Chapter 28

There is a moment, right before a really big moment, that's known as the lead up. That second of peace and quiet before you do something you know you can never take back. Like confessing your feelings to someone you hope will return them.

That was what I was doing now. Or trying to do at least. At that moment it was hard to make my body do anything. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. It felt like it might pop out at any second.

Take deep breaths, I told myself. Thomas is on the other side of this door and I'm just gonna walk in there and tell him how I feel. Probably...most likely.

I sucked in a breath then let it out in one loud rush. Okay, here I go.

With my hand on the metal knob I twisted it and pushed forward. The door came open with ease. It was quieter in this part of the house. You could barely even hear the music once you passed the kitchen.

My eyes scanned the dimly lit garage until they landed on Kyle, Jake and Thomas standing around a pool table in the corner. My first thought was that it was odd for a pool table to be in a garage but then I realized that the garage was not actually used as a garage. It was more of a guy's room. Sort of. Or just some place Jake liked to hang out maybe.

There was also a red sofa, a refrigerator, a small table and Flat Screen TV. Along the walls were shelves with various things placed on them, mostly junk it seemed. Then there were big boxes with unknown contents in them.

"Olivia, is that you?" Jake stared across the room at me in obvious disbelief. "Nice costume."

Kyle looked at me and smirked. "Slutty Robin Hood. Nice."

Thomas didn't say anything. He was half sitting, half leaning on the pool table, raking his eyes over me and smiled, then focused his attention on the red cup in his hand. I blushed.

I looked around at them and hoped I wasn't intruding in their space. If they were out here alone, maybe I should let them be just that.

"Looking for someone?" Jake grinned. He already knew why I was there. The knowing look on his face told me so.

When I looked at Kyle I could tell he knew too. I blushed a deep crimson color and looked around the room.

I cleared my throat. "I-I was just-I..." Breathe, Olivia. "I'm gonna go back to the party." I bring my eyes back to them and motion inside the house with my thumb behind me and start to turn around.

"Since you're already here, you might as well stay," Jake said. "I won't bite. I can't say the same for these two though." He looks at his friends and chuckles.

I kind of wanted to do this alone, I sang awkwardly in my head.

"That's okay. I don't wanna intrude-"

"Get in here," Jake insisted. "You're not intruding."

"Okay..." I said in a barely audible voice. There was no arguing about it.

I stepped into the garage and closed the door behind me. My boots were loud and clunky on the concrete floor. I took my steps slow trying to make myself to appear more at ease and less jumpy.

I wasn't nervous. I wasn't. Just because Thomas was there and my heart was beating it's way out of my chest, didn't mean anything. It's probably just medical or something.

"I gotta say," Kyle began. "You look hot in that getup, Olivia."

Face was covered in heat and I blushed once more. "Um...thanks."

He shook his head and smirked. "No, thank you."

Despite my red face, I focused my attention on Thomas. "Hey."

He looked at me over again, but not in a checking me out kind of way, but more in the way one would study the odd behavior of someone they knew and were trying to figure them out. "Hey."

"I was looking for you," I say. My voice came back to my ears loud in this smaller closed in space and I winced at my own words. This was super awkward with Kyle and Jake watching us like a couple of lab rats.

He turned up his red cup, finished off its contents and sat it down on the red lined pool table beside him. When his eyes found mine again, and this time my legs became weak and wobbly. The way he was looking at me now...I don't think I can describe it any better than pure want. It might have been a good idea to sit down but I couldn't bring myself to move.

Thomas crossed his arms over his chest. "The last time you saw me, I think you told me not bother even saying hi to you."

I looked around the room again trying to avoid the extra sets of eyes on me. "I did."

Thomas broke out into an easy smile, one I could see out of the corn of my eye. "Good thing I said, "hey" instead of "hi" then."

I laugh a little and meet his stare. "Yeah."

It get's quiet again which causes me to look at Jake and Kyle who still there. Seriously guys, take a hint. I stare back at Thomas. "I heard about what you did for James. That was nice of you."

"Yeah, well, don't go spreading it around. Don't wanna ruin my rep," he says, but he doesn't sound serious. It was more humorous. But I knew underneath it all, he meant it. He didn't want anyone to think he had gone soft.

The corners of my mouth lifted. "Don't worry. I won't."

"Aww. This is so sweet. Are you two going to cry and jump into each other's arms now?" It was Kyle who said it and he laughed and high fived Kyle.

Thomas shot them a threatening look. "Get out."

"But it's my garage," Jake said.

"Out," He repeated more sternly.

"Come on, man. We'll shut up. I promise. Let us stay," Kyle begged.

"Guys, this isn't a reality show. Now get out."

Jake stood up sulking and Kyle followed after him. When they reached the door that lead back into the house they stopped and Jake said, "You used to be fun, man. What happened to you?"

"And you used to have a rattail. What's your point?"

His face reddened. "Hey! That was a dare and you know it. You know what, never mind. Come on, Kyle. Let's let get out of here." He opened the door that led back into the house and looked at Thomas. "Man, you really need to get laid." Jake stormed out the door in front of Kyle and slammed it behind him.

We stared after him in silence until the moment really got to me and I busted out laughing. Thomas soon followed.

"I think you pissed him off."

He shrugged. "I piss off a lot of people. It's something you get used to after a while."

I nodded. I believe that.

"Can I sit with you?" I asked him staring at the empty spot beside him on the pool table.

He nodded his head to it and smiled. I took that as a yes and walked over beside him and hoisted myself onto the pool table. I let my legs dangle off the side. I pulled at the end of my dress to make sure everything was well covered.

"I have to agree with Kyle. That costume is sexy as hell."

I laughed. "Please. Don't be shy. Tell me exactly what you think of it."

"Candor is one of best qualities," he stated proudly.

I shrugged. "Eh."

"Eh?" he asked me with the raise of his eyebrow.

"Not everyone enjoys receiving frankness as much as you enjoy offering it. But I'll accept it because in your own way, that was a nice compliment. So thank you."

"In that case, you're welcome."

I laughed and soon he joined in with me. I bumped his shoulder knocking him off his balance but he worked quickly to upright himself again.

"I'm really surprised you came. I didn't think you would," he said suddenly.

"Why, because of you? Don't flatter yourself. I wanted to come, so I did." I picked up one of the balls on the table and rolled toward one of the corner pockets. It hit the side and rolled back toward me.

"Are you still pissed at me?" he asked while watching my poor attempt to get the ball in the pocket again. It was a success this time. I internally cheered.

I crossed me arms. "Not as much as I should be. I kind of hate myself for it. And you should be in anger management."

"I don't usually get that worked up, only sometimes. Mostly where you're concerned." He crossed his arms too. "You know, I'm starting to think that you're not good for me."

I huff but I'm not mad. "I'm not good for you? Try you're not good for me!"

"Then why are you here?" he challenged. "You could have just stayed mad at me and we wouldn't be here right now. It would have been an easy way out of this."

That's true. It would have been an easy out. But it also would have been cowardice. If I couldn't face him again, then I would be weak. And I wanted to face him again. I wanted to see if I could forgive him and if we could ever have anything between us.

I wanted to ask him and tell him how I feel, but in the moment I was starting to chicken out. I had to fight past that.

"Maybe I don't want an easy out. Maybe I want complicated."

He grinned. "Are you saying you like me, Liv?"

I look down at my feet swaying. It's easy to talk to him this way, without looking directly at him. "I think you already know the answer to that question, but yes. I do. And I know it's probably not smart, given you reputation and the fact that we're so different, but something is pushing me to go through with this anyway. That probably sounds crazy to you."

"Not as much as you'd think. It's only natural to want what isn't good for you. There's always something so exciting about it."

"Yeah. I'm starting to realize I'm drawn to danger and I'm not doing anything to stop it. You've cast a spell on me with your persistence and inhuman good looks." I sighed and then with a certain amount of sarcasm said, "Thanks for that."

"My pleasure."

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously though, what are we doing? Where are we going? Is there even a "we" to wonder about?"

He took a hand and ran it through his blond hair and ruffled it so that all the ends stood up straight in a golden mess. "I used to think I wasn't a relationship person and now I've gone from that to- I don't Know. I don't know if I'd even be good at it. I mean I could screw things up royally."

"I think you already covered that base a few days ago. I wouldn't worry about it now."

"Okay," he said. "Then I could screw things up worse than royally. I don't want to do this with you and then you end up hating me for being so bad at it."

"God! Stop being so scared," I shouted. My frustration was growing toward him at a rapid pace. I threw my hands into the air. "That's the only reason you're not in a relationship. You're scared. And you can't live life that way. This whole thing is simple. You either want to be in a relationship with me or you don't. It's your call. But if you don't, then just know that's it for us. No more doing whatever this is we're doing anymore."

I look at cluttered shelves on the wall and feel more words working up my throat, fighting their way to escape. I knew I had to say them before they burst out of me without control. "I've been in high school for four years and in all that time I've never had a boy friend. And then the one time someone takes an interest in me it's you and it's not even for the right reasons and I still liked you anyway. I'm really screwed up."

"How do you know it wasn't for the right reasons?" he challenged. He let his arms drop to his sides and moved to stand directly in front of me. All I could see now was him, the rest of the garage blocked out by his body shape. We were so close that if he moved the tiniest bit we'd be touching.

I swallowed and tried to scoot back, but the table behind my knees blocked me. "You really want to have that conversation?"

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I really liked you and not just for the reason you're thinking." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Look. I'm not good at this whole touchy feely, get in touch with your emotions thing. I never have been. So if that's what you're expecting then you're going to be extremely disappointed in me. Please don't have that expectation."

My mouth opened to come back with a retort, but no words came out. His words replayed back to me. Please don't have that expectation.

"Alright then. What should I expect from you?"

His eyes bored into mine at such an intense level my breath hitched in my throat. He leaned into me until our bodies and faces were only an inch apart. He rested each of his hands at me sides along the table.

"You can count on me to always be there if you need me. You can always expect me to tell you the complete uncensored truth when you need to hear it. And you can count on me to always make sure you are okay. And you can count on me to be faithful. There was a time that I couldn't make that promise to anyone and I didn't want to make it to anyone. But you, you've changed me. I've not been the same since you walked into my life, literally, that day in the hallway. I've not been with anyone.

I blinked a few times. But wait. "What about Julia? I thought you two..." I let my words trail off, unwilling to finish them."

I shook his head. "Never happened."

When his breath fanned over me I breathed it in, but I was shocked by what I discovered. He didn't smell like alcohol. I could have sworn his was drinking something when I came in here. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was. But he smells like mint and Coca-Cola.

Well at least I can count on everything he was saying to be real and true. His words weren't under the influence of alcohol. They were his words and his alone.

"Tell me something, Liv. I've told you how I feel, and you've told me how you feel so where do we stand now? What is it you want?"

"You know what I want. So I think the real question is what do you want? What are willing to give?"

His lips quirked at the corners and his hands found my side. As they started to move down to my hips I felt myself freeze. Where was he going with this? And just when I thought he was just trying to make another move on me to make his message clear, he stopped. "I want whatever you want, Liv. You've broken down my barriers and changed my whole way of thinking. I've been in hell since you wrote me off and if a relationship is what you want then that's what I'll give you. I can't promise I'll be good at it or that things will always be perfect between us but I will promise you to try. Right now, that's all I can offer. I hope that is enough."

I felt warmth glowing from behind my eyes and my tear ducts swell. Pools of water filled the bottom of my eye lids and I knew that if I even blinked they would all come spilling down my face. Did I want that to happen? Was I ready for Thomas to see that part of me?

I didn't have time to decide because before I could the tears came tumbling down anyway, hot and without my permission. I lifted my hand, ready to wipe them away but Thomas grabbed my hand and stopped me. Instead, he lifted his hands and wiped them away for me, his thumb gently brushing over the warmth of my skin.

I blinked with eyelashes full of wetness and laughed. "God, I'm such a girl!"

Thomas may have not been good with all the emotional stuff, but I'd never seen him so vulnerable. Maybe he was better at it than he gave himself credit for.

Thomas's thumb trailed down my face to the bottom of my lip. He traced it slowly back and forth. He brought his forehead to mine and rested it there. I fought to control my breath again. Him being so close to me did weird things to my body. Things that was hard to explain.

Then Thomas did something that made my breathing even more erratic and then it stalled right in my throat. He leaned forward and pressed him lips to mine. He was gentle. The kiss was gentle. Not at all like the other kisses I'd ever experienced with him. He was always rough and lustful not at all this gentle, caressing person before me.

I was stunned. To stunned to even move. Thomas didn't give up though. He only deepened the kiss, consuming me, blocking me off from any of my thoughts. His lips willed mine to attention. Compelling a response out of me, I gave into it without any resistance. This was a side of Thomas I'd never experienced and now was my chance and I wasn't gonna let it slip by me. Not at all.

I lifted my arms and encircle them around his neck and brought myself closer, which I didn't even think was possible. My body molded to his.

I opened my mouth to let him in when he asked. His lips pressed harder against mine, his tongue found its way between them. The kiss started to slow after a minute and then stopped completely and I pulled away breathless. I blushed when Thomas scanned my face and smirked at me.

"Was that as good for you as it was for me?"

I just stared at him for a second and then my lips widened into a grin. I smacked him playfully on the chest. "Do you always have to be such an ass?" I laughed. "You sure know how to wreck a moment."

"What can I say," he smiled. "I'm talented it."

"Yeah." In more ways than just one.

He looked between us at little space and examined our wrinkled costumes. "You know, this is hot. You being the outlaw and me being the cop. I could bring you in."

I patted his cop uniform and shook my head. "You coulldn't."

I leaned away from him and started to remove my hand from his chest when I took note of the hard, cold metal underneath my fingers. I stared at it for a moment then my eyes widened in disbelief and I shrieked.

"You're wearing the badge too? Thomas, that's illegal! That's impersonating an officer. You go to jail for that!"

"It's fine. Brad can get me out of it."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "Aren't you afraid that one day your brother will run out of favors at the station?"

He waved it off. "Nah. I figure I'm good for at least a few more months. I'll worry about it then."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Or you could just stop getting in trouble and not have to worry about at all."

"I'm working on it."

I shook my head. "You're impossible, you know that? One day you're gonna get yourself into something you can't get out of."

"Oh ye of little faith," he chuckled. "You worry too much."

"And you don't worry enough," I stated.

He smiled in reponse. "Touché, babe, touché."

A moment later Jake came busting into the room causing me to jump in surprise. He gave us a quick panicked look and ran over to us. "The cops are here. You gotta roll. Like now."

Thomas nodded. "We're good. I've got my bothers car." He pulled the keys out of his pocked and dangled them in front of him."

I slapped my hand over my forehead. "You took his car too? You're insane!"

"Yeah, but it makes for an easy getaway. They won't be looking for escaping teenagers in a cop car. That's the last place they'd look. I would know."

"Well go then before they bust up in my door," Jake said. "You can go out the back door." He nodded to the exit door across the room. It led directly outside.

Thomas nodded and threw his arm around me. "Relax man, it's only alcohol and we weren't even drinking."

Jake tensed. "Yeah, but there may also be drug paraphernalia here too and they don't take that kind of thing lightly. We'll all be arrested. Go!"

Thomas grasped the importance of the situation pretty quickly and nodded. "Ok. We're out. And good luck. You're gonna need it."

"Wait, I have to find Grace!" I tried to pull away from Thomas, but his grip held firm. "I'm not leaving without her."

Jake waved his hands toward the door. "I'll get her out. You two go, now."