Chapter 2 – Love
“Love is the construct of humans because only they can fool themselves that such a stupidly fanciful thing can even exist”. That had been his mother’s favourite saying, the spider remembered fondly. It was almost a motto she said it to him so damn often! He swore she had plaques with those words written on them hung all around her bedroom as though she was trying to remind herself that she should never fall in love, and should encourage her children to feel the same way. He had thought her mad for years until he had seen first hand (or leg) what love could actually do to unsuspecting humans.
It had been on a night a few months ago that the spider had crept up the wall of a house and entered what had turned out to be a bedroom. He had arrived in the middle of an argument between two teenage boys. They were both on the bed, one straddling the other, his hand clasped around the other boy’s throat, face scowling.
‘How dare you?’ the dominant blonde haired boy had yelled. ‘How dare you do that to me?’
‘Because I love you,’ the submissive brown haired boy had whispered in reply, tears escaping his eyes as he turned away from his lover and tormentor.
As soon as he had heard the word “love: the spider had been unable to turn away, his mother’s motto running through his head unbidden: “Love is the construct of humans because only they can fool themselves that such a stupidly fanciful thing can even exist”. After the words had passed through his mind the spider had discovered that the scene he watching had suddenly became very exciting. Finally, here was a chance to exactly what this thing called love really was.
The spider crept closer for a better view, ready and willing to see the sparkly pink hearts and the pain they appeared to cause creatures like humans, and his poor deluded mother.
Back on the bed the blonde haired boy was still yelling at his partner.
‘Then why did you do that? Why?’ he asked, still scowling, only now with tears in his eyes.
The spider was so close to the action now that he could see that the older boy’s hand was white at the knuckles, his anger clearly being channelled through his fist. He could also see that the other boy’s face was slowly turning a curious shade of blue. It was a very strange look, he thought, humans definitely looked better pinkish in colour!
The blue colour of strangulation, though bizarre, was definitely preferable to the pinky-blue-green-yellow patchwork of bruises which made up the brown haired boy’s torso. The spider was able to see this odd colouring because the boy currently being strangled was also shirtless, something which probably happened at a more pleasurable pre-fight moment.
‘I....I didn’t know what...else to do,’ the boy managed eventually, when he was finally able to get a breath.
His lover seemed to notice for the first time that his partner couldn’t breathe and so moved his hand slightly to allow freer breathing.
‘Jonas you know I hate affection. I hate flowers, I hate poetry.’ The blonde haired boy frowned, and then in a movement that caught both the boy called Jonas and the spider by surprise he hit his friend in the face. The spider only just managed to jump aside before the blood covered the bed. ‘I hate affection,’ the boy yelled after landing his vicious blow.
‘No,’ Jonas managed, more tears escaping his eyes now. ‘Erik, you love affection. In the beginning that was all you ever wanted. Affection all the time and I was glad to give it to you. I was glad to have a way to show you that I cared, even though you were creepy and almost stalker like at times. But then suddenly over night you changed. Out of the blue you started to hate affection, removing the only way I knew to show you I cared. But why? Why have you changed? Please tell me Erik, I need to know.’
Erik stared down at Jonas, seeing for the first time the bruises on his torso. He sighed and looked away, ashamed of his recent possessive behaviour. ‘I don’t know,’ he replied softly, unable to find words which could adequately describe the turmoil in his heart.
‘But I do,’ thought the spider, sadly. ‘I know exactly why you are hurting him. It is love; the disease that my mother blames for all the ills in the world of humanity.’ The spider sighed to himself and then headed back to the window. This brief look at love had confirmed to him that what his mother had said about love was correct, and he was not pleased. Somehow he had thought something involving pink sparkly hearts would be far friendlier than this!
Had he stuck around he might have seen that things could be better. He would have seen the power of love; even that of the yandere yaoi variety, but it was too late. The spider never saw just how fun making up could be, and instead left via the nearest open window, heading into a dark night, lost in thoughts and theories about this odd little disease known only as love.
