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Episode 11: Last Night
Remember how Sarah Beloit and her boyfriend Nathan had only a week left before he left for Memphis to pursue his baseball dreams one step closer to the majors? (If not, this might help!) It was an incredible week, as you might imagine! But all good things must come to an end. And what an ending it was.
This story incorporates some ideas I got from survey comments quite some time ago. I hope y'all like it, even if it is a bit different from the others. As always, feel free to let me know what you thought of this one by using the guestbook or the survey page! --The Author
The bright red numbers on Nathan Garver's alarm clock read 4:29. Just seconds before they changed to 4:30, Nathan rolled over, switched the alarm off, and sat up in his bed. His flight left in two hours; and he had slept hardly a wink. He had passed the night thinking about so many things, not the least of which was the past week - especially last night.
That last week before he was to move to Memphis to join the Cardinals' Triple-A team had flown by. He and his girlfriend, 18-year-old Sarah Beloit, had spent so much time together, knowing that would be much harder to do once he left. Finally their last night together had come, and it had been so perfect. He couldn't have planned it better if he had tried. And then, what did he go and do?
"You f---ing idiot!" he yelled as he threw the sheets off of himself and got out of bed. As he felt his way toward the light switch, he tripped over a shoe he had left on the floor and fell against the wall. Kicking the shoe away in a vicious mixture of anger and disgust, he found the light and began getting ready to leave. As he dressed and prepared for the day, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
* * * * *
It had all begun so innocently, as if some malevolent fiend had laid out a trap for him to walk right into, step by step.
Yesterday morning, while on the phone with Sarah, he asked her how she wanted to spend their last evening together. "Anything," he had said, "that you want, we will do. Just name it."
It didn't take Sarah long to produce an answer, although her answer might have surprised him a little. "OK, well, how about we have a little picnic at the park - you know, at that spot where no one else ever goes, and where we can see the sunset. I'll bring the food, and you bring, well... you! And then we can go over to the movies, just like we did on our first date, remember? It'll be so romantic; we can sit way in the back and make out!" she giggled.
"Just like we did on our first date, remember?" he added with a laugh.
"We did not make out that night!" Sarah denied.
Nathan laughed. "But that's really what you want?" he asked once more.
"That would be so wonderful," she answered, "but anything you come up with I'm sure would be amazing!"
* * * * *
Not surprisingly, Sarah had brought more than just the food with her to the park. Since having hiccups during a movie wasn't a good idea, she had given them to herself a while earlier, so that they would probably stop before then, but she could still have them for Nathan one more time.
And Nathan had brought a little more than just himself to the park. When they made it back to their special little spot, Sarah saw how he had made the little picnic table all pretty with flowers and even candles, just for her. "Oh my God, *huck* Nathan, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed as she lifted a rose from the table to her face and smelled its fragrance. "You are so sweet!" She threw her arms around him.
"You deserve it," he answered. "And I love you so much!"
"I love *hic* you too honey," she whispered. "I'm gonna miss you so *huck* bad."
Before they both enjoyed the food Sarah had brought, they just sat quietly together, watching the sun grow ever closer to the horizon. With his arms around her, he could enjoy feeling the hiccups bouncing her hard every few seconds. But even they were more quiet than usual. "It's so *huck* peaceful," Sarah finally spoke.
"I know! Wouldn't it be great if we could just stay like this here forever?"
"It so would, *hic*" she answered. "Although, I'm not sure I'd w-*huck* want the hiccups forever! *huck*"
Of course, neither the romantic moment, nor Sarah's hiccups, lasted forever. But the sun was long gone when they finally packed up their things and headed back to Nathan's car. "That was totally wonderful, thank you sooo much!" Sarah gushed as they neared the car.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it!" Nathan said. "It's always wonderful just being with you. And you know what?"
"What?"
"Your hiccups were awesome tonight!"
Sarah laughed. "Well you know I'm more than happy to share them!"
"So do you still want to go to the movies?" he asked.
"Yes! It's not too late is it?"
"Nah, we still have plenty of time," Nathan answered as they set off for the theater.
* * * * *
"Ouch!" Nathan's groggy eyes struggled to focus through the mirror on the ugly little cut his razor had produced on his chin. He dabbed it with a tissue, but a little drop of blood kept appearing. He finally gave up and kept shaving. "Who the hell cares anyway?" It didn't take long for the painful mental replay to start once again.
* * * * *
The lights had gotten dark and the screen flickered on, with a trailer advertising the movie studio's next big production, as they settled into their seats, far back in a largely unoccupied corner.
"This is perfect!" Sarah whispered. "Remember the first time we came here? And they were showing like that dumb action movie we thought would be so cool?"
Nathan laughed. "I remember that. And we decided that feeding each other popcorn was way more fun than watching the movie."
"And then we decided that kissing would be way more fun than playing with popcorn!" Sarah added.
"Well I think that's still true!" he said, leaning over to give her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"Aww... I'm so glad you do!" she whispered, and they kissed once again.
Just as they had done that first night together, they took turns feeding popcorn to one another. Sometimes Sarah would get a little too brisk and Nathan would cough, "Slow down sweetie, I can only eat it so fast!"
She would just giggle and feed him a little more.
It couldn't have been more than half an hour into the movie when Nathan decided he'd had enough of the popcorn. He sat up, took a sip of his Coke, and promptly hiccupped, a little too loud. Luckily, no one else was really close by to be annoyed, but he quickly covered his mouth anyway. Hiccupping again, he whispered to Sarah, "Oh no, I think I've got the hiccups now."
"Well, just keep them down so we don't make people mad!" she chuckled.
She leaned over to him. "Maybe this will help," she suggested, planting a kiss right on his lips.
"Can't *hmk* hurt!" he whispered back. He brought his lips back to hers and they shared a long, loving kiss.
Although the seats made it rather inconvenient, they stayed as close as possible to each other as the movie continued. When they weren't kissing, she turned away from him a little and then leaned back a little into his seat, where he could put his arms around her, and lean his head down to kiss her forehead. With her head on his chest, Sarah could feel each of Nathan's quiet hiccups very distinctly as they each jerked his body upward a little. She still didn't like it quite as well as when she had them herself, but she had to admit it was quite enjoyable. Although, she always found being close to him enjoyable!
Nathan would have been more excited about his hiccups if they hadn't been in the middle of a movie where he was constantly afraid one would sneak out and be audible. He still loved having them though, and it was really special to have them on this last night with his sweetheart. If only these seats weren't so inconvenient! He finally found a way to bring her even closer to him, and he moved his hands a bit farther up from their position over her stomach.
Sarah looked up at him, and then down toward his hands, blocked partially from her view by her little white shirt as it fit snugly over her breasts. In the past, she had always raised her own hands, and gently taken his hands in hers. This time was different; no, it wasn't because he had the hiccups - she couldn't have explained why, but somehow she just felt complete trust. She felt totally comfortable with him now. She raised her eyes once again toward his.
Sensing her eyes' answer to his silent question, he moved his hands yet higher upon her chest. He felt closer to her; it was like he could feel the intimacy and trust coming through those couple layers of fabric between his hands and the depths of her heart. It was simply amazing in a way he could hardly understand - and they were just totally perfect for him to caress.
Sarah felt the warmth of his hands as they gently held her close to his hiccupping body. It surprised her how exciting it was to feel his hiccups as they jerked his body beneath her. Even with the movie going on in front of them, the moment seemed incredibly intimate. She raised her head toward his and they kissed once again. Then they just sat together, watching the movie a little, but mainly just enjoying the closeness.
For a moment, Nathan forgot his hiccups. And that was all it took for one to escape into an audible "*HUCK*". He blushed and his hand flew from Sarah's breast to his own mouth.
"Shhh!" Sarah admonished with a giggle.
Hardly a minute later, Sarah felt her own body bounce with a hiccup - luckily a silent one. Nathan looked down at her, raising his eyebrows. Could it be? It didn't take long to convince him that it could be. The only question was, could they both keep a case of hiccups quiet for the movie!
They managed to do that fairly well, and in fact, Sarah discovered that keeping her hiccups stifled actually made their physical effect on her quite a bit more pronounced. Although it hurt a little, she loved the extra bounce of her silent hiccups. It was especially cool when she and Nathan both hiccupped at exactly the same time!
Nathan was already thrilled by the fact that Sarah, who was from a much more conservative background than he, was finally letting him be even a little bit more physical with her. Not surprisingly, he was practically overwhelmed now that she had the hiccups again. The way he could see them jerk her stomach in, even in the dim light, and feel the sharp bounce each one gave her chest; it was almost too much for him! "If only we weren't in a public place like this," he mused silently. "Maybe she would even let me..."
He interrupted his own thoughts: "No, Sarah is a good girl; she would never do that."
"But really, I've been such a good boyfriend to her, isn't it only fair that she ought to give me a little of what I want? I mean, having my hands on her shirt is nice and all, and it's amazing when she has the hiccups, but hell, some girls would let you do this on your second date! We've been together how long now? Maybe if I just asked, she really would... oh man, that would be so awesome, we like, both have the hiccups and everything..."
"Um, honey, *huck* the movie's over," Sarah's voice broke through his fantasy.
"Oh, sorry!" he said, jerking back into reality. He tried to focus his eyes on the movie credits as they rolled by on the big screen. "I was, uh, *hup* just thinking about how beautiful you are."
She just laughed. "Come on, let's go! *hic*"
From there they drove to his apartment, where he had suggested they could "chill for a while" before he took her home. Somehow they both managed to keep their hiccups going through the drive there, and it wasn't long after they arrived that they were snuggling on the little couch, both of them still hiccupping away.
Who knows how long they just sat there together, enjoying the closeness, enjoying the other's presence, enjoying the hiccups. Finally Nathan's sensory overload could take it no longer.
"Sweetie?"
"Yes dear?" she answered with another hiccup.
"Well, um..." he stammered, "you know, *hup* we've been together so long, *huck* and this is gonna be our last night together like, *huck* for a long time maybe..."
"Yeah," she agreed, giving him a questioning look.
"Don't you think maybe, *huck* well, we could like, be a little *hic-cup* um, closer?"
She turned to where she could face him a little more easily. "Aren't we *hic* like about as close as we *huck* can get?" she asked, a little confused.
"Yeah, but I mean *hup* with, you know, not so many layers in between? *hup*" It was disconcerting how stupid he knew he had to be sounding.
"You don't mean..." she gasped. "You want me to *hic*, to take my clothes off for you?? *hic-ulk* I can't do that! *hic* I mean, that's just not r-*huck* it's not right!"
"But it's our last night! Just for a minute?" he practically pleaded.
Sarah was torn. Although all her conscience told her not to, she felt an inexplicable urge to do it. With a little more pressure from Nathan, she finally gave in. "Well, ok, *hic* but not for long! *huck* And I'm not gonna get *huck* like totally naked," she insisted.
It was strange going into Nathan's room and taking off her shirt and jeans. But moments later, almost as one entranced, she opened the door and stepped out, much too thinly clad for her own comfort. Yet she reasoned with herself, "It's really not that much different from a swimsuit, right?"
Somehow it didn't surprise her to see that Nathan had followed suit and now sat on the couch in only his boxer shorts. "*hup* You're beautiful!" he breathed as she sat down beside him once again. "And it's not so bad, now is it?" he asked.
"No, *huck* I mean, I'm sorry, it's *hic* just that I've *hic* never done something like th-*huck* this before, so it's *huck* sorta strange for me, *hic* ya know? *huck* Sorry, I must be acting *hic* so weird about it," she apologized.
"Don't worry about it, honey, *hup*" he soothed. "Just do it."
As she lay back into his arms, he tickled her side, making her jump. Sarah was hopelessly ticklish! "Oh my God, *huck* stop that now! *hic-ulk* Stop!! Nooooo-*hic*!! Stop it!! *huck*" she pleaded. Finally she turned and started trying to tickle him back. By the time the lighthearted skirmish was over, Sarah had to admit defeat, and she found that her hiccups were a lot faster. "Oh *hulk* my God, *hic-cup* oh m-*huck* my God!" she panted. "I like, *hic* can b-*hic* barely breathe *hic* now! *huck*"
They teased around a little longer before Nathan finally decided it was time. "OK honey, *hup* are you ready?"
"R-*hulk* Ready? *hic* For what?" she asked a bit naively.
"Come on, when is the next *hup* time we're both gonna be together *huck* like this? And both with *huck* hiccups?? Don't worry, we'll be *hup* safe," he promised.
"Nathan!"
"Why not?" he pressed. "You do love me, *hup* don't you?"
He started to get up from the couch, and, a little reluctantly, she followed. They entered his room, where Sarah's jeans and shirt lay on the edge of the bed. "We won't be needing these, now will we?" he said as he tossed them onto his desk chair.
Then it happened. Maybe it was just a sudden pang of conscience. Maybe it was seeing her nearly-naked body in the mirror through the open bathroom door. Whatever it was, something clicked, and Sarah was horrified by what was about to transpire. "Nathan! *hic* What the h-*huck* What the *huck* hell are we d-*hic*-oing here?! *huck* Give me my *hic-ulk* clothes! *huck* NOW!"
* * * * *
Now as he sat on the edge of his bed once more, with nothing but those heartless red numbers staring back at him, Nathan realized how right she really had been. He had been taking advantage of her. She was just an innocent girl. An incredibly hot innocent girl with a raging case of hiccups, but an innocent girl nonetheless. She really had loved him; she really had trusted him. For nearly a year, he had been her everything. And he had broken her trust in about as spectacular a way as possible.
He still couldn't believe she had actually walked the three miles home rather than letting him drive her back. But now those three miles might as well have been thousands. He had lost the sweetest, most amazing girl in the world, just because he couldn't control his own passion! And he knew that above the anger and disgust that she now had to feel toward him, she was immensely hurt. Little could he have known how long she had cried that night; how impossible it had been for Mrs. Beloit to console her. Little could he have known that even now she lay alone in her bed at home, still sobbing, and ironically, still hiccupping. If he had, it would only have made the pain in his own heart that much deeper.
On the floor next to his desk, a yellow glint suddenly caught his eye. There he saw it: the delicate gold necklace he had bought for her on her birthday. She had taken it off and laid it on the chair beside her clothes, just before... just before it all happened. Through her tear-clouded eyes, she probably hadn't even seen it before she left. It must have fallen off when he took the clothes from the chair to give them back to her. He walked over and picked it up. As he fingered the fine golden links, a lump formed in his own throat. Consumed with regret, remorse, and anger at himself, he hurled it across the room.
But he couldn't leave it. Yet he also couldn't bring himself to call her and apologize - or even just offer to give her the necklace back. Finally, he slipped the golden chain into his suitcase, and sadly left for the airport.
Oh for the simple, romantic night it could have been.