Here is the continuing saga of my characters from Heart Is Where The Home Is and Living In The Shadows. I've gone round and round throwing out a dozen ways to take this story and now I've settled it. I think Out Of The Shadows will be the final arc for these characters. It will be several chapters long depending on where I break them up. This first one is kind of a bridge between the end of Living In The Shadows and Out of The Shadows, so it's a sort of vignette or interlude and is shorter.
***Mel***
With everything patched up with my family and Joe, life moved on. When we got back home after the Christmas break, Joe and I picked up from a new place of normality.
We stuck with our plan of seeing each other on the weekends, but that didn't stop him from coming over several times a week for breakfast. He liked that we enjoyed our fair share of bacon because he was doing some kind of low carb thing. I didn't understand it, as bacon is fattening and he was in amazing shape, but I let it slide and fed him bacon. I still don't think he knows how to turn his stove on.
Keri started dating a guy named Taylor, who I referred to affectionately as 'Swiftie.' Thankfully, Keri was amused by it and let me do it when he wasn't around. Joe and Taylor got along well, and we were a pretty close-knit group. Then something happened that rocked me to the core.
Keri had sex with Taylor.
We didn't have a vow of celibacy or anything, and I was close to doing it with Joe anyway, but when Joe and I did our oral play, we did it at his house.
I was awoken one night by Keri screaming Taylor's name followed by a stream of "oh, Gods" and a couple of "fuck me harder, babys." She must've thought I wasn't home because I went to bed early after not feeling well with a headache.
I sat up and listened and to my horror was turned on. I grabbed my phone and saw it was only midnight, so I texted Joe.
"R U up?"
He must've been asleep because I got no response. The guy slept like a log.
I tried to go back to sleep but they were too loud. Finally, after fifteen more minutes of bed creaking, the noises stopped. I sighed, "thank you, Jesus," and managed to fall back asleep sometime after I heard Taylor leave.
The next morning, I was eating some toast when Keri bounced into the kitchen.
I sneered, "Could you be a little quieter next time?"
She threw her hand to her mouth, "You were home? Oh, my God!"
I nodded as I chewed and then she smiled and sat down.
"Holy cow, Mel. I never knew sex would feel so good."
"TMI, bitch," I grumbled.
"No way, Mel. It was our third time and I swear to the heavens, it's better every time."
"Why didn't you tell me you're doing him?"
She shrugged, "I was gonna, but I know you're waiting with Joe. I guess I didn't want it to sound like I was rubbing it in."
"I guess that makes sense." I smirked and asked, "Is he a big guy?"
We giggled and she nodded.
"Did it hurt the first time?" I asked. I had been wondering what Joe would feel like stretching my insides. I used my trusty vibrator, so I wasn't a complete virgin, but Joe was bigger than my toy.
"A little, at first. He's fatter than my rabbit but just about the same length. Oh, Mel, it feels so good when he's inside me."
We giggled again and she started to give me way more info than I needed.
"Easy, girl. Do you even love Taylor? I haven't heard you guys say it."
"He tells me he loves me all the time. He's just uncomfortable saying it in front of others. You know how he doesn't even like to kiss me in public."
I did know that. He wasn't the most affectionate guy in the state, that's for sure.
"Have you been thinking about it?" she asked.
I nodded. "I'm close. I'm convinced we'll be together for the long haul, I'm kind of scared, I guess."
"I get it. I was freaked out about it too. I guess Taylor was a little pushier about it than Joe is."
"Do you feel different, now that you've done it?"
She shook her head, "No. I do feel more anxious to see Taylor though."
We broke into laughter and that conversation started the last bit of crumbling down of my resolve.
*****
Later, we were approaching the end of the school year. My parents were pressuring me to come home for the Summer, but I wanted to see what Joe would do before I made any decision. They weren't happy with that.
Keri was going home for a couple of months. Taylor was from Madison, Wisconsin, which is only a couple of hours from our little hometown, and she wanted to be able to see him. I don't have that option with Joe. His family is from Tennessee.
One evening, Keri and I were studying when the doorbell rang. Neither of us expected our man to be stopping by with all the studying we had to do for finals, so we had no idea who was bugging us.
Keri got to the door first and screamed.
I rushed over and saw it was Ken, Jim, and hip-hop star Devon Jackson, who was a fellow actor friend of Ken and Jim's.
Devon had a big smile on his face and said, "You were right, Jim, except she didn't pass out."
They got a kick out of Keri's star shock, and I yelled, "Quit being assholes. You know she can't take surprises like this."
"Sorry, Mel, I guess we should have told you we were coming to visit," Ken said as he gave me a hug.
"No shit, jerk, and wipe that smile off your face, Jim Steel. You're not so famous that I can't call Abby on you."
"Whoa! Don't tell Abby," he begged like a teenager in trouble. "I'm sorry, Keri."
They all walked in and sat on the couches.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
Jim answered, "There's a comic convention at Stanford and we're doing a joint appearance. We figured we'd stop by and visit you guys for dinner. You don't know where my brother is do ya?"
"He's at a study group tonight. They get together at a pizza place not too far from here."
Devon said, "Y'all want pizza? I'm starving."
We all agreed, and I had to snap Keri out of her daze. She couldn't stop staring at Devon.
"Keri, this is Devon. He's a good guy."
Devon smiled his million-dollar smile, and took her hand, "Hello, beautiful." He kissed her limp hand and she fainted.
"Oh, for Christ's sakes," I said as Devon caught her and set her on the couch.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Devon asked, looking alarmed.
"Happens all the time," Ken and Jim said in unison, making them laugh.
"Jesus, guys. She was just getting used to Ken," I groaned.
Ken went to the kitchen to get some water and Devon was still really worried.
"Don't worry, Devon. She'll be fine," I said. He wasn't convinced and patted her hand to try to wake her.
Jim laughed and said, "Dev, you should have seen her when she went to Ken's for a barbecue. Ken and I weren't wearing shirts when she came outside. She froze like a popsicle."
Devon shook his head, "Dude, you guys put on a beefcake show for this child?"
Ken laughed, "No, man. I was working the grill, and it was hot out. Jim was just keeping me company. He's the one who threatened to put on speedos. I thought Mel's dad was going to go into conniptions."
Keri came to and whispered, "Speedos?"
