lip in the mirror and see a little swollen wound which has closed up already. I take the ring and try to get it through but give up because as I said I am not good with pain and I am not drunk at the moment.

But I feel a massive hangover come along so I go back and start making coffee and take two bottles of water out of the fridge. I see him stirring on the couch waking up.

He turns around to me and looks somewhat lost. "Shit, what happened last night."

I don't answer but he seems to remember it himself because he buries his head in his hands cursing under his breath.

"Whats the big deal, mate?" I ask, I don't get why he is so upset until he looks at me saying

"Damn, Sharky, I have a girlfriend."

Boom! Well that's some news! Of course a guy like him wouldn't be single, but why did he do it then? I thought he was the good type. Hah! Guess not!

"Oh so you just forgot to tell me that last night, is it?" I am getting really angry at him now. What an idiot!

"I know, I am sorry, it was just... I was so.... And you are so..." He is lost for words. And he looks so sorry that my anger blows off and I smile sadly.

I sigh deeply. "Save it, Alex. No need to explain to me, I know what it was, it was a spur of the moment thing and it was awesome. I'm not mad at you. But you better figure out what to tell your girlfriend. Come here have a coffee and a water that'll make you feel better."

We sit at the kitchen counter drinking coffee and eating some fruit when he notices my lip.

"It doesn't look too bad but we forgot to put the ring in." He holds my chin and strokes my lip with his thumb. I shiver at the touch and turn my head out of his grip.

"Yeah I tried this morning but the wound closed and it was too painful to push it through." I say.

"Shall I try it?" he offers.

"Better not, after what happened when you last tried it" I joke.

He nods "Sorry I messed up. Am I still allowed to see you and bring a friend ?" He asks shyly.

"Sure just stop by, you know the door isn't locked." I laugh.
.....

Notes

This is a re-write of a pretty old story of mine and was never published on this site. So maybe you'll like it. Have an awesome day. Lovelies.