Stolen Love

27

27

Another week and a half has flown by. The only time I'm near Matt is when I'm running. Even then I only sneak peeks at him.

A permanent frown seems stitched on to his face. He refuses to look at me, whether from hate or guilt, I don't care.

Every other time, I'm in the presence of Chris, and he keeps me close. Things have been going smoothly, even though I haven't said the L-word again. I'm too self conscious to even think about it, but Chris doesn't mind. I think he's just content with the fact that we haven't gotten in a fight this past week.

I don't know if I'm missing something important here, but something strange is going on. When I wake up this morning, Chris isn't in bed. He never gets up before 9 at the earliest and it's 8 right now. That guy could sleep the afternoon away, so where is he?

I stretch my body out across the entire bed. I'm not in the mood to run today, I think I'll just go back to sleep, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't.

Something is going on. In fact I know something is happening today, I just can't remember, my brain is turned off until noon. Maybe it would help if I knew the date...

I look on the side table for the remote, but its not there. So much for turning the news on, I am not getting out of this bed. I look .across the room on the futon. The remote is laying in the middle if it. Thanks Chris.

I turn to my side and curl up. Laying down should do me some good. I feel myself finally start to drift off.

What am I doing? I jolt upright, if Chris is actually gone, I should be able to get out of here. I'll have to find the keys since there is lock I can't pick in the door, and I'd have to get past Matt, but it's doable.

My feelings for Chris can't compare to that of my family. If I get the chance of getting out of here, I'm taking it.

I get out of bed and grab a sweatshirt that I wrap around my waist to put on over my tank top if I need to, then head down the stairs. My steps are quick and muffled by my socks and the carpet.

As soon as I turn the corner at the bottom of the stairs, I know my plan is a bust. I almost crash in to Chris. "Hey, I was just going to wake you," he says kissing my cheek.

I put on a fake smile. I shouldn't have been so excited in the first place. God must like playing with me, "Good morning," I say, "so what's going on?"

He laughs, "You seriously don't know?"

"No," I shake my head. "Should I?"

"I don't know, Birthday Girl, should you?"

Oh of course. It's February 6, my birthday. I guess I've been worried about to many other things to be excited for a birthday. Especially one without my family.

He starts walking towards the kitchen and I follow. "I know how you hate presents so much, so I didn't get you any."

That's good, I really don't need another breakdown. "So I made a call, and got you a surprise instead." Great, this day just keeps getting better and better.

We get to the kitchen, and I see two things. One being my most favorite breakfast ever. Big chocolate chip pancakes with ice cream and chocolate syrup drizzled on. It's topped of with whipped cream and candy cherries. I've only had these about 4 times before, and it's like taking a bite out of heaven.

The second thing I see, is the person who is sitting down next to my pancakes, Ashley.

She looks great, with her dark hair in a messy bon with a few curls hanging and her face seems to glow. She's wearing a light pink shirt that hugs her small baby bump.

I go to her and give her a hug, she laughs, "Hey Mo."

"I'll be in the other room," Chris says before leaving. He was smiling.

"You look nice," I say sitting down. It's nice to have a girl to talk to.

"Oh you mean this?" She asks motioning to her stomach. "I'm gonna be such a cow."

I laugh. "It's not that bad." Then take a bite put of my pancakes. They melt in my mouth, it is so good!

Ashley looks at me in awe "Huh?"

She shakes her head and takes a bite smiling. "How do you not get fat? I can get it away with it since I'm eating for two, but-" she laughs. "Your so skinny!"

"Luck I guess. That and I run every morning." I say between bites shrugging.

"So your what, 20 now?" Ashley guesses.

"18," I correct.

She looks shocked, "You're not even out of high school?" She looks at me with pity.

"I'm supposed to be in my senior year with my brother."

She looks down, "You look older."

"I feel older, too. I think I'm past growing up."

"It's no fair, you never got to finish being a kid."

"We all have to do it," I say trying to cheer her up. "I just had to earlier than others."

"But still-"

"Ashley, how old are you?"

"20, I should be a sophomore in college."

"It's really no different then, right? It happened to us, so we just have to deal with it. Now lets talk about something else."

The rest of my birthday was spent trying to forget. Forget about all the bad things that have happened, to forget about the family looking for me at home.

I tried to make the best of it, but I just couldn't. Sometimes it's hard to pretend. That was the worst birthday ever.

To make it even better, the next day, Chris's cousin Beaty, came and took measurements for my wedding dress. I won't get to see what it looks like until the day, but Beaty said, "It will be wonderful! It will fit you so much better than the attire your wearing at the moment." I didn't like her that much, how dare she insult my sweat pants and tank top. Maybe I don't want to be pretty.

Of course Chris said, "She's perfect the way she is." Then Beaty went on and on about how much better I'd look if I wore tighter clothes, and did my make up and stuff like that. It took all my will not to jab her straight in the face right between the eyes.

The strange thing was rather than laugh like I thought he would, Matt seemed just as mad as Chris about the whole situation. However, Matt didn't say anything.

That happened a little over 3 weeks ago. It's the first week of March. It's officially less than 1 month till the wedding day.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I think I'm dreading it more than looking forward to it. I guess I'm still not ready to give in, no matter what I feel towards Chris.

"Look," Matt says bringing me out of my thoughts. We are having out in our morning run. Matt seemed more troubled than usual. He must have finally wanted to tell me something. "I'm so-"

"Don't," I say cutting him off. "Just- don't." His apology is worth nothing to me, not anymore.

He stops, "Then what am I supposed to say?" He asks exasperated. His short hair has grown a little longer, and now it's messy. It looks good on him. "I'm sorry."

I turn my back to him ignoring him. I'm about to run again, but he grabs my arm stopping me. "Say something," he says, almost desperate.

I look at him with cold eyes. Then he does something I didn't expect. He walks off the path, taking me with him. "Where are we going?" I try my best to sound heartless, but fail miserably.

"A place," he says. 'No, I thought we were going to the moon.' I want to say but I keep my mouth shut. That's exactly what he wants me to do. He wants me to start the fight so the blame isn't pinned on him.

It's not long before we come to a clearing. The grass is a gray green because of winter and the trees are leave less, giving the place an eerie feeling. It's a meadow, but right now it looks like a dead bowl.

"Since you think your so grand and mighty, let me tell you something," Matt says letting go of my arm. "27 days," his arms go out wide. "27 days, until you get married off in this meadow. You better enjoy your time now," he seethes.

My knees grow weak. I didn't know it was so close to the house. Oh my, I start to shake. I can't believe the day is so close. "Why?" I ask, trying to contain my fear.

"Why what?" He asks confused. He was probably expecting another breakdown from me. Not today, today I hold my ground.

"Why are you still here?" I ask looking him straight in the eyes. I see his uneasiness grow. "And don't you dare give me that saintly crap about keeping a promise. It's pretty obvious that you're failing at those."

He seems unsure just for a second. "Maybe I enjoy making you cry. I want to see you finally give in to my brother. I want to see your spirit break, Morgan, so you know that there aren't happy endings." He tries to sound menacing, but I hear a soft spot in him, he's just trying to act tough.

"Lies," I say. "First off, I already know happy endings don't exist. I've known that since I was six years old." Every word I say brings more unease to him. "So tell me," I say. "Why do you try hate me so much? I know it's not because of what I called you, so what is it? I'm really interested to know." If he really hated me, he wouldn't have tried to apologize to me.

"I- uh- it's best this way," he stutters uncomfortable. He looks worried, like I'm about to find out a huge secret he's been hiding from everyone.

What could he be hiding that's causing him to crack like this? I keep pushing closer, "Oh, there you go lying again. Would your Mom want you lying like that?" That did it, as soon as I mentioned Olivia, he cracks.

He cracks so fast, I don't have time to celebrate my victory. "The truth? You want the truth so bad? I'll show you!"

He raises his arms, I flinch, preparing for a slap, but instead he grabs me on both arms, and pulls me towards him. He cups my face and brings it to his. Our lips crash before I have time to think. I close my eyes, and fall in to it. The kiss isn't forced or painful. Instead it's amazing, I don't feel guilt of regret. All I care about is responding with the same feelings he's giving me. It feels like I've always known, and in a way I have.

When it's over, he looks me in the eyes. "I didn't know what to do," he says softly. "Every time I was with you, I felt myself growing closer and closer. I tried pushing you away, but that made it worse." I start to remember the times he looked at me with sadness when he was being mean. "I never meant anything I said. I just had to get away from you, but wherever I went, you were there."

"I heard you that day when you told Chris you loved him. I didn't mean to, it just happened. And when you said it, I felt like I wanted to break in to pieces. That's when I knew I was trapped, I had fallen to deep, and it hurt." I feel a tinge of guilt spread its way through me. "I'm sorry," he says, "I really am. Go ahead and slap me, I don't care."

I raise my hand, but instead of slapping him, I pull his head down level to mine and kiss him again.

How could I slap him? He just poured his heart out to me, and I understood him completely. I never felt this way with Chris, this must be what real love feels like.

Not stolen love.