Chapter 11: I'm the light at the end of the tunnel

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I woke up to the sun again. I went to sit up and realized Marshall was still wrapped up in me. I immediately got still as not to wake him, but as he stirred I figured out I was too late. I felt a small, delicate kiss on my shoulder. He had removed his arm from around me and I turned to look at him. He was smiling. I met his gaze with a kiss of my own and said, "Someone is extra happy today." His smile didn't fade, not even a little and I remembered how much I enjoyed the sight. "Well, it's not every day I wake up with a beautiful woman in my bed." He rolled over to grab his phone, checking for the time. "Its still kind of early," he said after a few seconds, "I've got some work to do, but you know you're welcome to stay as long as you want." He went to get out of bed and I noticed he was wearing more clothes than I was. I glared at him and he laughed. "Hey, I haven't been like this for long." "Sure you haven't." I replied, hoping to maybe get him to stay a little longer. In my sitting up, I let the sheet covering me fall off, letting my bare torso be exposed. This distracted him. He walked over to me and laid over me. We were literally nose to nose. He pinned my hands down by my side and in the lowest, most sexy tone he could manage he growled "Don't start something you aren't prepared to finish." It startled me a little because I had not done this on purpose. But it had really begun to turn me on at the same time. I really didn't wanna keep him from whatever work he needed to finish. I made my best attempt in assuring him I wasn't trying to start anything. Just as quickly as he had got on top of me, he got up and walked out of the room. But not before giving me a wink. I took a few minutes to catch my breath. Then I got up, took a shower and put on some clothes.

I came back and found my phone neatly laying on the table next to my side of his bed. It was plugged in and fully charged. I picked it up to check all the notifications I was sure I had, but I had none. I wanted to call and check on Melissa. I dialed her number fully expecting it to go to voicemail, but after a couple of rings she answered, quite cheerily, I might add.

"Hey!" she said. "You're awake?" I asked her. "Yea, I fell asleep way too early." She replied. "How did everything go there last night?" I thought about everything that had happened between Marshall and me briefly, smiling. Then I replied, "Everything here is wonderful." "Obviously, you're not home." she said, I could tell she was teasing me. "No, we made up, properly." I said, I was still smiling. "But I just wanted to check in on you, make sure you were ok, and you didn't need anything? Don't forget your medicines and- ""Hey, 'Rissa?" she said cutting me off. "I got it, no worries. I'm fine. Go spend some time with your man." Before I could respond with anything she hung up. As soon as I got off the phone it dinged. Marshall had texted me some instructions to get to his part of the house. I had never even begun to think about more than one level to this huge ass house. The one level we spent all our time on was more than enough space for probably half of the US population. I exited his room and when down some stairs leading to what I assumed to be his in-home studio. I walked in and he had his back turned. He was sitting at what looked like a rather large workspace with more buttons than I imagined a plane had in the cockpit. He was so focused on whatever he was doing he didn't even hear me enter the room. I wondered how long I could get away with watching him before he noticed me. He had a song with a hip-hop beat playing that he was starting and stopping at various times to make adjustments to. He only stopped what he was doing to check his phone for the time. He did this, then turned around to the doorway. I had been spotted. He smiled slightly. "How long have you been standing there?" he finally asked me when he wiped the smile off his face. "A minute or two." I said. He got up and walked over to me hugging me like he hadn't seen me in weeks, not just a few minutes. His hands went right to my waist, and he smelled as amazing as he always did. He kissed me then said, "I don't have much more to do here and I promise I'm all yours." I nodded, smiling. As I turned to walk out of the room I felt him grab a handful of my ass. I turned around to make a remark, but he had already sat back down and was working again like nothing had even happened.

I somehow managed to find my way back to where I came from and made myself comfortable in front of the rather large TV he had on display. I took a moment to drink in my surroundings noticing plaques from his work, artwork on the walls and drawers I could go through. I kept myself from doing anything I may regret in turn screwing up what I had just repaired. Watching a movie, I had stumbled upon that I hadn't seen in ages I curled up and waited for Marshalls return.

About halfway into the movie he finally returned. I snuggled up to his side as close as I could, resting my head on his strong chest. I could hear his heartbeat, steady and soothing. I was so relaxed that I drifted off to sleep. He left me where I was until the movie was over. I felt him gently rub my back to awaken me. I sat up and looked around, seeing the sun was almost ready to set. It was in this moment I realized that it was late afternoon and maybe he had let me sleep a little longer than I thought I had been sleeping. I began to get up, which I don't think Marshall was expecting. "Wait, where are you going?" he asked me, sounding genuinely confused. "I'm sorry to just leave, but I need to go. I have school tomorrow." He looked disappointed, even though I could tell he was trying to hide it. "Oh, okay." He finally said. He wasn't making eye contact. I walked over to him and grabbed for his hand "Ill be back soon." I said, trying to reassure him. He looked up, meeting my eyes and smiled that same smile I was really beginning to love so much. I went to give him a small kiss on his cheek, but instead he grabbed my face and kissed my lips. He took extra care no to grab me too hard considering I was still injured. "You act like I'm going away forever." I said, teasingly, "its two days tops." "I know that." He replied, as if he were trying to reassure himself. I gave him one last look and headed for the door. I heard him get up and follow me and I knew leaving wasn't going to be an easy feat.

We walked hand in hand to my car outside in the drive. He kissed me again for what seemed like the millionth time in the five-minute span of time since I announced I had to leave. "Please let me know when you've made it home." He said to me. I nodded and opened my car door, getting inside. I rolled down the window and gave him one last look. He really didn't want me to go. He was also beginning to make me wish I could stay forever. "Remember, just a couple of days." I reminded him, while also reminding myself. "I'm sure you'll find something to occupy your time, you wont even miss me that much." He rolled his eyes and said "Yes, I know, I have plenty to do. But I will miss you." I felt my heart skip a beat as he leaned in to kiss me one last time before I finally pulled out of the driveway.

I spent my ride home deep in thought. I couldn't believe the random guy who approached me in the school parking lot was the same guy who didn't want me to leave him today. We had progressed so much in such a short amount of time. It was also refreshing to have someone who I felt liked me just as much, if not more, than I liked them. It was usually always so backwards for me. Things never went this well for me with someone who I was interested in. I realized, I really was truly happy. In this moment I confessed to myself I couldn't imagine what I would do without him.

I got home and felt no need to sit in my car. In fact, I pulled up and got right out and went inside, eager to tell my best friend what had occurred and how I was feeling. When I got inside I found Melissa sitting at the kitchen table with what I thought was the mail. As I got closer I realized she had a piece of pink paper in her hands and there was an envelope sitting next to her with my name on it. "Melissa?" I asked as I approached, "what do you have there?" She looked up like she didn't even hear me come in, with an uneasy look on her face. "Oh, hey, 'Rissa." She said, she handed me the envelope. I was tempted to ask her what was inside but decided to just open it for myself. As I did and scanned the matching piece of pink paper I realized this was a summons to court. We, Melissa and me, were being called upon to testify against Michael for the events of the recent past. My heart sank as I met Melissa's uneasy gaze, returning it to her. "We should have expected this." She said finally. "We were the only witnesses." I nodded, knowing she was right. "the officer who brought these by," she continued "did tell me they're perusing the max sentence." She walked over and gave me a hug. I could tell she was gaining some of her strength back which I was happy about. "Well get though this." Melissa replied after a minute or two. "We always do." I replied smiling. She gave me one of her infamous mischievous looks and asked me "So, you gonna spill about your night with your man or do I have to ask?" I giggled, and we went to sit on the couch. I began to tell her every detail leaving nothing out. When I was finished I said "I hope I have him in my life for a very, very long time.


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