Neurotic

They were in bed together.  He was already totally naked and all she had on was a bra.  They were side by side kissing ferociously and he had his arm hooked around her neck and shoulders the way you would hook an arm around a life preserver.  She felt his urgency and she liked it and she snaked one hand behind his hip to draw him in closer.  His hard cock pressed against her belly, steely and unyielding.  She gasped a bit in the back of her mouth, pouring a moan into his and she took his other hand and guided it down between her legs.  He pressed his flat hand against her crotch and felt the heat in his palm.  Her hips bucked up to meet him.  He crooked his middle finger just slightly and drew the fingertip softly along the part of her labia.  He crooked the finger further and slipped inside.  She bit into his collarbone in response. 

He broke the kiss, unhooked his arm and leaned over behind him, over the side of the bed.  

“What are you doing?” she asked him.  

He fished a condom out of his pants, holding it up to her, shaking it. 

“No, that’s okay,” she told him.

His face fell.  “You don’t want to?” he asked.  

“No, I do,” she assured him.  “You don’t have to wear it, is what I’m saying.” 

“Okay,” he said, bemused.  He’d worn a condom on the two previous occasions they’d had sex.  He began to tear the foil open.  

“Hey, I said you didn’t have to,” she said.  “I got a Mirena, I told you, it’s fine.” 

“Okay, that’s cool,” he said. “I’m still gonna, though.”  

“O-kay,” she said carefully.  “Any reason in particular?”  

“I’d just really be more comfortable with one on,” he said.  

“Don’t you think it feels better without one on?” she asked.  

“Oh, absolutely,” he answered.  “I’m just not…y,know…”  

“What?” she asked.  

“Oh I’m just not…” he pursed his lips before speaking, “just not comfortable with that yet.” 

She laughed, a bit awkwardly.  “Afraid I might have cooties?” 

“Nothing to do with you,” he said firmly.  “I’m just kinda neurotic about…things like that, is all.  Always have been. Don’t worry about it.” 

He drew her in closer, planted a few soft kisses along her jawline to assure everyone that the mood wasn’t ruined.  She reciprocated, ran her hands along his sides approvingly.  But she wasn’t quite done talking yet.  With affected breeziness, she said “Most guys are pretty eager to not wear a condom.”  

“That’s your personal experience?” he asked.  

“Yeah, that’s my personal experience,” she said, annoyed at the implication. 

“Well, that’s kinda why…” he started, but thought better of it.   

“What?” she asked.  

“Nothing,” he said.  

“No, what?” she demanded.  

“I’m just…like…” he struggled with words.  “Look, I’m just an overanxious person.  I like to be careful. Don’t take it so personally.  Why do you care so much?” 

“Are you saying I’m not careful?” she asked.  

“I don’t want to get into it,” he said.  “Like, I’m trying not to make a big deal out of it.  It’s you that’s making a big deal about it.  What difference does it make if I want to wear one or not?” 

“I’m not making a big deal about it either,” she said.  “I just want to know why you’re apparently afraid to not wear one.  Like I told you I was clean. Told you I was on birth control.  What’s the holdup? Do you not believe me? Am I scheming to get you in a baby trap? We’re adults. We can talk about this. What exactly do you think might be happening?” 

“I have no idea what might be happening,” he insisted.  “Neither do you! We still don’t know each other that well! Like…”  

“I have never had a dude insist on wearing a condom even though I told him he didn’t have to,” she said.  “Never even heard of it.” 

“And I’ve never had a girl get upset at me for wanting to be responsible,” he said.  

“Okay, then.” She got out of his bed and reached for his underwear.  “If you’re that responsible, you’d be better off just avoiding the risk of fucking me altogether.  I mean, I’m not responsible enough. Who knows what might happen,” 

“Hey, hey,” he said.  “I don’t think that’s…” 

At that moment the alien crafts in the sky began their attack.  Their molecular disruptor beams dragged across the city, chewing up streets and lawns and cars and people with a huge bar of glowing energy that neatly dissected the 4-plex she lived in.  Heat seared the bedroom and vaporized the far wall. The lower part of the house fell in and the room collapsed from underneath.  

The bed ended up in a smoking pit buried under half-disintegrated beams, bricks and furniture. The focused core of the beam had raked across her and she had died instantly.  Her torso was half gone, bubbled and melted like a spent candle stump.  He had gotten a more peripheral exposure and his body was still intact, but with severe burns covering most of it.  He was now suffering from severe shock and fluid loss and on top of that was trapped beneath nearly a ton of rubble.  

He trembled and gasped and grabbed the charred stump of human meat beside him.  His brain was mute, scrambled, afire from pain and panic, operating on gut-level animal frequencies. He died ten minutes later without ever figuring out what had happened.