It seemed like I had just fallen back to sleep when I opened my eyes and
squinted. It was more bright than it had been before, and my mom's head was
poking in the door. I stretched, and looked around. I was on the floor
where I had been the last time I remembered.
"How was your party, honey?" She whispered.
I grimaced. I didn't feel like rolling over and looking at my clock, "What time is it?"
"It's 10:40, we just got home."
10:40. Blah. I slept very late, and felt guilty. "I'm coming down...right now in a minute."
"Ok. I'll make you some breakfast if you want anything."
"Nah."
"Are you gonna wake your friends up?"
I stretched again, "I'll just let them sleep."
"Alright. Sounds like a plan." She backed out and shut my door quietly.
I laid there and stared at my ceiling. My head was feeling substantially clearer now that I slept, but I didn't feel like thinking about anything quite yet because I was sure it would cause a jumbled mass of confusion. Maybe everything dwelling in the back of my mind was a dream. I got up, and grabbed some clean clothes from my closet, then glanced back at Tawny. I felt compelled to adjust her blanket a bit more. She looked very content as she slept. She probably was considering what we did a few hours earlier. I sat my clothes down and pulled the blanket over her arms and up to her chin. Smiling a little, I proceeded to the bathroom.
After showering I ventured downstairs and into the kitchen. My mom was making some bacon, despite the fact that I said I didn't want anything. My eyes flitted around the room. All the windows were closed.
"I know you told me that you didn't want anything, Ren, but this is for everyone else." She said, not turning around.
"Ok." I yawned, and sat at the table, across from my dad, who was reading the paper.
He looked up, "Good morning."
I nodded, and folded my arms on the table. As the smell of bacon drifted to me, I asked, "Are all the doors locked?"
"Yes, Ren, they are." My dad answered.
"Ok. Good."
"Why?"
"You know why."
"Oh...oh yes, I do." He shook his paper and went back to reading it.
"Hi Ren!"
I turned, startled. "Beans!"
My mother turned around from the stove, "How does he get in here?"
"I really don't know..." My dad, sighed.
"I smelled bacon." The round boy sniffed the air, and moved toward the plate of bacon on the counter by the stove.
"No, Beans! Don't touch that! It's for Ren's friends when they come down." My mom shook the greasy tongs at him, and tried to shoo him away from the plate of greasy, simmering pork.
"Can I lick the tongs, please?" He whined.
"No!"
My dad laughed.
Beans sighed, and turned his attention to me, "So...who's here?"
"Uh...Twitty, Ruby, Monique, and Tawny."
He nodded, and then squinted like he was thinking very hard. He touched his chin, then nodded, "Oh. I see."
"See what?"
"Can I have just one piece of bacon?" He pleaded.
I sighed, "Just one. Then go home."
He snatched up a piece of bacon, then said, "But I don't wanna...I wanna hang out with Louis..."
I rolled my eyes. Louis was probably going to have a hangover, and would want the kid around less than he normally wants him around. "Why don't you go hang out with Tom or something?"
"Because Tom is a dork, and Louis is way cooler." He nibbled the bacon.
Louis was so not cool. "Well..." I gave in, not feeling like arguing with the weird boy, "Fine."
He smirked, and wandered off into another part of the house.
"Oh, Ren, Nelson called before you came down. He said that he had an allergic reaction to some soap and his skin was coming off like he had Leprosy." My dad said to me, calmly.
I winced, "You didn't have to go into all that detail."
"Sorry, honey. He said he would come by around lunch time, and give you your present. I told him not to come if he was still leaving chunks of skin behind whenever he walked anywhere."
"Ok. Thanks dad."
"Yep. No problem. I don't want chunks of skin everywhere anymore than you do." He folded the paper, and then sipped his coffee, calmly.
Tawny shuffled into the kitchen, fully dressed, and looked around, happily, "Hello, Stevens family."
My parents both turned and looked at her oddly.
She froze in place, "What?"
Shrugging, my dad went back to his coffee.
"You just seem...very...uh...what's the word?" My mom pondered for a moment, "Happy."
"Is a girl not allowed to be happy once in a while?" She passed me and went for the counter, "Ooh. Bacon. That reminds me, Beans is chewing on the curtains in the living room."
"Oh dear." My mom said, frustrated, "Help yourself to the bacon, Tawny." She piled a few more pieces onto the plate, then put the pan in the sink, and scurried quickly out. "Steve, come help me! His braces are caught again!"
He grumbled something, sat his cup down, and exited the kitchen as well. I looked back at Tawny, and smiled. She snatched up the plate and brought it to the table, sitting it in the middle, and not looking at me at all, which was a little disappointing to me. Then she hopped up onto the island, not far from where I was sitting with a piece in her hand.
"Do you think they know?" She asked.
"How could they know?" I got up and went over and stood in front of her.
She shrugged, and popped her last bit of bacon into her mouth.
The counter she was on was about waist high, and behind where she was sitting, still bared the scar of Louis carving their names into it. My dad had tried to fill it back in with something, but it didn't quite work. I moved a little closer, and leaned onto it between her knees. I rested my arms on her legs while she licked her fingers.
"How long you think they'll be in there?" She ran one of her hands through my hair.
"The last time Beans got his braces caught in the curtains, it took them about half an hour to get him loose."
"Hmm...him getting braces was a very good thing."
"Yeah, I think so." I said, moving my hands to her waist, and starting to kiss her. I heard the door open behind me, pulled away, and shoved her backwards with a lot of force, unintentionally causing her to fall off of the other side of the bar. She hit the floor with a thump, and I grimaced, then turned around and leaned against it as if nothing had happened.
I found my mom standing in the open door with a raised eyebrow, "Did I interrupt something? I just came in here looking for some scissors..."
"Oh no. There's nothing to interrupt here. It's not like Tawny and I were...doing anything...wrong. She was just...uh...sitting on the counter, and I know how you don't like people sitting there, so...I...uh..." I made a pushing motion with my arms, "I pushed her off."
"I'm ok!" She yelled from the floor. "I won't do it again!"
"Oh ok." Said my mom, seeming to buy it, "Now...where did I put those scissors?" She stepped over Tawny, and began rummaging through drawers. "I know! Donnie took them to his room to cut some...something." She made her way back out of the kitchen.
I looked around the island to the floor where Tawny was laying. "I'm really sorry about that."
"It's perfectly ok."
"Should I help you up or something? Are you sure you're alright?"
She shook her head and sat up, rubbing her back, "It's just a concussion, and a few pinched nerves."
"I could maybe kiss it and make it better?"
She laughed, and stood up, kinda shaking her head, and still rubbing her back. "Maybe later, not when you have parental units in the next room. That was really risky moments ago...not like you at all."
"Heh...I...uh...I dunno..."
"Well...alright then. Do you plan on telling them anytime soon?"
"Ah...I don't think like today or anything like that...I'll tell them...eventually..."
"Ok. How do you think they'll take it?" She walked by me and sat at the table with the bacon.
I followed her and sat back where I had been sitting, "I dunno...I don't think they'll kill me. Hey wait, I'm not even sure about all this, yet."
"You were the one wanting to kiss me a few minutes ago. I didn't force you to, or anything. Doesn't that tell you something?"
"It tells me that my hormones are screwed up." I said, trying to come up with a more logical explanation than me liking her.
"Oh shut up, Ren." She took a bite of a piece of bacon.
"Don't talk to me like that, you...you..."
"Me what? Get over your denial crap, and make up your mind."
"I can't just make up my mind about something like this." I hissed, and wondered why she was talking about this right now because I had been in a pretty content mood, not thinking about it, though I had just tried to kiss her. I hadn't really been thinking about anything, and kissing her seemed like a good thing to do at the moment.
"Either you like me or you don't."
"I don't know."
"Do too."
"Don't argue with me."
"I'm not, you're arguing with me. What do you want?"
I sighed, "I wanna...kiss you, Tawny..."
She rolled her eyes, "I don't want to just kiss you and touch you and all that, and I don't want to be involved with you if that's all you want."
"It's not all I want...but-"
"Beans is free." My dad said, and walked back in, interrupting our conversation, "It seems like he'd learn not to chew on the curtains now that he has braces. I bet my coffee's cold now..." He picked up his cup and took a sip, "Yep." He then moved to the microwave to heat it.
My mom reentered the room shortly after, "Why is everyone sleeping so late? I figured Donnie would get up when he smelled food."
"We...uh..." I started.
"Stayed up pretty late last night after everyone else left." Tawny said, quickly.
"They can heat their bacon up, I suppose. Beans'll eat it all once his mouth stops hurting if they don't hurry."
"Nelson should be here soon." My dad said, to keep the conversation going, for some reason.
"Did Louis and Alan get into a fight? Alan's asleep in Donnie's room..." My mother started to run water to wash the dishes she had made.
"I dunno..." I mumbled, remembering them the night before.
"Ren, after Nelson leaves, do you wanna go and see Tom or something?" Tawny asked.
"Yeah...sure..."
"Is something the matter, Ren?" Asked my dad, obviously noticing my severe lack of enthusiasm.
I shook my head.
"We haven't given you your present."
"Oh yeah!"
"Well, Eileen, let's go get the girl her present."
"C'mon Ren." She said, and they went outside.
I followed unsurely, and Tawny followed as well, but far behind the rest of us.
"Why's your car not in the garage?" I asked them, as we made our way around to the front.
"You'll see." My mom said grinning, as my dad opened the garage, slowly exposing a shiny, red Jeep.
Me in a Jeep. Ren Stevens in a Jeep. I squealed, and could picture Tawny behind me rolling her eyes at my girlish excitement over something as stupid and materialistic as a vehicle. I didn't stop though, and I jumped up and down. "Thanks mom! Thanks dad!" I ran over and hugged them both, "You're the greatest parents in the world!"
"Now you two can drive to see Tom." My dad laughed. "The keys are in it, and it was in the garage since yesterday while you were at school."
"Oh my gosh!" I ran to the driver's side, got in, and just sat there, clutching the steering wheel. I looked everything over and touched the seats, and the dash. It was so new and pretty.
"So, Ren, you've got your license?" Tawny was leaning over the seat next to me with the door open.
"Yeah! I got it on my birthday!" I was still squealing happily. "And now I have something to drive with my license!"
"Can I get in and be the first person in the passenger's seat with you, or would that be bad for your reputation or whatever?" She asked, and I looked around for my parents, "They went back in the house."
"Get in. I'm sorry about everything. It's not about my reputation."
"Right." She got in and sat in the passenger's seat.
"Seriously Tawny. It wouldn't affect my reputation. No one'll say anything to me. It's just that it's...weird."
"Weird? That's the best you can up with?"
"Yes, it's weird to me."
"What's so weird about two people that care about each other being together?"
"Tawny, just stop, alright? Maybe I don't like you, maybe I'm just curious or something."
She sighed, "Maybe I'm pressuring you-"
"Yes, you are." I didn't want to let her finish. I just wanted her to stop.
"You keep fluctuating in how you feel, or at least you're acting like it. After this morning, I thought you had made up your mind."
"No, what happened this morning made me more confused."
"Dammit, I told you I wanted to go slow, and you're the one that unbuttoned my shirt, seconds after we talked about it. Then you wanted to kiss me earlier, and now you don't like me. Stop playing with me. Either you like me or you don't. Do you understand?"
I leaned my forehead onto the steering wheel, "I'm confused, Tawny!"
"We already established that! I thought we would help each other through it!"
"Just stop, ok? Stop now."
"Stop what?"
"Everything."
"God, Ren, I can't just stop everything."
"Why not?"
"Because I like you, and I can't stop that."
Why were we yelling? Why was I so scared? What was wrong with me? Why was this so fucking confusing?
"Ren, what the hell do you want? I care about what you want, and I want you to have whatever it is that you want."
I still rested my head on the steering wheel, but I turned it a little to look at her. She was looking straight ahead of her with her arms crossed, "Tawny...right now what I want is...you...but I don't know if I'm gonna want you for very long, and I want us to stop yelling at each other...and I want to know what I want for sure..."
She rubbed her forehead, "This gave me a headache."
"I'm sorry...and I'm sorry that I'm being so difficult too..."
Turning her head, she smiled a little, "I can handle it. I do like you, after all. If you don't want to be in a real relationship just yet, then...well...I'll wait as long as you don't go and do anything stupid."
"What exactly do you consider stupid?"
"You running off and having sex with some guy to get you over me or something like that."
I sat up and squinted, "Damn, girl...I wouldn't do that."
She shrugged, "Should we go back in now and see if everyone's up, or what?"
"In a minute..."
"Why in a minute?"
"We need to have a serious conversation about everything one day...to try and sort it out. At least I need too."
"We sure can't do it in a minute."
"I know that. I wanna do it in a few days...whenever. Not today. I wanna think all by myself for a little while."
"Ok." She reached for the handle to open the door.
"Wait."
"Yeah?"
"Ah...nevermind."
She reached for the handle again. "Ok."
"Wait."
She turned back around, "Yes, Ren?"
"Nothing. Get out before I tell you to wait again." I wanted to kiss her, and to touch her again, so much, but I couldn't, not now.
Someone opened the door from the house, leading to the garage, and I looked. It was Ruby. "Ren? Where do you keep the Tylenol?"
I took the keys out of the ignition, and said, "Look in the cabinet in my bathroom."
"Ok..." She mumbled, and started to walk away, but turned back around, "Whose Jeep is that?"
"Mine." I said, opening the door and getting out.
"Did Tawny give it to you?"
Tawny laughed loudly.
"Uh...no, Ruby, it's from my parents."
"I knew that, but my head hurts and I got confused..." She went back inside, and Tawny and I followed her to find that everyone else was up and around too, at least a little.
"How was your party, honey?" She whispered.
I grimaced. I didn't feel like rolling over and looking at my clock, "What time is it?"
"It's 10:40, we just got home."
10:40. Blah. I slept very late, and felt guilty. "I'm coming down...right now in a minute."
"Ok. I'll make you some breakfast if you want anything."
"Nah."
"Are you gonna wake your friends up?"
I stretched again, "I'll just let them sleep."
"Alright. Sounds like a plan." She backed out and shut my door quietly.
I laid there and stared at my ceiling. My head was feeling substantially clearer now that I slept, but I didn't feel like thinking about anything quite yet because I was sure it would cause a jumbled mass of confusion. Maybe everything dwelling in the back of my mind was a dream. I got up, and grabbed some clean clothes from my closet, then glanced back at Tawny. I felt compelled to adjust her blanket a bit more. She looked very content as she slept. She probably was considering what we did a few hours earlier. I sat my clothes down and pulled the blanket over her arms and up to her chin. Smiling a little, I proceeded to the bathroom.
After showering I ventured downstairs and into the kitchen. My mom was making some bacon, despite the fact that I said I didn't want anything. My eyes flitted around the room. All the windows were closed.
"I know you told me that you didn't want anything, Ren, but this is for everyone else." She said, not turning around.
"Ok." I yawned, and sat at the table, across from my dad, who was reading the paper.
He looked up, "Good morning."
I nodded, and folded my arms on the table. As the smell of bacon drifted to me, I asked, "Are all the doors locked?"
"Yes, Ren, they are." My dad answered.
"Ok. Good."
"Why?"
"You know why."
"Oh...oh yes, I do." He shook his paper and went back to reading it.
"Hi Ren!"
I turned, startled. "Beans!"
My mother turned around from the stove, "How does he get in here?"
"I really don't know..." My dad, sighed.
"I smelled bacon." The round boy sniffed the air, and moved toward the plate of bacon on the counter by the stove.
"No, Beans! Don't touch that! It's for Ren's friends when they come down." My mom shook the greasy tongs at him, and tried to shoo him away from the plate of greasy, simmering pork.
"Can I lick the tongs, please?" He whined.
"No!"
My dad laughed.
Beans sighed, and turned his attention to me, "So...who's here?"
"Uh...Twitty, Ruby, Monique, and Tawny."
He nodded, and then squinted like he was thinking very hard. He touched his chin, then nodded, "Oh. I see."
"See what?"
"Can I have just one piece of bacon?" He pleaded.
I sighed, "Just one. Then go home."
He snatched up a piece of bacon, then said, "But I don't wanna...I wanna hang out with Louis..."
I rolled my eyes. Louis was probably going to have a hangover, and would want the kid around less than he normally wants him around. "Why don't you go hang out with Tom or something?"
"Because Tom is a dork, and Louis is way cooler." He nibbled the bacon.
Louis was so not cool. "Well..." I gave in, not feeling like arguing with the weird boy, "Fine."
He smirked, and wandered off into another part of the house.
"Oh, Ren, Nelson called before you came down. He said that he had an allergic reaction to some soap and his skin was coming off like he had Leprosy." My dad said to me, calmly.
I winced, "You didn't have to go into all that detail."
"Sorry, honey. He said he would come by around lunch time, and give you your present. I told him not to come if he was still leaving chunks of skin behind whenever he walked anywhere."
"Ok. Thanks dad."
"Yep. No problem. I don't want chunks of skin everywhere anymore than you do." He folded the paper, and then sipped his coffee, calmly.
Tawny shuffled into the kitchen, fully dressed, and looked around, happily, "Hello, Stevens family."
My parents both turned and looked at her oddly.
She froze in place, "What?"
Shrugging, my dad went back to his coffee.
"You just seem...very...uh...what's the word?" My mom pondered for a moment, "Happy."
"Is a girl not allowed to be happy once in a while?" She passed me and went for the counter, "Ooh. Bacon. That reminds me, Beans is chewing on the curtains in the living room."
"Oh dear." My mom said, frustrated, "Help yourself to the bacon, Tawny." She piled a few more pieces onto the plate, then put the pan in the sink, and scurried quickly out. "Steve, come help me! His braces are caught again!"
He grumbled something, sat his cup down, and exited the kitchen as well. I looked back at Tawny, and smiled. She snatched up the plate and brought it to the table, sitting it in the middle, and not looking at me at all, which was a little disappointing to me. Then she hopped up onto the island, not far from where I was sitting with a piece in her hand.
"Do you think they know?" She asked.
"How could they know?" I got up and went over and stood in front of her.
She shrugged, and popped her last bit of bacon into her mouth.
The counter she was on was about waist high, and behind where she was sitting, still bared the scar of Louis carving their names into it. My dad had tried to fill it back in with something, but it didn't quite work. I moved a little closer, and leaned onto it between her knees. I rested my arms on her legs while she licked her fingers.
"How long you think they'll be in there?" She ran one of her hands through my hair.
"The last time Beans got his braces caught in the curtains, it took them about half an hour to get him loose."
"Hmm...him getting braces was a very good thing."
"Yeah, I think so." I said, moving my hands to her waist, and starting to kiss her. I heard the door open behind me, pulled away, and shoved her backwards with a lot of force, unintentionally causing her to fall off of the other side of the bar. She hit the floor with a thump, and I grimaced, then turned around and leaned against it as if nothing had happened.
I found my mom standing in the open door with a raised eyebrow, "Did I interrupt something? I just came in here looking for some scissors..."
"Oh no. There's nothing to interrupt here. It's not like Tawny and I were...doing anything...wrong. She was just...uh...sitting on the counter, and I know how you don't like people sitting there, so...I...uh..." I made a pushing motion with my arms, "I pushed her off."
"I'm ok!" She yelled from the floor. "I won't do it again!"
"Oh ok." Said my mom, seeming to buy it, "Now...where did I put those scissors?" She stepped over Tawny, and began rummaging through drawers. "I know! Donnie took them to his room to cut some...something." She made her way back out of the kitchen.
I looked around the island to the floor where Tawny was laying. "I'm really sorry about that."
"It's perfectly ok."
"Should I help you up or something? Are you sure you're alright?"
She shook her head and sat up, rubbing her back, "It's just a concussion, and a few pinched nerves."
"I could maybe kiss it and make it better?"
She laughed, and stood up, kinda shaking her head, and still rubbing her back. "Maybe later, not when you have parental units in the next room. That was really risky moments ago...not like you at all."
"Heh...I...uh...I dunno..."
"Well...alright then. Do you plan on telling them anytime soon?"
"Ah...I don't think like today or anything like that...I'll tell them...eventually..."
"Ok. How do you think they'll take it?" She walked by me and sat at the table with the bacon.
I followed her and sat back where I had been sitting, "I dunno...I don't think they'll kill me. Hey wait, I'm not even sure about all this, yet."
"You were the one wanting to kiss me a few minutes ago. I didn't force you to, or anything. Doesn't that tell you something?"
"It tells me that my hormones are screwed up." I said, trying to come up with a more logical explanation than me liking her.
"Oh shut up, Ren." She took a bite of a piece of bacon.
"Don't talk to me like that, you...you..."
"Me what? Get over your denial crap, and make up your mind."
"I can't just make up my mind about something like this." I hissed, and wondered why she was talking about this right now because I had been in a pretty content mood, not thinking about it, though I had just tried to kiss her. I hadn't really been thinking about anything, and kissing her seemed like a good thing to do at the moment.
"Either you like me or you don't."
"I don't know."
"Do too."
"Don't argue with me."
"I'm not, you're arguing with me. What do you want?"
I sighed, "I wanna...kiss you, Tawny..."
She rolled her eyes, "I don't want to just kiss you and touch you and all that, and I don't want to be involved with you if that's all you want."
"It's not all I want...but-"
"Beans is free." My dad said, and walked back in, interrupting our conversation, "It seems like he'd learn not to chew on the curtains now that he has braces. I bet my coffee's cold now..." He picked up his cup and took a sip, "Yep." He then moved to the microwave to heat it.
My mom reentered the room shortly after, "Why is everyone sleeping so late? I figured Donnie would get up when he smelled food."
"We...uh..." I started.
"Stayed up pretty late last night after everyone else left." Tawny said, quickly.
"They can heat their bacon up, I suppose. Beans'll eat it all once his mouth stops hurting if they don't hurry."
"Nelson should be here soon." My dad said, to keep the conversation going, for some reason.
"Did Louis and Alan get into a fight? Alan's asleep in Donnie's room..." My mother started to run water to wash the dishes she had made.
"I dunno..." I mumbled, remembering them the night before.
"Ren, after Nelson leaves, do you wanna go and see Tom or something?" Tawny asked.
"Yeah...sure..."
"Is something the matter, Ren?" Asked my dad, obviously noticing my severe lack of enthusiasm.
I shook my head.
"We haven't given you your present."
"Oh yeah!"
"Well, Eileen, let's go get the girl her present."
"C'mon Ren." She said, and they went outside.
I followed unsurely, and Tawny followed as well, but far behind the rest of us.
"Why's your car not in the garage?" I asked them, as we made our way around to the front.
"You'll see." My mom said grinning, as my dad opened the garage, slowly exposing a shiny, red Jeep.
Me in a Jeep. Ren Stevens in a Jeep. I squealed, and could picture Tawny behind me rolling her eyes at my girlish excitement over something as stupid and materialistic as a vehicle. I didn't stop though, and I jumped up and down. "Thanks mom! Thanks dad!" I ran over and hugged them both, "You're the greatest parents in the world!"
"Now you two can drive to see Tom." My dad laughed. "The keys are in it, and it was in the garage since yesterday while you were at school."
"Oh my gosh!" I ran to the driver's side, got in, and just sat there, clutching the steering wheel. I looked everything over and touched the seats, and the dash. It was so new and pretty.
"So, Ren, you've got your license?" Tawny was leaning over the seat next to me with the door open.
"Yeah! I got it on my birthday!" I was still squealing happily. "And now I have something to drive with my license!"
"Can I get in and be the first person in the passenger's seat with you, or would that be bad for your reputation or whatever?" She asked, and I looked around for my parents, "They went back in the house."
"Get in. I'm sorry about everything. It's not about my reputation."
"Right." She got in and sat in the passenger's seat.
"Seriously Tawny. It wouldn't affect my reputation. No one'll say anything to me. It's just that it's...weird."
"Weird? That's the best you can up with?"
"Yes, it's weird to me."
"What's so weird about two people that care about each other being together?"
"Tawny, just stop, alright? Maybe I don't like you, maybe I'm just curious or something."
She sighed, "Maybe I'm pressuring you-"
"Yes, you are." I didn't want to let her finish. I just wanted her to stop.
"You keep fluctuating in how you feel, or at least you're acting like it. After this morning, I thought you had made up your mind."
"No, what happened this morning made me more confused."
"Dammit, I told you I wanted to go slow, and you're the one that unbuttoned my shirt, seconds after we talked about it. Then you wanted to kiss me earlier, and now you don't like me. Stop playing with me. Either you like me or you don't. Do you understand?"
I leaned my forehead onto the steering wheel, "I'm confused, Tawny!"
"We already established that! I thought we would help each other through it!"
"Just stop, ok? Stop now."
"Stop what?"
"Everything."
"God, Ren, I can't just stop everything."
"Why not?"
"Because I like you, and I can't stop that."
Why were we yelling? Why was I so scared? What was wrong with me? Why was this so fucking confusing?
"Ren, what the hell do you want? I care about what you want, and I want you to have whatever it is that you want."
I still rested my head on the steering wheel, but I turned it a little to look at her. She was looking straight ahead of her with her arms crossed, "Tawny...right now what I want is...you...but I don't know if I'm gonna want you for very long, and I want us to stop yelling at each other...and I want to know what I want for sure..."
She rubbed her forehead, "This gave me a headache."
"I'm sorry...and I'm sorry that I'm being so difficult too..."
Turning her head, she smiled a little, "I can handle it. I do like you, after all. If you don't want to be in a real relationship just yet, then...well...I'll wait as long as you don't go and do anything stupid."
"What exactly do you consider stupid?"
"You running off and having sex with some guy to get you over me or something like that."
I sat up and squinted, "Damn, girl...I wouldn't do that."
She shrugged, "Should we go back in now and see if everyone's up, or what?"
"In a minute..."
"Why in a minute?"
"We need to have a serious conversation about everything one day...to try and sort it out. At least I need too."
"We sure can't do it in a minute."
"I know that. I wanna do it in a few days...whenever. Not today. I wanna think all by myself for a little while."
"Ok." She reached for the handle to open the door.
"Wait."
"Yeah?"
"Ah...nevermind."
She reached for the handle again. "Ok."
"Wait."
She turned back around, "Yes, Ren?"
"Nothing. Get out before I tell you to wait again." I wanted to kiss her, and to touch her again, so much, but I couldn't, not now.
Someone opened the door from the house, leading to the garage, and I looked. It was Ruby. "Ren? Where do you keep the Tylenol?"
I took the keys out of the ignition, and said, "Look in the cabinet in my bathroom."
"Ok..." She mumbled, and started to walk away, but turned back around, "Whose Jeep is that?"
"Mine." I said, opening the door and getting out.
"Did Tawny give it to you?"
Tawny laughed loudly.
"Uh...no, Ruby, it's from my parents."
"I knew that, but my head hurts and I got confused..." She went back inside, and Tawny and I followed her to find that everyone else was up and around too, at least a little.