Chapter Twenty-Four - The F-Word.

Things could not be going any better for Stan and Wendy.

In what felt like there mere blink of an eye, every tiny detail of both of their lives seemed to be meshing together with one another's so perfectly. Ever since they had been able to go public on Monday, school was feeling like a completely different place. A much better place. The young couple had quickly found the happy medium between spending time with each other, and hanging out with their friends throughout the day. It was certainly making the usual, boring six hour stretch fly by much quicker.

Despite the serenity of this escape, however, their life at home was actually running just as smoothly. To start off with, after school on Monday, Wendy had sucked up all the courage and gumption that she could muster and went home with Stan to have dinner with his parents. And, miraculously, the evening had gone off without a hitch.

From the moment that the two teenagers had heard Sharon's car pull up in the driveway that evening, Wendy's nerves had skyrocketed. The immediate displeased expression on the older woman's face certainly hadn't helped, but eventually, the entire ordeal seemed to settle. As much as Sharon may have been mad at Wendy, and disappointed in how the situation between she and Stan turned out, the brunette woman couldn't deny how happy her son suddenly appeared. And as well as that, Sharon still did feel a tonne of sympathy for Wendy.

Stan had cringed at the number of times Wendy apologised to his parents over and over again that night for everything that had happened. As far as the teenage boy was concerned, his girlfriend had already apologised and explained herself to him, and that was all that truly mattered. But, on the other hand, it wasn't as if all of Wendy's admissions had really done any harm. Sharon and Randy both appreciated it – well, Randy was more proud that his son had finally gotten back in the game, but regardless, by the end of the night, the four of them had been able to sit down with each other and happily enjoy a family meal. It was as if nothing had ever changed.

And as for now, the roles had reversed. It was Wednesday evening, and Stan and Wendy had just finished up having dinner at her house, much to the delight of the Testaburgers.

Wendy's mother had nearly burst with pure glee the second that she laid eyes on Stan. The little boy that she had watched grow up alongside her daughter for all those years certainly wasn't so little anymore, and he had felt like a giant when she had wrapped her arms around him in a motherly hug. Mrs. Testaburger adored Stan, she always had. Even Wendy's father had always been a fan of his – and he was definitely happy to see his little girl with a boyfriend that their whole family knew they could trust.

There had been plenty of catching up to do over dinner, and now Stan and Wendy were sitting at the cleared table with her dad while her mum had momentarily vanished upstairs. Mr. Testaburger was sitting at the head of the table with Stan in the seat closest to him. Wendy was in the chair beside her boyfriend, holding his hand under the table and drawing circles against his skin with her thumb while he spoke to her father. The beaming smile of happiness on her face was all too apparent.

"So, your football's still going well, then?" Mr. Testaburger spoke, continuing on with their conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, it's really great," Stan answered, keeping a gentle hold of Wendy's hand, "The whole team from school is actually going away next weekend to compete against a whole bunch of other schools in a pre-season tournament."

"Really?" Wendy's dad asked, a smile crossing his face, "Well, good luck with it, sounds like you'll be in for one busy weekend."

"Well, it's a knock-out tournament, so I hope so," Stan added, looking up with a smile just as Mrs. Testaburger appeared back into the dining room.

The older woman pushed a strand of her short, black hair behind her ear as she hung her handbag over her shoulder, "Ready to go, hon?"

A confused frown instantly creased into Stan's brow at the words from Wendy's mum. The teenage boy stole a quick glance at his girlfriend, before glimpsing back to Mrs. Testaburger to find that she was suddenly a little more dressed up and was wearing lipstick.

"Are you two heading out?"

"Yeah, sweetie, Wendy's dad are me are just going down town to see a movie," the woman answered as her husband stood up from the table to join her, "Didn't she say anything to you?"

Looking over his shoulder at her, Stan remained quiet with a small shake of his head as Wendy teasingly bit down on her bottom lip and tightened her grip on his hand.

"Alright, kids, we'll be a couple of hours," the older woman spoke again, "Stan, you're welcome to stay, but just remember it's a school night."

"Thanks, Mum, don't worry about us," Wendy spoke sweetly, smiling up at her dad as walked by and gave her shoulder a squeeze, "Have fun."

"Bye, angel," the red-headed man said before he and his wife finally exited the house and shut the front door behind them.

The second that the latch clicked back into place, Stan slowly spun around in his seat and raised an eyebrow at Wendy. There was an incredibly cheeky twinkle in his bright, blue eyes as he licked his lips, "You didn't tell me we were gonna' be home alone?"

Wendy shrugged her shoulders with a playful shake of her head, "Well, I didn't want you to be distracted all the way through dinner…"

An excited shiver went racing up Stan's spine. Wendy definitely had a point when it came to the notion of being distracted. Between his girlfriend's recent insecurities that had been bothering her, and the pure and simple fact that it had now been five days since their first magical night back together, Stan frankly couldn't wait to get his hands on Wendy again.

Smirking at her sweetly, and without saying another word, Stan grabbed onto the underside of Wendy's chair and scraped it along the floor towards his own. The teenage girl felt goosebumps of anticipation explode across her skin at her boyfriend's touch as Stan delicately placed a strand of her long, black hair behind her ear. No more than two or three seconds later, he moved his hand to clasp the back of her head and then held her in place as he brought his lips to hers.

An instant smile emerged across Wendy's mouth, matching the one that Stan was tenderly kissing her with. As he innocently pecked at her over and over again the butterflies in her stomach began to simply soar. It drove her absolutely crazy that she could feel just how desperately he adored her. The teenage boy certainly didn't make it a secret, and just as he seductively tightened his grip on his girlfriend and gently knotted her hair through this fingers, both Stan and Wendy suddenly stopped with restless breath. Their ears simultaneously perked up in elated expectation at the sound of Wendy's father's car roaring to life as the Testaburgers finally backed out of their driveway and took off up the street.

Swapping an exceedingly suggestive glance with one another, Stan pecked at Wendy once more and then took her by the hand, bringing his voice to a tempting whisper.

"Come here."

The warmth radiating from Stan's hand to Wendy's easily brought her to her shaky knees as he lead her from the dining table to the living room and over to the couch. The television was humming in the background as the dark haired boy collapsed down on one end of the lounge. He was propped up by a pile of pillows in the corner and had one leg stretched out across the couch cushions, while his other foot was planted firmly on the floor. He beckoned for Wendy to fall into the space he had made for her and laughed along with her nervous giggles as she reached up and stroked the side of his face.

A teasing stalemate quickly developed between them as Wendy waited for Stan to lean back down and begin kissing her again, but the teenager hinted for his girlfriend to come to him instead. Craning her neck upwards, Wendy showed him just how much she had been worth the wait as she absolutely plummeted her mouth back upon his, clawing at his chest.

Stan's blood was rapidly beginning to pump throughout his veins as he straightened both of their bodies up against each other. He wished so badly that they could have spent more moments like this together during their weekend alone, and maybe Stan could have given more of an effort to kicking his friends out of his house, but at least he and Wendy were definitely making up for lost time now. And just like time itself, it wasn't long until Stan slowly started getting carried away.

A soft gasp blew out from between Wendy's lips as she sensed Stan's hand slip down the back of her jeans. Instantly, she delicately opened her mouth and indulged in the familiar taste of him as their tongues affectionately tied together. Without wanting to prolong the inevitable much longer, Wendy sprung back, tearing off her scarf and seductively whipping off her shirt. She watched with a welcoming smirk as Stan's eye widened at the sight of her lacy, navy blue bra before he clasped at her waist.

"Whoa…"

Immediately bolting into an upright position, Stan grabbed Wendy by the belt loops of her jeans and dragged her along his lap towards him. He shuddered at her touch as she ran her hands through his longer locks of black hair under his beanie. Just as he plastered his warm kiss to hers once more and reached around to unclip her bra, Stan blew out eager breath.

"Do you wanna' go get a thing?"

Wendy brought her voice to a murmur, kissing Stan in between her words, "What thing?"

A small laugh fell from Stan, "A condom?"

For a short second, Wendy's eyes remained shut tight as she pecked at Stan's lips once more, but in the next moment, they suddenly shot open in realisation. Pulling away from him and letting go of the back of his head, the teenage girl felt a frown settle into her face. As her mind continued to tick over, it wasn't long until her boyfriend's expression matched her own.

Wendy nervously bit down on her lip in hesitation, "I thought you had some?"

Stan's brow instantly furrowed in disbelief, "Yeah, at home. I don't casually carry them around on me."

Another fleeting silence overtook them before Wendy huffed out in disappointment, "Well… I don't have any."

The light fell from Stan's eyes as he slipped into deep, deep thought. He knew he had about five or ten seconds to make an incredibly important decision. While he may not have even been aware of it during the past five days, he was quickly realising just how much he was bursting to get that close and intimate with Wendy again. But to take this much of a risk, with no protection?

Stan may have been desperately filled with lust, and his heart and body and hormones may have been begging him for one thing, but his mind was certainly telling him another. He wasn't stupid. And he knew Wendy felt the same way.

Sighing to himself, Stan offered Wendy a soft, devoted smile as he picked up her shirt and handed it back to her.

Stifling a groan of frustration, Wendy reluctantly pulled her it back over her head, "Stan…"

"Wendy, no, don't worry about it," Stan comforted her. The second that she re-dressed herself, the teenage boy lay back in his place and pulled Wendy down so she was comfortably lying on top of him, "Don't even think about saying sorry for anything like this."

For a short moment, Stan simply remained silent. He lovingly ran his hand over Wendy's long, black locks where she lay against him, assuring her that there was no reason for her to think that he may have felt let down or disappointed in her.

Soon enough, a light-hearted chuckle escaped him, "Why didn't you go out and buy any after Friday?"

Giggling in slim embarrassment, Wendy adjusted her position so she could look her boyfriend directly in his eyes, "It kinda' seemed like you had that covered."

"Well, clearly someone hasn't been listening in sex ed. class," Stan teased her, "It's both the guy's and the girl's responsibility to stay protected, ya' know."

Rolling her eyes at the sarcastic tone in his voice, Wendy playfully pushed away from Stan as she sat up and moved slightly down the couch, "Well, you certainly had your responsibilities in order seeing as you went out and bought some before you even started having sex."

Stan scoffed, keeping his smile on Wendy as he got comfier on the couch, "I'm a seventeen year old dude, dude. It's what we do."

As joking as the sentiment may have been, Stan quickly examined Wendy's face to discover that maybe it hadn't made her feel much better. Sighing sweetly, he shuffled down the couch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"What most dudes don't do is purposely stay a virgin while they wait for the right girl to come around."

Instantly, Wendy's stomach started backflipping with butterflies. No matter the road blocks that ever appeared in her and Stan's way, or how irrationally insecure she ever felt, Wendy knew that she could always count on the dark haired boy to do or say absolutely anything to make her feel better.

And the most important part of it all was that everything Stan told her, Wendy always believed that he meant it.

Glancing up at him with pale pink in her complexion, Wendy sensed her blush deepen to a dark shade of red as Stan gently pecked at her cheek.

The smile remained glued to her face, "Well, you're definitely a lot braver than me when it comes to that stuff…"

"Wait, what, brave?" Stan repeated, an expression of realisation suddenly crossing him, "Wendy, are you scared to go out and buy condoms?"

"No!" Wendy immediately snapped back, "No, not scared, just… embarrassed…"

Stan couldn't help a small laugh, "Why?"

"Because," Wendy droned, "What if the person behind the counter or anyone else in the store is, like… judging me, or something."

Allowing his laughter to come to full force, Stan gave Wendy's shoulder an affectionate squeeze before he leapt up and began to slowly walk around the couch, "The only reason anyone would ever judge you would be because they're jealous that they're not getting any…"

Ignoring his last comment, Wendy's eyes continued to curiously wander and follow Stan where he was seemingly strolling towards the front door, "What are you doing?"

Grabbing his keys and wallet from the table by the door, Stan then snatched up Wendy's coat and threw it across the room to her, "Fixing this problem."

As the teenage girl caught the beige piece of woollen clothing that had been hurled at her, Wendy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Stan – "

"Come on, field trip, right now," he cut her off, pulling on his own coat, "Let's go face your fear."

"Stan, no!" Wendy playfully shrieked, shaking her head as he cheekily came towards her and took her by the arm. There was no escape as he began to drag her towards the front door, "We are not going for a drive across town at eight o'clock at night just to buy condoms!"

Absolutely bursting with full blown chuckles at how ridiculous the entire declaration sounded, Stan moved his hand from Wendy's arm to around her waist. Holding her tightly, he lowered his voice – as lovingly and as teasingly as ever,

"Baby, you don't have a choice."

The music from the radio in Stan's car was thumping lightly throughout the vehicle as Wendy was sat in the passenger seat, gazing out the window at the dark, frosty sky. This certainly was not how she had been expecting this particular night to unfold.

The teenage girl absolutely could not believe the impulsive words that spewed from Stan's mouth and the actions that left his body sometimes. His audacity was second to none, and his scheming and plotting mentality drove Wendy completely crazy.

But, then again, that's exactly why they were so compatible. What kind of boring relationship would they have if she didn't want to kill him from time to time, anyway?

As she turned around to face him where he was sitting in the driver's seat, Wendy's heart immediately froze to find that Stan was already devotedly staring right at her. Her chest skipped a beat before quickly regaining its regular rhythm again as the raven haired beauty was swiftly reminded of the few other things that drove her crazy about Stan. Crazy about being in love with him.

Chewing nervously down on her bottom lip, Wendy nodded towards the windshield, "You wanna' keep your eyes on the road?"

Stan's comeback was instant.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that when I've got you sitting next to me?"

An immediate wave of speechlessness washed over Wendy as she quickly glimpsed down at her lap before locking her eyes back with Stan's. It definitely did her soul a lot of good to hear him bestowing so many beautiful compliments on her, rather than all the ridiculous fighting the two had been trapped in the week before. The pair had done a complete one-eighty so quickly that Wendy could swear her head was actually still spinning.

But neither of them would ever change any of it, no matter what anyone else thought about them. Even as Stan finally flicked his eyes back to the road and proceeded to click on his right indicator, Wendy knew it all to be true. She definitely had her boy back.

As Stan carefully pulled into a parking space, Wendy gazed out the windscreen and up at the lights that sat outside the shop they had pulled up at. Instantly, she choked on a cynical scoff as she rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

"A gas station?" she asked in surprise, watching Stan open his door and climb out of the car, "You couldn't even take me to some kind of respectable pharmacy, or something?"

Chuckling at the joking tone in his girlfriend's voice, Stan stood at the front door of the gas station, turning back around to gaze at Wendy through the glass windows of his car.

"You coming?" he called, smiling again as she visibly huffed and eventually stepped out of the Ford Focus.

Reaching for her hand, Stan used his opposite one to pull open the door to the small shop, holding it for Wendy as he allowed her to pass through. Her overwhelmingly embarrassed giggles quickly began to already get the better of her as Stan playfully tapped her on the backside with his wallet, before leading her through the convenience store.

As they weaved through the small space, past the chips and chocolate, past the drinks, and past the motor supplies, Stan continued to quietly tease Wendy about taking the strenuous path to conquering her "fear". Before long, the adoring young couple screeched to a sudden halt in front of the exact section they had been searching for.

Wendy kept her eyes facing the tiled floor of the store for as long as Stan would allow her before she glanced up and her vision was abruptly overtaken by a variety of brands and colours and brief descriptions staring back at her.

Standing directly behind her, Stan cheekily licked his lips as he grasped at Wendy's waist and pulled her in towards him, "Come on, then," he purred into her ear.

Bursting out into laughter at his lame attempts at seduction, Wendy tried to wriggle away, "Stan – "

"Take your pick already," he tormented her again, daring to boldly lean forward and nip at her neck.

Taking the opportunity to break away from him, Wendy whipped back around, shooting Stan a sarcastic smirk as she shook her head and slapped him on the arm, "If you're trying to make this sexy, just stop."

"Are you telling me it's not working?" he challenged, finally conceding and just grabbing a packet of rubbers that he recognised for himself off the shelf.

As he tossed them to her and Wendy nervously caught the packet with both hands, she shook her head and scrunched her nose up in affection at how silly and playful he was being.

"Because, ya' know," he started again, "By the time we get home, your parents will still have, like, an hour and a half of their movie to go."

Throwing her head back with a laugh of disbelief, Wendy turned around and began to reluctantly make a beeline for the front counter, "Is that all you can really think about?"

"In this particular moment? Fuck yeah!"

The volume at which Wendy was almost certain their conversation was echoing throughout the store was definitely a lot more embarrassing than any trivial little purchase could be in that moment. At yet, somehow, she didn't even care. Not one bit. The laughter resonating from her at Stan's adorable nature was doing a pretty damn good job and quelling any uncomfortable feelings consuming her.

And besides from all that, the anticipation of taking him back to her house again was swiftly beginning to rumble in her stomach, as well.

"You're such a dork," she spat, piercing her brown orbs at him.

In the next moment, as the teenage girl focused back on the aisle she was waltzing up, Wendy allowed a small gasp of surprise to escape her as she almost bumped right into the person coming at her from the opposite end of the row.

"Oof," she muttered quickly glancing up to apologise.

But then, without a single warning, Wendy froze.

"Wendy?"

The delight in the eyes and voice of Mrs. Testaburger to come across her daughter was only extremely short lived, as the older woman quickly noticed who was accompanying Wendy and what she was holding in her hands.

Both Wendy and Stan's hearts had come to a complete stop. The teenage girl's mouth was agape in wordless shock, and her boyfriend had never felt a heated and excitable mood drain from his soul so quickly.

With their vision locked soundly, Mrs. Testaburger dwelled in hesitation for a minute or two. As much as she wanted to act on her initial instincts, the woman quickly shook her head, briefly looking up to Stan and then gently taking Wendy by the shoulder.

"Okay, honey, just quickly get home before your father – "

"Wendy, Stan?"

As Wendy's father's voice suddenly appeared in close proximity to where they were standing, Mrs. Testaburger cringed and slowly spun around to gaze at her husband.

The smile was warm on his face as he approached his daughter and her boyfriend, "What are you two…"

There was only a short second of silence and a teetering wave of uncertainty as his sentence trailed off, before Mr. Testaburger's face suddenly burned the same shade of red as his fiery hair.

And Stan swallowed back the biggest, most sickly gulp.

The incessant ticking of the clock that hung on the wall of Wendy's living room was driving both teenagers to the absolute brink of insanity.

Stan and Wendy were planted next to each other, sitting about a foot apart on the couch, while Mr. Testaburger paced back and forth in front of them, eerily stepping in exact time with the ticking clock. He himself looked like a blazing bomb that was about to explode at any moment.

Much to the surprise and chagrin of the young couple, apparently Wendy's mother had accidentally mistaken the commencement time of the movie for an hour later, and she and her husband had been stopping in at the gas station on their way back home.

Now, Stan sat nervously twiddling his thumbs, waiting for Mr. Testaburger to gather his thoughts and say something. He couldn't bear to look at Wendy for the fear of her father catching him and ripping his eyeballs out of their sockets. But Wendy, on the other hand, was acting vastly calmer. She almost wanted to roll her eyes at Stan for being such a wimp, and as she subtly glanced up at her mother who was standing right nearby, Wendy knew deep down that everything would be alright.

Finally clearing his throat, Mr. Testaburger halted in his place and grasped at his temples, "I don't know whether I've been too trusting, or just incredibly stupid in this situation."

The venom in the older man's voice made Stan completely shrink within his own skin.

"This is not the type of behaviour I expect from either of you," he rambled on, almost certainly causing Wendy to roll her eyes at that particular comment, "I know you're not little kids in elementary school anymore, but if you both think that every time we leave this house that it is an excuse for you to… uh, to…"

The teenage girl raised a cynical eyebrow at her father and the obvious struggle he was having in selecting the right terminology. Eventually, however, a curious choice of words soon came to him.

"…to… fornicate under my roof…!"

The exact instant that this word left her father's mouth, Wendy's eyes shot up to meet her mum's. The woman and her teenage daughter stared blankly at one another for a short second or two, until Mrs. Testaburger finally covered her mouth with her hand and let out the slimmest chuckle. The same smile soon crept its way across Wendy's face, and in the next moment, the two dark haired ladies had burst into an array of giggles at the awkward wording that had just filled the room.

Immediately, Stan's expression went pale white as he snapped his neck around at Wendy and gawked at her with terrified confusion. Why the hell was she trying to make her dad more angry?

"Oh?" Mr. Testaburger sniped, glancing between his wife and his daughter, "Is this just a big joke to the both of you?"

"Honey, honey," Mrs. Testaburger soothed him, taking a step towards her husband and trying her very hardest to stop laughing, "It's fine, it's okay. You're right, they're not little kids anymore, and I'm sure they've both learnt their lesson."

Stan's complexion was still incredibly ghostly as he waited with baited breath to see whether or not he was still going to make it out this discussion alive.

Mrs. Testaburger placed a calming hand on her husband's shoulder, gesturing towards their daughter, "How about Wendy and I just pick this up again later? Just me and her – I can talk to her about all of it?"

Without giving him the opportunity to answer, Wendy let her laughter subside and felt Stan jump in surprise as she grabbed him by the wrist, "Okay, great talk! Stan's gonna' head home in a sec, but we're just gonna' go up to my room first."

Stan felt his stomach drop, "We are?"

"Yes, we are!" Wendy immediately answered, dragging her boyfriend off the couch and around towards the staircase, hearing her mother still giggling in the background, "We'll be down in a second!"

Feeling his head absolutely spin, Wendy's dad stumbled over a roar of defeat, "You keep your bedroom open, young lady!"

Wendy's laughter was near inconsolable as she and Stan went flying through the opening to her room. The second that they had, the dark haired boy wrenched his wrist away from his girlfriend, "Are you trying to get me killed?"

Wendy finally rolled her eyes at him, "Would you relax?"

"How can I relax?" he argued, "Your dad hates me now."

"He doesn't hate you."

"He looked like he was just about ready to shove his hand down my mouth and pull my balls out through my throat."

"But he didn't, did he?"

Coming to an astute stop, Stan tried to keep the frown plastered to his face as he continued to stare at Wendy. The beautiful, young girl simply smiled at him, taking a seat on her bed and patting the space next to her for her boyfriend to join her.

Stan wavered for only the shortest second before he staggered his way over and collapsed down on the bed beside her. He sensed his heartbeat settle as Wendy hugged him around his left arm and gazed up at him.

"He would never hate you, he knows you're one of the good guys," she spoke sweetly, "The only thing he hates the thought of his little girl growing up, that's all it is."

Remaining stubbornly silent for as long as he possibly could, Stan soon felt his lips wobble with an uncontrollable smile, "And the thought of us… fornicating?"

Matching his wide grin, the two teenagers burst into adorable laughter with one another. The events of the evening had certainly been one hilarious incident after another. And despite the shock that may have fallen upon Wendy's parents, the teenage girl knew that her mother would be the one to keep much more of a level head.

After all, Wendy and Stan were both seventeen years old. And the situation was entirely, one hundred percent different now. This wasn't Malibu.

Stan was the last person who would ever dream of hurting Wendy.

"Well, after all that," the raven haired beauty started again, "We still didn't get any time alone…"

Feeling all of his jilted senses truly settle at her soft words, Stan smirked affectionately at his girlfriend. He wriggled his arm away, draping it over her shoulders instead as he pulled her in for a tight hug.

"We're just going to have to wait to find the perfect moment."

And with that said, Stan devotedly kissed Wendy on the top of her head, "Okay?"

Sensing her skin prickle at his touch, Wendy glimpsed up at Stan.

Every moment with him was a perfect one.

"Okay."

Guess who's back... ;)

Hello beautiful readers!

A quick thank you to those of you who inboxed me and asked what it is I've been up to all this time, I really appreciate your understanding! :)

What did we all think of this chapter? Maaaybe just a cute little filler until things start to maaaybe get more serious again? I suppose we're all going to have to wait and see... ;)

Please leave me a review to let me know what you all think! It certainly would be nice if I receive as many when I actually update as I do when I'm silent... juss sayin!

Till next time guys,

Reneyyyyyyyyyyy x