Happy Thursday, everyone! Well, it might not be if the whole Net Neutrality thing goes down. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but if it does, it's been a pleasure writing for you lovely folk. *tips imaginary fedora* ~Shaymie
Laurens Interlude II
I had slept with my best friend's sister. That was all I could think as I woke up with a massive headache. Part of me hoped it had just been a dream… until she sleepily draped an arm over me and pulled me closer to her. I turned to look at her, and she was stunning. She was beautiful even without makeup. Her hair (which now went in a gradient from brown to blonde) was splayed across her face. It had been in a ponytail last night, but I vaguely remembered pulling it out of the ponytail in the middle of our… activities. Darcy apparently loved having her hair pulled during sex.
The thought caused me to sit up in bed. I looked back at Darcy again, but she didn't stir. The blanket had fallen a little bit lower, revealing her freckled chest. I bit back a gasp. Had… Had I given her all those hickies? Most of last night was still a blur. I could remember Darcy bringing out the wine as soon as Mattie left for her sleepover. I remember her getting drunk as the night progressed. I remember her offering me a glass, which turned into multiple, and then suddenly her lips were on mine and we were making out on the couch. I had carried her upstairs to my room and we'd had… sex. I had sex with Darcy Haywood.
"Holy fucking shit," I breathed, running a hand through my hair. That was the last thing I'd expected to happen when I agreed to let Darcy stay here for a couple of days. I was glad Mattie had been off at a friend's house. I couldn't imagine what she'd say if she was here. She had been making a few offhand comments about how I seemed to be getting over Lori. I had wanted to deny it and tell her that I still liked Lori, but I knew I couldn't lie to myself. I had started to fall for Darcy. I wasn't sure when it had happened, but I liked her as more than a friend.
What is it about the Haywood sisters that drive me crazy? I sighed as I got out of bed. I pulled the blanket back over Darcy's body and brushed some hair back from her face. I grabbed the first clothes I could find from the floor and groaned. I was definitely not going to school today. Not with a headache like this. I grabbed my phone from where it had fallen on the floor and saw that I had a few missed calls from Lori from last night. I thought about what I was going to tell her before just deciding to bite the bullet and called her. She answered on the second ring.
"Hi, John," she said quietly. Her voice was still scratchy from sleep. She had never been a morning person. "How's Darcy? Is everything alright? You didn't answer last night and I was getting worried. Alex told me to not be such a worrywart, but I can't help it."
Dear lord, this girl was too precious. I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my head anxiously. I willed myself to calm down. She didn't know anything. I had no reason to freak out. Would she hate me when she found out what she did? She was sweet, but if she thought I had hurt Darcy she would probably kill me.
"Everything's fine, Lori. Darcy had a bit too much to drink last night. I'm helping her with her hangover, so I probably won't be at school."
"You've gotta start hidin' the alcohol," she murmured, her accent slipping out. I heard some rustling and laughed when I heard Dumpling bark. "John, can you please watch over her? I know she's still mad at me for forgivin' Mama like I did, and she does some… stupid things when she's mad. Promise me you'll keep her from doin' anything stupid."
"Promise." The word got caught in my throat. I had already broken the promise when I let Darcy talk me into drinking with her. It had been shattered into a million pieces before I had even made it. I didn't like lying to Lori. It made me feel like a piece of shit. I heard her breathe a sigh of relief and pushed down the terrible feeling I had in my gut.
"Thank you. I'll let you go now. I have to stop Alex before he drinks all the coffee in the house." I threw my phone onto the bed when she hung up and sat down at my desk. What the hell was I going to do about this? Darcy and I hadn't even used protection! What if she got pregnant? I wasn't ready to be a father, and I knew she sure as hell wasn't ready to be a mother. She said that she didn't want kids until she was absolutely sure she was prepared. She didn't want to turn out like her mother. I sighed as I looked at her. We had a lot to talk about when she woke up.
Darcy ran off after I told her that I didn't want what had happened between us to just be a one night stand. I'd be lying if I said that it didn't hurt. I debated going after her before realizing that I was probably the last person she'd want to see. Instead I sat on the couch, beating myself up about it. There were probably better ways I could have handled it. I could have waited a bit longer instead of just blurting it out the day after we'd had drunken sex. It hadn't even been a month since she'd broken up with her girlfriend and I was already trying to make a move on her! She was still mad at herself for dating the girl that had abused Lori, but it wasn't like she could have known.
I contemplated calling Lori to ask for advice about to do about her sister, but that seemed like a terrible idea. I paced around the living room in thought and bit my thumb. Would I have to apologize? I didn't feel like I had done anything wrong, other than trying to rush into things too quickly. Was that worth an apology? I almost wanted Mattie to be here. She didn't have a problem understanding social cues. But if she was here, then I'd have to tell her about what I did with Darcy last night and I didn't really know how she would handle it.
The front door opened when I had finished what may have been my twentieth cycle around the living room. I turned to look at it, surprised to see Darcy. I didn't think she'd want to see me. Her face was red, her chest was heaving, and she was covered in snow. Did she run here from wherever she had gone? I led her over to the couch and sat in the armchair across from her. She chewed on her lip, which was something I noticed both she and Lori did when they were nervous. She frowned and crossed her arms across her chest.
"I… I'm sorry for running off like that. I was just scared… Everything was going kind of normal-or at least as normal as it could be considering the circumstances-and then you said that you wanted to date me. Part of me… A lot of me thought that you only wanted to go out with me because I'm Lori's sister. But she told me that wasn't the case." Darcy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She licked her lips nervously, and I was surprised by how much I suddenly wanted to kiss her. I wanted to wipe away all of her doubts. She hesitated a bit before continuing to speak.
"She said that if you wanted to date me, it was because you liked me for me. I spent a lot of time thinking about that. Seriously, it took me for-fucking-ever to get here from Lori's house so I had a lot of time to think. And I… I realized that I like you, too. But you could probably tell by the way I've been flirting with you. I… Um… I'm not a good person, John. I've slept with more people than I can even count. You deserve someone better than me-"
"Just because you've slept with a bunch of people doesn't mean you're a bad person!" Her eyes widened at my outburst. Honestly, it surprised me too. But I couldn't just listen to her talk bad about herself. I grabbed her hands, frowning at how cold they were. "Darcy, you're an amazing person. You're one of my best friends. You're one of the toughest girls I know. I honestly don't know when it happened, but I like you. A lot."
Fuck it. I decided to throw caution to the wind and do what I had wanted to do for the past few minutes- that was the Darcy way, wasn't it?-and kissed her, moving over to the couch she was sitting on. She gasped into my mouth, but didn't push me away. Instead, she pulled me closer, her hands tangling in my hair. I breathed in her scent of flowers and apples and put my hands on her waist. My mind went a bit fuzzy, but the next thing I knew we were making out again, our shirts and sweaters lying discarded on the ground.
"John," Darcy gasped out, her nails scratching my back as I started kissing the space between her breasts, more gently than I had last night. She let out a tiny whimper and dug her nails into my back. I decided right then that it was my new favorite sound. "John, we… we can't do this again. Not without condoms."
I reluctantly gave her chest a final kiss and sat up, pulling her along with me. For once, Darcy was the reasonable one. Her face was bright red, and she crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously. Her lips were puffy, and I liked the fact that I had done that to her. She cleared her throat awkwardly and grabbed her sweater from the floor.
"Why do you like me?" she asked as she pulled the sweater over her head. "I'm not nice like Lori, I talk way too much, I don't have big boobs like she does, and she doesn't slap makeup on her face to cover her freckles because she can make them work-"
"Why are you comparing yourself to your sister?" I didn't think anyone as beautiful as her could have doubts about herself. She was a model, for crying out loud! And everything about her screamed confidence, from the way she walked to how she constantly flirted with anything that moved.
"Because you liked her! And I'm nothing like her, so I don't understand why you like me. It doesn't make any sense. What… What's changed in these past few weeks, John? Is it because we've been spending so much time together?" Her voice broke as she started pulling at a loose thread on her sweater. Her eyes filled with tears. "I… I…"
"I don't know why I like you, Darcy. Or… I don't know how to explain it. It's just… I feel a pull to you. Despite what you say, you actually are nice, especially to people you care about. You're incredibly passionate. You don't need big boobs, and honestly they'd seem like a handful… Pun not intended." I kissed her on the cheek and brushed some hair behind her ear. She smiled slightly as I wiped her tears away. "I can't pin down the exact reasons I like you. But I'd be honored if you would be my girlfriend."
"This is going by way too fast," she murmured, her cheeks flushing. I grabbed the side of her face and lightly traced a thumb over the light smattering of freckles on her cheek. Her blush deepened as she stared into my eyes. Her emerald eyes were glistening with tears that she seemed to not want to fall.
"Your sister started dating Alex even though she only knew him for less than a week," I pointed out. Darcy giggled. "Compared to that, I'd say that we've been taking our own sweet time. If… If you don't want to, that's fine-"
"No, I do! I… I really do want to date you! You may be the first person who's wanted to date me for me, and not just for sex." She sniffled and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "Thank you, John. Thank you so much…"