Hey! So, another chapter. Thanks again to lovely Arianna for beta-ing my fic : )
Paradise - Chapter 3
***
-It was my father. He just made sure I got home, said Rory, with a shaking voice.
Jess stayed silent for a while; finally asked what he had wondered since he met her.
-What did you do for him to treat you that way?
-What did I do? said Rory, raising her voice in disbelief. This kind of accusation had the effect of a knife through her heart.
-You must have given him a reason to overprotect you like that.
Anger and pain began to swirl into Rory's head. Eyes filled with tears, she turned to Jess and put her hands on his chest. Jess looked at her, incredulous. She put her hands around his neck.
-Are you aware of what you're doing?
-Are you?
Without giving him any time to answer, she kissed him. He wanted her. She felt it. With clumsy gestures, she unbuttoned his shirt and slid her hands on his soft skin. He put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing her neck softly with his thumb, while the other hand looked for the zipper of her dress. She wanted to find paradise. She looked for it in the following kiss, and she found it. That's when she lost all consciousness, except for her sensations. Her hair fell on her bare shoulders, and the whole world turned around those two souls while he took her to the couch. They both removed all they had on, looked at each other, barely believing what was happening. They kissed and Rory opened her eyes. At that same moment, a small cry came out her throat, and Jess understood he'd just taken her virginity, and suddenly stopped.
-Why?
-Because it's the first time...
He opened his eyes, and what she saw was absolutely not reproach or deception like she thought it would, but tender regret.
-Why didn't you tell me? I would've made this moment much easier.
She put her hand on his cheek, smiling.
-You made this moment easier. And perfect.
And their lips found one another....
***
-Why me? Why tonight? He asked a question worthy of an answer, but a question that was harsh to be answered.
She sighed like if she had just lost something precious. In fact, she had. She had lost the wonderful magic and the sparkles she had felt before. She stood up and rolled up in a blanket she found at the edge of the couch. She had heard about sex before, but nobody told her about the strange feeling after. She suddenly felt stupid, young and harmless.
-I think we should dress up, she said, obviously nervous. I'll tell you what you want to know after. By the time she got back to the library, Jess had already put all his clothes back on and called a cab company.
-I told them to be here in half an hour. He took the cognac he had left on the table earlier.
-Want something else? Rory asked, afraid of his answer.
-Actually, yes. I'd like my question to be answered. Why tonight?
-For years, my father treated my like I was a...a nymphomaniac in becoming, and this, without evidence. Tonight when you asked what I did, something explosed inside of me. I decided that if I had to be treated like a whore or whatever, I should at least have sex once. And I wanted to show you were wrong...
-You could have convinced me simply by saying that your father is a jerk. I would've believed you.
In the bottom of her heart, Rory knew he was right. She turned to him, embarrassed, wondering if anger had been a reason for her act. She felt guilty of using Jess as a personal revenge on her father.
Silence kept tearing them apart. Obviously, what Jess thought wasn't great because he abruptly put his glass on the table. He looked at Rory bare feet, her hair and shoulders. Dressed with a dressing gown, she knew she didn't looked the same as she looked when she was wearing a sexy dress. Way before a sound came out, she knew exactly what he was going to ask.
-How old are you?
-I'm younger than you think...
-How old?
-Eighteen.
She waited for a reaction. Instead, he did something absolutely senseless. He took a piece of paper and wrote something who looked like a phone number.
-This is my phone number at Edmunton, he said softly. You can join me there for the next 6 weeks. After, Jonathan Sommers will know how to contact me.
After he left, Rory went to her room. If that was his way to suggest to her to call him, his gesture was arrogant and without class. A bit humiliating too.
***
For the following week, Rory's heart stopped beating every time the phone rang, afraid it might be Jess. Only the thought of what she had done with him made her cheeks bright red. Now, she only wanted to forget about that night - and forget about him too.
But the following week, her culpability and her fear were completely gone. And she realized she was constantly thinking about him. Lying on her bead, she wished she could feel Jess' lips against her again. And she remembered, shivering, all he said and his voice. She wondered if he was thinking about her, and if he was, why the hell he wasn't calling.
But he didn't call the next week, and Rory concluded that she was easily forgettable. Maybe she hurt him when she told him the reasons why she made love with him...But she barely believed that. Jess Mariano hadn't any apparent doubt of his power of seduction. It was certainly not a little girl who wanted to revenge her father who hurt him. Perhaps he thought she was too young...
Two weeks later, Rory didn't want to hear about him at all. Her period was a week late, and she would've preferred that Jess Mariano had never entered in her life. Days went by, and her thoughts always flew to the terrifying idea of pregnancy. She swore to God that if she wasn't pregnant, she would never have sex before her marriage again.
But either God didn't hear her, or He was incorruptible. In fact, nobody noticed that she suffered in silence - except her father.
-What's going on, Rory? he was asking. A month ago, her biggest problem was that she couldn't go to the university of her choice. Now, that seemed really pointless.
-Everything's fine, Dad.
She never discussed about what happened at the Glenmoor with her father, and she was too preoccupied to start another fight.
Six weeks after the night with Jess, Rory still hadn't had her period and her fear grew into terror. Trying to reassure herself with the fact that she didn't have any nausea, she made an appointment for a pregnancy test, just to make sure.
Five minutes after she had hung up, Christopher entered in her room. He came toward her with a big envelope. The heading was of Harvard University.
-Fine, you won! I cannot stand to see you like that. Go to Harvard, if that's so important to you! But I want you here every weekend, and this condition isn't negotiable.
She opened the envelope that contained the list of her classes, the documents for the inscription...Somehow, she was able to thank him with a smile.
***
Please, give me some reviews. I really appreciate them, thanks to all the people who took time to tell me what they thought about my fic, thanks again : ) Have a nice day !
-Marie-Eve
