The Pulse Pt. 01

I held her as she came down from her high. She gave me a dreamy smile and then slowly started to grind against me again.

"You don't have a clue eh? That's not what it feels like to me."

This was going much faster than I was prepared for.

"Fiona, let's just cool down for a minute."

She pouted but allowed me to slightly disentangle myself from her. Those eyes were giving me all the right reasons to just shut up and kiss her but I didn't want her to get the wrong idea about me.

"Why don't we take this a little slower. You're a beautiful girl but we barely know each other. I'm really flattered that you're interested in me but maybe we could go out together. What do you think?"

"You want me to stop..?" and she leaned forward and kissed my neck.

I suddenly sensed a thin blue thread between Fiona and me. My raging hormones and that pulse link were obviously giving her signals that the rest of me wasn't ready for.

"No, but I do want us to take things a bit slower." And saying that I pulled at and broke the thread between us.

She paused and then her head went to my chest and she groaned.

"What must you think of me? Throwing myself at you like some wanton slut! Oh god!" and she started to cry, this time holding on to me for support while I cradled her as gently as I could.

"I think that you're a beautiful woman that I'd like to get to know better."

"You can't think that. Not after...this!" and she cried even harder.

"I think you're really brave. I'm sure that it took a lot of courage to come over to me not knowing what the answer would be. I'd like to get to know that person better."

She seemed to relax a little and soon the cries became little hiccups much to her embarrassment. She promptly pushed me away and turned around so that she could gather herself in the ladies bathroom.

I picked up my pay packet from where I'd dropped it in our frenzy and ran my hands through my hair and tried to get myself looking slightly more presentable. In a couple of minutes Fiona came out of the ladies, with a shy smile on her face.

"I thought you might have gone."

"Not a chance. I wanted to ask you out on a date tonight."

She blushed prettily and then taking my hand we started to walk down the stairs, locking up as we went.

"I think that you ought to know that I like Italian food and romantic comedies."

"Well it just so happens that I love Italian food and can recite all the words to Four Weddings and a Funeral."

"You can not!"

"I can and will happily prove it."

"You're on!" Then, more shyly. "Did you mean it? Tonight?"

"Absolutely. Do you want to meet in town or shall I borrow my parents car and I can come and collect you?"

"I live in town, so why don't we just meet in the square?"

"Sure. Is seven o'clock ok?"

"Let's make it eight - I have to get home and get ready."

"You look great just as you are."

"Liar...but thank you."

She then gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek and hurried off to her car.

I went back to my bike, thoroughly confused and with a bad case of blue balls.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

I took my time riding home, trying to get my riot of thoughts under control.

I had eighteen years experience of girls not wanting anything to do with me and suddenly I'd had two women literally throw themselves at me. It was all connected to the Pulse. I just knew that I didn't want relationships based on some kind of weird domination. Particularly when I didn't have the first idea what I was doing or what effects it might have.

I locked up dad's bike in the garage and came through the door into the kitchen to hear my parents shrieking at one another. I assumed that they hadn't seen me or that they didn't care. Whichever it was, I'd had enough. All the frustration and anger at them married to the double boost to my confidence had me striding into the sitting room.

"Will you two stop it!"

There was a stunned silence. And again the pulse, again blue.

"I have no idea what you two are fighting about again but please sort it out. I can't go on living like this, walking around on eggshells in case one of you decides to blow up over the tiniest thing. Figure it out!"

And with that I closed the door behind me and went to have a shower.

I dropped my work clothes into the washing basket and eased myself under the hot shower spray, relishing the heat as it drove away the aches and pains. I soon began to get hard at the thought of my two encounters that day and couldn't help but pound myself to orgasm. It was nearly seven o'clock by the time I'd got myself out of the shower, agonised about what to wear and called the local Italian place to book a table.

Heading back downstairs I saw my parents quietly discussing something over some documents on the dining room table. My Dad looked up and smiled warmly. Mum looked as relaxed as I'd seen her in months.

"There you are, son. I'm sorry that you've had to put up with the constant bickering between your mother and I. You were quite right to call us on it and I believe we have come to an agreement."

This wasn't normal. They couldn't agree on whether black was black or white was white.

"We have decided that it's best for everyone if we get a divorce. Once we saw how badly it was affecting you we both realised that we were staying together for the wrong reasons. We're different people from the ones that married twenty years ago and we need to acknowledge that and move on."

I just gaped at them - talking about divorce as if it was the most normal thing in the world. My mother nodded and said,

"It must have been very difficult for you and neither your father nor I have enjoyed the last few years of our marriage. I'm pleased that this is all so amicable. We'll get by financially and your father will live here until he decides what he wants to do." She turned to him.

"I understand there are some opportunities abroad that you've been interested in?"

He nodded.

"Well, then. I think that we're all in agreement. That's everything figured out."

I frantically focused to try and find whether I was still unintentionally influencing things. Finally I found the blue thread connecting the three of us and pulled at and broke it. Nothing changed. This was obviously a relief for both of them as much as it was for me.

"Well don't you look nice? And is that aftershave? Jake, what aren't you telling us?" said my mum.

"I...well, I have a date tonight."

"Congratulations! But when were you going to let your mother and I in on this? This is big news!"

"I only found out about it at work this afternoon, dad."

"Fast worker eh? You dog you!"

"Stanley!"

"Oh...well. Sorry Kate."

Shaking my head I headed off out of the door. The bus stop wasn't too far up the road and as I walked I found myself pulling at the collar of my favourite shirt. When did this get tight on me? Looking down, the top button looked under some pressure too. I undid it and the shirt felt slightly better.

The bus arrived ten minutes later and I daydreamed my way through the journey, trying to get my head round what had happened that day. Also, while I liked Fiona, I really had no idea -how much- I liked Fiona. Is that what you do this stuff for? To find out how much you like them? What were her expectations? The only person that I talked to at school was in a similar boat to me and as such was no help whatsoever. My entire experience was based on movies, novels and watching Neighbours. Something that I realised may not be the ideal preparation.

I was also a bit wary that the pulse was able to just manifest itself without me consciously choosing to do so. Now that I at least had some idea of what to expect I had to have more control.

The bus arrived into the town centre after about thirty minutes and I walked around the square to try and get the butterflies in my stomach to stop. This was my first real date and I was really nervous.

A few minutes later I heard a wolf whistle from across the square and I saw Fiona blush as she walked round the corner. I quickly walked over, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek to hopefully shut up whoever was embarrassing her.

"You look fantastic," I said, drinking in the short black dress that she was wearing that hugged her beautifully. She blushed again and shivered a bit.

"You look good too," she said, "but can we get inside somewhere? I'm starting to get cold."

"Of course."

We walked two minutes to the small Italian trattoria that had been here ever since I could remember. It was run by an Italian family and was always warm and welcoming. When we arrived it was bustling and the waitress knew in about two seconds that this was a first date.

She was really helpful and attentive to Fiona and gave me a wink as she handed over the menus.

We were soon settled and after showing our IDs ordered a bottle of red wine to go with dinner. I was starving. The conversation was a bit stilted to begin with - I think we were still both embarrassed about what had happened earlier this afternoon.

My starter of spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino arrived along with her salad and we finally started to relax a bit. We talked about the food that we liked and disliked, places we'd been on holiday, shared school memories (mercifully short) and soon were chatting away happily about movies and books.

By the time my tiramisu had turned up with her panna cotta, we were both far more comfortable with each other. To my surprise it was her that brought up the elephant in the room.

"I hope you know that I didn't plan this afternoon to go like that, you know?"

"And I hadn't meant to be such a klutz. This dating thing is all very new to me."

"You weren't a klutz. I'd just built myself up and was so determined for everything to be perfect. It was stupid of me. I just hope that Tina and Susan didn't see anything after I..."

"...decided to talk to me?" I offered.

She looked gratefully at me.

"It's alright, they'd gone by the time I called through the door to you."

"That's such a relief! I don't want you or anyone to think that's how I normally behave. I've never thrown myself at someone like that...ever. But you're so nice and I so wanted you to....to like me."

Her voice trailed off shyly. It was my turn to blush.

"I meant it earlier on when I said how brave you've been. I wouldn't even know where to start with asking a girl out. What with school, and being a bit of a nerd..."

"A bit," she teased.

"OK, OK, a lot of a nerd," I laughed, "I just haven't even dreamed of being out on a date with a beautiful girl. Like you."

"In that case, can we forget that this afternoon happened?"

"I just went to work. And somehow managed to ask a beautiful girl out. I don't know about you?"

She smiled and blushed.

We kissed across the small table. The waitress arrived with a big smile and I left as large a tip as I could afford. The food had been spectacular.

We kissed again outside the restaurant. And we kissed as the trailers and adverts played in the cinema. I have no idea what happened in the film, Bridget something or other with Hugh Grant and the girl from Jerry Maguire. We were in full, cliched, make-out mode at the back.

My hands got a thorough reintroduction to her sensitive nipples and I advanced my knowledge of kissing quite significantly. Our passion, I think, surprised us both and by the end I don't think that I was the only one holding myself back.

The lights came up and there was that light buzz as the other patrons discussed the film as they left. I'm sure there were many knowing glances in our direction but neither of us noticed or cared. We trailed out of the cinema hand in hand just enjoying being very close to another person. We slowly ambled home to Fiona's house and managed to behave when we got there. To their eternal credit her parents were kind enough not to insist on being introduced to me. With another chaste kiss I left her and headed back to get the last bus home.

It felt like a perfect night.

The wine, my physical exertions and the emotional roller coaster that I'd been on made the bus journey home really relaxing. We were about five minutes from my stop when I heard a shout from the driver. I looked up in time to see some headlights pointing straight into the bus followed by a huge impact which catapulted me and the other passengers forward.

A pulse. A blur of red.

As I was thrown forward and into the air from the back of the bus, time stood still. It was like I was in treacle watching people being thrown around as the bus rolled on to its side. I landed near the roof with shattered glass all around me and the bus sliding along the road. It came to a juddering halt and I was in control again.

I was totally unhurt but the same could not be said for those around me. I quickly surveyed the inside of the bus. Thankfully it hadn't been that full but there was a lot of blood and bodies lying all over the place. It was the first time that I'd see anything like this in real life. Adrenaline pumped again.

Pulse.

Suddenly yellow tendrils flew out to everyone in the bus. I almost shrieked as I felt some idea of the pain that the other passengers were in. Each thread seemed to transmit the level and nature of the pain of the other person. Multiply that pain by fifteen people and I was almost overwhelmed. I rapidly realised that there were two very serious casualties and climbed through the bus severing the yellow tendrils to all but the most seriously hurt.

The driver, a short, wiry ex-Gurkha who I'd known for the last three or four years from regular trips in and out of town, was unconscious and seemed to be losing a lot of blood. I grabbed the coat from behind him and wedged it into the wound in his abdomen, trying to staunch the flow of blood with pressure.

I called out for help and a number of the other passengers began to pull themselves upright and survey the damage.

Two younger men that I didn't know made their way forward. I had one keep the pressure on the wound for me while I made my way to the older man that had been standing near the front of the bus when the van had collided. He'd been thrown into the windscreen and was half in and half out of the bus. His leg was twisted into an unnatural position and I knew that his lungs were filling with blood.

"Help me sit him up," I called.

Thankfully the young guy didn't ask any questions and just helped me carefully position the injured man. I also maneuvered the older man's leg into a more natural position that didn't put pressure from the snapped bone on the skin and muscle. Not knowing enough to genuinely help but probably more than enough to make the injuries worse I focused on making sure he stayed upright.

The other passengers were helping each other get out of the bus and I'd heard someone from one of the neighboring houses shouting that help was on the way.

It felt like an age waiting there and feeling every tortured breath from both men. The injured man drifted in and out of consciousness and the waves of pain ebbed and flowed with it. I was slowly being beaten into submission by them both but gritted my teeth and tried to focus on making sure that they were still alive when help got there.

A police car arrived first and much to my relief, far more experienced people took over.

I was almost swooning with pain and exhaustion as I made room for the paramedics. I suddenly realised that it wasn't my pain and exhaustion. I hadn't removed the last two yellow threads. I cut them and relief flooded through me. I staggered out of the bus straight into the congratulations from the young guys who'd helped me.

"Wow! You were so calm in there man! Are you training to be a doctor or something?"

"Me..? No! I..."

"Maybe scouts. First aid or something right?" said the other.

"Err...yeah, that's right. A first aid course and a good memory."

"Those dudes were lucky you were there."

"And lucky that you two were there too! Without you two I couldn't have done that. One of them probably would have been in a much more serious condition without you stepping up."

We continued to shift the credit for what we'd done until two ambulances arrived. The passengers were quickly triaged. The only other major casualty was the driver of the white van who must have pulled out into our path. He'd been killed by the impact. We were very fortunate that the whole wreckage hadn't caught fire.

After reassuring the paramedics that I'd just been incredibly lucky and that both the guys only had bumps and scrapes we made to leave.

"Well, don't be a stranger. I'm Dave and this is Phil. We're usually at the Four Horseshoes on a Saturday night if you fancy a drink."

"Thanks Dave. I'm Jake."

We shook hands and they headed off.

Had I just been invited for a pint? New experiences all over the place today.

I began the long trudge up the hill and I finally got through the door at about one in the morning.

Thankfully neither parent had decided to stay up so I fell out of my clothes and onto my bed and was asleep in seconds.

The morning arrived much too soon and much too bright. Work didn't start until later on a Sunday and that was going to give me time to get the Mini MOT'd. Once it had it's certificate of roadworthiness I would have my very own car!

Weirdly enough, the excitement about the car totally overshadowed everything else that had happened the previous day. I bounced through the shower and arrived downstairs into a totally different atmosphere. Mum and dad were being completely civil with one another - there was no stress in the air and they both looked happier than I could remember.

"Here he is? So how did it go? I stayed up until eleven-thirty but gave up waiting and went to bed," said my Mum.

"It went really well thanks Mum. Fiona's really nice."

"What was the film like? I've been itching to go and see Bridget Jones."

I looked a bit sheepish, "Oh, you know. It was OK."

"Not a guy's film huh?"

"No, it was fine. Quite funny. Fiona enjoyed it."

"Well maybe you could bring her round in your car and we could have a chat about it?" she said smiling.

I groaned inwardly.

"I guess."

Dad smiled as he saw my discomfort but was kind enough to change the subject.

"Did you hear about the bus accident last night? You must have been on the one after that right?"

"No Dad, that was the one that I was on."

Both parents practically dropped what they were doing and there was a sudden barrage of questions from them both.

"What! Are you OK? What happened? Are you hurt? Let me look at you."

Mum had my head in her hands looking into my eyes and Dad was checking my hands as if the crash had just happened.

"I'm fine!" I said.

"But...is that blood under your fingernails?"

"Oh...I thought that I'd cleaned that off."

And nothing would do but for them to hear the whole thing told to them in detail. I went through it twice, minus certain details, while I shovelled some breakfast down and it wasn't until the doorbell went that they finally relented. I took the opportunity to escape and opened the door.

It was Old Bill.

"Good morning Jake. I was expecting your round to collect the car for it's MOT by now. You're going to miss your appointment if you don't get going soon."

"Thanks so much Mr Davison. You're right I really need to go."

Dad thrust some money into my hand with a smile and Old Bill proudly handed over the keys. I happily drove off to the MOT station. The test itself was a formality as Old Bill and I had spent many long evenings making sure that everything was perfect. He couldn't bring himself to sell me the car without everything being absolutely perfect. I learned so much working with him and I think that he enjoyed working on the car with me as much as I enjoyed learning the basics of car maintenance from him.