"Come sit by me," he said as he moved closer to the inside of his half of the booth. We sat close to one another, slouching in the seat so our legs could stretch out and rest on the now unoccupied seat across from us. We whispered and laughed together until we remembered that the Pizza Hut employees wanted to close up. A generous tip was left on the table as we departed the restaurant and headed back to town.

We stopped off to pick up my car. He parked one spot over from my Saturn. Idle conversation filled the station wagon. The delayed goodbye was a part of our routine. Finally, the time arrived and I gathered my things into my lap.

"Would it be okay, do you think, for me to hug you?" he asked.

This was big.

In the months that we'd been dating, he had not so much as held my hand. He valued me too much to rush things in any area.

"Okay." In a somewhat awkward fashion that is involved in a first such as this, he reached out from his seat to embrace me. Hugs in cars rarely work well, though, so it wasn't long before he exited the vehicle and met me on my side. He wrapped his arms around me like they just belonged there and drew me to him. I rested my cheek on his shoulder just beneath his chin.

We hugged for more than two hours.

Just hugged. Not weak, half-hearted hugs. Not passionate, lustful hugs. Strong, affectionate, and tender hugs. He cupped the back of my head in his hand and held me close to his heart. In the cool night air, I stood barefooted in the parking lot with a most special man as time sped up.

back -> Hello, my name is... Would you like to have sex?

The boy and the girl were sitting on her bed, backs against the wall, feet straight out in front of them. Her eyes drooped with sleep.

"If we don't get up and do something, I'm going to fall asleep." She watched his face for any hint as to his decision, and when his expression didn't change she leaned her head on his shoulder before closing her eyes. The sheet brushed her legs as she stretched out along the bed. For perhaps half a minute she lay with her head half on his shoulder, half resting against the wall, before she moved to rest her head in his lap.

She closed her eyes, but he kept his open, his eyes tracing the lines of her face as she relaxed. Her breathing deepened as she entered that stage just before sleep, a deep, comfortable doze.

"No," she said, lifting her head up with a start, "I never get to see you, I don't want to sleep the one time I do." He looked down at her, passing a hand over her eyes as if to close them.

"It's okay," he leaned across and turned off the light, his hand on her head to gently push her back into the noise of his steady breathing and the feel of his stomach against her cheek. "We can see each other in photos. But we can't always feel each other."

Their fingers twisted together, her arms pulled him closer and his chest rose and fell against her shoulders. Every so often his hand would touch her hair, or his thumb would rub her shoulder or finger or palm or wrist. Time went on with them slowly moving around each other, her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her so that her cheek and lips were nestled in the crook of his arm.

A thumb brushed her shoulder as they shifted again. Once comfortable again, she sighed a contented noise, and pulled him closer towards her, their arms locked around each other's backs. Tightening their grip they breathed into each other's necks, eyelashes flickering against skin, they slowly shifted and rearranged themselves.

"I have to go," he mumbled. But he didn't loosen his grip. Her arms gripped him tighter, trying to impress the feeling of his skin on hers, knowing that it would be too long before she felt it again.

"Come on, you have to go," she said. They made their way to the car; the drive was mostly in silence. When they got to the bus stop he didn't get out. Although she could see the answer in his eyes, she asked the question.

"Are you okay?" Locked eyes, silently he confirmed the answer before he said it.

"No." He wrapped his arms around her more tightly than before, and they hugged, these two people trying to occupy the same space.

"You have to go. It's a fact. You have to go home," the words were spoken into his neck, her hands against his back and sides. Slowly they disentangled and got out of the car. The bus came too quickly, and there was no time for a single last embrace. The darkened windows of the bus provided only a shadow of his eyes watching hers before the bus hurried him away.

Already missing his touch, she stepped slowly towards the car. Hands heavy on the steering wheel, eyes pinned to the roads, she drove with a mind empty of thoughts and filled with still-wet memories.

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