Just be there

Casey

I wake up early the day before our one year anniversary. It is dark, and I don't want to disturb Izzie, so I just lay and think about our last year together.

Our first kiss at the track. God, I am glad I kissed her. I still feel slightly bad that I hadn't broken up with Evan yet, but at this point I wouldn't change it. It's how I ended up with the love of my life.

Slurpee night after my 16th birthday. Almost kissing her on my 16th birthday. When she got back from Florida and confused me with her "friends" speech. I can't believe it took until the month before my 17th birthday for us to finally get together.

I think about the week we broke up because of my dad, and that memory still hurts. It tainted slurpee night as well for me. We need to do another slurpee night to replace that one. I decide I'll take her tonight, it will be nice to go on a drive with Izzie. I'm not counting that week against our year together though, especially as we got back together and had our first time a week later.

I smile at the memory of our first time.
"I'm a bad boy", Izzie's laugh that was almost mixed with a moan. Her kissing me as we laid back. Exploring each other's bodies for the first time. How nervous I was the first time I went down on her, I was so afraid I would be bad at it. I certainly wasn't exactly amazing at it for the first few minutes, but Izzie told me what she liked of what I was doing, and what she wasn't too crazy about. Eventually I got her to orgasm.

I laugh at the memory, I'm a lot better at it now. Practice makes perfect, as any good athlete would say.

The first time Izzie explored my body, we realized that I like penetration more than she does. Everybody is different I guess. With Izzie, I need to primarily focus on her clit and the area around it to make her orgasm. With me, I need some pressure on my clit as well as some penetration. We figured out what each other likes pretty quickly luckily. I really like it when she pulls my hair, or scratches me lightly. She really likes it when I kiss and lick all over her body. It's crazy how in tune with each other's bodies we are now.

I feel Izzie roll over and nestle her head against my side. I love her so much. I can't wait to see her face tomorrow when I show her what I have planned for our anniversary.

I hear my phone buzz lightly, and grab it quickly so it doesn't wake Izzie up.

Emma: I'm sorry about last week, are you going to keep ignoring me?

I roll my eyes, and block her number. We are still on the track team together, so I can't entirely ignore her existence. However, I don't have to humor her outside of the track team.

I refuse to lose Izzie over something so stupid as a girl I don't even have feelings for. I pull Izzie into my arms, and drift back to sleep.
_____
Later that evening, I tell Izzie we are redoing our last slurpee night. "I refuse to have that bad memory cloud our beloved slurpee night" I tell her, as I pull her out the door to go to the car.

I drive back to the same 7-11 as last time, for the purpose of cleansing so to speak.

As we walk into the 7-11 I hear Izzie mutter "You have got to be fucking kidding me" Feeling alarmed, I follow her gaze to where she is glaring. Shit.

Of all the 7-11s, Emma decided to come work at this one four effing towns over?!

I look at Izzie's face, and honestly the look on her face kind of scares me. I've never seen her look so furious.

"Come on Izzie, let's just get our slurpees and go." I say, all but having to drag her to the Slurpee machines. I fill up our cups with the root beer flavored slurpee, glancing anxiously over at Izzie every few minutes. I swear she is all but vibrating with fury right now.

I curse internally when I realize that Emma is now behind the counter, but I see no other option so I head to the counter to pay.

I say nothing, but as Emma goes to say "Hey", I feel Izzie put her hand on my cheek to turn my head. She kisses me hard, showing no hesitation as she sticks her tongue down my throat. It's very aggressive, and it's pretty obvious that she is marking her territory. I kiss her back though, because as long as she's not mad at me, I'm good.

She finishes kissing me, glares at Emma, who has a very shocked facial expression, and waltzes out of the 7-11.

I awkwardly hand her the cash to pay for the slurpees, and she gives me my change while avoiding eye contact.

I walk out carrying the slurpees and see Izzie sitting on the hood of the car. I walk up to sit next to her, and hand her one of the slurpees.

"You okay?" I say nervously. Izzie nods. "Okay" I say, letting out a sigh. "Do you want to drive somewhere to drink these?" Izzie nods enthusiastically.

We get in the car and drive. I know just the place.

As we pull up to Clayton's track Izzie laughs. "Seriously the track?" She says, but she is smiling.

"Yeah, it's where we had our first kiss" I say shrugging.

It's nearly midnight, so the track is deserted. "Who knew you were such a romantic Newton?" She says, reaching for my hand.

We interlace our fingers. "364 days later and I regret nothing" I say honestly. "Really? Not even Evan?" Izzie says quizzically. "I feel really bad for hurting him, but no. It happened how it happened. If the end result is us falling in love, no I can't regret anything." I say shrugging.

I look over at Izzie, and see her eyes glistening. "Hey, it's okay" I say instinctively, squeezing her hand comfortingly.

"I just love you so much Casey" She whispers, smiling at me.

"I love you too Iz. More than anything or anyone. You're it for me" I say simply, because it's the truth for me.

"How can you be so sure? We are not even eighteen yet?" Izzie says with a tilt of her head.

"I'm probably going to regret saying this, it is really gonna damage my whole bad boy image. But, before I met you, I thought the idea of soul mates and people having other halves was bologna. Until you. If I have a soul mate or another half, it's you." I rub my other hand through my hair nervously, but continue speaking. "You make me better Iz. You make me want to be better. You are my safe space and my best friend. I know it sounds corny but it's true"

Izzie looks at me, as one tear spills over onto her cheek. "I think you're my soulmate too Casey" she says, before she puts down her slurpee and leans over the center console, grabbing my face with both her hands.

Her kiss is gentle,full of love, and immense emotion. As we pull our away, we rest our foreheads together. This girl is my forever.