Mickey’s POV:

I ran down the stairs, my backpack containing everything but school supplies, ready to go on an adventure. It wasn’t going to be a long one, nor was I going to go far. Yet it still felt like I was going on the most exciting trip of my entire life.

I grabbed the car keys from the small table right underneath the mirror close to the front door and yelled out, “mom! I’m taking your car and going to Jack’s for the night!”

She had the weekend off, and I needed a mode of transportation. I had it all planned out. All I had to do was walk out of that door and get in the car before driving away. It really was a simple-to-execute plan. Well, that was if nothing got in the way.

“Woah, woah, woah.” My mom came speed walking out of the kitchen, drying her hands off with a towel. “I need my car tomorrow afternoon. Can’t you ride along with Rian?”

I shook my head, my hand twitching in the direction of the door handle. “Nope, he’s staying home. Gotta drive myself.”

“Okay,” she still seemed suspicious, even squinting her eyes at me and staring me down, “so if I call Jack’s mom right now, she’ll say she’s expecting you?”

I sighed with a small groan, annoyed that I got busted so quickly. “Fine. Alex is home alone this weekend and asked me to ‘scare away the ghosts’.”

“Oh, no, you’re not going anywhere, young lady,” she scolded, crossing her arms and giving me the ‘mom’ look. The eyes that just said there would be repercussions no matter what I did.

So, if it didn’t matter what I did, why not argue that I should be able to go? I’d rather go down with a fight than give in. “What? Why not! You’d want somebody to stay with me if I was at home all alone. I won’t get into any stupid shit.”

“Don’t give me that.” She stood her ground as she held out her hand for her keys, which I was refusing to give just yet. “I know exactly what’s going to happen.”

“What’s going to happen?” I questioned, my brows furrowing as my grip on the keys tightened. If I knew my mom, I knew she’d try to distract me and pull the keys out of my hand much like an annoying sibling would do. Trust me, I knew.

The ‘mom’ look intensified, accusing me of playing dumb. “You can’t fool me. Staying the night with a boy while his parents are out?! That can and will only lead to one thing.”

Realization hit me as my mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. She really was just trying to look out for me and prevent me from making bad decisions. “Well, first of all, that shouldn’t matter. One, I’m nineteen, and two, let’s be honest here… I mean, come on, like...” I hinted towards my past without explicitly mentioning it.

“Exactly. I’m not letting you make those mistakes again. I’m not allowing you to go out.”

“Second of all,” I continued my reasoning as if she hadn’t interrupted, “Alex and I haven’t had sex yet, and we’ve had our opportunities. What makes you think it will happen now?”

But that just seemed to put her off even more. The stern look turned into slight fear and shock. “Now you’re definitely not going. Nope. Never.”

“What?! Mom!” I whined and started pouting when she managed to pull the keys out of my now limp hand with just a small tug.

“I’m not letting you go out and have sex with some boy; not while you’re still living under my roof.”

This would be the point where I would scream at her, make clear to her that I didn’t want to live with her, that I’d much rather live by myself but that she wouldn’t allow me. I’d escalate it until I blamed her for everything wrong in my life. But a response like that didn’t even come close to mind this time.

“Mom, I get that you still think I’m your little girl, but you need to trust me. Alex isn’t just some guy I’m drunkenly hooking up with, he’s actually my boyfriend. We won’t do anything stupid.” Even I was weirdly surprised with the words that came out of my mouth and in which tone they were spoken. It actually sounded like I was a responsible adult coming up with normal arguments that actually could convince somebody.

My mom must have thought the same.

“Okay, okay, you’re right…” she sighed and reluctantly handed me back the keys. “But you’re going to take condoms with you whether you want to or not. I’m not letting you accidentally screw up. There’s a box up in the bathroom which I assumed you never touched either to make a point or because of embarrassment.”

Yeah, I could still remember the day when it suddenly appeared on the counter right next to all my makeup. At first, I was weirded out, wondering why the hell my parents needed to leave their condoms out in the open like that. I soon figured out they were there for me. It was way more than awkward.

“Don’t worry, I won’t need any,” I assured her, too excited to be standing around any longer.

“It’s just a safety precaution,” she warned me, “there’s only harm in not bringing them with you.”

I rolled my eyes and opened the front door instead of going upstairs. “Just take this as me proving to you that Alex and I really don't plan on having sex.”

It was true, for some reason it hadn’t even crossed my mind once. All I thought was that I was going over to Alex’s to hang out. I could only wonder while I was driving to his place if he had intended this the way my mom thought or if he was just as oblivious as me as to what it seemed like. I had told him that I didn’t want to just randomly go for it at a party… he did joke that he’d put out rose petals and candles along with some sensual music. All I could do was pray none of that was actually going to be set up when I arrived. Honestly, if it was, I was going to be out of there in no time. It was way too cheesy and corny.

But there was no need to worry. Alex looked like his normal self--give or take the smudges of flour on his shirt--when he answered the door, kissing me to greet me, no nervousness and anticipation behind it all. He only seemed super excited about making pizza together.

“I’ve got to warn you, I can’t cook for shit,” I told him as I stared at the dough he had made earlier still in its bowl. “Last time I tried to do something, I managed to burn soup I had to heat up in a pan.”

“The only thing that can go wrong here is if we burn it in the oven, but that’s what I’m here for,” Alex replied as he turned on said oven to preheat it. That was the first step I always forgot and then I always got too impatient to wait for it to be at the right temperature.

“Well, now I’m expecting you to go twirling around this dough on one hand to make a perfect circle,” I retorted, not understanding why Alex had gone out of his way to try and make a pizza himself. Ordering was way easier and didn’t bring the risk of setting the house on fire.

“Hey, I’m not saying I’m some mastermind chef, I’m just saying that I know how to work an oven!” He defended, grabbing the dough and dropping it onto the oven tray that already had baking paper and flour covering it.

“That’s not nice!” I gasped and crossed my arms.

“Awe, I’m sorry,” he slowly started waltzing up to me, “I’m sure you know how to use a microwave.”

“Not helping yourself!” I inhaled yet again and jumped away before he could try to hug me. “You’re just going to have to do this by yourself.”

“No,” he whined and reached out to me, “I like it when people watch and give me compliments.”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re in a band and always ask freshmen girls to come to your shows!” I nudged back, knowing full well the guys wanted everybody to come but were already building up quite a specific demographic.

“Mickey,” Alex cried in a complaining manner, “come make a pizza with me!”

I just continued to stand where I was, still threatening to leave the kitchen. But it didn’t work for long. The creases soon disappeared from Alex’s brow and a smirk resided on his lips. Before I knew it, he charged at me and had both his arms wrapped around me so I couldn’t escape while he tickled me. I yelped out his name as the laughter escaped me.

“You jealous, huh?” He teased, somehow managing to direct us back to where the dough was while still tickling me.

“No!” I squealed, still squirming around as he continued to poke me.

“Are you sure?” he taunted with his own laughter mixed in. “They’re only three years younger than me.”

“And five years younger than me!” I managed to get out in between giggles. “They’ve got nothing on me!”

He abruptly stopped his tickling and opted to keep his arms around me to hug me from behind instead. “That’s actually very true.” Shortly after, he leaned down to kiss me before mumbling the most romantic thing ever said to me, “now, your ass better help me make some pizza or else my fat ass will eat it all by myself.”

All I did was sit on the counter with my legs crossed, pointing at random places on the tomato sauce Alex had spread out over the dough he had also rolled out, telling him where to place onions or mushrooms or whatever else we could imagine as toppings for our creation. He’d place whatever it was right where I pointed, even if it was on the most illogical of places. I even tested how far he’d let me go by making him put some green peppers on the crust, but decided to be more serious when he didn’t say a thing about it.

Just over half an hour later, we were on the living room couch with our green pepper sprinkled crust pizza on a plate for us to share. I picked up the remote and turned on the TV, ready to channel surf until I annoyed the shit out of Alex. It was what I always tended to do, switch between channels like it was some sport or something. However, the fact that it was on a cartoon channel stopped me from even starting my past time activity.

“You were watching cartoons before I came over?” I raised an eyebrow at Alex, bringing my legs up onto the couch and crossing them underneath me much like in the kitchen.

“What?” Alex blurted out, reaching over to grab the remote from me yet not being successful in it because I held it out of his reach. “No! I was playing video games! Yes, video games, manly video games.” He cleared his throat and continued with a lower voice. “First person shooter games.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that it’s on this channel though. You only switched the output, it must mean you were watching it before!” I accused with a knowing look.

“Okay!” He gave in and sighed overdramatically. “I like my cartoons! Don’t judge me.”

“Awe. I’m dating a nerd,” I gushed and went to pinch his cheek.

He swatted my hand away and frowned. “Shut up. We can watch a movie or something, I’m sure there’s at least one on on a Saturday evening.”

I nodded and looked at the screen, only to hear a specific theme song come out of the speakers. “Oh no, we’re watching this now. We’re eating pizza, it’s only right if we watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

“Who’s the nerd now!” Alex exclaimed and nudged me with his foot.

I ignored him and instead commented, “their hands have always freaked me out. I can’t deal with it. Like, I get that they're turtles and don’t have normal hands, but those three fingers are just too long and stick-y.”

“Shut up and eat your pizza,” he shook his head at me with a chuckle.

I did as I was told, picking up one piece and folding it in half. Without thinking, I stuffed it in my mouth. It only hit me when I saw Alex staring at me with wide eyes. What I had done completely wasn’t on purpose, but was I going to play it off like it was? Yes, yes I was.

“What?” I said with my mouth still full. “Don’t guys think this is sexy?”

“Strangely enough…” His surprised look faded away into a wonder. “...I am slightly turned on right now… but that might be because I’m always a little turned on when I’m around you.”

I swallowed the large bite I had taken and nodded approvingly. “Want me to stuff some more into my mouth?”

“No, no!” He immediately shook his head. “That’s fine. I don’t want you to finish this pizza quicker than I can keep up.”

“Okay, then,” I shrugged, unfolding what was still left over of my piece and ate it further like a normal human being. At least playing it off had worked quite well. Alex just thought I had been making a joke in response to him ordering me to eat the pizza.

When the pizza was finished, we changed positions on the couch. With my stomach full, I had decided to lean against Alex. We continued to shift slightly until I was nearly lying on top of him. The only reason I wasn’t was because Alex was still sitting up slighting, his back against the armrest to prop him up.

“My eyes are starting to burn from watching TV for so long,” I complained yet still didn’t move from my position, my eyes still glued to the screen as my head was resting on Alex’s chest.

“We should do something else then,” he agreed and turned off the TV with the click on one button--the remote already lying next to us.

“But what?” I sighed, still looking right at the black screen.

“I don’t know?” Alex shrugged, also not showing signs that he was thinking of moving. “I was going to suggest video games, but that’s not a good idea if your eyes are already burning. I don’t know how you feel about board games, and just watching me play around with my guitar isn’t that interesting either. What do most couples do?”

I diverted my eyes into his direction, only able to see his neck and jaw from the angle I was at. Now, it wasn’t the question that sparked what I did, nor did I have any intention behind it, let’s just get that straight. It was just very inviting. After staring up at him for a little while, I stretched out and kissed him on his jaw. Alex acknowledged what I had done by ghosting his hand on my back while I snuggled into him again.

But then the temptation came and I placed another one, just below where the first one had been. Only, this time I didn’t go to lie back down. Instead, I automatically placed another kiss, further down an inch again. Then it turned into something I couldn’t stop anymore, my kisses losing their complete innocence slowly.

We were both ready as my touch left his neck and instead went for his lips. I was no longer lying on top of him, my hands and knees were supporting me on either side of him. None of the kisses we had shared that day compared to this one. The others were brief and cute, this one was deep and passionate. Despite me being the one to initiate it and me being the one in the more--what was considered to be--dominant position, Alex controlled the kiss.

His hand gingerly placed on my cheek, causing the heat radiating off my cheeks to mix with the warmth of his touch. The other hand was still on the small of my back, slightly pushing in while trying to create more contact between our bodies. There was no pulling or tugging like I was used to when things were rushed. This was natural and smooth. Only Alex could help me set a pace like this. My body was still urging to go on autopilot, to rip his clothes off and take him right there.

“Hmm, wait, wait, wait.” Alex pushed me away lightly, our distance only being created reluctantly, and mumbled, “I don’t have the rose petals and candles, nor have I planned out anything romantic. I haven’t set the mood for this like I promised. We can’t do this now.”

“Oh, you’ve set the mood alright,” I shook my head to dismiss anything he said. The fire in his eyes told me he wanted this just as much as I did. So, I reconnected our lips, only to abruptly break apart from him again soon after. “Although, I must say… I’d rather not do this on the couch in your living room.”

“Yes, true,” he nodded and looked around, licking his lips. “Bedroom?”

After my definite and rushed approval, we hurried up the stairs and into his bedroom. You can guess what happened there. Our clothes were discarded and many heated kisses were shared. I mentally cursed myself for brushing my mom off earlier that day, but I was in luck. Alex had a box of condoms hidden in his dresser, letting us get on with our touching. Before we got down to serious business, he stopped us unexpectedly. I didn’t know what I was expecting him to say or do, but he decided to take a minute to appreciate my favorite tattoo, claiming now was the only time he’d get to see it. All our fumbling around should have gotten on my nerves, but it didn’t at all.

The next morning, I woke up with Alex spooning me from behind. A smile graced my lips as I snuggled my head into the pillow to fall back asleep. That was until I remembered we were both still fully naked and the urge to use the bathroom started telling me that it was the reason why I woke up in the first place. I sighed, wondering if I could just ignore both things and enjoy the moment. But the need to go to the bathroom wasn’t letting me.

So, I carefully slipped out of the bed, preventing the bed from shaking too much and making sure Alex’s arm wouldn't fall off my body and onto the mattress. If I was going to have to get up, then I wanted the possibility of climbing back into bed and falling back asleep with Alex.

I picked up Alex’s shirt from the floor and sneaked out into the hallway. Even though I knew nobody else was home, I still felt the need to cover myself up a little bit just in case. It wasn’t like I was on Naked and Afraid. Although, I must admit, it felt strange walking down the hallway and into the bathroom coming out of Alex bedroom and knowing the rest of the house was empty.

When I got back, my wish of being able to cuddle up with Alex again was washed away. He looked like he had just woken up and was sitting up in bed, looking around dazedly. His eyes were still adjusting to being open and his hair was sticking up all over his head.

“You’re here.” He gave me a sleepy grin, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand.

“Of course, I’m here,” I chuckled as I walked further into the room. “What, were you afraid that I disappeared?”

“No, just worried something made you leave without saying goodbye,” he shrugged back, trying to dismiss the fact that he thought I had left while all my clothes were still on the floor.

“Yeah, my bladder was screaming at me to get out of here,” I joked, trying to get rid of the heavy feeling only I seemed to be noticing. Alex was still waking up, acting like his normal self, while I was trying to lighten the emotions in my chest that I could not comprehend.

Alex smiled back, his tiredness causing it to be quite weak. However, in a split second he suddenly seemed to be jolted awake. “Wait, are you wearing my shirt and are you naked underneath it?!”

“Even better,” I teased, “I’m always naked underneath my clothes.”

“Oh, ha, ha.” He rolled his eyes. “I mean are you only wearing my shirt?”

“Yeah, got a problem with it?” I winked and bent down to pick up my panties and put them on--not like they would have covered up much more of me.

“No, just super hot,” he squeaked before clearing his throat and repeating it way deeper.

“Well, I’m hungry, so we’re not having sex again.”

“Ugh, fine,” he grumbled and got out of bed, trying to shield himself as he ran to his dresser and put on a fresh pair of boxers. “Let’s have breakfast then.”

“Also, I need to get going soon, my mom needs her car back,” I added, seeing that it was already eleven in the morning.

“But I like having you here,” he whined as he led me back downstairs and to the kitchen.

“But I don’t want to be the reason why my mom can’t do her shit today and so cause her to forbid me to ever come over again,” I retorted, to which he didn’t have anything witty to reply with. “And I’m not taking this shirt off.”

“That’s one of my favorites!” He still managed to complain.

“I’m not keeping it forever, just today. You’ll get it back tomorrow,” I reassured him with a roll of my eyes. If I had been any other girl, I would have been mad by now. It was an unspoken rule that a boyfriend should always be ok with his girlfriend having his clothes. I was not one of those people. I wanted my shit back, so other people got their shit back. Easy as that.

We actually managed to have a normal breakfast without Alex complaining about anything else. However, I knew I still had to face my mom. It wasn’t like I had to talk to her, it wasn’t like she knew what had happened back at Alex’s, but I felt guilty. I never felt guilty, yet I felt horrible this time. I gained her trust and managed to break it in a way I never expected.

So, when I entered the house and noticed my dad must have been upstairs, I greeted her. She simply greeted me back with a smile, asking me if I had fun. I replied that I did, in fact, have fun, but she didn’t press any further. Usually, she’d be asking me countless of questions by now to find out exactly what I had been doing with whom and where. I could have gotten away with it easily, but it didn’t feel right.

“Umm… mom?” I started, unsure where I wanted to go with this. I never had this conversation with my mom. All that had ever happened was her getting mad at me for having sex, I had never actually gone up to her to talk about it.

“What’s up?” she asked, putting the book she was reading down on the coffee table.

“I, uh… I’d just thought I’d let you know that…” I froze up. It was like I was watching myself embarrass myself from afar.

“Let me know what?” She frowned, now paying full attention to me.

“That… that… Alex and I made pizza last night,” I blurted out, cringing at my lame excuse.

“Oh…” she nodded and reached out for her book again, “how nice.”

As she started reading again, I just stood there, still so surprised with what I had said. First of all, I was never awkward. I was always confident and cool with saying everything, there wasn’t anything I deemed too personal. But now, I was just making a fool of myself.

“Alex and I had sex last night.” The words just left me so suddenly and I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth.

“Mickey!” she scolded, her book immediately finding its place back on the table as she turned to look at me.

“I know, I know,” I tried to justify myself, wondering why I felt the need to tell her in the first place, “I told you it wouldn’t happen. Neither of us intended on it happening… but…”

“It happened by 'accident'?” Her tone told me she was mocking me slightly.

“No,” I shook my head rapidly, “it just happened. One moment we were watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while eating pizza and the next it just escalated.”

“And you didn’t think to stop it?”

“Well, no… it just happened naturally, okay? If Alex didn’t have protection, we would have broken it off, but he did so it wasn’t like anything was stopping us.”

“Oh, thank god,” she let out a deep breath and relaxed back into the couch.

“What?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“I thought you were telling me that we needed to go out and buy Plan B,” she sighed in relief, wiping her brow.

“Oh my god, no,” I scrunched up my face. If things had gone that way, I wouldn’t have been telling her anything... strangely enough.

“Well, then it’s okay. I appreciate you telling me. Just don’t scare me like that next time."

“Next time?” I snorted although pleased I did actually tell her. “I won’t be telling you next time Alex and I have sex, that’s just weird.”

Notes

Holy shit this chapter is over 4000 words long. Oops. My bad. I just got a little excited, hence the super quick update as well. After the last chapter, I had to make things right!