My Forever (OLD)

Nine: A Fresh Beginning

Parker

I wasn’t entirely sure what would come of me staying in Kauai, but Madalynne was worth every bit of it. I had agreed to meet her at a local state park for a hiking adventure. I couldn’t help being anxious when I pulled up and parked, I had always thought Madalynne looked the most beautiful when she had no makeup on. And she delivered; she was wearing a peach tank and dark grey short-shorts, she looked gorgeous. Her long, dark hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail and her brown eyes glimmered beneath her enormously long lashes.

“Parker!” I heard her call to me.

I jogged over to her and wrapped my arms around her; kissing the top of her head, lingering to smell her shampoo, before letting go. “What are we doing here baby?” I pointed to the beautiful park we were at.

“I asked you for a month didn’t I?”

I nodded, hesitantly, not sure where she was going with this.

“Hello, my name is Madalynne.” She reached out her hand for me to shake.

I couldn’t help but laugh, so we were going to role play now? “Are you serious?” Without an answer, I shook her hand slowly, “Parker.”

“Well Parker, ever been hiking on a first date?” She looked up at me, gleaming, looking beautiful in the sunlight.

“Can’t say that I have…”

“Well it’s your lucky day; this should give us plenty of time to get to know each other.” And with that, she took off unexpectedly, leaving me staring behind her, confused. “Well, aren’t ya coming?” She shouted back my way.

We had been utilizing our time together wisely, spending the entire day really getting to know each other. Most, if not everything, we had discovered long ago. But there were a few new things we learned about each other. It was the most fun I had, had since Maddy and I had been in high school.

The sun was beginning to set as we headed back to our cars. I felt Madalynne’s hand brush up against mine, slightly, and it sent goose bumps all over my body. I had been missing those goose bumps to remind me how real it was with Maddy. Without hesitation I slid my fingers between hers—and was surprised when she didn’t flinch or pull away. This day had just kept getting better and better.

When we approached her car, I tried to be chivalrous by opening Madalynne’s door for her. I watched as she climbed in, but paused, before exclaiming, “I had a really great time getting to know you.”

I cradled her face in my hands, thankful for the closeness. “You’ve always known me. You always will know me.” And then I lowered my mouth to hers. Butterflies consumed my whole body, bringing the eagerness out with each part of our lips. I felt Madalynne bite the bottom of my lip ever so gently, which threw me back. “Whoa, where did that come from?” I asked, not being able to stop smiling.

Madalynne shrugged, smiling slightly, her cheeks growing brighter with each passing moment.

I glanced back at her with a devilish grin. “Wherever that came from, don’t change. I like it.” I kissed her quickly and softly, and then closed the door. “Drive safe love,” I whispered through the open window. And I watched as my other half, the one for me drove away. I couldn’t help smiling to myself; the day had exceeded my expectations beyond anything I could have ever dreamt up.
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A week had passed since Madalynne had asked me to stay in Kauai. Over the course of the week we had spent almost every other day together. But the alone time was what killed me most on my worst days; I would spend too much time torturing myself wondering if she was with Lee when she wasn’t with me…and if his lips were on hers, or worse…the possibilities were driving me nuts.

My thought was always if I could show Madalynne the amazing connection we once had, and still did, that she would leave Lee in the dust without a second thought, but it wasn’t turning out that way.

Thankfully everything had blown over enough with Jacqueline that we were now back on speaking terms, and she had been who had helped distract me in my most depressed moments.

We had engaged in what I would call the longest conversation of my life a few days ago and had been able to clear the air and move forward as friends. I had been honest about everything with her, and in a way, I thought it brought us closer.

It was Jacqueline who had convinced me to stay after I had slept on my decision the first night. I was going to go back on my word and leave, because the thought of Madalynne with someone else was tearing me apart. Being in that close of a vicinity to him didn’t help either. I wanted to beat the crap out of him…but I wanted Madalynne more.

And it was also Jacqueline who urged me to take advantage of every opportunity I had to spend time with Madalynne. So I had her to thank tonight when I had showed up at Madalynne’s aunt’s house unexpectedly, and she had not turned me away! I was happy to see things take a turn for the better.

Madalynne and I were sitting on her bed, just staring into each other’s eyes, for seconds, minutes. Tick, tock-tick, tock, I heard the clock strike as the hands on the clock went round.

Tonight I was determined to crush my competition for good. Tonight I was going to remind Madalynne just who I was, just who we were. My plan was to win her back tonight. Before the night was over, I was going to have her eating out of the palm of my hand.

Still eerily silent, I slowly shifted myself behind Madalynne on the bed. I felt her tense up when my breath touched her neck, her shoulder bones. Gently, I traced my fingers across her back and down her shoulders, to her arms, hands, and then circled back again. I was fascinated by the appearance of goose bumps following my tracing pattern on her skin. I felt her shiver against my touch. I could feel her savoring every moment of this.

I pressed my lips lightly against her barely noticeable key shaped birth mark on her shoulder that I had come to love. I moved my mouth to her ear, hovering over her neck for the slightest second to see her squirm. “I love you Madalynne Johnson,” I whispered slowly. “I’ve loved you since the first moment I laid eyes on you in kindergarten.”

“What?” I heard her ask in a bewildered tone, turning around to face me.

“You heard me,” I whispered again, “It was love at first sight.” It was like I had said the magical words because her lips came flying at me faster than I could blink. Inside I was jumping for joy, knowing I was that much closer to winning her back for good. But I decided to have a little fun with it, so I didn’t kiss her back, at least not right away. But it didn’t deter her; she was on me like white on rice. After a minute or so of making her work hard for a kiss back, I finally closed my lips upon hers eagerly. With each brush of our lips, I felt her body melt into mine, I heard her moan in my mouth. I was smiling from the inside out.

“I want you,” she whispered, looking up at me with passion in her eyes.

“You can have me, when we go back home.” And with that I kissed her quickly one last time before grabbing my keys and walking out the door, leaving a wide eyed Madalynne behind.

I glanced at the screen of my phone for the umpteenth time that night. Madalynne had been calling, repeatedly, to no avail. It was nice being around her the first week after he left this world. But the more time I spent with my best friend, the more I was reminded of my late brother.

Mason, Maddy’s brother also reached out in my dark time, growing up alongside Bo and me. I kept him at an arm’s length as well memories haunting me on the daily.

Against my better judgment I decided to read a few of the text messages Maddy had sent my way.

‘Let me be there for you,’ one of them read. I scrolled down the list to the next one.

‘Come on Parker…you can’t avoid me forever,” the second one pointed out.

The third one was the hardest for me to digest, the truth in her words like a paper cut across my cheek. “I loved him too you know. You weren’t the only one who lost him.”

She was right. But in a way it didn’t make any difference at the time, I was too far gone.