Rule #21: And At Last I See The Light
We finally made it through the winter storm outside into campus grounds. It was a full house, with students laughing, walking in pairs and groups alike.
The lights in the college hall were really dim yet everything was illuminated by some light rays bouncing off a dazzling dress or the disco ball up above. The college had really outdone itself that night, and I had to admit I hadn’t expected it to be this good. There were lights creating snowflakes on the floor, whichever parts weren’t covered by feet, and on the walls as well.
“Wow,” Audrey breathed, echoing my thoughts exactly.
I looped an arm through hers, grinning as I press my lips to the side of her head. She felt my smile in her hair and squinted up at me. “What?”
“Well, at least no one will notice your sneakers in this dark.” Oops, apparently the wrong time to say that based on the glare she gave me. I had no problem seeing that in the dark. However, I was saved from being murdered in the middle of the dance floor when a couple of Audrey’s classmates came up to her, giggling. They were slightly tipsy, but I wasn’t surprised. There were some people here of the legal age here. They dragged her away, and she shot me an apologetic look over her shoulder.
Feeling awkwardly alone in the crowd, my eyes roved over the multitude of heads, hoping to catch sight of someone familiar. Jay was already downing some punch, chatting up some girl, and May was busting some moves on the dance floor. I caught her eye and she smiled at me. Managing to muster a smile back, I decided to go find the one member of our group who I actually needed to talk to.
Cody was standing in a corner chatting with one of our classmates, Jonah. I nodded at them in greeting, and Cody leaned in to say something to Jonah. After a few moments they said their goodbyes and Cody came to stand by me, hands deep in the pockets of his dress pants. “What’s up?”
I took a deep breath. “Audrey, uh, Audrey told me she took your virginity.” There was no other way to say it.
Even in the dark it was easy to see the flush that was rising from Cody’s neck up to his ears, and by the tightening of his hand on his drink I could tell he was more than just embarrassed. “So?” he finally growled out.
I shrugged. “Well, what happened after that? Why’d you end it? Why was she still hung up over you? Why does she think she turned you gay?” The questions kept bubbling out and I couldn’t stop myself. I was glad for the darkness which helped cover both our expressions. “What happened, Cody?”
“Whoa, whoa,” he said, holding his hands up. “One at a time.” He paused, and I waited for him to continue. “Wait, what were the questions again?”
Good lord, what did Audrey ever see in this idiot?
“Cody…”
“Oh, wait, no! I remember!” Good. “I might’ve, uh, walked out on her. She probably thought I was using her to get laid.”
My hand twitched. “Were you?”
He was blushing even darker. “No! No, of course not! But I was having second thoughts, and er, I might not have corrected her when it was clear what she thought the reason of our breakup was.”
I just stared at him. Then I spoke, slowly and clearly, enunciating every word. “Cody, I hope you and Ink have a splendid and long affair together, because that was one hell of a dick move. No gay pun intended. Do you know how much she beat herself up over that?”
He scratched the back of his neck. “Right. Uh, I’ll go apologize now or whatever.” He scuttled off in search of my girlfriend.
Girlfriend. Did I have to ask her to be my girlfriend or did her being my date sort of mean the same thing? Goodness, relationships need to come with a manual.
Oh, wait. All hail the Internet.
While I was on Google about to click on a eHow video that was telling me I apparently needed to ask her to be mine, a familiar figure came to stand near me. May. “Hi,” she said.
“Hello.” The awkwardness was still suffocating, but subdued from the alcohol that someone had somehow spiked me with despite my precautions.
“I just wanted to-”
“Can I just-”
We both stopped, and I coughed uncomfortably. “Ladies first, I guess.” Well, apparently we were skipping the whole ‘No, you first, no, you’ thing because May jumped straight to the point. I noticed others were beginning to look at me suspiciously. First hanging out with the gay guy, now some other pretty girl? Did my girlfriend not exist?
“Well, I know that I messed up badly by not telling you who I was,” she started. my tie was beginning to feel slightly constricting with her every syllable. “I wanted to, but it was just so hard to find the right opportunity! And I know you won’t be able to trust me as much anymore, but god, Adam.” She stopped then, hands on her hips. She was wearing a red dress which gave her a sassy look - perfect for her. “Just chill, it’s not that much of a big deal. Stop being so awkward.”
Well, that wasn’t expected. Women, honestly. They manage to make everything your fault. I sighed, staring at her. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississip-
“Why are you staring at me?”
I smiled. “Making this more awkward than it should be, of course.” She gauged my face for a moment before her tense shoulders relaxed and she rolled her eyes.
“Great, now that that’s taken care of, I want to go and dance my ass off.”
Laughing loudly, I waved her off into the throng of the crowd, and craned my neck overhead, looking for a petite little redhead.
A few of my classmates came up to talk to me, discussing the relief of no more exam stress and plans for the next semester. The heat inside the college was slowly thawing my frozen hands and feet. Freaking ice storms. It made me glad that Audrey wasn’t wearing her heels.
The group of students dismissed themselves with a clap on my back and a handshake, and I quickly texted Mark from the pet store, telling him I’d pay double if he would rescue one not-so-innocent kitty from my apartment.
“Boo!” The warm breath hit my ear like a furnace, and I quickly turned around at the familiar voice, slipping my arms around my girlfriend’s waist. Tucking my phone into the pocket of my blazer, I knocked my forehead against hers.
“Boo to you, too.”
“Wanna dance?” she asked, eyes glittering with happiness. And we did. The beat of Katy Perry’s latest song Dark Horse was thrumming my ears, and I held her close to me, wondering how the hell we got here from simply being friends.
“Girl, you should know what you’re falling for,” I whispered along with the music into her ear as she wove her arms around my neck. Raising one eyebrow at me she regarded me seriously.
“I do know, very well, in fact.” Her face was hidden by a few strands of hair and the darkness of the room.
Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recalled the words Mystery guy, but shrugged it off. Wracking my brain to remember the eHow video again, I wondered if a girl confessing she was falling for you meant that she was practically your girlfriend. I thought it qualified.
“Why are you staring at me?” Whoa, deja vu moment. Her eyebrows furrowed, hair falling into her eyes as she frowned up at me.
“Are you my girlfriend?” I blurted. The I gave myself a mental shove. “Crap, uh, I mean… your room or mine?” I said impishly. She gasped, thwacking my head from behind, and we laughed together. It felt really different to be completely, utterly relaxed. Not having to worry about whether I wanted to ‘bed’ Samantha or not, not worrying whether I had an attraction for May (thank god), and not worrying whether some other guy was going to hurt my girl.
My girl. Because she was. She was mine.
“Just to clarify,” she started slowly, her head beneath my chin as we swayed slowly towards to food table. Putting a chip in between her lips, she gave me a cheeky smile from beneath her lashes. “I would very much love to be your girlfriend.”
A huge smile broke out on my face. “Now…”
She grinned back. “Neither room. Too biased. How would the living room floor work?”
I groaned, tilting my head back. “Oh, it would work very, very well,” I whispered.
Fina-freaking-lly.
As cliche as it sounded, we were a mess as soon as we stumbled into the apartment. Dimly, I recalled Jay and Ma - “Oh, god, Audrey, take it slow,” I mumbled as she tugged my out of my blazer and shirt, teeth flashing as she did so.
She giggled uncharastically. “So, a guy needs to have a special first night as well?” She asked and shrugged her dress off. My mind scrambled, mouth flapping open and shut as i took her beauty in. Then I decided to throw all caution to the wind, and hooked both hands around her waist, bringing her to me.
A few seconds, or minutes, or whatever time period later, we were both breathing heavily as I pushed her against the wall and stared her directly in the eye. “Auds,” I breathed, taking a hand and stroking her cheek lightly. “I don’t want you to feel pressured or anyt-” She broke me off with a fast and hard kiss to the mouth.
“Or, we could go with that,” I mumbled dizzily. She smiled, pulling me closer, and my breathing spiked at the feel of bare skin. “Wait, what about Mystery Guy?” Shut up, Adam, shut up!
Surprisingly, she laughed, kissing me again. “You can be such an idiot sometimes, man. Adam, it’s you. It’s always been you.”
We were serious for a moment after her words sunk into my ears, and gradually, my brain. An understanding settled between us, and the disbelief at her words slowly changed into something more profound as my eyes darkened, staring into her own wide ones. “Well, thank god for that,” were my final words before I leaned down and scooped her up by the knees. She squealed, gripping me tightly, nails digging amazingly into my back.
“Has someone been working out?” she teased lightly, and I couldn’t keep my cheeks from hurting from the full-blown smile I was wearing at seeing her glowing face.
“All for you, Auds. Always you.”
"Good. Now, your bed?"
"Thought you'd never ask."
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Gosh, this is awkward, haha. :$
And in the words of my lovely friend Trish aka @Entice_ , they did the pip pip doodly doo X) (they did use protection, okay. Auds is a smart girl :P)
Yeah, uh, well. I don’t know what to say, honestly. This chapter feels weird to me overall xD Anywho, this was the last chapter, and we have an epilogue coming up. I know this story is entirely unedited, plus I’ll probably be taking it down from my profile a month or two after it’s finished. So, I know it wasn’t the greatest thing ever, but thank you guys for sticking with me all throughout it. I’ve gained so much from this story. ^^ Love you guys.
ALSO, WOOOOT! I CROSSED 1,000 FOLLOWERS! Totes insane <3
Remember to vote, comment and follow!
xAce
SHOUTOUT:
@An_Insane_Writer (btw, she’s quite literally my favourite writer/person on Wattpad, just saying.)
STORY: The Thread
They met on a Wattpad thread.