Miserably Loving You.

It had been nearly two weeks without any incidents. No angry Violet, no stupid bullies, nothing. Just Gage and I exactly how we were during break. I mean... It was kind of weird how Violet just... Gave up. Like, I figured it would have been another good two or three months before she just caved and really let it go, but... I haven't heard a peep from her.

Not that I'm complaining, it's just so... Uncharacteristic of her.

"What do you want to do today?" Gage asked as he got into the passengers side of my car. We had just parted ways with Violet and oddly enough she told us she had other plans today, so it really was just he and I.

"Doesn't matter to me!" I smile, taking his hand in my own after I back out of the parking space and shift into drive again.

"Could we... Could we possibly just go back to your house?"

"Yeah, of course." I respond, giving him a weird glance. He sounded nervous. Why would he sound nervous? We pretty much always hang out at my place. "Is something wrong?"

"Kind of... Nothing bad, I just... Kind of wanted to talk about our future?"

"Oh... Oh okay." I chuckle, not quite sure what that even meant. "You sound so grim right now, you thinking about breaking up with me?" I ask as I pull up to a stop light, getting just the right amount of time to be able to see his eyes bug out of his head.

"No! Oh god no... I'm just, well, I don't know how to do phrase it..."

"Well, think about it and I'll be all ears and hopefully without pants once you figure it out." I say, knowing a conversation like this needed to remain light, and hearing him laugh made me feel better at least.

"Taking off your pants doesn't solve everything." He chuckles and I glance over at him in feigned disbelief.

"Excuse you! The last time I checked, you've never been upset while my pants were off." I say as I pull into our street. "And furthermore, I've never been upset either while I wasn't wearing pants. Maybe you should try it."

"Oh, I've tried it plenty times." He laughs and takes hold of my hand for our last few minutes in the car. "And it generally ends with... You know, but seriously Leighton... We really do need to talk seriously about this."

I nod, the tone in his voice clearly noting how important this was to him.

"That's fine." I say, squeezing his hand gently, having to let go right after so I could properly pull into my drive way.

Once I've parked I reach back into the back seat and grab my bag out, placing a small kiss on Gage's cheek once I'm close enough. The small smile he gave me let me know that this really wasn't meant to be a bad conversation, so at least that puts my mind at ease some.

Soon enough we're inside and in my room, there's a bit of tension like I had expected since I didn't know what exactly his concerns were yet and he looked like he was desperate to find the right words for them.

"I... I'm not holding you back, am I?" He says, and I kind of had a feeling that's where this was going. Even though I knew we had discussed this in some sort of way, I guess he needed a more solid answer from me. "I just... I have a few more years in high school, and you're about to go start your adult life... I don't want you to feel like you can't because you're tied down to me."

"Gage..." I sigh, not out of irritation or anything, but out of sheer confusion because I honestly didn't know how I could word this so he'd believe me. "I don't waste my time with anything that I don't feel is important. You of all people should know that is true." I say, my tone softening a bit. "If I felt like you were in some way hindering my ability to grow, we wouldn't be here right now."

"I know... I just," he pauses and sighs himself now. "What are your plans for after graduation?"

"Well... I don't want to go to school. I have an awesome opportunity this summer to work with my mom at her office to learn everything I need to know for a paralegal position under her permanently. It pays well and from the small amount of time I had helped her out before, I really did like it. The starting pay with her is fifteen dollars an hour too. I mean that won't buy me a mansion or anything, but it's definitely better than what a lot of people end up having even after getting a college degree."

Gage looked up at me after a moment of thought and nods, as if that was the exact answer he wanted to hear.

"And you're sure that's what you want? You don't mind staying with some teenager for two years while he gets through high school?"

"I don't mind a single bit." I chuckle. "And if you happen to want to go off to college once you graduate, we'll figure things out from there. There's no pressure Gage, we're in this together and hopefully in it together forever."

He sighs and smiles finally, now completely comfortable with what I've said.

"You're the greatest, you know that?"

"Yeah? You think?" I ask, more rhetorically than anything since I knew what his answer would be.

"I mean... Sometimes you're a real ass, but you're pretty amazing even during that."