The Falling virgin

t h i r t y f o u r: all over you

"So, we kissed and that's it. I even stopped it." I said and Ben cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse you? You stopped Connor from kissing you?"

I nodded. "I just broke up with someone, what did you expect?" I asked and and he glanced at me. "I mean, would you have kissed back if you didn't just break up with someone?"

I bit my lip. "I don't know, alright?" I asked and he chuckled. "I know you would've, I get it, you guys seem close. He also just can't stop talking about you all the time, I have to shut him up." He said and I frowned. "Wait, does he really?"

Benjamin grinned and stopped for a stoplight. "You're the only thing he talks about ever since you started dating Lucas, or not anymore. He even talked about you to Jane, she was annoyed and soon enough realised she wasn't made for him. They'll always be close, but not that close. I know this might sound crazy to you and you probably think he's still the same old fucker as before all this." He said and cleared his throat, I raised my eyebrows. "You swore."

"Is that really the only thing you heard? Alli, Connor is crazy over you. He always has been, you're just too blind to see. I know he's a pain in the ass all the time and is a pretty arrogant person, but he's a nice guy and you know it."

Was he telling the truth? I didn't know what to say, had I miscalculated his intentions? Maybe I wasn't just one of his other girls.

"Ben, I don't know. This doesn't seem like Connor." I said and he took the next turn, we were almost home. "Alli, he's my best friend, of course it's Connor. You're the one he's falling for, that's why he got so angry in the car."

I thought about it, about that night.

"You should figure out how you feel about him, you can't keep him waiting any longer. Now, shall we order pizza. Mom isn't home and we haven't had sibling time since forever. We could invite Thomas?" He asked and I nodded. "Yeah, I'll text him."

***

"So that guy was only using you for a bet?" Thomas asked and I nodded, taking a bite of my slice.

We were siting on the ground in the living room, eating pizza. Yeah, we could've sat on the couch, but we decided it was easier to talk if you sit in the ground.

"I beat the crap out of him." Benjamin said and Thomas licked his lips. "I dated this guy once and he only wanted sex, but I was only thirteen so I didn't want to go further than kissing. He broke up with me for that."

"Are you dating someone now?" I asked and a blush crept onto his cheeks. "Yeah, her name is Diana."

"She cute?" Benjamin asked, Thomas grinned and pulled out his phone. He showed a picture of a light browned skinned girl with a beautiful smile. "You caught something good there." I said and he nodded. "Yeah, I really like her."

My brother swallowed his pizza. "Can I ask you a personal question?" He asked Thomas. Thomas nodded and faced him. "What happened with Dean and your mom?"

"My mom cheated for years without my dad knowing it." He said and my brother patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, do you still talk with her?"

Thomas firmly shook his head. "No, I don't want to. She never deserved my dad and my dad deserved better. I think Alice really is a good woman for my dad." He said and smiled at the last part.

I looked at the ground, thinking back to my dad.

Flashback

It was my tenth birthday, my dad and I were eating the cake on the couch. "So, kiddo, what do you want to do next?" He asked and I looked at him with big eyes. "I want to go to Ethan."

"You do know that he's coming today, right?" He asked and I grinned. "No."

Dad sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Don't tell mom I told you, it's our secret. Pinky promise?" He asked and I nodded, grabbing his pinky finger.

"What are we promising?" Mom asked and my dad looked at me. "We're making more cake later." He lied and I grinned even more. "Is Daddy telling the truth?" Mom asked and I nodded. "Yes, Mommy."

"Honey, I would never lie." He said and my mom rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."

My brother came running down the stairs. "Bud, don't run." My dad laughed as Benjamin threw his arms around my mom. "I'm sorry." Benjamin mumbled. "Mommy, there's a new kid in my class, he's so cool. We're gonna be best friends forever."

"What's his name?"

"Connor."

Present

"Alli?" My brother asked and I cleared my throat, wiping away the tears that were running down my cheeks. "Yeah? Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Are you okay?" He asked and shuffled closer to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Were you thinking about dad?"

I slowly nodded before placing my head on his shoulder. "Yeah, remember the first time you told about Connor to us?"

He nodded. "It was on your tenth birthday. He was a really cool kid."

Thomas bit his kip. "Hamilton?" I slowly nodded. "I think he really likes you." He said and I frowned. "How?"

"The way he looked at you that one time you guys were fighting. He really seemed like he was hurt that he had hurt you. I'm surprised you never noticed. It's like he's all over you." Thomas said, grabbing another piece of pizza. I bit the inside the inside of my cheek. "Alli, he is in love with you. Anyone on this world can see that, right Benjamin?"

My brother squeezed my shoulder. "Yeah, I think he is at least. I already told you, he has this way of talking about you. Indeed, like he's totally in love with you."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "You really think so? I don't know, I feel like it would be unfair towards Lucas, wouldn't it?"

"What? No, of course not. He cheated on you. You deserve so much more than him." Thomas said and he turned to Benjamin. "So do you, you know what? Why don't you go out, too. Try to find another girl or at least have a little bit of fun after all those years."

Benjamin shook his head. "I appreciate your help, but I just need some time to really get over Riley. We dated for almost two years, so it'll take a while to fall out of love with her." He said and Thomas nodded. "I get it, it's okay."

"Guys, do you really think I should date Connor?" I asked and Ben kissed my head. "Little one, you do you, if you want to wait, you wait as long as you want. Just don't waste your time on thinking, things change in a short amount of time." He said and I pursed my lips.

"Take your time." He said and I nodded. "Thank you."

I heard the front door and mom walked into the living room. "Hey guys."

"Hey Alice." Thomas smiled and got up to give her a hug. Mom looked at me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I got out of Ben's grip and stood up. "I'm gonna head upstairs and call Ethan." I said after giving her a kiss on the cheek and ruffling Thomas' hair. "I'll see you." Thomas said and nodded. "Anytime you want."

I needed Ethan's opinion.