Stretch Marks.

Part 5.

Elijah's POV

I'd broken more rules for my "best friend" than I ever had for any other female. I told myself that after high school, I'd be on no one else's time but mine. And somehow I always found myself on hers. I said that conforming to meet other people's standards was lame, but I bent just enough to meet hers. And I said that I would never find myself doing anything out of my comfort zone, and having sex with Sage, was definitely out of my comfort zone.

Not because of who she was, or what she looked like, but because she was worth more than that. More than me. Sage deserved care and a commitment. I could only offer the first, but not how she needed it. And maybe even not how she wanted it.

This I was certain of.

A tight grip on my hand caused me to roll out of my thoughts. Sage had attached herself to me, and I'm sure it had something to do with her strange fear of open water. And a boat, well a yacht, would definitely be considered being placed on open water.

The boat hadn't stabilized itself yet, so Sage was not feeling this ride at all. "I didn't prepare myself for this." She looked a little nauseous and a little rattled.

Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, and pulling her closer, I laced both hands with hers. "It's going to be fine Saygun, just breathe."

Her head popped up, and her eyes widened. "Did you just call me Saygun?"

I laughed because the rate at which she did was almost cartoonish. "Is that not your name?" She immediately rolled her eyes. And I found it comical.

She hated her actual first name, but I loved it. I just didn't use it too much, because it wasn't what she liked, and I was mindful of that. Instead of responding verbally, she gave me a look. We settled into a corner for a while, watching the water pass by like a TV show while she acclimated to the waves.

After fiddling with her thumbs for a moment, she stood up. "Dance with me?"

For the first time since we'd sat down, I listened to what was playing. Hearing what I think was a Kelly Rowland song, Sage grabbed my hand. I usually wasn't too much of a dancer, but she loved it, and always made it fun for me. She somehow networked us to a spot next to Adrian and Deja.

Adrian lived for these settings, where he could show off his skills. He liked to break out with every dance move and act a fool. And while he and Deja were showing out, me and Sage had learned to master the 2-step. Well, I had. Sage could dance about as well as Adrian, she just always felt insecure about it for whatever reason, and Deja was somewhere in between really good, and Taylor Swift.

We danced together most of the night. Bodies all kinds of pressed together for most of them. I'd never let myself see her in this light before. Smooth chocolate skin. The many curves her body held. The way her hips flared to accommodate how deep the curve of her booty was and then dipped at her thighs. Sage was a solid girl. She always said she was fat, but truly, she was just a thick girl. Big boobs, smaller waist, healthy hips and juicy thighs. She fit well against my 6'2 frame. She held her weight in all the right places at 5'6. She wasn't too big or too little. So she just fit perfectly.

When I finally got tired, I led her off the floor to grab something to drink and explore the boat a little bit. Sage almost murdered me, when I tried to throw her over, which I found hilarious. And after another dance session, a thousand pictures, and conversations with almost everyone on the deck, we sat down.

I went to check out the snack table with Adrian while Deja and Sage sat back mumbling things to each other.

"You look like you're having more fun at this prom than you did at any other dance, I've seen you at. Sage has you open, huh?" He side-eyed me a little, before laughing.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. Usually, I would lie my way out of my feelings, but today, it was no use. What he said was true, I was feeling some type of way about Sage. "I like her."

Adrian looked up from making a plate, to look at me. "Mhm, what happened to," He mocked my voice. "'I could never like Sage, 'cause she's my friend.' What happened to that?"

"That changed. The dynamic changed." I shrugged.

He gave me a perplexed look with a furrowed brow. "Ive spent the last 3 damn near 4 years hearing about why you could never with Sage. And now, all of sudden, today, you can? What exactly changed?"

"The situation." That's all I had for his answer. I couldn't give him much else.

His eyes zeroed in on me. "You've never talked to one person for longer than a month. Never done dates, hand holding, public displays of anything, and today you're doing all of that... With Sage?" He said the words between bites, still looking at me skeptically.

I had admittedly been a bit of a hoe at one point, but I was never a bad guy. I never treated women as expendable. I never talked down to them. I never hurt them. I knew guys that would do that, but that was never me. I always asked for consent. And I was very clear with what I could and couldn't give them. Where my affection started and stopped.

A trait I'd picked up because it's something my father lacked. I'd seen how he handled my mom and vowed to never do a women the way he did. To control my impulses. Control my temper. Could I be mean? Sure. But I also saw women through the eyes of the terrified 8 year old who watched their mom be beaten black and blue. Why be rough with fragile things?

I knew I was going away soon. I had to turn myself over to the police within the next 2 days, and I had no plans to drag it out longer than tomorrow. So this was it. My last hoorah for freedom. My last night before I was scheduled to do a bid. A drug possession charge held a lot of weight in the system. The charge also held a lot of time. Getting caught was a stain on my record. It was a stain on my character. It's the risk I took to make sure my family had what they needed. The risk I took for my sister to finish school. The route I had to take to fill all the voids my dad created when he left.

I couldn't tell him about what she'd asked me to do for her later in the night. And I wasn't ready to tell him that her being my friend was just an excuse I was using until I got my shit together enough to ask her out. This was an opportunity I wouldn't have for a while, or one that I might not get again.

I knew that it meant a lot to her to be seen, to be picked, to be chosen. I wanted her to know that she was deserving of all of those things. But saying yes to her was a mostly selfish decision, I was doing it because it meant something to me. Because she meant something to me. I wasn't going to be able to see her or them for a while. So this night was a memory that would have to sustain my mental time capsule for however long was to come.

Like I told her earlier on the bus, her proposal had benefits for both of us.

"I like her." I repeated. "I've liked her. I asked her if she had a date, she didn't. I asked to be her date, she agreed. I didn't go to our prom because I didn't like anybody enough to want to take them or have the experiences that I want to have with her."

He was stunned. When I finally looked away from the girls direction to figure out why he hadn't responded, it was because he looking at me for clarity. Probably to make sure I wasn't joking, and about this, I would never. About her, I would never. It took more than a minute to recover and when he finally did clear his throat to start talking again, all that came was a simple "okay."

We had a brotherly understanding, that once something was stated plainly, that's just what it was. And since I'd plainly said how I felt about Sage all he could do was accept it. We'd had a similar conversation about Deja when they started dating and I expressed concerns. I knew that he wanted to talk more, and if we'd been anywhere else, he probably would've made me do just that, but I was no longer interested in more words.

I wanted to just enjoy the rest of my night. Pride aside. I was no longer afraid to say that I really wanted Sage, and tonight if fate would have things go my way, I'd have her.