Chapter One

July 4, 2007

The distant sound of water on sand echoed across the gap between him and the flowing caps of the ocean.  Up from the small but declining hill of the low tied sea, it traversed over the miniscule dunes to where Xavier sat peacefully and calm in the cradle of the lawn chair.  The aluminum leg pressed into the granules, pierced the top layer and sunk further down into the grainy pit under the pressure of his weight.  The nylon straps wrapping around the chair burned and pinched lightly into his skin, soaked as they were when he was at the bar before by the same heat of the garish sun beating down on his half exposed body now.

The harsh beat beat down from the sky above to drench it in a searing warmth that could be considered too much if exposed to such conditions for too long.  Brilliant rays of the sun's light penetrated through the black shade of the sunglasses, shining through his closed eyelids to even see a bright red as he tried to sleep.  A pair of small children ran along his right, laughing as one chased after another and kicking a dusting of the sand onto his bare chest.  Xavier's mind, however, was a world apart as he lay there alone and thinking to himself of the quagmire he found himself in.  Over the past eighteen years of Melissa's life and the time he had known her, how had things between them come to such a bizarre head?

Xavier had turned seven years old a month before she was born, first laying eyes upon her newborn form cradled in his father's arms.  She appeared to be so small, her thin fingers reached into the air as if trying to grab at his gruff chin then curling back into a tiny fist.  When his father dropped to one knee, holding her at his level, she returned his gaze with the most wonderful brown eyes he had ever seen.  His new sister smiled, cooing a laugh.  Her name was Melissa, and she was the most precious thing he had seen in his short life.

Years later, her rape had stirred within him an immeasurable anger, rage even.  Righteous rage that lifts the most common, simple people to the most extreme acts in the name of an ideal.  It was vigilante justice, but her violation had been avenged nonetheless as he struck down as a divine lightning bolt from the hands of an omnipotent being in the heavens.  Fate had destined him for a brutal death the moment a violent thought regarding to Melissa crept into his mind.  Xavier and his love for his sister was simply the weapon by which it dealt the punishment.

Was that all there was to his motives?  A brother's vengeance? Or was there a more complicated explanation?  One he was loathe to admit to himself.  In the wake of the finalization of his divorce, ending his marriage completely, a sense of isolation overcame him with its dark and murky shadow.  He could not deny that his sister had certainly blossomed into an attractive young woman, but he could not, would not allow himself to see her as such.  Her flirtations had become quite obvious to him; perhaps he was too blind to see it then as he does now, that extra touch on his arm, extra glance from the corner of her eye.  A warmth enveloped him when holding her close, later chastising himself for such a feeling.  He felt perverted when thinking of her in anyway now, as if any thought of her were sexually related.

And then came the day of her high school graduation.  Only turning eighteen just a few days before, it was something of a graduation/birthday party held in celebration of the milestone in her life.  The events that had occurred behind closed doors and way from the prying eyes of family members, which had forced him to finally confront the situation and resolve it, one way or another.  For a brief yet cataclysmic moment, the hidden passion had spilled out into a blatant show of lust in their father's chair.  It took all the strength of will Xavier had to stop and turn away.  They could not and would not follow through on this, no matter how much they wanted to make the dream a reality.

Or could they?  Twenty years ago, homosexuality was so taboo, any same sex couples were ostracized from the mainstream of society.  Now a debate raged back and forth about legalizing marriage between the same couples who not long ago feared social exiles for being who they are.  Would a relationship between them really be so different as such a case?  It was really only a bridge few dared to cross, but there was a bridge.

Yards off behind him to the right, Melissa stepped down from the steps from the elevated, wooden walkway lined with a set of bars, foods stands and souvenir shops along its strip.  The pair of running sneakers protecting her feet from the scorching sand as she sunk down almost an inch into the sand as she walk towards him.  "You're lucky I know that girl from high school," she told him as she fit the green bottle she had been carrying into his hand, "She didn't card me."

The beer in his hand, Melissa moved to go around him and sit in her own chair on the other side but Xavier reach out with his free hand to grab onto her wrist.  She looked down at him quizzical through the red tint of the glasses over her eyes, wondering what else he wanted.  "Mel, sit down," said Xavier with a nod at his waist.  Her eyebrows scrunched together, confused as to what he meant.  They had not been in a situation that could be considered sexual since the day of the party.  Wanting to see where he was going to go with this, she lifted her leg over him to the other side and sat over his waist straddling him.

Xavier took a moment to look up at her as her head eclipsed the sun, keeping it from shining into his eyes.  Her brown hair flowed down in glowing cascades to her shoulders before drifting down to her small breasts encased in the teal bikini top.  His free hand lain down on her flat stomach before she lay both her hands over his with a smile, pushing them down her right leg over the small blue denim shorts to her bare, thin thigh.  "What's this about, Xavier?," she asked with a bemused smile.  Xavier took a moment before answering, slipping the hand underneath the denim, "Thank you, Mel.  For everything.  You saved me."

The line of her mouth curved upwards wryly, feeling the touch of his fingers caressing her bare skin, "I thought you said we couldn't.  It wouldn't be right remember?"  "No," answered Xavier with a single shake of his head, "What wouldn't be right would be ignoring the perfection right in front of me."

After putting the bottom of the bottle in his other hand to fit in a natural cup holder of sand, Xavier reached up to pull her down by the back of her head.  Pulling her closer to him, he pressed his lips to hers and accepted the curveball fate had thrown their way.

Chapter Two

"Oh my God, Xavier.  I really don't think I'm ready for all this," said Melissa as she paced back and forth, surprising Xavier that she had not worn a pattern into the carpet of his locker room by now, "I mean, I'm not used to this whole wrestling thing.  You are, but I'm not.  I'm just supposed to be out there right?  What--"  "Mel," Xavier said in an attempt to stop her as he sat on the wooden bench, finishing lacing up the second wrestling boot.  "--if I screw something up, or if I get in the way or something?"

"Mel," said Xavier again and he rose up to his feet.  Taking by her shoulder, wrapping his palms around the black leather of her jacket and keeping her feet firmly planted instead going on like the chick version of the Energizer Bunny, "Take a deep breath and relax.  You'll do just find out there.  If you don't like being at ringside by yourself, go over to the commentators' table and hang out by them for a bit."  "OK, I'll do that," she answered with a nod of her head before blinking and going back to looking confused and worried, "Where's the commentators' table?"

Xavier took a hand from her shoulders to rub his eyes and laugh slightly, the show causing her to stamp a foot damn near hitting his.  "Don't laugh," she said in a half whine, "God, You're first match in like what?  A year and a half?  I want to help, not be the reason you end up losing.  Especially since you and this Armani guy have a history and he probably knows you inside and out... or something like that I guess.  God, I'm a newbie at this stuff."

Pulling away from Xavier, Melissa turned away to put her face in her hands, trying to hide in shame at her inexperience.  Xavier was not going to let her start doubting herself when she had not even gotten a chance to see if she was any good at it.  Turning her back around, he pulled her hands away from her face and held her by the waist, making sure she understood she had nothing to worry about, "OK yeah, you're new, but you'll learn.  Everyone's new at sometime, and it's not like I'm going to let anything happen to you until you know how to handle yourself.  Yeah, Armani and me have a history.  Remember, I know him just as much as he knows me.  I know I can handle him so don't go driving yourself nuts out there.  If you see a chance to help, go right ahead but don't do it if you're not sure.  Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and not even show.  Could be stuck in Nassau County somewhere helping a squirrel look for lost nuts for all we know.  And no, as strange as he can be, I wouldn't put it past him."

"If I can help, I will," she finally managed, "Just don't be pissed I just stand there and do nothing."  "You should be used to that one," he joked, causing her jaw to drop in feigned shock, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding.  You know I can't get mad at you."

Xavier went back to the bench he had been sitting on, picking up the roll of black athletic tape.  He stretch out a length before handing it to her.  "Can you help me with the tape on my wrists?  I might as well make you feel useful while I'm at it."  Melissa looked at the tape, shaking her head as she pressed it to his left wrist and starting to wrap it around, trying to suppress a giggle the whole time, "Oh, kinky."  "Don't start," he admonished her, causing her to only laugh even more.