I Hope You Like the Stars I Stole for You

Vic’s POV

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders now that Pruitt knew about my past. But I still didn’t feel perfect just yet, I was going to have to tell her about my therapy, about why I had disappeared that week. She deserved to know, and now that I knew her secrets, she needed to know all of mine. No matter how much it would hurt me…

I finished up with the guys and made my way to her house. I said a quick hello to her parents, then started quietly up the stairs. Pruitt was sitting on her window seat, looking out with glazed eyes. Now was the time to tell her, just get it out in the open right up front.

I sat down next to her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her close. My heart was pounding, I needed her so much right now. In that moment, I felt like she was the only thing in the world that could make things right for me, the only one who could save me from myself. “I need you so much. Especially tonight,” I whispered into her ear. A tear immediately formed in her eye, and spilled over, running down her cheek. I brushed it away lightly, already sorry for burdening her with my past. And now here I was, about to do it all over again. She turned to me with pleading, sad eyes “I’m sorry, I never should have brought it up. God Vic, I’m so sorry, okay ? I’m sorry.” Her eyes were wide with worry and grief, and I tried hard to smooth my own expression. Tears streamed openly down her face now, but she stood and led me over to the bed. My mind was racing a mile a minute, begging me to say something, anything, to just get the words out so they wouldn’t be weighing me down anymore. I felt tongue tied, my mind unable to process words or feelings, or anything except the bed underneath me and my own stupid past clouding up my thoughts. After trying and failing to get a response out of me, Pruitt began to kiss me all over. It started with my cheek, then my jaw, then my collarbone. A kiss on my lips evoked no response from me still, but she kept kissing my neck and face. A smile broke me out of my trance, and she knew it. Her hands slipped under my shirt, and my breath caught. They ran up my chest softly, causing a shiver to snake down my spine. Her lips found mine over and over, and I placed my own hands on her hip, riding her shirt up slightly. I ran them up her back, tracing her spine delicately. My fingertips barely brushed each vertebrae, and she moaned a little, then tugged the bottom of my shirt.

I sat up with a stupid grin and tugged my shirt off. I heard her take in a deep breath, and she started kissing up and down my chest and neck. I was practically purring, this was amazing. I returned the favor and gently tugged on the bottom of her shirt, asking permission. I slowly pulled it over her head, kissing her neck and nibbling her collarbone.

I kissed each of her ribs individually, and her hands tangled in my hair. It was so sexy the way she was tugging on my hair. My hands rubbed along her body, and my teeth bit down lightly on the base of her throat. Pruitt shot up, and I worried that I’d hurt her by accident. “What ? Did I do something wrong ? Did I hurt you ?” I demanded to know, ready to bash my own head in. “No, you did something right.” Pruitt stood, tugging off her jeans, and I raised my brows, then did the same.
Back on the bed, my hand found itself on her thigh, and this only seemed to fuel her. As much as I wanted to do this with her, I knew that I couldn’t, not this way. I had planned on telling her one of my darkest secrets, but I couldn’t tell her now, and I couldn’t sleep with her with it weighing on my mind.
“Not tonight,” I told her softly. “Not this way…not, like this…” “What do you mean ?” She asked, confusion clear in her tone. “We’re both sad, we’re too sad tonight. I don’t want it to happen just to make us both feel better.” She merely nodded, and I hoped she understood. We ended up staying in her bed, cuddled together, each half naked. I softly mumbled the words to “Yeah Boy and Doll Face” until she fell asleep, the left her a note. I needed some time alone to gather my thoughts, and tomorrow was a school day anyway.

In the morning, I got to school early to wait for Pruitt at her locker. I was going to tell her before first hour so that she would have time to think things over before we saw each other again. But when I saw her, my resolve crumbled, and I ended up saying “I need to talk to you later.”

At the end of the day, I finally gained some courage as we exited the school together. I pulled her to the side of the sidewalk and said “Listen. I need to tell you where I went when I ‘disappeared’ that one week when we first met.” She cut me off “Vic, you don’t have to, it’s-“ I cut her off this time, “No, Pruitt. I need to tell you.” I took a deep breath, “My mom found my journal, and uh, the things in it weren’t so happy, let’s say. She called a psychiatrist and they made me go stay at a facility for that week. It was awful, I can’t even describe it….” I tried to finish the rest of the story, but Pruitt had turned and was now walking away from me.