The Space Between Us (16 page)

  
He strutted into the room, confidence at an all-time high, found my eyes, and walked right towards me – in a pair of
my
underwear. As if it were the most natural thing on the planet, he waltzed across the room sporting a pair of black lace, boyshort panties. My jaw dropped and my ears rang with all the screaming that was coming from the group of girls.

  
He found me sitting on the couch and without hesitation he straddled me, placed his hands on the sides of my face, and kissed me hard. In any other circumstance it would have been a hot kiss, but I just couldn't get past the fact that he was wearing my panties. I pulled away and looked in his eyes.

  
“You're crazy,” I said, quiet enough so only he could hear me, but loud enough to combat the whooping girls.

  
“You're smiling; that's all that matters.” He kissed me again quickly and then got up to walk back towards the stairs, stopping at the doorway to give a graceful bow. I just shook my head at him. He looked ridiculous.

  
“You're man has a fantastic ass,” Lizzy, one of my sorority sisters said. I shrugged.

  
“I wish he would have worn the purple thong. It accentuates his backside better.” I tried to pull it off without laughing, but it was impossible. Lizzy and I spent a good five minutes cracking up on the couch.

   “You’d better be careful, Charlie.  If you don’t keep an eye on him, some other girl is going to swoop in and steal him away.”  My head snapped to the left to see who the voice belonged to and I wasn’t surprised to see Tracy standing next to the couch.  She had a
slimy smile on her face and I narrowed my eyes at her.

   “And I assume you think you’re going to be able to steal him from me?”  I asked, my irritation growing. 

   She shrugged her shoulders at me.  “I just think he hasn’t realized that there’s a whole campus filled with girls who’d like to show him what he’s missing.”

   “Hey, back off Tracy,” I heard Reeve’s voice strong and firm.  “Asher isn’t missing anything.  But you’re gonna miss the way your face looks with a straight nose if you don’t b
ack off of Charlie and leave, like, now.”  Tracy looked at Reeve and I like we were insignificant, but she did wander towards the door.  She gave us a wicked smile and a little finger wave before she left.  I huffed out an irritated breath.

  
“I'm gonna get something to drink. Do you guys want anything?” Lizzy asked us, obviously wanting to give us some time alone. I shook my head and Reeve said a quiet “No, thank you.” After Lizzy walked away, Reeve turned so that she was facing me directly.

   “Thank you for helping me with Tracy.”  I exhaled loudly.  “She’s becoming a huge pain in my ass.”

   “No problem,” Reeve said quietly.  She fiddled with her fingers in her lap for a moment, seemingly trying to get up enough nerve to say something else.

  
“I don't really know what to say to you right now, Charlie.” She started playing with the hem of her pajama shirt. “I know I haven't been the best friend lately,” she heaved out a loud breath. “I am just having a hard time moving on from everything.” I put my hand on her knee and lowered my head so I could look in her eyes.

  
“Reeve, you
are
my best friend and I just want to make sure you're going to be ok. You don't have to put on an act for me. I understand if you're still hurt, or sad, or upset. I probably would be too. I'm just worried about you and I don't want to see you hurt yourself by going into isolation.” I paused and looked down at my hands, not wanting to say too much. “I can see you drifting farther and farther away, and it scares me. I don't ever want to lose you, Reeve. I don't know what I would do if we weren't friends anymore.” I felt a tear slide down my face, but this one wasn't from laughter. Letting myself think about how my life would be without Reeve tore a piece of my heart open. She was the sister I never had and I loved her tremendously. If she wasn't in my life, all the laughter and fun I shared with her would leave and so would a piece of my soul. I peeked up at her, trying to gauge her reaction. She wiped tears from her face as well.

  
“I'm so sorry, Charlie. I don't want you to feel that way. I love you and I'm going to try to snap out of this. I just need a little time and understanding. But never question our friendship. You mean everything to me.” She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into an embrace. I never needed a hug like I needed this one from her. I could actually feel some of the anxiety ooze out of me. “And thank you for planning this party. I didn't realize how much I needed this.” I pulled away wiping my face and smiling.

  
“I didn't plan this. Asher did.” Reeve looked sincerely surprised by this information.

  
“Why?” She asked, sounding mystified.

  
“He loves you just as much as I do, Reeve. He has been really torn apart by all of this. He just wants you to be happy again.” She looked pensive as she took in all the news I had given her.

  
“I guess I just always figured he put up with me because he loved you.”

  
I smiled at her.

  
“Well, sometimes he puts up with you because he loves me,” I giggled. “But truly, you are one of his best friends. He would do anything for you.” I waved my hand out to display the pink slumber party. “Hence this display of affection for you.” I patted her on the knee again. “All the brothers here are really trying to make it up to you, Reeve. They all want you to be ok and to be comfortable here. You're important to Asher, so you're important to them. Let them make it up to you.”

  
She smiled at me again. “I really am lucky to have you guys.”

  
I shrugged my shoulders. “I know.”

  
After the perfectly pink slumber party, we all tried very hard to get things back to normal. I saw Reeve try, every day, to get herself out there a little more. I was so proud of her and I tried to tell her every chance I got. When winter break came around, all three of us went home and I was happy Reeve only packed a suitcase to take with her, and not everything she owned. It thrilled me to know that she would be returning for the next semester. It felt like things were getting back to normal.

  
I rode home with Reeve, silently smiling to myself as she jabbered the entire way home. I hadn't heard her say so many words in weeks and I was more than happy to sit and listen to whatever she wanted to say to me.

  
When we pulled up to the street Asher and I both lived on, she looked over at me.

  
“So, what are you and Asher going to do now that you're home?”

  
I gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

  
“Well, there's barely a night when you guys have been apart since school started. Are you going to have a hard time sleeping apart from him?” Odd. I hadn't even thought of that. I spent nearly every night with him and we alternated between his house and my dorm. Most of the time, ok half of the time, there wasn't even anything sexual about it. We just knew that we would sleep together. Wherever he was, I was. We never even really spoke about it.  It was just the way things were.  Reeve was right; I did think I would have a hard time sleeping without him. Impossible? No. Undesirable? Definitely.

  
“I don't know. I guess we'll just see what happens.”

  
“Meaning that you'll have Asher sneak into your house after your dad has gone to sleep?”

  
I grinned at her.

  
“If that's what it takes,” I said through laughter. She pulled up to my house and parked on the street. Asher slowly pulled up next to her car and rolled down his window. I got my bags out of Reeve's trunk and she waved as she drove towards her house. I walked over to Asher's window and set my bags down next to my feet, leaning into his window. “Hey. How was your drive?”

  
“Slow. Reeve needs to put the pedal to the metal a little bit.” I rolled my eyes.

  
“You could have just passed her.”

  
“No. You know I just want to make sure you get home ok.” I gave him a small peck and then pulled back.

  
“That might be the most action you get for two whole weeks.”

  
“Uh, what are you talking about?”

  
I laughed as I watched panic rush over his face.

  
“Have you thought about how coming back home for break has basically put us back into high school? I mean, there's no way my dad is going to let you sleep over. And I'm sure your parents won't appreciate me spending the night at your house.” I saw the realization come over him.

  
“I'm not worried about it,” he said confidently.

  
Mildly offended, I scoffed at him.

  
“Not worried about it? Well, fine then. Me either.” I leaned down to grab my bags and felt him put his hand out and grab my arm.

  
“Babe, I only meant that there is no way I'm letting anything keep me from holding you at night. Our parents will understand. We're adults now.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  
“I think you are overestimating our parent’s ability to see us anything other than their children. But if you're willing to give it a try, let me know what your parents say about me sleeping over at your house.” I smiled at him snidely, knowing if anything it would be his mom who would be opposed to our hopeful sleeping arrangement. I was just like a daughter to her and she would definitely have a problem with me sleeping over at a guy's house, even if it was her own son.

  
“I'll figure it out, Bit. Don't worry.”

  
“Ok, whatever you say. Tell your parents I say hi. And call me.” I leaned into his window again to give him a kiss and felt his hand wrap around the back of my neck, holding me to him. He took the kiss deeper than I had intended, but I was enjoying it too much to complain. His mouth captured mine, my bottom lip being tugged on by his teeth. I was immediately angry at the metal door between us and needed more contact. I moaned in frustration and he immediately pulled away.

  
“That should hold you over until later,” he said with a wink. I snarled at him and grabbed my bags. I walked around the front of his car and heard him yell out his window, “Love you, Babe.” I turned towards him and stuck my tongue out at him. That'll teach him.

  
When I walked in the house I was greeted not only by the smell of cookies baking, but also by the sight of a woman in my dad's kitchen. I dropped my bags on the floor and watched as the woman jumped at the loud noise they made as they clattered against the travertine floor. She spun around, her hand clenched to her chest. She looked absolutely petrified and I'm sure I looked pretty pissed.

  
“Who are you?” I asked, and not too politely. I watched her remove the surprise from her face and plaster a smile on. She moved around the kitchen island, wiping her hands on the apron around her waist. The same apron I use to watch my mother wipe her hands on.

  
“Hi, you must be Charlie. My name is Angie.” She held her hand out to me, waiting for me to shake it. I didn't even look down at it.

  
“What are you doing in my kitchen?” I said harshly, not even pretending to move to shake her outstretched hand. She took the hint and moved her fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair.

  
“I needed some parmesan cheese for dinner and your father was out. He ran to the store real quick. We thought we had enough time before you got home.” She paused and let out a deep breath. “This must be surprising for you to come home and see a strange woman in your kitchen. I apologize. We didn't want it to happen this way, your father and I.”

  
“That's my mom's apron.” That's all I said to her before I turned and walked to my bedroom. I slammed the door when I got inside and immediately started pacing the floor. My heart pumped, adrenaline flowing through my veins. It took all of forty-five seconds before my anger turned into an aching hurt. I'd never felt anything like the pressure that was building in my chest. Something inside of me was expanding at such a rapid pace, surely I would explode any moment. And I did.

  
I collapsed on my bed, not even trying to control the sobs that were breaking free from my mouth. My legs involuntarily curled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my knees. I was as small as I could be, trying to disintegrate all together. I didn't want to be in a place where my mother's things were being used by another woman. I wasn't ready for any of this. I don't know how long I cried, but eventually I heard my door creak open.

  
“Charlie Bear,” I heard my dad's voice at roughly the same time I feel his big, warm hand on my back.

  
“I'm so sorry, Charlie. I'm so sorry.”

  
“Who is she?” I asked, even though I already know the answer.

  
“That's Angie,” he said quietly. He paused and then continued with, “she's my girlfriend.” Knowing the words he was going to say before he said them didn't make them hurt any less. His admission was like throwing lighter fluid on a bonfire. My cries were just exacerbated. He didn't tell me to stop.  He didn't try to reason with me.  He just kept rubbing my back in slow and steady circles. Every once in a while his hand would travel up to my shoulder and he would give it a gentle squeeze. I knew he would sit next to me until I calmed down, so I didn't hurry myself along. I wanted to feel all of it, for my mom.