We Were Liars | ONC 2020 ✔

Truth Hurts

TWENTY DAYS AFTER

I woke up to a pain in my posterior, a hand brushing loose wisps of hair away from my face, and a body tucked beside mine.

"Morning," Ezra whispered. His palm was warm on my cheek as he lovingly stroked my face. His strawberry-blonde locks were tangled in the most endearing way, falling softly over his forehead, highlighted in gold from the streaks of sunlight streaming in through the half-open curtains. His lean torso was bare, pressing into my own naked chest. Our limbs were tangled together to the point where I could hardly tell where I ended and he began.

"It's afternoon, unless I've slept for longer than I planned to," I slurred, rolling over so I was on my back and wincing at the stabbing agony in my behind. I hadn't expected losing my virginity to hurt so much---I was learning things I thought I'd never need to know.

He chuckled, continuing to stare at me. "You're right. It's afternoon. I just wanted to see your reaction." He leaned over, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips. "You're so beautiful."

"And we're both about to die." Way to be a buzzkill, Canterbury, I chastised myself. Was there even one romantic moment that my highly logical mind wouldn't try to ruin? I doubted it. I was far too practical for romance, sadly, even when one of the most gorgeous boys in the entire universe---who I'd just slept with---was lying next to me.

Ezra's mouth playfully drooped at the corners. "Don't ruin the moment," he whined, pouting a little.

I groaned, sitting up as slowly as possible as I tried to ignore the shooting pains arching up my spine. "Is my mother back yet?" I hoped she wasn't, considering what Ezra and I had just done. I reached for my shirt, bunched up on the sheets where it had been tossed aside in a sad lump of fabric. Ezra surged forward and wrapped his arms around me, shaking his head against my shoulder.

"Of course not. If she was, I'd be freaking out by now," he giggled. He reached around our interwined bodies, lacing his fingers in mine---so reminiscent of the first time I'd ever felt my heart speed up in my chest. I debated whether to deny him my hand---a petty, weak method of getting back at him for the agony in my lower half---but eventually decided to let my palm fall slack in his, giving in.

He'd put a spell over me. There was no turning back now.

"You swore earlier, you know," he murmured, trailing hot lips over my exposed neck and raising goosebumps over the sensitive flesh. "Just now...in the middle of it."

I raised a dubious eyebrow. "I didn't realise that, but I suppose that could be plausible. I was in a lot of pain, after all."

"First time?"

"How'd you guess?" I replied sarcastically.

"Did you...like it?"

I managed to shrug Ezra off me long enough to snatch my shirt up and pull it over my head. "I'm not stroking your ego."

He laughed, reaching out to pull me to his chest again. "Rude, but I'll take that as a begrudging yes." And then his face changed, the smile falling from his lips as he detached himself from me, the welcome warmth of his arms leaving me to silently yank on his clothes.

I recoiled in confusion at his sudden shift of mood, something empty squeezing my heart to pieces at the loss of affection. "Ezra? What's wrong?" I asked, my pain momentarily forgotten as I scrabbled for my khakis, slipping them on as quickly as possible. "I wasn't...not enjoying it, you know."

"It's not that." His voice shook as he spoke, cracking at the seams and wracked with sorrow. When he buried his face into my shoulder, the action only served to deepen my worry. His eyes were wet with tears that he desperately tried to hold back, his bottom lip quivering. I didn't know what else to do, so I just let him sob quietly against my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Canterbury," Ezra cried. "God, I'm so fucking sorry."