Curiosity Killed the Cat (Meeka)

"Well, fine then! I helped you out of this mess, if you do go running back, just don't dare to drag Trig into it with you!" I'm fuming, standing in the newly aquired kitchen, across from my equally frustrated mother. Though of course, being the overly emotional one, she's already tearing up. I let out an exasperated sigh when I see this. "Look, mum, don't you see what he's doing? He's making you feel guilty... it's a vicious circle. Please, just try and start a new life."

It's true, my father had been waiting at the marketplace for my mother to shop, only to corner her and beg her to take him back. At one point he even cried, saying that he'd forgotten himself and it was only the alcohol. But it couldn't always be just the alcohol, and my mother had to see that. Only she wasn't, she was weak and she was caving at his pleas. If she goes back, I'll have lost all of my respect for her but I won't have her taking Trig. "I mean it. If you take him with you, I'll never forgive you."

With that, I stalk out of the kitchen. I push my bare feet into my worn boots. "I'll be back tomorrow morning!" With that, I wrench open the front door and let it fall closed with a bang that reverbrates through the entire house. I wince, thinking of Trig who is probably trying to sleep. It's thundering, there's even some lightning in the distance. I know where I want to go, the only person I can really stand to be with at the moment. I'm glad that she's calling the house we discovered the other night her new home.

I would have asked her to stay with us, but then sharing a room with her and Trig would get just a tad uncomfortable. Plus, I still don't think that mother quite likes Tammy. By the time I've reached the other side of town, which is sadly uncomfortably close to my old house and with it, my father, I'm soaked. I hope that Tammy's done what I told her to, which is to get a lock for the front door and lock it. I'm going to ask her about that once I get there.

So, I climb up the tree, soaking wet and frigid. It's slippery and I'm a little afraid of falling, but then all my woes are forgotten once I reach the window. It's dark inside, apparently the power went off in the thunder storm. I lightly push on the window, preparing to knock, but the pane gives away and the window opens slowly. I'm thin, so I crawl into the room, dripping water everywhere. I smirk slightly when she recognises me, without even turning. "You left the window open, " I remark, chuckling. But then I grow serious. "Did you lock the door?"

I sigh and grit my teeth, not wanting to let my annoyance with her show. "I wasn't kidding," I say furiously and tug at my shirt, wringing it between my hands to rid it of some of the thunderstorm that has decided to settle in the fabric. "Can't you take anything seriously?" Apparently not and despite my being annoyed, I crack a ghost of a smile at her comment.

"Well, aren't I special," I say with dryly, with a soft laugh. My brow knots in consternation as I look around the room. "Do you have any dry clothes for me? Mine got kind of... wet?" Though of course she's half-naked. Plus, she did see me without clothes only two days ago.

I shudder at the memory of the Peacekeepers' grimy cell. That is one place I will not be going back to. I frown. "Tammy... what are we going to do...?" But she's already disappeared, leaving me to wonder about our fate alone. I can't believe she's being so calm about the whole issue. Sure, we killed all of the Peacekeepers... none of them can identify us. But this is bad. Killing one Peacekeeper is very not good... killing practically all of a District's Peacekeepers is unthinkable. Until now.

I'm about to add something more to my thought, when a fluffy, blue something flies in my direction and hits me in the face. I choose to ignore her comment about the water and try to mop at least some of it off of my face. But it's no use, the water is already in my shirt and it's clinging to my body. It feels like a constraint and I don't like it much.

I ponder taking off my clothes and just keeping on my undergarments, when she's suddenly by my side, her arms across my shoulder creating an unecessary heat that I hadn't thought possible.. I flush, my mind conjuring up not-so-innocent thoughts. "Huh?" I actually did not hear what she said, my thoughts kind of trapped in a oneway street. "What did you say again?"

She said what? For a moment I am too dumbfounded to say anything and like and idiot, I just stand, watching her disappear from the room. My mind is swimming, a jumbled mess of thoughts, as I try to make sense of her last words. Maybe I just misheard her, yeah, that must be it. I mean, we've kissed and we've slept together... well, not in that sense... but the next step? I'm not sure if I can do that, plus, it looks like she has more experience than I do in any case.

I bite my lower lip nervously and look around the room. It's lit by the one lantern and the window is still open. I can hear the rain pelting against the window pane as the sky relentlessly waters the earth. I breathe out, shivering as I stand in the room, unsure of what to do. She returns and at the brief contact, my body heat seems to skyrocket. She's so confident, I wish I could be as sure of myself as she is at the moment. But for some reason this is becoming increasingly difficult.

My mind isn't helping matters by switching between the thought of her skin against mine and the amount of trouble we're in. I'm beginning to worry a little too much, but you really can't blame me, considering what we've done. "I - uh - I guess I can sleep on the couch," I stutter, dumbly. But then I catch the teasing glint in her eyes. "Oh, you're wretched!" I say.

She's deliberately teasing me and the heat in my cheeks is just making it more difficult for me to focus. At her next question, I suddenly get what she means and I am entirely thankful for a distraction. I tug off my heavy boots and waterlogged socks, grimacing a little at the amount of water I am dragging in. I am only acutely aware of her eyes on me, so I grin and raise an eyebrow suggestively.

"Got a problem?" With that, I slowly pull off my shirt, gasping a little as the cold air in the house hits my wet skin. I shoot a look at the comfortable looking bed she's lying on top of. The thought of snuggling up under the blanket it rather tempting. So I shimmy out of my pants, throwing the soaking fabric on the floor with a dull thump. "Either you make room for me, or I pounce," I threaten with a laugh.

My eyes widen in surprise and horror as what she says begins to dawn on me. That's... dreadful. It dawns on me that I know nothing of the life she must have led since we were forced apart by my parents. "You did drugs?" I whisper. "At thirteen?" It's a horrid thought. She's never been little, at least not physically - not even then, at thirteen.

But the shock lingers and it's hard for me not to think in too much depth about what exactly she must have experienced. To not remember her first time, that's something I was always afraid of. So at all those parties I was invited to over the years, many guys have felt me up, but I always knew where to draw the line.

"I'm sorry, Tammy," I say, and I mean it. I wish I could have been there for her, but we both know that it never could have happened. But I did wait for her... and when she never came... I taught myself how to forget. In the end, I did. My breath hitches in my throat as vibrant images assualt my mind, triggered by her notion. "I trust you," I say.

It's the okay she needs and I hope she gets the underlining message underneath. That I trust her for me means more than those three words. It means that I'm giving myself to her, completely without any strings attached. I'm vulnerable, I'm terrified and thrilled at the same time. I've heard so many horror stories from girls in my class. Girls who said they had screamed, but the guys hadn't stopped until they were satisfied, that they ached for days afterwards. That is had been horrible and traumatic.

I didn't want mine to be like that, which is why I steered away from any guys who wanted to take the next step at a party. I return her kiss with equal enthusiasm, my hands absently fingering the straps of her bra. Her skin is warm and I shiver as my hands design intricate patterns into hers and her fingers do the same. As she pulls away I gasp, a low shudder running through me as an intense but unfamiliar feeling spreads through me from my abdomen upwards. I reach out, my hand caressing her cheek. "I... I..." but whatever I want to say has already left my mind and into oblivion as she delicately leans forwards and kisses me again.

...