Summerfield (9 page)

gently. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
I shook my head, breaking away from his grasp. His touch did seem to
ease my little attacks, but I had a feeling he wouldn't want to be
holding me in a second.
I made a point in ducking behind the other side of the truck as I
threw up. I definitely didn't need him seeing this. I heard him say my
name, but I simply held my hand out, a silent signal for him to stay
where he was. He must not have cared for my warning because the next
thing I knew one of his hands were gathering my hair away from my face
and the other was rubbing my back soothingly as he whispered calming
things in my ear.
What this all meant, I had no idea. The headaches, the stomach pain,
the burning chest, lack of air, lack of sleep, throwing up, fainting.
I even just accused my boyfriend of using me until something better
comes along (said guys is also right now being nothing but supportive
as I continued to puke violently, never once making any kind of
gesture of disgust, which is more than I could say for myself).
I had no idea what was wrong with me.
I could rule out drugs because I had never once tried them. No
drinking either. The possibility of a pregnancy is utterly impossible
unless I was pulling a Virgin Mary.
I just knew I couldn’t go much longer feeling like this.

Chapter Seven
I felt like crap. Plain and purely simple. My head seemed to be on the
off button, but I could feel pounding. My stomach was a bit calmer now
that I had totally emptied all the contents of my last few meals, and
I was painfully aware of how much it pained to simply open my eyes.
I swallowed hard, my throat burning. I nearly choked, but I didn’t
think I could move my body enough to finish that motion. I slowly
began to lift my eye lids, almost afraid of what I might see. There
was only white. And Ben.
So I just happened to assume that I had died, but why would Ben be
there? Maybe he really was too good to be true. Maybe he really was
some kind of angel. I would have to remember to gloat about being
right. Stuff like this doesn't happen every day.
Ben was leaning over me, brushing the hair away from my face; worry
was swimming in his ocean blue eyes. I slightly remember going off on
a paranoid rampage earlier. I should really apologize to my angel.
"I'm...sorry." I choked, surprised by how much breathe was needed for
this two small words.
A look of relief sketched his face, but the worry was still very
evident in his eyes. "Belle, are you alright?"
"What happened?" I asked, looking around a bit. Nope, I wasn't dead
yet. We were in my living room. I was on the couch. I looked into
Ben's eyes and immediately felt guilty for my earlier accusations.
"I'm sorry."
He squinted his eyes a bit, his hands still running comfortingly
through my hair. "For what, baby?"
"For earlier. I was being an idiot. Sorry."
He shook his head and kissed me gently on the forehead. "It's fine,
don't worry about that. Are you okay?"
"No." I answered honestly.
The worry was even thicker in his eyes and it seemed to cloud the blue
color of his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I hurt." I said simply. It was the truth. "What happened? I don't
remember getting here."
"You fainted. I carried you in."
My eyes widened a bit. "I fainted? Again?"
A look of confusion flashed in his eyes. Maybe I shouldn't have said
that. "Again? You've fainted before?"
"Once in California, but I saw a doctor and they said I was fine."
Okay, that was only partly a lie. I did see a doctor; they just hadn't
confirmed quite yet that I was okay.
He nodded, not seeming quite settled though. "You're sure? Because
it's not normal to be fainting, Belle."
"It’s fine. I'm fine." I replied, trying to make an effort to sit up.
"Whoa, hold up." Ben's hands left my hair and traveled to my arms,
leaving me in my place. "Don't try to get up so soon. Just relax for a
while."
I smiled at his care, lying back down against the couch pillow.
"Thanks." I mumbled. "And still, I'm sorry about earlier."
"It's fine." He brought himself off the couch to kneel in front of me
as I turned to face him. He was just so gorgeous that sometimes it was
hard to look straight at him. "But what did happen? You started going
off on this crazy stuff like not wanting to be with you and breaking
up and stuff. I was completely lost."
I looked down, trying to shield my blush, but he gently brushed back
the hair that framed my pink cheeks. "I'm sorry. I was
just...paranoid. I don't know, I'm not usually like that. I guess in
California after hearing about how Kara's ex-boyfriend was this really
amazing guy and then he ended up breaking her heart and cheating on
her, and I just thought that maybe..." I sighed, this wasn't helping
me at all.
There was no smile on his face and his eyes were serious. "Belle,
believe me that I am not that guy. I would never do anything to hurt
you. I couldn't." He whispered, kissing my forehead again to get his
point across.
"I know. I know that I can trust you, and I do. It's just...you're
this really amazing, gorgeous guy and I'm...nothing compared to that."
I admitted, my blush becoming more intent.
He shook his head, to my surprise he was actually chuckling under his
breathe. "Belle, please say you're joking right now?" He asked, his
eyes burning into mine. They should nothing but seriousness.
I shrugged a bit. I couldn't help how I felt. He was too good for me,
and I was so scared that he would realize that finally and just dump
me, just like Anthony had done to Kara. Only, that had been different.
Kara was the one too good for him, not the other way around.
Ben looked at me with a disbelieving expression. "Belle, do you have
any idea how beautiful you are to me? Any clue how much I care about
you? How you're the best part of my day? How you always make me laugh
and smile? How amazing I think you are?"
I stared at him, completely dazed. "You just kind of describe how I
feel about you."
He smiled, his hand on my cheek, his thumb rubbing circles on my jaw
line. "Then you understand how I feel. While you were in California I
was terrified that you would meet someone else and realize that I'm
not that great. Trust me, Belle, you are the only girl I could ever
feel this way about. You're the only one I want." His confessed softy,
his eyes drowning into mine.
I was about to lean in and kiss him when I remembered events from
earlier in the day and pulled back suddenly.
Ben seemed confused by my action. "What?"
I blushed. "I should probably brush my teeth first."
He only chuckled, leaning over me and kissing my head softly. "You
just stay here and rest. Your dad won't be back for a while and Ella
and Lance went back to town for something, but they should be here
soon."
My eyes widened in alarm. "You're not leaving are you?" I asked with
worry, grabbing his hand in an attempt to have him stay. I hated
feeling like this pathetic, clingy girlfriend all of a sudden. This
isn't what I was always like.
He shook his head. "No, just informing." He smiled. "Are you going to
tell your dad what happened?"
I shrugged. I already knew that I wasn't. Why put him through worrying
for no real reason. I didn't even know what was wrong with me yet.
"No, not yet. I'm supposed to get some test results back soon. I'll
wait and see." I looked down at the ground. I hadn't wanted to think
about my possible test results because I was slightly aware of what
they might say and the thought was better not dwelled on or I may just
end up going insane.
"I thought you said the doctors told you that you were fine?" He
question, worry clouding his eyes once again.
Lying wasn't a talent of mine either. "Um, well...they did. They just
ran a few tests to make sure."
"So, what did they think might be wrong?"
I shrugged. "At first they thought I might be pregnant, but that's
impossible." I didn't look up to see his reaction to that one. "And
then when they heard about my sleeping problems, they thought it may
have to do with my sleep disorder, but I wouldn’t have all these other
things going on. So, they just decided about then that they didn't
know. That or they had a guess and didn't want to tell me."
Ben shook his head, seeming to debate. "I don't know. I think you
should tell your dad. At least about the throwing up and fainting."
"Are you kidding?" I asked in horror. "Have you ever thought how that
may add up to him? Lack of sleep, throwing up, fainting, acting
weird." Ben looked clueless. "He'll think I'm pregnant. And who's the
one guy that I've been around this summer? The one I'm often alone
with?"
Ben's eyes widened. "He wouldn't think that. And just tell him you're not."
"He wouldn't believe it."
"But we've never had sex."
"Well, I'm glad for that information."
Ben and I both turned to look at the new voice in the room to find
Ella and Lance in the doorway. Ella was smirking, but didn't
look all too please while Lance looked a little he wanted to laugh.
I blushed deeply and Ben looked down. "Hi, Ella."
"Hello." I knew she was messing with us by putting her hand on her hip
and looking at us with suspicion, but it didn’t make it any less
embarrassing.
Ben chuckled nervously, looking a bit frightened. "Belle and I were
just talking about-"
"Your virginity. Yes, I heard."
I put my head in my hands, feeling utterly miserable. "Oh God."
I heard Ella laugh with amusement as she and Lance made their way
to the kitchen. "When I get back that former statement Ben made better
still be true."
I groaned again. "I think I'm dying." It wasn't so much a joke as a
confession, I realized as it left my lips.
Ben chuckled, the nervous edge still not vanishing from his voice.
"That was um..."
"Dreadful?"
"Yes."
I removed my hands from my face and looked at him, another question
surfacing my mind. "Do you have friends?" I blurted. See, this is what
happens when you don't think before you speak. You become like me. And
that's not a very good thing if history has taught us anything at all.
He seemed surprised by my question. "What?"
"Do you have friends?"
"Of course. Why?"
I shook my head, my mind reeling a bit. "Just a bit curious. You just
never seem to mention them and you're pretty much here everyday.
So...I didn't really know. But then again, I probably should have been
smart enough to figure out that you did."
"Belle." He interrupted.
"Yes?"
"You're doing that weird rambling thing again."
"Oh." I muttered, my mouth making an O form. "Sorry."
"It's fine. It's actually pretty cute." He grinned.
I shook my head, smiling. "I'm quite lucky I found a guy to put up
with my weirdness."
He laughed softly, kissing my cheek. I think this guy's trying to kill
me. "The reason I don't see them much is because I work and the reason
I work so much is so that I can see you and I don't mention them much
because I don't see them much."
"Oh. Well, you should spend time with them. All work and no play make
people grumpy."
He chuckled, muttering. "You're just too adorable."
I simply grinned. "Seriously, you should. What are they like?"
"Well, there’s Chad. He's possibly the dumbest person
you'll ever meet, but he's fun to be around. And then there's Drake. He's a
bit more...rough edged."
"What's that mean?"
He shrugged as he sat up to sit on the coffee table. "He's got a few
issues going on, but he's a pretty good guy. Usually."
I nodded. "What about Chad?"
Ben shrugged. "Like I said, kind of dumb. But guy’s got a heart of pure gold."
I smiled. I was happy that Ben was finally telling me more about his
life. "Wish I could meet him."
"You can. You can meet them both actually. It's kind of funny that you
brought up the subject because I was going to go hang out with them
tomorrow since I don't work. I was going to ask you to come along."
I debated. "I don't want to mess up a guy’s night or anything."
Ben laughed a bit. "All of the guys end up bringing their girlfriend's.
It's more a couple’s night than anything."
I bit my lip a bit, my insecurities becoming more obvious to myself.
"What if they don't like me though?" I muttered softly, embarrassed.
Ben leaned forward so that he was right above me, a serious, but
slightly amused look in his eyes. "Belle, that's practically
impossible. You'll be loved, trust me. I think you'll really like
Amber too. She's Chad's girlfriend. Trust me, you'll be perfectly fine
and I'll be right by your side the entire time. Please?" He asked,
doing a puppy dog pout.
It was adorable, but I simply smiled and rolled my eyes playfully as I
sat up on the couch, feeling much better than before. "Don't do that.
You look weird." I teased, obviously lying because he looked cute no
matter what he was doing.
He laughed, sliding next to me on the couch and wrapping an around
me. "Thanks, that helps the ego."
"Like you need more of one." I joked, giggling a bit to myself.
He simply smiled, shaking his head a bit as he ran a hand over my