Chapter 17- Trust Me

~Mac's POV~

February flew by with little notice. After Wyatt helped me get over my Aiden issue, the days seemed to just whiz by us. Alice didn't get any visions of Oksana and what her intentions toward us were, which greatly unnerved her. She knew that Oksana was doing it on purpose and the not knowing of the entire situation seemed to make things worse on her. She was always agitated and easy to fits of rage. The only people that can seem to keep her from attacking all of us were Jasper and Edward.

Due to the high level of uneasiness in the house, Wyatt and I were most usually anywhere else. With him, I could forget that outside of our little world there was a vampire with a grudge against us. I could forget the fact that he was human and my time with him was most likely going to be cut short. I didn't have to think about the impending doom that my family attracted like moths to a flame.

Being with Wyatt always gave me a sense of peace, of being home. He was a fresh breath of air like the breeze at a beach on a hot summer day. He was one of the very few people that I didn't have to put up a front with and it put me at ease. One touch from his hand in mine was all it took for me to relax and fall against him. I was putty whenever he was around and he knew it too.

The only thing about February that I dislike is the fact that it gives way to March. I don't usually care about my birthday, but it reminds me that Wyatt is human and the older I get, the older he gets. I didn't like that feeling. I never once thought that finding an imprint would inflict such strong emotions within me. It was hard to grasp the fact that I had fallen and had fallen hard. Every day that goes by, I seem to lose myself more and more to my heart. Something I never thought would occur.

With a sigh, I stared out my window overlooking the forest as the sun gave way to the darkness, allowing the stars to shine against the backdrop of a black canvas. I could feel that something was going to happen. Something I wasn't going to like. And if I could tell this change in the atmosphere, so could Alice. Which meant she was soon going to be on a rampage.

I stifled a yawn and continued to change into shorts and tank top before slipping beneath the covers of my bed. Yet I couldn't seem to close my eyes. Something big was coming and it gnawed a hole in my stomach.

***

Wyatt picked me up for school the next day; only he drove my Mustang instead of his beat up '70s truck. He smiled at me as I tossed him the keys with a quick, chaste kiss on the cheek. However, he slung his arm along my lower back and caught me against him, his lips tickling mine while Ravyn made gagging noises behind his hand and Aiden and Leah just smirked knowingly.

Wyatt kept his hand in mine on the drive to Hoquiam High. I found that Wyatt had a tendency to speed (which I already knew, but he was never driving my car). I winced and tightened my fingers in his when he took a turn too tight and heard faint squealing of the tires with my sensitive hearing. He squeezed back, his eyes full and dancing with mirth and amusement. I took a very deep breath and managed a smile for him.

He quickly glanced at me briefly while speaking. "Am I making you nervous?" he wondered in astonishment, his eyes now back on the winding road. "I've driven with you before, and if I remember correctly, you didn't mind."

"You weren't driving my car at the time. And I'm fine."

He glanced at the rearview mirror while he seemed to be lost in thought. We accelerated ten miles per hour above the speed limit.

"Wyatt," I bit through my teeth.

He flashed a grin, his features turning boyish. "Do you trust me?"

I scowled at him. "You really have to ask that?"

"No, do you trust me with your car?" he corrected himself.

I hesitated slightly before answering. "Yes. Of course."

His grin blew to a full-blown shit-eating grin. "I was hoping you would say that." He glanced in the mirror again; his foot applying more pressure to the gas peddle.

"Wyatt?"

"Sorry. You said you trusted me."

"I do. I'm just curious as to what you're doing."

"Does Emmett drive a huge ass Jeep?"

"Please don't race with Emmett. We'll be at the school in under a minute if you keep this speed up."

His eyes landed on me for a second, then moved back on the road. His fingers tightened. "You ruin all my fun." He pouted and I found it so sexy that I leaned over and kissed the underside of his jaw, his whiskers prickling my lips. I would've kissed him if I knew we wouldn't get in a wreck.

"Mackie," he whispered, pulling our intertwined hands up so he could graze that back of my knuckles with his mouth. I had almost never heard him call me Mackie. I was surprised.

He pulled into the parking space as far away from the school as possible, though I had no idea why. He flew off his seat belt and unbuckled me. Faster then I thought any human could go, he had pulled me onto his lap so that I was straddling him and his lips were harsh on mine.

He made a guttural, animalistic sound in the back of his throat, his hand slipping up my shirt to caress the bare skin of my back as my hands shot into his hair. His tongue slid across my bottom lip and that was all the invitation I needed. I opened up to him and sucked his tongue into my mouth, enjoying the groan that it elicited.

I could feel his erection between us and I found myself grinding against him, feeling hot moisture pool between my legs, a dull ache turning into desire so potent I had completely forgotten we were in my car. On the school parking lot. For anyone to see.

His hands on my hips and ass were guiding my thrusts as his lips left mine to trail kisses down my throat. We hadn't been together since he had proposed and I realized that it had been way too long.

"Wyatt," I moaned, growing increasingly breathless. I could feel his heart beating against my aching breasts. A tingle that began at my toes raced up my body, centering in my core.

"God MacKayla," he breathed, his lips moving back to mine, dominating them in a way that had me writhing above him, moving as fast as possible.

Just as his hands reached the clasp of my bra, someone knocked on the window. I nearly screamed. I had been so close to my release and I was about ready to kill whomever it was that interrupted.

"Shit," Wyatt muttered, his hand sliding out from under my shirt. I nearly whimpered when he set me back into my seat and, after adjusting his pants with a grimace, opened the door.

I wanted to crawl into a hole and die right there. Right then. With a ragged sigh, I got out and gently closed my door, watching as the fog on the windows began to dissipate. I was not going to look at my father after almost having an orgasm in my car, in the school parking lot, with my fiancé. Nope. Not going to happen.

Okay, so maybe I was going to look. I cringed back against the side of that car at the expression on my father's face, but all he said was, "You're both going to be late for class, get going now," in a voice that suggested he would much rather berate both his daughter and asshole of a fiancé. He stomped off, his anger palpable even without my gift.

Wyatt came to my side restlessly. "Do you think I should put a cup on?" he asked, his hand finding mine as he kissed my forehead.

I could've laughed at the absurdity of such a statement, but I was seriously considering it. "Couldn't hurt," I responded, swinging our arms between us gently as we made our way to the school reluctantly.

"Mac?"

I glanced at him. "Yeah?"

He smiled slowly, pulling us to a stop at the steps just before we entered the building. "I love you."

I smiled back, kissing him. "I love you, too."

He leaned down so that his lips were at my ear, his warm, moist breath making me shiver. "And I plan on continuing this later. I promise."

He pulled back and led me into the building. I found that I was greatly embarrassed that heat had snuck into my cheeks and the ache between my legs had returned full force from just his words. I glanced around the full hallways praying to whatever God existed that nobody could tell.

~Wyatt's POV~

Was it wrong to make out with your girlfriend – fiancée - in her car? Not necessarily. Almost getting each other off in said car? Yeah, sort of, it was not really one of my most finer, gentlemanly moments. Getting caught half orgasm by her dad? Yes. I was now not excited to go to lunch and sit with her father's glare, or Edwards knowing and disgusted look, Emmett's "Atta boy!" or her mother's slightly unhappy expression. But hey, you do crazy things when you're in love, right?

I made sure I sat down at the very far end of the table, as far away from her family and placed her between us. They wouldn't really hurt her, but I was dispensable to them, her on the other hand, not so much.

However, Mac looked just about as embarrassed to be caught as I was and I had a feeling she was not happy to be the one closer to her family. I could live with her glaring at me, because I knew what I could do later to get on her good graces, yet her dad wanting to rip my balls off and hand feed them to me was not an endeavor I wanted to achieve.

"Wyatt! Have a good time this morning?" Emmett asked as he sat down in front of us.

I glowered at him, imagining the floor beneath him opening and sucking him down while Mac threw a roll at his head. "Do you mind?" she hissed at him.

He laughed a little. "MacKayla, Jake will totally get over it. He's just upset all his kids are growing up on him. Honestly, he's worse then Edward ever was."

She rolled her eyes. "I find that hard to believe," she muttered sarcastically. "I doubt any father is more overprotective then mine."

I kissed her temple. "He'll get over it, Two Socks. You are eighteen. Your kinda, sorta, maybe an adult."

She smiled and I found myself kissing the tip of her nose, astounded by her beauty and playfulness. She was perfect in every way and to be able to be with, kiss her whenever I wanted, however I wanted, was something I enjoyed. Revered even.

Mac was my everything. In a matter of a few months, I had fallen for her so hard, so deeply, I still had the imprint of cement on my right cheek. I was pissed that she couldn't wear the engagement ring to school for all the guys to see that she was almost permanently mine since she was only "fifteen". Leah had given her a silver chain though so that she could hang the ring around her neck without anyone being the wiser. That more or less made me feel better, so I was grateful.

Mac nuzzled into my neck with a small sigh, rubbing her nose along the apex of my shoulder and neck. My arm wound itself around her, pulling into my side. Her arm reached across my waist to take my hand and I squeezed hers, our fingers intertwining.

Someone cleared their throat and I glanced up at Emmett who looked a little confused. He was staring at Mac, who was slightly shaking her head at him.

"What?" I asked, looking back between the two of them.

Emmett shrugged. "Not up to me," was all he said before turning his attention to Rosalie who was beside him, murmuring something in her ear too quiet for me to hear. She glanced sharply at Mac with a befuddled expression before shrugging and resumed her conversation with Alice about some designer dresses she had found on the internet this morning.

"Well," I muttered lightly, "that was interesting."

She didn't say anything, but I felt her nod, her face hot against my skin. I pulled her tighter to me with a sigh and tried to eat with my left hand. The school had served spaghetti, and I was having a hard time getting the noodles onto the damn spork. It took a little while but I had finally managed to get more than one strand wound on the plastic utensil. I slowly brought it towards my mouth and just as I opened my mouth, it fell to the Styrofoam plate with a splat.

Mac giggled nearly uncontrollably and she pulled away from me. "I'll let you eat," she murmured.

"Mmm," was all I managed. I leaned down and chastely kissed her. "I don't mind holding you, MacKayla."

She blushed beautifully, glancing around the table to see everyone taking adamantly with one another. Probably trying to ignore us, I thought. "I don't mind either," she whispered, placing a gently kiss on the underside of my jaw.

We ate in silence, our shoulders and thighs touching, trying to make for the fact that I wasn't left handed and neither was she. Leah and Aiden made it to the table halfway through lunch, flustered and a little sweaty and I had to chuckle at what they had obviously been doing. They sit down across from us, taking Emmett's and Rose's plates to eat.

"Aiden, you have a little lipstick, right here," I informed him with a smirk, pointy to the left side of my mouth.

He unthinkingly went to wipe it off but scowled, realizing what I was doing. Leah never wore any makeup. "Ha ha." His left arm snaked around her shoulders, squeezing gently.

"So," Leah said, deriving the subject from them, looking at MacKayla with a kind, sisterly smile, "what are the two of you doing for your birthday today?"

Aiden's eyes shot to his mate and he shook his head in a universal sign of "stop talking now". My eyebrows knitted together as I glanced down at Mac, but she wasn't looking at me.

"What? Was it supposed to be a surprise?" Leah asked, confused. She glanced between me and Mac, her lips pursing. "Well, I can see Mac hasn't grown a set yet."

I wasn't really listening to her though. "Mac?"

"Yeah?" She didn't even bother to look at me as she spoke.

"You wanna talk about this?"

Her face scrunched up slightly. "Not really. Maybe later." It was so quiet I could barely here it.

"You weren't really planning on telling me, were you?" I deadpanned.

The entire table had grown quiet, and then restless, trying to ignore us again. After a few heartbeats, she nodded. I pulled away from her, confused at her sudden withdrawal and lack of forthcoming information.

We ate in silence, the table whispering and laughing, attempting to have not witnessed the previous encounter between the two of us. We didn't talk the rest of the day either. I would meet up with her between classes, but we didn't hold hands and not a word was said between us. It felt wrong, the distance we had created. I was so used to the two of us having an easy relationship. But then I felt stupid. Nobody had an easy relationship. It was impossible.

Reasons as to why she had decided against telling me about her birthday invaded my head throughout the day. Maybe she hated birthdays, but if that were the case, she would've told me. There would've been no reason for secrecy or withdrawal. Did something bad happen on her birthday? Does it bring up bad memories? I ran a hand through my hair, tugging at it. Why did my fiancée have to be so tight lipped all the time?

The one thing that bugged me about Mac sometimes was the fact that she hated showing weakness. Even to me, which I thought was absurd. After all we had shared together, she would still hide away inside herself. She didn't like to show emotions or be vulnerable. I could count the number of times she had shown her vulnerability to me on one hand.

I admired the fact that she was strong. I was used to girls who couldn't even garden, afraid they might get dirt under their perfectly manicured nails. I was used to girls who expected the guy to do all the work while they just sat back, looked pretty, and enjoyed the ride. Knowing that Mac could handle anything without a breakdown or letting someone else do it made me smile inside. My girl was amazing.

Yet, when she doesn't want to let her guard down around me, it made me mad at her. I knew she trusted me, so why couldn't she trust me with herself? With her secrets? We had gotten this far, and yet there are still things she wants to ignore, for her own safety.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day, but I remained in the locker room a little longer than necessary. The results of who made the baseball team were being posted today after school and I wanted to look at it before I left.

"Parker, what're you still doing here?"

I glanced up at Coach Clark with a shrug. "I wanted first dibs at the roster."

He smirked. "You made varsity. You always do." He stapled two sheets of paper to the bulletin, one varsity and one JV.

I glanced briefly at the names, knowing that the roster wasn't really the reason I was still in locker room. Avoidance issues much?

"Looks like a great team, Coach," I mumbled.

"Yup! Should make it to State again this year," he boomed, clapping me on the back. "Wouldn't be surprised at all."

"Well, I should get going," I said, moving towards the door. "See you at practice tomorrow."

Mac was waiting outside the gym, leaning against the wall, her face devoid of all emotion until she saw me. The minute her eyes touched mine, her face contorted into sadness, her eyes nearly glistening. She looked away and began walking towards the parking lot. I followed behind, trying to decipher her moods.

"What took you so long?" she asked quietly as we got into the car.

"Coach posted the roster today. Made varsity."

"That's great," she congratulated me, her voice sincere.

"Mac, do you want to talk yet?" I asked, staring at her, gauging her reaction.

She frowned, her fingers tightening on the steering wheel. "When we get there," was all she said.

My brows lifted. "And where is there, exactly?"

"You'll see."

We drove down the one-oh-one for about forty minutes until she pulled off and onto a secluded road. The Mustang purred as she downshifting, allowing the car to go up the hill better. The paved road turned into a dirt road, which then turned into a dead-end. She parked the car, and got out, staring at the large Redwoods that surrounded us.

"Wow," I remarked, closing the door behind me.

"Come on," she whispered, tugging at my hand. I squeezed, wanting her to know that whatever is plaguing her, I will always be there for her.

"Where are we going? What if we get lost?" I asked. There were no paths to follow, and though I had always enjoyed nature, I was not familiar with the area.

"Oh please, Wyatt, do not tell me you're afraid of the big bad forest!" She smiled for the first time in hours and I found myself reciprocating.

"Nope, lead on Two Socks, just don't let anything eat me and we'll be fine," I denied.

Her eyes flashed and she tried to pull her hand out of mine but I held on tighter. She shrugged a little, and then stepped over a huge fern, pulling me along with her. Though there was definitely no trail, there was a path in a way, that had been tread upon quite a bit, because the plants were squished down to the forest floor.

I breathed in the natural scent, enjoying the noises from the birds. There was stillness in the forest as we walked. I knew we were here for privacy and I knew that she must have been here a lot. We walked for about twenty minutes in silence, the sounds of animals calming us, the silence not awkward but comfortable, like it usually was when we were together.

After about twenty-five minutes, I began to hear running water and I glanced at her. She smiled back fondly, starting to jog, yanking me along wither. We got to an opening, where the little faux path with the crushed plants ended, and I gasped slightly. Water fell from a cliff about thirty feet high to a pool at the bottom. Flowers lined the ground, birds flocking in the trees, chirping happily, ignorant to our presence.

"This is so beautiful," I whispered, glancing around at our new environment.

"Yeah," she responded quietly. "I come here whenever I feel the need to unwind, to relax. Nature has always calmed me. I think it's because I'm a Native American. We have always been close with nature."

"How did you find this place?" I wondered, tugging at her hand to sit with me at the end of the pool, where it was quieter. She complied, sitting across from me, her legs crossed.

She let go of my hand and lay back against the soft grass, staring at the sky. "I went on a run one night and stumbled upon it."

I choked. "You ran forty miles!"

She gave me a droll look. "I was a wolf at the time."

"Oh." Yeah, 'cause that made much more sense. "So, you nineteen," I said after a few minutes of peace.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair in agitation. "Why can't you talk to me? Why do you have such a hard time with opening up to me?"

She sat up. "I open up to all the time, Wyatt. It's not like we don't ever talk," she retorted, her eyes angry.

"Not about this," I disagreed. "You weren't even going to tell me today was your birthday. You were going to leave me in the dark. You could've told me it was your birthday and then ask me not to get you anything or wish you anything, but you just ignored the matter altogether. Sometimes I don't get you at all."

Her face scrunched up. "Don't try to make me out as the bad guy in this. You're the one who attacked me this morning!" she yelled.

"You didn't exactly tell me to stop, did you? I was just planning to kiss you; you helped it escalate from there. And what the hell does that have to with this? You had already decided on not telling me anything."

"You embarrassed me in front of my father!" she screamed.

"You were fine with it earlier! What the hell has gotten into you, MacKayla? Why are you picking a fight with me?" I could feel my anger drain as the saddened look from earlier, when I had exited the gym, overtook her eyes.

She was silent, staring at me with pleading eyes, and I knew she wanted me to drop the subject but there was no way I was going to do that. She needed to learn that no matter what, I'm gonna be there. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I'm gonna be there, holding her hand, kissing her boo-boos. Whatever she needed, I would be it for her.

"MacKayla?" I whispered, leaning forward to cup her cheek in my hand. She had begun shaking. "Mac?" I tried again, waiting for a response. Anything.

"Because everyday you get older!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She pushed me away from her, standing up, quivering violently. "Everyday that you get older, you get closer to dying! Everyday I get older is a reminder of how short your life span is! You think this is easy for me, watching you age, knowing that there's going to be a time when you won't need me, or when I need you and you're gone? Six feet under." Her voice cracked on the last word and I stood up, pushing the bewilderment out of my mind. I walked towards her but she wasn't paying any attention.

"You'll be cold and unmoving while I mourn you knowing there wasn't anything I could do, or anything I could say to fix it. You would lie under the earth with only my memories to sustain you, and I know it isn't enough. There is no way that seventy years is enough," she ranted, her angry breath growing harsh.

I pulled her into my arms and she tried to resist but I held firm. "You can't die on me, Wyatt," she whispered, finally relaxing, tears spilling forth, dampening my fleece but I could care less. My heart was breaking in two at her words, her images. Her tears.

"Baby, there is no way I could ever leave you," I whispered into her hair. "No way would I ever want to be away from you."

"How?" she croaked. "This isn't something you can say to me. You're human."

I stilled my breath, knowing this was going to hurt me. "I promise you, baby, I won't ever leave you, not willingly." I stroked her hair, holding her as tightly to me as possible, trying in vain to ignore that pain lacerating my chest. "I love you so much, MacKayla. Don't you ever forget that, you understand me? Don't you dare fucking forget that."

She choked back a sob, burrowing her head into the crook of my neck. Her knees buckled and I caught her against me, holding her shivering form to me tightly as I managed to sit down, pulling her into my lap where she would be more comfortable. Her arms wound around me, her fingers biting into my skin but I didn't feel the pain.

"Mac, you don't always have to be strong for me," I told her, rocking back and forth. "I'm gonna be here no matter what. When you're not strong enough, that's when I come in. You can lean on me whenever you need to, alright? No more secrets, no more bullshit. I don't back down. Ever. Don't put up a front with me. I doubt anything you could tell me would make me run away from you. I love you too much to do that."

"I love you so much. It hurts s-so much right now," she hiccupped. "The thought of you…"

I placed a finger to her lips. "Shhh, we aren't gonna think about that. And there is one way we could fix it," I suggested, treading rough waters. We had never discussed my becoming a vampire because I had an inkling that she would shoot it down.

"Wyatt… you don't know what it's like. You wouldn't want that life if you knew about it," she whispered, her tears slowing, drying.

I pulled back and wiped my fingers over her wet cheeks. "If it meant spending considerably more time with you, I wouldn't care about the ramifications," I assured her.

She shook her head. "We aren't gonna talk about this anymore," she muttered.

"Didn't I just say no more fronting? Talk to me," I urged, kissing her forehead, her eyes lids, her salty cheekbones.

She sighed, her fingers weaving through my thick hair. "I don't want that life for you. Humans are so much more… they have… they have more life, more abilities. They can have children, and stand in the sun in a crowd of people."

"I thought the men could have children," I interrupted, staring into her eyes, trying not to imagine her swollen with my child. It was something I yearned for deeply.

She nodded. "They can. That's how my mother came about. But who would know how my pregnancy would turn out?"

I pulled her in against me, placing her head on my shoulder. "I'm going to love you no matter what," I told her, peppering kisses along the side of her neck. "And I'm going to stand beside you no matter what," I continued between butterfly kisses, feeling her pulse escalate beneath my lips and tongue.

"Wyatt," she moaned, her head falling to the side, giving me better access. She spilt her legs, straddling me for the second time that day. She lifted her head; her lips meeting mine, wanting to dominate me. I let her control the kiss, trying desperately to not let this become more then just kissing. She was still hurting, I could tell, and sex wasn't the answer to all of our problems.

"Mac, wait, slow down," I said, pulling away. Her lips slid down my jaw where she began nibbling on my neck.

"I don't want to slow down," she groaned, grinding herself against me and I bit my lip to keep quiet and try not to pay attention to the sudden and painful ache in my groin. "I need you, Wyatt. You promised me you would make up this morning's interruptions."

"Mac," I gasped, my lips attacking hers. My qualms died on the stop.

Her fingers fell to the hem of my shirt and pulled it upward. Our mouths separated so I could take the shirt off. While I was doing that, she had taken off hers and unhooked her bra in record speed. My mouth watered at the sight of her breasts lifting with every breath and I leaned down, my lips sliding over her taut bud, suckling strongly.

MacKayla's fingers fell into my hair, her palms cradling my head to her while she moaned, arching into my mouth. I slid my palms over her stomach to the waistband of her jeans. Her breath hitched as I unzipped them, pulling them down her smooth, silky legs.

"Wyatt," she whimpered, her hands pulling my head up to hers, her lips meeting mine fiercely. Her palms slid over my chest in warm caresses, bringing goose bumps to the surface and causing me to shiver as she slid them down to my jeans, undoing them so quickly that I had even noticed she was pushing them down until I was sitting there in my boxers.

I gently pushed her back against the soft grass, laying my shirt beneath her lower back and hips before I covered her body with mine, my lips falling to one of her nipples, one hand rolling the nipple that seemed awfully lonely, my other hand dipping to her hot, wet folds.

"Oh, Wyatt," she purred as I slipped a finger inside, and then another. "Oh, yes." She lifted her hips up to meet my hand, riding my finger.

My hand and mouth switched breasts as her breath began to quicken. I knew she was close so I flicked my thumb over her bud and she screamed, her walls clamping down tight on my fingers, shivering and quivering as her release rolled through her.

I sat up and took off her black underwear and then divesting myself of my boxers. I laid over her again, positioning myself at her entrance, rubbing my length against her, teasing her.

"Wyatt, please!" she begged, lifting her hips up, trying to push me in.

I smirked and silenced her moan with my mouth as I thrust in. Her legs lifted, wrapping around my waist as she met me stroke for stroke. Her hot walls caressed me and I found myself getting lost in her softness.

"Oh God, you feel so good," I groaned into her collarbone.

"I know," she choked. "I'm so close."

I reached down between us, knowing I wasn't going to last much longer either and found the bud f her pleasure. With a few sure flicks of my fingers, she came shuddering hard in my arms, her core milking me into an orgasm along with her, shouting her name and a stream of "I love yous" before collapsing.

Something cold smashed into my head painfully. I lifted my head weakly to see the engagement ring that I hadn't noticed before, resting at the top of her breasts. I kissed it before laying my head on the swell of her right breast.

Her fingers stroked my hair, playing lightly. "I love you so much, Wyatt," she sighed. "I didn't mean to be so independent earlier."

My hand splayed on her hip, rubbing softly, enjoying the feel of her smooth, sweaty skin against my palm. "I understand that you don't like showing weakness, but you need to know I would never judge you for it."

"I know that, I just don't always know how to lean on others. I've never really had to before."

I rested my forearms on either side of her so that we were eye level. "Well now you have me. You've had me for a while. And I don't plan on going anywhere."

She smiled gently before placing her palms on my still sweaty cheeks and kissing me soundly on the lips. "Good, 'cause I don't really plan on letting go of you any time soon."

***

The drive back was comfortable. I drove, my hand intertwined with hers on the gearshift. After we had regained enough strength to get up, we had swum in the water. At first I was not excited. It was March and I knew the water was probably freezing, but she had thrown me in anyway, laughing all the while. The pool of water turned out to be a hot spring.

I smiled at the memory, watching as the sun slid down over the horizon. I tightened my hold on her as I downshifted, pulling down her driveway. I tried to get out first, hoping she would let me open the door for here, but knew it was a lost cause. She was out before I had opened the door.

She walked over to me and leaned me against the car, her hands on either side of me. I loved how tall she was. It was a huge turn on to not have to bend down until my back spasmed. She was the perfect height to take control whenever she wanted. Like now. Her lips descended on mine, her fingers playing in my hair. It was funny how she loved my hair as much as I loved hers.

My hands fell to her lower back, pulling her against me, my tongue sweeping in, tasting her mouth. She always tasted like watermelon. She chewed gum a lot, saying that it made her mouth taste better. It sure as hell did.

She pulled away with a soft sigh. "I love you," she murmured against my mouth.

"Mmm, I love you too, Two Socks."

She grinned and kissed me again quickly before saying good night and bounding up the porch, happiness back in her step. I was glad I had rid her of the insecurities, but I didn't know how long it would last.

A figure stepped out from the shadows of the garage. I swallowed hard.

"I heard you wanted to talk to me?"

I nodded, glancing back at the house, before following her into the garage, the door closing behind us.

I really hope this won't piss Mac off.

dun dun DUN! Sorry for the cliffie.

I cannot even begin to express how sorry I am at the length of time it took for me to get this out. Really. I seem to get writer's block so easily, I swear. I won't make any excusses, their useless so I just hope that you can forgive me.

Please review!