I wanted to write another chapter sooner, but I was brain-dead for a bit. But now I'm over it and hopefully the story will come to me more quickly now. I had absolutely nothing planned for this chapter, so I hope it doesn't come off as too sloppy.

Also, I fully realized just how emotional this story is going to be, because not only is Ginger going to have to get over Baljeet and bid goodbye to her feelings for him, but Buford is gonna have to do the same thing. They're both going to have to tell the love of their lives goodbye. And wow, that's a lot of feelings and I don't think that my heart will be okay when this story gets more into that point. I'm probably going to die.

Also, I forgot to mention in the last chapter, but the group are all in their early twenties, from like 23 to 25.

Wanna Know What Love Is
By: Sally White

Part 2

The second time it happened, she was just lonely.

It had been two weeks since Ginger's encounter with Buford. They had had lunch together the day after it had happened, and it had been nice. They had just chatted and tried to catch up, since it had been years since they had last seen each other. She learned that he graduated from college just the previous year with a master's in history and physical education. He was working on becoming the next gym/history teacher at their old high school. She had been pretty shocked to hear that. Who knew that Buford's calling would turn out to be teaching?

She had also learned that he had been telling the truth about what he'd said in his bedroom. He had tried dating, but he had just never found the right girl who could help him get over Baljeet. He had sworn her to secrecy over that, and she was more than willing to keep his secret. It wasn't hers to tell, after all. And there wasn't really anyone that she would want to tell, anyways.

He told her that most of his experiences with girls came from girls who would come home with him from bars. They would have sex once then they all would make up excuses to never call him or see him again. She had found herself put off when he had told her this, since it just didn't seem fair to her. Sure, Buford wasn't the best-looking man out there, but he also wasn't ugly. And, as she had found out, he was amazing in bed. So she immediately categorized those girls as bitches in her head.

The conversation had ended there since she'd had a shift at the hospital that afternoon. They had left with friendly words, going off to their own lives once more. She found that she was glad that their experience hadn't ended with any kind of awkwardness, and she was actually proud of herself for not being like those other girls. She was not as shallow as some would believe.

It had been a couple of weeks since then and she had seen him a few times during that time. Mostly when they met up with Baljeet and Mishti for wedding planning, since she and Buford were the maid of honor and best man, respectively. She found that having someone who understood her suffering really helped. They often exchanged pain-filled expressions, neither of them wanting anything to do with this wedding but both also unable to tell Baljeet no. They loved him, were in love with him, and neither of them could stand the thought of letting the Indian man down.

But now it was a weekday, and she had the day off from the hospital, and all she could do was sit in her apartment and mope. She could have gone out and seen people, try to take her mind off the situation. But all she could bare to do was sit there with her head in her hands, thinking about Baljeet and how much she still loved him and how much she didn't want to be in his wedding.

She glanced at the clock on her microwave and noticed that it was now 5pm. She groaned and flopped back on her couch. She had literally spent the whole day pouting. "What a waste," she muttered to herself, putting her arm over her eyes.

Then, an idea occurred to her. She sat up and glanced at the clock again. School would be out by now, so she wouldn't be disturbing him. But…was this really the right thing to do? To just call him because she felt lonely?

She took her phone out and called him before she could back out. It was worth a try, right?

"Van Stomm."

"Buford?"

"Ginger?" He sounded surprised to be hearing from her. "What's up?"

She bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut before blurting out, "Do you have plans tonight?"

"No… Why?"

"Could you…could you come over?"

"…are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just…" She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm lonely, and I would really like some company. But you don't have to if it's too inconvenient."

"Nah, it's fine," he reassured her, and she could almost hear the smile that was surely creeping onto his lips. "Just gimme the address and I'll be over soon."

She eagerly gave him her address then hung up. She jumped and ran to her bathroom, jumping into her shower to freshen up. It was a record time shower, about ten minutes, and she hurried to get some proper clothes on and ran a brush through her hair. Then she stopped and nearly smacked herself. What the fuck was she doing? It was just Buford! It wasn't like she had a date or something…

…but that didn't mean she had to look like a slob.

Ginger's hair was just starting to get dry when she heard the buzzer go off. She hurried over to let him in then waiting anxiously, her foot tapping. A few minutes later there was a knock on her door and she nearly yanked it open.

Buford stood there, dressed in slacks in a button-up shirt and a nice jacket—and good lord, was he wearing a tie? She gulped silently, mentally scolding herself. She had called him over here for company, not a booty call. "Hey."

"Hey. Nice hair." He stepped into her apartment, taking his shoes off and loosening his tie. He noticed her staring at him and his cheeks turned pink. "I fuckin' hate this thing, but the school wants me to wear it."

"For what it's worth, you look nice," she reassured him, closing the door and heading for her kitchen. "Can I get you anything?"

"Ya got any booze?" he called to her, settling himself on her couch.

She chuckled. She should have known. "Luckily for you, I have some cider." She took out two bottles and went back over to him, sitting down beside him. She handed him one of the bottles and opened hers, taking a sip.

He opened his and took a sip, letting out a satisfied sigh. "This is the good stuff." He slung his arm on the top of the couch, and she noticed how he was careful to not touch her. It made her want to frown, but she quickly pushed that away, too. Company, not a booty call.

"So what have you been up to today?" he asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Anything interestin'?"

She sighed and shook her head, taking a long swig of the drink. "Nope. Honestly…I sat here pouting all day." She groaned and slumped back into the couch, staring at nothing in particular. "I really don't want to do this."

"I know what you mean," he sighed, relaxing back into the couch. "It really sucks to just have to stand there and watch them."

"It doesn't help that she's so fucking nice," Ginger whined, glad that she had called him to come over. She just really wanted someone to be able to bitch to.

"And they're so fucking happy," he agreed, and she saw his grip on his bottle tighten. He took a long swig, as if trying to wash it away.

But she wasn't done talking about it.

"For a smart guy, he really is stupid," she griped, crossing her arms over her chest, making sure to not spill her drink on herself. "I mean, he didn't even know that I had feelings for him until I told him, and I was almost as obvious as Isabella with my feelings! And you," she looked at him, "he never figured that out."

"I wasn't obvious," Buford reminded her before finishing his drink and setting the empty on the coffee table.

"You want another?" Ginger asked him, getting ready to stand up.

He shook his head, his expression grim. "No. I don't wanna get drunk." He glanced over at her. "You should probably make that your last one, too."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure we don't want a repeat of last time."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" She sat up, her eyes flashing with anger. "I think I've made it abundantly clear that I don't regret what happened between us, Buford. So can you please stop treating it like it was a bad thing?"

"Wasn't it?" he asked her, leaning towards her with a challenge in his eyes.

She could feel her hormones start trying to override her head, and she fought to push them back. Company, not a booty call. "No, it wasn't. We're both consenting adults, Buford. We're not kids anymore."

He studied her face then nodded slowly, pulling away and relaxing back once again. "Fair enough."

She sighed and put a hand on her heart, trying to get her rapid heartbeat under control. He had really gotten her worked up, and he hadn't even touched her. What the hell was going on?

"Why did you really want me to come over?" he asked her, glancing at her from the corners of his eyes.

"I wanted some company," she told him, blinking.

He turned his body a bit to face her, a look of disbelief on his face. "I ain't stupid, Ginger. I know that's not the only reason."

The Japanese woman looked away, staring down at her shoes. Her grip on her bottle of cider tightened, and she feared that it would break. Of course she wasn't actually strong enough to do that, but she wasn't thinking rationally right now. "I do want some company, but…no one else gets it. No one else would understand why I'm hurting so much."

She felt a gentle hand grip her chin and turn her head. She found herself staring into the former bully's blue eyes, which were soft and sympathetic. "You can't keep doing this to yourself, Ginge. You can't keep letting this hurt you so much."

She leaned into his touch, eventually falling over to bury her face in his shoulder. "I know, I know. It's been years since we broke up, and we weren't even together for that long. But…it just kills me to see him with Mishti and getting married to her."

Buford wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. "I know how you feel. I don't show it much, but it kills me too. At least you actually got to be with him and you know what it feels like."

"But that just makes it worse," Ginger moaned, her hands reaching up to clench onto his jacket. "All I can think about is when we were together, how his lips felt against mine and the way he smelled when we made love…" She clenched her eyes shut tight, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. "I miss him so much, and I never got over him. I want to tell him that, and I want him to understand just how much this all hurts me, but…"

"You can't stand to hurt him," the man murmured, one hand gently running through her ebony locks. "I know how you feel. For years I wanted to tell him how I felt, to finally admit that I was in love with him, but it was too big of a risk to take. Plus I didn't want the guys on the wrestling team haggling me for lovin' a dude. I would have never gotten any peace."

She felt her heart clench in pain for him, and she huddled closer to him. "I didn't know you had such a hard time…"

"No one did. I didn't want anyone to know or worry, so I buried it all away and forced myself to pretend like everything was okay."

She suddenly had a thought that made her frown deeply. "You must have hated me when I got with him."

To her surprise he started chuckling. "Nah. He was happy, and even though it hurt I was just glad that he was smiling." He lifted her chin to give her a tiny smile. "I've always wanted to thank you for that."

She blinked. "For what?"

"Keeping his smile," he told her, his expression the softest she had ever seen it.

She felt her breath catch in her throat, and all she could do was stare at him. Who knew that Buford van Stomm, the biggest bully Danville had ever seen in their childhood days, would have such a soft spot. Who knew that, deep down, he was actually pretty sentimental, not to mention sweet and selfless…

She couldn't take it anymore, and she reached up to cup his jaw in her hand. "That's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." Then she leaned up to gently press her lips to his.

This kiss was much different than the heated make-out they had shared in his apartment two weeks ago. This kiss was much more tender, and full of thanks and comfort. Both of them were suffering from the same painful endeavor, and they both needed comfort.

Buford's huge hands came up to gently cup Ginger's face, his fingers hooking onto her hair to hold her in place. Her own hands venture to grasp his jacket lapels, pulling him closer to her. She closed her eyes and breathed in his manly scent, felt his calloused hands on her soft skin. He was being so gentle at that moment, but it wasn't a romantic kiss. It was just something that both of them needed.

She pulled back and stood up, reaching down to him. He seemed to understand, since he just stood up and took her hand without a word. They made their way to her bedroom, and once they were there he pinned her to the wall.

Clothes came off in a hurry, kisses became hot and heavy, bodies pressed up against each other as bare skin touched. He made rough love to her right there against the wall, and it resulted in one of the best orgasms she'd ever had. They made their way over to her bed, where she pushed him down and rode him as they had sex a second time. When they were finally sated, they flopped down on the bed together and just held each other, wanting to feel the comfort of a warm body beside them.

As she started to doze off, Ginger found that she was glad she had called him and invited him over. Buford curled around her right before he fall asleep, and she soon joined him in dreamland.

They both dreamed of Baljeet.