FicWad

A/N: Now, this is a very long chapter, but it is also the second to last. So that's nice. The final chapter will be posted within the next few days, it is already done and written, but I would rather post it a bit later :)

Chapter 44: Wouldn’t it be nice to fly away?

Gia Way put down the history book when she heard her phone ring.

“What’s up?” she answered the phone, not even bothering to say hello.

Hazel’s judgemental voice came from the phone. “Dude, I swear if you had your face buried in a book again, I will murder you.”

Gia glanced at the book that was now on the floor next to her black beanbag chair. “Uhh...”

“The finals were over a week ago, you have to stop stressing about them. We all know you aced them.”

“I can’t help it,” the blonde girl groaned. “I swear I got something wrong!”

“Stop it. Now, what are you doing tonight?”

Gia sighed. She was feeling rather gloomy, and for a reason. Her eyes wandered over to the turquoise dress hanging from the closet door. “Sitting in my room I guess. I can’t believe Lucas is busy on our prom night. I mean yeah, it was cancelled, but I figured we might do something else, you know? And he’s like fatally wounded, what can he even be busy with? If it’s another Star Wars marathon with Danny, I’m going to kill both of them. Sorry.”

“No biggie,” Hazel said, not even phased that her best friend just threatened to kill both of their boyfriends.

“Hey, are you busy tonight? I could come over, we could watch a movie or something.” Before Hazel could reply, Gia heard the distant sound of a doorbell downstairs, and right after Lindsey called her name. “Nevermind, I’ll have to call you back,” she said, hanging up the phone and with much difficulty, she rose from the beanbag chair.

Very lazily she pulled on some shorts from the floor, because hey, who knows who’s downstairs, and going down there in just a tshirt and panties wasn’t the best idea. Last time she did, Frank was there along with some other guests, and she got so embarrassed that to make her feel better, Frank removed his own pants.

Once she got downstairs, Gia was so surprised by the sight that she nearly fell over. “What the hell?!”

“My baby!” Frank screeched out, spreading his arms wide out, expecting the teen to run to him. Gia however simply stood there, her mouth gaping open. And it wasn’t Frank she was surprised about. It was Lucas. She had never seen him look so... Nice.

“Wow,” she finally said. Lucas was a bit embarrassed as he adjusted his tie. The black tux he wore fit him well, and for once his scruffy, messy hair was combed.

“I look like a penguin,” the boy laughed.

“No you look good. Really good.”

Gia realized that perhaps she stared at him a tad too long when she suddenly heard her father clear his throat. She hadn’t even noticed him lurking in the corner by the door. He did not look like a very happy camper. Lindsey shot her husband a look which Gia identified as the ‘we talked about this, now shut your mouth or I will murder you in your sleep’ -look, which had recently become a household-favorite.

“So... What is this all about?” Gia asked, now realizing that she had no idea why her boyfriend was cosplaying James Bond.

“Well... If you still want to go, there’s a prom out there and I have these tickets...” Lucas pulled out two tickets that would get them inside the prom, and Gia snached them away from him.

“But the prom was cancelled,” she remarked after verifying that the tickets looked real.

“Yeah,” Lucas nodded. “Let’s just say I pulled some strings and -”

Frank could not keep quiet any longer. “I DID IT!”

“Dude,” Lucas said, obviously disappointed that his chance to look cool and gain some major boyfriend-points was stolen away from him.

“Well, your dad did it, actually. He talked to the school peeps and when they wouldn’t budge, he threw another prom and it’s been hell keeping it from you but we did it and I was in charge of decorations and I brought ALL of my makeup to help you get ready quickly!”

“Is that true?” Gia asked her boyfriend in shock. “MY dad?” Then she looked at her father, and saw that he looked like he was regretting his entire life.

“Yeah,” Gerard admitted.

“But... What?!” Gia asked.

“It was his idea,” Gerard explained, nodding his head towards Lucas. “I went to see him when he was at the hospital and hey, he saved your life, so I owed him a favor. I offered him a car but apparently a prom is more important.”

Gia glanced at her boyfriend and with a low voice, she said: “You should’ve taken the car.”

“I thought a prom would be more -”

“Your car smells like dog poop!”

Lucas laughed. “That’s because once there was this dog that took a dump on the back seat and it’s still there. Not the dog, the poop” When no one was laughing with him, his face assumed a more serious expression and he said: “Yeah I guess that’s gross. Anyway, as I was saying... I know it’s last minute, but do you want to go with me to the prom?”

All of a sudden Gia became very aware that she was only wearing a tshirt and shorts that were covered in dog hair, and her hair looked like it had never even seen a comb. “Yeah I’d love to! But... I’d have to get ready!”

Looking about as excited as an eight-year-old on his birthday, Frank stepped in and announced: “That’s where I come in! I’m going to help you look totes fabulous!” Frank grabbed Gia’s hand and violently pulled her up the stairs to her room.

Now that Gia and Frank had disappeared, Lucas began to feel a pair of eyes drilling a hole to the back of his head. Danger seemed to be very near, and pleadingly he glanced at Lindsey.

“Sorry, you’re on your own,” the woman said, looking very apologetic.

Lucas took a deep breath and faced the man. “Let’s have a talk,” Gerard said and disappeared through a door into the kitchen, and Lucas had no other choice but to follow him to his doom.

“Sit,” came the sharp command, and the boy obeyed. He took a seat by the small, round table in the kitchen. Gerard took his time by the counter, pouring some hot coffee into two cups.

“Sugar?”

“Excuse me?” Lucas asked. That was not the first question he had been expecting.

“Do you take sugar with your coffee or not?”

“Just milk, please.”

Lucas realized pretty soon that the purpose of this coffee-making and painful prolonging of the conversation they were about to have, was just to make Lucas squirm. And he hated admitting it, but it was working. While Gerard seemed to accept Lucas as his daughter’s boyfriend now, Lucas realized that this didn’t stop him from giving him a very menacing pre-prom talk.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Gerard sat down. He placed the other cup in front of Lucas, and took a long gulp from his own cup. “So,” he began after setting down the cup. “What are your plans tonight?”

“Uh... I don’t understand the question,” Lucas replied. He started to feel sweaty, and he wanted to remove his jacket but he was afraid of doing any sudden movements.

“I mean, what are you planning on doing with my daughter this evening? At the prom?” If you didn’t know the man, you may assume that he was just doing casual conversation. Lucas knew better.

“Um, just dancing, talking, stuff like that.”

“No after-parties? Not planning on spiking the punch bowl and getting her drunk?”

Lucas shook his head fiercely. “No sir, just the prom, I swear, and no alcohol. I’ll have her home straight after we leave the prom and she’ll be completely sober.”

Gerard nodded, the expression on his face was very pleasant and peaceful and Lucas was almost fooled into letting his guard down. Then came the comment he had not been expecting. “Good, good. So then, you don’t mind that I cancelled your hotel reservations?”

Lucas froze. He felt all the blood escape his brain and suddenly he forgot how to breathe. The pleasant look disappeared from Gerard’s face and it turned into something very threatening.

“Now you listen to me, alright? You may have saved her life and I thank you for that. But she is still my daughter and if you think you can just fuck her like some whore, I swear, I will kill you. I will take a dull, rusty knife and I will stab you to death with it. Then I will take a chainsaw and I will chop you to tiny pieces and stuff you into a box, which I will mail to myself and when it arrives, I will cook you and make soup of those cooked pieces of you, and then I will invite your parents for dinner and I will make them eat it.”

Lucas didn’t know what to say. What does one say after hearing something like that? “Um... My parents are vegetarians,” he finally managed to stammer out.

Gerard ignored him. “I believe I have made myself very clear with how I feel about you... procreating with my Gia.”

“Yes sir, crystal clear,” Lucas replied with a nod.

“However, I am a merciful man,” Gerard continued, making Lucas want to roll his eyes. “I am willing to extend the curfew to eight o’clock.”

“Eight?! It’s already six! It’ll take at least a half an hour for her to get ready, another half an hour to get there!”

“Which should give you an hour of appropriate fun.”

Lucas shook his head. This was the one thing he would not cave on. “Midnight.”

If Gerard had had something in his mouth, he would have spat it out dramatically. “No way! Nine is my final offer!”

“At least give us until eleven!”

“Nine thirty!”

Lucas was starting to feel really panicked, but to his luck that’s when Lindsey decided to enter the room. “How are you boys doing?”

Gerard immediately gave his wife the innocent puppy dog eyes and said: “He wanted to keep Gia out until midnight!”

“It’s our prom!” Lucas argued. “What do you think we’re gonna do, ditch the prom and head for Vegas? Linds, can’t you convince him or something?”

Lindsey sighed tiredly. She loved Gia, but honestly, she couldn’t wait for her to go to college so she wouldn’t have to act as the middleman between these two anymore. She crouched down beside her sitting husband and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her mouth was right next to his ear and she kissed his neck lightly. Very softly she whispered something to him, and although Lucas was curious about what it was, he looked away and tried not to listen.

In the end Gerard sighed. “Fine. Midnight. But if you step over the line by even one second, I will personally make sure you never have kids!”

Lucas instinctively crossed his legs to guard his valuables, and when Gerard stormed out of the room, the boy looked at the woman in wonder. “How do you do it?”

Lindsey looked very pleased of herself as she smiled proudly. “Boobs,” she explained. “It’s a superpower all women have. We try not to overuse it, though, but I figured it’s a special occasion.”

Lucas nodded understandingly.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Lucas was slouching down on the couch in the living room with Bandit constantly trying to pull on his fancy shoelaces. Lindsey had the camera ready, and Gerard was sitting on a chair, looking as alert as a watchdog.

“How long do you think they’ll still be?” Lucas asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. They weren’t late at all, but the room was hot and last time Lucas had taken his jacket off, Bandit ran away with it and hid it in the backyard flower beds.

“She’s a girl, it takes time to get ready,” Lindsey said very happily. She was as excited about Gia’s prom as she had been about her own years ago.

All of a sudden Frank dashed into the room. He had some makeup on his face, for some reason, and that color of fuchsia which he had smeared all over his lips and chin did not suit him. “Okay, she’s ready to come down. Oh my, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry!” Then he proceeded to burst into tears and dashed back to the hallway with the stairs. Lindsey and Lucas followed him, with Bandit dragging behind him, attached to his shoelaces.

When Lucas saw her come down, it was as if by instinct that the smile spread on his lips. She wore a turquoise dress which reached just above her knees, with a fitted top that created some illusion of a larger chest, and a bottom that was somewhat poofy, but not overly so. Her hair was straight, as it always was, but somehow the blonde color seemed brighter. Also, Lucas was very glad to see that the fuschia lipstick was just on Frank.

Gia came down the stairs and stopped in front of her boyfriend. Lindsey was circling around them, snapping photos like the paparazzi, Gerard eyed them with that vicious aura practically radiating from his person, Bandit had abandoned the shoelaces and curiously grabbed handfuls of Gia’s poofy skirt, and Frank was lying on the floor in fetal position, weeping silently and muttering about not being able to bear it.

“You look... I mean, really... Hot,” Lucas stuttered out. “What do you say we ditch the prom and get a room?”

“I’m still here,” Gerard pointed out with a very stern tone of voice.

Lindsey had a completely different tone. “Oh, you two look so grown up! Be good tonight, alright? You have to go so you don’t miss it!”

They had a feeling that Lindsey pushed them out of door so hastily just so that Gerard couldn’t start fussing about abstinence. However, they could still see his face from the window, watching their every move.

Outside on the street in front of the house there was the fanciest limousine Gia had ever seen. Not that she had seen many limos in her life, but it was still pretty fancy. Frank, who had somehow managed to make it outside from the pool of tears was now waiting by the limousine door. He wore a chauffeur’s hat and jacket, and his upper lip was decorated with a fake black scoundrel’s mustache.

“Your carriage, madam, sir,” Frank said with such a bad british accent, and opened the door.

Gia climbed inside the limo and Lucas got in after her. Inside, Hazel and Danny were already waiting.

“Thank god, finally!” Danny sighed in relief. “Hazel already emptied the minibar from peanuts and I think she’s about to eat the leather seats next.”

“You haven’t been waiting too long, have you?”

“Just about ten minutes,” Danny shrugged. “Would’ve been longer but Frank was a bit late.”

“Wait, Frank drove you?” Gia asked. “But he was here with me the whole time!”

Danny and Hazel glanced at each other. “No,” Hazel said slowly. “He picked us up and since then he’s been waiting here with us.”

The four of them exchanged freaked out looks, and then glanced towards the small window that separated the back of the car from the driver. Frank was already there, re-gluing the mustache on his face. Oh well.

Half an hour later the limo pulled up by the side of a building and the four teens got out of the car. Frank shut the door after they had all gotten out, adjusted his fake mustache and bowed to them.

“Have a pleasant evening, sirs and ladies,” Frank said as he was bowing so low that his nose was nearly touching the pavement. When he straightened his back, he added: “And Gia, no hanky-panky!”

“Oh, Frank, go away,” Gia sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Teens,” Frank grumbled. “Always with the attitude.” He got back into the limo and drove away as Gia, Lucas, Hazel and Danny made their way to the door of the large hotel.

“So... My insane abstinence-preaching father decides to throw me a prom at a hotel?” Gia asked.

“Only place available,” Lucas shrugged as they went inside. “Not that I’m complaining,” he added, flashing a wide grin to his girlfriend and as a response, he received a slight nudge of an elbow on his side.

There were some dressed up teens loitering around the hotel lobby, but as they followed the signs, the noise of chatter, laughter and music became louder and louder. Outside of the large room where the prom was held, there was a very bored looking boy sitting by a table, wearing an ill-fitting tux.

“Tickets, please,” the boy said with a tone of voice that made it very clear just how tired he was of existing in this world. When Hazel handed him the tickets for herself and Danny, the boy raised his eyebrows.

“I know you,” he said to Danny. “You don’t even go to Belleville High anymore. And you,” he then continued, looking at Hazel and her baby bump which was very large now that she was on her eighth month of pregnancy. “Are you sure you should be partying with that?”

Hazel’s cheeks turned crimson from the anger she was bursting with. Very proudly she threw her hair back and chin up. “Listen here, you little shit, I have as much right to be at my prom as anybody else, and you can’t stop me from bringing my boyfriend, no matter who you think you are you insignificant pile of -”

They never found out what pile the boy was, as Danny, who was all too used to this behavior by the hormonal pregnant girl, pulled her away and into the crowded room.

The large room where the prom was held was dimly lit, the high ceiling was decorated with small lights that looked like stars. Gia was pleased to see that the decorating wasn’t limited to just toilet paper. Some chairs and tables were lining two sides of the room, and there was a stage at the back of the room with musical instruments already set up. Most of the teens in the room were already dancing in the middle of the room.

“Hey! You guys made it!” said Frank, appearing behind them as they were looking at the snacks. “You have to try the cheese dip, it is to die for. Gia, you look hot, give me some sugar!”

Gia’s cheek was kissed by her uncle Frank, and when she noticed what he was wearing, her eyes widened in wonder. “When did you have time to change?”

“What do you mean? I’ve been wearing this all day!” Frank laughed, gesturing at the simple t-shirt and black skinny jeans. “Let me tell you, I haven’t had much time to do anything. It’s a lot of work creating a prom out of scratch! I’ve been working my butt off for hours. And it’s a tough job, chaperoning a prom! Hey, if you kids need any condoms, you know where to find me! I’ll be here all night, okay?”

Frank dashed off, and Gia’s brain had a momentary seizure. When Frank’s final words sunk in, she turned very slowly to her boyfriend. “Lucas? What the hell?” she asked in a very faint voice. In fact, she sounded almost like she was about to puke out her guts.

“Surprise?” Lucas replied, looking and sounding rather apologetic.

“My uncle is at my prom,” Gia said, and she was clearly having some difficulty breathing. “My uncle is at my prom!” she repeated in panic, her breathing nothing but a wheezing sound.

Lucas began to realize that perhaps this was a bigger problem in Gia’s mind than it actually was. “Hey, relax,” he said, laughing lightly. “He’s just chaperoning. And it’s not like it’s your dad, Frank won’t even bother us at all. You won’t even know he’s here! We’ll be just fine. I can even do this,” at this point he paused, closed the gap between them and kissed her on the lips, making her smile lightly. “And he won’t even know,” he finished after breaking off the kiss. He took her hand and nodded towards the dance floor where most of the teens were dancing to the beats of a generic techno song. “Now, how about we go dance?”

“Okay,” Gia replied and followed him to the dance floor. “But if he tries to start preaching about leaving room for Jesus or something like that, I swear I will go all Carrie on this prom.”

As Lucas and Gia danced and had fun, Danny and Hazel had other plans. While Hazel was preoccupied by the offerings of the table full of food, Danny sneaked over to the punch bowl and pulled out a small flask from his pocket. Snickering, he emptied the whole flask into the bowl.

Two hours later all four of them were sitting around a table. Hazel had grown tired of dancing within the first two minutes on the dance floor, and since then she had pretty much only eaten everything she could get her dirty paws on. Gia and Lucas had slow-danced, jumped around, made out in a corner... Well. Now they were both pretty beat, but Lucas was even more so.

“I think my legs need to be amputated,” Lucas complained and rubbed the spot on his chest where he had the bandages.

“Does it hurt?” Gia asked, looking very concerned.

He knew she meant the wound, not his legs, so he shook his head. “No it’s fine, just a bit uncomfortable.”

“I’m bored!” Danny announced and glared at his girlfriend. “If I knew it was going to be this boring and you were going to do nothing but eat, I would’ve just taken you to McDonalds.”

“How dare you say I’m fat!” Hazel gasped and then proceeded to chew on the brownie Danny stuffed into her mouth to shut her up.

Danny then nodded at Gia and asked: “You wanna go dance?”

Gia raised an eyebrow at Lucas and after he shrugged, she said: “Yeah, sure.”

“You don’t mind, do you?” Danny asked Hazel, but the girl was too preoccupied by the mountain of brownies on her plate. So he and Gia stood up, and Danny led her to the dance floor. For a moment Lucas watched them dance and laugh. Eventually it got boring, and he asked Hazel: “You want something to drink?”

The girl set down the plate she’d been licking clean and pondered it for a moment. “Yeah, bring me a coke. Or two. And see if they have any more of those delicious pizza rolls! I want something salty.”

They had those delicious pizza rolls. Lucas knew that Hazel would only smack him if he was too stingy with the food, so he was hoarding the rolls onto a plate and even sticking one into his pocket.

“Lucas?”

The boy froze, with a pizza roll half in his mouth. He recognized that voice all too well. He closed his eyes and was certain that if he just didn’t move, she could not see him. Of course, this was not the case. A hand lightly touched his shoulder and he sighed.

“You in there?” Janie asked with a small chuckle.

“Hey Janie,” Lucas said after removing the pizza roll from his mouth. “What’s up?”

“Not much,” the girl shrugged. She looked very pretty, her brown hair was curled so that it fell to her shoulders and her amber colored dress was long, but it fit her figure extremely well.

“You look good.”

“Thank you, so do you,” Janie replied, obviously delighted by the compliment. She then glanced at the dance floor where Danny was doing the robot and Gia was laughing her butt off. “And... Gia looks very good, too.”

“She does.”

The happy, carefree smile on Janie’s lips turned to a frown. She shook her head and looked right at Lucas. “She doesn’t deserve you.”

“What?” he asked, confused by the sudden change in tone.

“Don’t you know what they say about her?” Janie continued. “Before she moved back here, she had sex with pretty much anyone who bothered to ask for it.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”

“So you’re saying it’s not true?” When he didn’t reply, she continued: “Lucas, she’s not good for you. I know you think you love her but are you sure it’s not just because she puts out?”

Lucas didn’t say anything, he just looked at Gia who's laughing was now reduced to giggling as she and Danny danced. Of course Janie wasn’t right. Sure, Gia may have had acted a tad promiscuous back in Connecticut, but hey, it was not Lucas’ choice that they hadn’t had sex in ten months and twenty-eight days. Yes, he counted.

During the pause in the conversation, Janie had closed the gap between them and now placed her hands on his shoulders. Lucas was forced to look at her, and he was too flabbergasted to move away.

“Lucas... You don’t realize how good you are. You should be with someone who appreciates you.”

Janie’s face was now uncomfortably close to his, and with horror he realized what was happening when he smelled the alcohol in her breath. “Are you drunk?” he asked.

“No, all I’ve had is the punch,” she laughed. “Kiss me?”

“I have a girlfriend,” he protested, attempting to yank himself free.

“Lucas, you can’t deny that you still have feelings for me,” Janie insisted. “Can you honestly look me in the eyes and say that you’d rather be with her?”

Lucas threw one last glance at Gia and saw that Danny was now leading her in a waltz that definitely didn’t go with the techno beat that was blasting from the speakers. “Yes,” Lucas finally replied. “I’m sorry.”

Janie shook her head and it was clear from her expression that she was disappointed. “Yeah, you will be sorry,” she said and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

Lucas returned to the table where Hazel was glaring daggers at anybody who dared to look at her bulging stomach twice. He sat down and sighed deeply.

“You seem sad, are you okay?” the girl asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Then you have no excuse to not bring me food! Ugh, you’re useless!” The hormonal teen rose from her chair and wobbled over to the snacks. Lucas watched as she used her wide hips and elbows to push off anybody who was in her way, but his attention soon turned to Gia and Danny who returned from the dance floor.

“Where did Hazel go?” Danny asked, and he gasped when Lucas nodded towards the snack table. “Wait, is she drinking from the punch bowl?”

As Danny rushed over to his hungry girlfriend, Gia sat down on the chair beside Lucas and drank the remaining of his drink. “Are you okay?” she asked after a moment, noticing how quiet he’d gotten.

“Yeah I’m fine,” he replied and was about to tell her about Janie, but decided that it wasn’t worth it. No reason to make her paranoid and worried now. “Hey, you still wanna dance?”

Gia looked at him innocently and smiled. She grabbed his hand which was playing with a napkin on the top of the table, and she said: “You know, we can do other stuff.”

For a moment he looked at her emptily, obviously not getting what she meant. “Like what stuff?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well we ARE at a hotel, aren’t we?”

When the realization finally settled into his brain, he suddenly felt like passing out. He gulped, feeling like his stomach dropped all the way to his feet. “Are you serious?” His thoughts stopped at the conversation he’d just had with Janie, but that didn’t last very long. Then he briefly thought about the conversation he’d had earlier with Gia’s father, but hey, it’s not like he was going to find out. All he could think about was ten months and twenty-eight days. Ten months and twenty-eight days.

Gia shrugged. Her fingers entwined with his. “Yeah. I mean, if you want... You didn’t happen to book a room already, did you?”

Lucas felt like hitting himself. “I did... Your dad cancelled it.”

Gia giggled. “Well there’s no need to be so down. We can get a another room.”

She had no time to react. Her chair fell over when she was suddenly yanked up from it, and she felt as if her shoulder may actually dislocate when Lucas dragged her across the room and to the lobby. Nonetheless, she couldn’t help but giggle at him. The expression on his face was absolutely solemn; he clearly took this mission very seriously.

“We need a room!” Lucas announced to the receptionist at the lobby, digging out his wallet from his pocket, and slamming a wad of cash on the desk.

The receptionist stared at him for a moment. Then, he scrunched up his nose, deciding that he did not like this horny little teenager, and glanced at Gia who was partly hiding behind her boyfriend’s shoulder, trying hard not to laugh. “And for how long would you like a room?” the receptionist finally asked, pressing some keys on the keyboard of the computer.

“One night,” Lucas replied, wishing the snobby man would be a bit quicker.

“Would you like a room with a single bed or two beds?”

Lucas stared at the man for a moment in disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Yes I suppose a single bed would be most suitable,” the man said. Gia realized that he glanced at her judgingly, and for some reason, that only made her want to laugh more.

“May I have your name, please?”

Lucas groaned and hit his head on the counter rather hard. It took them nearly five minutes to get the key card, and by the Lucas was nearly a wreck. “What a dick,” he huffed when they left the receptionist and got into the elevator.

“Well he was just doing his job,” Gia said, but Lucas didn’t even care. The second the doors of the elevator closed, Lucas grabbed her by the waist and kissed her. He pushed her against the wall of the elevator and she would’ve fallen over from the surprise if he hadn’t held her so tightly. She kissed back, but gasped in shock when she felt something against her thigh.

“Lucas,” she gasped, looking down.

“Shut up, it’s been a long time,” he grunted and attempted to kiss her again. However, this had reminded Gia of something very important.

“Do you have... you know, protection?”

Lucas’ face fell and he looked like he was about to cry. “Oh no,” he gasped in horror. He couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten something so important. Then, a glimmer of hope. “But aren’t you on the pill?”

Gia sighed, pushing him away. Straightening her skirt, she said: “Yeah but it’s already failed me once. Lucas, I want this as much as you do but I won’t do it without a condom. Can’t you run to the store and get some?”

“Not without dying, first! The nearest shop is four blocks away! I mean I could get a cab but I don’t know if my balls would be that patient.”

She honestly felt bad for him. And she was disappointed, too. So, very gently she placed a hand on his chest and ran it up to his shoulder. It trailed to his neck and she pulled his face closer to hers. Her other arm wrapped around his neck as well and she kissed that spot under his jaw that she knew would make him shiver. She was right; a cold shiver went through his spine and he felt very weak. “I promise it’ll be worth it,” she said softly and right at that moment, the elevator stopped and the doors opened at their floor.

“Okay, new plan,” Lucas announced, pushing her out of the elevator. “You go into the room and wait there, don’t even move, and don’t you dare start without me!”

Gia had no time to reply before the doors closed behind her and Lucas was gone. She shrugged and went to find their room.

Lucas tapped his foot and he felt like he was slowly going insane because of how incredibly slow the elevator was. Finally, after what seemed like a million years, he heard the ding sound and the doors opened. He dashed out of the metal box and ran for the doors.

“Dude, what’s the hurry?” a familiar voice asked. Lucas was forced to stop running and look at the boy who was talking to him. It was a guy from his homeroom.

“I gotta go to the store and get some condoms!” Lucas blurted out, not even realizing that he was being a tad too loud. The snobby receptionist looked up from his computer and apparently he was very displeased.

The boy laughed. “Haven’t you heard? There’s some guy around here in a trench coat who’s giving out condoms for free. Find him. And hey, you’re with Gia Way, right? Nice!”

For a moment Lucas smiled that stupid, proud smile because his girlfriend had been complimented, but then he remembered his task. A guy in a trench coat, right.

Lucas did not need to look very long. There was a swarm of guys in tuxedos gathered in a corner of the lobby, behind some tall potted plants. He waited for the other guys to disappear, and then he finally saw the trench coated man.

“Frank?” he asked in disbelief when the man removed his sunglasses. He didn’t really know why he was so shocked. This whole thing had Frank written all over it; he should’ve guessed.

“Lucas! What do you need?” Frank asked, opening his trench coat. Condoms, brochures, and even small tubes of lube were attached to the inside of the coat, and Lucas looked at them in wonder. Suddenly he felt very conscious that he was asking his girlfriend’s uncle for condoms. Then again, it’s not like Frank hadn’t offered and given him condoms before.

“What will it be, then? These ones are colored, I’ve got red, blue and green, these are ribbed - for her pleasure, and these taste like bacon!” Frank explained very excitedly.

“Just... normal ones will do,” Lucas replied. His face was starting to get red from the embarrassment.

Frank handed him some of the small packets and Lucas stuffed them into his pockets. “And hey, before you go, I’d like you to take some of these brochures, I think you’ll find them very interesting, here...”

Lucas read the titles from two of the brochures Frank forced on him. ‘How to tickle your pickle’, ‘How to properly put on a condom and why it matters’ and, the best of all, ‘What is the G-spot and how to navigate to it’.

“Show them to Gia, I think she’ll like them. Have fun! But not too much fun, she’s still my baby!”

Lucas felt slightly awkward as he had the brochures balled up in his fist and the condoms safely in his pocket. However, when he got back into the elevator, he remembered what was waiting for him on the third floor, room 315. He glanced at the watch on his wrist. Nine thirty. Plenty of time until midnight.

The second he heard the ding and the doors opened, he dashed out of the elevator and ran down the halls. There was no time to be wasted. Hastily he knocked on the door of room 315 and when it was opened, he -

But wait. The person who opened the door was a burly, hairy man in his underwear. “Yes?” the man growled.

“Uh... I think I have the wrong room,” Lucas stammered out and caught a glimpse of another man, stark naked on the bed before the door was closed. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the image in his head, and went to the next door. Maybe it was 316?

He knocked on door 316, and waited anxiously. Now that this was really happening, he was starting get a bit nervous. After all, ten months and twenty-eight days was a long time, maybe he’d forgotten how to do it? Maybe that son of a bitch Sean had had a bigger dick than he did? As much as Lucas wanted to do this, now he was beginning to feel slightly hesitant.

But when the door opened and Gia stood there in her turquoise dress, with a shy smile on her lips and a brightness in her eyes, Lucas felt his stomach turn and then all the nervousness and anxiety were gone.

“Hey,” he said, feeling like an idiot for not figuring out anything else to say. Then, Gia’s hand reached for him, grabbed onto his tie, pulling him into the room. He felt his heart begin to beat like a drum when she stood so close to him, and he could feel her body against his. She looked up at him and he felt her cold, soft hand on the back of his neck, playing with his dark hair. It felt nice, and the coldness of her hand sent shivers down his spine; the good sort of shivers. She bit her bottom lip, and then he could not contain his hunger any longer. He kissed her hard, his arms wrapping around her waist tightly, as if afraid to let go. His other leg kicked the door, and it closed, and the rest of the world outside that hotel room stopped existing.