Because of Carly

Carly is Mine Now and Always

Keith woke up on the next Saturday to find Carly curled up next to him, her arm draped across his stomach. He smiled down at her peaceful, sleeping face and messy hair. He had never felt so strongly about someone in his life, and he knew he would do anything for the girl lying next to him. "Carls, want some breakfast?" He asked. She mumbled a positive response then continued to sleep. He chuckled at her and slowly and carefully got out of the bed. He slipped on a t-shirt to go with his basketball shorts he slept in and went downstairs. He got out the ingredients to make pancakes and sausage, two of Carly's favorite things. When he was almost done, he felt arms wrap around his waist. "Good morning, baby. Did you smell my delicious pancakes?" Keith greeted a barely awake Carly. She just smiled and nodded. He turned off the sausage and put the last of the pancakes on the plate with the rest of the stack. He turned around and pulled Carly into a hug, kissing the top of her head. "You're so beautiful when you wake up." He complimented, love lacing his voice. She pulled back enough to see his face.

"Thanks. So are you." She said, smiling widely. He leaned down and almost kissed her. She leaned into him and kissed him back eagerly.

"I guess you changed your mind about morning breathe?" He asked.

"No, but you fixed me breakfast so I figured that just for today, I would give in."

"How sweet of you, my dear." Keith said, almost sarcastically.

"I know right." She commented as they sat at the island. "Is your mom at work?"

"Yep. She left at eight this morning."

"Oh yeah, what time is it?" Carly asked, smiling shyly. Keith chuckled at her, shaking his head.

"It's only ten." He replied. She just nodded. He couldnt help but think of how adorable she was. After eating, they cleaned up together and then Carly hopped into the shower. Keith looked up as he heard the bathroom door open, Carly was only in a towel that barely came to her mid thigh. "Um, um, w-what are d-doing?" He asked her, stuttering at her appearance. She looked at him and smirked.

"I forgot my clothes in my room. Are you okay?" She asked teasing him.

"Yeah, yeah. Um, I'm... got get dressed." Keith looked away before he imagined things he shouldn't. He knew they both wouldn't do that until hopefully one day, after they got married. 'woah waoh, did I just think about marrying Carly?' Keith asked himself. 'Slow down, Keith. Jeez.' He told himself. "So, hey." He said in a loud voice.

"Yes?" Carly asked from her room next door.

"Want to um, go back to the mall and get that dress? I want to take you out tonight. On a real date."

"Sure!" She yelled back, smiling at his offer. She counted herself blessed to have him. Keith showered and got ready in a hurry. When he walked out of his bathroom, into his room  Carly was sitting on his bed looking at his middle school yearbook. She started giggling at his picture. He had a very short hair cut, almost bald and blue colored braces. Suddenly the book was snatched out of her hands and she looked up to find a smirking Keith. "I already saw your picture, honey. You were so cute!" She said, smiling cheekily at him.

"No. Anything but cute describes that picture."

"Adorable!"

"No!" He had to smile at her attempts to make him feel better about his past appearances. Middle school was his rough years where he didnt real puberty until he was a freshman in high school. "But, thank you." He kissed her forehead and placed the book on his bed before pulling her downstairs by her hand. She grabbed her purse and he grabbed his wallet off of the table near the door. He held her hand as he drove to the mall and rubbed over her knuckles with his thumb. She kind of felt nervous, like something bad was going to happen. Carly just brushed it off and smiled at Keith's hand in hers and they walked to the store they had previously seen the dress in. "Here. Try it on." Keith escorted her to the dressing room this time. "Carls, I'm going to the bathroom. I'll knock when I'm back. Don't come out, okay?" He didnt want Travis or any other guy for that matter touching her.

"Okay." She slipped off her jeans and shirt to try on the dress. A couple minutes later, a knock sounded on the door. She smiled and unlocked the door, stepping out. She turned to face the mirror, examining herself. "What do you think, K?"

"I love it, but I'm not Keith." Travis's cool voice said. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, holding her so tight she almost couldn't move at all. "You. Are mine." He growled, he spun her around and held her against him. He jerked her chin so she would look at him. It hurt her neck and she held in a sigh.

"Get. Away. From MY. Girl." She heard Keith threaten. His voice and expression was hard and almost scary, even to Carly. Travis let go of her some, but held her arm with a death grip so she couldn't get to Keith.

"No." Travis replied. He smirked. "Would you like to know the reason she left me?"

"I know the reason. You hit her. The most disrespectful action a man could make." Keith said, his voice low and disgusted.

"Oh, you mean, like this?" Carly suddenly felt a slap to her cheek, her skin burning now and she fell down, barely catching herself. Keith ran to her side and helped her up. She held her cheek, tears filling her eyes. Keith kissed her quickly and turned on Travis.

"You will regret that." Keith moved so fast, Travis didn't have time to realize what was happening. He punched him in the face, two times, one for each eye. He jerked his hand up on Travis's nose, Carly heard it crack from where she stood. Keith busted his lip and kneed him in the groin. With a final punch in the stomach, Travis dropped to the floor cradling his stomach and nose. "Stay away from us. Or this will get worse." Keith warned. Travis nodded, his eyes now showing pure fear.

"I'm sorry." He choked out, blood dripping from his chin to his white shirt. Carly grabbed Keith's hand and dragged him to the dressing room where she changed really quickly. They bought the dress and ran out of the mall.

"I'm sorry, Carly. I couldn't let him hurt you again. I didn't want it to happen at all. I should've been there sooner. It's my fault we even came to the mall...."

"Keith. Stop. I love you. You're my hero." She said, smiling as she leaned back against his car on the passenger door and pulled him to her by his belt loops. "You stood up for me. I don't have to worry about him coming back for me. I've never seen fear in his eyes until today. You did that. You beat him, sweetheart. For me. I couldn't be happier." She said. He leaned into her, pressing his forehead to hers softly, smiling.

"I love you too, Carls." He said, almost breathless because of his skipping heartbeat. She stood on her toes, brushing her lips against his. He kissed her fully and smiled against her lips. She smiled back. "Another battle conquered, together."

"I'm sure there will be more!"