Choices

I woke up to the sweet scent of Kristen. I slowly opened my eyes and found her curled up against me in the most sweetest way. I gently gathered her hair behind her ear, making sure not to wake her.

She was flawless to me, her dirty blond strands of hair were messy yet so beautiful, her huge eyes were peaceful as she laid there in what seemed to be a deep deep sleep.

I could have lied there forever with her, but I knew soon enough she would have to get up and go home to explain to her parents where she had been.

I checked my alarm clock, it read 8:30.I gently slipped out from under the covers and headed to my bathroom. I would take a shower while Kristen slept.

I took one last look at her before I stepped into the restroom. She shifted her body and stretched out her legs along the whole bed, still in a pretty deep sleep.

Finally I shut the bathroom door quietly and got into the shower. Thirty minutes passed by, by then I was done in the bathroom.

I wrapped a towel around my hips and then, slowly opened the door, not sure if Kristen was awake or not... I peeked through the crack and found her still dead asleep.

I walked to my dresser, cringing at how much noise my big flipper feet were making every step I took.

I opened the top drawer and pulled out the first pair of boxers I found, I turned to check if Kristen's eyes had open and once realizing she hadn't I quickly slipped on my briefs.

I then headed to my closet to get a shirt and some gym shorts, I wasn't planning on going anywhere special besides the gym after Kristen left, so it didn't matter what I was wearing as long as I was comfortable. I grabbed a random black shirt off the hanger.

“Mmmmmmmm” I heard Kristen behind me. I turned my head to find her sitting on the edge of the bed stretching her arms. As our eyes met, Kristen blushed. I wondered why, and then I realized I was still only in my boxers.

“Oh I'm sorry I was just getting dressed, do you want me to finish in the restroom?” I blushed.

“No its fine.” she replied. I quickly pulled over the black t-shirt and slipped on my gym shorts.

“So how are you doing?” I asked calmly, not wanting her to feel pressured into telling me what had happened the other night. I walked over and took a seat next to her on my bed.

“I'm okay..I think.” She decided. The look on her face made me think otherwise.

After a long awkward silence Kristen cleared her throat, as if she wanted my attention. I turned my head towards her and waited for her to speak.

“So..I guess I owe you an explanation.” She sighed.

“Yeah you could say that,” I smiled, trying to get her spirits up, “but you know that I would never pressure info out of you, so if your not ready to say anything its fine with me.” I reassured her.

“No, I think you have the right to know, ..I mean I did wake you up at 1 in the morning, had you come get me and slept over at your house.” She said, a guilty expression on her face.

“Kris, don't start that,” I went on, “I'm glad you called me, I want you to know that I'm here whenever you need me, okay?” I gave her a reassuring glance, hoping she would understand how much it meant that she called me instead of anybody else.

“Okay,” She replied “ So about last night” She began, “When you saw me leaving, I was headed to that hotel, Jake had sent me a weird text to meet him there and I decided I had to go if I wanted to find out what he wanted.”

“I figured that jerk had something to do with it,” I blurted, not knowing how Kristen would react. I looked at her, there was no sign of disagreement, so I then knew he must of done something real bad. Kristen always defended her asshole of a boyfriend Jake.

“Can you just let me finish?” She asked, “this is already hard as it is.”

I nodded my head and she continued speaking.

“So anyways I got to the hotel, found his room and went inside, it was real dark and when I hit the light switch on I found Jake, lying on the bed half naked, after a little persuading we started..uh..kissing” Kristen looked at me, curious if I was getting angrier or not, I hoped she didn't notice how painful it was to hear what she was saying.

“After awhile of that..i tried pulling away but he wouldn't stop..i pulled his hair, I even hit him, but he still wouldn't stop.” tears started running down Kristen's face. I grinded my teeth together trying not to get to angry in front of her.

“Did he..did he..” I tried to ask her the hardest question I’d ever ask.

“Oh... no.” She reassured me, sobbing, “ I finally just bit his ear the hardest I could and then he jumped off, cursing at me, telling me to leave.” She finished, more tears rolling down her cheeks than before. I wiped the tears off her face trying not to explode.

“It's still not okay Kristen, and I'm going to BEAT his ass for it!” I began, “That guys a jerk and he has been ever since I met him!”

“Adam! calm down, your not going to do anything okay?” Kris yelled back, “i can handle this on my own, and I don't need you rubbing that you knew he was a jerk in my face!” Kristen grew really mad, and I realized I had made a big mistake by saying anything at all, but I was furious and I didn't stop there.

“You can handle things on your own? I questioned her, “I'm pretty sure you cant handle this one Kris, you cant keep letting him get away with stuff like this!”

“You know what? Kristen sobbed, “I've already had a bad night so I'm just going to leave.” She stood up and started limping to the door, her knee still pretty hurt from the fall on the stairs. I ran over to her and grabbed her arm before she got to the door.

“I'm sorry Kris, I'm being an ass,” I apologized, “I'm just pissed that someone would ever do that to you, okay?” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close, letting her sob on me.

“You deserve the best, Kris. That’s all I want for you.” I whispered in her ear, trying to comfort her the best I could.

My chin rested on her head, I could smell the strawberry shampoo she used in her hair, the sweetness caused chills to run down my spine and little butterflies began to form in my stomach.

“If only you knew I was the best for you,” I thought to myself. I knew it wasn't exactly the most appropriate time to be thinking about us like that, but I couldn't help it, that’s all I ever thought about.

After a couple minutes of that, Kristen broke the silence.

“Can you take me to go get my car?” She asked randomly.

“Yeah sure, what are you gonna tell your parents?” I asked, barely realizing the fact that her parents were clueless of the whole situation.

“Umm, I haven't thought of that yet,” She replied, “We'll think of something on the car ride there, ya?” Kristen slowly walked over to the other side of my room to grab her keys, her knee obviously feeling a little bit better.

“Okay lets go.” I also grabbed my keys, getting ready to open the door.

“Wait, what if your mom's downstairs?” Kristen asked worried.

“She's at work by now, I think, let me go check.” I opened the door, Kristen shutting it behind me.

I walked to my moms room to check if she was in there, nope. Bathroom, nope. Living room, nope. Finally I stepped into the kitchen, nope, but there was a note on the dining table. I ran over there and grabbed it.

“Hey Adam I left to work early today, I'm going out with a friend for lunch so I left you 20 bucks for you to order pizza or something, hope you have a wonderful day, love you – the best mom in the world!” I grinned as I read the last line.

“You can come out Kristen!” I shouted, waiting for her by the front door.

Kristen walked over and then we both quickly got into my car, just in case her parents were outside or had any view of outside.

We then headed to the hotel once again, on the way figuring out an excuse to tell her parents.

Five minutes later we arrived, parked and got out to retrieve her car.

“Thanks for everything Adam, you've been a great help but you can leave now.” She said as she kissed my check and gave me a heartfelt smile, “ I think I'm gonna go say thank you to the lady that helped me last night, I never got a chance before.”

“Are you sure you'll be okay in there by yourself?” I asked, worried that she might get emotional being in there again.

“Yes, don't worry, I'll be fine.” She looked a little more cheery so I decided to let her go.

“Okay, bye I'm going to the gym so if you need anything call me.” I gave her a wink and then headed back to my car.

I hopped in and drove off to the gym, Kristen on my mind the whole time.