Wounded Hearts Will Conquer

Chapter 13 - Meeting Middle Ground

Chapter 13
Bailey
Meeting Middle Ground

I was shocked to a stand still when Evan placed his lips on mine. I didn’t kiss him back at first, because I still trying to figure out what just happened. But when I finally realized what was going on, I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck as he laced his around my middle.

I moaned as he asked for access with his tongue. I quickly granted him access, and kissed him like I didn’t want to let go. From the tight grip around my waist, I was thinking that he didn’t want to let go either. I played with the wisps of black hair at his neck, and when I pulled on it slightly, he moaned into my mouth.

I smiled into the kiss, loving what I could do to him. I’d been waiting for this moment since we met, and it was better than I could have ever pictured it to be. Of course, my first picture was of us in the field, but because of certain events, that never happened. But I was far more than happy to have it happening, right here, and right now. I was pushed up against the bricks, with Evan’s hands sliding up and down my sides, and it felt like pure bliss. The way our lips formed together made my heart almost swell at the thought.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a kiss like this before. And I was hoping this wasn’t our last.

As he pulled out, he bit my lip slightly, and I whimpered at the contact. The tiny pain turned into pleasure and I wanted to melt right in the spot I was standing. If he hadn’t been holding me by my waist, my knees would have bucked beneath me.

He raised a large hand to my hair and pushed a strand behind my ear. My eyes were still closed and he pressed our foreheads together. I could feel his minty breath mingling with mine as we took in the air we needed after a kiss like that. He sounded just about as out of breath as I was, so I was hoping that this meant a whole lot for him too.

When he confessed to me how he felt, I could have recited the words back to him like they were written down in front of me. The fact that I wasn’t the only one who felt so drawn to a stranger in the beginning made me feel much less like an idiot, and more like a person who was falling for someone else.

I felt tingles in the warm place where his hand was still placed on my hip and smiled at the thought. I opened my eyes and was met with his grassy, bright ones. He was smiling at me too, and it was the first real smile I’d seen him show since the night that I met him on the rooftop.

”You felt it too?” I breathed.

He only nodded in agreement, the smile still playing on his lips.

”I’m glad I’m not the only one who-“

He cut me off saying ‘Sh’, before leaning in and kissing the life out of me again.

Oh yeah, I could definitely get used to this.

* * * * *

Later on, when my shift was over and Evan had left Leslie secretly at the restaurant, I was nestling against the most perfect boy, in the familiar grassy field behind the theatre. After nine at night, the back door was locked up so drunks and idiots couldn’t come back to the employee section, so no one ever came back here.

I was slightly worried about Leslie’s words that I eavesdropped on in the earlier fight between her and Evan. She obviously didn’t want to break up, and it seemed like Evan didn’t know how to say it was over. Leslie Burkhart doesn’t go down without a fight, and she threatened that she would be back eventually. She would be back to win Evan’s heart if it was the last thing she did. A bit overdramatic in my opinion, considering they only dated for a month. But, that was Leslie. She would go into hysterics if the drug store ran out of her favorite shampoo. Everything was a fight, and she would always win.

At the end of the argument, they left things sort of in unsettled territory. He never actually said he wanted to break up with her, just that he needed some time to think things over. She said that she didn’t understand what the hell he needed time for, but if it’s what he wanted, she’d gladly give it to him.

Normally, I don’t like being the ‘other woman’ in a situation like this, but my feelings for Evan have been held back for so long. Now that they were out in the open, I couldn’t just sit back and let Leslie take it all for the win this time. I needed to fight back, and finally get what I deserved. I wasn’t about to let a guy like Evan go. But for now, I was just letting everything get pushed to the side. I would deal with it all at a later time.

For now, I was just hoping that this time she wouldn’t actually win.

There was a soft sound of basses thumping behind us in the building from the show going on, but neither one of us seemed to notice. He was playing with my hair, pushing it away from my eyes, and I was quietly relishing in the feeling of being in his arms when I needed it the most. My parents were away on vacation, and I was certainly not a mere thought in their pretty heads, so I could stay this way as long as I wanted to. I ran my hand along his chest, feeling the curves of his muscles beneath his thin, grey shirt.

He stopped my hand from walking across his chest and held it up slightly, so he could see while lying down. It was the hand with the infinity tattoo and he was eyeing it closely. He ran his finger over the tattoo like he did the night when he played with the bottle on the roof; like he was off in his own head space again.

”Tell me what you’re thinking,” I prodded, my voice small. I let him run his finger over as many times as he wanted to, tracing the lines with the tip of his pointer finger.

”Why did you get this specific tattoo?” he asked, his voice gruff from lying down. I hadn’t taken my head off of his chest, so I kept my gaze on his finger while he traced. I tried to ignore the tingles his skin left on mine every time he touched me.

I breathed in a heavy breath and finally let it out, knowing I could trust him this time. We knew why the other was scared to say how they felt. We knew why we felt like we couldn’t trust each other with our deepest fears and past memories. At this point, we knew we could confide in each other, now that we reached that common ground of understanding.

”When we were kids, Lanie would always watch the Toy Story movies like it was a religion. She could practically recite every line each character said if you asked her to. Then one day, when she kept saying ‘To infinity and beyond,’ I was telling her I loved her before going off to a show with my Dad when I was about nine or so. She said, with a huge smile on her face, ‘You love me to infinity and beyond, right?’”

I smiled at the memory. I took another breath before I went on.

“And I said, ‘Yup, to infinity and beyond.’ It sort of became a thing after that. Whenever we would say we loved each other, she asked that question, and I would always say yes. It was something no one else knew about but us, and something original, what no one else did. It was what was unique about us. So I took the most personal thing about her and put in a place that would always remind me of her.”

”Wow,” I heard him breathe. I could practically hear the smile in his voice. He was still absentmindedly tracing the tattoo while I continued. I figured there was no going back now.

”It was the last thing we said to each other before she died,” I breathed. “She was trying to make me stop crying and I had to leave to give her and her husband some privacy and I told her loved her. She of course said, ‘To infinity and beyond, right?’ and I said yes. It was the last thing I said to her before saying goodbye.”

I let out a shaky breath, and Evan did too. “That’s a gift though,” he stated.

”How so?” I questioned.

”You got to say goodbye before she left you for good. Not many people get to do that,” he breathed.

”Are you saying that you didn’t?” I prodded, sitting up a little to look at his face. He was staring up at the sky now, his fingers interlacing with mine in a somewhat tight grip.

”I’m saying that,” he sighed. “You should cherish that. That you got to say goodbye before she was taken from you.”

”But I’m asking if you got to say goodbye, Ev,” I pushed. “Come on, I thought there was a somewhat silent agreement that we were done hiding our personal lives anymore.”

He sighed a bit angrily. “Do we have to do this right now, Bail?” he questioned.

I rolled my eyes. “I just told you something I haven’t told anyone before. And you think some other time would be better?”

He huffed again before stating simply,”No, I didn’t.” He was still looking up at the stars above us. “He left for work that day and didn’t come back.”

”You didn’t say goodbye before he left for work?” I questioned. I knew it wasn’t the same thing as a goodbye when you know someone’s permanently leaving, but I was still curious.

”We got into a fight,” he continued. “I got mad and he left for work. That was the last time I ever saw him,” he breathed.

”I’m so sorry Evan,” I exclaimed, gripping his hand as I laid my head back down on his chest. Every time he told me about his past, I felt my heart break more and more for him.

”Want to know the best part?” he asked, sarcasm dripping in his tone.

”What’s that?” I asked.

”The last thing I said was, ‘I hate you,’ before he walked out the door.”

I gasped, finally knowing why it was so hard for him to cope with. Imagine that being the last thing you say to someone you love. You never knew what was going to happen. You thought he was coming back and you guys would forget about the fight. But, then he never comes back and you’re left with those dreaded words hanging above you, taunting you, for the rest of your life.