Forgive But Never Forget

One

"Bye Mom, love you!" I shout out the door as I rush down the porch stairs and into my boyfriend's car.

Before I can even get a word out, Drake says, "Be careful, you can fall off those at that speed."

"Sorry, Mom, I didn't realize you followed me to the car," I smirk.

He smiles, "Yeah, yeah, you say that now but just wait, one day you'll fall down and hurt yourself. Then you'll come running to me with tears in your eyes and I'll say I told you so."

"But you'll wipe my tears anyways, right?"

"Of course," he says with no hesitation.

I grin from ear to ear, "Then I'm fine with that."

Drake shakes his head with a fond smile, a look of complete adoration in his beautiful green eyes. "You're something else, Ara."

I laugh before we are off to school.

***

We walk hand in hand into the school building and like always there are looks of unease in some of the students, which I never understood. It's always the students that stick together and are always in small groups. They look at Drake as if he could pounce at any second. I'm lucky I get to see a special side of him, his sweet, carefree side. At school he always seems to have this edge to him that I don't see anywhere else. Just another mysterious thing about him. There are many things Drake hasn't told me since we met and I respect that. I hope one day he'll tell me about his past, where he came from, why he came back here if he seems to hate it here, why he lives alone. All in time I guess. Normally I would be more demanding of these answers, especially if I'm dating the guy. But Drake is different than all my past boyfriends. I feel safe with him, I feel good. I feel like we have a real connection, something just feels right when he holds me and kisses me. It's like I never truly experienced joy in a relationship until we met. It's strange and I can't explain it but I'm thankful for it. Whatever it is.

I am snapped out of my thoughts when I feel a slight shove on my right and I fall into Drake on my left. He catches me swiftly and steadies me, but keeps his arms around me in a protective way.

"Oh, sorry I wasn't..." The blonde guy who bumped into me trails off, his chocolate brown eyes widening.

"Watch where you're going next time," Drake answers coldly.

"Hey, I'm sure it was an accident, Nick's sorry. Let's just be civil, okay?" A very popular guy I know as Aiden approaches calmly, with a kind face. Nick cowers behind him. A strangely intimidating but calming aura came off of Aiden in waves. It was nice but Drake didn't seem to think so. Quite the opposite actually.

"You couldn't be civil if you tried," Drake almost growls and his arms tighten around me, pushing my hard against his chest. I could hear his heart pound angrily in his chest and his breaths come quick. I fear he will strike Aiden any second.

Aiden cringes and has a sad look in his eyes, almost guilty. I wonder what happened between the two of them.

When I feel Drake's arms tighten impossibly more on me, I decide to speak up.

"Hey, Drake I'm okay, I promise. It was really just an accident, I wasn't paying attention either. Let's just go, okay?" I put my hand on his arm in calming way. I try to look up to see him but with our close proximity it's hard. Instead, he nuzzles his nose against my neck and takes a deep breath, something I've come to get used to. He seems to do it to calm himself down and I don't mind, it feels nice having him close to me. I smile a little and look over to see Aiden watching me curiously.

Realization seems to click and a small smile makes its way onto his face. I don't have time to ask because Drake moves me to his side, his right arm safely wrapped around my waist and the other falls to his side. He gives Aiden one last dark look before he leads me away from the group that had formed around us, watching the scene.

As we walk away, Drake still has this thinking look on and it doesn't look like nice thoughts. I decide it best not to question him about Aiden, at least not right now. Instead, I grab his right hand in my own and bring it to my lips in a soft kiss. I look up to see him giving me a breath taking smile, a smile that never fails to make my heart skip a beat. He leans down and kisses me, the bell signaling the start of school fading into the background. I smile into the kiss before pulling away with a breathless laugh.

"We have to get to class," I scold as he kisses along my jaw and down my neck. It takes everything in me to push him away.

"See you after class," he breathes into my ear, a lustful look in his eyes before he walks away.

There's a bright blush on my face as I run to my first period.

~~~~~~~~~~

Roughly Edited.