Last time, Freddie and Melanie spent their first night together and an unexpected event had just occurred.
Chapter 8 - flashback to Freddie/Melanie June, 2013 through December, 2013
Melanie had never gone so far before. Neither had Freddie, obviously. She wasn't exactly sure why he suddenly seemed so uneasy and why he stopped as though he had been doused with freezing cold water. His sudden change of pace, more than anything actually woke her. Her hand drifted downward to attempt to paw at him and was met with a moist feeling.
"Oh my God! I am so sorry." He felt his skin get hot. "That never happened before. I mean, I didn't expect that to happen."
She had read about this and heard about it from other girls, but really wasn't sure at first if that was really what was going on. His sudden embarrassment and desire to get away from her verified her suspicions. "It's alright." She said softly and kissed him again. "It's not your fault."
"Yes, yes it is. Could I maybe, um, use your shower?" He was glad the room wasn't illuminated because he was surely as red as a tomato.
"Um, sure. But . . ." Melanie wasn't sure exactly what she wanted, but she was more than a little worked up herself. "Did you, I don't know, maybe, uh, want some company?"
"Wha? Are you serious?" He gasped. He had never been naked in front of anyone, let alone a girl before. "In the shower?"
"Oh, God. I'm sorry. It's just, like, I know we've never done more than a little petting before but I want, I guess, to go a little further. I've never done anything like this with another guy. Oh, gheesh. I sound like such a skank don't I?"
Her own embarrassment and shyness not only made him feel more at ease, but actually turned him on a bit. "No. Mels. You couldn't possibly sound like a skank. I, I love you. We've been going out for a while now. Um, I guess we could try that. But, could you maybe give me a few minutes."
In truth, he was still unsure of how she would react to seeing what he had just done with little more assistance than a touch and it would be hard to hide without running water.
"You start the shower and I'll be over in a few minutes to wash your back." She flirted and slipped another kiss on his lips.
Nearly an hour later, the two were again snuggled up in her bed, sharing a few more kisses. They had showered and Freddie's clothes from the night before were making an impromptu trip through the Pucketts' washer.
"Did you want to see about some breakfast?" Melanie asked. "There's a few eggs in the fridge and some of those frozen toaster waffles. Sorry, but there's not much else breakfast-y other than dry cereal."
"Maybe we could wait until the dryer stops." He suggested. "I mean, thanks for the loan on the sweats, Mel. But what if your mom comes home and catches me in the kitchen like this?"
"Aw, but you look so cute in pink sweat pants." She teased. "I just wish you could have fit in my Pretty Little Pony t-shirt. Heck, I barely fit in it anymore. Although shirtless Freddie is even better." She teased and ran her finger tips through his chest hair.
"Well, it looks good on you, even if it is a bit tight." He smirked, rubbing a hand over the tight area.
"Check you out, Mr. Gropey." She snickered. "I guess you liked the shower, you've never been so handsy. Not that it's a bad thing."
"We just have to keep the touching under control around my mom, she'll have an aneurysm if she catches us being so familiar with each other."
"And any bite marks need to be in an inconspicuous area." Mel added. "If she sees this bite mark on my neck, she'll ground you for life."
Another kiss or two and they couple made their way to the kitchen. Thankfully no one saw him bare chested in her sweat pants and as soon as the dryer was done, he changed back into his own clothes and prepared to head for home.
"I'd love to stay, Mels but my mom is supposed to get back around noon time and if she knew I spent the night here, she'd have ten kittens."
"Wouldn't she have a fit if she knew about everything else we did?" Melanie teased, referring to their shower and what happened in there.
"Oh, God!" He gasped. "Eighteen or not, she'd lock me in my room for a month."
"Well, I certainly didn't have a problem with any of it. And I've got to admit, I don't mind spending the night with you." Melanie admitted. "How about after work, come back and pick me up, we'll go get some groceries and I make you something yummy for dinner."
"You're seriously going to cook for me?" He questioned.
"I think I'm ready to try to cook something on my own. Besides, if I get stuck you can always help me. After what you did a while ago, I feel like I kinda owe you dinner."
For the next seven weeks the two continued to hang out, make out and take their relationship further, little by little. As the summer drew short, Melanie and Freddie knew their time together was coming to a close. Even though both had chosen to begin their college careers in Seattle, they would be at different schools and not able to see each other every day as they had since the spring.
A full month into school and there was finally an opportunity for a long weekend. Freddie still kept his part time job and was scheduled to work two of the four days which didn't exactly please Melanie.
"So you'll be home after four, then?" She asked during their morning phone call.
"I hope so. But my boss said one of the other guys was off sick yesterday and if he doesn't come in, I might have to stay."
To say this answer upset Melanie was an understatement. "Well, gee whiz. It's not like you're the only other person working there. You've done your shift and we haven't seen each other very much in weeks with mid-terms and all. I was really looking forward to spending the whole weekend with you. I got a new bra that I'd like you to see. And try to unhook." She giggled.
Freddie tried to beg for forgiveness. "Aw, sorry baby. I know you were, but I don't have to work Sunday at all. We'll have the whole day together. And my mom's out of town Saturday night so we can even have a sleepover."
"Well, my mom isn't! She's on house arrest at least until the hearing. She ran some guy over with one of those motorized shopping carts for old people." This situation frustrated her no end.
"I guess, then, you can stay at my place." He tried to offer a solution. "If you want that is."
"OK, but what about tonight? Can I maybe come by after you get home from work. My mom is driving me crazy and I really just need to get away from here."
"Alright, sweetie. I'll call you as soon as I get home and you can come over."
"How about you text me when you're getting off and I can meet you in the lobby? I seriously need to get away from Pam."
To say Melanie dominated his time over the long weekend was an understatement. She didn't want to spend any more time around her mother than necessary and Freddie's place was certainly a lot more inviting.
Unfortunately for the young man, he had absolutely no time to himself and was beginning to feel a bit smothered. Not that he didn't love the girl and not that he didn't want to hang out with her but he also enjoyed a little time to himself. He hadn't even played any of his favorite online games in over a month.
By the time the holiday season rolled around, the two had another break from college and once again Melanie was constantly with Freddie, or at least she wanted to be. Marissa had committed him to a trip to his grandparents' for the holiday and this trip did not include a girlfriend tagging along.
Melanie was not happy. "But Freddie, you're going to be gone for four days!" She whined. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Aw, baby if you could come along you know I'd take you, but my grandparents' house isn't that big and they would have a fit worse than my mom if we stayed in the same room for the night. As soon as I get back we'll have the rest of Christmas break to be together I promise."
"Ohhh, I don't want to spend Christmas with my mom and her new boyfriend. He's gross and stinky even my mom thinks so but I just know she's with him because he's rich. I don't want to be around him any more than necessary. Couldn't I just sleep in the car?"
"Mel, honey, it's December. You'll freeze."
The couple managed to get through their time apart and as soon as Freddie returned, Melanie was seemingly glued to him. Marissa didn't appreciate how close they were acting, especially when Melanie was not hiding the fact that they seemed to know each others' bodies intimately. She hung on him more and more and Freddie began to resent how there was hardly a time when you saw him without Melanie in tow. He tried to get the girl to do things either on her own or at least with people other than him and she began to feel that he was seemingly trying to 'get rid of her'.
Soon it was time for them to get back to classes and to say Melanie was not exactly happy with her boyfriend was an understatement.
"So, I was thinking maybe next weekend we could take a trip out to Olympia to see the chocolate warehouse that you've been talking about." Freddie suggested.
"Maybe." She simply replied, obviously unhappy. "We'll have to see how much time we have."
"Well, since I decided to take time away from the store until the end of the school year, I should have more time to spend with you, hun." He tried to sound positive and held her tight."
"Freddie, do you still want to be with me?" Melanie asked.
Poor Freddie was taken aback. "Mel! Where's this coming from? Of course. I love you, why wouldn't I want to be with you? It's like I'm talking to another person."
"It just seems like for the last couple of weeks you've been hunting excuses to not do stuff together. If you don't want to be tied down with a girlfriend while you're at college, all you have to do is say so."
"Of course not." He told her the truth. "But it's just that ever since we started, you know, being intimate, you don't give me any space. It's not that I don't want to be with you or do things together but I need time to do other stuff, too. And my mom is really getting suspicious about all the PDA, too."
"I understand." She finally smiled slightly. "It's just that, I'm afraid of losing you. Girls have always looked at you and I'm really worried that you'll meet someone at school and I'll lose you. I don't want to get hurt, Freddie."
He was shocked at her reasoning. "Don't you trust me, babe?"
"Well, yeah. I guess." She replied. "It's just, we're in college. We're supposed to be stretching our legs and trying new things. I'm just afraid. How can we do that if we're tied down to another person?"
"You're talking like a girl who isn't sure if she wants a boyfriend." He shrugged.
"I do want a boyfriend. But what if, what if, by being together we're missing out on something really great that's out there just waiting to be discovered?"
"Melanie? What are you saying? I'm really confused, first you say you're afraid of me hooking up with some other girl, which I never would, but then you talk like you want to be free to see with other guys? This doesn't make any sense."
"You know I've never had a steady boyfriend before. All this chiz is totally new to me. I just don't want to miss out on anything. Maybe we should commit to not be committed."
By now Freddie was not only angry at her attitude but completely shocked at what he was hearing.
"Sounds to me like you already made up your mind." he simply said sadly.
"That's not what I meant."
"Maybe you're right." He shrugged and walked away, figuring he'd hear from Melanie in a day or two once she had come to her senses.
