Count Me the Hours

I woke up some time later and rolled over. Garrett was on the couch across the room, asleep. I smiled to myself and left the bed, dragging a blanket with me. I slid onto the couch with him, covering us with the blanket. He groaned and opened his eyes, feeling my weight on him.

"What time is it?" he asked, yawing as he slid an arm around my waist.

"Six, I think," I said with a shrug, burying my face in the warmth of his neck.

"We should probably get going."

"Get going where?" I asked, surpressing a yawn.

"Fireworks down at the football field. Thought we could walk down there."

"I like that idea," I said quietly, kissing the skin of his neck once.

"We should get up then," he said with a sigh. Silently, I slid off of the couch, tossing the blanket on the bed. He stood up and pulled me to him, kissing me once.

I smiled and routed through my suitcase for a pair of jeans and different shirt. I stepped into the bathroom and changed quickly. I swiped one of Garrett's sweatshirts from a pile on his desk and pulled it on over my t-shirt.

"Want to pack us a bag? Like, put a blanket and some random stuff in there?" Garrett suggested, tugging off his shirt to change quickly.

I nodded and emptied out my tote from earlier. I folded a blanket from the closet and managed to fit it into the bag.

Garrett slid an arm around me from behind me. He kissed the top of my head and asked, "Ready?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod. He grabbed his keys and his phone and shoved them in his pocket before taking my hand and leading me out the door.

The twenty minute walk to the field was uneventful. We walked in near silence, our fingers laced together. When we arrived, we found a spot near the back of the field and set out the blanket.

I was already shivering when we sat down, even though it was still relatively warm outside. When we sat down, Garrett pulled me to him and I settled between his legs, leaning back against his chest.

"Gare?" I asked quietly, enjoying the warmth he was giving off.

"Hmm?"

"I feel like I don't know you anymore."

He laughed quietly, tightening his arms around me. "What do you mean?"

"I was gone for three years, and sure we've been together constantly over the last few weeks, but interest wise, I feel like I don't really know you much. It sounds stupid, I know," I said, shrugging it off.

"Fine, question game. What's your favorite dessert?" he asked, diving right in.

"Uhm, pink lemonade pie," I said after a moment's thought.

"What the hell is pink lemonade pie?"

"It's really good. It's pink lemonade powder mixed with vanilla ice cream and Cool Whip and you put it in a pie crust and you freeze it. It's amazing so your argument is invalid," I explained laughing.

"Whatever you say, babe. Your turn," he said, kissing the top of my head.

"Okay. Favorite Adam Sandler movie?" I questioned.

He answered and the game continued for a while. The questions ranged from completely random to serious, about anything under the sun.

"What is your biggest regret?" I asked. By now, it was nine o'clock and completely dark. It was rather cold outside and despite my jeans and sweatshirt, I was still shivering.

"Taking Ellie Norman to prom my senior year. Dear God, she was like a leech!" he exclaimed, his voice raising a bit.

"She sucked your blood?" I joked, looking back at him.

"No. She was like, attached to me. As soon as we got in the car after the dance, she like tried to fuck me right then and there!"

"Did she succeed?" I teased.

"I'm pretty sure you just asked your question for the round," he informed me, holding his nose in the air. I laughed, nudging him in the ribs.

He opened his mouth to ask me a question but was cut off by a loud bang as the first firework exploded over us. I smiled at the sight and rested more of my weight back against him.

The fireworks were great. With the colors exploding in the sky, it was easy to forget about everything that was going on around me. All I could concentrate on was fireworks, as well as Garrett's presence.

They lasted forty-five minutes, and when they were done Garrett and I stood up, stretching our stiff limbs. We folded the blanket and shoved it back in the tote. We started walking, avoiding the high amounts of traffic.

We stopped at a nearby gas station and got some hot chocolate to warm us up a bit and began the walk back to Garrett's house.

"Hey," Garrett said, a few minutes into the walk.

"What?" I asked, smiling up at him.

"Come here," he told me quietly, pulling me to him. He kissed me softly, then with more passion behind it. A passing car honked at us and we pulled apart enough to laugh.

We kissed again as a roll of thunder sounded before a downpour of rain started.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Garrett yelled up at the sky. I couldn't help but laugh at his anger before I kissed him softly.

"Ready?" I asked him, slipping my hand out of his n

"For what?" he questioned, sounding confused.

I winked before taking off running, my shoes pounding against the pavement. I ran through the already formed puddles, my shoes quickly soaking right through.

"You cheated!" I heard Garrett yell from somewhere behind me.

"You're just too slow!" I yelled back, laughing.

We ran for ten minutes, before I heard Garrett offer up a surrender.

"I give up, you beat me!" he exclaimed, holding a hand up before crouching to catch his breath.

"Pretty good, babe," I teased, turning around to walk back to him. I patted him on the shoulder and he looked up at me.

Rain was running down his face and his hair was soaked and hanging in his eyes. He was breathing deeply and I couldn't help but smile.

By this point, I was soaked down to the bone, my hair plastered to my head and shoulders. I wiped upder my eyes to discover that there were trails of black streaming down my face from my mascara and eyeliner.

"We look phenomenal," I said jokingly, pushing a hand through his wet hair, messing it up.

"Of all the nights it could rain, dammit," he grumbled.

"Cheer up, Gare," I teased, kissing him softly. I pulled away and he frowned.

"Let's go," he said, taking my hand again. We walked quickly back to
the house that was only a few minutes away.

Once we got in the house, we both looked at each other and started cracking up. We looked ridiculous and we were well aware of it. When the humor subsided, we kicked off our soaked shoes and dropped the tote near the door.

Quickly, we retreated to Garrett's room, yearning for warm, dry clothes. We reached the room and as I was grabbing a change of clothes, Garrett flipped on the lamp beside his bed.

"Tallulah?" he said, standing behind me.

"Hmm?" I asked, turning around.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed me very sensually, his tongue gliding over my bottom lip slowly.

"You're freezing," he whispered, brushing his lips over mine slowly. All I could will my body to do was nod. "Raise your arms."

I did as he instructed and he slowly pulled the cold, soaked sweatshirt off over my head. Next, he removed my t-shirt, exposing the skin of my torso, cold and clammy.

"Gare," I said as I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. I pulled him down to me, kissing him rather roughly. I toyed with the hem of his shirt and he pulled away, holding his arms up. He pulled his lips from mine, his eyes boring into mine. I took a deep, shaky breath as I tugged the cold, wet fabric up his torso and over his head.

Garrett's fingers danced over the bare skin of my midriff, raising goosebumps along my flesh. He smiled down at me, biting the corner of his bottom lip in such a way that I found myself pressing against him, completely unable to control my actions.

He weaved a hand through my hair, pushing it away from my face. By this time, my heart was thundering, every nerve in my body completely on end. The feeling of his skin against mine was enough to make my heart beat even faster, and at the point, I hadn't even thought that was possible.

His thumb rubbed over my bottom lip slowly as he watched me intently. His eyes were clouded with lust, like I'm sure mine were. I smiled rather bashfully and glanced away for a second. When my eyes returned to him, he winked quickly before kissing me again, full on the lips. His thumbs latching through the belt loops on my jeans, holding my hips directly against his.

Loosening up, I pressed both hands against the flat pane of his torso, moving them slowly up to his chest, and up along his shoulders. His head lulled back a bit as he let out a throaty groan. I smirked, bringing him back down to me.

Effortlessly, he unbuttoned my jeans and began pushing them down my hips. We both laughed, rather anxiously as we ended up having to basically peel them off before of how rain soaked they were.

Self-conciously, I stood there before him in only my bra and underwear. He placed a hand on the bare skin of my hip, kissing me again slowly and erotically. His lips moved from mine to my jaw, down to the sensitive skin of my neck. I inhaled sharply, my arms going around his neck, holding him there as kissed and lightly sucked on the skin of my neck.

With my heart thundering in my chest and my face completely on fire, I slid a hand between us, tugging at his belt, loosening it. Finally, it came free and I undid the button of his jeans with shaking hands. In a bit of a rush, I managed to push them down his hips enough that he could kick them off.

Our mouths came together very feverishly as our bodies pressed together. Taking me by surprise, he lifted me up enough for me to wrap my legs around his hips. As he walked slowly to the bed, our lips not disconnecting once, my hair fell light a curtain covering us.

"Tallulah, you are so gorgeous," he told me after he laid me down very gently. I smiled, putting my hand on the back of his neck to bring him down to me.

Leaning up a bit, I managed to move my lips down to his neck. I teased his skin, alternating between light kisses and a few occasional nibbles. With ease, I found his pulse point, below his ear, sucking on it gently. His response was to moan slowly, his pulse increasing a bit more.

His pressed his lips against mine roughly, his hands trailing up from my hips up to the clasp of my bra. He pulled away and looked at me for consent. All I could do was nod and he wasted no time in unclasping it and pulling the lacy purple fabric from my body.

"Tallulah, are you okay with this? Do you want to do this?" he asked, taking a few deep breaths as he looked down at me.

I pressed my lips together after taking a few deep breaths of my own. "Yeah," I said, my voice rather shaky. He smiled, kissing me softly.

For a few minutes, that's all we did. Our bodies were pressed together so that not even a piece of paper could fit between us. Had we not been down to our skivies, the whole situation would have seemed completely innocent.

"Tallulah," he paused to brush his lips over mine, "can I tell you something?"

I blinked up at him, pushing his hair off his forehead before nodding. He kissed the bare skin of my shoulder before my jaw, then my lips.

"I love you," he told me, looking me right in the eye.

As soon as the words left his lips, I giant knot twisted in my stomach, killing the butterflies that had been running wild. I let out a deep breath, trying to calm the overwhelming feeling of nausea brewing in my stomach.

Finding my discarded bra, I clutched it in my hand before sitting up, causing Garrett to roll to his side. I sat on the edge of the bed, my head in my hands.

"Hey, hey, hey," Garrett said, quickly on his knees on the bed behind me. "What's wrong?"

I sat there in silence, staring at a random spot on the floor of his room. My entire body felt numb, void of all the amazing feelings I'd had only moments before.

"I can't do this, Gare," I said, my voice cracking slightly.

"That's fine, I promise. We don't have to, we can just go to bed," he assured me, rubbing my shoulders gently.

Saying nothing, I put my bra back on before standing up. I found a pair of dry jeans and a dry shirt, pulling them on silently. I tossed what I could in my suitcase before Garrett said anything.

"Where are you going?" he asked sounding stern.

"I can't so this," I muttered, looking away from him completely.

"You said that already."

"I can't do any of this. The wedding, the drama with John, us, it's too much. I need to be at home, where I belong. I need to go home." I explained, trying to keep from hyperventilating.

"You can't be serious," he said, scoffing as though this were some bad joke. He looked at me and from his expression, it seemed like I'd kicked him in the gut.

"I'm sor-" I started, but he cut me off.

"Don't apologize. Just please, stay," he pleaded, licking his lips.

"Gare," I said quietly, feeling tears sting in my eyes.

"Tallulah, please, don't leave. I am begging you," he said, dropping to his knees. "I am on my knees, begging you not to leave. I love you."

The mournful, pleading tone to his voice broke my heart and at the same time, it scared me to death. I knew he meant it, that he loved me. I wanted nothing more than to apologize for my actions and crawl into bed with him, but every cell in my body was itching to leave, to get the hell out of Arizona.

"I have to go," I said, looking at anything but him before I turned and left.

Twenty minutes later, I showed up on Dree and Stephen's doorstep, at that point, full out sobbing. It was still raining. Stephen answered the door, looking completely shocked.

"Stephen, what is it?" I heard Dree ask as she approached. She appeared in the doorway, a peach colored, short silk robe wrapped around her. "Oh my God," she said, wrapping an arm around me, pulling me into the apartment.

Fifteen minutes later, I found myself in a hot bath, soaking the cold out of my bones. My hair was pulled high on my head in a bun that Dree has fashioned for me as she waited for thebath to fill.

She hadn't asked questions, only brought me right into the bathroom
and sitting my down on the closed toilet seat. She left and returned a few minutes later with a complete change of clothes and a big mug of hot chocolate spiked with a bit of vodka, "For your nerves," she had said.

I came to a point that the tears had run out and just let myself sit there in the hot water. Taking another sip from the mug, I picked up my cell phone from the floor and dialed Sarah's number.

"You always call at the best moment," she said and I could hear the smile on her face. Just hearing her voice sent me into another fit of tears. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

I explained to her the jist of what had happened, controlling my tears.

"You just left?" she clarified when I was done.

"Yeah," I said hiccupping quietly. "I'm booking a flight home in the morning. I can't stand it here anymore, Sarah." I rubbed my forehead with a wet hand, sending a few trails of water down my face.

She said nothing in response to that, but took her time assuring me that everything would end up fine. We talked for a few more minutes before hanging up.

I downed the rest of my spiked hot chocolate and pulled the plug from the drain and stood up, drying off.

When I left the bathroom and put my mug in the kitchen sink, Dree suprised me, sitting at the kitchen table.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked, only glancing up at me as she circled her index finger along the rim of the mug in front of her. I shook my head and she nodded, coming to an understanding. "There's a blanket and pillow for you on the couch. We might have a bed for you tomorrow, but for now, you get the couch. Help yourself to whatever you want from the cabinets and the fridge," she explained.

"Thank you for this," I said, staring down at my bare feet as I spoke.

"No problem, sweetheart," she said with a warm smile, hugging me tightly. "Bed time for me," she stated, excusing herself.

I walked into the living room with a heavy sigh. I unfolded the blanket she'd laid out for me and laid down.

It was the first time since I'd been in Arizona that I was sleeping alone, or morely, sleeping without Garrett by my side.

After forcing my body to relax, I finally slipped into a restless sleep.