UNEXPECTED

Chapter 20

It had been a couple weeks since Clay had been released from the hospital. Throughout that time, he had taken time to learn a bit about Alex, Jessica, and Hannah in order to help try to recall his memories of them. Whenever Clay was around Alex and Jessica, he couldn't help but get a feeling that they were troubled by something - like they felt guilty about something. Clay wanted to ask them about it, but in the end he always came to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't his place to ask them what they possibly felt so guilty about. Maybe whatever they felt troubled by didn't concern him at all.

As for his time spent with Hannah, it was slightly awkward to say the least. Clay couldn't help but feel like she was jealous or upset about something, and he didn't want to bring it up incase it would upset the girl more than she already clearly was. Instead, he would awkwardly attempt to start a conversation. But their conversations never felt easy or natural. It almost felt like she wanted to say something to him, but the girl always held herself back from saying whatever it was she wanted to say.

As the days slowly went by, Clay couldn't help but notice that people were still staring at him. He always tried his best to ignore it, thinking it was because of the visible marks and stitches that now decorated his arms and slightly covered his face. At one point, Alex had tried to get Clay alone as there seemed to be something important the boy wanted to tell him, but Alex had decided against it, for now at least, as he realized that now might not be the best time due to everything that has happened. Clay was still a good bit curious as to what Alex had wanted to tell him, though. It seemed to have been something that bothered the boy. But deciding that Alex would tell him about it when he was ready to, Clay simply brushed it aside and forgot about it for the time being.

Now, on a Friday night at 11:45, Clay found himself sitting down at the docks as he had wanted to be alone for a while and clear his thoughts. The boy sat in silence as he stared out at the water in front of him, seeing reflections of light glimmer on the water's surface here and ther me. The dim dock lighting was the only light surrounding him, besides lights on passing boats and docks further down the shoreline. The boy gave a small smile as he closed his eyes and took in a breath, feeling at peace. "I knew I'd find you down here." A soft, feminine voice said, breaking the silence. Clay opened his eyes and smiled at the voice, already knowing who it belonged to. The teen continued looking out over the water as Skye came and slowly sat down beside him.

"What are you doing out here so late?" Skye asked curiously after a few peaceful moments of silence. Clay smiled with a small chuckle. "I could ask you the same thing." He replied, making Skye give off a small smile. "Couldn't sleep." She simply stated. Clay nodded in understanding. "I just wanted to be alone for a while and clear my head, I guess." He said. "If you still want to be alone, I can leave." Skye told him as she started to get back up. "No, it's ok. You can stay." Clay said quickly as he looked at his friend. "I'd actually kind of like the company." He added with a smile. Skye smiled at her friend as she got comfortable beside him on the dock's flat, wooden surface again. The two stayed quiet for a while as they simply stared out ahead of them.

"I remembered something else not too long ago." Clay said after a few minutes of silence. "You did? That's great, Clay! What did you remember?" Skye asked curiously as she briefly looked at him before looking at the water again. "The time during that Summer. When we used to date. I remember we would come down here all the time on dates, and we'd stay here for hours, either swimming in our underwear and enjoying the cool water, lose track of time while making out, or just stare out at the water and talk about anything and everything, whether it was random or not, until the sun would set. Then we would just lie side-by-side here on the dock and look up at the stars when it got dark." Clay said, remembering the Summer that the two close friends had dated each other. "I think that was the most fun I've ever had. It was certainly the happiest I've ever been." He added. Skye gave a small smile at the fun Summer memory. "That was honestly my favorite Summer. When we dated. I always loved coming down here with you and talking about anything and everything while we would just stare out at the water or stargaze for hours on end, or when we'd get into splash fights with each other." She said contently. "You weren't too bad of a kisser, either. In fact, you were a great kisser, Clay Jensen." Skye complimented with a smile. Clay smiled down at his friend at the compliment she gave him. "Do you remember what else we did that Summer?" Skye asked curiously. She already knew very well what else they had done during that Summer, but she was curious to know if Clay remembered what else they had done together. The boy simply nodded his head in reply. "Yeah. I do." He said. The two became silent for a few seconds. "Was I your first?" Skye asked curiously, already knowing the answer to this question as well, but curious to know if he remembered. Clay glanced over at his friend before looking ahead again. "Yeah. You were my first." He said with a small smile. "Do you regret that I was your first?" Skye asked, glancing down at the ground. She just had to know if Clay regretted anything they did together that Summer. This question made Clay temporarily speechless as he hadn't expected it. "What? Skye, of course not. I don't regret losing my virginity to you." He said, looking at his friend as he gently used a hand to slowly guide her head upwards untill she was looking up at him. "I don't regret having sex with you, if that's what you're asking." He said quietly. After saying that, Clay leaned in slightly, placing a gentle kiss on his friend's cheek. When Clay pulled back, he saw a small smile appear on her face. "There's that smile I like to see." He said with a smile, successfully making Skye's smile grow bigger as she leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders in a side hug. Clay simply wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Besides, whether I regret it or not doesn't matter. You matter to me. And if you were happy with us doing that, then so was I." He added before the two friends grew silent again and just enjoyed each other's company as they stayed close together in their side hug.

It was late at night, and Hannah was aimlessly walking around town in an attempt to clear her mind. She didn't really know where she was going, but the sound of voices stopped her in her tracks as she immediately recognized that the voices belonged to none other than Clay Jensen and Skye Miller. Hannah then looked up and realized that she had come down to the docks. She frowned as the memory of her summer romance with Zach Demsey instantly came to mind. She honestly regretted losing her virginity to the seemingly kind jock that Summer, and all the hookups that followed that very first time as well. She shook the memory from her mind as she hung back quietly and listened to what was being said between the two close friends. Most of the time, they didn't even talk as they just stared out at the quiet water, but when they did talk, the subject of their conversation was something Hannah never expected. She had no idea that Clay Jensen was not a virgin. She had originally assumed that he was, because of how innocent and nervous he seemed to be, but little did Hannah know that she was wrong to assume her boyfriend was a virgin. Hannah suddenly found herself pulled out of her thoughts as she suddenly became jealous when she saw Clay kiss his friend's cheek and pull her closer to him. After that, the girl decided she needed to get out of there, so she turned back before she could be descovered by the two teens and headed back the way she came.

Not even noticing the presence of someone else, Clay and Skye continued just sitting silently together side-by-side. The true reason that Skye couldn't sleep was because of a nightmare. But being with Clay and talking with him here at the docks had helped her completely forget about the bad dream. As the two sat quietly beside each other, Skye rested her head on her friend's shoulder, becoming tired. In response, Clay gently tightened his grip around her waist as he let her lean on him. The boy glanced down at his friend, already seeing the sleep start to overpower her. Clay smiled to himself as he looked out over the water again.

Checking the time on his phone, Clay sighed to himself. They had been talking for a while, and it was already almost 1:00 in the morning. He then looked over at Skye, who had already fallen asleep next to him. Being careful not to wake her, Clay slowly stood up before taking the sleeping girl in his arms in a bridal hold. Clay gave a small smile as he felt Skye lean into him more as he began to leave the docks and walk in the direction of her house. "Will you stay with me tonight, Clay?" He heard her muffled voice ask softly. Instantly knowing why she would ask that question, Clay nodded. "Of course I will." He said gently. Skye gave a small smile before falling asleep in his arms again.

As Clay slowly walked down the dark street, he was content. He didn't know why Skye had asked him if he regretted having sex with her. As he glanced down at his sleeping friend, he gently placed a kiss to her forehead, causing her to lean into him more. Clay couldn't help but wonder if Skye thought so lowly of herself that he would ever regret going all the way with her. Clay sighed to himself as he looked ahead and spotted a house coming into view. As the house got closer, Clay began to feel the tiredness as well as he let out a quiet yawn. He knew he hadn't been getting much sleep, and he only hoped that maybe staying with Skye would help him get the sleep he needed as well.