I Was Saved... by the Jerkface

A Taste of Okieville/Epilogue

I took my phone off my nightstand and tucked it into my back pocket. That was it - the last thing I had to do before heading out the door with a suitcase full of my stuff. I took a deep breath and surveyed the room. I knew of course that I would be coming back home on holidays and some weekends, but I still felt sad that I was no longer going to be permanently living at home.

I zipped my leopard-print suitcase shut and smiled slightly before wheeling the case out into the main room of my apartment. My parents were sitting on the couch, discussing something quietly, but when they saw me they hopped up. They had been doing that a lot lately. Now it was crunch time.

My mom had slowly but surely come to grips with me leaving. My parents both knew that I would be leaving for college inevitably, so my dad simply had to do some convincing on his part and my mom was alright with it. She still didn't know how she felt about Blake, but she was content.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked them. We were meeting Blake at the airport in an hour.

We all packed into the car and we were off. There was little conversation, so I turned on the radio to an upbeat station. I refused to be sad.

We arrived at the airport fifty-five minutes later, and I got my suitcase from the trunk. My mom helped me put my white peacoat on, because it's always cold in airports and in airplanes. We checked in my luggage and got my ticket. A few minutes later, we made our way through security and I searched the waiting area for Blake.

I panicked for a second when I couldn't find him. Suddenly, I felt a warm presence at my back, and two big hands covered my eyes.

"Guess who," I heard a voice say, and by the deep tone I could tell it was Blake.

I smile and covered his hands with my own. "Umm... Batman?"

"Yes!" Blake silently cheered, snickering in my ear. He dropped his hands, allowing me to turn around and give him a big hug. My parents watched from a few feet away. My mom was expressionless, but my dad carried a happy grin.

With my suitcase gripped in one hand and Blake's arm in the other, we stepped closer to them. The flight attendant came over the intercom and announced that our flight was boarding. I looked at my parents, smiling slightly.

Blake stepped away from me for a second to shake my dad's hand. "Mr. and Mrs. Gerald, thank you so much," he said from the heart.

I averted my eyes for second to let them have their moment before I felt my mom's hand on my shoulder. I looked to my left to see her almost as expressionless before - but I could see through a little tiny crack in her facade. Her right eye was glistening a little more than normal.

"Oh, Mommy," I gushed, bringing her in for a bear hug. I nuzzled my nose into her neck and breathed in her scent - a scent I wouldn't be able to smell from thousands of miles away. I hadn't called her 'mommy' in years.

We all said our goodbyes, and before I knew it I was holding Blake's hand and we were sitting in our assigned seats, ready to take off. I gazed out the window, watching as the airport grew smaller and smaller. I knew my parents were sad to see me move out, but I would come back, of course. This was not goodbye.

I leaned my head on Blake's warm, sturdy shoulder. He had his arm around me, and rubbed my shoulder. "You okay?" he asked kindly, and I nodded.

"Yes, thank you," I smiled and dug in my purse for my iPod. We shared headphones and for the rest of the flight, we didn't say much.

*****

I picked up my luggage from the carousel, and looked up at Blake, who was standing a few feet away, ready to go. He had a big, boyish smile on his face that was infectious.

We linked arms and waltzed out of the front doors of the terminal, hailing a cab to take us to our new apartment.

Let me just say - oh sweet baby Jesus, was this a change from New York City. I didn't really notice a difference between the two states until we started to get farther and farther away from the airport. Once we had been in the car for an hour, I started to get restless. It didn't take an hour to get anywhere I needed to go in NYC, even if it was outside city limits.

"How far away is this place, exactly?" I asked nervously, watching as the buildings got shorter and eventually we were traveling on the highway with nothing but patches of short, brown and green grass for miles in either direction. I thought maybe we were lost, but that was silly.

Blake chucked and shook his head. "Welcome to the country, city girl."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, it's not... that bad."

The cab driver spoke up. "City girl, huh? Where you two from?"

He had an accent that alarmed me slightly. He spoke with the same twang that Blake did, but more pronounced. "She's lived in Manhattan all her life, but I'm from around here," Blake said conversationally.

We arrived at our destination an hour and forty-five minutes after we left the airport. The apartment was in the center of a fairly large suburb, with department stores and houses all around. Blake explained that even though this may look like a small town, we were actually in one of the busier parts of the area.

"Where I come from, this is busy," he said seriously, but with a smile, seeing my doubtful expression.

"Alright, if you say so..." I said, shaking my head.

"You should see my old house I grew up in. Nothin' around for miles," he said, taking my hand as we got our room key and headed up the stairs. There was no elevator, and I kid you not, we were on the top floor, but we were only three stories up.

The apartment was small but cozy, and I instantly fell in love with it. We started setting up our things and moving furniture around, wanting to get started making the space personal as soon as possible.

*****

Later that night, we were 'out on the town' as Blake put it. We visited an old-style ice cream parlor and found a Wal-Mart. I hadn't been inside a Wal-Mart since I was five years old. They really do have everything.

Blake decided that I needed to 'country it up a little bit,' since I stuck out like a sore thumb with all my city girl clothing. I agreed and we had fun picking me out a new outfit, cowgirl boots and all.

Blake slowly started to get back in the habit of speaking with his native accent, and I had to stop myself from smiling every time he said something that I wasn't used to. I had a feeling I would come back home with that accent as well - it was infectious.

*****

I rested my head on my boyfriend's warm, solid chest and listened to the soft thumping of his heart against his rib cage. I allowed my body to relax as warmth seeped through me, and I closed my eyes. It was ten o'clock at night, the lights were off, and the entire town was asleep.

This was too weird. There was almost no noise outside, except for the occasional passing of a car in the road. No honking horns, no bright store lights on til all hours, nothing. It was peaceful, but also oddly unsettling. Something I was going to have to get used to.

Blake shifted underneath me. "You okay, Belle?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah." I explained to him the weirdness of it all and he chuckled.

"Welcome to my world, honey. How strange do you think it was moving to Manhattan? I wasn't able to sleep for weeks," he told me, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

"Well, I feel your pain now," I laughed and raised myself up on one elbow. I placed a kiss on his cheek softly. "I'll get used to it. I think I'm gonna like it here."

He smiled at me. "I know you will. It grows on you." His other hand traced delicate, soft circles on my hips.

One small peck on the cheek was not enough for him, and he placed one hand at the back of my head to pull me closer so he could give me a sound kiss. I melted against his lips, sighing into the kiss. That was what I had needed all day in order to relax. Just being around him was enough to calm me down and soothe the ache of leaving the once place I had ever known.

Blake placed a soft, warm kiss on my forehead before flipping me upside down, burying his face into my stomach, wrapping his arms around me like a little kid, and closing his eyes as if to sleep.

My laughter disturbed his head on my stomach, and I ran my fingers through his silky, golden hair.

Yes, I think I'm going to like it here very much, I thought to myself before drifting off into a warm, peaceful sleep.

{THE END}