Phil fans. Took me FOREVER to get this out there. Finally i uploaded it as a notepad and it took all the punctuation out... major pain. anyways, things are getting a little more complicated with P and K. i hope you like it. thanks for reading and all of your great support thus far. the reviews just blow my mind. y'all ROCK.

Chapter 9

The Morning After

Sunshine screamed through Keely's bedroom windows. Phil opened one eye and saw his red t-shirt wadded up on a pink rug. It looked like a Valentine, Phil thought, the red and pink. He turned over. A blond head shared his pillow. He felt a warm hand on his back. Keely's hand. Suddenly, Phil had to use the bathroom amazingly bad. He didn't want to wake Keely, so as slowly as he could, he slid one foot to the floor, shifted his weight to that foot, then slid his other leg over the edge. He looked back at the bed. Keely made a sound in her sleep. A soft, almost squeaky sound. Hearing it, Phil's heart thumped and he nearly ignored his bladder all together and stayed with her, but he knew if he did that he could be in for severe humiliation.

As he eased out from under the covers, Keely's hand slid along his back, tickling him slightly. Phil stood and looked down at his feet. He was wearing his boxers and his socks. Weird combination, Phil thought. He never wore socks to bed. But, then again, last night was a night of firsts. Wow, this is big, Phil thought, watching Keely sleep. But then he remembered how bad he needed to go and he ran into the bathroom.

Phil tiptoed back into the bedroom a minute later, wondering what the morning would be like. It was a little weird after all, waking up in the same bed with the love of your life. Yesterday they were friends. Last night they were definitely more than that. And today. They hadn't exactly had any sort of discussion about how things were going to be. Never used "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" or "dating" or "going out"… Phil guessed all that was implied. Still, it felt a little funny. All he knew to do was get back in the bed.

Keely felt Phil's leg brush against her own. Phil placed his hand on her stomach, and her eyes opened. She smiled at him sleepily.

"Hey," Phil whispered. "Did you sleep all right?"

"Mmmm hmmm," Keely said.

"This is weird, isn't it?" Phil said.

"Mmmm hmmm," Keely said again.

What? Is it too early for real words?" Phil asked, smiling.

"No," Keely said. She blushed. "It's just… weird. You're right."

"I know," Phil couldn't stop smiling. He put his head under the covers and saw that Keely still had her shirt off. It was different in the light. His heart beat wildly and he moved on top of her. Phil kissed her belly and her chest and neck all over, Keely giggling hysterically and squirming beneath him.

"Phil, oh my gosh," she gasped, "You've got to stop before I wet my pants!" Phil stuck his head out from under the covers, his hair tousled. She was flushed and smiling, her eyes watering. Phil fell in love with her all over again.

"God, I love you, Keely," he gushed.

"And I love you," she said. Keely put her hands on Phil's face and pulled him close and kissed his mouth. "I can't believe this is real," she said. She felt like she was in a movie-version of her life, the moment was that perfect.

"Tell me about it," Phil said. He lay his head down on her chest and sighed. "I just want to stay in bed with you all day."

"We need to make up for four years of lost time," Keely said, smiling and rubbing Phil's back. "But my mom's coming back this afternoon..." She sighed.

"Well," Phil said. He kissed her nose. "We"—he kissed her cheek—"have"—he kissed her other cheek—"our trip"—he kissed her forehead—"to catch up"—he kissed her mouth.

"You think our parents'll let us go still?" Keely said. "Now that we're, you know… official?"

"Ooh," Phil said, wrinkling his nose. "You're right. They probably won't go for that. I can already hear Lloyd," Phil pointed his index finger at Keely's nose and mimicked his father's voice. " 'Phil, now I can't let you go off on a three-month-long trip alone with your girlfriend. You have Keely's reputation to consider.'" Keely smiled. "What are you grinning at?" Phil asked.

"You said girlfriend," Keely said.

"Well, that's right, isn't it?" Phil asked.

"I guess we haven't talked about it, really, have we?" Keely said.

"No, I guess not," Phil said. He cleared his throat. "Hey Keels?"

"Yes?" Keely answered, batting her eyelashes.

"Will you please be my girlfriend?" Phil asked.

"Maybe," Keely said.

"Maybe?" Phil asked.

"Maybe we should keep our status on the down-low, Phil," Keely said. "So we can still go on our trip."

"Ooh. Yeah, good thinking, Teslow," Phil said. "Although I doubt I'm gonna be able to, you know, pretend I don't know what you look like under your clothes."

"Phil, that's embarrassing," Keely said, suddenly turning bashful.

"What do you mean?" Phil said. Heput his head under the covers again to look at her. "You're beautiful. Every thing about you." She really was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He couldn't imagine anything more perfect.

"Well, I mean, I haven't seen what you look like under your clothes…" Keely said.

"What do you call this?" Phil said, lifting himself off of her and pointing at his shirtless chest.

"Phil it's not the same," Keely said.

Phil rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. But what do you want me to do? Take off my undies? I'll do it, Keel. You know I will." Phil sat up on his knees and stuck his thumbs under the waistband of his boxers.

"Phil!" Keely yelped, giggling again. She covered her eyes with one hand, peeking through her fingers.

"Keels, you better get used to it, because I don't plan on wearing a lot of clothes on our trip," Phil said, grinning. "And you better get used to not wearing anything, either." But Phil didn't take his boxers off. Instead, he leaned over Keely, still on his knees, and held her arms down with his hands on the pillow. Phil swallowed hard. They looked at each other for what seemed like a solid minute. They both knew what the other was thinking, as if by telepathy.

Are wegonna do it? Keely thought. Oh my gosh. We could. We could do it right now.She hadn't even thought of this. Last night it seemed obvious to Keely that they wouldn't take their first hook-up to its adult conclusion. The idea of having sex with Phil had entered her mind only fleetingly, something down the road, in the future, like graduating from college or getting married. Something she would do, eventually. But now? Today? Even if they had removed their clothes entirely the night before, she doubted it would ever have come to that. But now, looking in his eyes, understanding what she knew they both they felt, was there much reason to put off the inevitable? Why is it such a huge deal? She wondered in those few moments. We're not children. Keely admitted that the thought of sharing that part of herself with Phil was incredibly and surprisingly tempting.

Phil watched the tiny blue vein in Keely's temple pulsate. He wondered what was going through her mind at that instant. How do we even talk about sex? Do we just start it up? Do I ask? Would she even tell me? I need some directions. Phil was surprised at how much guesswork was involved already in this not-even-twelve-hour-long relationship (though to both of them it did feel more like a four-year relationship, minus the kissing, etc.). Truthfully, Phil hadn't stopped wanting tomake lovewith Keely since the day before when he kissed her at the lake. And last night he had meant what he said about having the rest of their lives to do it. But when does that start? The rest of our lives could start now, right? He knew he loved her and that she loved him. What were they waiting for? He never thought that such a milestone in his life would come down to a split-second decision. That it would be this sudden. Here he was, straddling a topless Keely in his underwear. In a deserted, temporarily parent-free house.

"Phil what's on your mind," Keely asked. It didn't come out like a question, though. More like a regular sentence, all monotone. She wasn't smiling. She was serious.

Phil looked at her. He had never felt like an adult before that moment. His childhood was over. This is when it ends, he thought. When you decide for yourself. No one is going to decide this but us. Finally, he answered her. "I'm sitting here on my knees acknowledging what we want to do and wondering if we should do it."