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Pick you up at home, quarter to three
Ask you if you want somethin' to eat
Drive around, get drunk, do it over again
It’s 2:45 in the morning.
You flash the car lights once, wait a moment, and then flash them again. Our silent signal to one another. You know he’s sneaking down the stairs, stepping over the last one so it doesn’t squeak. A lesson he learned after waking his dad up once sophomore year. Screams came from the house that night, they echoed in your head still.
His dad hates you, blaming his son’s “lack of ambition” on you.
His tall frame enters your eyesight, the light silhouetting his figure. He looks like a cartoon character trying to desperately stay quiet and hidden in the shadows. Butterflies fill your stomach, the last time you saw him fill your mind.
Steamy windows before tearful goodbyes.
He opens the door and his scent fills your truck. “Hey stranger.”
Both of you are frozen, staring at one another and letting unsaid expectations fill the air around you. He slides into the seat and smiles at you. “Do I get a hello back?”
“Hi Aaron.”
One more beat of silence before the stillness dissipates and like magnets, you’re drawn to one another. Lips colliding, bodies tangling together. He pulls away from you, brushing a lock of hair from your face and pulling it. “Seems like you missed me.”
A playful smack on his bicep and you start your car up. “Don’t flatter yourself, Hotchner.”
Quietly, you drive off, turning your lights on once you leave the neighborhood. The warm Virginia air blows in from the windows, it feels peaceful.
“Are you going to admit you missed me now?” He places a hand on your knee and gives it a small squeeze. A quick peek at him shows his face is anxious behind the bravado.
You lace your fingers through his, “Yeah, I did. You were gone the whole year.”
“10 months, but who’s counting?”
The drive continues in comfortable silence. Passing the empty parking lots, closed stores lining the streets. Everything here closes at 8 p.m., no one's out after 10 p.m. It’s slow, it’s quiet.
As you keep driving, the asphalt turns to dirt. The air outside a song of nature. You park under a grove of oak hickory trees, the entrance to the forest ahead of you.
“Gone 10 months. Couldn’t even come back for Christmas.” You undo your seatbelt and turn in your seat to face him, you poke him with your toe. He catches your foot, waggling the fingers of his other hand, threatening to tickle you. “Was that your plan? Finally fuck me and then make me miss you.”
He lets go of your foot and looks at you, eyes hurt. “Don’t talk like that. You know that’s not what happened.”
“Then tell me what happened.” You reach behind your seat, pulling two beers and passing one to him. “Because I heard a whole lot when Haley Brooks came back for the holidays.”
He accepts the beer, opens it slowly and signs. “Haley fucking Brooks.” He takes a swig and rolls his eyes. “So what did you hear? What did this small town whisper to you?”
“Well don’t be a dick now.” You take a sip, scratching the peel on your beer. “She said you took her on a date.”
“I did.”
You stiffen, you didn’t think he would admit it so casually. It stings. “She told Jessica you fucked her.”
He takes another gulp, rolling his eyes before sighing. “I did.”
Anger builds up in your chest, you were hoping she was exaggerating to seem cool to her sister. Before you think better of it, you splash the rest of your beer on him, shoving him in the chest. “You can fuck Haley Brooks but you can’t call me back?”
He blinks at you, wiping the beer off his face. He moves away from you, his back against the door. “Stop it. I deserve the beer, but don’t hit me.”
Who knows how many minutes go by, you’re looking out the driver window, body turned away from him. The anger is rising in your chest, but it doesn’t feel like it’s possible.
You feel a soft touch on your elbow. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Just tell me what happened. All of it. And then I’ll decide if I can forgive you.”
“Look at me first.”
You turn your body, but keep your eyes from his. There wasn’t an agreement between the two of you. You weren’t technically together. Before he had left though, the connection had been established. This felt like a betrayal.
“I took her out one night. We got drunk. We had sex. There wasn’t anything else.”
“Well, she certainly seems to think so.”
“Well, I don’t. How about that?” Stubborn anger filled his voice. “It was one time, I never returned her calls after because I didn’t feel anything when it happened. Not on the date and not when we had sex.” He grabs his beer from the cupholder and takes a sip before pouring some on top of your head. “Wanna call it even?”
You know he’s trying to break the tension, but you can’t let this nagging feeling go. “Aaron, I’m not going to be your tag along friend forever. Before you left, we- I thought-” You take a deep breath, “ Just tell me she didn’t mean anything to you and I’ll forgive you.”
Aaron places both hands on your cheeks and looks in your eyes, “She didn’t mean anything, if I could take it back, I would. I was… lonely and confused. I saw her on campus and- it doesn’t matter. It happened, I wish it hadn’t.”
You don’t respond, letting what he said ruminate in your mind. His thumb is brushing your cheek. “Say what’s on your mind, I feel your tension.”
A deep inhale, “Why did you leave me here? You left for a whole year. You didn’t visit, didn’t answer my calls, didn’t write me back. Now what? You’re back and we’re going to pretend like nothing happened? I’m just your hometown girl?”
You push his hands off your face as a sob escapes your mouth. Your hands cover your mouth trying to hold the sounds in, tears running down your face. You hadn’t thought you were holding so much in, but now he opened the vault. “You took my virginity and then you left! You left me here in this hellhole town and then I have to find out you took Haley out. What was I, your practice run?”
“No, never. I was-” he runs a hand through his hair, “I was trying hard to forget this place. It was a mistake. I- I thought- I don’t know what I thought.”
“I know what you thought. You didn’t want to come back here and face this stupid town, so you thought you could forget it if you didn’t come back, but by doing that, you forgot about me!”
Silence.
“What you have nothing to say in return?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He looks down at his lap, “I can’t take back what happened, but I can tell you I was wrong and it won’t happen again.”
“Sure it won’t. It might not be Haley, but it’s going to be someone else.”
Aaron grabs your chin and makes you look in his eye, “It’s not going to be someone else, I don’t want to lose you. I’m sorry for being an ass.”
You lean into him, pressing your lips to his. “You better be Aaron, I’m not giving out any more chances.”
His hands brush against your face, your back, pulling you closer to him. You climb out of your seat and into his lap, your chests pressed against each other, lips moving together.
Times frozen while we’re in the car.
You pull away from him and look in his eyes, you stroke a finger against his cheek. “I am glad you’re back though. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, honey girl.” he stretches his legs out under you. “As much as I love the view” his eyes directly at your chest “my legs are starting to cramp. Want to sit in the bed, look at the stars?”
You nod before giving him a small kiss. Opening the door and letting the cool air greet both of you.
He spreads a blanket out in the bed of the truck, hopping in before offering you his hand and pulling you in. He sits with his back against the truck, tucking you in between his legs. Your head is resting on his chest, you close your eyes and relax. His arms are wrapped around you, clasped together on top of your stomach.
He rests his head on the crook of your shoulder, “I missed you so much. I wanted an escape from this town.” His breath is warm on your neck, “I thought going to college and pretending to be someone new would change how I felt about it here, but it didn’t.”
“And how do you feel?”
“I missed you but I hate that house. I hate it here.”
“Let’s get away from it then.”
He opens another beer and sips a little before passing it to you. “Let’s do it.”