...11...

I decided the next day that I would not let whatever it was between Duncan and I come in between our time together. I didn’t know when I would be able to see him after this and I just wanted to enjoy the time he was here. I still tried to convince myself that it was only the time apart that was making things seem weird.

When I woke up two days later, I jumped in the shower and got ready for the day. I had looked online last night and saw that there was a minor league baseball game today and I purchased the tickets right than. I figured that we would get there and eat some nachos or something instead of having to go out for lunch. I wanted him to enjoy himself while he was all the way up here and even though baseball really wasn’t my thing, I would sit through it to have time with him.

When choosing what to wear, I stuck with a pair of jean shorts and a black t-shirt. Wanting to keep it as casual as possible, I slid on my pink converse and just pulled my hair into a ponytail. I ran downstairs and had a cup of coffee and a light breakfast with mom before I was out of the door and heading to the hotel.

Duncan was standing outside and climbed in as soon as I pulled up. I leaned over the console, expecting a kiss but after buckling his seat belt, his focus was on his cell phone. I didn’t let it bother me to much but thought that it was weird that he hasn’t hardly even acknowledged me. I just drove around for a little while before heading to the ball park.

    “A ball game?” he said as I pulled into a parking spot.

    “I figured you would like it,” I shrugged.

    “Thanks babe,” he said, getting out of the car.

    “No problem,” I whispered before getting out myself.

Walking up to the window to get our tickets, he walked at a little bit of a distance from me. After walking in and finding our seats, I asked him if he wanted anything to eat. Deciding that I just wanted to walk around for a minute before the game started, I went and got our hot dogs and soda. While I was standing in line, I felt two arms wrap around me. When I turned around, I saw Brent smiling down at me.

    “What are you doing here?” he asked.

    “Should I be worried that you know me from behind?” I laughed.

    “I saw you walking up here. I was just walking in with Mikey and Clay.”

    “I brought Duncan out for some guy fun.”

    “I didn’t take you as a baseball fan.”

    “I’m not. I just wanted Duncan to enjoy himself and I’ll suffer through it to spend some time with him,” I said just as Clay and Mikey walked up.

    “Hey Claire,” Mikey smiled.

    “Hey kiddo,” I said, ruffling his hair. “Hi Clay,” I smiled.

    “Hey. So, where’s the BF?” Clay asked.

    “He’s still at his seat. I needed a little walk so I came for our munchies,” I told them, taking a step to the window.

    “Where are your seats?” Mikey asked.

    “Section E, Row four.”

    “Hey, we’re in Row five. What seats?” Brent asked.

    “Seventeen and nineteen.”

    “Well, it would be to good. We’re all the way at the end. You all have better seats than us,” Brent said.

    “That’s because I am better,” I said, finally stepping up to the counter.

    “Oh ha ha,” Brent said, sarcastically.

    “Claire,” I heard Duncan from somewhere. I looked back before placing my order and waved at him.

    “Hey babe,” I smiled.

    “Let me pay for this,” he offered.

    “No, I told you that I wanted to spoil you this time.”

    “Well, how about half?”

    “Duncan.”

    “Claire-bear, please. I want to help out,” he said, walking closer and putting an arm around me. I couldn’t help but smile and agree because this was the most attention he’s showed me since he arrived.

    “Okay,” I smiled. “I want nachos with extra cheese and hot peppers.”

    “Is that like your thing or something?” Brent asked, laughing. I felt Duncan tense up and turn around. Plastering on the fakest smile I had ever seen, he reached his hand out to Brent.

    “Brett, right?”

    “Close,” Brent matched Duncan’s fake smile with one of his own. “Brent,” he said.

    “Oh, I’m sorry. My bad.”

    “Common mistake, right Donnie?”

    “Duncan,” he corrected.

    “Oh, I’m sorry. My bad,” Brent smirked.

They stood there for a few minutes just staring at one another and I was getting upset with how they were acting so I just walked away and headed towards the exit. I had just passed the gates when Duncan caught up with me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. I tried to fight against him but I just didn’t have the energy to do so. We just stood there for a few minutes before he turned me around to face him.

    “I’m sorry about that,” he whispered.

    “No you’re not,” I said.

    “I don’t like him.”

    “He has been a wonderful friend and he’s there for me when I need someone to talk to when I can’t get through to you.”

    “Okay baby, I’ll behave but it’s kind of ironic that they show up at the same place we’re going to be.”

    “Duncan, this trip was to spend time with each other. I didn’t know that they were going to be here. It was just coincidence.”

    “Okay, but instead of going back in there, let’s go do something else. I’ll pay you back for the wasted tickets.”

    “Come on,” I said, walking away from him and towards my car.

I really didn’t want to do anything so we went back to the store and bought some junk food, rented a couple of movies and went back his hotel room. After settling down, he put in the first movie which was a chick flick. I was still upset with him for the way he acted towards Brent but by the time the movie went off, I was pretty much over it. I couldn’t stay to upset with him for to long.

He got up and said that he was going to go pop a bag of popcorn and then put the other movie in. I wasn’t ready for the next movie because it was a horror movie and I don’t do scary. When he came back, I was already hiding behind a pillow. I heard him laugh and then put the other movie in. When I felt the bed dip beside me, he scooted closer and wrapped an arm around me. I snuggled closer to his chest when he pulled the pillow away from me.

    “Duncan,” I whined.

    “What?” he laughed. “I sat through your movie now you can sit through mine,” he laughed.

    “But...”

    “No buts,” he whispered pressing his finger against my lips. “So, does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” he asked, kissing the top of my head.

    “I guess not,” I smiled, placing my hand on his stomach.

    “Good,” he said, taking his finger under my chin to tip my head up to him. “I’m sorry for acting like a child back there. I got jealous.”

    “There’s no reason to be jealous. I love you.”

    “Good,” he smiled. “I love you to.”

    “Just kiss me already,” I said and the next second his lips were on mine.

I really missed being in his arms and I honestly loved that he was here. When the kiss got a little more serious, Duncan maneuvered to where he was over me and started laying me down on the bed. If this didn’t stop, I knew where it would lead to. I didn’t stop him though because I wanted it. He pulled away from me for a minute and traced his finger down my face.

    “You are so beautiful,” he whispered and then leaned down and pressed his lips back on mine.

I placed my hands on his stomach and ran them up and around his neck. I pulled him closer to me and just latched myself to him. His hands were up under my shirt and exploring every bit of skin he could touch. I pushed his shirt off and he pulled it over his head and threw it across the room.

    “Claire,” he stopped. “Are you sure?”

    “Yeah,” I smiled and nodded.

                                          *               *               *               *               *  

The movie had went off about thirty minutes ago and now Duncan was curled up against me. I just laid there and wondered if that was what a lot of girls experienced their first time because I honestly wasn’t that impressed. I almost laughed for a minute at the thought of it but quickly held it in. Duncan stirred and turned over to his other side, leaving me free to get up.

I quickly grabbed my clothes from the floor and went to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought I would see a different girl looking back at me. I know when Maxi told me last year that she has sex with her boyfriend that it was everything that she ever imagined. I just looked back in the mirror before turning to the tub and ran some water for a shower.

When I got finished with the shower, I wrapped the towel around myself and sat on the edge of the tub. I couldn’t help but think that I just made the worst mistake of my life. My parents always told me that when I was ready, I would know. They encouraged that I wait until I knew I would spend the rest of my life with someone and the only thing I was doing now was regretting even going through with it.

I got up and started to use the wall hair dryer. After my hair was completely dried, I pulled the towel off and got dressed. I wanted to spend as much time as I could in the bathroom because I really wasn’t ready to face Duncan. I saw the flimsy toothbrush that the hotel provided and squeezed some mint toothpaste onto it. Brushing my teeth added about five extra minutes and right as I was rinsing the brush, there was a knock at the door.

    “Babe, you okay in there?” Duncan asked.

    “Y-yeah. I’ll be out in just a second,” I said. I rinsed the toothpaste out of my mouth and knew that there was nothing more that I could do to avoid him so I unlocked the door and opened it. Duncan was leaning against the wall opposite when I came out. He pushed himself off of the wall and took the step that separated us. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck.

    “That was fun,” he smiled.

    “Yeah,” I whispered, not able to trust my voice.

    “Let me hop in the shower and then we can go grab a burger or something,” he said.

    “Okay,” I nodded and let him go in.

While he was in the bathroom, I walked back over to the bed and grabbed my phone to see if I had any missed calls. There was a text from my mom saying that she and the girls were going to go out to eat and they should be back before I got home. I looked again and saw another text and this one was from Brent.

    Hey Legs, sorry about the little show there at the field. -B

    Don’t worry about it. He was being a little childish. -C

    You sure? -B

    Yeah... :) -C

After I put my phone back down, Duncan’s started ringing. I looked over at the screen and saw the name “Missy” flash across it. I couldn’t help but wonder who Missy was because that wasn’t his mom’s name or his sister’s name. It sounded again a second later and it was a voice mail.

When Duncan came out of the bathroom, he still had a smile on his face. He walked over to me and leaned down, going to kiss my lips but at the last second I turned my head and his lips were on my cheek. He pulled back and looked at me strangely before standing back up.

    “Everything okay, Claire?” he asked.

    “Can I ask you something?”

    “You just did,” he smirked.

    “Who’s Missy?” I asked and he instantly stood up even straighter and had this look on his face.

    “Why are you asking?” he forced out.

    “Your phone was ringing and I looked at the screen. It was Missy.”

    “You’re going through my phone,” he snapped. “That’s none of your business, Claire.”

    “I’m sorry,” I squeaked.

    “It’s not like I go through your phone,” he shouted, punching the wall. I stood up from the bed and grabbed my car keys. Just before I got to the door, Duncan grabbed my wrist. I didn’t turn around, I couldn’t but I needed to ask him something.

    “Are you cheating on me?” I whispered.

    “What?” he asked and I turned around.

    “Are you seeing this Missy back home?” I asked clearly. When he didn’t say anything, I started laughing. “I should have known. That’s why you’ve been acting weird since you got here.”

    “What are you talking about? I haven’t been acting no way since I got here,’ he shouted.

    “The other night when we went for that walk in the park, something felt wrong. When I woke up yesterday and even today, I just pinned it on that fact that it’s been a couple of months since we’ve seen each other. But there’s something more. Is it Missy Lowell?” I asked. I knew it by the way he lost eye contact with me. “I should have expected it but I dind’t think you would actualy stoop so low,” I said, pulling my wrist out of his hand.

    “Claire, wait.”

    “How long?”

    “What?”

    “Don’t play me for an idiot, Duncan. How long have you been cheating on me?” I asked, more calmly than I would have ever imagined.

    “Two weeks after you left,” he said.

    “Hmm,” was the only thing I could get out before I walked out of the door.

I made it to my car before I broke down and cried. I knew that a long distance relationship was going to be hard but I never imagined that he would actually cheat on me. I figured that if there was something going on, he would at least break up with me first. I honestly didn’t know why I was crying. I think it was more of a feeling of embarrassment than anything else. When I calmed myself down, I backed out of the parking spot and started driving.

******************************************************************************************************

Hey.. so here is your Easter gift from me to you. How did you all spend the day??

I spent the first half with my baby girl, my mom, my aunt and my church family. The second half involved going to my in-laws and having dinner with them, my brother-in-law and his wife and kids. All in all... I had a great day but now hubby wants to be a little bit of a brat.. lol...

I feel kind of crappy for breaking them up in this cliche way but I needed to get rid of Duncan. He's presence will still hand around for a bit but I promise, other relationships are going to start growing. And it's not like you all didn't know this was coming... lol...

On another note... I am starting to get a little disappointed. I have lost 8 fans in a matter of  days and that really puts a damper on my writing. I have been trying as hard as possible to keep you guys updated but I have fallen behind in my homework and it resulted in failing 2 classes. which I am no longer in.

In other news... I have slowly started writing the twins POV from THEIR ESCAPE but I am not sure what to title it. I still have a while to go before this story ends so I hope you all stick around for a little while.