Tiny Tim

Chapter 18

As I had promised, I showed up at Mia’s house three hours before their friends were scheduled to arrive, and she immediately jumped into the passenger seat before I could even turn off the engine. I drove her to a few stores to get snacks and supplies, since she wanted to prepare some Guacamole herself, and Nora had told her about my proficiency in the kitchen. I just hoped she didn’t tell her about it while presenting her with a specially glazed piece of pastry.

To my great displeasure, the whole time we walked through the store side by side, while she happily chatted away and inquired about my opinion on different ingredients for party snacks, my mind would not stop imagining us as a couple doing their weekly grocery shopping. It did not help that she immediately hooked herself into my arm and used me as a shield whenever some guy looked like he wanted to approach her. To my even greater displeasure, I enjoyed that.

“So ... what kind of Guacamole do you wanna make?” I asked, partly in an attempt to distract myself from how her breasts felt against my arm.

“There are different kinds?”

She turned her face to me as she asked, but did not move away from me, so our faces were disturbingly close. Completely unconsciously, my eyes dropped down from her eyes to her lips, and when they moved back up, there was a satisfied, almost smug half-grin on her face.

“Yeah. There are.” I fought to gather my wits again. “There’s the classic version, a spicy one, creamy, some people like to put bacon in it...”

My voice trailed off as her expression changed upon hearing me mention the word ‘creamy’. That, in turn, made me remember Nora’s words when she put my own cream on the pastries, and the fact that I never inquired about whether or not Mia actually ate one of them. Now she looked at me with a wide grin.

“Creamy. I definitely like the creamy version. If you make it.”

And with that, the minx turned and made us continue walking, leaving me lost for words and desperately trying to figure out if there was an actual insinuation, or if I just imagined it because of what I knew. Just like on my way home the day before, I spent the entire drive pondering how I even got to this point with Mia.

Any doubt I may have had about her intentions was cleared up, however, when we were in the kitchen together. It started with subtle and seemingly innocent touches whenever I passed her something or had to step closer to her to give instructions. But when we were done and I wanted to taste-test our creation, I scooped a little bit of the Guac up with my finger.

Before I had a chance to taste it myself, Mia grabbed my hand, pulled it to her face, and then engulfed my finger with her lips while looking directly into my eyes while slowly sucking it into her warm mouth. I almost shivered as I felt her wet tongue meander around my sensitive fingertip. The sensation caused me to involuntarily swallow while my blood rapidly rushed into my groin.

“So I can compete with Mom, huh?” she nonchalantly commented on the tenting in my pants, before turning towards the door and leaving the room to get ready for the arrival of their guests.

Was THAT the reason for her weird behavior during the last few days!? Surely she could not be still hung up on that simple comment I made in the car weeks ago. I was left speechless once again, as I watched her behind sway out of the kitchen, displaying a whole new level of confidence in the way she carried herself. I finally reached the conclusion that it would be better for me if her affectionate demeanor was actually nothing more than her attempt to get a rise out of me, and joined Jack on the couch.

The ‘Party’ was interesting. It was like a tamer version of what I had imagined high school parties to be like after seeing them in movies. Maybe fifteen to twenty people showed up, mainly girls from the cheer team and their boyfriends who, incidentally, were also Jack’s friends.

There was music, but barely anyone was dancing. Instead, most people had gathered in the kitchen and were eating pizza while talking and laughing. After learning that Nora and George would be out of the house for this party, I had expected it to be a lot ... wilder. But since I still got push notifications for every mobile device appearing on the premises, I was kinda glad they didn’t invite any more people.

I noticed two things in the makeup, though. First, Ava had apparently not been invited. And second, including me, there was an equal amount of men and women in the house.

I tried to keep to the sidelines, preferring to not draw any unneeded attention to myself, since the last time I was close to some of these guys was a rather violent altercation. Mia, however, had completely different ideas. She made it a point to drag me around like she did at the party on Christmas Eve, and made sure everybody knew that I wasn’t crashing her party. Once she had introduced me to basically every single guest, I decided to address Ava’s absence.

“You seem to have invited the whole cheer team, but where’s Joan and Ava?”

“Oh, Joan’s in Ohio. And Ava...” she looked a little uncertain. “I did call to invite her and bring Logan along. But she said she wasn’t in the mood. I don’t know about Logan. Haven’t heard anything back from him.”

I watched her demeanor a little more closely after that, though I could not reach a conclusion as to what it could mean. Maybe it was because she knew that I would not have enjoyed being around Logan, or she was worried about Ava.

She continued keeping me close for a while as she mingled with the different groups. I felt extremely uncomfortable. Not only did I have nothing to add to their conversations, I could also see the disapproval regarding my presence on some people’s expressions. But as time went on, and more alcohol was consumed, that seemed to change. Although I only noticed that after I was suddenly approached by one of Jack’s former teammates.

“So, I hear you’re working as an escort now.”

“What!?” I asked while turning towards the voice, and found myself face to face with Jack’s best friend. The one who got that very close look of my knee after I had knocked out Jack. To my surprise, he handed me a beer.

“My girlfriend was here on Christmas Eve. Mia told her something about your ‘hourly rates’?” he chuckled, and it was not a mean laugh. He was joking, and I was greatly confused.

“Uh ... well...” I stammered as I accepted his drink and immediately eyed it suspiciously, looking for powder residues and excessive foaming. He noticed my confusion, and his demeanor turned awkward.

“Tim, uh ... Look...” he said, not looking me in the eyes. I didn’t think he even knew my real name! “College is very different from high school. Truth is ... I made an ass of myself pretty quickly. My attitude didn’t fly with anyone from the new team, and they let me know it. I kinda learned that my shit does stink. I’ve had to do a lot of self-reflection, and...” he sighed “I’m sorry for all the shit I pulled on you, man. I was a giant asshole, and you didn’t deserve any of it.”

“You ... well ... thank you?” I was still unable to form complete sentences.

This was highly unexpected. Borderline surreal! Though, at that very moment, I realized something essential that no educator or responsible adult would ever say to a child. Beating the shit out of him and his teammates was fucking therapeutic!

Not only had I already paid them back, I had also bested each and every guy who thought he could use me as a punching bag, and then put the whole ordeal behind me with newfound confidence. I finally understood how that male bonding moment with Jack on Christmas Eve was even possible.

“I got to say, though, it looks like you did well for yourself after our last clash.” he grinned, his hand gesturing up and down my body. “Kinda makes me wonder if Mia’s joke about your job was really just a joke.”

“Well, at least half of it was true. I do get paid by the hour to be around her, just not to be with her.”

I found myself chuckling while answering him, and decided to at least acknowledge his efforts by taking a small sip of the beer he had given me. After that, though, I had no idea what to say to him. There was an awkward silence between us until Mia suddenly jumped up behind him.

“Hey! We’re gonna go down to the entertainment room to play a few games. Wanna come too?” she smiled, her eyes jumping between the two awkward guys that just reached some kind of truce.

“Nice! I’m game! How about you?” he looked at me expectantly, like he was genuinely hoping I would join as well.

As I had already realized after Nora told me about Mia’s honest efforts to change, I did not want to discourage him if he, too, wanted to better himself. And I was inclined to believe him when he apologized. After all, he had just publicly humbled himself in front of his old friends. If this was just the buildup to another ‘prank’, it would have to be a ridiculously elaborate one that somehow required them to put me in a false sense of security. Somehow, I doubted they would put that much effort into it. These guys would just jump me when I was occupied with something else.

So, I told them that I would join them in a minute, made my way to the bathroom, and emptied the beer bottle into the toilet. I rinsed it out a few times before I refilled it with water. I was only inclined to believe him, after all. And, strictly speaking, I was on the clock. If Mia told me to drive anyone home, and Bill found out I couldn’t because I had been drinking, I could kiss my job goodbye. If there had been something in that beer, I would be seeing some expectant and appraising looks as I sipped away at the bottle.

I got those looks, albeit not in the way I had feared. As I entered the entertainment room, everyone else had already seated themselves in a kind of big circle and started a game of Truth of Dare.

“Tim!” Jack called out upon noticing me. “Just in time! Truth or Dare?”

“Uh ... do I have to?” I wasn’t particularly happy with either option.

“Don’t be a downer, Dude! Truth or Dare!”

“Fine.” I sighed and seated myself next to Mia on the sofa. “If I choose Dare, I kinda suspect you’ll get me drunk. So ... Truth, I guess?” I prayed he wouldn’t ask anything too personal.

“How many girls have you slept with?” he grinned. So much to my delusional prayer.

“Does it count when I only ate her out?” I asked, and noticed the first set of peculiar looks, though they were from the females in the room exclusively, and not necessarily directed at me but at each other. Jack snorted a short laugh while shaking his head. “Then, One.”

As expected, the guys in the room exchanged sneering looks. Totally unexpected, however, were the completely unfazed looks on the girls’ faces when they heard about my inexperience.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Mia hurriedly injected, while grinning at me madly. “How many WOMEN have you slept with?”

“I already answered a question.” I smirked upon remembering the conversation Mia and I had in my car.

“Wait, what!?” some random redheaded girl I never bothered to learn the name of asked with an actually confused look.

“He thinks there’s a difference.” Mia explained, still grinning.

“Alright, next question!” One of the guys, who was a senior at our high school, called out. I assumed it was my turn now, so I was trying to figure out what I should ask, but he simply continued talking! “How does it feel to get stabbed?”

“Come again!?” The redhead’s boyfriend joined the conversation, so the guy who asked me the question pulled out his phone, while the redhead told her boyfriend what she had heard about my parking lot escapades.

The senior-guy apparently found what he had been looking for on his phone, and held it out to the redhead’s boyfriend. I recognized what it showed. And then I recognized the senior. That was the guy who took the photo of me when I went to the pizzeria after being released from the hospital! The whole situation grew increasingly uncomfortable for me.

“Holy Fuck!” the redhead’s boyfriend called out. “They fucked you up, man!”

“Yes, they did.” I commented reluctantly. “Shouldn’t I get a turn to ask you a question now?”

“No.” Jack informed me while laughing. “We already know each other. You’re the new guy here, so you have to answer more questions.”

“Fine.” I groaned. “To answer your question then; getting stabbed hurts. Don’t know how to go into details there.”

“Would you describe it as a stabbing pain?” the redhead joked, and most people found it funny. I wasn’t one of them. This whole thing started to feel like they were making fun of me again. Interestingly, Mia wasn’t too pleased either. She actually looked quite pissed about what her friend just said.

“Okay, now wait a minute!” the redhead’s boyfriend followed up in an irritated voice. He was one of those who displayed their disapproval about my presence at this party. “Last time I saw you, you were still Logan’s fat little geek-brother. Now you’re hanging out with the Cheerleaders! The fuck happened with you!?”

I had originally planned to stay non-confrontational. After all, this was a client’s house. The way this guy was talking, however, caused that resolution to waver considerably.

“I improved myself.” I shrugged my shoulders. It was not lost on him how my tone suggested he did not improve.

“A little overly self confident, don’t you think?”

“You think? I lost nearly forty pounds and got in shape. I make roughly forty grand a year while still going to high school, and I live in my own apartment now. Meanwhile, you are ... still good at playing with balls, I believe.” I had to smirk when I heard the others chuckle. “Of course, maybe you’ll prove me wrong, make your way into the NFL, and someday become famous. But until then, what did you do to be proud of? What exactly sets you apart from all the other former team members in this room?”

My smirk widened when I saw him glance around the room, hoping his friends would help him out. I could literally see his need to assert himself over me as he searched for anything he could use to debunk my claim and put me down again.

“I definitely had more than one girlfriend!” was all he could come up with.

“And how’s that an achievement?” I asked, causing the male part of the room to look at me in disbelief, which made me realize I had to elaborate. “Look at that girlfriend of yours in your lap. You think she’s happy to hear you boasting about having many girlfriends?”

“‘Course! She knows she got the best!” He sounded so smug, I thought he actually believed it.

“Really!? You really think she’s gonna introduce you to her parents, saying ‘Mom, Dad, this is WhatsHisName. I’m his fourth girlfriend this year’? At best, you just called her superficial and yourself her arm candy. Outside of School, nobody’s gonna congratulate you on that.”

I chuckled when I saw the effect this had. On one side were the guys, who probably wanted to defend themselves but couldn’t correct me without publicly admitting that they weren’t the players they claimed to be in front of their friends. On the other side were the girls, who, at least in part, suddenly had contemplating looks on their faces.

“Oh please! That would help him! You guys can use it to bond with your bosses.” one girl remarked dismissively. Apparently, I found the feminist in the room.

“Sure. If he’s looking to go into male dominated and low paying blue-collar jobs.” I said matter of fact, causing her to raise an eyebrow in doubt. “I’ve been working in a security firm since I was fifteen. And, based on the assignments we get from corporate clients, I can tell you for a fact that companies are not looking to hire walking sexual harassment lawsuits into positions that pay anything worthwhile. They’re looking to hire responsible and reliable people. Switching partners every few months tells them you’re neither.”

“Tim?” Mia suddenly called out to me in a magnificently dry voice. “You sound like my father.”

I blinked for a moment, unsure how to respond. Then I decided to simply keep going like the two of us were already used to.

“Well, with me being a year younger than you, that would probably be weird, but you can call me ‘Daddy’ if you want.”

“EWWW!” Mia screamed, but she was laughing while doing it. So were most of the room’s occupants. Apparently, none of them thought I could possibly be serious.

When Mia was done laughing, though, she inconspicuously turned in her seat and leaned her back into my front. So, after I had involuntarily imagined us as a couple during our shopping trip, now we were sitting on the sofa like one as well!

“Alright, Mr. Relationship Guru. How many girlfriends did you have?” the feminist asked.

“Only one. And I was very happy with her.” I worked hard to maintain my smile as I answered.

“Oh yeah! You never told me what happened to Tess! Spit it out!” Mia demanded, tilting her head upwards to look at her, not bothering to move away.

“She transferred to the California office in July.” I was not going to tell these people what really happened to Tess. And, honestly, she did move in July.

“Office? OHMYGOD! How old is she!?”

“Thirty. When she moved away, that is.” That was met with general obvious doubt.

“Pic or didn’t happen!” Jack called out, so I pulled out my phone and looked for a photo of Tess.

I had no desire to argue about my honesty in this discussion, so I decided on a rather risque selfie we took right after one of her crazy sex-moods. While it wasn’t revealing too much of our bodies, it was still pretty obvious that we took it naked in bed and covered in sweat.

“Wow!” was all that Mia said, while I received approving comments from the other guys.

“You tapped that?” the redhead’s boyfriend asked, completely unimpressed by the look it earned him as I put my phone away.

“Yes. I did. Probably because I don’t refer to her as ‘that girl I tapped’.” While he ignored my look before, I think the cold tone of my voice finally did the trick, because now he had trouble holding my gaze.

In retrospect, I must have had murder in my eyes. Everyone other than the recipient, though, seemed to interpret it in a different way, because I noticed most of the females in the room regard their chosen partners with another set of peculiar looks. It could be my imagination, but it seemed reproachful. Meanwhile, Mia casually grabbed one of my arms and wrapped it around her.

It also seemed like sharing a photo showing Tess and me in postcoital bliss set a new mood in the room. I was finally no longer the prime target for their Truth or Dare, which I was especially happy about since all the questions revolved around sexual experiences.

After about half an hour, there was one question that finally escalated everything.

“Mia!” Jack called out. “Truth or dare?”

“Mhmmm ... Truth!”

“I can’t help but notice the way you’re sitting right now.” he grinned, and I felt Mia’s body stiffen as everyone in the room smirked. “How’d that happen?”

“I ... well ... He’s doing a lot for m ... us. He’s here a lot! Of course I’m getting ... comfortable with his presence.” she stammered, patting my arm to seem extra casual about it. And of course, she was immediately picked again to elaborate.

“Okay, Mia! Truth or Dare?” the redhead grinned mischievously.

“Tru ... Dare!”

I guess she suspected a follow-up question to our seating arrangement and wanted to avoid it.

“I dare you to take your Bodyguard to the next room, and, for ten minutes, find out just how comforting he can be.”

Guess she should have picked Truth after all. Mia remained stoically silent for a moment, but then grabbed my arm, got up from the sofa, and, accompanied by the laughter and calls of encouragement by her friends, dragged me out of the room. As soon as we were out of sight, however, her hand miraculously slipped into mine. She led me into some kind of guest bedroom and closed the door behind us.

“So ... what now?” she asked timidly.

“I guess we do the dare.” I chuckled, stepped behind her, and placed my hands on her hips.

Slowly, I slid my arms around her, encircling her waist. Then I gently pressed her body into mine. My boldness took her by surprise for a second, but she immediately relaxed once I buried my nose in her hair. I gently squeezed her in a bear hug and, when it was time to normally let go, simply didn’t. Apparently, she really was comfortable with me. But then I should have known that already after she sucked on my finger in the kitchen.

Once I felt she had fully embraced the situation, I decided to continue. I let my left hand slide upwards on the right side of her body, until it came to rest on her shoulder. Now I had one arm wrapped around her waist, and another wrapped around her upper body. Mia’s reaction encouraged me again. She grabbed the arm around her shoulders with both of her hands, leaned her head back into my chest, and let out a content sigh.

“Huh. I really do feel safe with you.” she suddenly whispered softly, not making any attempt to end our closeness.

This was the first time she had verbally admitted this, and it made me weirdly happy. I started lightly scratching my fingernails over her exposed upper arm. I was content to simply stand there like this for the remaining nine minutes, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed into mine and her scent filling my nostrils. I quickly learned how much I underestimated Mia’s willingness to go further, as she turned her head, tilted it back, and kissed me.

The kiss rapidly escalated in intensity. Within seconds, I felt her tongue lick over my lips and opened my mouth to accept it. As our tongues massaged each other, I felt her press her bottom into my groin, which caused me to pull my hand from her shoulder and cup her breast instead. I couldn’t feel much through her bra, but the soft muffled moan that I felt more than I heard it, made her approval of my actions known.

When she reached one of her hands behind her and slid in between our bodies, so she could rub my groin, I had to stop her.

“No.” I breathed, as I took hold of her arm to stop her hand’s movement. “The Dare was to let me comfort you, not the other way around. I have only seven minutes left, so I better get to it. If that’s what you want.”

I waited, motionless, for maybe five seconds, before she nodded and resumed our kiss with renewed passion.

I wrapped one arm around her shoulders again and placed my other hand on the outside of her thigh. She was wearing a skirt that stopped about two inches above her knees, so, without breaking our kiss, I gradually worked it upwards until I could place my hand on her bare thigh. As soon as I felt my hand make contact with her skin, I also felt her press her butt into my groin again.

Slowly again, I moved my hand around her thigh until it landed on the front of her pelvic bone. Mia automatically spread her legs a little to make room for it. I let my fingertips slide inside the hem of her lace panties, and then sent them on their way south. When they made contact with her soft patch of frizzy hair, she shivered a little in anticipation.

At this point, her breathing had become slightly ragged, and one of her arms was wrapped around my neck to pull my head down to hers and make sure I wouldn’t break our kiss. I cupped her sex and noticed with satisfaction how wet it was, but decided to knead it for a moment, just to be sure she was definitely wet enough to not hurt when I invaded her. Gently, I massaged her outer lips with slightly spread fingers, so her clit would be positioned right in between my middle and ring finger and receive its very own stimulation.

She started to gyrate her butt into my groin, feeling my erection press into her ass, and thereby telling me that I was doing a good job so far. As my middle finger finally slipped into her, her mouth smashed into mine so strongly my lips hurt a little.

I pushed my middle finger to the second knuckle into her and curled it, and found something I had not encountered since Tess. That spongy, bean shaped spot in her upper vaginal wall with a soft walnut-shell texture. As soon as my fingertip pressed onto it, her whole body jumped and she produced a surprised but loud moan of approval. This was interesting!

Deciding to give her my A-Game, I recalled every lesson I had received, and let my ring finger join the first one that was already inside her. Then I pushed them as deep into her as possible, massaging her walls all the way up, while making sure the heel of my hand would rub over her clit. With Tess, doing this before attacking her G-spot had seemed to increase her arousal and heighten the pleasure of subsequent stimulation. It worked with Mia as well. I wondered just how compatible we really were.

I steadily massaged her insides for roughly two minutes, before I decided to go for gold. I pulled my fingers back until I was two knuckles deep and her clit was now under the palm of my hand, and then roughly attacked that spongy patch. I was basically beating it with my fingertips, and her hips started violently shaking within a minute of me doing it.

“OH GOD, YES! KEEP GOING! DON’T STOP! YES! YEEEES!!!” she suddenly screamed when she was almost unable to stand by herself. I had to hold her upright with my other arm that was still wrapped around her upper body and massaging her breast.

I complied and kept beating that spot for another minute, until the pain of her nails digging into my arm got too much to bear. I pulled my hand out of her, loosened my grip on her shoulders, and she dropped to the ground. I refused to wait until she caught her breath.

“I still have four minutes left!” I said, as I got to my knees in front of her, placed a hand on her shoulder, and made her lie on her back.

I spread her legs and dove in. My fingers slipped back into her as deep as possible without any noticeable resistance, while my lips latched onto her now clearly protruding clit. My hand rotating as it pushed in and out of her at ridiculous speed, I massaged her clit with my tongue, and my free hand was pressed onto her lower stomach to keep her hips from squirming too much. I had to suppress my smile when she pulled her knees to her chest and grabbed my hair with both hands, so I could maintain the suction.

“FUCK! Yes! Eat that pussy! Go on! EAT IT! GOD that’s SO GOOD!” she demanded with a cute squealing voice, and I saw no reason to not comply.

After a minute, I pulled my hand back a little, and roughly attacked that special spot again. It was the perfect thing to do. Her continuous moans gradually increased in volume, until it peaked in an almost screeching sound, her knees started violently buckling, and visible tremors traveled over her muscular stomach.

“FuckFuckFuckFuckFUUUUUUUCK! I’M COMMMIIINNNGGGGG!” she screamed out in pleasure as her body started violently thrashing about.

I had actually managed to give her a second orgasm before my time was up! Going by the sheer volume of her scream, it was much better than the first one she had while standing. Any inhibition she might have had about the others hearing us was completely gone.

Finally, when the spasms subsided, she writhed on the ground while letting out a prolonged mixture of a moan and a laugh, as I continued to gently kiss and nibble on her lower lips. It took her another minute to gather herself again, but when her eyes focused on my face again, she grabbed me by the sides of my face and pulled me in for another passionate kiss.

“Holy fuck, Tim! That was awesome!” she laughed.

“Told you I love eating pussy.” I chuckled back.

“I should’ve tested that claim a lot sooner!” She let one of her hands slide down my body again, and lightly rubbed my erection over my pants. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take care of you now?” There was a glint in her eyes accompanying the sultry smirk on her lips.

“Who says I don’t want you to!?” I asked in mock shock. “But are you sure you want to risk the others coming in to look for us? The ten minutes were up almost a minute ago.”

That got her back to reality, and, as she chewed on her bottom lip, she seemed to contemplate her options. That made me laugh.

“Alright, come on. Let’s go back.”

I helped her up, gave her a once over, and then grabbed her hand to lead her out of the room. The way back to the entertainment room was made hand in hand, with her fingers interlaced with mine, and she regarded me with a look of almost wonder. Maybe, not demanding to get my own urges taken care of had a special effect on her.

Before we reentered the room, she pulled me down for another passionate kiss. But when we did rejoin the others, we were greeted by loud and cheerful calls of congratulation.

“How was it?” the redhead asked, smirking.

“Very comforting. Thank you.” Mia grinned back.

“Yeah, we heard.” That statement was made in an unusually uncomfortable, almost whining tone by her brother Jack, whose ears were bright red, which caused their friends to break out in even louder laughter.

When she realized that her brother had just heard her orgasm, probably both times, she seemed embarrassed and quickly excused herself for a trip to the bathroom.

“And how was it for you?” the feminist inquired with a daring look.

“You want a play-by-play, ask Mia. Preferably not right in front of her brother.” I laughed. “But I don’t like talking about that with other people. Especially without the other party present.”

That somehow took her aback, and I soon saw her look transform into approval.

When Mia returned from her bathroom break, she unapologetically sat on my lap and wrapped my arms around her midsection after leaning back into me. Obviously there was no reason for her to try and hide anything anymore after what we just did. She did hide something else, though. My dick was thoroughly hardened and refused to go down, since I still had the taste of her pussy on my lips, and the general theme for the ongoing Truth or Dare was also rather suggestive.

As Mia sat on my lap, she used every opportunity to grind her Ass against my erection. She insisted on leaving her drink on the small table instead of simply holding onto it, so she regularly had to move around to get to it and place it back after taking a sip. Every time she did, I could almost hear her giggling over the frustrating effect it had on me.

I could be wrong, but after roughly half an hour of this, I was convinced she was testing how far she could go before I simply threw her over my shoulder and carried her out to fuck her forcefully. Needless to say, I was not going to do any of that as long as there were other people in that house. I had not been drinking, so I did notice how pissed off redhead’s boyfriend was at me for putting him down in front of everyone. I would not give him any openings.

That is how the party continued until, at around midnight, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, scowled when I saw the notification about a new mobile device connecting to the WiFi, and turned to Mia who watched me intently.

“You expecting anyone else?”

She shook her head with a confused look, which was repeated by Jack after I asked him as well. I tried calling Michael, who should be sitting in the surveillance room on the first floor, but he did not pick up. That caused my scowl to deepen, which Mia immediately noticed. Her confusion turned into concern when I pushed her off me to stand up.

“I have to check on something real quick. Be right back.” I said, and gestured to them to stay seated. Mia, however, stopped me when I was just about to reach the doorway.

“Shouldn’t we come with you?” I could be wrong, but I got the impression she did not want me to leave her alone. Though I couldn’t tell if she was concerned about me leaving, or being left alone with her friends who would surely bombard her with detailed questions about what had happened when we were alone together. Jack picked up on what we were talking about and stepped behind his sister.

“No, don’t worry. Maybe Ava simply decided to show up a little late. But, just to be safe, stay in here and close the door behind me.”

She didn’t get to close the door behind me. Right at that moment, James Campbell stepped into the doorframe and, upon recognizing her, pointed a gun at Mia. Like a reflex that I could not explain where it came from, I immediately stepped in front of her, just in time before Campbell pulled the trigger.

It was a weird little gun. The silencer he had attached to it was longer than the barrel of the gun itself, and when he pulled the trigger, I didn’t hear the loud bang I expected. I wasn’t trained to handle guns yet, but I did get the facts drilled into me. So, I knew that silencers did not work like movies claimed they do. The mechanics of his gun, the metallic sounds of the hammer being released and the slide moving back and forth, were louder than the propelling charge being ignited. So, at that moment, I actually thought he was shooting me with a BB-Gun. That is, until the pain exploded in my right shoulder.

Like every time I was around the Millers, I was wearing my usual IIA-Vest, but he hit me right in the shoulder strap. Those straps might not have contained any gel to stop bullets, but had multiple layers of kevlar that would surely be able to stop a damn roundball. So, why did that hurt so fucking much!?

I heard Mia scream as pandemonium broke out in the room behind us. I reached forward with my left and grabbed Campbell’s outstretched arm as he stepped back into the hallway, pushing the gun downwards and to the left away from us. It took long enough for him to pull the trigger three more times before I finally wasn’t in its crosshair anymore. The first two hit me in the front of my vest, and I STILL felt the impact! The third one, however, hit me in my left thigh, since I was stupid enough to make my first step to follow him into the hallway with my left leg. This last impact felt like he hit my leg with a baseball bat! Suddenly, I couldn’t put any weight on it anymore and somehow ended up going down on my knees while still holding his gun-arm with my left.

I have to hand it to Mia’s big brother, though. The guy did not hesitate for even a millisecond when it came to protecting his sister! The moment he heard her scream, he wrapped one arm around Mía’s waist to pull her further into the room, while simultaneously grabbing the door with his other hand in one fluent motion. By the time I had redirected Campbell’s gun to point at the floor and was down on my knees, I heard the door behind me slam shut and the automatic locks engage.

The shock of this guy suddenly showing up, paired with the more than concerning pain that quiet little gun had caused, made me want to end this as quickly as possible and throw caution out the window.

Hearing the door slam shut caused Campbell to raise his head and look at the newly appeared barrier between him and his target. Being on my knees when he looked up allowed me to drive my right fist directly into his throat with everything I had, though I screamed when it connected with his adam’s apple. I didn’t scream with anger, but because the pain in my shoulder grew to previously unknown heights when I put my weight behind the already connected punch. His eyes flew wide open as he let go of the gun to grab his gagging throat with both hands.

I didn’t register at all that, at that point, he was basically already incapacitated, so I followed up immediately with a strong left hook to his ribs. I heard a faint crack and he opened his mouth in an almost silent gargled scream, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, before he fell to the ground. I followed right behind him to make sure he stayed there.

Sitting on Campbell’s back, I took stock of the situation, and realized how many mistakes I made. The gun was on the ground, which meant that I had unconsciously let it drop to punch the guy in the chest. The wheezing sounds that emanated from underneath me made me worry about the consequences of what I did to him. And finally, I didn’t have anything to restrain him with, other than my own hands, so now I was stuck in this position.

The whole crap-situation could have been fully avoided if I had simply closed that damn door instead of debating with Mia first. I was the one who configured the router to give us a warning and a headstart, and then I didn’t act on it. Because I spent the entire evening suspecting Mia’s friends of plotting something, even washed out the damn beer bottle that I considered potentially spiked, but that had me so occupied that I completely forgot about the real reasons for my presence there! All the while, I was wondering why the fuck the pain in my shoulder and leg wouldn’t let up! Quite the opposite, actually, it seemed to get worse the longer I knelt on him while holding him in place.

After a few more seconds that felt like an eternity, Michael came running towards us while heatedly talking into the radio he carried, and thankfully relieved me of any decision making responsibilities.

He stopped barely long enough to take in the situation, before turning towards the door and using the intercom to make sure nobody in there was injured. My attention on Campbell, I could only hear his conversation that concluded with him telling Jack to keep the door closed until he got the all-clear, but couldn’t see his expression. I also noticed how he simply ignored the pleading inquiries about my status that came through the intercom.

I did not notice him kneeling behind me to wrap something around my thigh, until I felt a sudden but massive pain when he roughly tightened it. He then beckoned me off Campbell, cuffed his hands behind his back, and proceeded to order me to lay down on my back. I had to suppress another scream when Michael then pressed both of his hands onto my shoulder. It was at that moment I realized that the damage this weird little gun had caused was probably worse than I initially thought, and the persistent pain made sense.

“Why didn’t you answer your damn phone!?” I asked him through gritted teeth.

“Fucker tricked me. Saw him on the monitor at the front gate, called it in and then wanted to catch him. By the time I got there, he had already slipped into the garden. One of those damn kids left the patio door unlocked. When I got to the stairs to the basement, I heard the screams. I’m sorry man!”

At least I knew why he showed up just seconds after Campbell did. I stayed on my back, eyes pressed shut against the pain Michael’s hands caused while I continuously cursed him for it, when I unexpectedly heard a clinical female voice.

“What have we here?”

I opened my eyes and, to my greatest relief, saw four paramedics drop their bags to the ground. One of them, the woman who had talked, was kneeling next to Campbell.

“Punched his throat and probably broke a rib.” I managed to inform her, which she acknowledged with a simple grunt herself.

“He’ll be fine! This one’s in worse shape.” Michael told them in a demanding tone, which did not help me calm down in the slightest.

The paramedic made a gesture for Michael to take his hands off my shoulder and make room for them, but then pressed a gauze pad onto it instead after she had cut open my shirt. Her partner repeated the procedure with my pants, and suddenly everything happened quite fast.

They loaded Campbell and me onto stretchers to carry us out of the house, loaded us into the waiting ambulances, and off we went to my first ambulance ride I was awake for. My concern grew significantly when I heard them making calls through their own radios that spoke about GSWs, while attaching various things to my body and strapping an oxygen mask to my face.

It didn’t help that Micheal stayed back at the house to wait for Bill and assist the police. As much as I tried to act tough, at that moment I wouldn’t have minded to have someone I knew by my side. Though, the female paramedic seemed to notice and graciously held my hand during the ride, which I admit was nice. Maybe she was just taking my pulse, but I enjoyed it anyway.

After arriving in the ER, I was rolled into the Trauma Bay and given the once-over by a doctor and multiple nurses.

“Can you tell me your name?” the doctor asked loudly as he leaned over me and looked into my eyes like he was searching for something.

“Timothy Brown.”

“Very good, Timothy. You seem to have been shot.” he said, as they unburdened me of my remaining clothes.

“Thought it was a BB-Gun.” I groaned back.

“BB-Gun?”

“Was too quiet. No bang.” The pain of their rough treatment made it hard to talk.

“Probably a small caliber then.” he mused, more to the nurses than me. “There is no exit wound on the leg or shoulder, meaning we’re gonna have to go lookin’ for those bullets. Shoulder looks like it was hit by shrapnel, though. The bullet possibly shattered when it passed through the vest.”

They worked on me for the following few minutes, while inquiring about allergies, medications, and many other points I answered as best as I could. I don’t know if that is standard procedure, but I got the impression that fucking sadist simply wanted me to stay awake while they prodded my wounds.

“Alright, he’s stabilized for now. Timothy, we’re gonna sedate you now and roll you into the OR. Don’t worry, we’re gonna take real good care of you!”

“Insurance card in my left knee pocket.” I croaked as the pain suddenly lessened, and that weird sensation of heaviness spread through my body before I passed out.

I fucking hate being anesthetized. You don’t fall asleep like they claim, you pass out! That feeling of heaviness that starts in the arms, then creeps in the chest, and finally spreads across the body before it seeps into your head. That is followed by the sudden dizziness that increases at an alarming rate and feels so unnatural you just know it’s a bad thing, so you try to fight it and stay awake but ultimately lose that battle. It’s the ultimate loss of control, you’re completely at someone else’s mercy, and it’s scary as hell! But the next thing I knew, I woke up to a rhythmic beeping sound, with a nurse standing next to me watching a monitor.

“What happened?” I croaked groggily, my throat feeling unusually dry. “I thought I was going into surgery?”

That made her laugh.

“Mr. uh...” she leaned over to check my chart. “Mr. Brown. Your surgery was yesterday. You are now in the ICU.”

‘Yesterday’, she said! My brain strained to make sense of that information. The party started on Monday. When Campbell showed up, it was around Midnight. That would mean I was rolled into surgery in the early hours of Tuesday. And now it was the next day? Did she mean it was Wednesday now!? She had to be joking! It would explain why my mouth and throat were so dry, though I didn’t feel like I was out for that long. Actually, I still felt like I had just closed my eyes!

“I was just in the ER!” My confusion made her chuckle again. That woman REALLY needed to work on her bedside manner.

“Anaesthesia will do that for you. Your chart says they had to remove a lot of small shrapnel pieces, so there was a remote possibility one was overlooked or found its way into an artery. In such cases, we let the patients sleep a little longer, so we don’t have to re-intubate if any complications arise and make it necessary to go back in. No need to worry, you’re recovering just fine.” she patted my right foot. “Though, our patients here are usually not awake, so we don’t have much entertainment to offer. I’d recommend you try to go back to sleep until the doctor can take a look at you in the morning. Then we’ll put you in a regular room and you can see visitors.”

‘In the morning’. So it was night out. I couldn’t see any windows, so I was unable to check. I also didn’t see my stuff anywhere, so I couldn’t even attempt to call someone with my phone. I couldn’t ask her any more questions either, though.

As soon as she finished her last sentence, she simply turned and walked away. I was about to protest and call her back, when I noticed how quick she was moving. Guess she had more than enough on her hands, and my brain was working well enough by now to take an inventory of myself and recognize that I did not need immediate help.

There was no more pain in my extremities and I was wide awake. Remembering how scared I was during the ambulance drive, I was surprised how calm I was now. My right arm was fixed in a sling that was strapped to my torso, while my left arm had an IV running. My right shoulder had a massive gauze pad taped to it that went from the middle of my pec, over my shoulder, to the top of my shoulder blade on my back. My left leg was raised on some kind of pillow, but my thigh looked weird. Like they put a dozen layers of gauze pads on the wound, and then taped it all together.

Just as advertised, there was absolutely nothing for me to do other than to sing made up songs in my head to the beat of the heart monitor. Since there was no way for me to go back to sleep in that fully illuminated room, I inadvertently started thinking about Mia, asking myself if she and her friends were Okay.

It also made me think about why we did what we did. I enjoyed making her climax tremendously, just as I enjoyed the cuddling on the sofa that followed, but still couldn’t see either of us pursue a romantic relationship with the other. But then, why did I step in front of Mia when Campbell pointed a gun at her? I don’t think I had any particular desire to protect her. Though, it was also different from when I stepped in front of those three guys in the parking lot. I just acted without thinking.

Luckily, I merely had to ponder for another three or four hours before a doctor showed up for his morning round.

I learned that this Hospital Stay would last for at least a week, and, since I was unable to walk to the bathroom anyway, the catheter would stay for a few days as well. Apparently, the multitude of wounds presented an increased risk for infections, and the wound in my leg was ‘packed’ so it would heal from the inside out. Both things they wanted to keep an eye on. That meant I would have another week at home before I had to decide if I was well enough for school, though the Doctor was already pessimistic about it.

“The first bullet shattered after it passed through your vest, Mr. Brown.” the doctor informed me. “But before a bullet passes through a vest, it pushes the whole thing several inches inwards. In your case, it caused a luckily clean fracture in your collar bone. That will be quite uncomfortable for a while.”

“Fuck’s sake. I broke a rib a few weeks ago. That thing JUST finished mending!”

“Yes, I saw that in your file. Sorry about that.” he chuckled. “At least the next two shots hit the vest directly. We did an ultrasound but don’t expect more than marginal bruising in your abdomen. The leg, however, got the worst. It’s going to be Okay eventually, but we can’t close it up. Your body would capsule off the cavity and create a cesspool for bacteria. Thankfully it was a very small caliber, the wound is relatively shallow, so I’d say ... about three weeks before we can stop packing it and let it close by itself, if it heals without complications.”

“Well, thanks for fixing me up! Guess I’ll just have to wait then.”

He smiled, nodded, and moved on to the other beds in the room, to check on the patients that were not awake yet.

When they finally rolled me into a small private room, the nurse handed me a bag with my belongings. I was pleasantly surprised to see my phone still being alive. Until I tried to call Paul and it died. I also noticed that I needed to replace almost everything in my wallet, since it was in my knee pocket right underneath where I was hit, and everything was now covered in dried blood.

My next surprise came an hour later, when Paul arrived with not only my stuff, but also with Bill, a police officer, and Mr. Miller in tow.

“Hey, Kid!” Bill called out. “I hear you’re up for visitors? I took the liberty of sending Paul into your apartment to get you some things.”

He sounded unusually upbeat, while Paul simply handed me the bag with my missing entertainment, phone charger, and clothes. I barely got to thank them before Mr. Miller demanded my attention.

“Timothy. Thank you.” he simply said, as he presented me with his outstretched hand, like he wanted me to shake it. “I owe you for this.”

I shook his hand, but wasn’t particularly comfortable with him thanking me for helping Mia, after I spent hours trying to figure out why I even did it.

“No, you don’t. You should thank Jack. I was just defending myself at that point, but while the others were all panicking, Jack immediately jumped into action, pulled Mia out of harm’s way, and got her to safety.”

I could literally see his chest swelling with pride as a warm fatherly smile spread on his lips. I couldn’t help but envy Jack at that moment.

“I will let him know. But before you were ‘just defending yourself’, you literally took a bullet for my little girl. I will not forget that.” he said in an insistent voice.

Before I could answer him, the police officer stepped forward. I gave my brief statement that, apparently, was corroborated by the surveillance tapes and the others’ testimonies.

“So ... how is he?” I asked carefully after finishing my tale.

“Who the hell cares!?” Mr. Miller asked roughly. “Let him suffer! The man tried to kill my daughter!”

I could not dispute his feelings, but I was seriously scared about the repercussions of what I did to him.

“As far as I know, he’s breathing through a tube for now. It’ll take some time before he’s healed up enough to be properly processed.” the officer informed me, and I visibly cringed.

“That bad, huh?”

“Yes. But I wouldn’t worry too much, Mr. Brown. It is pretty clear to us that you acted in self defense.” Hearing the officer say this, I took a breath of relief. That prompted Bill to take over, as he tossed me a gun that looked remarkably like the one Campbell had used.

“It’s a Ruger SR22.” he said.

“You have his gun!?” I wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea to touch the thing.

“No, notice the orange Tip, Kid. That’s just a model I brought along so you can take a look at it. It has quite a fanbase when it comes to quiet killing. Campbell didn’t just use a silencer to muffle the ignition-noise, but also loaded the thing with subsonic ammunition.”

“Subsonic .22s? Would they even have enough power to do real damage?” I asked like an idiot, not thinking about the fact that I was lying in a hospital bed after being shot with it myself. I didn’t know much about guns, but I had heard the guys at work make fun about .22s more than once.

“Oh yes, definitely. They can penetrate a skull alright, but then don’t have enough energy left to do it a second time, meaning the bullet bounces around in the victim’s head and literally shreds your gray matter. It also has the added benefit that the recoil is much weaker, making it easier to handle for amateurs. And...” Bill paused to throw a careful glance at Mr. Miller. “ ... going by Ms. Miller’s height, compared to where your shoulder wound is, we’re fairly certain he was aiming for her head when you stepped in front of her.”

“That is why we believe you acted in self defense.” the officer added when I saw Mr. Miller’s hands clench into tight fists. “He entered the house with clear intent, and your actions to stop that seem more than justified.”

“But why!? What’s his problem with Mia?”

“Deluded stalker, Kid. Going by what was found in his apartment, he was completely fixated on some fantasy world, and spent his Holidays ruminating about spending them with Mrs. Miller. He finally reached the conclusion that it must be her children that stopped her from starting a new life with him. So, he decided to do her a favor and free her from that burden.”

I could just shake my head.

“Well, at least they don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Just as I said that, Nora opened the door. To my astonishment, Mia rushed past her to my side, and placed one soft hand on the side of my face while using her other hand to hold one of mine.

“Welcome back.” she smiled as her thumb started brushing over my cheek, though I could see that her eyes were tired and slightly reddened.

“You Okay?” I asked, unsure how to handle this situation.

“Am I Okay!? What happened to not catching a bullet for me, huh!?”

Her voice was unusually soft, though it was also wavering as her eyes started to glaze over. Which was also noticed by everyone else in the room. Bill and Paul smirked as they stepped to the side, Nora grinned while watching her daughter, and Mr. Miller went back to looking unhappy, albeit not nearly as much as when Mia presented me with a Christmas gift.

“Yeah ... We really have to stop reenacting that movie, don’t we?”

Mia’s smile widened as she suddenly leaned down and placed a soft kiss directly on my lips. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, there was no attempt at introducing her tongue to my mouth either, but it was slow, tender, and savoring. And lasting. It was at least a minute before she broke that kiss. Even then, when I opened my eyes again, she refused to move her head away or take her hand off my face, but instead pressed her forehead to mine and resumed stroking my cheek with her thumb.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” she whispered softly, and that somehow unnerved me.

It was the officer clearing his throat that pulled my consciousness back to reality, while Mia completely ignored the people standing around us.

“Well, I got everything I need. I’ll be on my way then.” he smirked, tipped his hat to the people in the room, and left.

With the officer gone, I finally noticed how many people were still in the room, and I was basically naked under those covers. I grew rather uncomfortable, especially with Mia so close to me with only a blanket hiding my bits. Luckily, Nora seemed to notice my uneasiness, stepped behind her daughter to gently grab her by the shoulders and pull her off me.

“Come on, Honey. Let’s go see to it that your savior has everything he needs.” she grinned, and led Mia out of the room. I immediately seized the opportunity.

“Mr. Miller, Sir ... I need you to do me a favor.”

“Name it!” he immediately agreed.

“I need you to take Mia home and force her to watch the second Speed movie.” I said, matter of fact, causing him to look confused.

“The ... what?”

“You know, not the one with the bus. The one with Discount Keanu Reeves on the boat.”

“I know the movie, Timothy. Why do you want me to make her watch it?”

“Because Sandra Bullock spends the entire movie telling everyone how relationships born from extreme situations are doomed to fail.”

While Bill and Paul suddenly burst out in laughter, Mr. Miller looked thoughtful for a moment before his entire expression lit up.

“Good man!” he was already in motion before he had even finished saying that.

Paul decided to do the same as the officer, and, after he assured me once more that he was only a phone call away should I need anything else from my apartment, left the room as well. When Nora came back, alone, she gave me a lecture regarding the stunt I just pulled on her poor daughter, though it was clear she saw it more as a prank than an actual attempt to get rid of Mia.

I spent the next half hour talking with Bill and Nora, getting updated on what happened with the other attendants of the party after I was taken away. Simultaneously, Nora fuzzed around the room to make sure I was well taken care of by the hospital staff. All that came to an abrupt stop, however, when the door opened again and someone else entered the room.

“You seem to be alright.” Aaron noted, in a remarkably cold voice that drew everyone’s attention.

That tone irritated me at first. Then I remembered what Uncle John had told me about Claire and Ava moving in with him, and understood Aaron’s coldness. Not that it was particularly new to me anyway, but it was clear he blamed me for his marital troubles.

“Why are you here?” I asked, not eager to have any kind of confrontation with him in front of people I had to work with.

“The hospital called, had to sign some paperwork. Do I have to get you anything?”

“You don’t have to do anything, Aaron. Paul has me covered already.”

“Good. Take care of yourself. I need to get back to work.” he proclaimed, and left the room as unceremoniously as he had entered it.

“Who was that!?” Nora asked, notably confused, causing me to pause for a moment before I answered.

“My father.”

This caught her unprepared, and the room fell silent as awkward glances were exchanged. They had heard about my familial problems, but this was the first time they had witnessed it. Well, Bill had witnessed some of it, but nothing blatant like what just happened.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Nora said in a stern voice, before she hurried out of the room.

“Oh god, please don’t run after him and make a scene!” was all I could think of at that moment, but my prayer was not granted. Shortly after Nora had left the room, we could hear her heated voice being carried through the corridors. The pitying look I received from Bill did not make this any better.

When Nora stepped back into the room two minutes later, she seemed a little embarrassed, but quickly started buzzing around the room again as if she was trying to actively avoid addressing it.

“Nora, I need to ask you a favor too.”

“What is it?” The caring tone she used made me smile.

“I understand why you had the urge to go after him, and I appreciate that you have that urge. But can you please not try the same with the rest of my family? I really don’t need any more of what just happened.”

“I’m sorry, Timothy, it’s just ... I know it’s not my place to meddle with your family situation, but how can he just leave!? His child has been shot!” she said, obviously unable to contain her anger on my behalf. When my expression told her how it didn’t phase me anymore, however, she looked at me in regret and sighed. “I promise not to try again. However, I should get on my way then and have a talk with George, so he doesn’t get tempted to repeat what I just did.”

“I’ll accompany you, Mrs. Miller. I need to get back to the office anyway.” Bill added.

And with that, the both of them left the room and I was alone again.

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure what would happen if Nora called Claire, or if Mia called Ava. If what Ava had told me before Christmas, and what John had told me about Claire, was true, they would probably show up and try to take care of me. But then again, that was the very same inner debate I had during Thanksgiving break. The key question was IF their words were true. And, being totally honest, even if I knew for a fact that they genuinely wanted to care for me, I simply didn’t want to rely on any of them.

I was mostly left alone for the rest of the day, and quickly realized that I preferred it that way when it was time to use the bedpan. Apparently something the doctor was looking forward to after a surgery, but for me it was probably the most humiliating experience I ever went through. Paul had brought my Laptop along, so, since Nora had helped me get WiFi access, I could entertain myself in peace. I also had a TV in my room, but I quickly learned that Daytime TV sucks ass!

The next day, however, I had to deal with a peeved Mia entering my room without even knocking. She just strolled in, sat in the chair next to my bed, and then simply stared at me with her arms crossed over her chest. Directly on her heels was Nora, who looked at the scene with her usual amused smirk that she showed whenever she watched us interact with each other.

“W ... What?” I asked Mia, a little afraid of her.

“Speed 2? Really!?”

“I thought it was warranted.”

“Why do you think I would even want a relationship with you?” she sounded surprisingly dry.

“Well, that kiss you gave me yesterday wasn’t exactly platonic, was it?”

I don’t know how it happened, but there was amusement in my voice by now. And when I saw her eyes zoom around the room and her shoulders lose some of their stiffness, I also smirked a little.

“What do you even have to complain about? I’m a catch!” she suddenly announced with newfound self-confidence.

“Yes, you are.” I nodded honestly.

“Then WHY are you being difficult?” And she was back to being annoyed. I ignored the glare she threw at her mother when Nora failed to suppress her snorted laugh.

“Firstly, I don’t have time for a girlfriend, since I work roughly seventy hours a week.”

“I seem to remember you being around plenty so far.” she dismissively waved her hand.

“Secondly, you know my background. I’m not the most popular guy in school. You sure you want to go to the Prom with THAT guy?”

“Oh you’d be surprised. You just saved my life from a psycho with a gun! And half the cheer and football team witnessed it, Buddy!” she said triumphantly, and I wasn’t sure what to expect once I got back to classes. Though, I decided to push forward instead of asking for details.

“You realize that I’m a year younger than you, right? You’ll leave for college in ... what? Six to eight months? I’ll still be in high school. And I’m not planning on going to college after that, so I won’t follow you. Not only would this relationship be based on the suspension bridge effect, it would be long distance.”

“Christ, Tim! It’s not like I’m planning our wedding here! Sure, maybe you’re right and this won’t work out, but why wouldn’t you even want to try!?”

“Honestly, you’re gorgeous, I DO have fun when you’re around, and I’m obviously attracted to you.” With that she perked up again. “But let’s be honest here. We barely know each other.”

“That’s obviously a non-argument.” she said matter of fact. “Look how close we got in the past few weeks. Of course we’d learn even more about each other over time!”

“Which brings me back to my very first point. When would we spend time together?”

“No problem. Someone just tried to kill me, in my own home, no less! I might tell Daddy that I won’t feel safe unless the guy who saved me sticks around for a while, so I can sleep in peace. That would solve two of your objections. You’d still be working your usual hours, AND you’d be spending time with me!”

I can’t even begin to describe the smugness that dominated her expression at that point, nor the look of sheer amazement she got from Nora. I suddenly remembered my encounter with Nora in their kitchen, when she also said something about not letting me go after the stalker problem was solved.

“Wow. I didn’t know you’d go that far to keep me around.” I marveled.

“Take it as a compliment. I never thought I’d have to argue with a guy so he’d spend time with me. I’m starting to get a little insulted here. At least you can’t run from me for now.” she responded in mock offense. “Look, we don’t have to put a label on it if that makes you feel better. Let’s just ... agree to get together more and see where this goes. How about that?”

Honestly, that sounded like something I could enjoy. It would give her time to get some distance from the incident and sort out her feelings. And if she still insisted on getting together, she would realize how much baggage I carried before it got too serious.

“Alright. That sounds like I would enjoy it.”

“Good! Because I like you. And I don’t think you’d have done that to me if you didn’t like me back.”

She said ‘done to me’, instead of ‘done for me’. It took me a moment to realize that she wasn’t talking about Campbell, but about what happened on the Dare before Campbell showed up. I just hoped Nora hadn’t heard it as well, so I decided to speak up before she had a chance to ask questions about it.

“I’d love to spend more time with you and see where it takes us. Maybe not right now, but...”

“Wait! Not right now? What does that mean?” I wasn’t sure if she sounded confused or suspicious.

“Mia, I’m pretty much incapacitated and naked under these covers.”

“You are?” she raised an eyebrow and sounded intrigued, as her hand crept towards the edge of my blanket, only to be stopped by a chiding Nora.

“Yes. Because of this...” I gestured to the sling holding my arm in place “ ... I can’t put a shirt on. And if you look down, you’ll see that bag of pee hanging on the side of my bed.” She looked down, but didn’t react to it in any way. “So, I also can’t put any shorts on. Which is probably a good thing, because there is a hole in my leg, and I haven’t had a shower in three days. So, any clothes I’d put on right now would probably have to be burned tomorrow.”

“Ew! Way to paint a picture.” she laughed in fake disgust.

“Think about that the next time you walk into an invalid’s room without knocking, and be glad I didn’t have to use the bedpan yet! My point is, I appreciate you visiting, I really do. But this also really isn’t the kind of experience I want to share with people.”

“I don’t care about that, don’t worry.” she dismissed my entire speech.

“Well, I DO care. This is ... uncomfortable for me.”

“OH MY GOD! You men are all the same!” Nora suddenly shouted, and I was taken aback about how similar that sounded to when Mia had said those exact same words to me in the car once.

“What?” Mia asked, now clearly confused.

“I’m sorry, Timothy, but this is ridiculous.” Nora said before turning towards Mia. “He’s embarrassed, Honey. He doesn’t want people to see him being laid out.” Abruptly, her tone softened considerably, and she turned back towards me. “There are people who care about you, you know?”

Now Mia was looking between me and her mother in total bufflement. Either she was irritated that her mother cared about me as well, or Nora had not told her about the meeting with my father the day before.

“I appreciate that, but I’m not used to it. Can’t we do this when I’m a little less exposed, and maybe even able to walk again?”

“Are you sure?” Nora asked, in a sickeningly caring tone that irritated Mia even more.

“Yes, very sure.” I assured her, and she looked like she was trying to assess if I actually meant it.

“Alright.” she sighed. Then continued in a ribbing tone. “Come on, Honey. Let the Man suffer in silent solitude.”

“Fine.” Mia reluctantly agreed. “But you call if you need anything. Promise me!”

I blinked at her for a moment, and then nodded.

“Good!” she smiled, gave me another soft kiss, and then moved her head to the side to whisper in my ear. “Fair warning, though. This isn’t because you stepped in front of me to catch that bullet. The hug before you got into my panties should tell you as much.”

I could only shake my head, as I watched the two of them leave my room.