Somewhere in Between (31 page)

With trembling hands, Gemma trailed her fingers along the bottom of Elliot's t-shirt, before taking a steadying breath to calm herself. Once she felt more at ease, she lifted it from his body, letting his pale skin come into view. Elliot wasn't muscular by any definition, as say someone like Trent, who worked out regularly was, but he wasn't pudgy either. His stomach was lean, and there was slight definition where muscle would show if he made an effort. But to Gemma, he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.

With a delicacy he knew only came because of horrific circumstance, Elliot reached up to unbutton the blouse Gemma was wearing. He could see her take deep breaths, her eyes never leaving his face as he gently removed the clothing from her body, pushing it off her shoulders only to pool at her feet. He couldn't help himself after that, he looked down, noticing the soft pink bra she was wearing. He also noticed the way her breasts seemed heavy, and her nipples were poking against the garment.

He felt himself become impossibly harder, seeing the way her body was reacting to him merely removing her shirt. Together, they both removed their pants, sliding them off and out of the way. Standing in front of each other in just their underwear, with Elliot's boxers tented, there was no time for embarrassment or uncertainty. Gemma inhaled thickly, before reaching behind her to unclasp her bra. As her bare breasts came into view, Elliot really thought he was going to end this before it really started.

Her dark pink nipples were hard, and he wanted so badly to touch them. Looking up into Gemma's eyes, he could see a soft smile on her face. Hesitantly, but with purpose, he reached a trembling hand out and lightly brushed his palm across her breast, grazing the nipple. Gemma inhaled sharply, the sensation of being topless in front of Elliot, and the feel of his hand on her chest, making her lightheaded.

"Your skin is so soft," Elliot whispered, amazement coloring his tone. He stepped closer to her, letting his other hand cup her other breast, reveling in the weight and feel. Her chest was voluptuous and overwhelming, and Elliot realized how many other boys would most definitely be interested in Gemma if they knew just exactly what she was hiding under her clothes. He was so thankful she was trusting him with seeing her, with being with her like this.

He looked up into her eyes with his pleading. "Can I… can I kiss you here?" he asked quietly. Gemma nodded slightly, and Elliot quickly lowered his head to brush his lips along the swell of her breast. He let his tongue taste a trail of want until he reached the peak. Calling on every porn he'd ever seen, ever love scene he'd ever witnessed in a movie, Elliot wrapped his mouth around the hard peak, lapping at it before nibbling lightly. He must've have been doing something right, because Gemma's hand instantly came to his hair, pulling slightly as she moaned for him.

"That feels… that feels so good," Gemma moaned breathlessly, as she gripped Elliot's head to her chest. She'd never known such feelings could come from such an action. While she knew there was pleasure to be had, she'd never felt anything so exquisite. And it was shooting straight to between her legs making her throb with want.

As Elliot pulled her closer to his body, his mouth moving to her other breast and giving it the same treatment, Gemma mentally squared her shoulders and reached down between them. She could feel him pressing against her leg with each small thrust as his mouth continued to devour her, and she wanted to touch him like he was touching her. As her fingers came in contact with his boxer-covered erection, Elliot broke away with a hiss.

He looked into her eyes, watching her closely, waiting for panic to set in. It would be very difficult, but he would stop in a heartbeat the moment Gemma no longer was comfortable. But when her hands pushed at his shorts, sliding them down his hips to let his erection break free, he could see that while she was incredibly nervous, she wasn't scared of the act. Once her tiny hand wrapped around him, every other thought vanished but how completely fucking amazing it felt to have her touch him like this.

Her touch was tentative, uncertain, as she gently stroked up and down his thick shaft trying to recall what she'd seen in those porn movies she'd snuck watching. Whatever she was doing, it must have been good with the way Elliot was panting with sweat breaking out on his forehead. He pulled her hand away from him and she looked up with concern. But before she could question if she'd done something wrong when he seemed to be enjoying himself, Elliot spoke. "As much as that feels so very good, if you don't stop now, I won't be able to either, if you catch my drift."

He looked at her pointedly, and she nearly giggled from the implication, though it made her feel empowered that she could make him react in such a way. But the thrill of exciting him disappeared as Elliot's fingers moved to pull her panties down her legs. For the briefest of moments, her mind drifted back to that strip mall alleyway, feeling her pants and underwear ripped from her body painfully. And she closed her eyes against the onslaught that remembrance brought. But just as quickly as it arrived, Gemma willed herself to come back to the here and now, and to feel that it was Elliot's hands, Elliot's fingers touching her, loving her.

Opening her eyes, she saw him standing before her, concern on his face. But she shook her head, and smiled. "It's okay. I'm okay," she told him as she brought her hands up to trail along his arms to his chest and stomach, fascinating in the way his muscles flexed at her touch. He waited a beat longer before something in her eyes confirmed it for him.

With a sweet smile, Elliot pulled Gemma back to him, pressing their bodies together as he brought his mouth down onto hers, swallowing her moans. As his mouth moved over hers, his tongue tasting and teasing hers, Elliot lowered his left hand to the warmth between her thighs. He felt her stiffen briefly, before her body relaxed against his again, her mouth gasping against his as he lightly caressed her warmth and wetness. He knew he couldn't do this for too long, as the way she felt around his fingers was overwhelming his senses making the throbbing between his legs beg for release.

Maneuvering them toward the bed, Elliot gently lowered Gemma down onto her back. She scooted up to her pillow, her desire to cover in modesty overrun by the look of desire for her in Elliot's eyes. As he came to rest beside her, his hands caressing along her curves to her breasts. "You are so beautiful, Gemma. You take my breath away. Do you know that?" he asked, awe in his voice. She shook her head but it didn't deter him. "This is such a tacky thing to say, but the way I am right now, this is how I feel with you all the time. Whether I'm with you or not. My body absolutely
craves
you, my mind it needs you, and my heart, fuck, Gemma my heart doesn't exist without you.

"I want you all the time. And I feel like I can't breathe with how much I love you," he continued, his face serious. He didn't want to be the cliché of saying everything before the act, but he needed her to know how he felt, what was truly inside of him every second because of his feelings for her.

"I love you too, Elliot," Gemma whispered, tears in her eyes at his declaration. Feeling more at ease by his words, she parted her legs for him to crawl between. He did languidly, his mouth back on hers as they kissed and lightly touched. Reaching toward her nightstand, Gemma grabbed onto the square foil package slightly hidden underneath her lamp, and brought it to Elliot's attention. With her cheeks tinted a dark pink, she handed it to him. "Um, I'm on the pill now. I wanted to be ready for when this happened. But when I told Leigh, she ended up sending me this care package and it had condoms in it. I think Trent is responsible for them since there was dumb note attached too."

"Doesn't hurt to be doubly safe, yeah?" Elliot agreed with Gemma's unspoken words as he took the condom from her, sitting back on his haunches. With trembling fingers, knowing this was the moment everything changed for them, Elliot tore the foil package open, and pulled the latex out. He let out a shaky breath as he pinched the tip, like he'd seen done in health class, and sheathed his aching erection. While he wanted nothing more than to feel Gemma completely, he knew they were too young to be parents, especially after everything they'd gone through. And there was nothing wrong with trying to be extra careful.

Gemma watched with rapt fascination as Elliot's penis was covered. Her insides twisted with want and sadness. She wished so badly that he would be the first one to touch her like this, but she didn't want to ruin this moment, to take away from what they were about to do. If anything, she told herself, it just meant the pain that usually accompanied a girls' first time wouldn't be there. But she didn't want to dwell on that and have it bring her down. So pushing those thoughts away, Gemma pulled Elliot back down onto her, cradling his body between her thighs.

Shaking with anticipation, Elliot carefully lined up the head with Gemma's entrance. He took a deep breath and pushed in, feeling fire spread through his veins with the intensity of how incredible it felt to be inside of her, to be consumed by her.

The movement was slow, with heavy breaths breaking and deep kisses exchanged. And when Elliot couldn't stave off his climax any longer, Gemma caressed his face and kissed him sweetly as he grunted into her mouth, his release.

The lay together for several minutes afterward, Elliot softening inside her. With his body angled to look down at her and his fingers lightly stroking along her cheek, he couldn't help the goofy grin that took to his lips. He'd just had sex. He'd just had sex with Gemma and it was the most amazing feeling in the world. There was probably nothing in the world better than this moment.

"I love you so very much, Gemma," he murmured before lowering his head down to capture her lips.

"I love you too, Elliot," Gemma whispered back. There were tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. Not only was she so very much in love with Elliot, and so happy to have shared this experience with him, but she was so very happy that her demons seemed to have vanished for the time being. Nothing could ruin this moment.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Thanksgiving arrived. And just like the year before, the Wades and Grady’s celebrated together. With Christie still not speaking to anyone, it was a little uncomfortable, but they got through the day. And Leighanna and even Trent joined the dinner, along with Trent’s family.

That helped keep the awkwardness Christie’s silence brought about.

While the previous year had been rough, with no real celebration, this year, Elliot, in wanting to show Gemma how much she truly meant to him, made it a point to celebrate her seventeenth birthday as soon as December rolled around.

As she had done for his birthday, Elliot wanted to make Gemma dinner. But since he was not the best cook in the world, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin a good meal, Elliot had enlisted his mother to help him make, by Gemma’s request, Frito Pie. It was surprisingly easy and Elliott felt truly accomplished once it was finished. Grace baked a small chocolate cake to go with it.

After they had finished their meal, Elliot walked Gemma to his room where her present was waiting. Asking her to sit on his bed with her eyes closed, Elliot grabbed the small box.

“I hope you like it,” he murmured to her as he placed the box into her hand.

It was long, and the packaging was elegant as Gemma opened her eyes to her gift. With a deep breath, she lifted the delicate ribbon encasing the box and slid the top off. Her breath caught at the sight. “Elliot,” she whispered in amazement. Before her eyes sat a beautiful bracelet, silver with a small turquoise encrusted heart, to go along with her birthstone, dangling from it.

“Thank you so much, Elliot. This is so beautiful.” Gemma cried as she kissed her boyfriend. She swore she’d never take it off.

By the time Christmas arrived, the plan once again centered on celebrating together. And it was on this day, Christie spoke to Gemma again.

Dinner was still an hour or so away from being served, and the presents were waiting under the Wade's Christmas tree for later. Leighanna and Elliot were locked in a heated battle of Rock Band while their parents watched and laughed. Christie approached Gemma as she was leaving the restroom.

"Gemma? Can I talk to you?"

Nodding though filled with hesitancy, she followed Christie up to her room, memories of the Fourth of July playing in her head. As the door closed, Gemma once again sat on the chair at the desk, waiting for Christie to speak.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing Christie said. "For so many things. The first being that it's taken this long for me to speak to you. Again. I'm also sorry for making everything about me." She sat on the edge of her bed with a sad smile. "I have spent a lot of time thinking these last few months and I've reevaluated everything about who I am, the people I surround myself with and what I want from my life. In each instance I came up wanting."

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted you to be my friend, but then when I had Josh, I didn't want you to do your own thing. I wanted you to wait for me. Same with Josh. But you both didn't. You became friends with my brother, and Josh, he tried to move on and date others," she sniffled. "Well, that's not true. Rita doesn't count, since she told me all he did was talk about me and she refuses to call that a date. And that's the only girl he went out with anyhow."

Gemma nodded, glad to hear Christie mention Rita without a look of disgust on her face. It had been months, nearly a whole school year by the time Josh took Rita out, so Christie really didn't have a leg to stand on if she expected Josh to wait forever for her. Or for her to believe Josh had done wrong.

"The point is, that moment when everything went wrong, and you were outted in front of everyone, instead of being there for you, I only thought of me," Christie was repeating words Gemma herself had said months earlier. "And my brother, I didn't even stop for one moment to even look at his face when everything went wrong," she cried, wrapping her arms around her middle. "If I had, I would have seen the anguish that was there. I would have known this was so much bigger than a high school problem and I would have been there for him. Like a sister is supposed to be."

"It's not too late to make amends," Gemma commented, watching Christie wipe her eyes.

"I know. And I'm going to do everything in my power to fix the mess I've made."

Gemma left the conversation trying to hope for a miracle but not wanting to get those hopes up too high. Christie had made promises before, had sworn she’d change or had changed, and those promises had fallen aside like discarded trash. But still she hoped.

Christmas ended up easier to deal after that moment. Dinner was a delicious affair, and everyone exchanged gifts without feeling like they were walking on eggshells. Though Gemma tentatively forgave Christie, she knew, they both knew, it would be a long time before they were real friends again. But it was better than the alternative, which was not being friends at all.

*LtB*

Days seemed to pass by in a blur. The New Year came and went and before long, school was coming to an end. Summer passed by in a flash and before anyone was ready (particularly Grace, Dalton, Andrew and Caroline), Elliot and Gemma were seniors. They had their senior pictures done, alone and as a couple, and Gemma wore Elliot's class ring and letterman’s jacket with pride. They were even voted "Cutest Couple" by their peers for the yearbook. Everything had seemingly returned to normal. Well, mostly.

Elliot and Gemma were still going strong, and had hopes to attend UCLA in the fall, Elliot for as a yet undecided major, and Gemma for Art History. And Leighanna and Trent were kicking butt and taking names in Tennessee. Christie and Josh had become friends again, but had not regained their relationship as Josh didn't know if he would ever be able to trust his heart with Christie again after she'd hurt it so. All he could give her was a maybe. It seemed to suffice.

Christie's relationship with Gemma was tenuous at best. While they were no longer on the outs, things had not gone back to the carefree friendship they'd had when Gemma had moved to town. Not that anyone completely expected it would as there were still many moments where Christie still felt bitterness at being left out of the loop.

And Christie's relationship with Elliot was just as strained. Though she'd made amends, and had been forgiven, it was her inability to move passed her innate selfishness that kept her at arm's length of everyone. But she wasn't shut out from them as she had once been. When Elliot and Gemma announced they had got into their school of choice, Christie was included in the group that found out. And in turn, when she applied for and was accepted into the University of Colorado at Boulder, they were happy for her, and Gemma even comforted her when they found out Josh was going to Arizona State to study.

It was during this time, when everything seemed to be going well for everyone, and the mood and tension that had once seemed to drape itself over them, had lifted, that the news came.

Two days before their senior prom in early May, a knock sounded at the Grady's door. Being home from school for summer break, Leighanna was the one to answer, a laugh dying on her lips as she took in the appearance of the visitor.

"Good evening, Miss Cage," he said, taking his hat off like a man would do in some old time movie.

"Agent Ramirez," Leighanna breathed, alerting the rest of the house to the identity of their guest. Stepping out of the way, Leighanna allowed the FBI agent into the house.

He was greeted instantly by Andrew and Caroline, while Elliot and Gemma stayed back. "I've come bearing news," he said with an easy smile. His whole demeanor so vastly different from the last time anyone had seen or heard from him that it instantly set off interest in what the news was.

"Come on in," Andrew instructed, leading the man into the living room.

Once everyone was seated, Agent Ramirez began to speak. "I know it's been a long time, but I have some news that I thought you all might want to hear. And I didn't want to just offer it over the phone," he said looking at Gemma specifically.

After swallowing hard, and taking a deep breath that she let out slowly, Gemma nodded. "Go ahead."

"Last night, three members of the band known as
Boise Storm
, Jim Kenton, Evan Clallum, and Quinten Marshall were arrested in Wichita, Kansas after trying to grab an underage girl as she walked home from school. There was a witness to this event who called police immediately while shouting at the three," he told everyone. He looked down, twirling his hat. "We have DNA belonging to them in six cases as of right now." That was new though no one commented on it. "Add to that a murder charge and now attempted kidnapping, it would be safe to say they are going to go away for a very long time."

After discussing with everyone what would happen in the next few weeks and months, telling Gemma it was possible, unless a deal could be reached, she may have to testify, Elliot too, Agent Ramirez departed the house.

Everyone was quiet, uncertain of what to say or do. It was when Elliot looked at Gemma, seeing tears cascading down her cheeks, that the silence was broken.

"Gemma? Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, taking her hands in his and giving them a gentle squeeze.

She shook her head, looking at him straight on. "I just… I can't believe it finally happened. I never really thought this day would come."

Exhaling heavily, Elliot nodded. "I know. Me either. But it finally did."

"It's finally over."

*LtB*

Four Years Later….

The sun was bearing down, the temperature in the low eighties, and not a cloud in the sky. A sea of blue and gold streamed across a field of green while cheers broke out through the crowd gathered.

"Gemmalyn Grady."

Her name rang out loud across the field as she walked up to shake the hands of the Dean and receive her diploma. She could hear cheers from the crowd that had gathered in the stands, as well as from the hundreds of students graduating with her today. Some were louder than others, like Leighanna and Trent, and their one and a half year old son Eli, who seemed to have as big a voice as his father.

She smiled and gave a small wave toward the general direction that she thought her friends and family were before moving back to her seat. She'd received a Bachelor's degree in Art History and Anthropology, surprisingly finding she was able to double up and still graduate with her class.

Things had been tough, but after everything she'd survived in high school, a little more school work was nothing in comparison. If anything, having survived and healed from her ordeal, school work was easy.

Thinking back on all that she'd accomplished, Gemma couldn't help but smile. She and Elliot had both left Thornton for sunny Los Angeles and plunged headstrong into the life of a Californian, taking in the comforts of the beach and laid back attitude. The only beaches in Colorado were attached to a reservoir or lake, so every chance they got, they were playing in the ocean water of the California beaches.

They both stayed in the dorms for the first two years, making lots of friends and getting the whole "college experience." They'd even inadvertently played matchmaker by getting Gemma's roommate and new friend, Nina, together with Elliot's floor-mate, Nathan. It wasn't a match made in heaven with the amount of bickering the two did, but they always made up right away, so it was a special type of relationship and they always said they owed Gemma and Elliot for getting them together.

By junior year however, with some help from their part-time jobs, they were able to secure an apartment together. Having grown tired of dorm life, and ready to move their relationship into the next phase, they scoured the web and "for rent" signs until they found a quaint apartment not far from campus.

That old saying, "you don't really know someone until you live with them" didn't seem to matter to Elliot and Gemma. They had survived through so much, overcoming obstacles most couples would hopefully never have to deal with, and by the time they were ready to live together, petty fights over laundry or household issues hardly seemed to matter to them. They understood how fortunate they both were to have each other and did everything they could to make it work.

It was during this time, a few months after moving in to their new home, when the final word came down about Gemma's attackers. Due to the nature of their crimes, Jim Kenton, Evan Clallum, and Quinten Marshall were all instructed by their lawyers that taking a plea deal would be in their best interest. It avoided them being tried with the death penalty on the table due to the murder they had committed and allowed for parole after thirty-three years served. By the time any of them would be eligible, they would all be in their sixties or beyond. Their lives were essentially over.

Agent Ramirez paid Gemma and Elliot a special visit, along with Special Prosecutor Holly Stanton to let them know of the deal. They were finally paying for what they had done.

That was all Gemma wanted. And the relief she felt at this news was palpable. She would never have to worry about them again, nor would she or Elliot be required to testify, bringing everything back to the surface. And more than that, no one would ever be hurt by them again.

That night she and Elliot cried their relief to each other as they made love until the sun rose the next morning. And with that sunrise was truly a start of their new life, one without fear or pain.