Novy: She had to find another way to get the truth out, lol. And yay, it worked out pretty good.
Ellie: Oh yeah, she’s a real loser,
. PART 21
We all glance up when the swinging door is pushed open and Michael walks in, balancing several empty plates and glasses in his hands. He looks at us, startled for a few seconds, before finally speaking up. "Sorry, just wanna drop this off in the kitchen."
"Okay," Liz nods and gets up to take the dishes from him to carry them into the kitchen.
He hands her the stuff and looks back at us other girls in the room. "I have the feeling you’re talkin’ about me, so... I’ll leave again." He turns to leave the backroom.
"No, wait," I tell him and get up from the couch.
He stops in his tracks and looks at me questioningly. "Come on," Courtney hisses to Tess, bumping her with her shoulder. "We're leaving."
"Just when it gets interesting," Tess mutters, but grins at me.
I wait until all three girls have left us alone in the backroom, before I take a step towards Michael. From the looks he gives me, I can see he's insecure about what I am going to say.
"I've talked to the bitch who claims she slept with you last week," I start and he almost smirks at my choice of words. Almost.
He leans back against the wall next to the door. "I don't know if I should be worried or relieved now, Maria," he admits. "I know that she’s lying, but if she told you some crazy shit that I can't prove is wrong, then..." He shrugs helplessly.
"She told me you were at your apartment together."
He snorts. "As if I would ever bring someone else to my home. Ya know my mother, she has like the sixth sense and knows everything. She would kick my ass if I brought someone other than you."
I laugh quietly. That was true, for some reason, Darcy knows everything that goes on around her house, no matter if it happens in the middle of the night. "She also told me that sex in a waterbed is better than anything and she likes your black bathroom furniture."
He frowns. "Black furniture? I don't..."
I press my index finger against his lips and nod. "She made it pretty clear to me that she didn't take one step in your apartment for a very long while now. She just ran in my trap like she was supposed to. Stupid girl, what did you ever see in her?"
"Nothin’ that really matters," he admits and his hands move to rest on my hips carefully. He takes his time to see if I am okay with it. "Ya know, I used to be pretty superficial before you."
We get interrupted when someone walks in to get some napkins. I wait until he leaves before talking again. "I should have believed you, when you told me the truth. Sorry."
He shakes his head. "Don't apologize for something that’s my fault. I know I..."
Again the door is opened and a girl walks into the bathroom. "Good grief," he mutters and takes my hand to pull me into the store room, locking the door behind us.
I squeal, surprised when his arm comes around me to lift me up on the small counter in there. "Okay, I know that we said we would talk later but fuck that. I need to get this outta my head and every single minute that goes by while I try to figure out what to tell ya is makin' me insane. What I was about to say: I know my own behavior is the reason why ya didn't trust me. I hurt you," he says and makes a face. "Intentionally." He takes a deep breath and rests his hands on each side of the counter next to me while his brown eyes connect with mine. "I thought making you hate me would be easier for you in the end... Ya know... To forget me. I didn't want this slow and painful end for us that I was sure would happen to us after high school."
"I..." I start, "I... Don't really know what to say, sorry."
He nods, letting one hand drive through his hair. "Okay, I’ll be totally honest here, Maria. I know I have to, if there is still a chance for us. I still don't believe a long distance thing could work for us. I can't imagine seein’ ya only a few times a year, I don't want that. When you gave me that letter with your acceptation at California," he shakes his head, "I felt like crap. I knew I had screwed it up and all I could think about was your disgusted face the morning I told you I cheated on you."
"It hurt," I croak out. "It hurt like nothing else before."
"Damn, I'm so sorry, baby." He pulls me into his arms. His hand runs along my arm, over the shoulder to the back of my neck.
I know he is hurting as well right now and accusations for what he’s done won't get us anywhere. "I couldn't believe it. I mean, I’d already sensed before that you were pulling away from me, but... The possibility of cheating never even occurred to me until you said it."
He gently pushes me away from him, taking my face in both of his hands. "Believe me, there was no time, not even a small moment, where I considered such a thing. I would betray myself if I did."
His thumbs caress my cheeks softly. I can't help but lean into his touch with closed eyes. "I know I probably have no right to and I don't even deserve it, but I am asking you for a second chance, Maria," he whispers gently.
I can feel him holding his breath while he waits for my reaction. He has put himself out like never ever before, I know it was hard for him to talk to me about stuff including his feelings. My eyes flutter open as I look at him again, his hands move away from my face to rest on my thighs. "We can't go on from where we ended things," I start and my words hurt him, I can see it. I grab a hand full of his tee shirt when he starts to pull away.
"We’re gonna have to change something. First and most important, you’re gonna have to talk to me, Michael. You can't just assume all by yourself what would be better for us. We saw where that leads. I am a part of our relationship as well and if there is a decision to be made that includes both of us, then damn, Michael, talk to me. And don't come up with some shit like you did with this."
He nods dumbly, biting his lip. "Guess I've learned that lesson now."
"I know ya don't talk about emotional stuff often and I don't expect you to tell me every day that... Ya know... That you have feelings for me. But I expect you to open your mouth when you have the feeling that something’s going wrong." I look at him questioningly. "Think you can do that?"
"Gonna talk your ear off if it’s necessary to get ya back." He tells me with a small smirk, but gets serious again then and nods.
I let go of his tee shirt again when I am sure he is not pulling back anymore. "Okay, second is you have to earn my trust back, Michael. I mean, I do believe now that you wouldn't cheat on me, but still... This lie you told me destroyed something."
"I kick myself every day for that," he tells me honestly.
"Uh-huh, I can help you with this from today on," I tease to lighten up the mood a little.
He chuckles. "Promise?"
"Oh, there is one more thing," I tell him.
He lets his head hang. "Should’ve known there was gonna be a third condition."
"An' important one," I underline.
"Ya know I'd do practically anything right now," he tells me, amused, but I know he means it.
"Ya gonna have to help me to get rid of this huuuge sexual frustration that I’ve somehow built up over the last past days."
Michael smirks and uses his hands on my thighs to bring me closer towards him. "I don't think that’s gonna be a problem. We can get rid of this frustration pretty soon."
"Yeah?" I breathe.
"Sure," he nudges my face with his nose. "I've always been better with the body than the talking." He pulls away slightly to look into my eyes. "Tryin' to get better with the other thing as well now... for you."
"For us," I correct him.
"For us," he replies in a whisper against my lips, before he takes them in a hot, longing kiss.
For the first time since the last two weeks I have the feeling that everything is gonna be alright again. I grab his collar with both hands to hold him close this time. My body is moving against him, searching for more contact.
“In a rush?” He groans slightly as I brush against the bulge in his jeans.
Instead of answering, I bite his bottom lip, sucking on it playfully.
“I wish we could just go home now,” he admits huskily, his forehead resting against mine as we both gasp for air. His hands move under my tank top, leaving a trail of goosebumps on my skin. “But considering the death glares Liz and Tess have been givin’ me lately I should probably not leave ‘em alone with the cleanup in the Crashdown.”
“Yeah, you better get in with them again. They were pretty supportive of me the last few days.”
He nods. “That’s good.”
His hands don’t stop moving over my bare skin beneath the top. I groan slightly when they brush against the sides of my breasts and down my sides. I straighten up, stretching my neck to pull his mouth into another kiss. He shifts his stance while deepening the kiss, his tongue slips out to run over the edges of my teeth, before moving in deeper to caress mine.
Right now, my frustration is getting worse rather than getting better. He keeps his touches light, barely noticeable. And the fact that his fingertips wander over my legs now, up on the inside and down on the outside, only makes things worse since he’s ignoring the parts where I want so badly to be touched. “Michael,” I groan. “Ya promised different than that.” I let my palm run over his hard, denim-covered length to show him what I mean.
He chuckles, sounding a little strangled. “I said soon, just not right here and now.”
“Why not?” I pout and repeat my touch from just a moment ago.
“Stop that, baby,” he groans and takes my wrist with his hand to keep me from touching him. “It’s been a long time for me too and if ya keep doin’ this then I’m gonna have to explain a wet spot on my jeans.”
I giggle. “That would be a scene to imagine.”
He makes a face. “Ya don’t wanna put me through that, do you? I mean, I deserve some punishment, but that would embarrass me in front of everyone…”
I pretend to think about it. “Well, okay, so no touching for you. But what about me?”
“What about you?”
“Yeah, I can hide…. an orgasm, ya know?”
He snorts, but gets closer again, taking my chin between two fingers to raise it up. “I know how ya look like after an orgasm and Maria, believe me, it would be obvious to everyone.”
“Ya no fun today,” I complain, not very serious though.
“No fun, huh?” He breathes against my lips. “Well, I can’t accept that.” His hands come back to my thighs again and he spreads my legs further apart gently before they start to move upwards, his thumbs on the inside.
He shakes his head, when I start to squirm around to get his hands further upwards. “Don’t move.”
I am about to protest, when the knuckles of his curled fingers on his right hand brush against the jeans between my legs. I take in a sharp breath; my body immediately starts to react to his touch as he repeats the motion again. “Do ya know how gorgeous ya look at this moment, Maria?” he whispers, his eyes seeming to stare right into my soul.
I don’t know what to say, when my lips move, but no sound escapes them. There is nothing unusual about my look today and yet I know from his tone that he’s sincere. I am so happy in this moment, realizing that I am as special to him as he is to me. His mouth settles over mine in a tender, endearing kiss, the feeling I get from it comes from deep inside, it is pulling on my heart and seems to close some of the wounds it’s gotten lately.
“Guerin,” a fist pounding on the door interrupts us unpleasantly. “I know ya in there.”
Michael ends the kiss as gently as it began. He looks at me with a flimsy smile on his lips that still reaches his eyes. “Figured they’d come after us sooner or later.”
“Seems like,” I babble, not really knowing what he said. My mind is still clouded from the moment we just shared together. It’s not anything sexual, it’s a lot of more than just that and it feels stronger than anytime before.
“Guerin! We wanna take the pics for the yearbook, so get ya ass out here now.”
“Go,” I croak out. “They won’t leave us alone anyway.”
“What about you?”
“I guess I’ll visit the bathroom first.” I need to cool down before I face anyone again.
He nods and pulls me down from the counter. “Ya wanna make this official again? Ya know, that we’re back together?”
I frown. “Sure, why would I want to hide it?”
He shrugs with a grin. “There might be some girls out there who’re ready to kill you again.”
I snort. “Bring’em on! I’m happy to kick all their asses.”
