Chapter Seventy-One: "Clarity."
"HEY, BROOKLYN!"
I beam up at my prescription provider, Doctor Raymond. I felt bad for freaking out on him when I first came here to refill, so I apologized and we've actually became good buddies. He's really nice and usually stays later if I can't get my doses before the store closes.
"Hey Dr. Raymond." I say happily.
"How are you?"
"I'm doing a lot better." I reply honestly. "You remember Landon, don't you?"
"The boyfriend?" He asks as Landon and him exchange handshakes. "How can I forget when you talk about him all the time."
Landon squeezes my waist and I look up at him embarrassedly while a blush forms deeply on my cheeks. He has an amused gleam in his eyes and a stupid, cute smirk on his face. "You talk about me?"
I lick my lips nervously. "Only sometimes." I lie. I actually do talk about him frequently, but he doesn't need to know that.
"Uh huh," he teases, and leans down to kiss my forehead. A smile automatically appears on my face and I lean closer into him.
"Here you go, Miss May." Dr. Raymond says, handing me a tiny baggie with my meds in it. "I've been talking to your psychiatrist, she says you're doing very well."
"I am," I squeak. "Just a matter of time before I won't be seen walking through those doors anymore, Raymond."
"Just make sure to not rush yourself." He scolds. I may or may not have told him about my idiotic mistake of leaving my pills at home.
"Never again." I promise.
"I'm glad to hear it." He smiles. "Have fun you two."
"You as well, Raymond."
"Let me know how your tournament goes."
"Of course!"
"Someone's awfully cheery." Landon teases when we get outside the pharmacy and inside the truck.
"I'm in a good mood." I grin back.
"Excited?"
"Very." I reply. "I'm also very anxious, but I hope that'll slide."
"I'm sure it will, Blue."
When he goes to start the truck, I stop him. We have some time to spare, and I'm sure a half hour is long enough to have a private moment with my boyfriend. "Landon?"
"Yeah, Blue?" He asks softly, turning the truck on anyway because he could feel my shivers and it was starting to get cold inside.
"I love you." I whisper.
A large smile, maybe even the biggest I've ever seen on him, appears on his mouth making me bite my lip and giggle.
His eyes glance down at my lips in between my teeth and I notice the way his eyes hood over and his chest rise heavily.
I crawl across the center console into his lap, placing my legs on either side of his and wrap my arms around his neck. His hands curl around my waist and rest on my hips, circling his thumbs along my hipbones making me squirm. There's no cars in the parking lot of the pharmacy, so I don't have to be insecure of showing some PDA in a pick-up truck.
I pull his head closer and kiss him, immediately getting lost in him and his kisses. He responds instantly, a soft groan coming from his throat, and swipes his tongue across my bottom lip. I open up to him, letting him explore as my hands drag down his neck over his shoulders to rest on his chest, firmly latching on and clawing at his skin through his shirt when his hands come up to rest on my breasts.
"God, I will never tire of hearing you say that," he growls over my lips as he pulls back. "I love you too, baby. So much."
I press my lips against his and we kiss passionately for several more minutes before I feel a lump in my throat, bringing back a question I've been begging to ask him for at least a few days now, and pull away.
It's nothing to even stress over, but I feel like we're moving faster than the average couple so I want to make sure we're on the same track so neither of us gets hurt.
Also because I want a future with himâvery much.
"Landon. . ." I trail off, resting my forehead against his, my heart pounding in my chest at such dangerous speeds, Brian O'Conner and Dominic Torretto couldn't even compete.
He's said this several times, but I'm someone whose life demands clarity.
He sees the nervousness in my eyes and removes his hands from my chest and brings them to cup my face softly, his hands basically making my cheeks disappear with how large his hands are. "What is it, Blue? What's wrong?"
"Please don't be like him," I plead in a hoarse whisper. The last thing I want is for him to back out. I love him more than I loved Taylor, and that's saying something. I mean, I'm nearly seventeen, I'm not even supposed to know what love is, yet here I am, feeling this pounding deep in my chest, and an ache in my heart whenever Landon is gone. His touch sends bursts of electricity through me, and his kisses make my knees go weak, my brain stop functioning, and makes my whole body tingle. My belly erupts in butterflies whenever he catches my eye, and flashes me that God-awful, heart-wrenching smile that makes me swoon.
"Be like who, baby?" He whispers. "Talk to me."
I lick my lips, and squeeze his hand that's on my cheek. "Don't be like Taylor."
His grip tightens slightly, and I watch his jaw tick. "I would never, hun. I'd never choose you second."
"Don't leave me." I demand.
"I won't. I swear." He smiles again. "Promise me, too."
I kiss his lips. "I promised as soon as I said I loved you back."
He smiles. "I promise, even if we were to ever break up, that I'd always be there for you. Even if it didn't end on mutual terms."
"Likewise." I murmur. "I don't want that to happen, though. I really don't."
"I don't either, baby." He kisses my nose, and I lose my breath when something pokes at my rear. His face suddenly reddens and he clears his throat. "Maybe we should go before I lose the last of my self control?"
I chuckle, and he smirks. "Maybe you're right."
"Yeah, because I'd rather not take you in the cab of my truck." He says honestly. "Well, not yet anyway. We can hit that level some other day when it's not freezing outside."
"Good point." I say, getting off his lap and giggling when I glance back over at him. "I'm sorry."
He looks down and sighs. "Don't worry about it, it'll deflate soon."
I burst out laughing on how he addresses his situation. "Why? Isn't it painful?"
"No, not really. It's just really uncomfortable."
"Then shouldn't you. . . handle it?"
"Yeah, probably." He replies truthfully. "But we're on a time limit."
"I'm sure we can cut it short for a few minutes?"
He laughs and shakes his head. "Oh, darling, you never fail to amaze me."
I pout, buckling up my seatbelt. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He shakes his head again. "Nothing, baby. I'll be fine, really. I'm barely even up, so I'll be flaccid by the time we get there."
"Are you sure?" I frown. "Because I can heâ"
"As much as I'd love that, we'd be going nowhere afterwards and we have a plane to catch."
I blush. "Alrighty, then."
***
"There you guys are!" Maya exclaims once we enter the airport. Everyone is there except for Carly and Becca, who will be shortly, they just ran into the grocery store for some emergency supplies.
"We're not late," Landon says as he rolls his eyes.
"So? It took you long enough. It doesn't take an hour to get to the airport from town. We left an hour after you and we still got here first." She retorts.
"We were busy." Landon shrugs, grabbing my hand.
"Busy what? Doing it in the backseat?" She challenges.
No, busy making out and fondling in the driver seat, Maya. There's a difference.
"No," I interrupt. "Backseat was too boring. We did it in the front seat." I joke.
Maya's eyes widen and she gasps, running up and slapping me across my arms and back repeatedly in excitement. "What?! Really?"
I slap her back hard to make her back away, laughing while I push her arm off me. "No."
She pouts, arms dropping in a sag. "Awe. Why not?"
I scrunch my eyebrows in amusement. "Because we're on a time limit?"
"So? I've heard Landon bang girls. The girls are either very good at acting, or Landon has a good game goin' on in the bedroom." She states, and Landon reaches over me to thump Maya on the head, shooting her a very deadly glare. "Ouch! God, I'm just telling the truth. Brooklyn, the boy doesn't even need ten minutes with you."
I stare back at her in utter shock, my jaw hanging down to the floor as I blink slowly.
He doesn't even need ten minutes with girls? It takes that amount of timeâhell, probably longerâfor me to get into the mood and here Maya is, telling me it takes him less than ten minutes?
Either the action is so bad the girls want out, or this boy has some serious talent I have yet to discover.
I look up at my boyfriend, something between horror and intrigue mixed on my face. Frankly, I don't know if I should be scared or excited. "Really now?"
The tips of his ears turn red, something I've caught on as him trying to hide a sheepish blush. He coughs awkwardly then tightens his arm around my waist. "She may be exaggerating a little," he tells me.
"Exaggerating?" Maya scoffs. "Landon, I've heard you. If anything, I'm not exaggerating enough." She then turns to me and says, "Brooklyn, honest-to-God, he can probably have you flying over the skyscrapers in India and China in less than that."
"Huh," I hum out-of-thought. "I'll have to keep that in mind for next time," I whisper in his ear.
"There'll be a next time?" He mutters huskily.
"I certainly hope so," I shake my head in bewilderment. "Do you want there to be a next time?"
"Of course."
"Then there'll be a next time," I giggle.
"Brooklyn!"
I turn around to see Carly and Becca running frantically towards us, each with several carry-ons in their hands.
"I'm so sorry we're late! The grocery store was packed and they didn't have one of the items we wanted so we needed to ask someone to check the inventory andâ"
"Carly it's okay," I chuckle at her panicky mood; she always was one who hated being late for things. Either Carly was on time or absentâthere was no in between; Carly can't face having everyone stare at her as she walks into a quiet classroom.
Her eyes were closed during her rant, and when she heard me accept her unnecessary apology, her eyes opened and now she stares at me wide-eyed with a dropped jaw.
"You never told me they were going to be here!" She gasps, her mouth sputtering as she looks between Liam, Lance, and Landon.
I shrug. "You never asked."
"Well, um, hi!" She says awkwardly.
Lance chuckles. "Hey, Carly."
Liam smirks at her, and walks up to cover her from the majority of us, however Landon and I can see their interaction easily given where we're standing. He holds his hand out for her to take, in which she gulps, glances at me, and puts her hand nervously in Liam's after I give her a 'go on, take it!' gesture with my head and eyes. "Nice to meet you." He says softly, taking her by surprise by kissing her knuckles.
That boy. . . he hasn't even met her properly for a minute and he's already trying to sweep her up, I think mentally, smiling to myself when I picture the two as becoming an item.
Carly and Liam may be from two totally different crowds, but I think there's a slight possibility that they could happen. It's a very slim chance, but together, I think they could balance one another out. Liam could introduce her to parties and bring her out of her element a bit with becoming more social and interactive between strangers, while Carly can keep Liam grounded with her need to be organized and know when enough is enough.
A blush forms on Carly's cheeks, and she pulls away, not knowing how to react. She definitely has trouble communicating with the opposite sex; how she managed with Jackson and Nathan, I have no idea. Perhaps Atticus introduced her when they were younger and she grew up with them, but who knows.
Nervously clearing her throat, Carly backs away and smiles shyly. "You too, Liam."
"Why hasn't Brooklyn introduced us before?" He asks.
"For the sole reason that she's a sweet innocent girl and you are the total opposite," I interfere, smirking at Liam who scowls at me.
"Whatever the reason," he says to Carly, "I'm glad it happened."
"Liam, you're going to give the poor girl a heart attack, lay off." Landon laughs.
"She's cute!" Liam protests. "But alright. I'll lay low until you're ready."
"Thank you!" I say, and grab some of Carly's bags. We all make our way to the terminal, following the crowd as we go through all the normal security checks and passport readings. When we finally board the plane, I frown upon realizing that Landon and I aren't seated together, and that he is in fact behind me, while Liam is beside me on my left, with Maya on my right. We all are seated very closely because of how we bought tickets, but the remainder of us are behind me. Landon is directly behind my seat, Becca is beside him to his right, Lance is beside Landon and right behind Liam, and Carly is right beside Lance.
The arrangement isn't so bad, but if flights weren't so picky with seating, then I'm positive the couples would be together and Liam would be beside Carly, trying to flirt with her while Becca sat awkwardly, watching the interaction.
"So something happened last night," I whisper to Maya about an hour after takeoff.
"What?" She whispers back, tilting her head closer to me. Where we sit is a three-seater, and Liam went to the bathroom so I can talk with Maya about Landon and I. She's been pestering me all day for details, and given that everyone behind us is sleeping, including my boyfriend, I figured that now is as good a time as ever to tell her what happened before the annoying McGibbon returns.
"It happened," I start, starting to grow excited. I wanted to tell her and Carly at the same time, but I don't want to wait many hours to tell them both, so I'll just tell her when we land. "Not what you think," I add additionally once she starts to smirk.
A pout forms on her face. "You're days away from seventeen, and though you and your boyfriend have been dating for months now and commit in sexual activity, you have yet to do the deed because he wants to wait. Doesn't that sound odd to you, that the man is the one who wants to wait?"
"Hey, that's sexist," I protest. "If Landon wants to wait, then I'll wait. Besides, he wants to know me first as a person and not just a release."
"Okay," she says, dropping the topic, "so what did happen then if you didn't have sex?"
"He told me he loves me," I reveal, biting my lip to not let the huge smile break out on my face, and also preventing myself from squealing because it's still just feels like a fantasy.
"He didn't," she whispers, smiling widely and squeezing my arm as she squeals softly. Though Maya came off to me as a tough girl, she's actually very girly in a non-girly way, and that's uniqueness in itself; it doesn't make sense but this girl will talk endlessly about boys and hot male celebs with their clothes off and dress in skirts and makeup, meanwhile she keeps her tough-girl façade and acts like she's some emo-like girl who loves Rock 'N Roll and Screamo and only knows one emotion, which would be stoicism.
"He did," I chirp. "He was all nervous about it and rambling and God, Maya, he was so fucking adorableâ"
"Who's adorable?" I look over to see Liam returning, and taking his seat beside me. "Me? Oh, right, because I didn't know that already," he teases, nudging my arm.
Liam and I's relationship has developed very strongly over the past few months. Even though he came off as an ass and flirt, he was very compassionate about people he was close to and when he finally accepted me, we stopped fighting as often as we used to and now I see him as a big brother I never had.
I appreciate him greatly for all he's done for me when it comes to advice and support.
"No, your twin," I grin back. "Though, I guess that would be true either way because you two look the same."
"Exactly. I know I'm a hottie." He continues.
"And cocky," I smirk. "Anymore cockiness and you'll send the plane down with the heavy weight of it all."
He playfully punches my leg and rolls his eyes.
For the majority of the flight, the three of us have talked endlessly about anything and everything until I eventually end up falling sleep on Liam's shoulder.