Temporary -- A Rocky Lynch Story

Chapter 9

*Liz's POV*

I sat on my bed with my legs crossed, holding my phone to my ear. "Rocky," I giggled. "What are you talking about?" He had been spouting off ideas left and right with little to no explanation.

"Our first date," he clarified, his voice muffled a little over the phone line. He must have been cleaning, which was something he did often on the phone. Ever since we made up, we had talked to each other a lot more. I had discovered a lot about him that I didn't know – the stuff that I never took time to learn. We spent nearly every second apart from each other chatting on the phone. I felt like a teenager: young and in love.

"Do we really need to have a first date?" I asked him, shaking my head. He was so romantic underneath everything. I wish I had known how sweet and gentle he was before. Maybe I would have felt safer letting myself be in love with him before everything got out of hand.

"Did you really just ask me that? Okay, so come over to my house in an hour. Got that?"

"Yeah, one hour," I repeated back to him, nodding my head regardless of the fact that he wouldn't see. "I'll see you."

"See you," I could hear him smiling through the phone. We never said goodbye. It was too final. He hung up the phone, and I missed him already. I decided to do my makeup nicely to distract me for a while. I drew a black line across the top lash line of my eye, then swept a light glitter shadow over the entire lid. I paired this look with a subtle pink lipstick and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked normal. The dark circles under my eyes had faded and there was finally life in my eyes.

On the drive to Rocky's house, I sang along to the radio. The trip was a lot shorter than I remembered, and there was a suspicious lack of cars around Rocky's house. I parked in the empty driveway and slowly made my way to the house. "Hello?" I called into the seemingly empty home. What was going on?

"Hello!" I heard Rocky's sweet voice call back to me. I tried to find him and finally smelled cooking food coming from the kitchen. When I poked my head into the kitchen, he was standing next to the stove, stirring a pot. "Go sit down in the living room. There's some stuff laid out in there. Make your selection and I'll join you in a second."

In the living room, there were blankets and pillows covering the couch, and a stack of DVDs sitting on the table. All of my favorite movies were there. How did he even know? Some of the movies were still in the plastic, meaning that he had to go purchase these movies. I smiled to myself, shuffling through them. I picked out Pulp Fiction from the stack and placed it in the DVD player. Then I settled back on the couch, waiting for my date to arrive.

Rocky walked in shortly after, carrying two bowls in his hands, bottles of water held between his arm and his body. "Dinner is served," he joked, sitting down next to me. He handed me a bowl filled to the brim with macaroni and cheese. "Hope you like Kraft."

I giggled and took a bite of the warm cheesy goodness, moaning in pleasure as I closed my eyes and savored it. "I could be delusional, but this is the best mac and cheese I've ever had."

"It's because I made it." He winked at me and then turned to face the TV. "Good choice for the movie!" He hit the play button on the menu screen, starting the film. About a half hour in, both of us were done with our food. I started to get tired, so I laid down on the couch, resting my head on Rocky's lap. He ran his fingers through my hair, until everything went black.

I woke up some time later to the movie credits. "Oh no," I sighed. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You looked so peaceful, so I just let you sleep. I hope you're not mad about missing the movie." When I sat up, he rubbed my thigh. "You can stay the night, you know. It's late and I don't want you to fall asleep at the wheel or something."

"I'm fine," I yawned. I rubbed my eyes hard, making my vision blurry. With a sigh, I gave in. "Maybe staying over wouldn't be so bad."

He grinned sleepily at me as he stood up. "I'll take care of the mess tomorrow. Let's go to my bedroom, Lizzy." He took my hand and led me up the stairs. He pushed some stuff off of his bed and pulled down the comforter. "Do you want something more comfortable to sleep in?"

"Can I wear that blue sweater?" I asked quietly, sitting down on the edge of his mattress.

"Of course," he chuckled, pulling it out of the top drawer. I pulled my clothes off and slid the sweater over my head. "Do you need sleeping shorts or something? I'm sure Rydel wouldn't mind."

"No, I'm okay." I crawled under the blankets and scooted over a little, patting the empty spot next to me. "Come here."

He shut off the light and laid down next to me. His face was inches from mine; I could feel his breath. "I like this," he whispered.

"Me too," I sighed. I reached my hand up and ran it through his loose brown hair. When I got to the end, my hand rested on his shoulder. "Can I kiss you?" I breathed. I could feel his head nod slowly, his hand finding his way up to my chin. He pulled me in, our lips gently meeting. It was the most innocent kiss I had ever experienced. "Rocky..." I said, not pulling away from him. My eyes were still closed. I was savoring the moment.

"Liz..." he barely whispered, as if he were out of breath.

"I love you, too."