Sorry, I Love You.

2.31

I've been running through the jungle
I've been running with the wolves
To get to you, to get to you
•
I've been down the darkest alleys
Saw the dark side of the moon
To get to you, to get to you

~ ~ ~

There was something about Valentine's Day that made Zoe want to dress up a bit more than usual, and she hadn't noticed until after she was dressed, that there might have been some subliminal messages in her outfit since she planned on losing her virginity today. Because, in a stark, blinding white dress and her hair perfectly groomed, Zoe felt like she was presenting herself as a pure, untouched, innocent virgin. The message wasn't intentional but now that she saw it, she couldn't unsee it...

There wasn't time to change, however, when Teddy started knocking on her door and insisted she hurry up so they weren't late for school. Luckily, Zoe could hide her purity away under a heavy jacket and wear her thick winter boots until she made it to school where she could show off her dress and switch into heels. After living in the snow for this long, she had learned her lesson and couldn't possibly walk to school one more morning in heels and an exposing outfit.

"What time are you leaving?" Teddy asked Carmen, waiting for Zoe at the front door as she jogged down the grand staircase.

Carmen pushed the two suitcases she had packed last night from the living room to the foyer and shrugged. "Maybe an hour or so from now. I want to be home maybe mid afternoon tomorrow and still give the babies time to play."

Teddy nodded as he watched Zoe hurry to shove her feet in her fuzzy boots and throw her backpack over her shoulders. He liked her hair today, like he did everyday. He couldn't see her outfit under her giant winter jacket but he could see a lot of her legs, which meant she had to be wearing a skirt or dress of some sort. Teddy almost wished she was wearing jeans so he didn't daydream about her legs all day but even her jeans were beginning to get to him. She looked enticing in everything.

"Do you two have any plans while I'm gone?" Carmen asked with her hands on her hips and a knowing glint in her eyes, which they both—separately—caught.

"Nope. No big plans, anyways." Teddy tried to say casually but looked extremely tense. He glanced towards Zoe, who also appeared a bit stiff and anxious. "We're just gonna hang out.."

"Yeah.. Maybe order a pizza or something.." Zoe feigned innocence as she tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Alright. Sounds fun." Carmen smugly grinned and began gesturing towards the space between her and the two high schoolers. "Just make sure you don't leave a mess, alright? And remember to be safe. You know, because I won't be here and it will just be you two... together, I mean."

Zoe's face boiled with embarrassment and she turned towards the door to leave as soon as possible. Teddy was so quick behind her since his train of thought was on the same track of hers that he nearly collided with her as they both reached for the door. Teddy and Zoe fumbled with their farewells at Carmen, which made her snicker to herself, and disappeared out of the house to escape.

The silence and tension between Teddy and Zoe was enough to keep them from even daring to brush elbows as they walked side by side on the sidewalk. Neither of them could even look at each other. Teddy was too caught up thinking about the pressure of taking care of a virgin girl when he was a virgin himself, while Zoe was too caught up imagining how intimidated she would be once she saw Teddy naked.

Zoe had only seen him shirtless once and couldn't stop thinking about the parts of him that she hadn't seen yet.

Teddy had zero experience making a woman feel good and he knew basing his knowledge off of porn was probably a bad idea.