"NO!" I screamed as I woke from my slumber. It was all a dream, I can’t believe it. It seemed so real, it was so vivid. I felt my head to make sure I wasn’t going a bit crazy. Apart from the cold sweat it was fine. Maybe I need some serious psychiatric help, this kind of behavior can’t be normal. I lay there thinking about how much I wanted my dream to be true, it had seemed so tangible. I had to cry, I couldn’t believe how badly I needed Lucas. And it seemed as if I could taste his lips, I felt like I knew what it was like to hold his hand and hear him say he loved me. But, as always, it was never to be.

I sat there sobbing to myself for a while, unable to comprehend the way my mind tormented me. It seemed the only direction my life was heading was down. I felt like I had lost control of everything in my life. My mind was still in a daze and I couldn’t think properly. I couldn’t move, I just sat there staring into nothingness. I sat there looking at the sun rise, I hear that’s supposed to be good luck, I sure could use some. I was shivering cold, but today the warmth of the sun seemed to warm me up instantly. I let the suns rays fill me with inspiration, warmth and hope, at least I knew what I couldn’t have now.

I fell back and covered my head with a pillow, just wanting to go back to sleep and dream a bit more. I heard a noise outside my window that sounded like rustling leaves, I took the pillow off my head and looked outside. "Lucas!" I gasped.

There he was, outside my window, barely hanging onto the side, signaling me to hurry up and open the window before he fell. I quickly opened it, wondering why he didn’t just use the door. Lucas pulled himself in, me helping just in case he fell off. "Lucas what the hell are you doing?" I asked in surprise.

"Look I’m sorry, I know you said for us to wait till after school but I can’t wait that long. I’ve been thinking about you all night, I couldn’t sleep. I just wanted to be with you." Lucas said.

My mouth dropped in awe and shock, and before I had a chance to reply he covered it with his lips. He was kissing me passionately and I was simply letting it happen. He laid on top of me continually kissing me with reckless abandon. My mind was on overdrive, trying to get to grips with everything that was happening. My heart skipped a few beats and had disappeared into orbit somewhere. Eventually he realized I wasn’t returning his kisses and he stopped. He put his hand to my face, gently caressing it with a love I hadn’t expected. "What’s wrong Storm?" he asked.

"I…I thought it was a dream. Last night was really real? I can’t believe it." I replied. I did have a really hard time believing it, I thought it was a dream. Holy shit, he’s really mine. I got him, I got Lucas!! I smiled at him grinning from ear to ear.

Lucas smiled and laughed a little "Yes, last night was ‘really’ real. And you better believe it dude. I can’t believe you were going to leave me. I love you Storm, so don’t go anywhere, promise?" he asked with his puppy dog eyes.

"I promise." I replied. I couldn’t help smiling, I was so happy, my dreams finally came true.

He kissed me softly again and this time I returned the kiss. I tasted his lips and savored the moment "Mmm you taste like strawberries" I smiled.

"Oh must be that yogurt I was eating. Sorry" he replied sheepishly.

"I’m not sorry…..hey, you know I love you right?" I asked pulling him closer and placing a kiss on his chin. "Well just in case you didn’t hear me the first time, I love you."

I rolled him over so I was on top and kissed his neck, sucking gently on the tender flesh. "And in case you didn’t hear me the second time, I love you"

We gazed at each other and I knew I’d found it, I knew I’d found love. I couldn’t have been happier, there were still a lot of things I hadn’t worked out but I didn’t care . I kissed him gently on the lips and pulled the covers up over us "And in case you didn’t hear me the third time ………." I grinned as we began ravaging each other underneath the covers, tasting as much as we could of each other.

* * * * * * *

"STORM, DADE, BREAKFAST IS NEARLY READY!!" Mom yelled.

I pulled myself off Lucas in a panic and jumped out of bed "Lucas you gotta jump out the window and come in the front door. Quick before she comes in." I said in a frenzy.

"Oh man, but I’m still horny? We didn’t even get down there yet!" he moaned.

"Ahh shut up you, you wouldn’t have gotten any down there on a lucky day so just get your ass out that window." I grinned, pushing him out.

He pulled my head out the window and gave me one last kiss. "Hey, someone might see us." I panicked

"Do you really care?" he asked with a grin, you know, that grin I’ve been pining about for over three months.

"No, not really. Now hurry up, see you downstairs" I replied giving him a quick peck and a push.

I started hurriedly throwing some clothes on and realized Lucas wasn’t wearing his shirt *doh*. I popped my head out the window and sure enough there he was standing with his arms folded in the cold, waiting for me. I threw the shirt down to him and he put it on while he ran towards the front door. I rushed out my door and downstairs just as the doorbell rang. I stood there calmly and opened the door, trying not to look suspicious. "Hey Lucas. Long time no see, how ya going today?" I asked.

He walked inside and went straight for the table, oh well appetite was still up I see. "Uuuh Hi Daniel, yeah long uhh time no see all right. I’m just uhh great how about you." he replied nervously.

Dade shot him a quizzical look, nobody calls me Daniel anymore. I think he could sense something was up, I thought I better do something to distract him "So Dade bro, you gonna ask that Natalie chick out from down at the pools?" I asked.

"Ooooh I don’t know Bro, I’m not sure if she really likes me yet" he replied. Great, it worked.

"Oh no problem Dade, I’ll find out for ya k?" I replied while stuffing my face full of food. I just wanted to eat breakfast and get the hell out of there before anyone noticed anything odd.

"Storm honey, your food isn’t going to run away from you." Mom said. She started looking at Lucas funny and moved closer to him, uh oh, maybe she used her Mom powers and picked up on something. Lucas gulped and I looked at her wide eyed. "Lucas, you should really do a better job of brushing your hair, how are you going to impress the girls with your hair like that." She said shaking her head.

"Phew" I mumbled to myself. Maybe I should tell her I messed it up while I was ripping his shirt off underneath the bed covers. Not a good idea you think? I agree. Mom pulled a brush out and started brushing Lucas hair "Oh Mom, don’t brush his hair." I whined, Lucas must have been feeling the right proper Barbie Doll about now.

"Ok Mom we gotta go. Come on Lucas, see ya later Dade, bye Mom!" I yelled pulling Lucas out of his chair and running out the door.

We ran down a block, me dragging Lucas along the whole time. I made sure no one could see us before we stopped. We stood there both gasping for breath and smirking to each other. I had never had such an adrenaline rush before, this was so cool.

"What’d ya call me Daniel for?" I asked.

"I was nervous Dude." Lucas replied.

We were both red faced and smiling "Well at least your hair looks good, you know, to impress all those girls" I said sarcastically.

"Whatever you say Spunky" he grinned.

We carried on walking to school, not saying anything, just smiling. There wasn’t any particular hurry to get to school, we treaded along occasionally throwing each other the odd glance and smile. We were both trying to get around how this relationship was working itself out. I wanted to just grab his hand and hold it but I didn’t think it would be such a wise move, but that didn’t stop us from ‘accidentally’ bumping our hands into each other.

We made it to school and did our usual nods and hellos to everyone, we had always walked to school together and hung out together but today it seemed different for some reason. I felt like everyone was looking at me trying to figure out what was going on. I still couldn’t help myself from smiling and my face was still red from blushing. And just our luck we bumped straight into Sarah.

"Hi Sarah." Lucas and I both said at the same time.

Sarah looked at us strangely, and slowly she started smiling, her smile getting broader and broader every second. "Oh my god" she smiled.

"What?" we both asked in unison. Ok now we were talking like twins, not a good thing. Lucas and I both turned and looked at each other knowing we were sprung. Our secret was no secret anymore, at least not to Sarah. Geez, we weren’t going to last long at this rate.

"Don’t what me, I can tell by the way you two are blushing like a pair of newlyweds or something. Congratulations!" She yelled giving both of us a hug.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked. We couldn’t have everyone in school knowing Lucas and I were an item, as much as I would have liked it.

"It is to me, but that’s only because I know you. If it were up to me I’d say just tell everyone but I’m not you so take your time. Just try and wipe those grins off your faces if you plan on keeping it a secret much longer." She said.

I closed my eyes and started trying to do some arithmetic in my head, anything to distract me. And after trying to do that for a whole minute I still opened my eyes with a huge grin on my face. "This is going to be hard" I smiled.

"Dude, you’re telling me." Lucas gulped, face as red as ever and still grinning like someone who had just won the lotto.

"Oh boy, you two got it bad, that’s so cute!" Sarah smiled.

"SARAH! You’re not helping!" I screamed at her.

I had to think, there must be some way to not come across as being too obvious. I was happy and I wanted to show it, but you can’t do that in todays society. "Lucas I know what we have to do. And trust me this is going to hurt me a lot more then it’ll hurt you." I said.

"Mike, MIKE!! Hey wait up bud." I yelled running after him.

Lucas and I knew what we both had to do, stay away from each other during school so we didn’t get caught slipping the odd glance at each other or our wondering hands that we couldn’t control. I waved at Lucas and he smiled back at me taking a deep breath at the same time.

Mike and I carried on to class together, with Marcel, Lucas and Sarah not far behind. Luckily my first class was with Mike so I didn’t have to worry too much, but since the majority of my classes were with Lucas, I’d still have to sit away from him. Isn’t that weird, I didn’t want to sit next to him before because I couldn’t be with him, and now that I was with him I couldn’t sit with him because we were worried we couldn’t control ourselves. You just can’t win can you.

Mike and I both took our seats and started pulling our books out. I sat there trying to pay attention to the teacher but I couldn’t help myself, I had to keep grinning. I think Mike must have caught on because as soon as the teacher stopped talking he was straight into me.

"Storm, what’s that stupid grin for buddy? You get laid or something." Mike asked.

"I wish, I’m just in a good mood that’s all, I mean the Sun’s shining, it’s a beautiful day, why wouldn’t I be?" I replied.

Mike put me in a headlock and stuck a marker to my head "Ok that’s it, where is Storm and what have you done with him!" he laughed.

I think he knew something was definitely up but I had to try my best to put on a fake face. I think this is the first time I tried to pay attention in class, I had to so I could distract myself from going into stupid grin mode. I was still getting to grips with the way life had changed so suddenly in a day, it was like a big weight of stress had been taken away and I was back to my normal self, whatever that was.

"So Mike, how bout you? you got laid yet? She given ya any huh huh" I grinned.

"Wouldn’t you like to know……." He smiled.

"Uhh no, not really" I laughed as I walked to my next class waving back at Mike.

I didn’t seem to be doing a bad job here, I was having fun with Mike for once and had distracted myself from Lucas. Not for long though, I headed toward second period and saw Lucas sitting in his usual spot, we smiled at each other and I sat at the front. Time for me to make small talk with that class geek again. I sat there trying to study, focusing intently on what the teacher was saying, even getting advice from the class geek Adrian, who didn’t seem that geeky after all. But all through this I could feel eyes burrowing into the back of my head, and sure enough, as soon as I turned around Lucas was staring at me with those beautiful eyes. I tried to signal him to stop staring so much but he just smiled back at me and kept staring, I ended up smiling right back at him. I felt pretty special, Lucas really did love me, I think he even had ‘it’ as bad as I did. He sure did an awesome job of hiding it though, I never picked up any signs, and let me tell you, I sure was looking for them. Finally the bell rang for Recess and I headed out the door as fast as I could.

"STORM wait up!" Lucas yelled. "What’s your hurry Dude?"

"Lucas, we can’t keep this up much longer, I’m like going completely mental thinking about you man. I can’t stop smiling, Mike thinks I’ve gone bonkers." I said, my hands squeezing my head in frustration.

"What do you think I’m going through dude, I got this stoopid grin plastered on my face and I can’t get it off. And I don’t really want it off either" he laughed. "But I don’t care Storm, I wanna sit next to you, I don’t care if anyone looks, I just wanna be with you. I don’t care what THEY think."

Ok hearts going into light speed now. "Lucas you are such the nice guy you know that, you don’t know how much on a buzz I am right now. I wanna be with you too, but I don’t think I can control myself man, I just wanna ooh do things to you." I replied with a wicked grin on my face.

"You know, it’s going to look strange if we’re not together, everyone knows we’re buds so like it’ll be more obvious if we aren’t together." He said

Well he had a point, he was actually right. Being apart would make people start asking more questions than us being together. "Hey you’re right, just don’t flash those eyes at me in class man or I swear I’ll lose it." I begged.

"As long as you don’t flash that smile at me"

"Deal" I replied

"Deal" he replied.

I really wanted to kiss him right then but considering all the other students in the hallway at the time, I figured we’d better just shake on it instead. I put my hand out and we shook, for a very long time, making sure we’d gotten as much tactile contact as we could without being caught. I finally broke it off and we headed to see what everyone else was doing.

* * * * * * *

We went through the next few classes trying to avoid eye contact and talking during class. I decided to give up trying to get rid of the grin, and just went with it instead. Marcel was the most suspicious, but for other reasons, he noticed Lucas and I weren’t talking as much as we usually do and must have thought something was wrong.

"Hey what’s up with you two? You haven’t said a word to each other all class. Is something up?" he asked.

Yeah, it is up, right now actually. "Uuuh nothing." I replied.

"Yeah umm nothing Marcel, it’s cool Dude." Lucas said.

"Come on you two, something’s up, is it about Claire?" Marcel asked.

Lucas and I both looked at each other, not knowing what to say. "Oh shit Claire, damn I forgot all about her." Lucas said whacking his head.

"You did? Don’t you like her or something?" Marcel asked.

Lucas looked like he didn’t know what to say, he seemed a bit confused. I hoped he didn’t have any doubts about us, it’d be just my luck if he did. I threw my head down on the desk and sighed, too good to be true I knew it.

"Nah I don’t like her, I’m in love with someone else." Lucas said determined.

I sat back up straight and smiled, I think Lucas knew why and he winked at me. I knew for sure now this guy really loved me, he just threw away all my doubt. And believe me I had a lot of it, I had come to be so expecting of misery, that I had a hard time dealing with happiness.

"Whoa, who’s the lucky girl?" Marcel grinned.

Ok here’s a good one to try and work ourselves out of. I knew out of everyone, Marcel was the person I dreaded telling about Lucas and I the most. I knew he’d resent Lucas even more after that, I felt bad for him. Maybe if I set him up with someone before I tell him he won’t take it as bad.

"If I told you Marcel, it wouldn’t be a secret would it, and besides, you got a big mouth." Lucas laughed.

Boy this guy was good, better even. He was surprising me with his sharpness today, maybe I expected too much Surfie Babe Nice Guy and forgot there was a good size brain in there to go with that gigantic heart.

"I do not have a big mouth, but don’t worry, I’ll find out one way or another Mister Sheridan. Good luck though." Marcel replied.

"Oh don’t worry, I don’t need any luck." Lucas smiled.

"Well that’s great and all but it still doesn’t explain why you two aren’t talking." Marcel said.

"Lucas is a bitch, that’s why I’m not talking to him. I wanted Claire. It’s your fault too you know Marcel." I tried my best to look angry when I talked but I wasn’t doing real well.

"Oh well maybe…." Marcel started.

"Shut up both of you, I don’t wanna talk about it, just shut the fuck up and do your work damnit." I growled at Marcel before he had time to finish his sentence.

Marcel looked a bit hurt, oh well he’d get over it eventually. He looked surprised that I seemed to show an interest in Claire. Marcel got up and went to talk to Sarah for a while, it looked like they were having a serious discussion, I wished I knew what about. Sarah smiled at me and I knew everything was cool, she wouldn’t say anything. I leant over to Lucas and whispered "Hey Sorry man, it was the best I could think of. I’m the someone else though right?"

"No worries dude, and no the other person is Bugs Bunny, of course it’s you." he whispered back.

Strangely enough it seemed like we got more work done today then usual because we didn’t spend as much time making small talk anymore. I wanted so much to just lean my head on Lucas shoulder, or give him a kiss, even a little one. But I knew I had to keep in control and not let any of that happen. When it was time for lunch, we wanted to go somewhere by ourselves and talk but our shadow Marcel wouldn’t leave us alone and I knew if we sent him away he’d get suspicious again. So we ended up just sitting with everyone else.

We sat down and started talking for awhile about who scored with who during the weekend, the latest gossip, you know usual stuff. We were doing a great job of keeping it together, Sarah wasn’t helping though. She would keep throwing little smiles at us reminding us she knew our little secret. I think she enjoyed watching us try to keep away from each other. One time we were all sitting on the grass, our hands pressed to the ground, and Lucas put one of his fingers over mine and rested it there subtly. I looked around to make sure no one was looking, luckily no one was.

"Lucas" came a voice from behind.

I knew who it was straight away, I dreaded it. Claire Carlyle, she must have come back to claim her man, well she wouldn’t get him without a fight.

"Uhhh Claire. Hi." Lucas said.

"Hi Storm." Claire said.

"Hi Claire." I replied quietly.

"Lucas, can I talk to you please." She asked.

"Uuuh sure Claire." Lucas replied getting up to walk off with her. He looked back at me and signaled to me that it would be ok. I watched them off in the distance, talking, Claire seemed a little frustrated and Lucas put his hands on her shoulders to calm down. I wasn’t thinking the best, Sarah must have noticed this and she came and sat beside me, throwing her arm on my shoulder.

"Hey Bud." Sarah said.

"Hey. You think he can get himself out of this one?" I asked her.

"Sure he can, Lucas isn’t as dumb as he makes out you know. But he’s such a nice guy that he’ll probably wanna make sure she’s ok." She replied.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Claire, I’m not the jealous type but she had DANGER! Written all over her. She just gave off bad vibes, to me anyway, maybe I’m just overly sensitive today. But I could always count on Sarah, we went through our rough patch but she was my confidant now. I needed her advice on everything, she always said it how she saw it, straight up with no bullshit.

"Do you think he really loves me?" I asked her.

"Without a doubt. And I’ll let you in on a little secret. I already knew. He told me a few weeks ago, but he made me promise not to tell you. I’m surprised you didn’t notice. I remember when you told me, wow that was nearly two months ago. Geez you two took a long time all right." She said.

Sarah never ceases to amaze me, she always seems to know everything. It didn’t surprise me that everyone went to her to talk, she was just one of those people you could trust. I stared at her wide eyed, unable to say anything.

"I was hoping you guys would sort everything out at the Party but you didn’t. How did you end up getting together?" She asked.

The memories of last night came flooding back to me, I couldn’t think straight last night. I had a hard time remembering everything I was so distraught. "It’s a long story. " I replied.

"I’ve got time." She grinned.

I started telling her about the events leading up to last night, and she looked at me eyes boggling and her attention locked onto every word coming out of my mouth. She couldn’t believe what had happened, she didn’t say anything the whole time. I finished telling her and she just kept looking at me. "Well??" I said.

"Man, that is so cooooool. I wish that would happen to me. And you’re asking me if he loves you? what are you? stupid or something." She smiled.

"Yeah. Something like that. I’m just expecting to wake up any minute now. You know I woke up this morning thinking last night was a dream. And then all of a sudden Lucas is knocking on the window and he tells me he wanted to be with me and kissed me before I had a chance to reply. Then I knew it was real." I said.

"Oh boy, you two are going to have an interesting relationship that’s for sure. But you guys got it bad for each other, it’s so obvious. I think it’s sweet. Just don’t screw it up ok Mister!" She demanded.

"Yes Mom." I laughed.

* * * * * * *

The bell rang to go back to class and Lucas still hadn’t come back, I started getting a bit nervous. I tried to shake it off and carried on to class. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going, just sort of walking on auto pilot when Lucas pulled me out of the hallway. "What the hell!" I yelled.

"Ssshhh" Lucas whispered.

"You! I was wondering where the hell you got to." I whispered. Lucas had pulled me into the bathroom and we were hiding in one of the cubicles. Not exactly the most romantic spot but hey, can’t have it all. "What are we doing in here, and what happened with Claire?"

"Forget her, she’s ok now. And why do you think we’re in here, I’ve been going crazy all day, I want some Storm, I can’t take it any more." He said.

Lucas pinned me up against the wall and began kissing me, pressing his body against mine. We couldn’t stop each other, our hands were going everywhere. Our kisses were made with such urgency and passion that I was starting to lose my breath. I held onto him for all I was worth, exploring his luscious lips, freeing my own to his desire to go deeper. To say I was in a state of total bliss would be a massive understatement. I felt his hands working their way under my shirt, circling my abs and moving slowly upwards. My breath started to quicken as his fingertips softly teased my nipples. I knew I had to stop now before I made a mess all over myself. "Lucas, we’re gonna be late for class man." I said gasping for breath.

"Oooooh man, that’s the second time today we’ve been interrupted. Screw class, let’s go somewhere, pleeeeeaaaaassseeee." He begged.

He started flashing those eyes and that smile at me and I knew I’d give in straight away. "Ok ok, you win. Ummmm where shall we go?" I asked.

"Tree House, your Mom won’t be home will she?"

"No she won’t, ok but we better hurry before anyone comes looking for us." I grinned, all this cloak and dagger stuff was getting pretty exciting.

I tried to put myself together so it wouldn’t look like I had just been having a hot and heavy make out session with someone. We ran out the door and headed down the hallway, the exit in sight when I heard the anvil that would crush our plans.

"HEY! YOU TWO!" Marcel yelled.

"Yeah" Lucas and I replied together.

"Hurry up you’re gonna be late for class!" he yelled.

"Oh yeah umm ok then." I replied, my plans crushed.

Lucas and I both looked at each other and sighed. We’d have to wait a bit longer yet. We didn’t frown for long, both of us grinning at the irony and headed off to class behind Marcel. I was on such a high already I didn’t care that I’d have to wait a few hours.

* * * * * * *

Today School seemed to go on forever, I couldn’t wait for it to end. Our final class was in the A/V Lecture Room and we had to watch a video in the dark. Lucas and I both sat at the back of the Lecture Room so that no one could see us. I sat there trying to pay attention to the video when I felt Lucas hand slowly cover mine, I looked at him in the dark, my heart beating fast. He slowly leaned towards me and kissed me softly, I was frightened that someone would see us and then again I didn’t really give a shit because I had Lucas. He smiled at me and we locked our fingers together. No one seemed to notice. I skipped a few beats, the realization of todays events finally sinking in. Lucas wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with him, it was all too much. I never expected Lucas to show the amount of affection and love he has shown me today, even in my wildest expectations I couldn’t have expected this. We sat there in the dark, not saying anything, simply holding hands. I never really thought much of holding hands before, but sitting here with Lucas I began to get a better idea of what made it so special. For us it meant that we finally were one, and this was a way we could bond and show how much we meant to each other, we were in love, and we wanted to show it.

Finally the bell rang to go home, it was about time. The lights came on in the A/V Room and I quickly snatched my hand away from Lucas, he gave me a hurt look and frowned at me. Obviously I had more of a problem with being open about us than he did. A point I’m sure will be brought up in later conversations. I packed my bags and headed outside, Lucas didn’t say anything, we just walked out. We headed straight out the gates, hoping to get away before we had to stop and talk to anyone. We were in a hurry to just go and spend some time out together. I wasn’t exactly sure where we were going but I didn’t particularly care, as long as it wasn’t school.

"Storm…." Lucas said.

He didn’t seem as happy as before and looked as if something was on his mind. "Lucas, is something wrong?" I asked.

"Storm, uhh are you ashamed of me or something?" he asked.

"WHAT? Lucas, you’re more popular than me these days. I’m not ashamed of you, what the hell makes you think that?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, you seem more worried about people seeing us together then us actually being together." He replied.

"I’m sorry man, I just don’t think people will be that accepting of us. I don’t care what they throw at me, but do you think you could handle that kind of pressure?" I said.

"If you’re with me I can. I keep telling you Storm, I don’t care what THEY think, I only care about you. Everyone else can go to hell."

"I… I don’t know what to say Lucas" I replied.

"I don’t want to push you Storm, I just want you to know that I want to be with you. And if people can’t deal with that, that’s their problem. But you can take your time, I know it’s a biggie." He said.

"Wow." I said. Everything was happening so fast, I couldn’t get over how much things had changed. Lucas wanted to be with me, and the only thing holding him back was me. How pathetic, I’ve been pining over this guy for so long and when I finally get him, I’m the one holding us back. That’s screwed. "I’ll get there, I promise." I replied, it was all I could say.

We finally got to where we were going, and it ended up being the Tree house. We both climbed up, checking to make sure no one was over in my house first. I sat down inside and pulled out the rest of my lunch, offering a packet of potato chips to Lucas. "No thanks Dude." He replied.

"What’s wrong man? Something is still bugging you." I asked.

Lucas sat down next to me and opened his bag, he pulled out a ring and a necklace. They were both silver, and were matching, each with a dolphin etched into them. "Choose. Ring or Necklace." He asked.

"I…I can’t decide, they’re both so cool. Where did you get them from?" I asked.

Lucas paused for a moment, not taking his eyes off the ring and the necklace. His face gave away that he was in deep thought, remembering something maybe. I knew that these were important to him though, I could tell by his body language, perhaps of some sentimental value. His eyes became watery and he looked like he was trying to hold himself back from crying.

"I’ve had them since I was little, my grandmother gave them to me and told me to give one to the first person I fell in love with and it would mean we would always be connected." He paused again and let one tear slip away. "You’re my first Storm. You’re my first love. I want you to have one. Then it’ll always be me and you."

"I’m not gonna cry, I’m not gonna cry." I said. Didn’t work. I let a few tears slip out as well, I’d had too much happiness to handle today, it was all getting to me. "Lucas, I’m … I don’t know what to say. You’ve like totally surprised me today, I never thought I was going to get the chance to be with you and here we are. I just….I …just can’t believe you feel as strongly about me as I do about you. I just can’t believe it."

I kept rubbing my eyes, trying to wipe the tears away so I wouldn’t look like a complete sap. "Look what you did to me, I’m a complete wreck." I said managing a little laugh.

Lucas put the ring and necklace behind his back and put them in a hand so I couldn’t see. He pulled his hands out in front of me again and I couldn’t tell what was in either hand. "Choose" he said.

"Uuuuuuh that one." I said pointing to his right hand.

Lucas opened up his hand and inside was the necklace, it was a unisex necklace so it didn’t look girly or anything like that. I leaned forward and he put the necklace around my neck. A few silent tears still managed to slip away from me but I didn’t care, I felt special. Lucas gently wiped the tears out of my eyes and I smiled at him, hoping my happiness would show.

"That’s what I like to see." He smiled back.

I sat there looking at the necklace, feeling all the little grooves it had, rubbing it against my skin. To me it was perfect, something else to bond us closer together. It just seemed to suit me, it felt right, it looked right. I think Lucas was even more pleased that I seemed to like it so much, as if I wouldn’t. And when I’d looked at every bump, curve and crevice, felt everything there was to feel of it. I did it all over again, still in total awe. Wasn’t so much the necklace, more what it represented, us. I smiled to myself and fell back against the cushions.

"Wow.. What a day" I sighed.

Lucas fell down beside me. "You’re telling me." he sighed.

"You really scared me last night you know. I can’t believe you were so close to leaving. I’ve never seen you so frightened before." He said concerned. He rolled over on his side and looked at me, my eyes were still fixed on the ceiling.

"That’s because I’ve never been so scared before. I was scared of so many things, losing you, being rejected, getting the shit kicked out of me." I replied.

"I felt so bad inside, especially when you were pleading with me to let you go." he said with his eyes watering, slowly stroking my hair. My eyes were still fixed on the ceiling. "I’ve never felt so torn and hurt, I hated seeing you like that. I wondered what I could have done to ever make you so frightened of me."

"You didn’t do anything, I was just really scared." I said trying not to look him in the eye.

"Storm, look at me. please." He asked gently.

"No." I replied quietly.

He moved on top of me so I had to look him in the eye. "Storm, I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere. I love you, so much I had to cry myself to sleep at nights. It hurt so much to want you and think I could never have you. Don’t shut me out, I wanna know what you’re feeling. I want to help when you’re hurting, don’t you get it. We’re one now."

"I’m.. I’m ok. Really" I smiled.

"You are?"

"I am now that you’ve told me that. That’s why I sat with the class geek, to try and get away from you because it hurt too much. And why I was doing all those things to get away from you."

"Well you better not do it again." He said. "I can’t believe you sat with the class geek just to get away from me though."

"Hey. Shut up!" I yelled back laughing.

"Make me."

"Ok punk, now you’re gonna get it." I grinned going after him.

I couldn’t have been more happier, it wasn’t just a physical thing, it was a love thing. And on top of all that we could still have fun and laugh. I still had my best friend, but now I had so much more. It was like going to the next level. We wrestled around the Tree house, I’m surprised the thing hasn’t come apart already with all the punishment it’s taken over the years. We could still have fun and be immature even though our relationship had changed. Lucas finally managed to pin me down, he put his complete body weight over me, legs on either side and his arms were folded and resting on my chest. "See, I always win." He smirked.

"Only when I let you." I grinned back.

"Are you going to let me kiss you then? I did win after all." He asked puffing.

"Are you going to let me stop you?" I replied

He thought about it for a second then shook his head. "No" he said calmly.

He lowered his head and I raised mine to meet his, I can’t count how many times we’ve kissed today but I sure as hell am not complaining. I could get used to this. He kissed me gently, I find his lips so delicious, I could kiss and taste them all day. They just have kissable written all over them, they still taste like strawberries so it can’t be that yogurt, has to be Lucas natural delicious self.

I was getting wrapped up in the moment, Lucas was moving down slowly and gently nibbling at my neck. I could feel his hands pulling my shirt up again, I freed my arms so I could get my shirt all the way off. Lucas not stopping his seduction the whole time. I wasn’t exactly sure where we were going with this, but I was going anyway. I started pulling Lucas shirt off, taking in the awesome site that befell me. I pulled Lucas back down towards me continuing my assault on his lips, there wasn’t any stopping me now. I moved my hands down his back, feeling the firm muscles as I went. Feeling Lucas body against mine gave me a thrill like you wouldn’t believe, not just for the lust, which I didn’t mind of course, but because of the level of intimacy. The warmth of him against me, the feeling of his skin touching mine, it was more than just physical.

"Storm, you are so beautiful Dude." I said.

I couldn’t help smiling "Umm thanks man, you’re a damn spunk yourself you know."

He started kissing me again, gentler this time and less rushed. I was lost in him, so lost I didn’t hear anyone coming up the tree.