Note: I do not own Friday Night Lights or Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith

Chapter Nine

I don't wanna miss one smile, I don't wanna miss one kiss
I just wanna be with you, right here with you, just like this

I watched the sun go down as we drove in comfortable silence. Our fingers were linked together as we held each other's hand and he insisted that I sit in the middle to be close to him. When Don pulled off of the highway after about twenty minutes of driving I looked around and saw nothing; nothing but dirt and the faded highway that stretched to the next city. We were now driving down a withered dirt road that seemed to lead nowhere. The sun had gone down and the headlights only shown more dirt ahead of us.

"Where exactly are you taking me?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes to try and look farther ahead, past the path that the headlights of his truck illuminated.

Don smiled as he kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. I felt the truck slow down and come to a stop. The headlights now lit up a small fire pit that was darkened from being used. He killed the engine and looked at me with a faint smile. "I come here a lot when I need to." He glanced out his window for a second before looking back at me and gesturing his head toward his door. "Come on."

I smirked and unbuckled my seatbelt, sliding over to the passenger-side door and getting out, meeting him on the opposite side. Before closing his door he grabbed a few blankets out of the backseat and proceeded toward the tailgate, which he brought down to set the blankets on. "And when do you need to?" I watched as he stepped onto the tailgate to stand in the truck-bed. Instead of using the blankets for warmth, since the night air was a natural heater, Don started to lay them out for us to sit on.

"Usually when my dad is being too much of a dick for me to handle," he said once he finished with the blankets. He put out his hand to pull me up; with his help I stepped onto the tailgate and stood with him in the truck-bed. Both of us sat down, Don sitting to my left. "Or when I need to think," he added.

I nodded and looked out at the miles of dirt in front of me, my eyes adjusting to the dark night. "It seems peaceful."

"It is." I felt his eyes on me and I turned to look at him. I gave him a smile which he returned and moved my legs to sit Indian style, hunching over slightly and resting my elbows on my knees.

"Who all knows about it?" My eyes stayed on him as his gazed turned to the landscape in front of him.

"I don't know. But I've never taken anyone with me before."

"Hmm." What he said forced a smile out of me. It made me feel pretty special knowing he was sharing something so personal with me.

"What, you don't believe me?" he asked with a low chortle.

I shook my head slightly and my eyes stayed on him. "No I do. I just feel special."

Don's eyes turned to me and he grinned. "You are special." I felt him place his hand on my side and pull me closer to him; as he did so he scooted closer to me. His hand slowly rubbed my back when the gap closed between us and I moved my hair to fall in waves over one shoulder. "I don't see myself with anyone else," he said honestly. I looked at him and our eyes connected. He reached up with his free hand and set it on my cheek, pulling me toward him and connecting our lips together. He held the kiss and gently slid his hand to the back of my neck. I could feel it getting more heated; more forced, and I rested my hand on his chest in case he got carried away.

Soon I found myself slowly starting to lie down against the blankets that covered the truck-bed. Don hung over me, and continued to kiss me. I felt his rough, callused hand move up my side, sending a shock-wave through me; the other rested beside my head to support himself and our lips moved against one another's, our tongues intertwining together as our mouths opened.

As good as this felt, I didn't want it to go too far. "Donnie," I said while we continued to kiss.

He let out a short, low humming noise in response and moved to kiss my neck so I could talk.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, searching for words before speaking again. "I think we should wait."

He continued to kiss at my neck, biting and sucking the skin a little harder than he ever had before. My shirt was up, exposing my stomach, along with the top of the carefully placed tattoo on my left hipbone. Don traced his fingertips down my side and rested his hand on the side of my hip, lightly rubbing his thumb over my tattoo beneath the top of my jeans. He pulled away from my neck and looked into my eyes. "Wait for what?" he asked tenderly.

"To have sex." I glanced down at his hand then looked into his eyes.

He grinned. "Baby, I wasn't gonna do it without asking you first."

"I know, I've just never told you…" my voice trailed off and my eyes shifted away from his.

Don's head tilted to the side slightly and he wrinkled his eyebrows. "Never told me what?"

"I want to wait until marriage to have sex." I spoke hesitantly, not knowing what his reaction would be.

His hand moved away from my side and put his thumb on my chin, turning my face delicately to look at him. "Whatever you want," he smiled faintly.

"Really?" I grinned, feeling a weight lift off of me. I felt really relieved with his response; glad that he didn't disapprove and say we couldn't be together anymore.

His small smile soon turned into a grin as big as mine. "Really," he echoed.

I kissed him suddenly and smiled through it. "Thank you, Donnie. That really means a lot to me."

"I'd do anything for you. Even if that means…" his eyes closed for a second and he exhaled, "…not having sex until the time is right."

I gave him a hug before he moved off of me to the space next to me, lying down and looking up at the sky as I did. "I honestly didn't know what your reaction would be."

"What, you think I'm really that shallow?" he asked, looking over to me with a blank expression. "Aubrey, we can't be together unless we can have sex, all the time." Don let out a chuckle and glanced over at me before looking back at the sky. "That's funny."

"Hey," I said with a small laugh, smacking his arm playfully, "You don't exactly put off the attitude that you would be alright with it."

Don gasped. "I don't?"

I smirked. "No. I was really nervous about telling you."

"You didn't seem that nervous." Don's smile turned into a grin and he brought his hands up to rest underneath his head.

"Okay be honest," I said, rolling on my side to face him, "How do you really feel about it?"

He glanced over at me with a smile still on his face. "Alright well, I'm not too thrilled about it, but I respect your decision."

I nodded slowly after he spoke and sat up, once again looking out at the dull landscape in front of me mashing with the starry night sky.

Just a moment after I sat up, he sat up and took my hand into his. "But you know what? When I think about it, you're saving yourself for me and no one else; which is probably the best thing anyone has ever done for me."

I stayed quiet and stared blankly out at the earth that seemed to stretch for miles.

Don let go of my hand and put his arm across my shoulders, moving my hair to one shoulder like before, careful not to pull on it. "You shouldn't feel embarrassed about what you think is right. And the last thing I wanna do is make you feel that way. So I'm sorry if I did."

I took a deep breath and looked at him, our eyes connecting. "It's okay."

He gave me a faint smile before pecking me on the lips and sighing lightly. "You told me about your tattoo, I told you about this." He gestured out to the wide open space in front of us. "Now we're even."

It was late and I didn't know if anyone was up. When Don and I decided to leave I didn't take anything with me. My phone was here at the house, my jacket, purse, everything. I wondered if my dad had tried calling or if he was worried. I'd been gone for a couple hours and when I walked up to the house it seemed dark inside. I waved to Don from the front step and grabbed the spare key from the ledge above the door. When he disappeared down the street I opened the door quietly, careful not to disturb anyone and walked inside slowly, shutting and locking it gently behind me. I stood still in the entry way silently, listening for anything or anyone that might be moving. When everything was silent I stepped quietly to the opening of the hallway and started toward my room. When I was almost in my room, about to shut my door I saw a light suddenly turn on from behind me. My heart sunk as I turned around to look at the silhouetted figure standing in the hallway, arms folded. It watched me as I rolled my eyes and opened to door fully, giving me room to stand in the doorway. "Where have you been?" my father asked curiously but firmly.

"I went out." I spoke like I was stating a simple fact.

When he stepped closer I knew he wasn't joking around. He stood to make himself more intimidating with a blank/angry expression on his face. "Where?"

"I went out with Don," I said, turning around to flick on the light-switch to my room, a lamp in the corner suddenly pouring light into what was once a pitch-black space. I walked over to my bed and sat down while my father came into my room and shut the door behind him.

"Where did you go?" he persisted.

"Dad, we didn't do anything. Calm down."

"That's not what the hickey suggests on your neck."

I covered the side of my neck that felt a little sore from earlier and sighed. "We didn't do anything other than that."

My dad folded his arms and pursed his lips together before speaking again. "I was really worried about you Aubrey, it's not alright if you just leave whenever you want to. You have to at least tell me." He raised his voice as he spoke and I could tell that he had really worried. More than he should have, really.

"Dad, why don't you ask me why I left first instead of yelling at me for it," I said with my voice slightly raised as well.

"Fine Aubrey," he said tiredly, massaging the top of his nose with two fingers before looking at me again, "Why did you leave?"

"Beau and I got into an argument. Be blamed me for mom dying."

My dad sighed and rested one hand on his hip as he thought about my answer. "You still shouldn't have left without telling me."

I wrinkled my eyebrows at him angrily and stood up. "You really think I was gonna walk back out to say 'Hey Dad, Beau just said that moms death was my fault and I'm really angry. I'm leaving.' I didn't want to talk to anyone. I wanted to get the fuck out."

"Hey, watch your language," he pointed out, looking at me once again; his expression a weird mix between frustration and sympathy.

"Like you care." I sat back down on the bed and stared blankly at the floor. "So you're not gonna punish Beau, that's great. I get punished for leaving and being hurt and he gets off clean. Real good parenting."

"Aubrey, I'm going to talk to him. And don't lecture me on parenting until you have children of your own, which hopefully won't happen for a very long time."

I looked up at him once again, my expression angry. "Don and I didn't do anything Dad. Stop judging before you get to know someone. He's not trying to get into my pants. He actually wants a relationship."

"You can't just put your trust in him like that, Aubrey, it's not safe," he said firmly, "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I do trust him, Dad. I'm doing my best, okay?" My head fell into my hands and my eyes closed as I finished talking.

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Yeah okay, Dad. You can leave now. I get it." My head was still in my hands and I didn't want to look at him.

He sighed before opening the door and closing it behind him, leaving me alone in the dimly lit room.

I didn't cry because I didn't feel the need to. There was no use in crying about everything and I didn't want to appear weak, even though I was by myself. Maybe I wanted to convince myself that I still had some strength in me. I hated crying every since my mom died. I would cry everyday for hours, I couldn't keep track. Eventually days started to blur together as I started to miss a lot of school at the end of my junior year. Thankfully it was toward summer so I had that to look forward to; when I didn't have to get up and fake a smile every day.

I got up to change into a big t-shirt and slid off my jeans. I saw my phone lying on the floor next to my bed and picked it up to check for messages, missed calls, etc. I had a couple missed calls from the house phone, probably from my dad until he realized I had left my phone at home. After clearing those notifications I looked through my text messages and saw two from Ann. That was new, she never texted me anymore. Both of them read:

-"Aubs, are you at home?"

-"I bet you're out with Don ;) I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

I rolled my eyes. I wonder what she wanted. No use in texting her back; I'd see her in… I looked over at the clock. Seven hours? I looked for any other messages and set my phone on the night table when there was none. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring but hopefully I wouldn't have to deal with much bullshit. If I did, I didn't know what I'd do. Panic attack maybe? I hoped Don would be there tomorrow, and I hoped he would be with me when he could be.

I walked into the crowded hallway and pushed past everyone who was in my way. Today I wasn't feeling too polite, but I tried to calm myself. Breathe Aubrey, just breathe. No sign of Don yet, but I always came to school a little earlier than he did. I finally brushed past everyone and ended up in front of my locker. "Aubrey!" I heard someone yell as I almost started to rotate the correct combination to open my locker.

I turned my head and saw Ann coming my way. When she stepped next to me I rolled my eyes and started spinning the lock. "Yes?" I asked, the irritation in my voice making itself known.

"Why didn't you text me back yesterday?" she asked happily, holding her binder and textbook against her chest.

I opened my locker and grabbed books from it. "I got home late last night."

"Were you out with Don?" she asked, getting a little closer and talking like I had some 'hot gossip' to share with her. Which I didn't.

"Why did you text me?"

Ann took a step back and I turned to look at her for an answer, leaning against the locker next to mine that was still open. "I needed a ride home. Plus I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Oh," I said, dragging out the word, "So you just needed me to do something for you." I chuckled and turned back to my locker, taking a notebook out of my backpack and placing it on top of some books that were stacked inside. Ann opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she noticed something behind me.

"Hey babe," I heard a deep voice say from my left. I turned to see Don standing next to me with a grin. Today he wore a plain white t-shirt and dark jeans with his usual faded red baseball cap.

I smiled at him before answering, his grin suddenly making my day a little brighter. "Hey."

"I'll… see you later," I heard Ann say and I turned to look at her.

"…Okay?" I questioned as she turned and walked away.

"What's up with her?" Don asked.

I looked back at my locker to make sure I had everything. "No idea." I sighed and wrinkled my eyebrows when I saw a small folded piece of lined paper scrunched against the metal wall of my locker. Don watched me as I picked it up and started to unfold it.

"What's that?"

I shrugged and opened it, reading the delicate print that sat across the paper, the person who wrote it ignoring the lines. 'Being easy isn't the smartest way to get someone to like you,' it read. "What the hell?"

"What?" Don asked, taking the note from my hands and reading it. I watched his expression change from a curious smirk to slightly angry. "That is bullshit."

I sighed and took the note from him, crumpling it up and throwing it into the trashcan nearby. "It's not important. Let's both just forget about it."

"No one should be talking like that to you," Don said firmly in a harsh whisper, glancing next to us at people who were passing by.

I shut my locker and folded my arms. "It's not worth it Don, trust me."

"If you get anything else like that you better tell me."

I sighed as I looked at him, watching as his jaw clenched and his eyes look straight into mine.

"Aubrey, promise me," he said, reaching his hands up and putting them on either cheek.

"Okay, I promise," I said reluctantly.

The bell for class rang and Don gave me a small smile. "I'll see you at break." He kissed me softly before pulling back to look at me, his smile a little bigger than before. "And calm down, today could have started a lot worse if you think about it."

I smirked. "Oh, thanks for that… how did you know I was in a bad mood?"

Don shrugged. "I just, had a feeling." Don gave me a hug before we waved to each other as we went our separate ways.

I walked toward class and thought. I didn't know what the note was for or who it was from; the intention of the note? I had no idea. All I know is, they were trying to get under my skin. I guessed they were trying to say that Don only liked me because he was getting what he wanted, sex, which wasn't true at all. I didn't understand why people couldn't just mind their own business but maybe they were jealous of Don and I being together. Either that or they just didn't like me period. I shrugged it off so I didn't think about it during class; it was another stupid thing to put me in a worse mood than I already was. And if I got another note, I didn't know what I would do.


Thank you to everyone who started reading and i hope you enjoy. I'll try and have more up soon, hopefully, but leave any comments or critiques. They're always appreciated :)