*Edited*
"What kind of question is that!" I exploded, fuming in anger. I felt my hands clench into fists as I glared at Elijah.
He arrogantly shrugged and leaned against the wall of the cafeteria before answering, "Usually when someone avoids their boyfriend for over a month, it means that they no longer feel attracted to them."
I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Eli. Don't place all the blame on me when you also ignored me. I should be asking you the same questions you're interrogating me about."
"Fair enough."
"You're so infuriating! I just-"
"Hey," a flirtatious voice interrupted me. I threw my wild eyes to the girl who slinked her arm around Elijah's waist and nuzzled his neck all the while his eyes stayed on me.
"Hey, you," he mumbled, wrapping an arm around Allison. My jaw hit the floor at their interaction and I felt my face flush. Just loud enough for me to hear, Elijah whispered, "I was in the middle of a conversation with my girlfriend, if you don't mind."
For the first time, Allison and I agreed on something. And that was the fact that Elijah Reed was truly a confusing person which was obvious by the similar expressions of shock on our faces.
And we were both stunned for the very same reason; Elijah had called me his girlfriend when I was pretty sure we had broken up.
Then he slid his arm out from around her, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me out of the cafeteria, leaving Allison to gawk at us until we were out of sight.
Elijah stalked down the long hallway before stopping abruptly at the double doors. I walked right into his back, stumbling back a step as I regained my balance.
"My mother's wedding is tomorrow. All summer I've been trying to convince my father to talk to her. I visited her almost everyday to have her rethink her decision of marrying her fiancé."
Well, shit. I was at a loss for words. I clamped my lips shut to keep from saying anything stupid.
"My father isn't the same man and my mother had the audacity to invite him to the wedding. Uriah was invited, too, but he kindly declined saying that he had a major exam that day."
I took a hesitant step forward and raised my hand about to lay it on his arm to let him know I was here for him. When I was just about to touch him, I stopped and let my hand drop back to my side. That whole lie about experimenting on me was just an excuse; he had been hiding this story from me.
He took a shuddering breath, making his shoulders tremble as he kept his back to me. I stared at his black t-shirt, not knowing what I should do. I so did not have experience with comforting people and I definitely wasn't good at it.
Which was why I said, "Oh, you know what they say about marriage. It only lasts if the husband gets down on one knee and the wife is willing to get down on two," and cringed after the words left my mouth.
Elijah laughed without emotion and shook his head, finally turning to face me. My eyes widened when I saw tears on the brim of his eyelids.
"I was more involved in her relationship than in mine. By now, I've given you a million and one reasons to break up with me. I'm an asshole, a jerk, a douche, and I don't deserve you. Yet, you've given me a million and two chances," he said, rendering me speechless as he wrapped his arms around my neck and tucked me against his broad body.
I was all too aware of how close we were and every inch of my skin that was touching his was in fire. I hadn't been in this much contact with him in what seemed like forever.
I kept my arms pinned to my sides as he buried his face in the crook of my neck.
"You said the wedding is tomorrow?" I suddenly asked.
He stiffened and I felt him nod.
"That should be enough time," I muttered to myself, thinking about what could be done in less than twenty four hours.
Elijah stepped back, narrowing his eyebrows as he asked skeptically, "What are you planning?"
"Have you ever crashed a wedding?"
"No."
"Perfect. Neither have I," I said with a devious grin. I spun around, determinedly heading back down the hallway.
I didn't get very far before Elijah's hand grabbed my wrist, halting me in my tracks. He twisted me around, shooting daggers at me with his intense green eyes.
"Don't you dare try anything," he ground out.
I sighed, slumping in resignation. I knew he was right; Hell, I'd get in so much trouble if I did try something.
"Fine," I agreed.
But that didn't mean it was alright for Elijah to keep me in the dark for so long about what he had been going through. Instead, he had pretended I didn't exist and then lied about everything when he should've just been honest with me in the first place.
"What's that look for?" He asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. He squinted at me when I glared at him.
"I was gonna say-"
"Veronica! The college fair ends in a few minutes, so.."
Mae trailed off when she saw me and Elijah standing together in the vacant hallway. She looked between the two of us, trying to decipher what was going on.
"Don't tell me you guys are about to go have some M&M's," she said with a knowing smirk.
"M&M's?" Elijah and I said at the same time.
Mae waved her hand in the air as if she couldn't believe we didn't understand her. "Make up and make out. You know, M and M."
My face reddened as I shot a mortified look at Elijah who still had his hand on my wrist. He was just staring at Mae with his lips pressed together in a straight line.
"Jeez, I thought someone would snicker at my joke," she said and clarified when she saw our blank faces, "Like the candy bar? Snickers?"
"I got what you meant the first time," Elijah said.
"Tough crowd," Mae pouted, crossing her arms. "Well, I'll just leave you two alone now."
She took off down the hallway, throwing a wink over her shoulder as she returned to the cafeteria.
Elijah cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to him.
"About those M&M's," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
I slipped my wrist out of his hand and only looked at my feet. I gestured a hand from me to him and said, "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure you have to make up first and I'm not sure we've done that yet."
His eyes darkened and the next thing I knew, I was backed up against the lockers with Elijah pressing his body on mine.
"I'm sorry, Ronnie," he apologized before crushing his lips to mine.
***********
I was giddy the entire ride home, still in shock over everything Elijah had admitted. He'd come to the college fair because he had known I'd be there and he'd also known in the back of his mind that he had wanted to tell me and come clean.
Yet, he had let his ego get in the way by calling it an experiment. He'd claimed he hadn't even had time to think about having sex or waiting for me to be ready. He'd been concerned with his mother's marriage the entire time; the stress was eating him up which was also what had made him tell me that lie about having sex with Allison.
He said the story was half true, though. He'd actually wanted to know if I'd be jealous, but that hadn't been his main goal. His real motive had been to confess to me.
Elijah and I had made good on Mae's term -M&M's- and by the time we had unlocked our lips and untangled our tongues, the windows of his car had been fogged up.
Did this mean I forgave him for ignoring me for the majority of the summer?
Absolutely not. But for now, I was here to support him during this tough time he was going through.
He obviously wanted his parents to get back together since it was partially his fault in the first place that his mother had left. I recalled the story of him running away and his mom promising to put Uriah up for adoption for him to come back home. Zachariah, Elijah's father, had angrily smashed a vase and his mother left them.
He'd said multiple times that Mr. Reed was still in love with his ex wife, but it was apparent that she didn't return the same feelings, especially since she had a fiancé whom Elijah and I had met that night so long ago.
"Oh, looks like you have company. Maybe Uriah's home," I said, noticing the convertible in my neighbor's driveway as we pulled up. But Uriah had a white BMW, not a red Mustang convertible.
"That's my mother's car."
********
Hi!
Okay, so I've been really busy with school and sports lately. I'm sorry I haven't been able to update my stories as frequently as I used to. Thanks for being patient! Please vote/comment your thoughts! :)