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Chapter
Time Flies
You are told from the moment you enter school that time is constant. It never changes. It is one of those set things in life that you can always rely on…much like death and taxes. There will always be sixty seconds in a minute. There will always be sixty minutes in an hour. And there will always be twenty-four hours in a day. Time was not fluctuating. It moved on at the same, constant pace at every moment in your life.
And that was the biggest load of crap that I’d ever been taught in school.
Truth was, time did fluctuate. It was easy to lose hours or even days in a blink of an eye. Other times, it was a struggle to get through a mere hour. It ebbed and flowed as relentlessly as the tides, and just as powerfully too. The moments that you wanted to last forever were the ones that were washed away all too soon. The moments that you wanted to speed up, were slowed down to a snail’s pace.
That was the truth of the matter. And my life…was flash-forwarding, and there was nothing I could do about it.
It seemed only yesterday that Kellan had reluctantly agreed to go off and tour the continent, but, all of a sudden, his departure was only a few days away. It was Monday morning…he was leaving first thing Saturday. And as much as the last few weeks had rushed by, I knew that the universe would cruelly make the next six months drag on and on. I knew that I would feel every second of our separation and it was going to suck…but I had to let it happen. I would not selfishly guilt another man to give it all up for me. I would never do that to someone again….no matter how much it hurt.
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Hearing the door to my apartment being knocked on, I snapped myself out of my thoughts and slapped on a smile. Kellan was having a hard time with the upcoming separation too. I didn’t want to make it harder for him by seeming down all the time. Over the last few weeks I’d perfected the art of feigned excitement. Not that I wasn’t excited for him, and endlessly proud of him, I just didn’t want him to go. If he could somehow have it all, but stay close to my side, well, then my forced smile would be a natural one.
Walking past a folding card table, a wobbly contraption that my sister and I were calling a fancy dining table, even going so far as to classy it up with a thrift store tablecloth, I smiled at the present sitting on top of it. When I opened the front door, Kellan was leaning against the frame.
He smiled crookedly at me. I bit my lip as I absorbed his features, then stepped back so he could enter.
Stepping through, he murmured, “Mornin’.”
Attaching his lips to my neck, he swung me around and pulled my hips into his. Lightly closing the door behind him, I giggled quietly; my sister was still asleep. “Good morning, yourself.” Sighing, he slinked his arms around my waist. “I’m going to miss taking you to school every day,” he sighed. Shaking his head, he added,
“You’ll nearly be graduating by the time I’m back.” Stepping up my smile, even though my heart was breaking, I tilted my head at him and stroked his cheek. “At least you’ll be back in time for the ceremony. You can watch me walk down the aisle.” Smiling softly, he cinched me a little tighter. “I’d love to watch you walk down the aisle.”
My heart starting to race a little, I suddenly wondered just what aisle he was referring to. I opened my mouth, not sure what to say, but Kellan looked over his shoulder and noticed the bright red gift bag. His expression genuinely gleeful, he looked back to me. “What’s that?” Releasing him, I giggled again. “It’s for you. Sort of a going away present.”
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Frowning, he shook his head at me. “I know money is tight for you.
You didn’t have to get me anything.”
Pressing myself against his back, I shoved his shoulders towards the table. “I got a good deal, it didn’t cost me much and it’s sort of a present for both of us.”
Slowly walking towards the gift, he turned his head back to me and grinned devilishly. “Is it handcuffs? Did you get the furry kind? Because those feel really nice against your—”
I smacked his back and turned his head away from me, so that he couldn’t see the blush spreading over my cheeks. “No!” I felt him chuckling as he picked up his gift, but my head was busy imagining him locked to my bed…naked. I guess that would be one way to keep him near me. Rolling my eyes, I contained a sigh. And of course he’d had enough experience with handcuffs that he had a style preference.
Still laughing a little, he pulled the tissues out of the bag. When he got to the actual present, he pulled it out and looked back at me, confused.
“What’s this?”
Now I laughed as I moved around to stand beside him. “Well, I know you’re a little behind on the times, but they call that a cell phone. It works just like your corded one…but you can walk around with it.” Leaning in, I whispered, “You can even use it outside.” Giving me a dry look, he shook his head. “I know what it is…what’s it for?”
Smiling, I pulled a matching one out of my jacket pocket slung over a nearby chair. “It’s so we can keep in touch while you’re gone. So you can always get a hold of me, and I can get a hold of you.” I shrugged, feeling my throat starting to close up. “So we can try and stay close…even though we’ll be really far apart.”
I watched his eyes search mine as he swallowed a few times, like his throat was closing up a little too. Nodding, he leaned in and kissed me.
“I love it, thank you.”
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I closed my eyes as we kissed a few times, savoring every second that his skin was on mine. Pulling back from me, his breath a little heavier, his eyes slightly hooded, his gaze focused on my mouth. I got the distinct impression that if he didn’t have to take me to school in a few minutes, he would have swept me up and taken me to my bedroom.
And even though I knew school was important and I needed to focus on my final year, I wanted him to.
His eyes flashing up to mine, he gave me a breathtaking grin. “Can I sext you on it?”
I blinked at his question then felt my cheeks flame red hot again. Not giving him an answer, I smacked his shoulder and grabbed my jacket.
Just as he was chuckling, tucking his new phone away in his leather jacket pocket, I heard a bedroom door open. Kellan turned towards the sound, ready to greet Anna, but who stepped out of the door was not my sister. They also were not dressed.
Scratching his freely swinging man parts, Griffin yawned and squinted at us. “Dude, what are doing here so early?” I immediately looked away from the bare naked man. Kellan smirked and shook his head. “It’s ten thirty, Griffin.” I heard Griffin snort but didn’t look back at him. “I know, man, it’s fucking earlier than shit.” Kellan looked down on me and rolled his eyes.
Anything before eleven was practically the crack of dawn for Griffin. I wanted to roll my eyes as well, but I heard Griffin coming closer to us. I froze. I seriously wanted to scream at him to get some clothes on.
Yawning again, Griffin lazily said, “Hey, Matt wanted me to tell you that if you miss another rehearsal, he’s tossing you from the band.” Kellan looked back up at Griffin and raised an eyebrow. “Really?” Laughing lightly, he shook his head. “Tell him I’ll be there.” Looking down at me again, Kellan shrugged. “I guess my head has been other places lately.”
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I saw Griffin’s hand come out to push back Kellan’s shoulder, but I refused to look at the nudist. “Well zip your head back in your pants and get back in the game. We need you on board.” Sighing, Kellan looked up at him. “I’m on board, Griff. I’ll be there, okay.”
“You better.”
Just as it sounded like Griffin was turning to leave, I watched Kellan shake his head, his lips twisting. “Hey, Griff? You mind not walking around my girlfriend’s place buck naked? I’d really prefer her only staring at my junk, if you don’t mind.”
My eyes widening, I inadvertently looked back at Griffin. Smirking at me, he took himself in hand. “Dude, if she’s peeking at another man’s schlong, then that’s between the two of you.” Raising his eyebrows at Kellan, he shook his blond head. “The Hulk needs to breathe.” Kellan bit his lip, struggling to not laugh. I had no such luck with my control and had to slap a hand over my mouth. Griffin glared at both of us, then sauntered back to Anna’s room. Once the door was closed again, Kellan burst out laughing. I joined him, the tears springing into my eyes gladly obscuring the afterimage of Griffin’s pierced manhood.
Between giggles, I managed to laugh out, “The Hulk? Does it turn green when it grows?”
Holding in his stomach, Kellan shook his head. “Oh God, I hope not.
Come on, let’s get out of here before we find out.” Grabbing my book bag, we hastily escaped from where we could hear Griffin start to wake up Anna. Once in the hall, our laughter slowly sub-sided. When I could breathe without giggling, I smiled over at Kellan.
“Thank you for trying. Seeing Griffin in all his glory…will be one of the things that I definitely won’t miss.”
Slinging his arm over my shoulders, Kellan shook his head. Still laughing over his ass of a band mate, he said, “I wish I could say the same, but the green mutant’s coming with me.”