Walking Through Flames

Chapter 8

We woke up the next morning, both still barely clothed. We turned to face each other and cuddled for a little bit. Not wanting to ruin the moment. He gave me one of his little soft, innocent kisses on my forehead. From last night it was entirely obvious that he was not as innocent as he made himself out to be. He stroked my cheek with his thumb as I lay on his chest with his arm around me. We lay there for quite a long time. Eventually, I moved to go get dressed before my mother would pick me up. He watched me the whole time and when I said goodbye he got up and took me into his arms. He kissed me again, catching me off guard and not giving me a chance to breath. He pulled back, said goodbye to me and walked me to the door. 

On the drive home my mother asked me a ton of questions, all of which were given very broad answers. She knew about the breakup, she knew I was hanging out with Elijah, she just didn't know how damn quickly I had moved on from Charlie. Neither had I at that point in time honestly. It was about to hit very hard.

I saw Elijah once more before going back to school. We had gone bowling so he could try distract me from my worries about Charlie and everybody else who believed they had a say in what I do with my life. I was terrified to go back and have to deal with our shared friends who more than likely were not my friends anymore. None of them had texted me, none of them had reached out in any way and I truly believed there was going to be a war of whether or not I cheated when I returned to school. As of that moment however, it was just me, Elijah and the damn children railing that I needed to put up so my balls didn't end up in the gutter every single time. We ended with his score being much higher than mine, which was to be expected. He bought me Chinese food on the way home to cheer me up. The wontons at the shop next to his house were truly something special. 

We got into his room after walking in the freezing cold for a solid half hour. Our coats came off, then our shoes and then we decided not to stop. It only took a few seconds for us to be on the bed, him on top of me, both completely make with him reaching for a condom. We kept kissing. We kissed each others necks, chests, pelvic areas. Everywhere. By the end of it e had seventy eight hickeys combined and we were both incredibly aroused. He waited for my nod of consent and upon receiving it wasted no time. He pushed into me, hard. I gasped, not expecting the sensation it gave me. He gripped the headboard with his hand and used that to push into me. He went harder and faster, pushing as hard and deep as he could with every thrust. I couldn't stay quiet. It was beyond impossible at this point. He covered my mouth with his hand and whispered into my ear.

"Be a good slut and stay quiet for me okay?"

My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I bit down on my lip. He moved his hand away, leaving me to stay quiet on my own. He thrusted into me again and I covered my mouth with my own hand. He tore it away, watching me struggle to stay as quiet as I possibly could. He enjoyed that. Playing with me, watching me fight myself. He slowed down as he finished, folding on top of me as he did. He pushed himself up to look at me.

"Was that good princess?" By all things holy yes it was. He smiled and slowly pulled out. Again going to the bathroom to clean himself up. I looked down at my own chest to see it completely covered in circular and oval bruises. It really did not take long for those to form. Elijah walked back into the room and pushed me back on the bed, going straight back to kissing me and moving down to give me head again. I won't get into any more details but let's just say six rounds and a full night later we both agreed was entirely sensational.

I returned to school a day later. Ready to face the consequences of my own actions. However I was unaware the extent these consequences would reach. I didn't know how many people, how many situations and how much it would affect everything. My entire life just changed because of one decision.

I sat in my usual spot. Charlie hadn't come in yet. Sam was sitting diagonal from me, in his usual spot. I was nervous. More nervous than I had been in a long time. Sam wouldn't catch direct eye contact with me but his stare could burn holes in solid metal. It didn't matter. He wasn't part of this. If anything, Charlie was the one who I needed to speak to. Until he wasn't. And that only changed when he walked through the door to our classroom, walked to his seat and sat down. All without making any eye contact with me despite my eyes following him the whole way. I stared for a second, took a deep breath and decided to start a conversation while he was looking through his bag. 

"Hey Charlie." He kept rummaging, not even looking up for a second. His cheeks and ears turned red and it could only be assumed it was out of anger. For a split second, my eyes met Sam's. He looked as nervous as I did. If not more so. He watched as I went to say more and shook his head. I didn't listen. "Charlie I need to talk to y-"

"Hi." he said, cutting me off. I had to double check he was looking at me when he said this and not someone else. Our eyes met. He was staring at me, face on. He looked broken. And that is exactly why we needed to talk. His eyes drifted and his face changed again, more broken than before. I didn't realise what was wrong fast enough to fix it, and it was already too late.

"I see you moved on fast." He stated. Leaning into his chair and looking over at Sam who had the most disgusted, disappointed look on his face. He looked at me with a face full of seriousness.

"It was Elijah, wasn't it." He said. I shook my head and laughed, trying to play it off. I took out my phone to text Elijah and tell him not to say anything. A few seconds later I get a response simply saying 'whoops'. I place my phone back on the desk, face down and turn to look at Sam once again. I tried to put on a smile of innocence but that didn't play off very well at all. He was holding up his phone which showed his conversation between him and Elijah. 

Sam: Was Tara with you at all recently?

Elijah: No, why?

Sam: I just asked who gave her the hickeys and she told me it was you. You sure you didn't see her?

Elijah: Shit man, sorry. I didn't know if she wanted me to tell you or not.

Sam: She didn't. Thanks for being honest though. 

Fucking Elijah. We had a conversation just the other day about how we keep quiet on this whole thing, whatever we were as it was way to soon for me to be doing anything just out of a relationship. Adding to that, Charlie already had it in his head that Elijah had stolen me from him so this really just added to his narrative in his mind. I didn't respond to Elijah and I could see him start typing to Sam before he took his phone away. I didn't even glance at Charlie. It was obvious he had read that too. He got up from his seat and left the room, leaving his bag at the desk. I debated going after him but decided I was probably the last person he wanted to see. Sam still had a look of disappointment and wouldn't let me explain.

"I had faith in you, Tara," He said, shaking his head, "How could you do this to him? And Elijah is my best friend too." 

I grabbed my bag and left. Sam was borderline shouting at me to come back but I ignored him. I wasn't sitting there while there was people watching me be shouted at. I did nothing wrong. I left a relationship that I was not happy in anymore. Once that relationship is over I am free to do whatever I would like, right? There is no rule to state that you can't fall for someone that quickly after a breakup. Right?