"So let's test your theory."
"What theory?"
Paul smirked at me as he backed me up against the door. I watched his eyes as he lifted his arms and trapped me. "The theory that you don't want me...that we're just friends...and I'm just some kid you c...
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"What are you thinking?" he asked as I stared at the fire, my head swirling with questions I couldn't answer.
I considered lying. But I didn't. "I'm thinking about you, Paul. More specifically...I'm thinking about us."
Paul grabbed my hand and pulled me up to stand. I faced him, his hands pressed to the small of my back and his eyes searching mine. "Are you okay, Rachel? You're shaking."
I'm frozen. I can't say what I wanna say and I'm screaming inside. He smiled at me and hugged me tightly. "Let's get you inside," he whispered into my ear, giving me goosebumps.
"Where are you going?" I asked when he didn't follow me inside the house.
"I still need to go home, you know, to get a few things," he reminded me.
"Oh." I joined him at the bottom of the stairs and tugged on his hand. "Then let's go."
He didn't move. "I don't think your dad will like that, Rachel."
"Does he know...about your dad?"
"He guessed."
"My dad went to bed and Jake is busy with his friends. Let's go. We'll be right back." He finally relented and we walked to his house, his hand never leaving mine.
~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~
"Paul?" I pushed the front door open slowly. He told me to wait outside, but he had been in here for a while and I had started to worry.
When I opened the door completely, I found him on the couch, with a piece of paper in his hand. "Everything okay?"
He didn't look at me. He stared at the paper with his jaw clenched. "Paul?" I knelt in front of him, trying to shake him out of this daze.
He blinked quickly, wadded up the paper and threw it over my head. "He's gone," he breathed. "He left."
I didn't know what to do for him. Personally, I was glad he left, but Paul was sixteen and how awful must it be to have your parent abandon you by choice? He just stared at me, devoid of any emotion. "What can I do?" I asked, hoping there was some way to help him through this.
He pulled me off the floor and set me across his lap. I gasped when he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly against his body and resting his head on my chest. I held him just as tightly, smoothing my hands over his back and wishing I could take his pain away.
Suddenly, I felt his breath in the crook of my neck and his lips on my skin. He pulled at my clothes and pressed me back on the couch. When he hovered above me, I pushed him back. "Please, don't."
He settled between my thighs, pushing against me through our clothes, and lowering his mouth to mine. "Paul...stop!"
He clenched his jaw and jerked away quickly. "Just get out."
