Fractured from the Fall

Crash & Burn

"Don't go," Ford whispered into Lily's ear as she tried to pull away from his embrace.

"I have to," she smiled, letting him pull her back to him. Despite what she said, she didn't want to leave. "I've been late every day this week. I'm running out of excuses. If I don't come up with a good reason as to why I'm late again, then Mr. Davis is going to call my dad."

"I'll give you a good reason."

Ford pulled her into him and gently kissed her on the neck leaving a trail of goosebumps down her skin. He continued kissing her as he made his way to her collarbone. Lily's body began to tingle.

She giggled.

"Somehow I don't think Mr. Davis will think making out in the theater storage room is a valid excuse."

It was the third time they'd met up that week. She told herself she would try to stay clear of him as much as possible until she could talk to Grant, but they couldn't stay away from each other even if they had tried, and Lily had tried, well, sort of. Ford was a hard boy to say no to. She didn't like sneaking around, yet she did at the same time. There was something about it that was just so...hot. Being with Ford felt so taboo, forbidden, and she couldn't get enough. She worried what their relationship would look like in the cold harsh light of day. Would Ford still feel the same about her once she was all his and they were officially a couple, or would they wind up the same as she and Grant, fizzling out. And what about her plans for the future? She wanted to get the hell out of Oakley and Ford didn't. How could that ever work? She was fine with the idea of breaking up with Grant and leaving, but the idea of leaving Ford behind made her heart hurt. She'd never been so confused, yet so happy at the same time. Every minute she spent with him, every time he touched her, felt like euphoria. She couldn't imagine giving up that feeling, but she also couldn't imagine staying in Oakley and being happy. Ford made her question her plan, and she didn't like that. In many ways she felt out of control around him, in good ways and bad.

Lily knew she was getting ahead of herself though. For now, she needed to take it one step at a time, and the next sep was ending things with Grant before she and Ford took things further.

She kissed Ford on the cheek, grabbed her backpack off the floor and headed out of the storage room. She could tell he was sitting there watching her as she walked away. She liked the way he always watched her. His stare was intense, like he wanted her and only her, and it made her heart flutter.

***

Lily didn't meet up with Ford the next two days. She needed to clear her head. All week she'd been avoiding Grant as much as possible, coming up with reasons why they couldn't hang. She wasn't sure if he suspected anything but he seemed pretty preoccupied by football, so she hoped he hadn't noticed that she'd been acting weird, or at least she felt like she was acting weird. She had always felt so comfortable around Grant, almost too comfortable. Sometimes he felt more like a brother than a boyfriend. She wondered if he felt it too.

She avoided Ford's glances here and there in the hallway. Just looking at him made her heart thump so hard she felt like it was going to rip out of her chest. She was worried she wouldn't be able to hide her feelings because she felt like they were written all over her face. One person noticed, of course. Violet had been giving her dirty looks all week at school. On Friday, Ford tried to pass Lily another note in the hall, but she saw Violet glaring at her and she beelined it to class.

***

The Friday night football game rolled around quickly. Lily was prepared to play her role by Grant's side. Outwardly she appeared the dutiful girlfriend, but inside her stomach was turning thinking about what she would have to do to Grant after the game. She still hadn't decided if she was going to break up with him and tell him that she had feelings for Ford or if it was better to just break it off and then make it seem like the relationship with Ford developed after they had split. Either way, she knew what she was going to do was going to hurt him, she just didn't know how much and she didn't know what it would do to Grant and Ford's relationship.