First and Always: The Forever Duet

by Brooke, Rebecca

  She started to shake her head. “No…yes.” Her head stopped moving and switched to a nod.

  I took both her hands in mine and brought one up to my lips. “There is no way for me to prove that to you except stay, even when shit gets tough. Your stepdad never left. And I can promise you that’s exactly what will happen.”

  “None of the other guys I’ve dated have stayed. When I wouldn’t help Todd pay for any of his books or rent, he left for one of the whores he cheated on me with.”

  “That dickhead doesn’t count. I’m not any of them. I can earn your trust, but for me to do that, I need you to open up your heart to me. I know it’s hard, but I need you to try.”

  She nodded, swiftly brushing away the watering in her eyes. “I’m trying so hard to let you in. I guess I don’t know how.”

  I lifted one of her hands to my lips. “I love you, Christine. I promise you, if you let me in, I’ll be everything you deserve in man.”

  Silence filled the air and I glanced down to see Christine completely frozen.

  “Christine?” I kept my voice soft, afraid to startle her too badly. “Are you all right?”

  She gave her head a brief shake, almost like she was forcing herself out of a trance. “You love me?”

  I let go of her hands and brought mine up to her face, cupping her jaw. “More than anything. It’s why I don’t want anything coming between us. Even walls.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I tilted her head and captured her lips with mine, slipping my tongue into her mouth and tasting every single inch of her. My whole body tingled as it begged to be even closer to her. I moved my arm beneath her knees and another behind her back.

  Lifting her from the couch, I kept my lips connected to hers as I pushed to my feet and carried her back to my bedroom. Laying her on the bed, I moved on top of her and brushed her hair from her face.

  A deep pink flush covered her cheeks. I lowered my head, taking her lips once again. Actions always spoke louder than words.

  10

  The end of the semester drew closer. I knew Christine had a few papers and finals to complete before she was ready for the summer. Which meant less time for us to spend together. When a few days passed and I hadn’t heard from her, I started to get worried.

  I knocked on the door of the apartment before pushing it open. “Hello.”

  No one answered, but I knew Christine should be home from class by now. There were papers and books scattered all over, covering every surface of the small living room.

  “Christine?”

  The door to the right of her room opened. Gina stepped out and jumped when she noticed me standing in the middle of the tornado. She reached up and pulled out the earbuds I hadn’t seen.

  “Aiden, when did you get here?”

  “Just now. Is she not back from class yet?”

  Gina glanced at the door next to hers and shook her head. “Oh no, she’s here. She got home about thirty minutes ago.”

  I chuckled. “Let me guess she’s buried under the tornado?”

  “Not likely, considering she’s the tornado that created the mess.”

  My mouth practically dropped open. Christine hated messes. The woman was an absolute neat freak. She’d follow people around and clean up after them if they were at her place. It happened to me the first night I brought a pizza over for dinner.

  Before my paper plate had even hit the table, she’d swiped it up and had it in the trash can. Dishes never stayed in the sink, she did them immediately. But when I glanced over at the small kitchen area, they were piled high, overflowing onto the counter.

  “What happened here?”

  Gina shrugged. “I went to my parents’ for a few days.” She gestured around the room. “And this was here when I got back from class a little bit ago.”

  “Okay…” I didn’t know what to tackle first. But it seemed like talking Christine off whatever proverbial ledge she put herself on seemed like the place to start. “I’m going to check on her, then I’ll come back out and help clean this up before I take her the hell out of here for a few hours.”

  Gina reached for an empty bag of potato chips sitting on the couch. “I’m not sure going in there is a good idea. If it looks this bad out here, I can only imagine what it looks like in there.”

  “I’m sure it’s not pretty, but it’s the only way to figure out what’s gotten into her.”

  “Good luck with that. I’ll be out here trying to find the floor.”

  “I’ll be back in a minute to help.”

  She scrunched up her nose as she picked up a glass full of only God knew what. “You don’t have to do that. It’s not like you live here.”

  “No, but Christine does and I know damn well she’ll have another meltdown when she realizes the disaster she caused in her first meltdown.”

  “She’s lucky she found you.”

  “Nope. I’m the lucky one, which is why I don’t mind helping.”

  I stepped over a pile of books that were strewn all over the floor and made my way to her bedroom door. Music filtered out from beneath it. She didn’t have headphones on, but I still didn’t think she’d hear me knock if I tried. I reached for the handle and pushed it open.

  If the living room was bad, the bedroom was worse.

  “Christine?”

  She lay on the bed, or at least where the bed used to be. Highlighters, books, and her laptop sat in front of her.

  I walked closer, trying not to trip on the shoes that looked like they’d been randomly kicked off.

  “Christine?”

  Her head slowly pivoted in my direction. Bloodshot, glassy eyes greeted me. “Aiden, when did you get here?”

  “Better question, when was the last time you slept or ate anything besides M&Ms and Diet Coke?”

  She pushed herself up to a sitting position and shrugged. “Not sure. I’ve been studying.”

  I picked up a few of the empty bottles and sat down next to her.

  “This is not studying. This is torturing yourself. What has you so bugged out that your room and apartment look like a bunch of frat brothers live here?”

  “Exams. Forensic Psychology is such a hard class for me. I’ve struggled in it all semester. If I don’t get an A on the test, I’ll end up with a B for my final grade.”

  “That’s no reason to push yourself past the point of insanity. How are you supposed to do well on an exam with no sleep and no real food?”

  “But if I sleep that takes time away from studying.”

  I leaned back and took hold of both her shoulders. “You’re a senior in college, this isn’t your first round of finals. You know better than that.”

  Without giving her an option. I closed the lid on the laptop and shut the book.

  “Aiden.” She tried to grab both from my hands, but I stood out of her reach. “I need those to study.”

  “No. You need a break and some sleep. I’m going to make sure you get it.”

  “Aiden.” Her voice went up an octave. I couldn’t let her keep doing this. I stood and walked to the door with both the book and laptop in my hand. “If I don’t study I’m never going to pass the exam. I can’t have a B on my transcript. It’ll kill my GPA, then I won’t get into grad school.”

  “None of that is going to happen. I’ll help you study later, but I’m taking you to get real food. While you’re showering I’m going to help Gina clean up the mess.”

  She sighed. “She doesn’t have to clean it up. I can get it.”

  “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to live in the disaster either. Go get ready.”

  I walked out of the room, taking her laptop with me. Her grumblings followed me out into the living room. The door slammed shut behind me.

  “I guess that didn’t go so well?” Gina asked.

  “Let’s just say she’s over tired and on a sugar high.”

  Gina’s eyes widened as she looked at something over my shoulder. I glanced back to see Christine had emerged
from her room, carrying a pile of clothes.

  If looks could kill, Gina and I would’ve been dead on the floor. Even with her hair sticking up in every direction and enough bags under her eyes to take a week long cruise, she still looked beautiful.

  I’d fallen hard for Christine, which meant I needed to get through to her before she made herself sick. It would kill me to see her work herself into the ground like that.

  Gina collected the papers on the floor while I went to the sink and started on the dishes.

  “Have you ever seen her do something like this before?”

  Gina nodded. “Once or twice. Only when she’s getting close to a final when she’s busted her ass and had to work extra hard to keep her A average.”

  “She told me she was having a hard time, but I didn’t realize it had so bad.”

  Gina walked over and dumped a handful of chip bags and bottles into the trash. “If the two of you are going to keep going then there’s one thing you need to learn about Christine.”

  “What’s that?”

  “She bottles things up until the cap blows off the top. You have to force her to talk about it, otherwise she won’t.”

  “I’m starting to see that.” It had been the same with the story of her dad.

  Gina went back into the living room, collecting books and stacking them on the table. Most of the dishes in the sink were mugs. Many with coffee residue in them. I stacked the last one on the top of the drying rack, hoping like hell that it wouldn’t fall.

  After wiping off my hands, I saw Gina had finished the living room. At least the best she could until Christine put everything away in her room, which was where I went next.

  She wouldn’t be able to sleep with her bed covered in books and M&Ms trash. It didn’t take me long to clear it and put as much as I could away. By the time I finished and had started on the floor, Christine came back from the shower looking a bit more refreshed than she had when I arrived.

  Her eyes were still bloodshot and a yawn left her lips. She actually tossed her clothes into the hamper then turned to me with her hands on her hips.

  “Better? Or do you want makeup and hair too.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Makeup and hair? What for?”

  “You’re the one who said I had to clean up.”

  “Nope, I said get ready so I can take you to get something to eat.” I held up an empty chip bag. “Or should I say something real to eat. Makeup and hair are up to you. You look beautiful with or without them.”

  Her features soften slightly. “I do?”

  I pushed myself to my feet and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Yes, you always look beautiful. Now are you ready to go?”

  She glanced longingly at her laptop on the coffee table in the living room. “I guess, but we have to make it quick. I have more studying to do.”

  I linked my fingers with her, getting her away from her room before she put up more of a fight. “Nope. Not tonight. You’re coming home and going to bed. You need a full night sleep before you start trying to study again.”

  “Aiden…”

  I stopped at the front door and spun around to face her.

  “Do you trust me?”

  She searched my gaze, the silence killing me. Her answer to this night had seemed simple from the outside, but in the end it meant a lot to our future.

  “I do.”

  “Then please have dinner with me and afterward get some sleep. I’ll help you study, but right now you’re not doing yourself any good.”

  “Okay.” Her word was clipped.

  I walked her to the front door and out it before she had the chance to change her mind. The shower had done wonders to remove the zombie look she had earlier. Food and some fresh air should help improve her color.

  She looked so pale, I worried she’d make herself sick.

  “Any particular place you want to go?”

  “No.” She tugged the belt across her lap with a little more force than necessary.

  “You can be mad all you want, but I’m not going to let you do that to yourself without trying to help.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I agreed to go get dinner. Why do I have to care where we go?”

  Apparently, the attitude I thought had been washed away with the shower was still raging in its full glory.

  “Okay, I’ll pick something.”

  Another large yawn left her lips. Hopefully she was just hangry or this was going to be a long night. I decided on the pub in the middle of the small college town. The food always came out quick and there was a lot on the menu.

  “Benny’s?”

  I shut the car door behind me. “I figured it was the easiest place to go.”

  She shrugged and walked inside, letting the door close behind her. I dove forward to grab it before it closed all the way. By the time I stepped through, she was already being led to a booth on the opposite side of the bar.

  “Not going to wait for me?”

  She yanked open the menu, studying the contents. “You wanted to eat, so here we are.”

  I hooked my finger in the top of the menu, tugging it down until it was flat on the table. “Are you going to be like this the whole night? I can take you home if you want. Leave you to wallow in M&Ms wrappers and caffeine until you make yourself puke.” I kept my voice an even tone.

  On one hand, I didn’t want to start an argument. On the other I also didn’t want to deal with the attitude all night. My goal was to help her not get chewed out for doing it.

  She narrowed her eyes and stared at me for a few minutes. I braced for her to freak out, then she closed her eyes and dropped back against the seat, letting out a sigh.

  Her right eye cracked open. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a bitch.”

  I leaned my arms on the table. “Then talk to me instead of snapping at me.”

  She mimicked my position. “I just can’t afford to fail this class.”

  “What makes you think you’re going to fail this class? You’ve had all As this semester.”

  “I don’t know. I’m always afraid of failure. That every test I take will keep me from getting what I want out of life.”

  “You know what you’re talking about. I’ve seen you work your ass off and I don’t think there’s a way that you could do poorly. Hell, I can’t imagine there’s anything you’re bad at.”

  She rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “There’s plenty I’m bad at. Remember karaoke?”

  “That was fun.”

  “No. No, it wasn’t, but I tried to warn you ahead of time.” The smile fell from her lips and her whole expression sobered. “But I can’t be bad at this. I want to do what I can to help.”

  I reached out and laid my hand on hers. “You can do this. But I don’t think you can do it if you’re sleep-deprived and starving.” I pointed to the menu. “Let’s order, then after we eat I’ll take you home for some sleep, then tomorrow I promise to come over and help you study.”

  “Don’t you guys have to practice for your show this weekend? You said you were adding another new song.”

  I shrugged and sat back. “We’ll practice at some point. If studying is important to you then it’s important to me too.”

  Her eyes shimmered in the dim light and I pushed out of the booth to move over to sit by her side and wrap her in my embrace.

  Exhaustion had taken over. She curled into my arms as I ran small circles along her back.

  “Breathe. I promise it’ll be okay.”

  She nodded against my chest while we sat there.

  “Hi, I’m Anna.” Both of our heads snapped up. “What can I get you to drink?”

  I almost forgot we were sitting in the middle of a restaurant. The waitress’s voice pulled my focus from Christine. She sat up fully, brushing at her cheeks.

  “A water, please.”

  I was happy to see Christine not order something with caffeine. That was the last thing she needed at the moment. The waitress turned to me.

>   “Iced tea, please.”

  “Great. I’ll be back with those drinks and to take your order.”

  Christine rolled her shoulders, obviously trying to get her emotions under control. I moved back to my own side of the booth.

  “Feel better?”

  A weak smile crossed her lips. “A little. I’m sure I’ll feel even better after getting some rest.”

  “We’ll get you home to bed soon. Know what you want to eat?”

  She shut the menu and pushed it to the side of the table. “Yep, you?”

  “Yep.” I set my menu on top of hers. “Your test is on Thursday. What do you want to do to celebrate the end of that class this weekend?”

  “Where are you playing on Saturday?”

  “At the Trinity.”

  The waitress came back with our drinks a few minutes later and took our order.

  “Okay. That’s about an hour and a half away. What would you think about doing something on Sunday?”

  She traced her fingers across the tabletop.

  “You want something, I can tell. Just ask me.”

  “Well…my parents keep asking to meet you and I thought maybe we could have lunch with them on Sunday.”

  I leaned back and rested my arm along the top of the booth. “Are you afraid I’ll say no?”

  “Maybe a little.”

  “Don’t be afraid. I’d love to meet your parents.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course I would. Why not?”

  She shrugged and moved her gaze to the table. “I don’t know. I haven’t had the greatest luck with guys up until now.”

  “If you weren’t so tired I think I might be upset about that, since we’ve already had that conversation. Remember, I’m here to stay.”

  “My heart knows that, now I just need to get my head to listen.”

  Our food arrived, interrupting what I was about to say. I inhaled, the scent of grilled meat and fried onions making my mouth water. When Christine reached for her fork to dig into her salmon, I picked the burger up and took a large bite.

  I swallowed and looked at Christine again. I agreed to meet her parents without thinking what I might be walking into. “Do you think your parents will have a problem with me?”

  Her head snapped up. “Why would they?”