Sequel: Hearts So Pure ›
A New Beginning
Eighteen
The next day was a Saturday. Garrett texted me first thing in the morning, at ten. I wasn’t even up yet. “Can we talk?” the text read. Still in bed, I rolled my eyes. But oh well, I thought, and I got dressed anyway.
Thirty minutes later me and Garrett were sitting on the curb in front of my house. He hadn’t said anything since we sat down, and it had been a good five minutes. He was playing with a rock on the floor. I sighed. “Didn’t you wanna talk?” I said, and I didn’t hide the annoyance in my voice. Garrett put the rock down and looked me straight in the eye. “Are we…. well we’re okay, right?” he said, and his words came out slowly. “We’re perfect.” I said. This time Garrett sighed, “Well then what was that last night, Leah? I just wanted to tell you goodnight.” he said. And I knew this was my chance. “I thought you didn’t want me to kiss you?” I said, in the most innocent voice I could muster. But Garrett knew what I was doing. “Oh my God!” he yelled, and he got up. “That’s what that was about! Holy shit, Leah! I just don’t like being all mushy and gross around my friends, I thought you knew that,” he said. I stood up too, and I kept my composure, looking him straight in the eye. “Well I guess I know now, right?” I said quietly. Garrett sighed and turned away. I stormed off in the direction of my front door and I heard him call out. “Leah! Come on. Everyone’s going to Kenny’s for lunch. I told him we’d be there.” I didn’t turn around, I kept walking. But I called out over my shoulder, “We’re not going anywhere.” and I stepped inside, slamming the door behind me.
A couple hours and 3 bowls of ice cream later, I was sitting in my living room watching Fight Club. Garrett had gotten me hooked on that movie, and my parents were gone for the weekend to my old town to visit some friends. I looked at the clock, it was 10 pm. I sighed and checked my phone, no new messages. Garrett hadn’t tried to talk to me all day. But after I came inside, I heard his car take off, to Kenny’s I assume. He hadn’t come back, either. Just then I heard the doorbell ring. I went to get it, and when I opened the door, there he was.
Brandon.
Instinctively I went to close the door, but he put a hand out to prevent me from doing that. “Leah,” he said. “Just let me apologize, please?” he cried. His hand was still on the door, and I knew that even if I tried, I couldn’t get him away. I sighed, “Sure, whatever Brandon.” and opened the door. He took a seat on the couch, and I sat across from him. He looked at me with those big puppy dog eyes. I didn’t fall for it for a second. “Leah,” he started. “I’m really sorry about this whole thing. It’s just… well I guess I just miss how it used to be. And I guess I wasn’t really ready to let you go, you know? We’ve been together for so long and-” I cut him short, “Were together,” I said. “Y-yeah,” he finished. “were together. Anyway, I just got kinda pissed that you found someone else so soon, and I don’t know, I’ve missed you.” He sighed, and looked down at the floor. I didn’t feel sorry for him. “Well, things are different now.” I said. He looked back up, “Leah I just miss you so m-” and I stood up. “Brandon I think you should go now.” He nodded, “yeah.. okay.” I opened the door and walked out, hoping that maybe he’d follow me to his car and this would go by a little faster. I stood at the top of my driveway. I turned to face him behind me, and I said, “Well I’ll see you Brandon.” But he didn’t walk to his car. He put both his hands on either side of my hips and pulled me closer to him. He leaned into my ear, and he whispered, “I missed you,” and with every word, his grip on me got tighter. I tried to pull away, and I said “Brandon, get off” but he only grabbed me harder, and I could tell that my hips were gonna bruise. He leaned his face into my neck, placing kisses on my neck that I knew would leave a painful red mark. “Come on, baby,” he said. I tried harder to pull away, and I let out a gasp. He was relentless, and finally I kneed him in the balls. He let go for a second, and I slipped out of his grasp. “Fucking bitch!” he yelled, and he fell to his knees. I rushed back to my front door, but then I felt his arm on my wrist. I turned around, and I didn’t even see him when I felt a hard smack against my face. My cheek burned and my ear started ringing. “You think you’re fucking smart,” I heard him say in my ear. He grabbed both my arms from the back but I elbowed him in the stomach as hard as I could, sending him down for only a second. I tried again to run to the door, but he grabbed me again, and this time instead of a slap, I got a punch. I could feel warm blood seeping from my eyebrow, and my face throbbed. I screamed, “Get away from me!” when I heard someone from across the street say “Is that Leah?” Unable to move, I fell to the floor. I felt Brandon’s grasp on me relax, and I heard running footsteps of what sounded like more than one person. Someone, I couldn’t see who because it was dark and there was blood in my eye, grabbed me gently and pulled me aside. Soon I felt soft, cold, grass underneath me and I heard Pat whisper in my ear, “It’s okay, Leah, It’s gonna be okay.” He was sitting me up, and I was leaning against his chest. I rubbed my eyes, and with the streetlight out of my face I was able to look back at my driveway, where a lot of noise was currently coming from. I saw Jared, Kennedy, and Garrett walking towards Brandon. He was backing up, against my garage door. Kennedy yelled out, “She’s a fucking girl, you asshole!” and sent a fist flying through the air, meeting with Brandon’s stomach. He let out this weird noise, and hunched over. I knew what was coming next, so I turned away, burying my face in Pat’s chest. I started sobbing uncontrollably, and I felt his hand caress my hair. I grabbed onto him even tighter, and soon I was out.
When I woke up, I was on Garrett’s living room couch. Kennedy, Jared, and John were in his kitchen, all talking quietly. I put a hand to my eyebrow, and I felt a cold towel on my forehead. Only then did I notice Garrett at the other end of the couch. “Leah, don’t touch it,” and he carefully pulled my hand down. I closed my eyes. My throat was raspy, from crying I guess, and I didn’t feel like talking. I felt myself slipping back asleep, but before I could, I sat up and leaned my head against Garrett’s shoulder. I tucked my legs in, and I felt Garrett put his arm around me. “I’m so sorry, Leah,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head.
A while later, I woke up, and everyone was gone except Kennedy and Garrett. Feeling a lot better, and back in my previous position, I sat up and faced Kenny and Garrett, who were watching tv. They turned to me, with worried looks on their faces. “You feeling better?” Kennedy asked, his voice barely audible. I nodded. “Can you just tell me what happened?” I said.
Ten minutes later, I learned that they had spent the whole day at Kenny’s. They all came back to Garrett’s for drinks when they saw me and Brandon outside. Jared was the first to notice, and he immediately ran over. Pat, Garrett, and Kennedy followed. (John wasn’t there because he had gone to take Nicole home- go figure) While Pat pulled me aside, Garrett, Kenny, and Jared were “busy” with Brandon. I didn’t even have to ask what they did to him- I already knew. I was glad, too. Jared drove him to a motel not far away, and they told me they’d “made sure” he wasn’t coming back. Meanwhile, everyone else took me to Garrett’s, where they layed me down on the couch and cleaned up my eyebrow. John came, and he apparently knew a little about cleaning cuts. Then that’s when I woke up for the first time. When I fell back asleep, everyone went home, except Kennedy.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t want you guys to get involved and-” “Leah,” Kennedy said. “If we hadn’t shown up when we did…” And I nodded. I felt like I had thrown this on them, but if they hadn’t pulled up at that second, I definitely wouldn’t be here. “Kenny” Garrett whispered. “Why don’t you go home? We’ve all had a long night.” Kennedy nodded, and patted me on the shoulder before he left. Soon it was just me and Garrett. He was across from me, sitting on a dining room chair. He leaned his head down and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I should have brought you with me. I should have known he would have done some crazy shit like this..” I got up and walked to him. When I stood up, I felt a huge rush of blood to my head, and my forehead started throbbing. I grabbed my forehead, “ow,” I said. Garrett stood up, and he started to pick me up. “Gare,” I said. “I can walk,” but I didn’t want him to stop. Soon I was in his arms, and he was walking to his room. His light was off, and his curtains were open, as usual. The streetlight from across the street came pouring in, and Garrett carefully layed me down on his bed. “Stay here tonight Leah,” he said to me, “yeah?” I nodded, and pulled the covers up to my neck. Garrett walked to the other side of the room and took his shirt off, throwing it in a pile of clothes in his closet. He walked back over to his bed, and sat down beside me. He didn’t say a word, and I watched his chest rise and fall slowly. He turned to look at me, and he said “Leah, I’m just- I should have known he was gonna do this. I’m sorry, I’m sorry about the other night and I’m sorry about leaving you here and letting him do this to you..” He ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier. “Garrett, it’s not your fault. I’m just glad you showed up.” I said. Garrett sighed, “I just feel like an asshole. If you need me to do anything-” he said, and I interrupted. “Actually yes,” I whispered, and I pulled him down next to me. He pulled the covers over him and we were both underneath them together, looking into each other’s eyes. He placed a hand on my cheek, and his fingers were warm against my face. I closed my eyes, waiting for more, and I felt his lips against mine. I kissed him back, and soon I felt his hands on my hips. His hand traced the outline of my hip all the way to below my breasts, stopping there. I shifted so I was laying on my back, and Garrett sat up, leaning on top of me, propped up on his elbow. His lips traced a line down my jawline to my neck, all the way to my collar bone. I pulled my shirt up, and over my head. Garrett’s hands explored my back, working their way up. He undid the strap on my bra with practiced ease, and soon it was off, too. His hands were now clutching my shoulders, while his lips were sucking on my neck. I lifted my hands up to grab a hold of his shoulders, feeling the muscles contract and relax as he moved his head up and down my neck. I bit my lip, as I felt electrifying pulses run through my body, the result of his touch. Soon he traced a line from my collar bone to my hips with his tongue, and I felt like this was going by excruciatingly slow. I started to unzip my pants, and Garrett looked up at me and laughed. He pulled his pants off, too, and soon he was back on top of me. His lips were back on mine, and I could feel his erection through his boxers as he hovered over me. He reached down with one hand and pulled my panties down, and soon I felt his lips on the inside of my thigh. As he got closer between my legs, I felt my body tensing more and more. Soon, his lips were at my entrance and I felt his tongue on me, sending waves of euphoria through my body. My head rolled back, and I let out a small gasp. Then I felt Garrett’s fingers begin to rub my sensitive nub and my hips involuntarily thrust forward. Garrett got the picture, and soon his head was rocking back and forth. I could feel my temperature rising, and I ran my hands through his hair, unable to do much else. Just as I thought I was about to reach my end, I felt Garrett separate himself from me, and I was about to protest when I felt his lips on my own again, and slowly I felt him enter me. Garrett swallowed my moan and began to rock back and forth slowly, too slowly. I whispered into his lips, “Garrett… please..” He smiled, and I felt him begin to quicken. My back began to arch, and my eyes rolled back. Garrett let out a soft grunt at the same time I let out an excruciating gasp. My hands grabbed the sides of the bed and squeezed the blankets, and I could hear Garrett breathing hard over me. Then he rolled off of me, still breathing heavily, and I could make out little beads of sweat on his chest. He pulled me close to him, and I fell asleep in his arms.
Thirty minutes later me and Garrett were sitting on the curb in front of my house. He hadn’t said anything since we sat down, and it had been a good five minutes. He was playing with a rock on the floor. I sighed. “Didn’t you wanna talk?” I said, and I didn’t hide the annoyance in my voice. Garrett put the rock down and looked me straight in the eye. “Are we…. well we’re okay, right?” he said, and his words came out slowly. “We’re perfect.” I said. This time Garrett sighed, “Well then what was that last night, Leah? I just wanted to tell you goodnight.” he said. And I knew this was my chance. “I thought you didn’t want me to kiss you?” I said, in the most innocent voice I could muster. But Garrett knew what I was doing. “Oh my God!” he yelled, and he got up. “That’s what that was about! Holy shit, Leah! I just don’t like being all mushy and gross around my friends, I thought you knew that,” he said. I stood up too, and I kept my composure, looking him straight in the eye. “Well I guess I know now, right?” I said quietly. Garrett sighed and turned away. I stormed off in the direction of my front door and I heard him call out. “Leah! Come on. Everyone’s going to Kenny’s for lunch. I told him we’d be there.” I didn’t turn around, I kept walking. But I called out over my shoulder, “We’re not going anywhere.” and I stepped inside, slamming the door behind me.
A couple hours and 3 bowls of ice cream later, I was sitting in my living room watching Fight Club. Garrett had gotten me hooked on that movie, and my parents were gone for the weekend to my old town to visit some friends. I looked at the clock, it was 10 pm. I sighed and checked my phone, no new messages. Garrett hadn’t tried to talk to me all day. But after I came inside, I heard his car take off, to Kenny’s I assume. He hadn’t come back, either. Just then I heard the doorbell ring. I went to get it, and when I opened the door, there he was.
Brandon.
Instinctively I went to close the door, but he put a hand out to prevent me from doing that. “Leah,” he said. “Just let me apologize, please?” he cried. His hand was still on the door, and I knew that even if I tried, I couldn’t get him away. I sighed, “Sure, whatever Brandon.” and opened the door. He took a seat on the couch, and I sat across from him. He looked at me with those big puppy dog eyes. I didn’t fall for it for a second. “Leah,” he started. “I’m really sorry about this whole thing. It’s just… well I guess I just miss how it used to be. And I guess I wasn’t really ready to let you go, you know? We’ve been together for so long and-” I cut him short, “Were together,” I said. “Y-yeah,” he finished. “were together. Anyway, I just got kinda pissed that you found someone else so soon, and I don’t know, I’ve missed you.” He sighed, and looked down at the floor. I didn’t feel sorry for him. “Well, things are different now.” I said. He looked back up, “Leah I just miss you so m-” and I stood up. “Brandon I think you should go now.” He nodded, “yeah.. okay.” I opened the door and walked out, hoping that maybe he’d follow me to his car and this would go by a little faster. I stood at the top of my driveway. I turned to face him behind me, and I said, “Well I’ll see you Brandon.” But he didn’t walk to his car. He put both his hands on either side of my hips and pulled me closer to him. He leaned into my ear, and he whispered, “I missed you,” and with every word, his grip on me got tighter. I tried to pull away, and I said “Brandon, get off” but he only grabbed me harder, and I could tell that my hips were gonna bruise. He leaned his face into my neck, placing kisses on my neck that I knew would leave a painful red mark. “Come on, baby,” he said. I tried harder to pull away, and I let out a gasp. He was relentless, and finally I kneed him in the balls. He let go for a second, and I slipped out of his grasp. “Fucking bitch!” he yelled, and he fell to his knees. I rushed back to my front door, but then I felt his arm on my wrist. I turned around, and I didn’t even see him when I felt a hard smack against my face. My cheek burned and my ear started ringing. “You think you’re fucking smart,” I heard him say in my ear. He grabbed both my arms from the back but I elbowed him in the stomach as hard as I could, sending him down for only a second. I tried again to run to the door, but he grabbed me again, and this time instead of a slap, I got a punch. I could feel warm blood seeping from my eyebrow, and my face throbbed. I screamed, “Get away from me!” when I heard someone from across the street say “Is that Leah?” Unable to move, I fell to the floor. I felt Brandon’s grasp on me relax, and I heard running footsteps of what sounded like more than one person. Someone, I couldn’t see who because it was dark and there was blood in my eye, grabbed me gently and pulled me aside. Soon I felt soft, cold, grass underneath me and I heard Pat whisper in my ear, “It’s okay, Leah, It’s gonna be okay.” He was sitting me up, and I was leaning against his chest. I rubbed my eyes, and with the streetlight out of my face I was able to look back at my driveway, where a lot of noise was currently coming from. I saw Jared, Kennedy, and Garrett walking towards Brandon. He was backing up, against my garage door. Kennedy yelled out, “She’s a fucking girl, you asshole!” and sent a fist flying through the air, meeting with Brandon’s stomach. He let out this weird noise, and hunched over. I knew what was coming next, so I turned away, burying my face in Pat’s chest. I started sobbing uncontrollably, and I felt his hand caress my hair. I grabbed onto him even tighter, and soon I was out.
When I woke up, I was on Garrett’s living room couch. Kennedy, Jared, and John were in his kitchen, all talking quietly. I put a hand to my eyebrow, and I felt a cold towel on my forehead. Only then did I notice Garrett at the other end of the couch. “Leah, don’t touch it,” and he carefully pulled my hand down. I closed my eyes. My throat was raspy, from crying I guess, and I didn’t feel like talking. I felt myself slipping back asleep, but before I could, I sat up and leaned my head against Garrett’s shoulder. I tucked my legs in, and I felt Garrett put his arm around me. “I’m so sorry, Leah,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head.
A while later, I woke up, and everyone was gone except Kennedy and Garrett. Feeling a lot better, and back in my previous position, I sat up and faced Kenny and Garrett, who were watching tv. They turned to me, with worried looks on their faces. “You feeling better?” Kennedy asked, his voice barely audible. I nodded. “Can you just tell me what happened?” I said.
Ten minutes later, I learned that they had spent the whole day at Kenny’s. They all came back to Garrett’s for drinks when they saw me and Brandon outside. Jared was the first to notice, and he immediately ran over. Pat, Garrett, and Kennedy followed. (John wasn’t there because he had gone to take Nicole home- go figure) While Pat pulled me aside, Garrett, Kenny, and Jared were “busy” with Brandon. I didn’t even have to ask what they did to him- I already knew. I was glad, too. Jared drove him to a motel not far away, and they told me they’d “made sure” he wasn’t coming back. Meanwhile, everyone else took me to Garrett’s, where they layed me down on the couch and cleaned up my eyebrow. John came, and he apparently knew a little about cleaning cuts. Then that’s when I woke up for the first time. When I fell back asleep, everyone went home, except Kennedy.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t want you guys to get involved and-” “Leah,” Kennedy said. “If we hadn’t shown up when we did…” And I nodded. I felt like I had thrown this on them, but if they hadn’t pulled up at that second, I definitely wouldn’t be here. “Kenny” Garrett whispered. “Why don’t you go home? We’ve all had a long night.” Kennedy nodded, and patted me on the shoulder before he left. Soon it was just me and Garrett. He was across from me, sitting on a dining room chair. He leaned his head down and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I should have brought you with me. I should have known he would have done some crazy shit like this..” I got up and walked to him. When I stood up, I felt a huge rush of blood to my head, and my forehead started throbbing. I grabbed my forehead, “ow,” I said. Garrett stood up, and he started to pick me up. “Gare,” I said. “I can walk,” but I didn’t want him to stop. Soon I was in his arms, and he was walking to his room. His light was off, and his curtains were open, as usual. The streetlight from across the street came pouring in, and Garrett carefully layed me down on his bed. “Stay here tonight Leah,” he said to me, “yeah?” I nodded, and pulled the covers up to my neck. Garrett walked to the other side of the room and took his shirt off, throwing it in a pile of clothes in his closet. He walked back over to his bed, and sat down beside me. He didn’t say a word, and I watched his chest rise and fall slowly. He turned to look at me, and he said “Leah, I’m just- I should have known he was gonna do this. I’m sorry, I’m sorry about the other night and I’m sorry about leaving you here and letting him do this to you..” He ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier. “Garrett, it’s not your fault. I’m just glad you showed up.” I said. Garrett sighed, “I just feel like an asshole. If you need me to do anything-” he said, and I interrupted. “Actually yes,” I whispered, and I pulled him down next to me. He pulled the covers over him and we were both underneath them together, looking into each other’s eyes. He placed a hand on my cheek, and his fingers were warm against my face. I closed my eyes, waiting for more, and I felt his lips against mine. I kissed him back, and soon I felt his hands on my hips. His hand traced the outline of my hip all the way to below my breasts, stopping there. I shifted so I was laying on my back, and Garrett sat up, leaning on top of me, propped up on his elbow. His lips traced a line down my jawline to my neck, all the way to my collar bone. I pulled my shirt up, and over my head. Garrett’s hands explored my back, working their way up. He undid the strap on my bra with practiced ease, and soon it was off, too. His hands were now clutching my shoulders, while his lips were sucking on my neck. I lifted my hands up to grab a hold of his shoulders, feeling the muscles contract and relax as he moved his head up and down my neck. I bit my lip, as I felt electrifying pulses run through my body, the result of his touch. Soon he traced a line from my collar bone to my hips with his tongue, and I felt like this was going by excruciatingly slow. I started to unzip my pants, and Garrett looked up at me and laughed. He pulled his pants off, too, and soon he was back on top of me. His lips were back on mine, and I could feel his erection through his boxers as he hovered over me. He reached down with one hand and pulled my panties down, and soon I felt his lips on the inside of my thigh. As he got closer between my legs, I felt my body tensing more and more. Soon, his lips were at my entrance and I felt his tongue on me, sending waves of euphoria through my body. My head rolled back, and I let out a small gasp. Then I felt Garrett’s fingers begin to rub my sensitive nub and my hips involuntarily thrust forward. Garrett got the picture, and soon his head was rocking back and forth. I could feel my temperature rising, and I ran my hands through his hair, unable to do much else. Just as I thought I was about to reach my end, I felt Garrett separate himself from me, and I was about to protest when I felt his lips on my own again, and slowly I felt him enter me. Garrett swallowed my moan and began to rock back and forth slowly, too slowly. I whispered into his lips, “Garrett… please..” He smiled, and I felt him begin to quicken. My back began to arch, and my eyes rolled back. Garrett let out a soft grunt at the same time I let out an excruciating gasp. My hands grabbed the sides of the bed and squeezed the blankets, and I could hear Garrett breathing hard over me. Then he rolled off of me, still breathing heavily, and I could make out little beads of sweat on his chest. He pulled me close to him, and I fell asleep in his arms.