Marney in the Middle

Chapter 24: Not Ready

Marney grins at me. "You do?"

I sigh and nod, 'yes.' There it is. All my resolve has officially fled. I'm not certain what to do next. Do I ask her out? Something tells me that, if there ever was a time, this would be it. As I start to lift myself into a sitting position, she grips the front of my shirt and pulls me to her.

She lets my face linger just above hers. We study each other.

Lowering myself, I kiss her. Her movement is a little delayed, like our first kiss, but I don't pull away. Soon her lips are moving against mine in a rushed, almost rough way. She separates her lips for me. She tastes sweet.

My mind hazes over. I close my eyes as I scoop my hand behind her head and rest my other hand on her side. She grips my hand with hers and pushes it lower to her outer thigh.

My heartbeat skitters. So does my movement.

This...

Pushing me away, she looks at me. "What's wrong?"

I don't respond. My mind is too wrapped up in this to form thoughts. Marney takes it as a 'nothing' and brings my lips back to hers. We start slow as if this is our first kiss again. It's almost as if it is. Our noses bonk together; she breaks away to stifle a giggle behind her hand. Sweeping hair out of her eyes, I kiss her again with my head tilted to the side. Our lips glide against each other slowly.

But then it changes, deepens. A low moan escapes her lips as I trace my hand along the outside of her thigh up to the waist of panties. She hikes up the bottom of her dress for me.

Her skin is soft and warm. This is new territory for me. I slip my fingers back and forth along the waist of her panties along her thigh. Their shaking. I don't know what I'm doing. If she notices, she doesn't react. She's shaking, too. My mind urges me to progress further.

She laces her fingers through the hair on the back of my head, her other hand shoving up the side of my t-shirt. Her hands roam my abdomen. Flickers of heat mixed with tingles dance where she touches me. I tense, my mind hazing over a bit more.

This is...

Marney pulls away from me so she can sit up. I gulp air. Her eyes make slow progress to mine and she smiles, sighing. I sit up, too. Slowly, she presses her hands against my abdomen. My muscles tense up, and I swallow hard as she traces her hands lower to the tops of my jeans.

"Marney," I whisper.

"Come here," she says as if she hasn't heard me. "Let's have tonight be a night of firsts." Tugging at the top of my jeans, she pulls me into another kiss. I melt. There's something I'm trying to realize, but a heat blooming in my mind and body keeps it concealed.

It's not until her hand slips down to cup the front of my jeans that my mind jolts:

This is wrong.

I tug out of her grasp and get off the bed. My legs are shaky, forcing me to brace myself on the bed's edge. "What did you say?"

"When," she asks, shaking her head in confusion.

"Before," I prompt. "About firsts."

"Oh." Marney lies down and pats the space on the bed beside her. The hem of her dress is still hiked up; I reach out and pull it down to cover her panties. "First kiss, first 'I like you,' first"—she hooks a finger into one of the belt loops of my jeans—"you know."

Wow. Hazy minded or not, this is wrong. I can see that pretty plainly. Running a hand along my mouth, I take a step back out of her reach. She smiles and nibbles her bottom lip. Totally wrong.

I squint at the floor, mushing the carpet with the foot of my tennis shoe. Need to get out of this room.

"You know what," I say, pointing to the door. "Why don't I get you some water?"

Marney tilts her head from side to side, causing her hair to tremor like snakes. "I am thirsty," she says with the intonation of a shrug.

When I come back with the water and a few slices of bread like Francis suggested, Marney's passed out. She's curled into the fetal position with her arms wrapped around her abdomen. Her forehead is creased into a frown even as she sleeps.

Setting the stuff on the bedside table, I study her for a moment.

Something Donny the Meth Dealer had said, something about waiting for the green light, pops up into my mind. If that asshole can possess limited morals, so can I. Marney can't possibly give the green light if she can't even remember how old she is. So saying 'no' doesn't make me a girl; not taking advantage of this situation doesn't make me a pansy. Makes me a half-decent guy... now there's something that's never been said about me. Ever.

Though, really, if I'm being honest, I'm not ready. Now that makes me a pansy.

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A/N: Welp, there it is. The last chapter from Reese's POV. If you enjoyed them, let me know in the comments and I'll work it in again later. Hope you're enjoying my Malcolm in the Middle fanfiction. Thanks for reading this far.