Chapter Three

The ride home was horrible and long.I was absolutely exhausted and I felt like I was dreaming, or more appropriately having a nightmare. So when I came home to a police cruiser in my driveway I was more than a little disoriented.

I left my car running and moved toward my house as if my body were on auto-pilot.

"Whats going on?!" I asked feeling very panicky.

Richard was standing in the hallway next to my mom. He had his arm around her possesively, and she looked like hell. She had a blackeye, and her face was all blotchy as if she had been crying. I felt as the acid in my stomach boiled up to my throat, he literally made me sick.

"What the hell is this, mom, what did he do to you?" I was shaking now, because I just knew that Richard had done this.

"Nothing hunny, it was an accident."

"You're kidding!- You are kidding right? Because there is no way in hell you are this brainwashed!" I was livid.

"Lacey, I don't think you know what you're talking about." Richard offered with his signature smile.

The police officer closest to us cleared his throat before speaking to us. "Well ma'am, if you're sure that you're ok then we are going to leave, but please be sure to call us if you need us." He nodded at me on his way out.

"Come on sweetheart, lets get some ice for that eye." Richard was laying it on thick now. "You have to be more careful."

She just nodded, looking up at him like an obedient child. Then she turned to me, no doubt to try and explain this all away.

"I am so out of here." I murmered before she could say anything to me, I was sick of her making excuses for his behavior, this was completely unacceptable.

My mother's voice followed me out the door. "Lacey come back, you don't understand!"

I didn't even acknowledge her, I was out the door and in my car before she could say anything more, the car was still running from before so I slammed it into drive and sped off.

I was fuming but I didn't know where to go. So I found myself in the same parking lot as earlier.

I sat in my car staring at the little cafe through my windshield. It was packed again, I recognized some people from school in the booth at the window, Stephanie was there again. I took a deep breath and sobbed as a rogue tear streamed down my face.

What was I going to do?

I didn't feel like seeing all these people, well mostly I didn't want to see Stephanie. I knew I had come here hoping to bump into Gauge, but that would just cause more stress for me. I don't know why he had such an effect on me, and I was just about to start my car up again when I saw him.

He was walking out from the woods behind the building. I was wondering what he was doing in the woods when his head shot up and his eyes met with mine. There was no way he could see me from that far, especially in the dark interior of my car, but for some reason I knew he was looking right at me. My heart stuttered and I watched anxiously as he walked in my direction. I took a deep breath and accepted the fact that he was coming to talk to me. I could try to be his friend, but I knew that I would always want more. There was just something about him.

When he reached my car, he walked around to the passenger side and waited for me to unlock the door. I hastily fumbled with the power locks, and as soon as he got in the smell of pine surrounded me. I inhaled deeply with my eyes closed. The scent was oddly comforting to me. I kept my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Whats wrong? And don't say nothing, because I can tell something's definitely up." He demanded automatically.

"It's nothing, really- and how can you tell that somethings up?" I asked a little too harshly.

"I haven't been around you for long at all, but I have this theory about when you pinch the bridge of your nose like that. You seem to do it in times of stress, its like a nervous habit." He shrugged.

"Hmph." Was he always so observant?

"Look, I know you probably wont believe me, but I notice a lot about you." He shrugged as I looked at him in shock.

"I'm very observant you know." he said wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Right." I nodded looking through the windsheild at the people inside the cafe, Stephanie kept looking out the window in our direction. "I think your girlfriend is looking for you." I said sounding like a jealous psycho.

"Look, Lace I don't know what she has told you, but I'm not with her, and I'm not interested in her." He sounded frustrated.

My tummy flipped at the way he shortened my name, like we had known each other forever. I looked over at him now, he was staring down at his hands which were clasped in his lap. For some reason I got the urge to hold his hand in mine.

 He looked up at me and I couldn't look away. His eyes never ceased to amaze me.

"So you want to hear whats up, or not?" I asked shyly.

He smiled at me now, one corner of his mouth rising. "I'm all ears."

"Its kind of a long story." I said pointedly.

"I've got time." He shrugged.

So I told him pretty much everything that was bothering me, starting with all of Richard's rude remarks toward me. Then I moved on to how Mark basically ditched me for Alicia, and ended with how I came home to the cops at my house, my mom looking like a train wreck with all her poor excuses for Richard.

He didn't interrupt me once, he just let me vent and cry, which I did to my embarassment, but he was so good about all of it. He hesitated before catching one of my tears with his thumb, and then pulled me in for a hug.

"Sounds like you could use a good friend right about now." He whispered resting his chin on my head.

"You're telling me." I half sobbed half laughed. I felt crazy for telling him all that stuff, but he was great to talk to. It felt good to hug him, and I couldn't help but take in more of his scent while I was so close. For some reason it felt very comfortable and almost right to be in his arms, it felt like I was coming home after a long journey.

This was all too weird, I barely knew him!

"What are you going to do about Richard?" He asked, his lips inches from my hair.

I felt like the world was spinning. "I don't know, there is nothing I can do I guess."

"I can help you through this, if you want." He said quietly.

I knew I should have let go of him then, but his embrace was too heady of a feeling. I didn't want it to end so I stayed in his arms. I felt as his lips brushed against my hair, causing me to shivered a little. He must have thought it was upsetting me, because he pulled back quickly, staring out the window with a look of horror.

Then I saw what he was looking at, Stephanie was coming out of the cafe.

"She probably knows I'm over here." He sighed and added "And if she does hopefully she wont come over and bother us." He looked exhausted again, in fact everytime she was around he looked tired and wary.

I knew he was right because she seemed to be looking right at us, then she got into her own vehicle and just drove away. I wondered how she could know that he was in my car.

What, did everyone have impeccable vision around here?

I felt like it would be hard to see into a dark car, especially from that distance. Maybe I was crazy, maybe she didn't see us, maybe she was just looking in this general direction. I was probably just being paranoid.

He was still looking out the window when he started talking again. He told me to be careful of Stephanie, that she used people until she didn't need them anymore. That she liked to play games and that people usually got hurt on account of these games.

"Do you love her?" I blurted with out thinking.

Damn, what was wrong with me?

He made a noise that sounded like a snort. "No, I'm not and never was in love with her."

"Oh." I said lamely.

"She knew she couldn't have me, it's the whole 'wanting something you can't have' thing with her." He smiled with out humor, looking like there was more to the joke then he was letting on.

I bit my lip and looked up at him. His smile slowly faded and he started leaning towards me. I watched with a sense of fascination, with my heart hammering off my ribcage, as he bent down and touched his lips softly  to my forehead.

It felt electric where his lips brushed my skin.

He pulled back slowly, smirking at me. "So this Mark kid sounds like a moron." He said, grabbing my hand in his.

"He was my bestfriend." I said sadly.

"So did you ever, you know have a relationship, I mean romantically.." He trailed off looking kind of embarassed for asking.

"No, no! Mark was always like a brother to me, I mean not that he never tried moving in that direction, but I just couldn't do it."

"Oh." He said mimicking my earlier response to his feelings for Stephanie.

We sat in silence for a moment and then he leaned towards me again, and this time he was even more careful than before.

It seemed like forever and then his lips were on mine, and in that moment it felt as though nothing else mattered. He pulled me closer, running his hands down my arms. My whole body felt was thrumming with the weird electricity, and I never wanted the kiss to end, but he eventually pulled away.

"Sorry." He whispered. "I'm usually not like that." He said laughing a bit.

For some reason that set me off. "Right." I nodded finding it hard to believe that this was something he was new at. I don't know why he affected me this way, making me feel absolutely insane.

"Why don't  you don't trust me?" He was frowning now.

"Its just that its hard to believe that you haven't had a lot of experience with these sorts of situations." I gestured towards the close proximity of our bodies. "And I don't know you enough to trust you."

"Are you being serious right now?" He practically snorted at me.

"Well I mean let's face it, going out with a girl like Stephanie requires a lot more than deep conversation, and I highly doubt she is the only girlfriend you ever had, and I mean come on! I know I'm probably not your usual type." I was going to continue on my rampage, but he looked really hurt.

Wait scratch that he looked pissed.

"Well if that's what you think of me, then I don't know why I'm wasting my time!" He threw his hands up in the air and then proceeded to get out of my car. He was already walking away when I made my decision.

I jumped out of my car and called after him. "Wait!"

He continued walking with out so much as hesitating, asI ran after him. I tried calling his name, but he ignored me still. So, I flung myself at him full force, feeling every bit like the crazy girl who always seemed to hijack my body when he was around. I don't know why I did it, but it had definitely stopped him. I landed on him clumsily and we both fell to the ground.

"JESUS!" He shouted. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm sorry!" I gasped. "I don't know what came over me! I couldn't let you leave with out explaining myself."

I was a little breathless from hitting his body so hard, it was like hitting a boulder. It knocked the wind out of me so I just layed there for a moment, catching my breath, when I realized I was still on top of him, woops! I rolled off of him and onto my back beside him. We both just stared up at the night sky in silence.

"Gauge?" I whispered.

He was still silent so I decided to just continued with what I had to say. "I don't know what it is about you, but I feel like this crazy person when I'm around you. From the first time I saw you I just felt this strange pull, like you were this giant magnet and I was a tiny paper clip. I've never felt anything like that before, and I'm honestly kind of scared about it. I just think this is all happening way too fast, I mean I have only known you for a couple of days." I looked over at him now and sighed. "Maybe we should slow it down a little and just concentrate on being friends."

He turned his head to look at me, his ferrel eyes meeting with mine, and he nodded. "If that's what you want."
He mumbled as he got up and brushed the rubble off of his pants, then grunted a dull see you later disappearing back into the woods.

"Great." I moaned making no effort to get up off the cement where he left me. I layed like that for a while staring up into space until I couldn't stand the feeling of the cold biting at me.

I got up and dragged myself back to my car feeling even worse about everything, and started the engine. I was just about to pull out when I felt the extreme tingling sensation of being watched.

I put the car back into park again, and surveyed the lot around me, nobody was around. I shook my head and told myself to relax.

"Man, I really must be losing it." I whispered to no one, as I put the car in gear and drove out of the lot.