The weekend did fly by, as I expected it too. Seth was… Well, he was just amazing. Every day he had some fun filled romantic adventure planned for us. The next day, we spent the day riding horses all around his Grandpa’s property. He packed a picnic lunch and it was so nice just to be with him. That night, we had sex again, but this time… Well, it was even better than the last. We were able to take our time, and while I don’t want to get too much into it, can I just say that Seth knows how to push buttons I didn’t even know I had?

Saturday he took me out on the lake, to fish. We didn’t end up catching anything, but the opportunity to have sex on the water was just too much, so again, we did the deed. I had never enjoyed having sex with someone so much, and I didn’t think I would ever get my fill of Seth. I didn’t know what I would do once we were back home and not able to do this every day.

The last day we were there, Seth woke me up early.

“C’mon.” He whispered. “I want to show you something.”

I pulled myself out of the warm comfort of the bed, and out into the cold and still dark morning. He pushed me up onto a horse and climbed up behind me, and together we rode to a hill in the back of the farm.

“What are we doing here?” I said, sleepily.

“Shh…” He said, wrapping his arms around me and laying his head on my shoulder. “Just watch.”

A little while later, I saw the most gorgeous sunrise I had ever seen. The colors seemed to stretch on for miles, and I was completely breathless. Afterwards, Seth once again pulled out another picnic, a breakfast, and we ate it ontop of the hill, listening to the world wake up.

“Why are you doing all this?” I blurted out as he was pouring us orange juice.

“Doing what?” He asked, looking confused.

“You’re being so nice to me…”

He set down the jug of juice and looked at me. “Because you deserve it. You’ve been so busy trying to do things for everyone else… Helping Toni out, helping your boss get ready for camp, bringing my family good food while we were stuck at the hospital with Chloe…. I just really appreciate it. I’ve never met anyone quite like you. You make me want to do nice things for you.”

I looked away, suddenly overcome with the urge to cry. All of my relationships had been a fight. While I really liked all the guys I had been with… There was always something. Even with Drew… And while Seth did have family issues, he did try hard to keep me in the loop. He seemed like he was fighting for me too, and that was honestly the first time I had ever experienced that in a relationship.

I was sad when we left, so sad that I actually did cry, much to my embarrassment.

“Hey now.” Seth said, wiping away my tears. “We can come back. I promise.”

“I know. I’m being stupid.” I said.

“No you’re not. I feel like crying too.” He said, and though he was smiling teasingly, I got the feeling that he was telling the truth. “It was a fantastic weekend, wasn’t it?” He added wistfully.

I nodded. Then blurted out “I don’t know how I’m gonna sleep without you.” I blushed, embarrassed. I didn’t mean to be that honest.

“Well. If you don’t mind, I supposed I could stay at your house again.”

“I don’t mind at all. I’ll even let you sleep in my bed this time.” I said laughing.

“OK then. I just need to stop by the house and pick up some stuff.”

The ride back was a lot quieter than the ride to the house. I ended up falling asleep, tired from the weekends activities and waking early this morning. Before I knew it, we were pulled up in front of his house, and he was shaking me awake.

“You wanna come in, or you want to wait out here?”

“I’ll come in, I haven’t seen your family in awhile.”

Through my visits at the hospital, I had gotten much closer to all of them, even Ian. He was still quiet around me, but at least greeted me with a smile and a hello. We also played hours of spades together, and though at first it unnerved me to play a game with someone in almost complete silence, I later appreciated Ian’s ability to sit in quiet. He didn’t feel the need to fill the air with mindless chatter, he was able to just be. I envied him for that.

I walked in the house and was greeted with a smile and a head nod from Ian and his father, who were engrossed in some sort of video game. His Mom was in the kitchen, and greeted me with a hug.

“Hey Ella!” She said. She was an older clone of Chloe, just as beautiful, but with laugh lines etched into face. “How did you like Grandpop’s house?”

“Oh my God, it was beautiful! Really just wanted I needed!” I gushed.

“I bet!” She said, jokingly raising her eyebrows up and down.

I know other girls might be uncomfortable with their boyfriends Mom’s making sexual jokes, but Lilly just did it in such a funny way… It was impossible to be uncomfortable around her. Still, I couldn’t help but blush at the thought of what went on this weekend.

“Alright Mom, that’s enough. I’m just here to grab a few things and then I’m going to stay with Ella for the night. Chloe here? I want to pop in and say hi.”

“Yeah, she’s downstairs. Christi’s here too, along with her new boyfriend. He’s cute!”

My stomach turned. Unless Christi had gotten a new boyfriend, that meant Drew was here. And more than that, it meant that they had had “the talk” and were now official.

“You wanna come down with me? Hang out for a second?” Seth asked.

I could have said no, but Seth’s Mom was looking at me in a way that I knew it would be really weird if I did say no.

I shrugged. “Sure. I’ve got time.”

I went down the stairs behind Seth, trying to plaster a smile on my face and act like I was happy to see them.

“Hey!” I said, coming into the basement hang out room. I tried to keep my eyes off Drew, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw his mouth drop open. He was surprised that I was here.

“Hey!” Chloe said, jumping up. She gave me a hug, and again I cringed at the feel of her frail bones. “How was your weekend? Don’t you just love Grandpop’s place? I wanted to go with y’all, but you know, alone time.” She said, wiggling her eyebrows just like her Mom. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Drew cringe.

“Chloe quit it, you’re just like Mom.” Seth said, slipping his arm around me.

“We had a good time.” I said, smiling up at Seth. “You’re Grandpa’s place is gorgeous. I can’t wait to go back.”

“Man, I haven’t been to your Grandpop’s place in forever. We should go sometime. A group place. It’d be fun!” Christi said.

Before I could protest, Chloe clapped her hands.

“Oooh yeah! That would be a lot of fun! It could be a glad you’re better party for me! What do you think guys? Next weekend is out for me, but the weekend after?”

“I don’t think so…” I said, trying to search my mind for a valid excuse not to go. “I mean there’s work, and…”

“Oh c’mon Ella.” Chloe begged. “You just said you wanted to go back!”

“And didn’t you say you have a week off coming up? For spring break?” Seth added.

“Well yeah. But I was planning on doing some camp stuff… And then there’s Toni and the kids…”

“Nick’s coming back into town. His transfer went through.” Drew said, his tone even.

“They’ll still need someone to watch the kids while he’s at work.” I said, trying not to glare at Drew. I don’t know why he wanted to be stuck in the same house as me, but he wasn’t trying to get out of this either.

“Nope. His boss is allowing him to work at home for a bit. His position at his old job just got filled, so they need him to move on, but his transfer position isn’t open yet. So he’s staying home for a bit.”

“Oh…” I started, wracking my brain for another excuse.

“Sounds perfect!” Chloe yelled, clapping her hands together. “Can we do the whole week? I mean let’s get out the calendar and see what’s going on…” She said. And though she looked quite pale still, she was obviously happy. I couldn’t wreck that.

I could, however, stare Drew down just as hard as he was staring me down. I got a nasty feeling that before that week was up, he and I would be having it out yet again.