Summer of Learning – Chapter 13

We stood there in shocked silence in the wake of my dad's angry outburst. I looked over to Sean, who still had a trickle of blood leaking from his nose, and went into autopilot mode. I grabbed a dish towel from the drawer, turned the fire off underneath the milk I had been heating, then moved to the freezer to gather some ice into the towel. I pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and wordlessly got him seated, tilting his head back and gingerly applying the impromptu ice pack. I stood there, holding it to his nose, running my free hand through his hair, trying to absorb what had just happened. It was like my mind couldn't accept this was real. Had I really just been kicked out of my parents' house?

"You okay?" Sean asked quietly, pulling me from my thoughts…or lack thereof.

"I…I don't know," was all I could think to say.

Sean closed his eyes and took the icepack from my hand, reapplying it to where he needed it more. "You might want to give your mom a heads up that your dad is on his way home and pretty pissed off."

I nodded, realizing after the fact that he couldn't see me, and drifted down the hall to his bedroom where my phone was still sitting on the charger. I glanced over to his side of the bed and saw his phone flashing on his nightstand, indicating he had a missed call – three missed calls in fact – all from my father. I went to look closer and, sure enough, his phone was sitting on vibrate. Of course it was. I hung my head; if he'd had the ringer turned on, we'd have been warned and this whole thing might not have even happened…at least not the way it just had. I pulled up my mom's number on my phone and called her. She picked up after the second ring. "Hi, hon," she answered.

"Mom?" and my voice broke, everything seemed to finally hit me all at once, and tears began flowing openly down my face. "Mom, I don't know what to do."

"What is it?" she asked. "Is it Sean? Did he do something?"

"No…no, nothing like that," I managed to choke out in between sobs. "Dad was just here. We didn't know he was coming. He…he knows about us and…he didn't take it so well."

"Morgan, what happened?"

"He punched Sean in the face. I think he broke his nose. And then he…he…" I couldn't say it. Saying it would make it all real.

"Honey, tell me."

"He kicked me out," I cried into the receiver. A cold chill ran down my spine; admitting it made it so much more real. God, what was I going to do?

"He kicked you out? Of Sean's?" my mother asked, sounding confused.

"No. He said that I shouldn't bother coming home…ever." My mother stayed silent on her end of the phone. I swallowed and pressed on, "I don't know what to do, mom. He's on his way back home now. He…he knows you know. I tried to tell him I asked you not to tell him, so I could do it myself, but…mom, he was so angry. I'm scared, I don't know what to do." I sniffled loudly and breathed deep, trying to control my tears.

It took a minute for my mom to answer. "Oh, Morgan…what all does he know?"

I cringed, hating having to tell her the news this way. "Well, he came in and saw me…still in my pajamas." Not exactly the truth, but close enough. "He saw my car out front but I guess he didn't recognize it under all the snow and ice, so he asked Sean whose it was and he said it was his girlfriend's and then dad came in and saw me and punched Sean."

Mom sighed, "So…he knows that you two…" she trailed off.

I nodded, "Pretty sure he put that one together real quick."

"Oh, Morgan…" I could just imagine her shaking her head slowly and rolling her eyes at me.

"That's, um…that's not all." I took a deep breath, braced myself and said quietly, "Sean asked me to marry him…and I said yes."

"WHAT?!"

My mom rarely ever yelled, so the sudden increase in volume directly into my ear shocked and deafened me at the same time.

"I know it's crazy…"

"You're damn right it's crazy!" she agreed angrily.

"…but I love him, mom. I really do, and he loves me."

Mom was silent for another minute before asking in a scarily even tone, "Is he there?"

"Yes."

"Put. Him. On," she demanded. I knew better than to argue. I padded out to the kitchen, finding him in the same position I had left him, and put the phone on speaker.

"Okay mom. He's here."

"What the HELL are you thinking?" she yelled through the speaker.

"Ya told her, huh?" he looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I only nodded and looked down at my hands in my lap. "Hi Em. I know you're pissed…"

"You're damn right I'm pissed. What the in the ever loving fuck are you thinking?"

Sean quietly sighed and carefully took the ice pack off his nose to sit up straighter, placing the towel on the table. "Emily, I love Morgan, more than anyone or anything I've ever known in my whole life. She makes me happy. It's like…like I didn't even know how miserable I was until we got together, and now…" He let out his breath in a puff. "I know this is crazy. I do. But it's real. I know what it looks like, but it's more than that, I promise. I love her and want to make her as happy as she makes me. I want to be the one to take care of her for the rest of our lives."

I fought back the fresh tears that threatened to fall. My heart was already bursting with love for this man, but this confession of all his feelings for me was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.

He leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and let his head drop, his eyes closed. "But Em, I'm not going to be the reason she gets kicked out of her own house."

What? My head snapped up to look at him, but his eyes were still closed. My stomach churned and dropped to my feet; I swear my heart stopped beating.

"If you're this mad, and Norman's ready to disown her or whatever…I can't do that to her. She means too much to me and I can't stand to see her cut off from her own family." He kept his head down and eyes closed as he spoke. "Her future and your family are more important."

Ice ran in my veins. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't even find words to argue, and by the tone of his voice, I knew anything I could come up with wouldn't matter. He'd apparently thought this through while I was talking to mom in his bedroom. I felt like my whole life was completely out of control, like the rug had been yanked out from under me and a proverbial storm cloud was down pouring right onto me. I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate, my head swimming in a foggy mess. How could this be happening? I almost pinched myself to make sure I wasn't in the middle of some awful nightmare.

It could have been minutes or hours before my mom spoke again; time seemed to stand still all around me. "Dammit, Sean. How the hell am I supposed to stay mad at you when you say shit like that?" I stared wide-eyed at my phone still sitting on the table. I knew she was still upset; mom almost never swore, but she was still letting the profanities fly. She sighed heavily before speaking again. "I wish to god Norman could have heard what you just said. If you really love her as much as you say you do, you will NOT just send her packing."

"But Em, I can't…"

"What would that look like, Sean?" Her question stopped him in his tracks. "The first problem comes along and you give up? Even if it is for her benefit, what would that look like?" We both sat quietly, knowing she'd continue, her question obviously rhetorical. "It sure wouldn't look like someone who's in it for the long haul. If you're serious about wanting to marry her, fight for her. God, I can't believe I'm saying this…" I could imagine her shaking her head again. "I mean it Sean. Prove him wrong."

"What about you and…"

"I'll handle my husband, although I don't think anything I say is going to sink in until he calms down in a month or so, plus now I have to figure out how to tell him that I've been keeping this all a secret from him…"

"Blame me, mom," I finally found my voice. "I was the one who begged you not to tell him."

"Morgan, honey, I appreciate it, but I think you're in enough hot water as it is. I'll take care of your father. You take care of Sean. Based on how he's sounding, I'm pretty sure your father broke his nose. You remember how to set it from your first aid class?"

I cringed at the thought of hurting Sean…and I knew that resetting the cartilage was going to hurt a lot. "Yeah…I might get him drunk first so he doesn't feel it."

"I doubt it will help much, but you can try. Don't wait too long, though. Load him up on aspirin first to help take the edge off. On second thought, just go with aspirin. Best not to mix pain killers with alcohol." My mother, ever the super-nurse. "Are you okay, Morgan?"

I took a shaky breath, my thoughts swirling within my mind. In less than half an hour, I'd been found out by my father, kicked out of my home, my boyfriend took a punch to the nose…from my father, then professed how much he loves me, then almost broke off our whole relationship. Now my mother was telling us to stay together, despite the fact that I knew she wasn't thrilled with us being together in the first place. Somehow, despite all the insanity, I was beginning to find the eye of the storm. It would be rough for a while, but we'd be okay…something deep down was telling me so.

"Yeah. A little freaked out, but I'm okay. I'm sorry, mom," I replied.

"Everything will work out, hon. I think I hear your dad pulling up now," she sighed heavily. "Here goes. Be careful, you two."

A tiny smile worked its way across my lips. "I love you, mom."

"Love you, too, Morgan. Bye," and she ended the call.

We sat quietly at the kitchen table for a while. I was still reeling from what had just happened, afraid for more than one reason. What if mom couldn't talk dad down? What if he stuck with his decision and I was no longer welcome in my home? Would I be able to get all my stuff? I said a quick prayer that mom would be alright, not that dad would ever do anything to her, but I didn't want their relationship to suffer because of me.

Then there was the pressing thought that Sean had been ready to end our own relationship. I was torn. On the one hand, he put my relationship with my parents above my relationship with him, which was noble to say the least. On the other hand, he'd been ready to call it quits so easily. It was like mom said, why hadn't he thought to fight for me, to make this work? And he'd come to that conclusion all on his own, not even mentioning it to me before suggesting it to my mom…not that he'd had a chance to talk to me about it. It was all just so confusing.

"So first aid class, huh?" his question broke the silence.

I nodded, "Yeah. Last year. Mom kinda talked me into it. She said it'd look good for college applications and resumes and stuff. I'll get you some aspirin and let it kick in, then I'll work on resetting your nose for you." I went to stand up, but his hand reached out and wrapped his fingers gently around my wrist.

"Hey," he stopped me. "Are you okay?" His eyes, full of concern, searched my face.

I nodded again and said quietly, "Yeah. I think so."

His fingers slid from my wrist to intertwine between mine. "Are…we okay?"

I paused before answering. "Let me work on your nose. Then we'll talk." I pulled my hand away and went down the hall to the bathroom to find some pain killers. While rummaging through his medicine cabinet I grabbed some gauze, surgical tape, and a towel. I laid everything out on the kitchen table and pushed Sean to move his chair around so I could get to him easily. I offered him the aspirin and a glass of water, "Take these."

He took the pills and washed them down. I gave him the hand towel and instructed him to blow gently. "I have Kleenex, you know," he looked up at me and cocked an eyebrow.

"Do you know how many Kleenex you'd need to…you know what? Just do it," I told him. I tried not to be mad at him, but I couldn't help but be a little miffed that he'd been so ready to just call it quits. My mother's voice was still echoing in my mind. The first problem comes along and you give up? If you're serious about wanting to marry her, fight for her. Why had he given up so easily? I pushed the thoughts to the back corner of my mind and focused on helping Sean.

"Okay," I started lightly pressing on his nose, trying to feel the break through the already swollen tissue. "Breathe deep through your mouth. This is gonna hurt." As far as I could tell there was only one spot where the cartilage wasn't aligned properly. I arranged my fingertips along the bridge of his nose. "One…two…"

"AAAAAA-OW! Mother fuck!" He jerked away from me.

I handed him the towel again. "I'm sorry…I did warn you."

He took the towel and wiped up the freshly flowing blood. "You didn't even give me to three!"

"Well, you would have tensed up and moved and I wouldn't have been able to set it right. Then we'd have to do it all over again. Now it's all done," I explained. Man, that came out really kind of mean. I tried for a gentler tack. "Come here," I ran my fingers through his shaggy hair and guided him back to face me. "I need to tape you up so it sets right." I worked the gauze and tape and got him all bandaged up. "Let's get you someplace more comfortable," I took his hand in mine and gently pulled him up and led him to the living room. I propped extra pillows on one end for him, pulled off his boots, and eased him back to recline on the couch. I returned to the kitchen to clean up the mess then found a bag of frozen peas in the freezer and went back to the living room. "These will work better than just ice. They mold to your face and, you know, don't melt. Keep them on there, though. We need to keep the swelling down," I said then took a seat at the other end of the sofa.

"Thanks," he mumbled weakly. Several long, quiet moments went by before he said, "So…we need to talk?"

I sighed internally and looked at him. He looked so pathetic; my heart just went out to him. "I guess so," was all I could get out. "It's just…a lot. Maybe I just need time to process, you know?"

Sean readjusted to see me better. "I know."

We sat together in silence, the only sound coming from the bag of peas on Sean's nose as he repositioned them to find a cold spot. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. "I just…I don't know, Sean. My dad just kicked me out and your first reaction was to dump me, too?" I glanced up as he took the makeshift icepack off his nose to look at me. "Keep that on there. You need to…"

"Fuck it," he cut me off, plopping the vegetables on the cushion between us and reaching for my hands. "Morgan, look at me." Our eyes met, mine full of worry, his full of determination. "I love you. I love you so much. I can't tell you how much it hurt to even think about the possibility of losing you. I would have been an absolute wreck. I probably lost my best and oldest friend today, and that hurts a lot, but it would kill me to lose you. The problem is, I hate to think about my feelings coming in between you and your family. So yeah, my gut reaction was to back off and let you work things out with your mom and dad." He paused and took in then released a long breath before continuing. "The thing is, your mom's absolutely right. What the hell kind of boyfriend…fiancée…husband…would I be if I just gave up on us so quickly? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell Norm earlier. I'm sorry I couldn't keep him outside. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I'm sorry for jumping to the easy way to solve this…problem. But Morgan," he tightened his grip on my hands. "I'm not going anywhere. I hope you aren't either. I'll take a beating from your dad every day if I have to, but I don't want to lose you. Not ever."

I didn't realize I'd been crying until I felt a drop land on my still bare leg. I thought about telling him this could have all been avoided if he'd had his phone on him, or at least so the ringer was on, but I didn't want to literally add insult to injury. I gave him a watery smile and half-laughed, half-sobbed. "I love you, Sean. So much." I leaned forward and kissed him, mindful of his bandaged nose. Apparently I wasn't careful enough; he hissed and winced away from me. My forehead wrinkled in concern. "Sorry," I whispered.

Sean grinned at me, but the rest of his face was still twisted into a grimace. "Worth it," he said, his voice a little strained. He pried his eyes open as the pain subsided. "So, you forgive me?"

"For taking a punch?"

"For being an idiot."

I grinned, "Yes, I forgive you. Some things just can't be helped." I giggled when he gave me a grimace and a raised eyebrow that spoke without words, "Really?" "You're not an idiot, Sean. Far from it."

"My nose would disagree with you," he said as he picked up the peas and reapplied them to his already bruising nose.

"I'm sorry, too, you know," I said softly.

Sean frowned but kept his head leaning back. "For what?"

"Well, for not telling dad earlier, for even starting to get mad at you, but I'm sorry you and dad aren't…aren't friends anymore because of me," I finished, fighting another round of fresh tears.

"Oh, I've pissed him off before and he's gotten over it. Granted I've never pissed him off this much…never thought he'd actually haul off and hit me." He shrugged, "We'll either work it out or we won't." I peered at me from beneath the plastic bag, "I meant what I said, though. I'm not going anywhere, no matter what. If he can't accept us, it'll suck…it'll suck a lot…but you mean everything to me."

"Me, too," I whispered. "I'm scared though. What if mom can't calm him down? What...what am I gonna do?"

Sean got that look on his face, the one he gets when he's working something out. After a minute he started his answer, "Well, we let your mom work on him first. He's been nuts about her since the day they met – he'll listen to her...eventually. Even if she can't get him to change his mind right away, she's gotta let you in to get your stuff." He paused, letting the words sink in. When I nodded for him to go on, he continued. "You start back up at school in, what, a week or so? So you go back, get back to work getting your degree, being all smart and studious like you always have been," he said with a grin. "And...you know you're always welcome to stay here."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, though I'm not sure why what he'd said surprised me. "Sean...are you asking me to move in with you?"

"That kinda goes along with getting married, doesn't it? I mean, you'd be moving in eventually anyway. We're just jump starting the process."

My heart fluttered and a smile stretched across my face. "Oh my god! Oh, I wish I could kiss you right now."

Sean moved so he was lying flat on his back, switched so his right hand was holding the peas on his nose and his left arm was stretched along the back of the couch. "C'mere." I crawled up to him, moving as carefully as I could, and lowered myself so I was partially laying on him, my head resting in the crook of his neck. His arm slid around me, across my back, until his hand landed just above my left hip. We relaxed against each other, my left arm draped over his strong chest. He pressed a small kiss to the top of my head, and I felt him wince again, but stayed still, not wanting to risk hurting him.

We lay there together for a long time, not sleeping, not talking much, just being with each other. His fingertips trailed delicate designs along the small of my back, and every so often I would press a kiss along his neck or his jaw, but there was nothing sexual about it. It was just us comforting each other, and I couldn't think of anything more romantic.

I reluctantly pulled myself away from him and went to the kitchen to make an early dinner. I whipped up a quick batch of grilled cheese and tomato soup, figuring we could both do with a little comfort food.

The rest of the night passed relatively smoothly. We went to bed decently early, my head on his chest, his arms around me. Through the course of the night, we ended up spooning, Sean curled around my back, his arm draped across my stomach.

I turned carefully to face him, and my heart broke for him. His nose was seriously bruised, with dark circles forming under his eyes. I wanted to kiss him so badly, kiss the bruises away, but knew that would cause him more pain than it'd be worth. Instead I crawled out of bed, got dressed right away, and set to getting breakfast going for the both of us.

I returned to Sean's bedroom and gently nudged him awake. He blinked his eyes open, and he just looked so adorable in his barely conscious state; I couldn't help but giggle. "Morning, sleepy head." Sean groaned in response, struggling to sit up and holding his head. "Headache?" I asked.

"Yeah," he croaked out.

I smiled at him, "I'll get you some more aspirin, and we should probably change out your gauze. Come on out to the kitchen when you're ready. Breakfast is on the table." I tried speaking softly, hoping my low volume wouldn't antagonize his headache any. Sean eventually joined me in the kitchen, and we took our usual spots at the table. We started eating, still not saying much to each other, but the silence was far from awkward. Finally, I spoke. "So…I need to go," I started.

Sean's head snapped up, causing him to frown and groan at the rush of pain from the sudden movement. "Oh…baby," I cooed. "You okay?" He nodded slightly, his eyes still clenched shut. I wasn't convinced. "You are on bed rest today. Just take it easy. I need to run to the store, grab some things, and…I need to go home. I've been wearing these two outfits for the past three...four days."

He looked up at me, a mix of emotions flashing across his face. He looked relieved, anxious, angry and yet incredibly loving all at once. "You're not buying me food," he finally declared adamantly, getting up from the table. He disappeared into his room and returned a minute later with some folded bills in his hand. He stuffed the money into my hand; I knew there was no negotiating and stuffed it into my front pocket. "I'm not thrilled about you going home all alone."

I gave Sean a sympathetic smile. "Baby, they're my parents. They may be mad at me, but I'm going to have to talk to them eventually. Besides," I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, "more than likely, they're both at work. We can't all be lucky enough to work from home." I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him tenderly on the cheek.

He sighed heavily. "At least let me dig you out of the driveway," he mumbled, his head hanging low, already knowing my response.

"Absolutely not," I said vehemently. "I'm more than capable of using a snow shovel and ice scraper, and you are in no condition to be doing anything strenuous like that." I gently laid my hands along the sides of his face. "Let me take care of you, okay? That's what this is all about, right? Us taking care of each other?" Sean nodded his head dejectedly, his face a pouty grimace. "I'll be back soon, I promise. You sit back and relax, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," he grumbled.

"Hey," I guided his face to look me in the eye. "I love you, so so much."

"I love you, too," he whispered. "Be careful, okay? On the ice and…when you're out."

I grinned up at him, "I will, baby." I kissed him gently on the lips. He flinched at even the slight contact. I touched his cheek gently, my thumb landing next to his nose. "Keep ice on that. It looks like it's starting to swell."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Quit nagging me and get going so you can get back."

"Yes, dear."

Not a super high action chapter, but an important one nonetheless. Thanks to SaraiVe for the great advice and foreverwishing for her patience.