Hearts So Pure

I woke up the next morning to a quiet house. I walked down the hallway, still in my pajamas, and everyone was gone. There were coffee mugs scattered throughout the living room, and I bent down to pick some up when I heard something behind me. I turned around. There was Nicole, in John’s shirt, standing in the kitchen. “Hey,” I said. “Where is everyone?” She started cleaning up, throwing beer cans away, picking up plates. “Oh, they went for groceries.” She said. “They’ll be back soon. Or, I don’t know. Pat said something about the van sounding weird. They might not be back for a while.” I shrugged. Oh well. I sat on the couch, putting my feet up. “So…” I said, with a big grin on my face. And she looked up, smiling right back. “So what?” She said. “Tell me all about you and John!” I said. “We haven’t gotten a chance to talk!” She started giggling, and put down the empty cans in her hand. She came over and sat down on the couch, ready to go into detail.

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When Leah went to bed early after that whole thing with Garrett, I was exhausted. Everyone was worried about her, and I just kept reminding them she’d be okay. But John pulled me to the backyard, asking me to tell him what happened. I told him what Leah told me. Well, nothing she would want to keep from him. Just about “herpes girl” and their fight. Not about Kenny. When I was done, John nodded. “Damn,” he said slowly, rubbing his chin. “We gotta do something.” I nodded, biting my lip. It was getting dark, and pretty soon it would be pitch black. John guided me over to some plastic chairs he had laying around. We both sat down, and he started talking. I was really trying to pay attention, but I was tired, and I really couldn’t focus on much other than his hand on my thigh. I looked at him, so serious, something about how Garrett needed a “good girl” in his life. Yeah, yeah… I knew that. I would talk to her. Then, out of nowhere, he stopped talking and smiled at me. “Nicole,” he said, whispering now. I looked around, we were still alone. “Yeah?” I whispered back. “You know what would be cool?” he said. “Have you ever slept outside? I don’t wanna be tacky or anything, but like under the stars? That would be cool. The weather’s nice.” and he looked up at the sky. Before I could respond, he ran inside. I laughed and watched him emerge from the back door a couple moments later, with blankets in hand. He handed me one, and laid out the other. Then he sat down over the blanket. “Care to join me?” he said. I watched him sitting there, on the grass. He had taken his shirt off, he probably got hot or something. I saw one single necklace cling to his collarbone, a shark tooth was hanging from it. He smiled at me, that big, wide smile. I got up from the plastic chair and sat down next to him, with my legs criss crossed. He bent over and kissed me on the cheek lightly. Then he laid down, with his head in my lap. He looked up at the sky. “I’m really glad things are okay between us,” he said. I nodded, and kissed him on the cheek. When I did, he smiled, and sat up. Then he pulled my legs down, straightening them out. Then he had both hands on my shoulders, pushing me down against the blanket. He leaned over me, and the shark tooth from his necklace was poking me through my shirt. “I’m happy you’re here.” he said. “Me too,” I whispered. His lead leaned down and I felt his lips on my neck. I closed my eyes, and felt his hand on my stomach, sending chills down my spine. His hand was under my shirt, making its way up. His lips moved to mine, and when I felt his hand move from my stomach, I heard him undo his zipper. In between kisses, I smiled. Then I heard the back door open, we both stopped, and looked up. Jared was standing in the doorway, with Pat behind him. “Yeah!!!” he yelled, and I was positive the whole fucking neighborhood could hear. “Get some!” He said, even louder, and Pat was giggling in the background. “Fuck, man!” John said, as he rolled off me. “Not cool.” And he was zipping his pants back up. I sat up, embarrassed, and pulled my shirt back down. I could feel my cheeks getting red, and I looked down at the blanket. “Sorry!” I heard Pat call out. “We really thought you two were inside or something, we came to sit down!” and he walked over to us, grabbing an empty chair. Jared did the same, and soon we were sitting in a circle, drinking beers and pretending what just happened didn’t happen.

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I laughed, why didn’t I hear Jared yelling when I was in Kennedy’s room? “Nice, Nicole!” I said. She gave me a sarcastic smile. “Yeah, I know. Totally smooth.” Then she sighed. “Aw come on!” I said back. “That’s cute. You guys are so cute. I’m really happy for you guys.” She smiled again, “Really?” she said. “We’re cute?” and we both laughed.

Three hours later, me and Nicole had done some dishes and cleaned up a little. It was looking really good, and soon we heard laughing and footsteps coming up to the front door. Kennedy burst in, three pizza boxes in hand. “‘Sup,” he called out to us as he rushed for the kitchen. The rest of the boys followed, John coming in last. He looked around as he closed the front door. “Damn!” he said, “You guys did all this?” I looked around. It wasn’t much different, we just vacuumed a little and picked up the empty beer cans. Everyone else had made their way to the kitchen table. Garrett called out from behind a pizza box. “Yeah we owe you big time,” and took a bite of pizza.

That night, everyone was getting ready for bed. I had already learned that no one had an official sleeping area, except probably Garrett, who always slept in his room. John and Nicole went to Kennedy’s room, Pat had fallen asleep watching the news, and Kennedy and Jared were staying up supposedly. Garrett was in his room, with the door closed. I walked to the bathroom and turned the water on in the shower. I got in, and felt the hot water on my skin. I instantly felt better, I had been thinking about that “yeah we owe you big time” comment that Garrett made. That was the first normal thing he’d said to me while we were here. A couple minutes later, I got out of the shower and changed into some shorts and an over sized shirt. I opened the door to the restroom, and peeked my head down the hallway towards the kitchen. I heard Jared and Kennedy laughing, then I turned my head to Garrett’s door. He had his door open just a tiny bit, and he was looking right at me. “Hey,” he whispered. “Hey,” I nodded, and ran a hand through my hair. Garrett bit his lip, and looked back down the hallway to make sure no one was looking. Then he stepped out of his room, and grabbed my arm. He pulled me into his room. “Garrett..” I said, but he replied with a “shh.” He closed the door behind me, and guided me to his bed. He pushed me on my back. He leaned over me, and I could hear Kennedy and Jared still in the kitchen. Garrett bent down and kissed my neck, and my hands squeezed the blankets underneath me. He stopped and looked me in the eyes, and I could feel his warm breath on my lips. “What are you doing,” I whispered softly, not really wanting him to stop.” He gave me a grin, that half smile thing he does, and whispered in my ear, “I told you I owed you, didn’t I?” And his lips were on mine. He pecked me softly, and I felt like we were in Arizona again. Then his lips parted, and I felt his tongue warm against mine. Between kisses, I said, “I missed you.”