Chapter 13

Claire POV

"Claire, ugh, god! God, you're driving me crazy!" moaned Derrick, as I stood; my toes perched lightly on his feet so that I could reach up to kiss his lips.

"What baby? What is driving you crazy?" I said, between short delicate kisses.

"This whole short and sweet kiss thing! You leave me out of breath and begging for more! Just kiss me like you mean it!"

"That's the point Derr! I'm trying to make you beg for more!"

"Well stop trying something new Claire! You're just messing with me!" he said, placing his hands firmly on my hips and lifting my feet up and back onto the ground.

Then he pushed me gently onto the wall and took control. I didn't like that, even though my gentle and sweet perspective shown on the outside denied it, I wanted control over his dominance. He leaned in and smoldered me. He didn't let me stop short. We dragged on, and though I didn't like him defying my new attempt, I let him go on. First, he was gentle, outlining the form of my lips. But then, he had a sudden new force of energy, and with more vigor he continued, pulling my hips close to his and rushing his tongue into my mouth. And I complied, after all, what more could I want?

After what seemed like forever, Derrick pulled away softly.

"Thank you," he breathed.

"I know what's driving you crazy about me now Derrick."

"What babe?"

"You can't take being away from my lips for the short moment between kisses, and it makes this go wild," I said, placing my hand firmly on his belt buckle.

"Whoa babe… too much." He said, removing my hands away from his hips.

"No fair…" I protested, putting my hand against his belt again.

"Baby, please, no." He said, sympathetically.

"So, what? You just don't want to do this anymore? After you've seen me once, even before we started dating?"

"No! It's not like that! I always want…" he stopped, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Always what Derrick?" I probed, wanting him to finish his sentence.

"Always… want you."

The breath was sucked right out of me. I staggered back, away from his hold, and his embarrassed look dropped right from his face, replaced with concern and maybe a shot of agony.

"I… I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have said that." He stammered uncontrollably.

"No," I said out of breath.

"It was too much for you."

"No. It wasn't." I said softly, still trying to recover from what he said.

"Yes it was. You can't handle that. I need to be softer," he mumbled to himself, repeatedly muttering hurtful comments at himself. He was killing himself over my actions, and I couldn't bear to see it any longer.

"Stop it! God damn it Derrick, stop!" I said, putting my hands on his chest, and pushing it away from me with all my might.

He staggered back onto the other wall, his eyes wide with sudden shock.

"Wow, I have a strong girlfriend."

Then, my eyes widened.

"Oh god, what did I do now?" he said, moaning with frustration.

"I'm your girlfriend?" I squeaked with a shy voice.

"Oh… I never really asked you… did I…"

"No…" I whispered.

"Then, Claire Lyons, will you be my girlfriend?" he said, reaching out for my hand.

"Yes." I replied, ignoring his hand, and jumping into his arms.

"Good. So why is it that you had an absolutely horrible expression when I said… um… well you know what I said! And why exactly did you push me, so that we rest on the opposite wall now?"

"It's a moment of love Derrick! You just admitted that to me and what else do you expect besides shock? And the reason we're here on this wall right now, is because I couldn't stand to see you hit yourself with bad comments!"

"Oh… Claire, I didn't know that. I thought I had pushed you too far, and I couldn't bear to think about that."

"It's alright Derr, let's just forget that happened," I said, abruptly ending the conversation by reaching up to drag his face down to my lips.

"Mmmph!" he mumbled, wrapping one hand around my waist while the other caressed my hair.

And then loud music came flowing into our room, causing me to break the kiss.

Derrick looked thoroughly disappointed that we had stopped so soon. I shot an apologetic look at him before racing out of the room to grab my phone.

1 text message from: Massiekur, it read.

My heart pounded. What could she want from us today? It was already Friday, so she couldn't be concerned about the Friday night sleepover…

I walked back into the room where Derrick stood bewildered. He pulled me close, and I rested my head against his shoulders.

"Who is it babe?" he murmured softly.

"Massie," I said, under my breath.

"Oh."

"If you don't want me to check it right now…" I started, trying to hide the disappointment on my face.

"No, no, go ahead."

"Ohkay."

I clicked the button to read.

Massiekur:

Hey girls, it's Massie. I know that you girls are with your boyfriends right now, considering that I gave everyone a free-no PC stuff day, as I am with mine. So I have a proposition for you. My parents are out of town this weekend, and so are Claire's. So we both have the houses to ourselves this weekend, and I thought, what better time than to get some party on for the holidays? So here it is: I want the entire PC to come over and spend the three day weekend with us. But this time, instead of a normal sleepover, I want you to bring the Briarwood boys. We can pick it up where we left off. So put your differences behind you, tell your parents you have made plans this weekend, and I'll see you tonight.

-Massie

I was bewildered. I had no idea that this was coming, and I had no excuse not to go, considering Massie knew that my parents had gone with hers for a holiday exclusive trip to Las Vegas. But I couldn't help but worry about Derrick. As I passed my phone to him so that he could read the message, I saw his face turn to shock, and then a little fright flashed across his face. He didn't want to go. Frankly he never wanted to be within a mile of Massie, and the three day weekend was going to be torture for him. I was wondering if he would try to come up with an excuse of why he couldn't come, but his parents had gone to visit family in Texas, leaving him and his brother behind.

"So… Derr. What's the excuse going to be this time?" I asked, understandingly.

But the hurt in my eyes was not masked for him. He knew that I wanted him to be there. After all, what fun would it be being the only girl without her boyfriend at the party?

"None, Claire. I'm going with you. I couldn't stand to be away from you for three days. So I guess I'll just stay away from her, as much as possible."

He was coming, just for me?

I jumped into his arms and snuggled my face against his chest.

"Derrick?" I squeaked.

"Yea babe?"

"I love you."

"I know."

"Good. Let's get going."