Inevitable

Chapter 81

The first day of my junior year of college started off like any other school day. I had 3 classes that went from 9 to 2:30. I had 45 minutes for lunch and now that I had my own place, I could come home and make a quick sandwich. Most of my classes were psychology classes for my major so at least I knew it wouldn't be boring. I had to work and my boss told me the day before that there was a chance I would be promoted to shift manager and it came with a raise and more say over my hours. My life was mostly in a good place. Mostly.

I knew I would be getting a phone call today that had the potential to shatter me. For the first time, I didn't want to hear from Henry. I didn't want to hear that he got a record deal because I knew he would. He was that good. I just wanted to stop time. Because in this moment, he's coming back to me. And the perfect year I had envisioned for us was going to happen.

I woke up in a bad mood. I didn't sleep well. I tossed and turned all night because I couldn't shut my brain off. And at some point, I got really angry. Angry at Henry. Angry at Jess for pushing Henry and I back together. Angry at Jane for leaving me the other night. Any supposed indiscretion that my friends had committed I was angry about. It was stupid and childish. I knew I was being ridiculous but I had all these emotions and I didn't know where to direct them.

Thankfully Jane had already left for the day when I got up because I wasn't fit for human interaction at the moment. I went to my classes, met my professors, got thru the day because I wanted to be distracted. By 4, I clocked into my shift at the bookstore and I still hadn't heard from Henry. After being slammed yesterday, we were surprisingly slow today. I used the downtime to daydream. To imagine what the weekend would have been like if Henry was here. I probably would have been at his house the whole time. Sleeping in his bed. Waking up next to him. Having coffee together. Maybe we would have taken a drive out to our spot. Maybe we would have had lunch together today and snuck in a quickie. Maybe he would be picking me up after work and he would bring me tacos from our favorite place and we would go back to my apartment and Jane and Bill would be there and we would just hang out laughing and talking all night.

"Excuse me miss, can you tell me where the notebooks are?" My attention was snapped back to reality by the voice of a girl who looked very young. She was probably a freshman so I plastered on my kindest smile and walked her over to the school supplies. I remembered how scary the first day of freshman year was and I didn't want my bad attitude to make it worse for this poor girl. After I walked away, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket to check to see if I had missed a call or text from Henry. Still nothing.

Their meeting had to have ended by now. I guess it was presumptuous of me to expect to be one of his first phone calls to deliver the news. My shift dragged on. It was finally 9 o clock and I could go home. I locked up my till, clocked out and walked out to the dark courtyard that sat in front of the student union.

I started walking in the direction of my apartment but a familiar figure sitting on a bench stopped me in my tracks. Was I seeing things? Was my grief starting to make me actually go crazy? He stood up and it hit me that Henry was actually standing in front of me. My heart reacted before my head could process how he was here and I ran to him and jumped in his arms.

I was overwhelmed by how he smelled, how his arms felt when he wrapped them around me, how he tasted when our lips crashed into each other and we kissed like we were long lost lovers. The world disappeared. I was where I belonged. No words were needed. We were starving for each other. This thing between us was so intense. Our connection was deeper than anything I ever felt. Being separated was absolute torture.

When we finally broke apart, Henry leaned his forehead against mine and we stood there catching our breath.

"Hi" Henry breathed out. I couldn't help smiling. Words felt inadequate after the way we just greeted each other. Some sense started to return to my brain and I remembered everything that was happening.

"What are you doing here?" I couldn't help asking.

"I couldn't stand being away from you anymore and we have a little time off. Em, we did it. They offered us a record contract. And I needed to tell you in person. You deserve that." The bubble burst. I instinctively took a step back. Henry grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him. He brought both hands up to my face and made me look him in the eyes.

"You are my world. You are all that matters to me. If I lose you, I have nothing. Do you hear me? Whatever it takes, Em. I will make this work." His thumb brushed away a tear I didn't realize was falling. He kissed me again and I melted into it.

I decided to put the future out of my mind and just enjoy this moment. It felt like forever since the last time Henry held me in his arms when we said goodbye at the bus station in July. But he was here and he was showing me that he cared. And right now, that was enough.

When we broke apart again, he took my hand and asked me to show him my new place. It was a short walk and we barely said anything. Just being in each other's presence was enough. I found myself leaning on Henry because I couldn't get close enough. I've always craved his touch.

I let us into my apartment and all lights were out which meant Jane wasn't home which I was happy about. I wasn't ready to share Henry with anyone else. I reached for the light switch but Henry stopped me. He closed the door and I felt his body gently back me up against the wall in my front hallway. Every nerve in my body was on fire in anticipation of what was coming. I wanted Henry on me, in me, everywhere.

His hands found my hips and gripped hard. Almost too hard but I didn't mind. It just made me even more turned on. His lips were suddenly on my neck and it was all I could do to keep from collapsing in his arms. He gently bit down and I knew it would probably leave a mark. I wanted him to mark me. I wanted him to tell the world that I was his and he was mine. We belonged to each other.

While he assaulted my neck, my hands grabbed the hem of his T-shirt. He stopped long enough so I could pull it over his head. I wanted his skin to be touching mine. We were on the same page because he made quick work of getting my shirt over my head and pulling my jeans down my legs. All while placing gentle kisses on different spots on my body and murmuring "So beautiful." When I was down to my underwear, he pushed himself even closer to me. It wasn't enough.

I took his hand and led him down the hallway in the dark to my bedroom. I shut the door and suddenly I was being lifted off the ground. I wrapped my legs around Henry and he walked us over to my bed. He sat down and went back to nibbling on my skin. I reached behind me to take my bra off and let it fall away. Henry let out a groan and his mouth immediately went to my nipple. I couldn't help the moan that escaped me.

My hands took the opportunity to roam his chest and arms. He felt solid and strong. I ran my fingers along his abs and I felt a shiver go through him. There was nothing that thrilled me more than to know that I affected him as much as he affected me. When I reached his waist, I unbuttoned his jeans and tried to push them down. Henry wrapped his arms around my bottom and stood up. He didn't want to let go of me and I didn't want him to either. He laid me down on my bed and hovered above me. I finally pushed his jeans and underwear down his legs. I wrapped my hand around his full erection and he groaned even louder.

"Fuck Em, do you want me to cum already. I'm like a starved man at a buffet." I laughed but I knew what he meant. I was desperate for him.

"I need you so much Henry." I whined at him. I felt him yank my underwear down and I lifted one leg so he could pull them off. I positioned him right where I needed him and he slowly pushed inside me. His face was so close to mine that our noses were touching but he didn't kiss me.

"I love you Em. You are my home. You are my heart. You are my everything." He slowly pulled out and then inched his way back in. He was moving so slowly that it was torture. I craved the friction. I craved feeling him push inside me. But he was being so gentle and I felt tears coming to my eyes again. He kissed my cheeks where my tears were falling.

"I need you to feel this, Em. I need you to feel how much I love you. I need you to feel the promise I'm making you." He kept up the slow pace. My arms held him tighter and closer. I loved feeling the weight of him on top of me. And I felt at peace for the first time in a long time. Like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. No matter what life threw at us, we could take it on. Together. I needed to be stronger. I wanted a life with Henry and everything that came with it. I had to fight for us.