19

Forrest said nothing. There was nothing but silence and I was a bit nervous for I didn't know what he was thinking.

"What's on your mind?" I asked almost shyly and he glanced at me before looking ahead again. At first he didn't reply and so I waited and looked forward with thoughts that he might not even answer.

"He's right. If people found out about us they'd be sure to lynch us both." he replied and I winced at his words looking away and out the window. "But that doesn't mean my feelings for you are going to change."

I continued to look out the window already discouraged once he has said the horrid L word.

"I never thought you'd be afraid of what others thought about you." I replied.

"I'm not scared for myself…I'm scared for you." he said and I looked up at him with a soft gaze and I looked down to see his right hand was on his lap and was opened a bit as if waiting for my hand to move into it and it did. We curled our fingers together.

"We can't tell my parents yet." I said softly and he replied with a nod. The roads looked familiar now and I knew we would be nearing my house. The truck slowed down however and soon stopped. I looked at him and he looked at me and his eyes were emotionless, calm and patient like.

"Our first goal will be getting you back to work in the bar." he stated and I agreed.

"Yeah I'll walk from here." I told and he nodded.

"Don't forget your hat and clothes." he said. I nodded and opened the door and began to scoot out when I felt a firm hand grip my forearm and I was pulled back and I turned to see Forrest's face collide with mine and our lips met in a passionate, heated kiss and my hand caressed the side of his head and I let out a light moan before we slowly pulled back gently.

"I'll see you as soon as I can." he said lightly against my lips and I nodded once and silently before getting out and moving out of his truck. I moved to the back and got the bag which had my dress in it. Once I removed it Forrest reversed the truck and looked at me softly before driving away. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair and decided since no one was around, that I should get back into my dress. I went on the side of the road and pulled out my dress and with it was the hat Forrest had given me. I looked at it deeply before holding it to my chest for a minute. This was a terrible game I was playing and in the end would I win it?

I got dressed and swing the bag over my shoulder and kept walking down the silent road. In mere minutes I saw my house and dad was sitting in his rocking chair smoking. He looked so calm and I was almost afraid of this reaction. I kept walking and was unsure of what to say. Would he remember saying yes to Forrest while drunk? Once I was in front of the house dad looked down at me and gave me a small smile and I replied with a weak one.

"You have fun?" he asked. I gulped as I walked on the porch and looked down at him.

"Yes somewhat." I replied not sure if he meant at the party yesterday or with Forrest. He nodded.

"Well I don't see why he couldn't drop you off at the house but I'll let it go." he replied. I was still quiet nervous and I nodded.

"Alright we I am going to go get cleaned up." I said and moved to the front door.

"You know… that Brandon kid is a good boy. He's responsible. When we couldn't find you last night after Ray got into a fight with that Bondurant, we were planning to burn this whole place to the ground looking for you but that boy drove to our house and told us you were spending the night with him. At first I was going to demand he bring you home, but there was something about him, I liked so I told him it was okay and to have you home today. Did you have fun with him?" he asked. My eyes widened with shock and I froze. Brandon lied for me? I didn't understand why he would do such a thing.

"Yes. We only talked you know." I said and he nodded.

"I know that's what he said ya'll would be doing. Well go inside, your mom wants to hear all about your little…date." he said. I swallowed once more and nodded. I was surprised he didn't ask about the bag I carried but I was thankful he didn't. Once I was inside I managed to get to my room, take a shower, and get dressed in a white gown. I placed the bag of stuff under my bed and once I moved back into the living room mom caught me.

"Eula come here. Tell me what happened with Brandon. What did you all talk about?" she asked. I winced not sure what to really say, but the lack of men in the house made me notice the silence.

"Where is Ray and Arliss?" I asked. Mother was stirring something in a pot when she looked at me.

"They're down by the lake practicing their shooting. It seems Ray lost the fight last night with the Bondurant boy so he's pretty upset about it so Arliss took him to the lake for target practice." she informed. I felt a bit tense now.

"Momma you don't think Ray would just shoot them boys do you?" I asked. Mother shook her head.

"No, they're just blowing off some steam. So tell me do you like this boy?" she asked placing chopped carrots into the hot pot. I blinked and shrugged.

"I don't know momma, I mean. With me it's hard for me to know who I should like. I know I am black and should like black men but-"

"Oh don't talk like that. You love who you love honey. Whether he be white with black stripes or blue with green polka dots." she said with a wink and I giggled and looked away. I then was curious of something and looked back at her leaning against the wall.

"Momma, what do you think of the Bondurants?" I asked. She glanced at me for a second then shrugged.

"Just three boys trying to survive in this world just like everyone else. They may have a reputation, but I think they are lovely boys. Don't really want to hurt someone but will if they have to." she replied. I nodded and looked down.

"What about their moon shining?" I asked. She shrugged now and looked at me.

"I say if you can get away with doing what you love then do it until you die." she said with another wink and I tilted my head at her words.

"Now come on and help me bake some cake for desert." she said. I smiled.

"Yes ma'am." I replied and we spent the whole day talking about Chicago and what we missed there.

(Author's Notes)

Okay so here's the next chapter. Bare with me my lovelies college and other things get in the way of tom hardy XD anyways I hope you enjoy and reviewers there are probably a few errors with grammar but il try and keep those low don't tell me about them because I wont go back and change them as long as you understand the story then that's all that matters to me. Anyways I'll update soon! ^.^