Starting Over

“I can’t believe it’s already August,” Catherine said, looking down at Batey. They were in the park, hidden away near a small stream in an alcove they had discovered one day while walking. Catherine was sitting with Batey’s head in her lap, and she was playing lazily with his hair.

“I know,” Batey smiled up at her sadly. “Just three more weeks of summer for me. But at least I will still be close by.”

“Ah, you’re going to forget about me the first week you’re there,” Catherine teased. “All those college girls and keg parties.”

“I could never forget about you,” Batey grinned. “Not for a minute.” With that, he sat up and took Catherine’s hands in his.

Batey just stared at her for a long time, eventually causing Catherine to blush. “Stop looking at me like that,” she giggled. “You’re making me nervous.” She stood up and put out her hand. “Come on, let’s go for a walk or something.”

Rising with a mischievous grin, Batey grabbed Catherine by the waist and pulled her close to him, causing her to let out a small squeal of surprise. She was silenced almost immediately, though, by Batey’s mouth. He was hungry today, more desirous than usual. His lips pressed against Catherine with need, his tongue exploring her lips and mouth. “I’ll go for the ‘or something’ option,” he finally growled into her ear.

Laughing, Catherine looked him in the eyes. “What’s gotten into you?” she asked happily as she wound her arms around his neck and he gently backed her against a tree.

“I don’t know,” Batey admitted, kissing her throat lightly. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Catherine whispered as she felt Batey’s hot breath on her neck and his hand slid down the front of her shirt.

Although they were in a secluded area of the park, Catherine was still nervous about other people coming by, so most of their clothes remained on. Batey just lifted the fabric of Catherine’s tank top enough to gently suckle at her nipples, teasing each of them until they were hard. He pulled the shirt back down to her waist and dropped to his knees in front of her. Sliding his hands up her soft thighs, Catherine felt shivers move up her spine as his hands traveled under her skirt to grab hold of her underwear and slide them off. He kissed her inner thighs softly as Catherine stepped out of her panties.

Catherine let out a small gasp as Batey’s lips barely brushed over her. She felt his fingers softly press against her and jumped. “My, someone’s ready,” Batey teased, looking up at her face, which turned pink.

“Just come here,” Catherine said with a wry smile. Batey did as she asked, rising up. He took her face in his hands and cradled it, pressing his mouth softly to hers. He felt Catherine reach behind him into his back pocket for a condom; he smiled at the familiarity of the gesture. Even though they had had sex a few times without a condom, Batey realized that Catherine’s fears of ever accidentally becoming pregnant again were great, so he always tried to keep a condom with him at all times. Then he felt her reach between them and undo his jeans, pushing down on them and his boxers just enough to release his erection. Batey moaned into her mouth as he felt Catherine grasp him and begin stroking.

Pulling back, Batey looked in Catherine’s eyes, which were bright with desire. He smiled at her as he took the condom from her hand and opened the package, sliding it on and tossing the packet on the ground. “Litterbug,” Catherine joked, causing Batey to laugh a little.

Sliding his hand down to Catherine’s thigh, he gently nudged her legs apart. Catherine wrapped her arms around Batey’s neck again. With one hand propping him up against the tree, Batey’s other hand slid down to lead himself towards Catherine. He heard her gasp softly as he pressed into her, and he slid his hand around her waist.

Leaning her head back against the tree, Catherine left her neck exposed for Batey’s soft kisses and sucking. She found his rhythm and began rocking with him. She felt him slide his hand from her waist to her thigh, and she quickly figured out what he was doing.

Lifting her leg up towards his waist, Batey held onto her to Catherine to support her. This position allowed him to slide into her deeper, and he heard her sigh of contentment with the first hard thrust. He pulled out slowly, teasingly, kissing the sensitive spot below Catherine’s ear and then pressed hard into her suddenly.

Catherine’s breathing was getting shallow as Batey tormented her with his movements. He would slide out of her with excruciating slowness, and then suddenly push back into her with a deep, hard stroke. “Please,” she whispered into his ear, begging him to stop his teasing.

Hearing Catherine whisper her request made Batey’s body tighten with pleasure. He pulled back to kiss her lips softly and to watch her face as he began moving at a faster pace. Catherine squeezed her eyes shut as Batey began pushing into her tight warmth with hard thrusts, eliciting a moan from her lips each time.

As Catherine’s muscles began to tense, she felt him slide his other hand down and grab her other leg, surprising Catherine by lifting her up around his waist completely. She was pressed up against the tree, her legs around his waist, as Batey pressed hard against her. Catherine struggled to keep up with his movements and was rewarded when her body filled with waves of pleasure and heat as she came. She felt Batey holding onto her tight still, letting out a little moan and then growing motionless as she felt the familiar feeling of his cock inside her, thumping like a heartbeat as he came.

Completely out of breath and unable to move, Catherine and Batey stood like that for a minute. Batey had his head buried in Catherine’s shoulder, and she had her head leaned back against the tree. Finally, she felt him gently release her, keeping her steady once her feet touched the ground.

“Wow,” Catherine said to Batey.

“You can say that again,” he grinned happily as he looked down and removed the condom, and then zipped and buttoned his jeans.

Catherine reached over to pick up her underwear from the soft grass, but Batey stopped her before she slid them on. “Don’t,” he requested, and she gave him a questioning glance. Leaning over to kiss her, Batey blushed lightly. “Don’t wear them right now. It would be incredibly hot for me to take you out to dinner knowing you’re weren’t wearing anything under your skirt.”

Laughing, Catherine slid her arms around his waist. “Perv,” she teased. She leaned up to kiss his lips again softly. “Okay,” she whispered. “But you’ll owe me for this.”

“Oh, I promise to make it worth your while,” he raised his eyebrows knowingly, and Catherine burst into a fit of giggles as he pulled her into a warm hug.

-----

The weekend before Batey was to start at GW, Ben and Eddie were doing a road trip to New York. Ben offered the townhouse to Batey, even encouraging him to have a small farewell party. “No drugs, no cops, and if anyone has sex in my bed, you will know pain like you’ve never known before.”

Nodding, Batey laughed. “But the second bedroom’s okay for that, right?”

“Just wash the sheets when you’re done,” Ben gave him a smirk as he handed over a key.

It was a small party: Catherine and Batey, Alanna and James, Ethan and Daniel, Emma and John, Ivana and Darren, Allie and Kevin. Everyone was having fun, drinking and talking, and Batey of course was playing the supreme host. Catherine finally caught him for a minute alone in the kitchen. “I thought this party was to wish you farewell,” she pouted, wrapping her arms around his waist. “But I’ve barely gotten to say two words to you all night.”

“I’m sorry, love,” Batey smiled, leaning down to kiss Catherine softly. She snuggled against his chest and Batey wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her forehead before whispering. “It’s crazy. I’m going to be so close by, but I feel like I am going to miss you so much.”

Looking up into Batey’s kind eyes, Catherine gave him a little grin. “I’m glad to hear you say that,” she said softly. “I thought I was the only one thinking that way.”

“Okay, you two,” Emma entered the kitchen with John. “Break it up!”

Laughing, Catherine glanced between Emma and John, who were holding hands. They seemed very good together. Emma grounded John, and John made Emma take chances and just be silly sometimes. Catherine was glad they had gotten together.

“Well, I hate to say it, but we’ve got to get going,” John told them. “Actually, I don’t hate to say it. We’re leaving for a camping trip at the break of dawn.” He looked happy and excited at the news, but as Catherine glanced over towards Emma, she saw her blushing and looking down.

“Well, you guys have fun,” Catherine raised her eyebrows at Emma when the girl finally met her gaze, and Emma’s cheeks turned even more scarlet. “Really, have a great time,” she said in a softer voice, smiling at her friend.

Emma nodded towards Catherine, then turned to face Batey, her attitude returning to its regular no-nonsense way. “So you’ll be back here like every weekend, right? And during breaks? Oh, and I expect you at each and every performance we do this year. God, I’m so not looking forward to that. John’s the only guy left with a decent voice – you and James and Daniel have all graduated-”

“Emma, you’re babbling,” Batey smiled at the girl. “I’ve known you for a long time. You do this when you’re getting emotional but don’t want to deal with it.”

“Shut up,” Emma said, biting her lip. “Now give me a hug before I make a complete ass of myself.”

Catherine watched with fondness as Batey wrapped Emma into an embrace. Pulling back, Emma’s eyes were glassy. “This is so stupid,” she said as John wrapped his arm around her shoulder to soothe her. “You are going to be right here. It’s just, you won’t be RIGHT here…”

Putting her arm around Batey’s waist, Catherine gave Emma an encouraging grin. “I know exactly what you’re saying,” Catherine said softly, glancing at her boyfriend. “But at least there’s a few of us left to hang out.”

Just then, James walked into the kitchen with Alanna. Emma looked at Catherine and started laughing. Then both girls gave James a hug, causing Alanna to burst into giggles and James to look very perplexed. “We just realized you guys aren’t going to be in our day-to-day lives anymore,” Emma explained.

“Enough with the hugging,” Batey joked. “This kitchen is very small and the rest of the place is much bigger, so why are we all standing around in here?”

“You’re right,” Catherine agreed, taking his hand and leading him back towards the rest of the guests. But inside, Catherine felt good. This past year had almost had as many ups and downs as the year before, but unlike her sophomore year, this year seemed to be ending on the upswing.

-----

Opening her eyes the next morning, Catherine immediately saw that Batey had been watching her sleep. “You know, it’s kind of creepy to just stare at people when they aren’t aware,” she said grumpily.

“And good morning to you, too, sunshine,” Batey teased, causing Catherine to blush. He knew she could be grumpy in the mornings, and he didn’t take it personally. He studied her face again for a moment before reaching up to slip some loose hairs behind her ear. “I had fun last night. Did you?”

“I woke up naked, didn’t I?” Catherine joked, and Batey laughed. “No, I did have fun,” she said in a more serious tone, moving closer to him. “It’s hard to believe. Daniel and Ethan are both going to school out-of-state. Darren is going to UVA – I don’t even know how Ivana’s going to deal with that. School’s going to be so boring… Who am I supposed to eat lunch with now?”

Chuckling, Batey squeezed Catherine. “You’re going to be fine,” he said softly. “And we’ll see each other all the time, I promise.”

“I know,” Catherine said. “I trust you.” She felt him let out a contented sigh, and she realized why. “I trust you,” was a phrase she used to say to him all the time, but she hadn’t really said it much since the incident with Ben early in the summer. It hadn’t been an intentional slight on her part; the words hadn’t just tumbled out of her mouth like that once had. But this time they did, and she meant it. Leaning up on her elbow, Catherine gave Batey a quick kiss.

“You do know I trust you, right?” Catherine asked softly.

“Do you know that I love you for all that you are?” Batey replied, looking into her eyes with a smile.

“Yes.”

“Then there’s your answer.”

-----

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED. I AM THINKING OF WRITING A SPINOFF OF THIS STORY WITH MARCUS IN NEW YORK. I’VE ACTUALLY BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE, AND I THINK IT STARTED MAKING ME GIVE LESS FOCUS TO THIS STORY OVER THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS THAN I SHOULD HAVE. ANYWAY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.