Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:41:06 -0500 From: Kit Darling Subject: A Rose Among Thorns Part 3 *DISCLAIMER* This story contains depictions of male on male, graphic sexual interactions. The characters are highschool aged and sometimes have unsafe sex. ALWAYS USE A CONDOM! This is a complete work of fiction and any similarities to persons or events is purely coincidental. Enjoy the story and any feedback is welcome. Remember that Nifty needs your generous donations to continue on, Dears. So make sure to toss a few dollars their way so they can keep tossing great stories your way. Love ya! CHAPTER 3 "Whatcha guys talking about?" Logan asked seemingly oblivious to the situation. "Nothing, important," I said cooly. I stepped away from Blake and walked up to Logan, putting my arms around his abdomen. I had my head on his chest. He ran his hand down my back and instinctively grabbed my butt. "Sweetie!" I giggled at his outwardly crass behavior, then turned and glared at Blake. He just smiled. "Let's go socialize," I said as I pulled Logan out of the kitchen and we rejoined the party. After three hours of basically being on Logan's lap to make sure that Blake would leave me alone, Logan took me home. I went to my bedroom and found that my phone was blinking, indicating a notification. I opened it and saw that I had missed three calls from Nolan. Oh my God, the movie night! I'm the worst best friend on the face of the planet. I quickly called Nolan back but the call went to voice-mail. I grabbed my car keys and drove to Nolan's house as fast as legally possible. When I got there, it was midnight and all the lights in his house were off. I climbed up the trellis, and thankfully for me, his window was still open. His lamp clicked on as I stumbled in. He looked at me groggily, "Oh, it's you." I could tell he was pissed. "I'm so sorry I skipped our movie date. I totally forgot about it when Blake invited Logan and I to a party," I realized my excuse didn't make up for it, and I felt worse for saying it. "So now Logan is more important than our friendship?" Nolan asked. He sounded hurt. "Nolan, that's not what I meant." "I'm not going to take a back seat to your boyfriend. I expect you to still make time for me," he pulled his blankets back and moved to the edge of the bed. He but his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. I felt a tingling in my groin. "I know, I know, I'm sorry," I sat down on his bed and hugged him from behind; his bare skin was warm. He put his arm around the back of my neck. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him right thenyet he didn't even know that the way he was holding me was killing me. "You can't put me on a back burner just because you have a boyfriend," he whispered. His voice sounded tired. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again," I whispered into his ear. "Promise?" he sounded sleepy again. "I promise. I should get home. Mom's gonna ground me," I started to back off of him but he grabbed my arm. "Stay?" he almost begged. "Stay?" I asked, confused by his request. He was delirious. He had to be; he was asking me too stay with him. I tried to climb off the bed but he grabbed me and pulled me back. "Nolan, I'm going to get grounded," I argued feebly, but my heart wasn't in it as I wanted to stay with him. "You're already going to get grounded, might as well get extra grounded." I sighed and moved in close to him. He wrapped his big, strong arm around me and pulled me tight against his body. I closed my eyes and fell asleep in his protective grasp. When I woke up, my head was on Nolan's hard chest. His breathing was steady. I carefully got off of him and climbed out the window to my car. I drove home quickly, hoping that my mother wouldn't notice that I was out all night. I sneaked/snuck in the front door as quietly as possible. Tommy was standing on the bottom step, "You're so busted," he whispered. I grimaced as I heard my mom and dad call me into the kitchen. "When you're dead, can I have your bedroom?" I rolled my eyes and headed into my impending doom."Before you start yelling-" I began but Mom cut me off, as usual. "You're grounded." "Uh! Mom! You didn't even let me finish!" "I don't need to let you finish, you disobeyed me and now you are being punished," she said without even looking at me. The best she could have done was at least watch me put on my lipstick before she fucked me. I turned to dad, incredulous of Mom's rash punishment, "Daddy?!?" "Sorry, Cori, you got yourself into this pickle," he shrugged and redirected his attention back to his newspaper. "Okay, Mom, I know that I disobeyed but that wasn't my intention. I WAS home before midnight, but then I remembered that I accidentally ditched Nolan and then when I got there, I ended up staying the night because he wanted me to and I felt bad for ditching him." "Tough luck, Bub, you should have told me you were leaving," she was so cold. So cruel. What a world we live in. "You were asleep," I responded in a monotone voice. I wanted to convey that her request was invalid because she would have grounded me just for waking her up. "Oh well, you're grounded," she shrugged. "This is so unfair!" I shouted. I know I was acting like a child but I was so annoyed with the whole thing. "Give me your phone," Mom held out her hand. "That's a little excessive isn't it, Jinel?" Dad finally chipped in. "Nope, he did the crime-" "You can keep your phone, Cori. Just go to your room. You're grounded for a week. Directly to school, directly home from school. That's it. Got it?" he asked. At least he was trying to be fair. If Mom had her way she probably would have grounded me for three years AND locked me away in a tower until my hair was long enough to snag a prince. "Fine," I huffed and stomped off to my bedroom. I threw myself dramatically onto my bed. An hour later, Tommy and I were sitting together in the living room slaying zombies on Resident Evil 6. I think RE4 was the best in the series so far but I really liked Sherry Birkin's character. My phone buzzed in my lap and I saw that it was a text from Blake. BLAKE: Glad u came 2 my party last night ;) ME: Thanx 4 inviting my boyfriend and I. BLAKE: No problem. We should chill sometime, just you and me. Ugh what a creep. How could he be so oblivious to my hint that I wasn't interested in cheating on my fake boyfriend? ME: Oh as much as I'd love that, I'm busy doing everything for ever. Sorry. BLAKE: Ha. Cute and funny. ME: Byeeeeee "What's that face about, Kitty Cat?" asked Tommy. "Stupid boys," I responded before tossing my phone on the floor and gently kicking it across the room. "Is Logan giving you guff? Want me to whoop him?" I laughed at the idea of my tiny, nine-year old brother beating Logan up. "No, it's not Logan. It's nothing, let's finish up this level." The next week dragged on slower than molasses. I had to lie to Logan about why I was grounded because I couldn't tell him I went and cuddled with Nolan all night, especially since I made the rule that he couldn't hook up with any girls or hang out with them as long as we were "dating". I felt bad keeping secrets from him. It was Friday afternoon and I was sitting in study hall when Blake walked up and plopped himself down across from me. I looked up from my French book and huffed. My eyes rolled so hard I swear they were about to pop clean out of my noggin. "What. Do. You. Want?" I tried to sound as disinterested as possible. "What are you doing on Wednesday night?" He asked excitedly. "Seriously, Blake? This again? What's a guy gotta do to give you the slip?" "What kind of slip?" he winked and I wanted to scream. "I am not interested," I stated. "I was gonna ask if you and Logan wanna go on a double date with me and Shayla." "Shayla and I," I corrected him, "and why? Is this some sad attempt to make me jealous watching you with a girl so I'll want you?" "Actually, it's Shayla and me. Because if you take out Shayla's name, it wouldn't be do you wanna go on a date with I," he corrected me. Fair enough. "Besides, I didn't even think of that, but if it gets the job done..." he winked. I almost barfed. I swear I almost barfed. "Well the answer is no," I returned my focus to the book in front of me and hoped he would leave. "No to what?" Logan asked sitting down next to me. "To you and Princess, here, joining Shayla and me on a double date this Wednesday." "Oh heck, we'd love to go but I already promised Mom that Igan would come over for dinner Wednesday night," Logan said with a sigh. "Shoot," Blake looked really disappointed and it brought me a tiny glimmer of satisfaction. "Maybe next time," I smiled sweetly and then made a move to kiss Logan. Logan's mouth was warm and tasted minty fresh. I pulled away and for a brief moment I saw a flash of jealousy in Blake's eyes. He stood up and nodded at us, "See ya guys later." "Did you really promise your mom I'd come over for dinner?" I asked when Blake was out of earshot. "No, but you seemed like you didn't want to hang out with him. Do you not like Blake?" "Not really. He's too..." I made a gesture like I was flexing my muscles and growled, "ya know?" "Aggressive?" Logan tried. "That's the one. I'm just not dealin with it," I shrugged. "Well my mom really does want to meet you, so how bout it? Wednesday you come over for dinner?" Logan asked. "That sounds great!" I was genuinely excited to meet his mom. "So like... Wednesday is kind of a special day so..." he trailed off. He was acting sketchy. Why was he acting sketchy? "Oh really? Is it someone's birthday or something?" I guessed. "Kind of..." there was that sketchiness again. "Logan, why are you being so sketch?" I asked staring at him hoping to uncover the secrets with the clairvoyant abilities that I didn't have. "Well, September 23rd is called Mabon," he stated. "May-what?" "Mabon. It's the second harvest of the year. It uh... it's a Sabbat day for my family," Logan started picking at his hands. Was he nervous? "What does any of that mean?" I asked looked at him intently. "We're Wiccan," Logan blurted out. His face got red and he looked like he was ready to get hardcore judged. "Fascinating. Tell me more?" "Huh?" he looked shocked. "Tell me about Wicca. I've always been interested in the topic," I put my face in my hands and gave him my undivided attention. That night I was sitting in the kitchen drawing a picture of Logan while my mother cooked. "Wiccan huh?" she asked as she stirred the sauce she was making, "That's sinful." "Only if you do it for evil," I rebutted. "There is no difference. Witches are witches, Hunny," she sounded so ignorant. It made me a little sick. I wonder if she thought that about homosexuality. "I think it's intriguing. He told me about the festivals they have on Sabbats. In fact, I'm going to watch his mom perform a ritual on Monday." "I don't think so." "Mom, you can't keep me locked up forever. It's not like they are going to sacrifice a goat or anything. Besides, it's high time I meet my boyfriend's mother," I picked up my sketchbook and drawing pencils and fled before she could argue with me again. When I got to my room I saw that there was a text from Nolan. NOLAN: Can we talk? ME: I'm still technically grounded until tomorrow... You can call me? NOLAN: Can I just come in ? I heard a pebble hit my bedroom window. I moved the curtains out of the way and threw open the shutters. Nolan climbed in from the tree outside my room. He sat down on my bed; he looked nervous. "What's up, Buttercup?" I asked sitting across from him in the floral, wing-back chair. "I'm thinking of asking Jenna James out on a date, what do you think?" he wasn't looking me in the eye. "That evil skank?! How could you, she's only been my absolute worst enemy since like second grad-" I stopped when I saw an evil grin snake its way across his face, "You butt! You really had me going there!" I punched him hard in the bicep. He faked a hurt look and rubbed his arm. "Did you have a real problem or did you just come over to terrorize me?" I asked putting my hands on my hips. "I just missed my best friend and I felt really bad for getting you grounded. So I brought you a baggie of those special gummy bears my mom buys," he responded. "The ones from that online site?" I said excitedly. He held out the bag and jiggled it. I snatched it from his grip, almost taking his arm with it. I opened it and pulled out a light purple gummy bear and tossed it into my gob. I died and went to heaven. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" I asked while my taste buds were still in pure ecstasy. Suddenly you could cut the tension with a knife. He looked around awkwardly at everything but me. "Are we seriously so unstable in our relationship that a single statement can cause a good moment to go bad? It's not like I've never told you I love you before," I stated. "That was before I knew what you meant. I didn't realize you meant you were in love with me," he slumped his shoulders and looked a his feet. "Oh hell no. I told you why I kissed you." "Yeah, I know what you said, but I remember that kiss and the way you did it. I felt your desperation for me to kiss you back. That kiss was certainly not one of a boy who's mind was cloudy from an emotional fight. Your story doesn't match up to your kiss." "You remember the kiss?" I asked in shock. "Like it was yesterday." I narrowed my eyes at him as he continued talking, "Not because I enjoyed it. Because it was memorable. Not like wow what a great kiss memorable, but like wow can't believe a dude just kissed me memorable. Not that you are just some dude... Ugh. I'm making a mess of this conversation." "Nolan, we need to get past this. Quit trying to make it a big thing. Just believe me when I say I was really emotional after that fight with Logan," I was worried he was still seeing right through my lie. He shrugged and nodded, then he smiled at me. "You should probably go before my mom finds out you are here." "You're right," Nolan stood up and gave me a quick hug before climbing out the window." I sat down on my bed and sighed staring at the delicious baggie of gummies. What have I gotten myself into? *Author's Note* Hi all! I'm glad you cam back for the third chapter! I hope this story is as exciting for you to read as it is for me to write. I'd like to pay tribute to my amazing editor, Robbie, without whom, you'd all be reading a bunch of typo-ed gramatically incorrect garbage. I hope to keep you all interested until the very last word! Stay beautiful! -Kit =^.^=