"We are so glad you're okay." Elizabeth says wrapping her arms around me. I hug her back and then she pulls away.
"Do you remember what happened?" Megan asks in a sad voice.
"Right up until I blacked out."
"Well Cade was with me. He was the one that took you out of there and drove us here."
"He was at the party?"
"Yeah thankfully." Jessy says looking at me.
"Are you going to be okay?" Megan ask and I look at her.
"Yes I will be." I said smiling at her. I totally lied. I was terrified as hell, what if the guy comes back for me.
"If you need anything don't be afraid to call us. Okay?"
"I will. I'm fine stop stressing. Where is Cade?"
"I'm right here." He answered and everyone turns their attention to the door. He doesn't acknowledge my friends stare as his eyes are fixed on me sitting up on the hospital bed. He walks over to me and there is no expression on his face. I plant a smile on mine and it does nothing to his face.
"How do you feel?" He asks looking at me with his hands by his side. "I feel pretty good." I said smiling at him and reaching out for his hand. He looks down on my hand as it holds on to his then he looks back at me still with no expressions on his face.
"Thank you." I said expressing ny appreciation but he still looks at me and he says nothing.
"Are you okay?" I asked and he looks at me not saying anything. Is he broken? "Toby we will wait outside." Jessy says and the girl exits.
"Cade?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know if you're okay?"
"I don't."
"Why don't you?"
"I almost lost you Toby... I don't know how to feel. When Jessy told me you were barley breathing it felt like I stopped breathing. I.. all I could think about is what if she didn't see when the guy took you. What if he had raped you." He says holding down his head and his hands form into a fist.
"Well I'm here. He didn't rape me. I'm fine Cade. Stop worrying." Deep down I wasn't but I had to put on a brave face. I had to be strong.
He doesn't say anything but he pulls me into a tight hug and I return the hug. "Toby." He breaths and I squeeze him tighter. "Cade."
****
I was able to leave the hospital the next day. I was happy the hospital was no fun. The guy that Cade beat the hell out of decided not to press charges. Phew. No jail time for Cade. He couldn't have anyways or he'd go away for almost raping and killing me.
At bedtime.
"Stop!"
"Please stop!"
"Stop it, get off me!"
"Get off you're hurting me."
"Toby! Toby wake up!" Cade's voice graces my ears and my eyes fly open and they are filled with tears.
"It was just a dream. You're okay now." He says and I throw myself into his arms and begin sobbing. He wraps his arms around me and I continue sobbing into his chest.
"I'm scared Cade. I lied about being okay. I really am not." I said in a teary voice. "I know and I'm here for you. I always will be." He says and I look up at him and he smiles at me.
"Do you really mean that?" I said looking up at him with tear stained cheeks and watery eyes.
"Every word." He says looking into my eyes and his expression softens. I stare into his soft hazel stare and I felt safe. I felt like he meant his words. He looks deeper into my eyes and he starts coming in close.
He pauses and places one hand on my cheek. He caresses it with his thumb and he looks into my eyes. "Its probably not the best time but I can't go on not knowing." He says and then he pulls me in for a kiss.
His lips are soft and warm and they feel like I'm being kissed by angelic lips. While our lips lock all the traumatizing events disappear and it feels like everything around us has vanished. His tongue invades my mouth and I latch onto it then I use my tongue to play with his. The kiss is deepening and he starts pulling away. He gives my bottom lip a gentle bite and I open my eyes and his are still closed. His forehead is resting on mine and his eyes slowly open.
We stay in silence for awhile looking into each others eyes. "I think you should try and get some sleep." He says getting off my bed and he walks to his side of the room. I started feeling like the kiss wasn't enough, that now that he knew, he now knows that this isn't what he thought he wanted.
He starts walking back over to my bed and I throw away the thoughts I had before. He goes to the other side and crawls in then he pulls me closer to him. "What are you doing?"
"Going to sleep, why don't you join me?" He says sarcastically and I lay in the bed facing him. He smiles at me then he switches off the lamp. The moon was out so it wasn't entirely dark. After he turned back around to face me he pulled me on top of him causing me to squeal.
He laughs at my squeal and I start to giggle. I lay my head on his chest and he wraps one arm around me then uses the other to rub my head. I start smiling at his comforting gesture while closing my eyes. Soon after I fell asleep in his arms.
****
"Okay, so you have been smiling all day. Care to tell us why?" Megan asks looking at me smirking and folding her arms.
"I slept well." I said flashing them a smile and they all look at me with that smile that says "oh I know you did it."
"Its not what you guys are thinking. We didn't at all. I simply fell asleep in his arms."
"That's corny. I hate cuddling." Megan sounds out and I chuckle and the girls giggle.
"Well some people actually enjoy it so your dislike doesn't matter to me. Besides I'm glad we did because Cade doesn't seem like the type of person who would be up for that." I said smiling.
"He's changing. Changing for the better and I'm happy for that. What about Abby's baby? When sre they doing the test?" Elizabeth says looking at me.
"I'm glad he's changing too. I don't know what's going on with that. I guess I have to do a follow up."
"What if the baby is his?" Megan ask and I frown at her. "Come on Toby there is a possibility that he can be the father." Jessy chimes in and I frown at her too.
"I'd be devastated. I wouldn't want the guy that would probably be my boyfriend some day fathering another woman's child." I said putting my elbow on the table and placing my head in my hands.
"Be careful Toby. Don't go into anything until the results are out. You know how Abby is. Even if Cade doesn't want to be with her she will try everything to get rid of you so she can have him." Megan says placing her hand on my back.
"I am being careful. Thanks for caring guys. I really appreciate it. I really like Cade so I'm hoping that this baby isn't his." I said looking at all of them. I don't think I want to tell them about the kiss.
"We are all hoping for the same thing." Elizabeth says then her eyes move from me.
"Speak of the devil. Look who's here." She says with a smile on her face, I turn around to see Cade and his friends. I give him a smile and he smiles back at me.
"Aren't you going to go?" Jessy ask smirking at me and the others look at me with the same smirk and I start chuckling.
"You guys are crazy. I'll talk later okay?"
"Run along kiddo." Megan says and I laugh.
"Hey guys." I said to all his friends then they all greeted me.
"What's up?"
"Do you like baseball?" Cade ask looking at me. I wasn't a big fan of baseball but I did enjoy going to the games with my dad. It was always so fun.
"Yes! I do. Why do you ask?"
"Because we are going to a baseball game right now."
"Awesome. Lead the way."
****
The baseball stadium is packed and Tyrone got us seats way up top. We could barely see. Cade was so excited about catching one of the signed balls but he wouldn't from here.
"How am I suppose to get one of the balls from up here idiot?" Cade growls at Ty and I giggle.
"When you see a ball coming just leap over everyone and catch it before some lucky sucker does." Ty says and I laugh.
"That's not funny Ty. You are an idiot." Cade hisses.
"Will you guys just shut up. You're always bickering like a damn married couple." King snaps at them and they both look at him with widen eyes.
"Anyways empty seats are up front so lets move." Cade says and all his friends start moving. "Wait. We didn't pay for those. Won't we get in trouble?" I asked looking at Cade watching his friends make their way down the stadium.
"We'll only get in trouble if we get caught." He says looking down on my feet. "And you wore running shoes so you can run away when they catch us. Pull the hat down in your face so you don't get banned from here when they notice." He says holding out his hand for me. "So come on. I really wanna catch that ball."
We make our way to the front seats and I sit between Cade and Chris. I sat looking around every ten seconds to see if anyone was coming to catch us.
"Stop looking around. You'll look suspicious and we will get caught." Chris says looking at me.
I turn my attention to the game. After awhile they were doing the kiss camera thingy and everyone it landed on kissed each other. As I continue to watch I realize that I see myself on it but it was on Chris as well.
"Ha! Look its us!" Chris yells and points at the large screen and I blush. I hope he wasn't expecting me to kiss him. Chris places a kiss on my cheek and the crowd "aww." I look up at Cade and he's glaring at a laughing Chris. Chris turns around to see Cade's glare and his smile vanishes instantly.
"Don't put your mouth on her again." Cade growls and Chris shoots him a thumbs up. What's his problem?
Its time for the signed balls to fly into the crowd and Cade puts on his baseball glove that he bought with the two baseball caps.
Cade missed the first two and his friends laughed at his failure but he doesn't say a thing he just shoots dem death glares. The last ball comes flying in our direction and a security approaches.
"Hey! You guys didn't pay for these seats! Come wi-" I snap my head around as he yells and the guys start getting up to bolt. I spring to my feet and Cade grabs on to my hand pulling me towards an exit. We all ran towards it and when I looked behind me the security was chasing us and he looked so funny. I burst out laughing and my laugh must have been contagious because all the guys started laughing.
We final exit and head for the lot and we all stop to catch our breath. "That was exciting." I said and they all chuckle.
"I'm sorry you didn't get that ball." I said looking at his hand that had the gloves on it.
"I always get what I want bombshell." He says holding up the glove, inside it was the ball. When did he even catch that?
"Well I'm hungry. Does anyone else feel the same way?" Cade ask and all his friends agree with him.
****
"Man I'm stuffed." Chris says then releases the loudest belch ever.
"Ugh.. gross. My mouth was open." I said causing everyone to laugh except for Tyrone who's fast asleep around the table.
"Don't keep your mouth open around us. It could have been a fart." He says and I chuckle. Guys are nasty.
"How does he even fall asleep with you guys talking and laughing so loudly?" I asked looking at Ty.
"He sleeps anywhere even at parties." Cade retorts and I giggle.
"I'm heading outta here. Launa needs me." Chris says getting out of his seat. Launa?
"You're still smashing that?" Cade ask and I look at him raising an eyebrow. Is that how they refer to girls? That?!
"I mean I didn't know you were still seeing her." He says smiling at me and his friends start laughing.
"Jerk."
"Am I your jerk?" He asked putting his hand over my shoulder and pulling me in. What was this? Does he realize what he's doing in front of his friends?
"Did I miss something? Are you guys sleeping together now?" King asks and they all turn their attention to us and I start blushing.
"No we aren't." He says then removes his hand. Is he embarrassed by me?
"Anyways see you guys later." Chris says then turns to leave.
"Wait! I need a ride to go back." King says and Robert the other friend wants to leave too.
"Why don't you just wake Ty up while your at it?" Chris says annoyed, he then turns to leave and the others wake Ty. They exit and now its just me and Cade.
"And then there were two." Cade says and I roll my eyes at him.
"What did I do now bombshell?" He says wrapping his arm around me again.
"Do you and your friends always talk about girls like that?" I asked folding my arms looking at him.
"Not all of them."
"What about me? Do you guys talk about me?"
"Of course not. None of them are allowed to talk about you." He says smiling at me.
"What? Why?"
"Because they know I will punch them" he says and I start giggling and he kisses my cheek.
"What was that for?"
"I can't kiss my girl?"
"When did I become your girl?"
"Since I marked you." He says whispering in my ear. Oh god. Don't do this to me in a public place.
"What if I don't want to be your girl?"
"You don't?" He asks with a big grin on his face. He gently rubs his fingers against my skin and I turn to look at his hand caressing my shoulder. I begin turning around and my eyes plant on Derek. So that's why Cade is getting all touchy feely, he's trying to make Derek jealous and that hurts a little. I'm so confused, he wants to be friends but he 'marks' me. He kisses me and sleeps in my bed and then acts all shy around his friends.
"I don't. Can we go?"
"What, are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure." I said removing his hand from around me, I got out of my seat and took my sweater off the chair and charged out of there.
"What was that about?"
"I didn't want to be near Derek."
"Why are you running away from him? You're the one with the restraining order."
"I know. Please unlock your car and take me back to campus."
"Why are you in such a hurry? I wanted to go see a movie."
"Well let me get my bag and you can go."
"This isn't about Derek is it?" He ask putting his hands on his hips.
"Can we just go?"
"Toby what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Unlock the damn car." I hissed and he walks over to me quickly. I turn to move but he just puts his hand out, resting it on the car and I charge into it almost falling over.
"Cade!"
"Tell me what's wrong." He demands and I sigh.
"You're confusing me."
"How?"
"You say you want to be friends but you keep doing things and acting ways a friend wouldn't act or do with a friend."
"Are you unaware of my feelings?"
"Well isn't it obvious?"
"Toby please don't be sarcastic right now."
"Fine."
"I like you Toby. Not just like you like you but I really like you... enough to get jealous." He says looking down on me.
"You do?"
"Yes. Don't you remember me telling you that I'm falling for you?"
"I remember that but as soon as you did, you went out to talk to Abby then you came back in saying you didn't mean it and that I should stay away when you were getting arrested."
"I know. I'm sorry I confused you. I was confused too at the time. Abby told me she was pregnant then." He says and something sticks me in my heart. Abby is probably having his baby.
"When do you know if the baby is yours?"
"As soon as I tell my dad."
"Why can't you just do the test without your dad? Aren't you a man?"
"Don't be rude to me Toby. I can but he needs to know because he will be paying for this and since I am not working and going to school I'll need money in my account."
"I was only asking a question. But alright Cade I hear yah. Now open the door and take me back."
"But I want you to come with me to the movies."
"I'm not going."
"Go out with me tomorrow night then."
"What?"
"Go out with me. The amusement park is having their annual patrons day and I want to take you."
"What's the annual patrons day about?"
"Its a day where all the rides are free."
"What makes you think I like amusement parks?"
"Who doesn't? So will you join me?"
"Are your friends going to be there?"
"No just us."
"So its a date then?" I asked and he grins.
"It's whatever you want it to be."
"What do you want it to be?" I ask again and he blushes then clears his throat.
"I would want it to be a date."
"Then ask me like its a date." I demand and he sighs.
"I won't go until you ask me." I said folding my arms.
"Toby will you go on a date with me?"
"Is that the best you can do?" I asked raising a brow at him.
"Uh... yes."
"Then no. I will not go on a date with you." I responded with a grin on my face and he lets out a frustrated groan. I'm enjoying this.
"Get in the car." He says as he unlocks the car then opening the door. I roll my eyes at his command and get in the car.
"Where are you taking me again? This is not where you turn off to go back to campus." I say and he ignores me.
"Are you kidnapping me again?" He still says nothing but he pulls up at a stand that sells flowers. He gets out of the car and walks around to open my door.
"What are you up to?"
"Please just exit the vehicle." He says smiling and extending his hand. I take his hand and he continues holding my hand until we are in front of the flowers.
He purchases a bouquet of white and red roses then turns his attention to me.
"Will you please go on a date with me?" He says with the brightest smile ever. No, this smile wasn't a fake smile it was genuine, he really wanted me to say yes, he really wanted this date how could I say no?
"No. You gotta do better." I said trying to sound as serious as ever it looked like it worked because his smile drops and his eyes widen at me.
"No?"
"Yes."
"Toby why did you say no?" He asks and I start giggling. "I'm messing with you Cade. Of course I'll go on a date with you." I said and a smile tugs on his lips.
"For a minute there I thought you were serious. Please don't do that again." He says and I continue giggling and he pulls me into a hug. "Lets get out of here bombshell." He says then locking his arms around my shoulder to pull me in the direction of his car.
As we are heading back to campus Cade reaches out for my hand and I place my hand in his. He places a kiss on my hand but his eyes are fixed on the road ahead.
I looked over at him and realized that I really liked the new Cade. I was pleased at the fact that I could change someone into being so nice.
Things were looking up for us. Things were happening betweeen us and I hope that one day we will be happy together. As long as he's not the father of Abby's baby... The only thing standing between the both of us was her. I hope he tells his dad soon before I fall too hard for him and he turns out being the father. That would pretty much drive me over every edge.