It Was You

Chapter 27

We stopped for dinner on the way to prom and had the time of our lives. If eating was this much fun, I couldn't imagine how the dance was going to be!

By the time we got to the venue, it was almost eight o'clock and it was in full swing. It was a massive building that had two stories. The dance floor was downstairs with the DJ and non-alcoholic bar, while the upstairs had lounge chairs and tables to just relax.

Ben immediately pulled us over to the pictures. He held me close and while I smiled into the camera, he looked down at me with adoring eyes. Lee and Aaron took one together since they were each other's "dates". We were assured we could pick the pictures up at school on Monday.

This night was the best.

The last dance I went to, I had my oxygen tank in the way and it was annoying and unenjoyable. This time, I was able to dance like a maniac with Ben. The way he danced was awful, but I loved how he knew that and didn't care. It made me not care how I danced, either.

He spun me and dipped and twirled, even tried to bust a couple of moves to Bruno Mars. When a slower song came on, it was like all time had stopped. It was our song that came on and he pulled me flush against him, staring into my eyes as we danced to 'Perfect'.

"Every time this song comes on," he said, "from now on, I vow to stop anything I'm doing just to dance with you." I put my forehead on his chest and smiled because I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

When the chorus came on, he slowly spun me out, then back into his song arms. He sang into my ear with a smile on his face, sounding as if meant the words Ed Sheeran was singing. "...to carry love, to carry children of our own," he softly sang.

Once the song ended, he gave me a tender kiss, full of love and meaning. He's never kissed me like this before.

Lee and Aaron joined us once the pumped up music started again. We danced to a few songs, then decided to go upstairs and relax. Aaron and Ben went to go get us drinks as Lee and I secured a spot on a couch.

"I'm pretty sure Aaron just met someone," she told me with a smile on her face. "I saw him talking to a guy for a pretty long time." I smiled as I said, "That's great! Now it's your turn." She laughed because I knew she thought that sounded ridiculous.

Lee has always been insecure, but I wasn't sure why. She was beautiful and could get any guy she wanted. Then again, she's told me the same thing when I felt insecure. While I knew what she was going through, I couldn't understand why.

"Don't do that," I told her. "Come on, you could get any guy in a matter of minutes. You know, Ronny has a crush on you. It's obvious." She scoffed and waved me off, but I could see her turning red. "Like I would go out with that oaf," she told me. I could see her bite her lip and think it over.

Ben and Aaron came back over a moment later and handed us our drinks. "Having fun?" Ben asked in my ear as Lee and Aaron got occupied checking out the cute guys. I turned to him and the smile on my face, I knew, gave him an answer. He put his hand on the side of my face and said, "Keep that smile for me, always."

"As long as we're together," I told him, "I don't think that will be a problem." With that, he kissed me.

The rest of the night alternated between dancing and relaxing. Ben and I did most of the dancing while Lee and Aaron did most of the relaxing. By the time the dance ended, it was eleven o'clock. It felt like time had gone by way too fast.

We gathered into our limo—dead on our feet, but still energetic—and headed to the hotel. The ride was only a short few minutes, but we made the most of the last we had of the limo. We got up to our room as quickly as we could because Lee and I's feet were killing us.

The moment we got in, we shucked off our shoes and fell into bed. I wasn't there for very long because before I knew it, Ben lifted me off the bed and was carrying me into the private room. "Use protection!" Aaron obnoxiously called, making Ben and I laugh.

Ben shut the door with his foot and set me gently down on the bed. "Ben," I said, putting my hand over his cheek. He kissed the palm of my hand and asked, "Yes, beautiful?" I took a deep breath, then told him, "I want a drink."

He nodded, then said, "Of course. What would you like?" I was shaking a bit because I wasn't sure how he was going to handle this. "I don't know," I told him, "um...I was thinking...I was thinking alcohol." He immediately jerked away from me and looked like I was crazy.

"Cass," he gasped, "no. No, I will not give you alcohol. Are you out of your bloody mind?" He stood up from the bed and kept shaking his head as he took of his blazer. "Ben," I said, sitting up, "I'm fine now! I can have sex, eat as much red meat as I want, I can drink!"

He scoffed as he loosened his tie. "No," he told me. "What if you react badly to it? We're miles from a hospital, miles from your parents. Besides, we can even get any." Biting my bottom lip, I went to my overnight bag and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. His eyes nearly blew out of his head.

"Cassie, what the hell!" He snatched the bottle from me and asked, "Where did you get this?" He seemed more confused than angry. "I got it from my attic," I told him. "Dad has cases of them in there, he wouldn't notice if one bottle went missing. I just wanted to try it and I wanted to try it with you. Everything new I've tried so far has been with you and I feel safe doing it."

Sighing, he came up to me cupped my jaw. "Baby...baby, I'm glad you feel safe trying new things with me, I am. I just don't feel comfortable doing things that might put you in danger." I quirked an eyebrow at him and asked, "So having sex, that wasn't putting me in danger?"

He rolled his eyes and told me, "Of course it was. If you don't recall that massive fight we had about it, I'll gladly remind you how against it was. Am I glad we did it? Yes, I am. When it comes to drinking, though, there's nothing that would make me satisfied about that."

"Okay, but," I told him, pushing his hands off me, "it's not about your satisfaction, it's about mine." That seemed to make him think about it a bit more. I actually got my hopes up for a second, but...that was stupid of me. "No," he said. "I'm sorry, baby, but no. You can try and drink this, but if you do, I'll tell your parents."

My jaw actually dropped. "You're an asshole," I scoffed. He nodded as he said, "I know and I'm sorry about that." He put his hands on my waist and tried to pull me to him. No matter how hard I tried to push him off, he was too strong. "Stop fighting me," he begged.

He put his lips to my ear and said, "I love you. I care for you, sweetheart, and it would kill me if something happened to you, something I let happen. I'll apologize for being an asshole, but I won't apologize for keeping you safe. I will never apologize for that."

I eventually gave in to him and just put my head against his shoulder. I could feel tears prickling in my eyes because none of this was fair! "I just want to be normal," I told him, my voice getting wobbly. "It's a cliche to drink at prom, I know, but I want cliche because it's normal."

He hugged me tight to him and didn't say anything. He knew he said enough already. He dug his fingers into my hair and started to massage my head. That's something we both learned calmed me down when I got like this. Lucky for him, it worked this time.


"Do you know what else is a cliche on prom night?" He softly asked. I hummed into his chest, still loving the feeling of his fingers in my hair. "Making love to your boyfriend." I smirked into his chest and I knew he could feel it because he retreated his fingers and continued, "Get into bed, love, but don't take off your dress. The thought of putting my head between your legs with that gorgeous thing still on, you not being able to see me...it's been getting my hard all night."