Silently Falling (ORIGINAL): Chapter Thirty Eight

"Is it weird I actually kind of missed school?" Gray asks as we walk through the commons doors and into the familiar, boring walls of high school.

I nod, "Entirely too weird."

He shrugs, "Eh." He brushes it off and we walk towards his locker.

"As for me, I want to be back at home curled under my covers. Waking up was way too hard this morning." I groan as Toby and I follow after him.

Gray sends me a smirk over his shoulder. "No, you just want to be back with West without the distraction of school."

I roll my eyes and flick him off, causing him to bark with laughter.

"It's not like you can deny it!" He teases, winking at me.

We reach is locker and he's quick to put in the combination, ignoring the fact I gave him almighty finger.

"So Toby, how are things with Alyse?" Gray asks as he takes his books from his locker. "I don't see her attached at your hip today." He teases.

"Yeah, we're great. She's sick today." Toby answers distractedly, checking his phone.

Alyse is at home sick, she picked up a cold in the few days we had off, and Toby couldn't be any more worried. He was going to stay home and take care of her, but she insisted that he needed to be there for calculus, and now he can't stop checking his phone to see if she's texted or called.

West, on the other hand, was forced to go home last night. His mom wanted him home to watch Casper, and I didn't dare go against the word of Momma Love.

"Gray, you've only missed school because you missed that girl you've been galavanting around with." West says as he walks up.

A smile worms its way onto my lips when I see him and he wraps his arm around my waist, smiling back. He murmurs a quiet good morning as he tenderly kisses my temple.

Gray's face goes red as a tomato. "What girl?" He asks lamely, his voice cracking.

My brows raise in shock. I figured West was joking around, but the way Gray reacted makes this become all too real. He's always been a shitty liar.

"Gray." I say sternly, my eyes narrowing at him. "Is there something, or rather someone, you've been keeping from me?" I ask, crossing my arms.

He blushes a deep shade of red and scratches the back of his neck. "No, no I don't think so." He rambles.

I narrow my eyes. "Grayson Agner Bono. You had better tell me right now if you've been seeing someone." I demand.

He flinches at the use of his full name and hangs his head. "Well there is this one girl..."

I practically hit the ceiling I jump so high, and I swear I destroy West's eardrums I squeal so loudly.

"Gray!" I exclaim, running to him and engulfing him in a hug. "Tell me all about her! What's her name? How old is she? How come I've never seen you two together?" I ask frantically, so giddy I have to clap my hands together.

He sighs and smiles slightly. "It's Katherine Cannon." He says, his blush deepening.

"Wait, Scott has a sister?" I ask, referring to the boy who supposedly drinks until he blacks out at parties.

Gray nods, "She's kind of a nobody, and it was meant to be a simple one night stand, but...I felt something more than what I've felt with the other girls." He mumbles, his shoe messing with the tiled floor.

I have to cover my mouth to conceal my squeal. "Oh my gosh," I whisper, my eyes wide with excitement. "How long have you two been seeing one another?" I ask, trying my damned hardest to keep my voice calm.

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "That's the thing. We aren't really 'seeing one another.' I mean we fool around sometimes in like the janitors closet and we meet up outside of school occasionally, but we don't have a label. She was just tired of being a virgin, and asked me to have sex with her so she could stop being teased, and for me it's turning into something more."

"Do you want to have a label with her?" I ask him.

He nods with a sigh. "I do. I really like this girl."

"Then ask her." I say simply.

"It's not that easy," he mutters.

I glance up at West, "Back me up here?"

He smirks and places his arm back around my waist, pulling me flush against his side. "It's not that difficult, Gray. I asked Raine out, and look where we are now." He says, squeezing my waist.

"Yeah, but it took you like three months to ask her out and it was beyond obvious you two were crazy for one another." Gray mutters, causing me to blush lightly. "I've known Katherine for only two weeks." He groans. "But I really like her. It's not just lust this time."

"Two weeks? How the hell have I not figured this out before now?" I ask myself, practically smacking myself on the head for being so stupid.

Gray shrugs, "There was no way I was going to let you find out and make it a big deal. And you wouldn't know yet if West didn't catch us in the hall one time..."

I glance up at him and he smirks while shrugging. "Be more secretive next time."

"We were being secretive!" He exclaims, throwing his hands up in a wild gesture that gets the attention of the hallway. "Who the hell goes inside of a janitor's closet in the middle of lunch?!"

I pull my brows together and crane my neck to look at West. "He's got a point there. What, were you planning on meeting up with Tina?" I tease.

His lips lift into a smirk, "How'd you figure it out?"

I laugh at him and his thumb starts to lightly rub my waist. "No, the janitor was cleaning up spilled milk and ran out of spray, I just happened to be walking by and he asked me to grab some."

Toby suddenly tunes into the conversation. "Look, Gray. Don't make the mistake I did with Alyse and wait two years to admit your feelings. That's two years I could have been loving her."

He sighs and runs his hands through his hair. "But what if she doesn't feel the same? She left the next morning, not me. I found myself wanting to stay when I woke up, and I did and I tried to convince her to stay but she wouldn't." He groans, pulling at his blonde locks.

"Grayson Agner Bono! You are falling for someone and didn't bother to tell me about it?!" Alyse suddenly exclaims over Toby's phone. "I can't believe you! Friends are supposed to tell one another these things and here I am finding out over the flipping phone!" She continues to yell at him, her voice going in and out with the schools shitty reception, but Gray simply looks at Toby through wide eyes.

"You called Alyse?!" He exclaims.

He shrugs, "I figured she shouldn't be kept out of the loop."

O

At the end of the day, I walk out of study hall while chatting with Olivia about how ridiculous our history teacher is. Luckily the two of us have history the same class block, so we usually use our study hall as a way to copy one another's homework or work on it together. We seem to have one of those strictly school friendships.

"She's bipolar, I swear it." Olivia sighs, rolling her eyes.

I nod, "I have no doubt. One minute she's screaming at me to be quiet, when I'm not even talking, and the next she's all nice to me telling me about the latest thing she bought with her husband's money."

Olivia laughs, and it honestly sounds like a witches cackle, but she's one of the nicest girls I know. "Does that lady ever not buy something new?"

"Honestly I think she-" my words are cut short and turned into a small squeak when arms wrap around me from behind. I'm pulled against a hard chest and warm breath fans across my neck.

"Hey, Sunshine." West says, his deep voice right neck to my ear.

"I'm sorry, but y'all are just too cute!" Olivia gushes, and I can practically feel the way West smirks.

"Yeah, I guess we are, aren't we?" West hums, kissing right below my ear.

Olivia watches us and claps her hands, "Y'all just make me happy."

I feel a blush spread across my cheeks and West's chest rumbles with his deep chuckle.

"I mean, if there were any couple that could be couple goals, it would be y'all." She adds, and I bite my lip to hide a smile. Then her phone buzzes, and she quickly walks away after yelling out a loud bye to us over her shoulder.

I turn in West's arms and his hands move to my hips. "Well that was interesting." He hums with a light smirk.

I snort and look over to the direction she left in. "I'd say so." Then I glance back up at West and sigh. "And, I know you aren't going to like this, but Tyler and I are going to study for our anatomy test tomorrow night."

I expect West's arms to stiffen around me or his jaw to clench, or even his eyes to harden, but instead he just smiles and nods. "Alright, where?"

My brows pull together in confusion and I watch him warily. "My house..."

He nods, "Sounds good."

I blink once, twice, and then a third time as I stare at him. "And you're good with that?"

A small chuckle escapes his lips. "Sunshine, that fight and torturous time apart knocked some sense into me. Tyler and I made up, I apologized to him and now we're cool."

I'm taken aback, "You apologized to Tyler?"

He furrows his brow and nods as if it's the only logical thing to do. "I was a dick to him and to you, I couldn't get by only apologizing to you."

I feel myself smiling widely and I snake my arms around his neck, pulling his lips down to mine.

"I really love you." I murmur against his lips.

He grins and kisses me more in response.

OoO

"Did you get the Cheetos?" I ask as West walks back into his room from his quick trip to the kitchen. I'm sitting on his bed, the bright covers in a bunch around me as I flip through my homework.

"Yes ma'am." He says, jumping onto the bed next to me.

The movement makes the bed shake and my notes start to scatter out of place. I place my pencil behind my ear and order my notes back in a stack as West opens the bag of orange deliciousness. I take a handful from the bag and start stuffing my mouth, and I see West grin at me. He opens his mouth for me to feed him a cheeto, so I laugh and do so and he even licks the leftover crumbs on my finger, and it causes me to snort.

"Was that you trying to be all sexy?" I ask, wiping my finger off on the comforter.

He chuckles, "No, if I wanted to be sexy and turn you on, trust me I could."

I raise a brow, "You seem so confident."

"Hey, I'm only confident because I know what I've got." He says, sending me a wink that has a giant blush spreading across my face.

"You are so freaking perverted." I mutter, throwing my face in my hands.

As a response, West simply let's out a series of chuckles that suffices for full blown laughter and leans forward to peck my burning cheeks. I sigh and go back to my homework, stress instantly settling in.

"How am I supposed to analyze Devil In The White City if I never even finished it?" I grumble, flipping through the pages of the book as I take a handful of cheetos. I accidentally get crumbs on most of the pages, but I don't let it faze me.

This book deserves it.

West smirks and takes a handful of cheetos, popping them into his mouth. "I could be wrong, but I think you were supposed to actually read the book all the way through."

I give him a petty look. "Hardy har har, smartass."

He bellows out a laugh, "Well if you don't want a sarcastic answer, then don't ask dumb questions."

I roll my eyes at him and place my book down, skipping over my English homework. "I think I've worked enough. I deserve a break, right?" I ask.

"You wrote one sentence." West deadpans.

I glance up at him, "Yeah, my thesis statement. That's, like, the entire essay in a bundle." I say, stacking my papers before putting them away. "So yeah, I'd say that's enough English for the day. Or year. Or my life in general."

He chuckles and shakes his head at me, an amused smile playing on his lips. "You're the one who signed up for the AP English class, are you not?"

I cross my arms defiantly over my chest. "I am, but that's only because I need to keep my GPA up."

"Oh I know, you applied to some difficult schools." West hums, shoveling down more cheetos. I reach forward and slip my hand inside the bag, taking out a bunch. "But I like it because when guys ask who that genius is, referring to you of course, I can be all like 'yeah, that's my girlfriend.'"

I watch him through amused eyes and snort, throwing a cheeto at him. "You are so weird."

"So, what did you have in mind for this break of yours?" He all of the sudden asks, placing the cheetos down as he leans in closer to me.

I bite my lip and my eyes trail to his lips. "I can think of a few things." I say lowly.

He continues to lean in closer and smirks, "Such as?"

I smile close the distance between us, placing my lips on his. In a soft and swift movement, he slips his tongue into my mouth and he gently pushes me backwards so that my back is pressed against the mattress. He hovers over me, his body between my legs and our chests pressed together as he continues his sweet assault on my lips. My hands trail around his toned back, fingering every muscle I have the pleasure of feeling as my hands move up past his shoulders and thread into the hair at the base of his neck.

His lips move from mine and he starts kissing up and down my jawline, taking my earlobe between his teeth and nibbling on it, causing me to let out a breathy moan. I can feel his smirk on my skin as he trails hot kisses down to my neck, searching for my sweet spot. Once he finds it, he latches on and sucks and bites until I can no longer hold my moans back. His hands are trailing up and down my sides, and he slips them under my shirt. His touch send tingles through my skin and I arch my back to be closer to him, pulling his lips back to mine.

I bite his bottom lip, luring a deep groan out of him that soon turns into a growl as he kisses me harder. My hands move from his hair and run over his clothed chest, and I let out a grunt of irritation from his shirt that blocks everything I want to feel. I start to tug the shirt off of him, and he breaks our kiss just long enough to pull it the rest of the way off of his body, urgently connecting our lips again. My hands explore his bare chest, running along his pecs and down to his abs, dancing all around, and he moans from the contact, rolling his hips against mine. I feel the bulge through his pants, and it makes me gasp.

Soon he has his hands traveling under my shirt and over my stomach, getting higher and higher. But as soon as his hands make contact with my chest and he starts kneading me over my bra, something inside of me changes and I break away from the kiss, my hands stilling on his chest. I no longer feel his warm touch on my skin, instead his hands have turned cold and calloused, causing me to tense and shove him away, my eyes widening as a flashbacks attack me.

West instantly pulls back, his lust filled eyes gazing at me worriedly as he breathes heavily.

"What's wrong?" He asks, lifting his hand to worriedly caress my cheek as I stare back at him.

I close my eyes and bite the inside of my cheek as I try to fend away the violated shivers that are traveling over my body.

"I...It started to feel like you were Warren." I admit shamefully, avoiding his eyes. "All of the sudden I didn't feel your warm touch, and all the pleasure I was feeling suddenly switched to fear as a flashback rose in the back of my mind... I'm sorry." I say, looking to the side with my eyebrows furrowed together.

West's thumb starts to gently rub my cheek and I force myself to meet his dark brown eyes. As I do, instead of seeing anger, I see understanding.

"It's okay, Sunshine. You don't need to apologize, this just means you aren't quite ready." He says softly with a reassuring smile. "This wasn't the right time anyways. I want to make our first time something special."

I shake my head, frustrated with myself. "But I wanted it. I did. It's just...all of the sudden it was no longer you." I say, staring at him regretfully.

He tilts his head and looks at me through warm eyes. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over this. It's okay, I don't need sex to be happy. I love you no matter what."

I frown and take his hand that rests on my cheek, threading my fingers through his. "You may not need it, but I know you want it, West."

He sighs, "Well yeah. I mean you're beautiful, Raine, and you have a beautiful body, of course I want you like that. But I can wait." He whispers, lifting our hands to his lips. He presses a tender kiss atop my hand and smiles softly at me. "For you, I would wait forever."

I let out a breath of a relief and smile at him. Even if I didn't know this was a burden resting on my shoulders, I feel as if it was just lifted and drifted away.

I smile at him and lift my hand to rest on the base of his neck. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

He chuckles and rolls off of me, laying next to me. "You have, but go on." He smirks.

I snort and lean forward to kiss his swollen lips sweetly. "Thank you." I whisper as I pull away.

"Sunshine, you don't have to thank me for loving you."

I smile and nod, "I know. It's just...you're really good to me." I say quietly.

He scrunches his brow, "I would never not be. You mean everything to me."

I bite my lip and stare into his warm eyes, worried that my heart may burst from how much I care about him.

West smiles tenderly back, but then he glances down at himself and his tender smile drops into an awkward one as he sighs. "I'll be in the shower." He says, pushing himself off the bed.

I furrow my brow and open my mouth to ask why, but from his awkward waddle out of the room I quickly shut it and look away. I forgot he has to...deal with himself.

OoOoO

I enter through the doorway and toss Alyse a soda, plopping down on the couch next to her. I take back some of the covers that she has practically stolen from me, and I yank them onto my own body.

"What did I miss?" I ask, opening up the can.

"Nothing too drastic." She mutters, opening her own.

I yawn and see my phone light up in a text. I read over it and quickly text Gray back as he asks me where the hell to take Katherine for their date. I smirk and text him back to take her anywhere, make it something special.

"So what do you think of Toby deciding on University of Chicago?" I ask, raising my brows at Alyse once I lock my phone.

She smiles, "I'm super proud of him. It's not an easy school to get into by any means. And he isn't moving away since the campus is like a ten minute drive." She says, biting her lip. Then she tilts her head, "Where is West going?"

I shake my head. "He's not going to college."

She furrows her brow, "Wait, what?"

I shrug, "We talked about it the other day, actually. He's going into the marines. He's going to go to the boot camp in South Carolina for 13 weeks after he applies, and from there he goes to Marine Combat Training, with a two week leave in between. After that he goes to his permanent duty station, wherever that may be, and he will be with the Marines for four years." I explain, fiddling with the tab on my soda can. "He can get deployed at any time." I say, my voice dropping a considerable amount.

Alyse falls silent and I fiddle with the tab on my soda can.

"Well damn." She finally says.

After West had...relieved himself the other night, I started to wonder what the future had in store for us. I know I want to be with West, he's the one I want to marry someday, but the unknown in between is what scares me. I knew I would be going off to college in a year, but I really didn't know what West was going to do. I didn't know what the process of becoming a marine was and he was quick to explain everything to me.

He was also quick to tell me he isn't applying until after I graduate high school so we can spend as much time with one another as possible to further plan out a future together.

"So...have you two planned out what you're going to do while he's away?" Alyse asks.

I shrug, "I mean I love him and he loves me, I don't think either of us plan on breaking up with one another. Who knows? Maybe his permanent duty station will be around whatever college I go to."

She smiles, "One can hope."

A deep sigh escapes me and I nod. "One can hope." I repeat.

The truth is I don't want to think about those four years he's going to be gone. Because in the time he works at his base, he could be deployed into the war and could go overseas. I don't want to think about not seeing him. I don't want to think about being away from him.

So instead I focus my attention on the TV and imagine a future with West.