Friends With Benefits

I hitched a ride with Will to the hospital at eight-thirty that morning so we could be there the second they allowed visitors in at nine. We ended up getting there before even Fletch’s parents and, since the morning hospital staff was a little more lax, they let us back to see Fletch before visiting hours had even started. I was glad to see Fletch was already up and awake, having changed out of his hospital gown into street clothes in anticipation of going home. His arm was no longer in a sling, but he had a thick cast on and was grumbling about his attempts to get his sleeve over the wrappings.

“Don’t worry man,” Will assured him, causing Fletch to turn around and grin, happy to see us. “Guys with injuries get tons of ass.”

“Hey!” I said in mock offense. Fletch laughed and pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head.

“You can keep my sling, then Will,” Fletch said. “I’m sure it’ll come in handy – no pun intended.”

“How’s your head?” I asked, brushing away some of Fletch’s hair to see the scar trailing down the side of his forehead to his ear where some glass had cut him.

“Better,” he admitted. “Didn’t hurt as much this morning. I took some Tylenol this morning and I should be good for the day.”

“And your arm?” I asked.

“I’ve got pain pills, but it doesn’t really hurt,” Fletch said.

“We’d take you home now, but your parents kind of have to sign you out,” Will said.

“Stupid protocol,” Fletch agreed. His stomach grumbled and I glared at him.

“Did you eat breakfast?” I asked him.

“Hospital breakfast was nasty,” Fletch shrugged.

“I’ll go get you something out of the vending machines,” I sighed. “You need to eat so your body can work on healing itself…”

“Okay, okay,” Fletch sighed. I gave him a kiss on the cheek, not wanting to be overly affectionate in front of Will who was still coming to terms with things, and then headed down the hallway to get Fletch some breakfast.

I managed to get him a package of pop-tarts, some chocolate milk, and snagged an apple from the fruit basket they had for the children’s wing patients before heading back into the room. I basically skipped back to his room, knowing that Fletch was healthy and would be coming home. I had planned to spend my entire Saturday with him and hadn’t completely ruled out making the sexy nurse fantasy Fletch had mentioned the day before come true. I stopped when I got to his hospital room since I heard him and Will talking. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop or be a busy body, but what Will said sort of froze me in my tracks.

“Seriously, Fletch, of all the girls you had to fall in love with, you had to pick Ailee,” Will sighed.

“I didn’t pick her. It just happened” Fletch replied.

“I guess,” Will sighed. “Do you know how really fucking awkward this makes things now?”

“I have a general idea,” Fletch admitted.

“Well, I guess I had my chance and I totally blew it,” Will shrugged. “Actually, maybe I never really had a chance. I mean, you guys fit together and… I guess we’re just better off as friends. I never really apologized, but I’m sorry about what happened.”

“I’m sorry about it too,” Fletch admitted. “I could have handled it a lot better than I did. I’d wager most of this was my fault anyway for overreacting.”

“So, I’m forgiven?” Will asked.

“Yeah,” Fletch said. “As long as you never try to snake my girlfriend again. And I’m sorry about attacking you in the parking lot. And not listening to you about Lenny’s feelings.”

“We’re cool,” Will said as they did some sort of weird fist-bump handshake thing. “So… you and Ailee… like did it?”

“How’d you know that?” Fletch gaped.

“She told me. Right after you went batshit and broke up with her,” Will replied. “Just all came tumbling out…”

“Yeah,” Fletch said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “I guess it just sort of happened…”

“Well, if it happens again, can it not happen in the treehouse?” Will asked. “I keep my childhood memories up there and I’d rather not think of you boning a girl who is practically my sister every time I walk by there.”

“Dually noted,” Fletch shrugged. There was a short pause and I took that opportunity to step into the room, like I hadn’t just been eavesdropping on them.

“Here’s breakfast,” I said cheerfully, handing it to Fletch. I looked between the two of them, who were both a little embarrassed. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Sports,” they both said at the same time. I raised an eyebrow but let it go. Inwardly, I smiled, knowing my best friend and my boyfriend, two of the most important people in my life, had finally gotten back on good terms with each other.

Fletch’s parents and Kristy arrived soon after. They spent about thirty minutes getting instructions from the doctor on how Fletch shouldn’t scratch down in his cast and what to do if any problems arose. Then they spent another forty-five minutes signing all of the dismissal papers before a heavy-set middle-aged female nurse sporting a quart of lipstick and a mustache most high school guys would envy pushed Fletch out to the car in a wheelchair. He had argued about the wheelchair until he was snippily told by the aforementioned nurse he wouldn’t be able to leave if he didn’t go on a short wheelchair ride first. It was nearly eleven when we finally left the hospital, so Mr. Murphy proposed all of us go to lunch together to celebrate Fletch’s release and full recovery.

Lunch was he first time that I felt Will, Fletch and I were out together as friends who were completely honest with one another. While Will joked around with Fletch’s parents, Fletch and I held hands under the table. I didn’t like the itchiness of his cast, but being able for his fingers to hold mine was a sensation I had missed over the course of the past week. After lunch, Will was kind enough to drop me off at Fletch’s place so we could hang out for the rest of the afternoon. My parents understood that I wanted to be with Fletch after his accident, so they weren’t pushing me to have family time that weekend.

Once we arrived his house, Fletch answered a few worried questions about his condition from his parents and then pulled me up to his bedroom where the two of us could get some much needed privacy. We ended up on his bed with Fletch’s unbroken arm draped around me as he propped himself up on his pillows. He had the TV in his room turned on, but I wasn’t even sure what station we were watching since we had been talking the whole time. I was surprised that, after a full week, Fletch didn’t try to immediately rip off my pants. It wasn’t odd that he just wanted to sit together and cuddle, but I was a little surprised he didn’t want to at least make out a little. After all, my hormones were a little supercharged after a torturous week without any sort of release.

“Dad said the insurance money from the other guy should cover the hospital visit as well as the car,” Fletch informed me. “It’s not too awful much money, but with some of the cash I’ve saved up from the grocery store and what my parent are willing to contribute, I might be able to get a rather nice used car sometimes soon…”

“That’s nice,” I nodded, cuddling my head into the crook of his necks. I loved his distinct, Fletch-y smell, and, even though it was mixed in a little with the sterilized hospital scent, I was basically getting high off of the scent I hadn’t held close to me in a week.

“I need a way to get to work and all,” Fletch continued. “And it’d be nice to be able to take you places, not just to and from school either.”

“Can you drive with your broken arm?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah. I can manage,” Fletch nodded. “My mom wants to drive me to school, but screw that. I’m not five anymore.”

“I’m sure Will won’t mind driving us for the time being,” I shrugged. “I’d rather not be stuck in the backseat with Chuck Fink in Eric’s car.”

“I guess,” Fletch pouted. I looked at him curiously and he sighed. “I’m still a little antsy about you being around Will… not because I don’t trust you… I don’t trust him. I mean, he promised me he would step back and trying to stick his tongue down your throat isn’t exactly avoiding you. Will’s stolen girlfriends from guys before and… I don’t want to be next…”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” I snorted. “I think I have a little more willpower.”

“Can you just help me nurse my insecurities for a while?” Fletch frowned.

“Sure,” I sighed, “but you honestly have nothing to worry about with me or Will. I think it was sort of the grass is always greener affect, you know? Will saw you had me and he probably only wanted me because someone else had me and he’s an only child. Doesn’t like to share. Honestly, I’m not Will’s type at all. You know, tall, leggy, fake tan, bottled blonde, giggling, drunk, probably infested with disease…”

“True,” Fletch admitted.

“Besides, I’m more worried about other girls trying to snake you now,” I assured him.

“Really?” Fletch asked skeptically.

“Well, you heard what Will said. Girls like guys with injuries,” I snorted. “And I’m not about to let some flushed little freshman fall in love with one of your new scars and try to seduce you because she thinks you’re all tough on the outside but emotionally shattered and in need of fixing on the inside. Someone might try to take advantage of you in your vulnerable state.”

“Come on, Lenny,” Fletch snorted. “Will was just joking…”

“No he wasn’t,” I snorted. “Remember when Luke Garretson broke his ankle during the game against New Henley last year? He had girls acting like his own personal pack animals because they felt so bad for him. It’s sort of Florence Nightingale syndrome. Girls like to play nursemaid, I guess, and a lot of them find it sexy when there’s a strong and usually capable man rendered helpless by an injury he attained in a noble pursuit!”

“I’m not a Knight of the Round Table, Lenny,” Fletch snorted. “I didn’t rescue a damsel in distress or find the Holy Grail. I got hit by an alcoholic. Unfortunately, that happens quite often these days.”

“This is how it begins,” I replied. “You think there’s no way it will ever happen to you and, in your moment of vulnerability, those skanky ho-bags sink their hooks into you. But I’m not going to let that happen!”

“Come on, Lenny,” Fletch rolled his eyes. “You really think they’re going to give a second look to a nerd like me?”

“I don’t think you should hang out with any girls for a while. Maybe Sara,” I said thoughtfully.

“You’re telling me who I can hang out with now?” Fletch asked, bemused.

“Like you said, I trust you. I just don’t trust anyone else,” I snorted.

“Your possessive side is adorable,” Fletch smirked, pulling me into a tighter hug.

“I wonder if there’s a way to use the GPS device in your cell phone to track you… you know, to make sure you don’t get into trouble,” I said thoughtfully.

“Now your possessive side is getting creepy,” Fletch pointed out. I sighed and lay back against him.

“You know, I like this. Being able to start fresh, the way we probably should have started things a year ago,” I said.

“Yeah,” Fletch agreed. “I probably should have just come up to you the day after we made out at Chuck’s party and told you the truth.”

“I can’t believe I never figured out I was Ivy,” I told him. “It was so obvious. I feel really stupid now, you know?”

“I didn’t want it to be obvious,” Fletch admitted. “I mean, do you know how embarrassed I felt hearing you go on and on about Will? And then you asked me and… I mean, I could just be like, ‘oh, it’s no big. I just get a hard on every time you walk into a room.’

“I didn’t know that part,” I smirked, playfully mussing his hair.

“Well, it was embarrassing,” Fletch shrugged.

“So, honesty from now on?” I asked him.

“Unless you ask me a loaded question, like if a dress makes you look fat or something,” Fletch replied.

“Or if the way you’re acting makes you look like a dork?” I said. “Yeah. Those can slide. So, what are our plans for the rest of the weekend?”

“Well, I thought about making a giant banner to hang outside my house that says ‘I, Fletcher Murphy, have a girlfriend,’ but that’s hard to do with one arm,” Fletch shrugged.

“Maybe I could help you with that,” I teased.

“Or maybe,” Fletch grinned, “you could help me with something else…” I giggled as he leaned forward, engulfing me in his arms and another breathtaking kiss.

It had been a long route for the two of us to finally get to this point, to find that we really belonged in each others’ arms. It felt right to be back with him, even if his heavy cast made our usual make out routine a little difficult. Still, I would rather be trying to work out a new way to maneuver myself under Fletch’s weight than not being with him at all. It was all I could do to sigh in contentment and resist a moan as his lips full attacked mine. For the past few days, I had been afraid that things between us were coming to an end. Now I knew we were only at the end of our beginning.