The House that I Grew up In

Annabelle was sleeping, but she could feel something tickling her nose. Opening her eyes and blinking a few times, she saw Quinn leaning over her, touching the tip of her nose with a piece of her hair. He was leaned up on one arm, his head in his hand, and he was smiling. And not just a little smirk; his whole face was lit up with a big grin.

“Hey,” Annabelle whispered, wrinkling her nose as Quinn teased it again with her hair. She loved how happy he was, and she couldn’t help admire how sexy he looked, with his hair messy with bed head and his upper body completely bare until the point where the blanket rested on his narrow hips. “You woke me,” she added accusingly, smirking.

Taking a deep breath and then releasing it, Quinn nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice soft and sincere. He dropped Annabelle’s hair and instead ran his fingers over her jaw line. “It’s just getting pretty late. I don’t want you to get in trouble with Christy’s parents, and my mom will be home in about half an hour.”

“Oh,” Annabelle looked a little disappointed, but nodded. Sitting up in the bed, she blushed as the blanket fell to her waist, and quickly pulled it up. “Sorry,” she giggled nervously. “I know I should feel shy after what we-”

Sitting up beside Annabelle quickly, Quinn cut her words off with a warm gentle kiss. “Don’t apologize,” his eyes danced as he ran his hand down over her neck and rested it on her shoulder. “It’s fine.”

Quinn just stared at Annabelle, studying her face. Her hair was a bit awry, from falling asleep while it was still wet. But her face was perfect – even more than he had realized before. He loved her soft full lips, and the way she bit on one side a little as she thought silently. He loved how her skin glowed, even though the only light filling the room was the moonlight that had taken over after the rain stopped. But most of all, he loved how dark and deep her eyes seemed to be as they watched him examining her, filled with trust and faith.

“I probably should go,” Annabelle smiled, feeling her face heating. It was incredibly sweet, the way Quinn was looking at her, but it also made her feel a bit shy again. “You probably want to talk to Karen alone.”

Raising his eyebrows, Quinn was confused. “About what?” he asked, shaking his head in bewilderment.

Looking away for a moment and grinning, Annabelle tilted her head towards the bed. “You know,” she said. “About us.”

“Yeah,” Quinn laughed. “I’m going to talk to my mother about my sex life.” Looking at Annabelle’s expression, his stomach dropped and he immediately stopped laughing. “Oh God, you’re serious.” Suddenly his eyes got wide as he thought of something else. “Christ, you’re going to tell your mother, aren’t you?”

Seeing how thrown he was, Annabelle moved a little closer to Quinn, resting her head on his shoulder. “Quinn, Julia is… she’s so much more than just a person in my life. She’s a part of me. I couldn’t hide this from her… I wouldn’t want to.” Lifting her head, she reached for his hands and gave him a small smile. “And I don’t like the idea of lying to Karen; I respect her too much. Plus, I don’t want to have to spend the next month sneaking around and making up stories, do you?”

While not saying anything to Karen had been his plan from the beginning, Quinn couldn’t argue with Annabelle. Her openness and honestly were some of the things he adored the most about her, and he couldn’t be the one to ask her to lie. “Fine,” he grumbled, but suddenly a thought crossed his mind and a sly smile lit his face. Reaching up, he slid his hand under Annabelle’s hair and rubbed her neck. “So, you just said you don’t want to spend the next month sneaking around,” he leaned his forehead against hers. “Does that mean you plan on us doing this again?”

Laughing, Annabelle went to swat Quinn’s shoulder, but he caught her hand. At the same time, his mouth pressed to hers, taking it so powerfully that she actually whimpered a little. She felt his hand slide down her back from her neck to her waist as he kissed her deeply. He was urging her to move closer, and she felt under the spell of his passionate kiss.

As Annabelle moved onto Quinn’s lap, their bodies were pressed together tightly. But Quinn had no intention of pushing beyond this at the moment. He just knew, when he realized that Annabelle didn’t intend for that night to be a one-time deal, he knew he had to hold her. She felt so soft and small in his arms, and he felt her kissing back fervently, her lips pressed against his and her tongue tracing his, one of her hands buried in his hair and the other on his face, stroking his cheek.

“I really should go,” Annabelle finally broke the kiss a few minutes later, leaving both of them breathless and still entwined. “Karen will be here in less than 15 minutes.”

“Okay,” Quinn smiled, pressing his lips to Annabelle’s once more before releasing her. He watched as she climbed from the bed nude, and he was overcome by how beautiful her body was.

“Is it okay if I still borrow these?” Annabelle turned around to face Quinn while holding the dry clothes he had offered her earlier that evening. Seeing his intense gaze, she blushed but didn’t look away. Instead, she looked at him, now sitting on the edge of the bed, his feet on the floor, looking gorgeous.

“Of course,” Quinn grinned, turning on the light and reaching over to grab some clothes for himself from the basket of clean laundry next to his nightstand. He kept stealing glances over at Annabelle as she dressed, but felt no guilt, as he caught her doing the same thing twice.

“Well, thanks… for the clothes,” Annabelle finally said awkwardly, letting out a small giggle. “I mean… and tonight… It was…” She shook her head as she looked into his eyes, unable to find the right words, and felt her eyes filling with tears again. “It was gentle, and warm, and intimate, and wonderful. It was you.”

Crossing the room, Quinn wrapped his arms around Annabelle and pulled her close while kissing her hair. “It’s hard to believe you think that about me,” he whispered, squeezing her a bit. “But I want you to know how much tonight meant to me… how much you mean to me.”

Looking up, Annabelle smiled through her blurry vision. “I really should go,” she told Quinn. “For real this time.”

Laughing, Quinn nodded. “Okay, come on. I’ll walk you home.”

-----

It was shortly before midnight when Annabelle kissed Quinn once more and headed into Christy’s house. The lower level was dark, and she climbed the steps upstairs as quietly as possible. Pausing outside Christy’s door, she was surprised to hear the low hum of the television. Knocking, she heard her friend call out and she entered the room.

“Hey,” Annabelle said to Christy, who was spread out on her bed with the remote control in one hand and a can of diet soda in the other. “I thought you were staying at Josh’s tonight,” she whispered as she closed the door behind her.

“Me too,” Christy frowned, still looking at the television set. “Josh’s parents decided to come home at the last minute. I had to climb out his bedroom window and scale a tree. Do you know how hard that is to do in sandals? And not just any sandals, mind you, but my VERY EXPENSIVE BRUNOMAGLI sandals. They’re ruined. What the hell are you wearing?” She had finally looked up to see Annabelle standing there.

Blushing, Annabelle looked down at Quinn’s clothes. “Quinn and I were at the playground when it started raining,” she said with a smile, not quite meeting Christy’s eyes. “He lent me these, because mine were soaking wet.”

Tilting her head, Christy wrinkled her brows together. “Is that why your hair looks so weird?” She put her soda on the nightstand and motioned in circles with her hand. “It’s all wild. It looks like you fell asleep with a wet head.”

Feeling her heart rate increasing, Annabelle had to make a quick decision. Telling Christy the truth would mean that Annabelle would have to answer a ton of personal questions. Not telling her, though, would be lying – and right now, she wanted to build a connection of trust between her and Christy. “Well, I-”

Before Annabelle could continue, Christy’s eyes bulged. “Oh my god!” she exclaimed with shock. “You guys had sex!”

‘So much for having to make that hard decision,’ Annabelle thought to herself with amusement. “Yes, we did,” she admitted, feeling her cheeks filling with heat as she took a seat on the bed beside Christy.

Staring at her friend, Christy’s mouth was open as she waited for Annabelle to continue. After a minute, though, she suddenly realized Annabelle didn’t intend to go on. “You have to talk to me about this!” Christy squealed, then caught herself. She definitely didn’t want to wake her parents before she got the details from Annabelle. Throwing off her comforter, she moved to sit next to Annabelle. “How was it? How are you? How was he? Who made the first move? Was it just sex, or did you guys, like, fool around first? Why’d you change your mind about doing it with him?”

These kinds of questions were the reason Annabelle had considered not telling Christy. She was getting very detailed about something Annabelle considered completely private. “I changed my mind,” she focused on the one question that didn’t make her feel completely uncomfortable. “Because I realized that Quinn and I are really starting to care about each other. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye at the end of summer, but at least now we’ll have something beautiful to look back on. There’s no chance I’ll regret it; it meant too much.”

“So he made the first move?” Christy cocked an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed by the emotional outpouring Annabelle had just delivered.

“No,” Annabelle couldn’t help but smirk. Christy was going to push for details no matter how hard Annabelle tried to skirt the issue, so it was probably easiest to just answer her questions as simply as possible. “No, I approached Quinn.”

“You ‘approached’ him?” Christy started to look amused as she crossed her legs in front of her. “You sound so… Harlequin.”

“Funny,” Annabelle stuck out her tongue. “No, I just mean that it was my idea.”

“But I doubt he fought you,” Christy laughed.

Smiling, Annabelle shrugged. “You might be surprised,” she said mysteriously, not planning on sharing any more about the things she and Quinn had talked about that night. Being honest was one thing, but they deserved to keep their intimate feelings private.

“Ha!” Christy did look surprised, but not disbelieving, as she laughed. “Damn, I guess I don’t know the boy that well.” Suddenly, her face became softer and she put her hand on Annabelle’s shoulder. “So… how are you? You feeling okay about everything?”

Christy’s sudden tenderness touched Annabelle. “Yeah,” she nodded. “I feel… wonderful.”

“Really?” Christy seemed unsure. “First times are rarely wonderful.”

“Well, it was wonderful being close to Quinn, I mean,” Annabelle looked down at the pink and white comforter and smiled at her memories. “That’s what really mattered to me. Why? Was your first time with Josh bad?” she looked up, suddenly concerned about Christy.

“My first time…” Swallowing hard, Christy slowly pulled away from Annabelle and leaned back up against the headboard. She was chewing on her bottom lip, as if lost in thought, and her face looked sad. Suddenly, though, a smile lit her face, and she looked at Annabelle again. “No, my first time with Josh was great. He waited a long time for me to be ready, and he was really sweet – he did all these little extra things, like buy me flowers and take me to dinner first. He couldn’t have been nicer, especially coming from a horny sixteen year old boy.”

“Well, that’s great,” Annabelle said, sounding unsure. If Christy’s first time with Josh had been such a nice memory, then why had she looked so sad for a moment? Suddenly, something hit her. “Wait, was Josh the first person you slept with?”

Turning a bit red, Christy looked back at the TV. “Of course he was,” she said huffily, her shoulders tense. “I was only in ninth grade when we started dating.”

“I’m sorry.” Confusion gripped Annabelle, who wasn’t sure what she had done wrong. “I didn’t mean anything by that…”

Christy stared at the TV a moment longer, then slowly looked back at Annabelle. “No, I’m sorry,” she truly sounded apologetic as she leaned over to hug Annabelle. “You had this huge thing happen tonight. I’m not going to take away any of that by being a bitch.”

“Thanks,” Annabelle replied uncertainly, but hugged Christy back appreciatively. “And thanks for talking. But I think I’m going to take a shower and get some sleep.” Rising from the bed, she looked meaningfully at her friend.

“I meant that, you know,” Annabelle suddenly added. “Thanks for talking to me. And you know, Christy, if you ever have anything you want to talk about…”

“I know,” Christy replied quickly, with a small sad smile. “I know. Good night, Annabelle.”

“Good night, Christy.”

-----

“Christine, Josh is here,” Christy’s mother’s voice rose up the stairs on Sunday morning, waking Annabelle from her peaceful sleep. Glancing at her clock, she realized it was only 8am. She was surprised Josh and Christy were going out early two days in a row.

Rising from the bed, she changed quickly and brushed her hair into a ponytail. Her thighs felt tight and her body ached a bit, which made her blush at her memories of the night before. Christy was just dashing down the stairs as Annabelle left the guest room, closing the door behind her.

“Morning,” Annabelle turned her eyes away from Christy and Josh as soon as she entered the living room. They were kissing deeply – quite deeply, considering Christy’s mother was in the next room.

“Hey Annabelle,” Christy smiled at her friend, then suddenly looked a little concerned. “You doing okay this morning?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Annabelle nodded towards Christy. “Hey Josh. Not used to seeing you two mornings in a row like this. I thought you and Christy were both the types who slept in until noon whenever possible.”

“We are,” Josh yawned, proving his point. “But Christine made me promise to spend the day together, to make up for last night.”

“Sshh,” Christy pointed towards the kitchen, but was still grinning. “Besides, is it so terrible to spend time with me?”

“Not at all. It’s my favorite thing to do… besides play basketball,” Josh teased, leaning down to kiss Christy again. Within seconds, they were pressed up against each other again, making out heavily.

“Jesus, not in front of Annabelle, at least,” Christy’s mother entered the room at that moment. “Besides, Christine, acting like that in public is trashy.”

“Sorry,” Christy’s face was pink as she disentangled herself from Josh and looked at her mother, who had an expression of disgust written on her face. “Anyway, Josh and I are going out. I’ll be home by curfew.”

“Yes, you will,” her mother replied stiffly, picking a book off the coffee table and walking towards the patio to sit in the sun. She didn’t bother to say goodbye to either Christy or Josh.

“Have fun today, guys,” Annabelle said, waving at them as they left. Heading into the kitchen, she got a cup of coffee and took the phone upstairs with her. She needed to call Julia as soon as possible to talk about the night before. Until she spoke to her about it and shared her thoughts and feelings, it all felt kind of like a dream. That’s how it always was for Annabelle; she hadn’t been exaggerating when she said to Quinn that her mother was a part of her. And right now, she really wanted to share this important moment with Julia.

-----

Quinn called Annabelle a few hours later, sounding very uncomfortable. “Listen, would you mind coming by?” he asked quietly, sounding embarrassed. “I talked to my mom like you wanted… She asked that you come over so we can all talk. Which sounds like a freakin’ party to me.”

Laughing, Annabelle agreed, and ten minutes later, she was sitting on the couch in Quinn’s living room beside him. Karen was sitting across from them, not making eye contact with either teen. All in all, the Peregoy’s looked downright mortified.

“I spoke to Julia this morning,” Annabelle decided to jump right into things. That was always easiest. Besides, Julia had urged her to believe that she had anything to be embarrassed about. “I told her about Quinn and me. About what Quinn told you earlier.”

For a moment, Karen turned white, until she finally looked up and saw Annabelle’s small smile. “And she’s okay with…?”

Taking a deep breath, Annabelle recalled her conversation with her mother. “I hope this isn’t too hard for you to take, Karen,” she told the woman. “I’m not sure what your religious or moral feelings are about this sort of thing.”

Glancing sideways at Annabelle, Quinn was in shock. She seemed so together, whereas it had taken him half an hour of hemming and hawing to say the words “Annabelle and I slept together,” to his mother earlier that day. But Annabelle was talking in calm, strong, confident tones; it was very impressive. He just waited for her to continue.

“It’s not a moral issue for me…” Karen replied finally, looking at Annabelle and being taken by how much she seemed like Julia at that moment. “It’s just that you’re both young, and you are leaving at the end of summer. I’m just worried this will make things harder for you emotionally. And there’s always the worry about…”

“We were safe,” Annabelle replied, trying her hardest to sound strong. Despite the initial confidence in her decision that her conversation with Julia had given her, she was suddenly beginning to feel a bit awkward with Karen going into details. “And we will be always, I promise. As for our age, I think you understand that seventeen isn’t really that young for a physical relationship. And in regards to our feelings,” she glanced over at Quinn and reached for his hand, squeezing it. “Quinn is one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. I’m sure I would have been just as heartbroken leaving if this hadn’t happened. But it has, and we’ll deal with it.”

Running a hand through her dark hair, Karen paused. She wasn’t sure what to say; Annabelle had covered it all, concisely but with emotion. “I know you and Julia have a special relationship,” she finally said as she folded her hands in her lap. “I just… I never expected Quinn to tell me something like that.”

Quinn felt Annabelle squeeze his hand again, and knew she wanted him to say something. However, it beat the hell out of him what that should be. “Well, I um…” he just stared at Annabelle’s hand in his, unable to look at Karen. “Annabelle didn’t think we should lie to you… And I guess after all the shit – sorry – all the stuff we’ve been through in the past, I guess it’s not such a bad idea. And we’re not planning on, like, doing stuff while you’re home…”

Annabelle had to use physical strength to hold back a chuckle when she saw how beet red Quinn had just turned. She decided to swoop in and save him from further embarrassment. “I respect you,” Annabelle looked over at Karen. “And Quinn does, too. We’ll respect any… rules you might have. But we wanted you to know the truth, because lying only hurts relationships.”

“I appreciate that,” Karen still looked uncomfortable, but not as mortified as she had when Annabelle had first arrived. “I suppose I have no… rules. Just, please, be careful with each other. And I don’t just mean physically…”

“Of course,” Annabelle nodded. “And thank you, Karen, for being willing to hear us out. It means so much.”

“Yeah,” Quinn added, still not looking at his mother. “Thanks. And sorry this all came out on your birthday.”

“That’s okay,” Karen replied, looking a little dazed, but suddenly she looked over at Quinn and caught his gaze. “I love the necklace you gave me, but I think having a good relationship with you means far more.”

Quinn smiled a little, nodding in understanding.

“Okay, I’m taking a nap now,” Karen said as she rose, causing Annabelle and Quinn to laugh. “Are you still coming for dinner, Annabelle?”

“I’d love to, if it’s okay,” Annabelle also stood and walked over towards Karen, pulling her into a hug. “And Julia wanted me to tell you how proud she is of you,” she whispered as she held the older woman.

Pulling back, Karen gave Annabelle a watery smile. It felt good to hear that. And as awkward and uncomfortable a situation as this was, it also felt good to know that Quinn was opening his relationship up with her, even if it had been at Annabelle’s request. It wasn’t that Karen had believed Quinn was a virgin – actually, a few years back she had come home from work early and was made positive of that fact now – but having him tell her the truth had really struck her somewhere deep inside.

“That sucked,” Quinn said as he pulled Annabelle to him after his mother hand headed upstairs. “I totally respect your honesty and all, and I know Gandhi is all about the ‘truth’, but I NEVER want to go through something like that again.”

Laughing, Annabelle rose on her toes to kiss Quinn lightly. “The truth isn’t always easy,” she told him. “But it’s usually for the best.”

Suddenly, it struck Quinn that this was the first time since the night before that he and Annabelle had been alone. “Hey,” his voice suddenly grew soft, and he reached over to brush a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “How are you feeling today? I’m sorry, I was an ass and forgot to ask on the phone. Are you doing okay?”

This was the reason that Annabelle had no regrets – the way Quinn was acting now. When she had spoken to Julia earlier, she hadn’t discussed anything physical in depth, but just how she felt. And as she had explained to her mother, “last night with you was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” she told Quinn.

Shaking his head, Quinn didn’t know how to respond. “You’re making it easier to figure out, you know,” he told her with a sad grin. “I think I’ll have it figured out well before you leave.”

“What’s that?” Annabelle wrapped her arms around Quinn’s waist and smiled up at him.

“What I said at the playground,” Quinn blushed as he explained. “When I said I thought I was falling in love with you, but I was afraid I wouldn’t have time to be sure? I think I’m getting closer to being sure.”

Swallowing hard, Annabelle just stared into Quinn’s green eyes for a moment. “Oh, girls always develop faster than boys. It’s biology,” she smiled at him. “Because I already know I’m in love with you.”

-----

OKAY, I KNOW THIS ISN’T THE BEST STORY I’VE EVER WRITTEN. I WON’T MAKE EXCUSES EXCEPT TO SAY I HAVEN’T WRITTEN IN A WHILE, AS SOME OF YOU KNOW. SO I DO APOLOGIZE IF IT IS (A) CHEESY (B) PREDICTIBLE (C) SLOW (D) UNEVEN OR (E) ALL OF THE ABOVE.

I DO PROMISE THAT THERE WILL BE MORE CHRISTY, MORE OF THE GIRLS AND THE GUYS, AND DEFINITELY MORE DRAMA. I HOPE THAT PEOPLE KEEP READING AND REVIEWING, AS I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

SINCE I AM EAGER TO POST, I WILL JUST SAY THANKS AGAIN TO ALL THOSE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW, AND WILL REPLY TO JUST A FEW:

NESL247: THANKS FOR SUCH NICE WORDS ABOUT MY OTHER STORIES. I HOPE I CAN MAKE THIS ONE A BIT BETTER, SO YOU CAN ENJOY IT AS MUCH!

CADE: I KNOW I CAN BE CLICHÉ, AND I APPRECIATE THAT YOU DON’T MIND IT! AND THANKS FOR THE KIND WORDS ABOUT THE “LOVE” SCENE.

PIKACHEESE: HEE! YOU MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD! AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE PRAISE – YOU ARE TOO SWEET SOMETIMES.

ADAEE: WHERE CAN I BEGIN? WELL, FIRST THANKS FOR THE CRAZY LONG REVIEW AND FOR SAYING SUCH NICE THINGS ABOUT THE LOVE SCENE. AS FOR BEING TELEGRAPHED, I DO APOLOGIZE AND ASK THAT YOU SEE STATEMENT (B) FROM THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. AS FOR DRAMA, I HAVE A FEW THINGS PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE CHAPTERS, SO I DIDN’T WANT TO OVERDO IT. BUT I AM SORRY IF IT WAS A BIT BORING OR SUCH.

SHANNA: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE IN-DEPTH REVIEW. I REALLY FEEL GOOD WHEN PEOPLE TAKE THE TIME TO DO THAT.

ONE LAST THING: THANKS TO ALL WHO COMMENTED ON THE “LOVE” SCENE IN THE LAST CHAPTER. ONE THING I INTENTIONALLY DID THAT NO ONE COMMENTED ON WAS NOT USE THE WORD “LOVE” ONCE IN THE CHAPTER. DID ANYONE NOTICE?