Friends With Benefits

Other than Will’s awkward intrusion, my date with Fletch went about a million times better than I expected. Sure, he did the lame yawn-and-stretch thing at the movie theater, but we had a good time. He brought me home and, as if he hadn’t been violently tonguing me for nearly a year, Fletch even delivered a sweet, almost shy kiss goodnight to me on my doorstep when he dropped me off. It suddenly made sense to me what Sara had been saying for all this time, about how Fletch and I just sort of clicked. It was still hard for me to believe that I was on Cloud Nine and mooning over Fletcher Murphy of all people, but I had to give it up to him. The boy knew how to give a girl a good time. Our date was so dreamy I found myself calling up Sara as soon as it was over, squealing and babbling like an annoying middle-schooler about how perfect things were.

“And after the movie, he held my hand out into the parking lot,” I told her giddily. “And he gave me his jacket since it was slightly chilly out and it was a long walk to the car since he had parked far away from the theater. He was so sweet and he told me he didn’t want me to get sick…”

“Uh-huh,” Sara sighed disinterestedly. After all, she had been listening to me blather on about the whole thing for nearly thirty minutes.

“And then he drove me home and we talked about just about everything,” I went on. “And then he walked me to my door and he was so adorable. I thought he was just going to say goodbye and leave at first, but then he leaned forward and sort of brushed a piece of hair out of my head. I wanted to ask him to just kiss me and get it over with already, but he made a big deal about taking his time and pussyfooting around. But it was worth it. Fletch is a really awesome kisser you know…”

“So you’ve told me. Like six times already,” Sara sighed. “You know, I wouldn’t have encouraged you to go out with him if you were going to turn into a giggling nimrod over him.”

“Hey!” I said offended.

“So, you guys are officially together now?” Sara asked.

“I guess so,” I nodded. “I mean, he hasn’t called himself my boyfriend or whatever. But he is supposed to take me out tomorrow after he gets off work. He won’t have long, but we’re supposed to go out for ice cream together after dinner. Don’t you think that’s sweet?”

“Disgustingly sweet,” Sara said. “Have you guys decided how you’re going to tell Will?”

“I think he kind of already suspects,” I shrugged. “I mean, I told you he saw us at the mall, right?”

“No. Between the details of how Fletch kisses to your weird obsession with his fluttery eyelashes, Will never came up,” Sara said. “Spill.”

“Well, he was there with some blonde and got sort of freaked out about why Fletch and I were hanging out and hadn’t invited him. I still thought he was sick with mono and Fletch seemed to think the same thing,” I said. “Even if he wasn’t sick, I thought he was still grounded, too. Anyway, Will didn’t ask. He almost did, but Fletch changed the subject. I mean, I probably would have told him. I just about did, but before I could say anything, Fletch sort of told him to buzz off. It was almost like Fletch didn’t want Will to know we were dating.”

“So, you don’t think Fletch wants Will to know?” Sara asked.

“Yeah. I mean, Will might beat his head in,” I shrugged. “Will’s always going on about how I’m like a sister to him and I know Matt will probably give Fletch at least a purple-nurple when he finds out we’re dating. I guess Fletch doesn’t want Will to get mad at him or whatever.”

“What happened? It’s like you and Fletch did a freaky Friday!” Sara exclaimed. “I mean, this time last week, you were terrified Will would find out and it would ruin your chances of hooking up with him. Now you want to plaster your love for Fletch on billboards and he wants to go underground.”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “It’s just… I guess having sex changed stuff. I mean, I sort of realized it didn’t make any sense that I’m a-okay with Fletch seeing me naked but I was terrified to be seen with him in public fully clothed. And… you were really right about him. He’s really right for me. Fletch has changed a lot since fifth grade. I just never took the time to realize it. Of course, it’s hard to notice someone changing when it happens so gradually, I guess.”

“Well, as much as I’d loved to listen to another thirty minutes of how perfect Fletch is, I promised Eric I’d call him at his grandmother’s house so he had an excuse to get away from the family charades tournament for a while,” Sara said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I went to bed after hanging up with Sara and easily fell into a peaceful sleep, content with how my day had gone. When I woke up the next day, all I could do was think about and look forward to my plans with Fletch later that day. I slept in until about noon so, after eating lunch, I dove into my homework, hoping to distract myself from thinking about the evening with Fletch. I was a little embarrassed with myself with how quickly I was becoming nearly obsessed with Fletch. Much to my surprise, my mother seemed to sense something was up with how I was whistling and grinning around the house all day. She had set up to balance the check book while I was working and gently segued into the conversation.

“So, you’re going out with Fletcher again tonight?” my mother asked me curiously.

“Just for ice cream,” I said, worried she was going to tell me I couldn’t go or something.

“You went out with him last night too, didn’t you?” Mom questioned.

“For dinner and a movie,” I nodded.

“Well, I think it’s nice that you’re giving the boy a chance,” Mom said. “He’s been hanging around you for a while, so I’m glad to see he finally got up the courage to ask you on a date…”

“Well, I sort of did the asking,” I shrugged.

“Either way,” Mom said. “I think it’s sweet. I guess we’ll be seeing him around the house more, hmm?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged. “Just please don’t creep him out or something. And if Dad hasn’t figured it out yet, don’t tell him. I know Dad will get… weird…”

“Come on, sweetie. It’s a big deal that his little girl has her first boyfriend,” Mom smiled. I rolled my eyes at her.

“This is new to me, so can I get used to it first?” I begged.

“Alright,” Mom sighed, “but sooner or later, your father and I are going to want to have him over for dinner or something like that. This is a very big deal, Aileen.” I sighed, and after five minutes of begging her to drop the subject, she went back to her work and I went back to mine.

After supper, I rushed upstairs to get ready. Matt was home for the weekend and both he and my father seemed curious as to why I was so excited to finish up supper and why I had run to my room to change my clothes immediately after putting away my dishes. I anticipated Fletch coming a little earlier than he said he would so, before he could park and walk up to the door, I headed out of the house to greet him. The last thing I needed was for Fletch to get held up with my father and brother questioning him about his motives with me. Fletch was surprised to see me rushing out to see him and even more surprised when I grabbed him and pulled him back to his car.

“What’s wrong?” Fletch asked, worriedly.

“What’s wrong is my very large brother and my very stern father are both sitting in that living room and they seem rather curious as to why we’re hanging out two nights in a row,” I explained as we got into the car. “You should thank me, you know. I just saved you about thirty minutes of uncomfortable questioning with my dad and brother about why you should be allowed to take me out. Dad would be okay, but I have a feeling Matt might insist on coming with us if he figured out we’re… you know… together…”

“So… you haven’t told your folks?” Fletch asked nervously as he started up the car.

“My mom knows,” I explained, “but my dad and Matt… they’d get weird, you know? I don’t want them to… ruin things. I mean, Matt would remind my dad about all of the things teenage boys are interested in and, before long, they’d probably lock me up in my room or something.”

“What trouble could you get into?” Fletch shrugged. “I mean, we already had sex…”

“I really doubt telling my dad and Matt we had sex is the way to garner their approval,” I snorted. “I mean, you haven’t told your parents about it, have you?”

“God, no,” Fletch snorted. “My parents are still under the impression we’re too shy to kiss each other. And hopefully, they’ll stay that naïve at least until I go to college.”

“My point exactly,” I nodded. Fletch sighed and started up the engine, knowing he didn’t have any ground to stand on in our debate.

For the rest of the ride to the ice cream parlor, Fletch did what a good boyfriend should do and kept the topic of conversation to bland subjects, such as how much he hated stacking the bargain bins at the grocery store and how much I hated doing my math homework. The spring weather was just starting to settle into the area, and it was the first night in months were it was warm enough that sitting outside was enjoyable. After I got my double scoop of Chocolate Fudge and Fletch got his double scoop of Rainbow Sherbet, we opted to eat our cones outside at one of the parlor’s many picnic tables. Things between Fletch and I were almost painfully simple now and the easy contact between us was natural, as if it was always supposed to be this way. Of course, being the person I am, I couldn’t let well enough alone.

“So, I was thinking we could go over to Will’s tomorrow, sit him down, and tell him that we’re dating,” I said. “I mean, when he comes back to school on Monday, it’ll be pretty obvious by the way you and I are together… not to mention all of the gossip going around school. I don’t think we should spring it on him like that. And it will give him a little bit of time to get used to the idea.”

“Why does he have to get used to the idea?” Fletch muttered.

“Well, how do you think he’d react if he showed up to school on Monday and walked up to the two of us tonguing each other by my locker?” I snorted. “Might send the poor boy into shock.”

“I guess,” Fletch grimaced. His phone chirped and he pulled it out before looking at me. “Speak of the Devil. Will just texted me…”

“About what?” I asked.

“He wants to know if we can come over tomorrow afternoon. He’s got something he needs to talk to us about,” Fletch said as he texted back. “I just let him know we’ll be over around one-ish… that’s okay, right?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, a little worried. “Do you think he found out and now he’s mad?”

“I think if he knew he would want us over there right now…” Fletch frowned as his phone chirped again. His face got screwed up when he read the new message from Will.

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“He was just surprised we were together right now,” Fletch said, continuing to type. “I’m telling him we’re getting ice cream… God, I hope he doesn’t invite himself along…”

“I think he knows,” I frowned.

“Please,” Fletch snorted. “Will’s so obsessed with himself and so oblivious to everything around him that he could walk in on us doing it in his kitchen and he’d be too busy making a sandwich to notice…”

“I think he would notice something like that going on in his kitchen,” I rolled my eyes. “I mean, the sight of two naked people humping isn’t something that easily fades into the background. And you honestly think Will wouldn’t be remotely distracted by the sight of your bare ass where he has his bowl of Wheaties every morning?”

“So you admit my ass is distracting?” Fletch grinned. I snorted as his phone chirped again and he grunted, checking his new message from Will with a grimace.

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“Will’s being an ass,” Fletch grimaced. “He messaged me back and said it was a good thing we didn’t invite him along since he had a date and all.”

“He’s probably just jealous that I’m keeping you all to myself,” I teased Fletch. “I bet you never invite him out for ice cream just the two of you…He probably wants your bod…”

“Gross,” Fletch grimaced. “And how come you’re allowed to make jokes about Will wanting my bod but I can’t say ‘butt hump’?”

“Double standard,” I shrugged.

“You know, you wouldn’t be able to get away with shit like that if you weren’t so damn attractive,” Fletch snorted.

“I can’t help that I use my looks to my advantage,” I rolled my eyes. Fletch looked at me funny and I shot a similar look back. “What?”

“You got ice cream on your face,” Fletch informed me.

“Where?” I asked.

Instead of telling me, Fletch leaned forward and licked off the bit of ice cream that was right next to the corners of my lips. Before I could tease him about his obvious ploy, he had moved his mouth over slightly so his lips were pressed against mine. As if he was trying to push his luck even further, Fletch decided to continue on and try tasting me, slipping his tongue deftly into my mouth for the briefest moment. It seemed he decided to press his luck any further and withdrew slowly without further intrusion, grinning broadly at me as he sat back where he had been on the picnic table before.

“You’re think you’re sly, don’t you?” I smirked.

“Maybe,” Fletch said with a grin.

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” I told him.

“What?” Fletch asked.

“If you want to kiss me, you don’t have to pull stunts like that,” I said.

“Well, then,” Fletch smirked. “Thanks for letting me know.” With that, he leaned over and gave me a kiss that sent tingles all the way to my toes. Not even ice cream tasted as sweet.