Chapter 49: Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty -One

I shift in the bed trying to pull the blankets up higher, but they don't budge as if something's holding them down. I squint, refusing to open my eyes up all the way to see what is restricting them, but then my eyes go wide, practically popping out of their sockets, when I see a tan chest right in front of me. Trent.

Butterflies flutter around in the pit of my stomach as I recall the events of last night, but then feeling tension in my gut I remember the reason I woke up—my bladder.

I slowly slide my hands away, untangling them from him and move back just a centimeter not wanting to wake him up. Holding my breath, I pull back just a little bit more before he abruptly yanks me back to him, so I'm once again flush against his chest. I bite my lip and count to three before trying again. Slowly...slowly. I get a good ten inches away from him, the tips of his fingers just moments away from falling away from my hips, but just when I think I'm going to be able to slide out he pulls me back to him and secures his arms back around my waist.

"Trent," I squeak, but his eyes are still closed and I just watch as his chest continues to move up and down with his breathing. I clear my throat, "Trent, I have to pee."  I feel his grip around me tighten, leaving my bladder to scream, and I bite my lip to hold back a whimper. "Trent, please." I put a hand on his arm and twist my torso in attempt to turn around, but he just turns me back around to face him. My toes begin to wiggle and I feel like a little kid doing the potty dance. "Trent, I really have to pee."  Just as the words leave my mouth, Trent rolls us over so he's on top of me, and buries his face into the crook of my neck.

"No more running," he mumbles and I feel my body going rigid beneath him. Not only am I trying to hold in my pee, but I'm also a little stunned by his words. No more running. "Promise me?" he whispers lowly, his lips brushing up against my ear and just like that I relax again. My shoulders slump back down as I release the breath I was holding.

I never realized how much I really run and I'm not talking about my daily jogs around campus.

I guess it's just a habit really, a habit that never occurred to me until Trent pointed it out that day a few weeks ago. It's just my normal response.

Whenever adrenaline kicks in my body's initial reaction is to run—as far away as possible, without turning back. But even when I'm not under the influence of adrenaline, even when it's just me being nervous over meaningless things, I tend to just...flee.

I reach up, placing a hand on Trent's chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. No matter how hard I try, I don't think I'll be able to run from him anymore.

"I promise," I whisper and after a second I feel his lips curve up into a slow smile against my neck. Then before I know it he's back rolling over onto his back, but ends up tumbling off the bed and taking me down with him. He breaks my fall as we land with a thud against the ground. Now I'm on top of him, and I spread my hands against his chest for support. "What the—" I start, but he cuts me off by firmly pressing his lips to mine, in one solid kiss as if sealing our deal. Then he drops his head back down against the floor, grinning up at me with sleepy eyes.  I shake my head at him, but find myself smiling back.

"Ah—the love birds are back," Zack announces cheerfully, walking into the room, and I feel my cheeks beginning to glow red.

"Hey, man," Trent says unaffected and sits up, taking me with him. He pulls my legs over his lap cradling me to him while leaning his back against the bed.  "You could've slept in here. We didn't do anything."  He cranes his neck to look over at Zack while I lean my head on his shoulder.

Zack just waves him off. "Nah, its okay. You guys needed some alone time."  Then he rummages around for a second before turning back to us. "You're welcome by the way." He winks before throwing a red sweatshirt over his head.

"For what?" Trent and I ask at the same time making him chuckle.

"Well, if it wasn't for my input, you guys wouldn't be sitting there all cuddled up right now." He gestures to our position while trying to get the sweatshirt situated around his lanky form.

"Whatever you say." I shake my head turning away from him, but he grins sauntering back over to the door.

"I was secretly rooting for you guys the whole time though." He steps outside before turning back to us. "But if you tell anyone I said that I'll stuff peas down your pants." A laugh escapes my lips at the thought, but he points his pointer finger, his gaze solely on me. "I'm not kidding, Lacie, and I'm not saying I'll stuff the peas individually. I'm saying I'll stuff the whole metal can." The smile instantly drops from my face making him throw his head back in laughter and shut the door behind him.

I stare at the door for a few seconds longer before turning back to Trent, only to see he's been staring at me. The thought makes my cheeks burn again, but he just leans over, leaning his forehead on mine.

"I'll walk you back to your dorm." That's when I remember I have to pee and I jump right up from the ground. I quickly throw my sneakers back on and rush towards the door. "Wait!" Trent calls out just as I step outside the entryway and I freeze remembering our promise. I quickly turn back around only to smash into Trent's chest. Stumbling back, I notice he now has a shirt on his chest and sneakers on his feet. I look back up only to see he's smiling down at me amused as he slowly raises his brow.

"I'm not running." I give him a sheepish smile and fidget with my hands.

"Mmhmm," he hums folding his arms across his chest. "Well I am!" I stare at the closed door confused for a second before glancing to my right.

"Wait, what!?" I screech before taking off after him.

My steps blur as I run down the stairs, Trent being only a few steps ahead. He bursts out the exit and I follow close behind before jumping on his back. He grunts losing his balance a little, but then he readjusts his hold on my legs and spins us around making me laugh. Placing my feet back on the ground, I giggle trying to regain control of my breathing, and reach up to fix my ponytail knowing it probably looks like a disheveled mess. Once my heart rate's back to a normal pace, I reach over and slap Trent's arm.

"Hey!" he whines rubbing it and I point a finger at him.

"That's for running." Then I turn to walk across the lawn. I only get a few steps ahead before Trent slips his hand into mine and swings our arms back and forth. I glance up at the sky and close my eyes, letting the sun warm my skin. Glancing straight ahead again, I glance around seeing they set the picnic tables back up, all of them scattered around the lawn, meaning spring has officially sprung.

Reaching my dorm building Trent walks me up to my door, but just when I'm about to make contact with the knob, the door swings open.

"Lacie O'Conner! Where the hell have you been! I thought you got freaking kidnapped or some—" Stephanie stops mid-rant glancing behind me. "Trent."

"Hey, Stephanie," he sends her a quick wave of his hand as one corner of his mouth tips up.

"I'm sorry I forgot to text you," I say as her gaze flickers back and forth between us and I watch as a knowing smile creeps onto her face.

"It's okay." She picks up a strand of blue hair and twirls it around her finger a few times as her smile continues to grow bigger.

"I better go," Trent says from behind me and plants a quick kiss to the side of my head. "I'll text you later." I nod watching him take a few steps away, but then my gaze falls down to my attire.

"Wait!" He turns back to me and I pull the material of his shirt away from my stomach. "Your shirt." I look back up at him. "My shirt." I recall the white material that is most likely still sitting on Trent's floor and a smile etches across his face.

He waves his hand, "keep it."

"But—" I start as he takes a few more backwards steps.

"And I'll bring your shirt back later when I come pick you up."  He sends me a quick wink before turning back around and disappearing down the hallway. I slowly turn back to Stephanie only to see she's still grinning from ear to ear.

"Tell me everything." She grips my wrist and goes to yank me into the room, but I yank her out instead.

"Okay, but I really have to pee first." She laughs as we begin to jog down the hallway to the bathroom. We stop at the door and just as I go to walk in she taps my arm.

"Oh, oh, wait. Did you guys—?" She wiggles her eyebrows and my mouth drops.

"No!"

"Dammit!"

****

"So I have a question," I say slipping a hand around my Styrofoam cup, allowing the warmth to slip into my hand.

"And I have an answer," Trent grins sending an extra flutter to my stomach and messing with some of the hot chocolate that's already in there.

"Well, I know I shouldn't be bringing this up—"

"You mean Voldemort? It's okay, you can say his name. I won't tell anyone."

"No," I sigh, shaking my head at his randomness in which he sends me an amused look in response while bringing his cup up to his lips. I sit up a little straighter, hunching over the table on my forearms. "No, I was actually going to ask you about something that I saw a while ago. More specifically pictures." Trent's eyebrows pull together in confusion and I drop my head down against the table sighing again. "Look, I really don't want to bring this up, but I feel like I kind of need to just to get it out of my system."

"Hey," Trent says softly drawing my gaze back up to him. "Talk to me." I sit back up in my seat, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Well, a few weeks ago when we weren't talking I just kind of saw some pictures of a party and—" I glance back over at Trent seeing his face contort in confusion for a second before his eyes widen in recognition.

"Oh." He taps his finger against the table. "That." I shrink back in my seat thinking about all the different pictures I saw, specifically the one with the girl in it and feel my gut twist. "Oh no, no," Trent shakes his head bringing my focus back to him. "Nothing like that happened. I can see the wheels turning in your head and just stop them, okay?" He reaches across the table and places his hand on top of mine. "It wasn't anything like that at all."

I bite my lip."Then what was it?"

He retracts his hand with a nervous smile.

"Well," he reaches up and scratches the back of his neck and I try to rack my brain for any possible thing he might say, but I come up blank. He drops his hand back down. "It was kind of my birthday."

My eyes widen. "What?" He allows himself to smile a little more and I slap a hand to my forehead. "I can't believe I missed your birthday. I'm so sorry." I drop my hand back down to the table not knowing what else to say, but Trent puts his hand up, stopping anything else from coming out of my mouth, and shakes his head.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't your fault we weren't talking."

"But I remember you telling me it was in March." I glance down gripping my cup again before looking back up. "But you also never told me the exact date, so I guess that's your fault too." He shakes his head, but grins at me.

"Way to make me feel bad."

"Well, right now I feel pretty bad." I bring the cup up to my lips in attempt to muffle my next sentence. "So maybe you'll forget my birthday and we can be even."

"July twenty third."  My mouth drops open and I move the cup away from my lips just so Trent can see it.

"How did—?"

He grins leaning forward, "And your favorite color's purple. You have a younger sister, Layla. You're majoring in biology only to become a physical therapist and help people, not polar bears. You hate horror movies. Your mom works two part time jobs, while your dad works a full one, but they both still find time to be at home and together. You love starbursts and you think cuddling is awkward, but make an exception for me. You don't like tomatoes, but you do like peas. And you prefer the flavor vanilla, yet I'm completely red velvet."

He finishes off with another grin, not seeming at all out of breath and I blink completely astonished. Just when I thought I was already head over heels for him, he completely slams me down face first into the pavement.

"Well...that's certainly a lot of puzzle pieces."

He sits back up with a content smile on his face. "I know, but I bet there's still more." I continue to stare back at him a little speechless and he waves his hand at me. "Stop staring at me like that. I wasn't lying when I said I loved you." My heart stutters in my chest. There he goes again, throwing that four letter word around.

I grip the cup in my hands again and smile. "Your favorite color's red and you love hot chocolate." Trent grins again and comfortably leans back against his chair. "You're majoring in physical education in hopes to one day become a physical education teacher. You call your car the Montgomery mobile and you also don't like tomatoes. You've been friends with Zack since you were ten and prefer to wear v-neck t-shirts instead of regular ones. You secretly like country music—"

"I do not!" He quickly defends, but I just smile at him before continuing.

"Your dad's a construction project manager, your mom's an elementary school teacher, and you don't have any siblings, but do have a dog named Bowser. You believe in love and even though red velvet cake is your first love, you chose vanilla as your second."

I take in a deep breath and let it out, the words having tumbled out of my mouth almost effortlessly.

I look back over at Trent, but he continues to stare back at me, his green eyes boring into mine. I break his gaze bringing my cup up to my lips and taking a sip. Placing it back down in front of me, I stare at the leftover drop on the lid, resisting the urge to wipe it away.

"Be my girlfriend." My gaze snaps back up to Trent's and I open and close my mouth. "I should've asked you that months ago, but—"

"That wasn't really asking," I raise both my eyebrows giving him a teasing look, but he just sends me a halfhearted smile.

"I know, but I was just such a dumbass before—"

"Asinine," I nod bringing my cup up to my lips.

"Yes," he nods a few times in agreement. "Totally stupid."

"And a little senseless, ignorant, maybe even a little bit oafish and idiotic and—" I stop my rambling, bringing my cup back down, and look back over at Trent only to watch as a grin spreads across his face.

"Be my girlfriend."

A small smile stretches across my lips.

"Okay."