Suffice to say that neither of us saw much outside of that room, except to eat occasionally and for him to gather up his work clothes for Monday. We didn't give much thought to life beyond our weekend lovefest; we just simply enjoyed each other in every sense of the way. We laughed, cried and even had the nerve to pray together in between love making sessions. And there were a lot of those. I knew I was gonna walk funny for weeks, but I didn't care. I also knew I would have some explaining to do to Amy.
She knew Darren was with me when she saw his car parked at my hotel. That and he was there when she popped by room Sunday afternoon, naked. I had opened the door wearing a robe with rather messy hair and she looked over my shoulder and saw her brother walk out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. I was embarrassed that she caught us, but also not sorry. I'm stupid like that. He blushed when he saw her but said nothing; only waved and smiled sheepishly. She looked back at me, then him, then me again. "Breakfast. Tomorrow. Don't you dare leave town before then." She looked back at Darren with a smirk. "Byyee, bro." One last admonishment to me. "Seriously, Erin. Don't you dare ditch out me. Breakfast."
"I won't," I assured her as I closed the door. And I wouldn't. But I had one more night with Darren and I wasn't going to waste it on worrying about his sister's opinion.
We woke up to the sound of a bell tower at 5 a.m. His alarm. He groaned as he reached over to his phone to shut it off. I was not impressed the weekend had gone by so fast. He wrapped his arm around my midsection and snuggled my back into his chest. He buried his face in my hair. "hmmm," he hummed. "Do you remember the first time we snuggled like this?"
"Mmm huh." I mused. How could I forget that night? I had relived it thousands of times in my head. "The night you didn't notice a couple of girls sleeping in your bed? That night?"
"I noticed," he confessed.
I rolled to my back to see his face. "You knew we were there?"
He smiled mischievously. "I knew. Mom asked if I was going to be gone and if so, if it would be alright if you girls stayed there."
"But you said..." I protested.
"I know what I said. I wasn't going to come either. I promise. I really did plan to stay at Rocky's but the thought of you in my bed drove me crazy and I just couldn't stay away. So, I snuck in, showered, made sure which side you were on and... well, you were there. You know." His cheeks turned a beautiful shade of pink. God, he was so beautiful.
"You copped a snuggle? With a child?" I exaggerated that last word sarcastically. "I was just a kid!" I giggled at his seeming frustration with my response.
"I only called you that to remind myself to keep..."
"What, Darren? Keep what? Your distance?"
"Yes, my distance. You have no idea how difficult you made it for me."
"Oh?" feigning innocence. "How so?"
"You know."
"No, I don't." Yes, yes I did, but I wanted him to say it.
"Okay, well... movie nights. How you always fell asleep during the movies. On my lap."
"Yes and you always complained that I drooled on you."
"Yes, well... You did more than get my jeans wet."
I blushed. "I was right about you chasing guys off of my trail, wasn't I?"
He blushed. "Yes."
"You said something to Raul, too. Didn't you?"
"Didn't have to. We exchanged glances, he understood."
"I knew it!" I poked his chest. "Possessive much?"
"I let you go out with him, didn't I? You have no idea how much torture that was for me. You looked so beautiful that night. And then when you got back and kissed me..."
"A kiss you refused," I reminded him.
"Yes, but that is when I realized that I was in love with you. Not just attracted, because you're crazy beautiful, and not just knowing we'd be together someday, but whole heartedly, irrevocably in love.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"You were just so..."
"Young." I finished for him. "You could've had me after graduation. I would've stayed here for you. I wasn't too young then."
"I couldn't let myself keep you from school. You talked about college all through high school. I knew how important it was to you. I wanted you to go after your dreams. I figured I'd just wait and hope you came back when you were done."
"But you were my dream, you idiot. First and foremost. College was just secondary to having a life with you."
"I'm just a factory worker, Erin. I can't give you the kind of life your degree will afford you."
"You think I care about money?" I took a deep breath and pulled myself up out of bed. "You don't know me very well, if you think that."
"I'm sorry," he offered taking my hand.
I pulled away. "C'mon, old man. You gotta get ready for work."
He stuck his lip out. It looked as if he were going to protest then proposed taking a joint shower. Yeah, his suggestions were pretty cool. Once he was dressed for work and ache formed in my chest. This was it. Our fairytale weekend was at a close. 'Don't cry, Erin! Not yet.' He looked as if he was telling himself the same thing. "What now?" he finally asked.
"You go to work. I go home. Well, breakfast with your sister first, then home."
"No. I mean with us. This can't be it."
"It has to be, Darren. You're engaged, remember."
"But I want you," He whined. "You marry me and then I can't marry her. I'll come home with you and live there. We could make it work."
Yes, grand idea. Let's do it. "No," I protested. 'What? C'mon Erin listen to yourself. He is asking you to marry him. Heelllooo this is what you've always wanted' "We can't." I let the tears fall. I no longer cared to hide my emotions from him. "You know we can't. You said yourself her father would throw you in jail. Make you a registered sex offender for life if you didn't marry her."
"I don't care!" he yelled. "If it means I can be with you."
"Don't be stupid. What kind of work could you get as a sex offender? And what of your kids? You wouldn't be able to go to their school functions. They wouldn't be able to have friends over to our house. No, I will not let you ruin your future like that!" I put a finger to his lips to keep him silent as I finished. "This weekend has been nothing short of amazing and no person can take it away from us. But it's all we get. As bad as it is, it's the hand we have been dealt. You will become a husband and father while I finish my degree. Who knows what life will bring us in the future. Let's just pray it's beautiful."
"This sucks friggen goat-heads, you know." He pulled me into an embrace, releasing the tears he had been holding back into my hair.
"I know," I said stroking his hair. "I know."