This 2-part story is a prequel to another that I published some time ago (When Does Love End) that told the tale of two of my favourite characters. It's always been at the back of my mind to write it but somehow I have never got round to doing it, until now that is.
For those after a lot of erotic content I suggest you pass. There are some sexual scenes but these are in the minority.
As always comments on the writing are appreciated but please remember it is just a story. It isn't real.
Enjoy
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When does Love Begin- Part 2
No sooner had Debbie got back to her friends than they besieged her with questions about her lunch meeting with Jackson; what was he like, what colour were his eyes, where did he live and, most importantly, did she have his phone number.
She did her best to reply to all their questions as honestly as she could, although she was unable to tell them the answer she would have liked to give when they asked if she was going to see him again. Of course, Michelle was disappointed that there was no juicy gossip to be had. Especially when Debbie confided in her that after they had exchanged papers and finished their drinks they had simply gone their separate ways.
Muddling her way through her afternoon classes she tried to put Jackson Maitland out of her mind but for whatever reason she couldn't quite manage it. Whenever she paused from what she was doing he crept back in and a couple of times she found herself daydreaming about him. So much so that she was glad when the day was finally over.
"I... err I... need to see Danny so I'm going to wait for him." Michelle told her as they reached the gates, "Do you want to wait with me and see Nathan? Maybe sort out going to the dance with him?"
"No thanks, I'd rather stay at home."
She had just started to walk away when a voice startled her.
"Hi Debbie."
Both the girls jerked around to see Jackson ambling towards them.
"You going my way?"
"And which way is that?" Her heart had already started to flutter.
"Westmorland street, number 27. We moved in on Saturday." Virtually ignoring Michelle, he spoke directly to her.
"Really. We've got a flat in Haverford Park."
He seemed puzzled by her statement and she giggled, assuming he didn't know the street she lived on, "That's just five minutes away from me."
"Really? Care for some company then? As we're going the same way." Jackson suggested nonchalantly.
"Aren't you going to wait for Nathan?" Michelle interjected quickly, glaring at her friend, "He'll be out in a bit."
"Oh sorry. I didn't realise you were waiting for your boyfriend." Visibly embarrassed Jackson quickly turned and started to walk away.
"No, I'm not." Debbie hissed angrily at her friend, "I told you I don't want to go to that ball with him. I don't like him."
"But... I thought...."
She never got to finish her sentence as Debbie turned away and started to walk quickly after Jackson.
"Wait up. I'll walk with you."
Hearing her call out to him he stopped and turned back, waiting for her to catch up.
"Giving the boyfriend a miss?" The tone of his comment sounded more than a little brusque to her.
"I don't have a boyfriend." She declared rather more tartly than she intended.
"Really? Nathan seems to think you are or you will be."
"Well, he's not my boyfriend, he never was and he's not going to be."
Debbie was starting to get a little annoyed, mostly because his misconceptions seemed to be making him indifferent towards her.
Jackson shrugged apathetically, "Whatever, it's really none of my business."
She stopped and grabbed his arm pulling him around to face her.
"Can we start again, please? We got off on the wrong foot and... well I'd like to be friends."
"I'd like that to." His amiable grin sent a shiver of desire down her spine and again she felt a warm moistness at the top of her thighs.
It wasn't what she wanted but it was better than nothing although the fact that Nathan obviously had designs on her worried her. She had never given him any encouragement and she wondered whether Michelle was stirring things. The boy she had started seeing, Danny Griffiths, was good friends with Nathan Tanley and she was clearly keen to match her up with him so they could double date.
Pushing it out of her mind for the moment she set off towards home, walking alongside Jackson as she chatted amiably trying to get to know him a little better.
By the time they parted fifteen minutes later; him to go to his new house while she continued on her way, she felt a little happier.
He had no girlfriend hidden away where he had come from and had just moved to town with his mother after the death of his father almost a year before. At nineteen he was a year older than her and hoped to spend time travelling after college before he found a job, although he had no idea what he wanted to do.
Over the next couple of weeks, the pair fell into an easy routine, walking to college together most mornings and then again strolling home whenever Jackson wasn't training with the football team or working out in the gym.
It was both satisfying and frustrating for her. Being so near to him and sensing what she saw as his reluctance to get closer did nothing to diminish her feelings for him. In fact, the more she got to know him the more it confirmed what she already knew; she was head-over-heels in love with him.
Nathan did try on a couple of occasions to ask her to the fresher's ball, getting a rejection from her the first time and an
'I'll think about it.'
the second time. Not that she wanted to date him but she did wonder if going with him might make Jackson just a little bit jealous.
With Michelle also trying to persuade her she was still without a date and beginning to weaken when, just a couple of days before the ball, it happened.
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The days after he started college were busy one's for Jackson.
Apart from his studies he also attended the trials for the football team and was immediately selected to play at centre-half for them. That meant he had to go to training two evenings a week. He also registered at the college gym, wanting to keep up his other fitness routines.
Despite all of this Debbie Randall was seldom far from his thoughts.
Once he was over the initial shock of realising that he was in love with her he spent some time trying not to become too disheartened by the fact that she saw him as nothing more than an acquaintance.
He had begrudgingly accepted that they could be friends in the hope that perhaps it might become something more in the future. However, the longer things went on the more likely it seemed that that wasn't going to happen and the more miserable he felt.
Nathan was still bragging about how he was taking the cute little blonde in year 1 to the ball with the intention of finally
'nailing her'.
Hearing that, it didn't take a lot of imagination on Jackson's part to visualise Debbie with him.
Added to that was the fact that he had seen the two of them talking on a few occasions. Then when he had overheard Debbie's friend Michelle encouraging her to go to the ball with him he had more or less given up hope of asking her out.
