John woke with a start. He went to sit up and his head was pounding a little, and he'd fallen asleep holding Natalie's robe. Looking into his other room, he could see the box still out of the closet. He didn't have the heart to put it back right now, so instead he took a shower and went right out the door.
Today, he was determined to make headway on his dad's case. He combed through the file, adding notes to potential leads. The doctor who'd operated on him drunk had already lost her license to practice, but hadn't been arrested because of the settlement his mom had agreed to. John disagreed with it, but he supposed it wasn't his place to say anything.
He had to find out who called 911. His dad hadn't radioed that he'd been shot because he didn't have his radio on him, he'd been off duty. That meant someone saw what happened and had called 911. This was the starting point. He used his computer to get the number the witness had called from, and would then run a check to get him an address from the phone number.
He heard a knock on his door.
"Come in"
"Hey Johnny"
"Mom, I didn't think you'd -"
"I'm fine, Johnny, you and Mikey worry too much"
John came around the front of his desk to greet her with a hug.
"Well, you've worried about us long enough"
She looked around the office, "Makes it a lot more real, doesn't it?"
"Yeah" he said, "Bo cleared all of Dad's stuff out before I came back"
"Your father would be so proud of you, John. I hope you know that"
"I do, Mom" he said, "Bo's going to let me investigate his murder"
"If anyone can solve it, its you"
"I hope so" John said, "I'd like to make him proud"
"You don't have to try any harder to do that" she said, "He was proud of you long before this happened. When you graduated from the academy, I'd never seen him so happy, John. And then you went to the FBI-"
"Oh, he probably hated me for that one"
"He knew why you did it, though"
John looked down, "Well, I guess I ended up back home anyway. New home, but still"
"He was proud of that decision, too" she said, "He thought they should have made him step down for you. As far as he was concerned, you should have had this job awhile ago"
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"Oh, you know. I started back at the hospital, but home still feels terribly empty. I'll get used to it, you know? I'm just so used to the noises your father would make, you know? Tossing and turning, readjusting on the couch, turning on jazz when it got too quiet for him-"
"Yeah, he did like that"
"Listen, I was going through some things-"
"Mom, we told you, me and Mike will take care of that when you're ready-"
"Don't be ridiculous, you're busy, and it has to get done sooner rather than later"
"Mom, you don't have to-"
"Anyway, I found this" she said, handing him a framed picture, "I thought you might want it"
John looked at it for a minute. It was of he and Natalie, on prom night. She was wearing a blue dress, dark blue, but not quite navy, and it had matched her eyes perfectly. It was a halter dress, and showed off her curves beautifully, unlike the clothes she typically wore. It had rhinestones in the body and then flowed to her feet, hugging her hips perfectly. At his mother's direction, he'd worn the same color tie and gotten her a corsage with a white rose, blue baby's breath, and a blue ribbon. They looked so happy in the picture, and they had been, but that was something he couldn't imagine now.
"Wow" he said, leaning on his desk.
"You two made a quite a pair"
"I forgot how beautiful she looked that night" he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"She'd be proud of you, too, John. Maybe more than any of us"
"I know" he said.
"I miss her, too, John"
"Maybe its because of Dad, I've been thinking about her a lot recently"
"That makes sense"
"Yeah, I guess it does" he said, "Dad had a case open on her"
"Are you surprised?"
"No, not really. But he started it way before she ever went missing"
"Really?"
He nodded, "I found out yesterday. I tried going through it, but-"
"I'm sure it's a lot" she said, "You know, John, Natalie would want you to be happy"
"I know, it's just real hard to be happy without her" he said.
"It's hard to believe I didn't like her at first" she said, "That changed pretty quick though. And you always knew I'd come around"
"Yeah, I did. You were both so strong, I never understood why you didn't see that in each other"
"She was so happy that day" she said, "So were you"
"She pretended to hate it" he said, "but I knew"
"You were good for each other"
"I still miss her. It's stupid, but sometimes I forget, even now, that she's gone"
She rubbed her son's shoulders, "You don't have to forget her to be happy, John. You just have to believe she'd want you to be happy without her"
He nodded.
"And your dad's with her now. You know how well they got along. She's not alone anymore"
He nodded again.
"So you'll keep it. I thought you might want it here, to remind you"
He nodded, "I'll keep it, Mom. Thanks"
"Can you believe it's been a year?" Eve said as she finished Natalie's hair.
"No, I can't" Natalie said, "and you, I never could have imagined I'd be so close to you"
"Same here" Eve said, "What do you think? More curls, more up?"
Natalie looked in the mirror Eve had curled all of her hair, pinning the back up and leaving the front tendrils down to frame her face.
"It's good" she said.
"Be honest"
"No, really. I like it"
"Alright, let me see that beautiful face" she said and Natalie turned to face her, "Are you excited?"
"Yeah, I am. Don't tell John that, though"
"He has a surprise for you"
"I know you told him to get a corsage"
"Well, yeah. But another surprise"
"And you know?"
"He wanted to okay it with Thomas first" Eve said, "That's all I'm going to say" she said, beginning on Natalie's eyes.
"Don't go too crazy, Eve, I want John to recognize me"
"He won't be able to take his eyes off of you" she said.
"Please, there'll plenty of girls there"
"Yeah, but none for John" she said, "besides, you deserve to be pampered"
"Yeah, well, you're doing a bang up job of that"
"Honestly, Natalie, I wish you just let me get you some make up-"
"Eve, we've been over this. I don't see the point"
"You're 17, now is the time to learn so when you get old and there is a point-"
"Eve, really. I appreciate it, but, I really don't think I'm ever going to use it"
"Fine" she said, "I suppose the next time you'll let me touch your hair or do your make up will be your wedding day"
"What?" Natalie said, opening her eyes to look at Eve.
"Oh, Natalie" she said, "I didn't mean soon, I just- I see the way you two look at each other. That only comes around once a lifetime. You got lucky to find your one so early"
"Oh, that's all" she said.
"I mean, I am counting on you two getting married before I kick the bucket"
"Don't talk like that" she said, "I thought John might have said something-"
"No, he wouldn't dare betray your secrets, try as we might" she said.
"We haven't talked about-" she lied.
"Sorry, Natalie, I guess I jumped the gun" she said, "but I will be doing your hair and make up on your wedding day"
"Whatever you say, Eve"
"Oh, to be young again" she said, standing back to look at her work.
"I'm done?"
"You're done"
Natalie turned to look at herself in the mirror. She had to admit, she looked good, she just didn't think she looked herself. Her eye shadow matched her dress, and she had a dark red lipstick on, and she looked so grown up.
"Ready?" Eve asked.
Natalie nodded and they headed out of her room.
He didn't understand the subtle "don't have sex" talk his father was giving him. He'd only given him an hour, not long enough for anything to happen. And yet, here they were, waiting for Natalie to come out of her room and talking about God. Fortunately, when they heard the door to Natalie's room open, his dad stopped talking. He stood as she entered, his eyes automatically reaching hers, and they somehow sparkled more than normal. Maybe it was the eye make up or the fact that her face was framed with her hair. His eyes finally wandered, and she was breathtaking. Her dress showed off her body in a way he hadn't been expecting and every curve was accented, and he had to remind himself to breathe.
"Wow" he said, in a voice just above a whisper.
He crossed the room, vaguely aware of his brother coming down the stairs, and he put his hands on her hips.
"You look beautiful" he told her.
His mother had also crossed the room, walking into his dad's arm.
"Don't get used to this" she told him.
"I wouldn't dare"
And then, oblivious to his parents behind him or his brother behind her, leaned in to kiss her, full and deep. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her closer, his hand going to cradle her head.
That was when Michael gagged at both couples kissing and John stepped away from Natalie.
"John, you're lucky you didn't ruin her hair" Eve said.
Natalie laughed, and John went to get her corsage. After placing it on her wrist and kissing her hand, his mother ushered them all outside for pictures. After what seemed like hours taking pictures, they went inside to grab Natalie's bag and leave.
"I guess we'll be going, then" John said, just as he'd told his dad he would.
"Here" his dad said, tossing him his keys, "take the truck"
"Thanks" John said.
"Be home by 2"
John was sure his shock registered on his face, but he didn't question it, just repeated his thanks and he and Natalie were on their way. Once out of the driveway, Natalie asked what he'd been thinking.
"Did he say 2?"
"Yeah"
"And he meant 2 am"
"Natalie, I am just as surprised as you are" he said.
"Does this have to do with the surprise?"
"What surprise?" he feigned innocence.
"Oh, you think you're such a good liar, just tell me"
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"Fine" she said.
"Did I mention you look beautiful tonight?"
"Yeah, you did. Punctuated with making out in the living room"
"Not one of our finest moments, I guess"
"You clean up pretty nice, too"
"I hate monkey suits"
"And I feel like a doll" she said,"so I guess we're a pretty good pair"
"Thanks for agreeing to come"
"Well I promised" she said as they pulled up to the school, "Alright, let's get this over with" she said.
"You're so romantic" he said as they headed inside.
As the prom was finishing, he and Natalie returned to their table to get Natalie's bag. He put his jacket over her shoulders and they headed out to the truck.
"Well since we have so much time, you hungry?" he asked.
"Starved" she said, "I'd love some fries"
"We can do that" he said as he started to navigate his way out of the parking lot.
"So can we revisit this whole surprise thing?"
"Yeah, I have a surprise for you"
"And?" she prompted.
"And we can get fries on the way there" he said.
So, after a pit stop at McDonald's which they devoured before reaching their final destination, John continued to drive to the beach. He drove to an abandoned stretch of beach and turned the truck around so the bed was facing the ocean.
"John? What are we doing here?"
"You'll see" he said as he turned the truck off and got out.
Natalie watched him walk to the bed of the truck and began to fold back the cover of the truck bed. Natalie kicked her heels off and got out of the truck to walk around the back as well. John finished folding it back, revealing a mountain of blankets and pillows spread out through the bed of the truck. He pulled down the gate and turned to her.
"Well?"
She smiled, touched to her core,"It's perfect"
Silently, he climbed into the bed of the pick up truck, and she followed in, jumping up to sit first and then crawling up to rest her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, bringing her close. They looked up at the stars, silently and listened to the waves crash on the shore. After good chunk of silence, Natalie finally spoke.
"This is beautiful" she whispered, "Perfect end to a perfect night"
"It's not over yet" he said, looking at his watch, "We still got a few hours"
"This is perfect, John. Really. Thank you so much"
"I'd hoped you'd like it" he said, kissing her head.
"The sky is so clear. It's beautiful. I could look at this forever"
He turned his head to look at her, "I know the feeling"
She leaned up to kiss him, "Sometimes, I can't believe I got so lucky with you"
"I'm the lucky one" he said, "You're beautiful"
"You sure the three pounds of make up isn't clouding your opinion?"
He shook his head, running his fingers through her hair, "You're always beautiful. Right now especially, but not because of the make up, because of the star light"
She leaned up to kiss him again, and when he went to deepen it, she let him, wrapping her arms around his neck, causing his jacket to fall off of her shoulders, but she didn't care. He grabbed her, bringing her close to him and kissing her again. He leaned her back, their tongues still intertwined and she dug her hands into his hair, bringing him on top of her, and his weight pressed into her and she wasn't sure she'd ever felt so much of him, he pressed into everywhere she wasn't, it felt glorious. He ended the kiss and began to kiss down the right side of her neck, and she felt his lips and tongue ignite her skin on fire. Soft moans escaped her mouth and then he was kissing her again.
He rolled back, bringing her with him, and he wrapped his arms around her, tangling one hand in her hair. Her hands disentangled themselves from his hair and found their way to his tie. She went to loosen it, not wanting to open her eyes to end the kiss, and fumbling.
When he realized what she was doing, he broke the kiss, panting as she was, and loosened the tie for her, taking it off over his head. He watched her, hypnotized as he did so, and then her hands went to the top button of his shirt and she began to unbutton it. He felt his heartbeat accelerate with every button she undid, waiting for her to touch his skin. He continued to watch her, and then when she'd reached the bottom, she grabbed at it, untucking it from his pants. She made quick work of the rest of the buttons and then looked back into his eyes, and then down to his chest. Panting, she put both hands on his chest and went to push the shirt off of him.
"Natalie" he moaned.
And then he was kissing her again, he leaned over her, rolling her on her back and shrugged his shirt the rest of the way off. Her hands explored his back, his bare skin under her fingers making her delirious with pleasure. She didn't stop as his mouth began to explore both sides of her neck, making her moan when he found a spot that must have been directly connected to her sex, which was now, she was realizing, getting wet.
"John" she moaned out when he didn't move and stayed in the spot that was making her throb between her legs.
He wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his back, kissing her deeply so she felt it through to her core. She broke the kiss when she felt his erection press against her thigh.
He knew she could feel how hard he was, or at least he would if he were capable of thinking right now. All he could feel was her above him, pressed into him, taking up any piece of space he wasn't, and kissing him so deliciously he couldn't think straight. She stopped for a moment, only to catch a breath of air and then was kissing him again, and her hips began to grind into him, her thigh grinding right into his erection, driving him crazy. She stopped the kiss again, moving down on his body, her hips now grinding right into his now rock hard erection and she began to kiss along his collar bone and let out a strangled moan. God, he didn't know if he'd ever felt so much at once and she wasn't relenting, either.
"Natalie" he moaned and she looked up at him.
He tangled a hand in her hair and kissed her briefly. Then, he pulled the tie at the base of her neck and found the short zipper at the middle of her back, and unzipped that as well. She rolled off of him, and together they wrangled her out of the dress and pushed it aside, John taking her in his arms and feeling their bare skin against the other's. He leaned back to look at her, in strapless bra and a lacy pair of underwear, just looking at him, panting just as he was. God, she was beautiful. She sat up briefly, facing him, and unclipped her bra, her breasts were exposed to him. He moaned, going to kiss her, lying her back down, and gently cupped her right breast in his hand and her hips bucked into his. He leaned over her and began kiss down the left side of her neck, down to her chest and moved his body down on her so her breasts were in his face. He looked up at her, seeing she wanted this, too. He took her left breast in his hand, gently squeezing it, meanwhile he kissed her right breast, being sure to savor every inch and then taking her nipple into his mouth, sucking on it.
Dear God, she was certain this felt too good to be earthly. Her hips kept bucking into his stomach, and he surely knew how wet she was now, but she didn't care. His hands and lips felt so good, and it was making her sex throb, and when he sucked on her nipple, she wasn't sure if she screamed or moaned, but dear God, did her panties get wet. His hands and mouth switched breasts and she relished it all over again, how every nerve ending in her body was on fire and how good it felt and how it felt like her whole body was covered in goosebumps of the best kind, the rush she was getting. He took her left nipple in his mouth, and she couldn't help herself.
"Jooohnnn" she moaned, and she hoped he knew she wanted him to keep going.
He kissed his way back up to her mouth and rolled off of her. He grabbed her, pulling her on top of him, wanting to feel her bare breasts pressed into his chest, and he continued to kiss her. Her legs draped to either side of him, his erection now so present she could feel it against her backside, and she wanted it closer. She ground into him, and he had to stop kissing her to moan out.
She rolled off of him, onto her side again. She looked down at his pants, his erection noticeably pressing against them. She undid his belt, his button and zipper and could feel him panting against her face, and she was sure she was panting, too. She pushed his pants down with his boxers, only seeing his erection for a moment before he was kissing her again. Her hand, though, was rubbing it, feeling it. It was so soft, but so hard, throbbing just as she was. Unexpectedly, he put a hand between her legs, touching her panties and she thought he was taking them off. her breath hitched in anticipation and then he stopped kissing her. He moved his hand away.
"Natalie" he whispered, moving her hand from between his legs.
"John" she moaned, "don't stop"
"We can't-"
"John, I want you to, please don't stop"
"I don't want to" he said.
"Then don't" she finally opened her eyes.
"I don't have protection"
"I don't care" she heard herself say, though her brain was slowly starting to kick in.
"You don't mean that"
"But I want you" she pouted.
"I know" he said, trying to get his breathing in control, "but I'm not going to risk it. You can't do everything you want to do if you get pregnant now"
She nodded.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm good"
"You're beautiful"
"That felt so good" she whispered.
"Someday" he said.
She nodded, "Someday"
He readjusted his pants and offered to help her get dressed. Once they were both redressed, they sat. John looked at his watch.
"We can still stay for an hour. You want to watch the stars some more?"
"Yeah, I'd like that" she said.
They laid back down, with her tucked into his side with his arm around her.
"I'm sorry I let it get that far"he said, quietly.
"John, don't be sorry. I'm not. I want that. Now, I'm ready"
"Me too" he said, "I guess what I really meant was I'm sorry I let it get that far when we couldn't finish what we started"
"I don't understand, though. If you planned this, why didn't you-"
"I didn't plan-" he sighed, "All I wanted was some time by ourselves, to watch the stars. When I convinced my dad to let us have the time, he said he'd give me til 11, which means we only would have been here for a little while before we had to leave. If I'd've known he'd give us the extra three hours, Natalie, I would have gotten protection, believe me"
"He told your mom" she said, "That's how we got the extra three hours. She told me you had a surprise for me"
"Yeah, that must have been it"
"I wish we could sleep here"
"I don't think I'm going to be sleeping much anytime soon" he said.
"Yeah, I'm wide awake" she said, "I'm glad we did this, all of it" she said.
"I really wanted it to be special, you know, what with last year-"
"You mean with my life falling apart? Yeah, this definitely tops that" she said.
"I don't know how you can joke about that. I'd never seen you look so scared and God, those bruises"
"Hey" she said, looking up at him, "It wasn't all bad. After all, I still got you. and I got your family. And I got out. All thanks to you"
"I always go back to that first time in my mom's car when we fooled around, and I was flat out lying on top of you, or at any given point I could have hugged you too hard-"
"You never did" she said, "John, you never hurt me, I swear" she said, "Where's all this coming from, anyway?"
"I should have known"
"You couldn't have known"
"I'm going to be a cop, Natalie, I should have known, I should have seen-something-"
"John" she said, placing a hand on the side of his face, "I'd been lying about my mother's alcohol problem for sixteen years. I'd been lying about my stepfather for the six years they were married. You don't lie for that long without getting pretty damn good at it" she said, "cops that have been trained and on the job for years wouldn't have noticed"
"Yeah, but you're not dating them"
"Look at me" she said, "I wasn't lying to you because I wanted to. I was lying because that's what I did" she said, "And John, you made me feel safe when everything I knew taught me not to feel that way. I ran to you. You're the one that got me here"
"I just- the thought of anyone laying their hands on you-"
"Hey, that's all over now"
"You didn't deserve that, though"
"No one does" she said.
He kissed her head, "I just wish i could erase it"
They were silent for a bit, looking up at the stars.
"Natalie?"
"Yeah?"
"Promise me you'll remember this"
"Like I could forget" she said, "This might be the best night of my life"
"I'm glad"
"You want to talk about it?" she asked, when he didn't answer, "Fine. but I know you, John. You can be scared, it's okay. I know you're afraid to leave, even if you won't talk about it"
"I just- I can't imagine not seeing you everyday" he said, "You know, what if the distance destroys us? What if you decide you want someone as smart as you-"
"Hey" she said, "you are plenty smart, and you know it"
"But when you go to college, you know there are going to be plenty of guys around, smart and career minded-"
"And you could get a hot secretary and never want to see me again-"
"Natalie-"
"I mean as long as we're listing anomalies-"
"That's never going to happen"
"I know that" she said, "Just as sure as I know that there is no guy out there who I could love more than you" she said, "John, exactly a year ago you got me to believe in someday, got me to believe what we had was real. I'm not giving up on that, no matter what happens the next few years"
He laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, "You make it all seem so easy, like its not a big deal"
"Don't get me wrong, I think you graduating is a very big deal" she said, "But I also think you're ready for what's next, even that means not seeing me everyday" she said, "but you know what?"
"What?"
"I have a number to give you now"
He chuckled. gently, he leaned down to kiss her.
"I want spend a night with you before I go"
She ran a hand over his chest, "I'd really like that, too" she said.
"I love you" he said.
"I love you, too" she said, and leaned up for another gentle kiss.
"We should get going"he said.
After re-covering the bed of the truck, Natalie put his jacket back over her shoulders, even though she wasn't that cold, just to smell him. They got back in the truck and John started heading home. They were in the driveway at exactly 1:55, and John helped her out of the truck, walking her all the way to her room with his hand on the small of her back instead of bidding goodnight at the stairs like they normally did.
"All the way to my door, what a gentlemen" she said.
"I think we both know I haven't precisely been a gentlemen tonight"
"Oh, so you're trying to get lucky?" she teased.
"Yeah, I wish" he said, "I just don't want it to be over"
"It was the perfect night, John" she said, "I'm going to remember that as long as I live"
She put a hand on his face, watched him lean into it. He leaned down to kiss her. Gently, he took his jacket off of her, slinging it over his shoulder, then kissing her again, and she framed his face. He leaned against the door frame.
"I'm really glad we did this" he finally said.
"Me, too"
"Well, I wish it could have ended different-"
"You know you can't come in"
"Doesn't mean I don't want to"
"If it's any consolation, I wouldn't say no"
"I just want to sleep next to you"
"Someday" she said.
"Yeah, someday" he said.
He leaned down and kissed her. She framed his face with her hands, deepening it.
"John?" they heard from upstairs.
They broke apart, but stayed close.
"I don't know how he does it" John muttered before answering, "Yeah, dad, I'm coming up"
"Good night" she said, "I love you"
"I love you, too" he said, "Good night"
He leaned down to kiss her once more, and unable to resist, once after that. She smiled, then opened her door to go inside. He sighed, then headed upstairs to his room.