Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 2 – Talks

Lucy's POV

I slowly opened my eyes and glanced around the room. It was unfamiliar, yet comforting somehow. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I noticed the arm that was draped around my midsection, my bare midsection. My eyes grew wide as panic set in. I sat up quickly and turned to look at the man I was sharing a bed with. I felt torn as I saw Mike lying equally bare next to me. On one hand, I hadn't given myself to some random stranger, so I felt relived. On the other hand, I had slept with my best friend in the world. I wondered how we could possibly still be friends after this without things becoming weird between us.

My thoughts spun in my head as I tried to remember exactly how this had happened. I recall being upset and coming to Mike to talk. I shuddered as I remembered exactly what I had come to talk about. Sara. Suddenly the numbness returned and I wanted to scream out my frustration. Coming here had really solved nothing. I still felt the pain, only now I was feeling it after disobeying God. After the disaster with Jordon I had made the promise to my father to wait for marriage. More than that, I had made the same promise to God. Suddenly, I began to feel very guilty. The full gravity of what I had done fell upon my chest and I found it difficult to breath. Panic sat in as I looked at the alarm clock next to the bed and realized that I was more than an hour late for my curfew. What was my parents going to think when I come walking through the door, nearly two hours late? Would they send me away like they recently did with Mary and then take in one of my dead beat ex-boyfriends? Jimmy Moon would probably be the best candidate there.

I debated in my mind whether or not I should wake Mike up or just leave and pray that he doesn't remember a thing. The choice was made for me as I kicked the covers off of me and grabbed my clothes off the floor.

"Lucy?" I felt his hand grab mine. I turned my head to look at him and I could tell he was trying to remember how this had happened, as well.

"My parents are going to kill me," I answered as I pulled my clothes on. "By the time I get home, it will be almost one."

"Luce, we should talk about this," He sat up in bed and pulled his boxers on.

Talk? Talk? There was no way I could talk to him about this now. I needed to think. I need to get out of there, away from him, away from the sin we had just committed. "I'm sorry, I can't." I answered, quickly heading for the door. "I have to go."

"At least let me drive you." I heard him call as I reach the stairs. I didn't turn back. Instead I raced out of his house and out to the van.

I arrived back at my house ten minutes later. I wasn't surprised to see the living room light on. I climbed out of the car as I wondered which of my parents would be waiting to yell at me when I walked in the door. I slowly opened the door, trying not to wake whoever may actually be asleep in the house. I walked inside and was immediately met by my mother. Her face was stiffened and her arms were crossed. She stared at me harshly and I knew I was about to get it.

"Where on earth have you been?" She yelled in a hushed tone. "I have been worried sick about you."

"I'm sorry, I was at Mike's," I explained. I hoped that she wouldn't ask anymore questions than that. As a Camden, I'm not a good liar and I didn't want to have to explain to my mother exactly what I had been doing.

"Until nearly one in the morning?" Annie asked. I nodded, knowing what was coming next. Why couldn't she just ground me and drop all of the questions? Does it really matter why I was nearly two hours late for curfew? Would the reason I was late really make a difference in how long I was grounded? "What were you two doing this late?"

I sighed. I didn't want to mention that I wanted to talk to him about Sara, especially since I had refused to talk to any of my family about the accident. And I defiantly didn't want to explain about how Mike and I had ended up having sex in his room. "We were talking and then fell asleep." It was sort of the truth. Mike and I did talk and we did fall asleep.

"About Sara?" I knew she would see through me. After all, a lie by omission is still a lie.

I nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry; it was just easier to talk to Mike because he's been through a lot of tragedy as well."

Her face softened and she pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm glad you found someone to talk to, but why didn't you call?"

"I didn't plan to be gone that long. Like I said, we fell asleep." I answered.

She seemed to except my answer and went on with her lecture. "I'm just glad you're okay. The news was talking about an accident and I was afraid that it may have been you."

My eyes grew wide as the numbness returned for the third time that night. My guilt had temporarily distracted me from my thoughts, but hearing about an accident brought me back to the darkness. My mom must have noticed my change because she pulled me back into her warm embrace. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, Mom, its okay I…."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

No, I thought. The last time I talked about it I gave my virginity away to someone who would never be my husband. "No," I finally answered. "I just want to get a drink of water and head up to bed."

She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Alright, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"I know," I answered. I watched her leave and sighed as I flopped down on the sofa. I closed my eyes and let the events of the day run through my mind. First there was Sara, and then Mike and his father and then my mother. . As my thoughts finally landed on the mistake I had made with Mike, my emotions overwhelmed me. After the way I acted, he probably won't want to be my friend anymore. I felt the tears fall down my face as I thought about finishing my senior year completely alone. How did I let everything get so out of control? Why did I say it would be okay for us to do what we did?

I pondered those questions as I made my way into the kitchen for a glass of water. I was more than a little surprised to see Robbie sitting at the table, with three books open. "Late night?" I asked, filling my glass at the faucet.

"Yeah, I have a big test tomorrow. I didn't want to disturb Matt, so I came down here." He answered. I was still remotely curious about Robbie. I wondered how and when he had managed to get a partial scholarship to college and become a straight A student. It was strange. Six months after trying to sleep with Mary and doing community service, we learn that he was an honor's student? I wondered what the real story with him was. How had we managed to misjudge him so badly? "Luce….. Luce…..Earth to Lucy."

My mind snapped back to reality as I heard him repeating my name. "What?"

"I asked if you were okay. You've been crying." He looked at me and I could see genuine concern on his face. No wonder Mary had fought to see him. He was smart and caring, but none of us saw it before now.

"Not really," I answered.

"Want to talk about it? I could use a break."

I didn't want to talk about Sara, but I felt like I needed to talk to someone about what had happened with Mike. Ruthie was way to young, as was Simon, Mary was in Buffalo, Matt would go all big brother on her, and I certainly couldn't tell my parents that I had disobeyed God in the worst way possible. Robbie, on the other hand, could be completely neutral about my situation. He wouldn't hold judgment over me for the rest of my life.

"Sure," I decided, wiping the tears from my face. "It's just that, I had sex with Mike," I whispered, making sure no one hanging out at the top of the stairs could hear me. I couldn't afford to be a victim of the 'tunnel of sound.'

He seemed genuinely surprised. I couldn't blame him. I would have been shocked too if I was in his position. "I thought the Camden plan was to wait until marriage."

I sniffled. "It is. It's what I wanted to do, but I messed that up."

"If you wanted to wait, then why didn't you?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to feel something."

He nodded. "Your mom told me about your friend. I can understand why you would feel that way. For me it was a little different. Our home wasn't always the most loving, so I thought if I had sex, then I could get that feeling. Now I feel like a fool."

I sighed. "That's how I feel. More than that though, I'm scared. I don't want to loose a friend because of one mistake."

"Did you talk to him afterwards?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I kind of freaked out and hurried away. I have no idea how he feels. I probably hurt his feelings."

"So apologize." He told me. "I think you need to talk to Mike. You need to explain to him how you're feeling and find out what he is feeling. I don't know him that well, but he seems like a nice guy. I'm sure the two of you will be able to work it out."

"I guess," I answered. "I also got to hope for God's forgiveness."

He smiled at me before rising from his seat and pulling me into a hug. "I don't know that much about God either. However, I do think that, since you obviously weren't in your usual frame of mind when you did that, he will forgive you if you ask."

I half smiled. It was the best I had felt all day. "Thanks Robbie." I started up the stairs before turning back to him. "I'm sorry that I misjudged you in the past. When Mary comes back, I really do hope things work out between the two of you."