#tdatt

Any other night, Arvin would be cautious, terrified that Mr. Hartford would exit the house at any moment, but tonight was goodbye and he damn sure wanted to make it count. He wanted to make sure that Ally knew exactly what she meant to him. So, he pressed her back against the outside of the house and kissed her until it was hard to breathe, only to catch his breath and do it again. 

Emma had finally left her room, but as of the previous week, the last week for him to find a place in Chicago, before it became flooded with students, neither he nor Ally felt comfortable leaving her with just Earskell. They’d talked about it for hours, days, then weeks. Earlier that night, Ally had floated the idea of him leaving with her when she came back home to visit and he hadn’t the heart to tell her that was no longer an option. 

He almost felt grateful that Emma had been so upset, telling Ally that was why he’d grown distant since September had reared its ugly head and the Sheriff had shown up at the field with news of Lenora’s baby. He didn’t tell his grandma, not sure the news wouldn’t push her over the edge. He’d considered telling Ally. He had wanted to ask if she had any idea about who’d been taking advantage of her, but he managed to work that all on his own. They’d both been stressed enough waiting to find out if he’d have to marry her sooner than intended after their unprotected night in her bedroom, but she’d told him last Wednesday that they were in the clear. 

“Maybe you should come back inside,” Ally muttered, pressing a hand to his chest to keep him from kissing her again as they caught their breath. He shook his head. He didn’t want to go back in that house. It’d been hard enough sitting with her family all evening, knowing that by the time she got settled into her dorm room in Illinois, he'd have broken her heart once again.  

He’d spent the previous night writing her a letter, explaining everything that he couldn’t say to her face. Took him seven discarded drafts and several hours of staring at the picture of the two of them he’d taken to keeping in his wallet, while he debated saying fuck it and asking her to run away with him, before he finally sealed the envelope, hiding it in her bag when he showed up to dinner. Knowing that if she said yes that she’d grow to resent him, kept his tongue at bay. 

Ally smiled up at him and he knew he was staring, trying to memorize every detail of that smile. He felt nauseous, after tonight, he’d never see that smile again. She ran her fingers across his cheek and he leaned into her touch. She furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “Arvin, are you okay? You’re bein’ rather strange tonight.”

“It’s our last night,” he told her with a shrug and she shook her head.

“For now. I’ll be back to visit in a few weeks,” Ally reassured him, before lowering her voice and adding, “then you can spend the weekend showin’ me exactly how much you missed me.”

Arvin didn’t respond, merely cupping her face and capturing her in another breathtaking kiss. Slowly, he pulled away and took her hand in his, before twirling the plastic ring around her neck. Leading her to the porch swing, he took a deep breath and said, “I got somethin’ for you.”

“I didn’t know we were doin’ goodbye presents,” Ally pouted at him. “I would’ve gotten you somethin’.”

“You’ve already given me everythin’ I could want, Ally,” Arvin muttered, flushing red, before looking her in the eye. “I just wanted to replace that plastic ring ‘fore you left. I know you said that you didn’t want me to go and buy you somethin’ new and fancy, so I didn’t. I know it probably won’t fit, but neither did the blue one, and you prefer somethin’ that means somethin’ to us, so I figured-”

“Arvin,” Ally said gently, cutting off his rambling and he nodded gratefully at her as he pulled the ring from his pocket. He hadn’t wrapped it this time, no box or old newspaper, just the old, simple, gold wedding band glistening in the porch light. 

“It was my mama’s,” Arvin said softly, placing the band gently in the palm of her hand. Swallowing roughly, Ally shook her head.

“Arvin, I can’t…I mean it was your mama’s.”

“Now it’s yours,” he said, cutting her off as she opened her mouth to protest once again. “I want you to have it, Ally. I love you and I-I think she would’ve too.”

“Arvin,” Ally whined, wiping her eyes roughly, “you’re not supposed to make me cry tonight. We’re supposed to leave tonight happy and desperately in love.”

“I wouldn’t be givin’ you this if I wasn’t desperately in love, darlin’.” 

Ally nodded and said, “I don’t want you to go tonight.”

“Ally…”

“I ain’t askin’ you to leave with me in the mornin’,” she said quickly. “We both know why you can’t, but…”

“Draggin’ out this goodbye ain’t gonna make it any easier,” he told her, knowing damn well she could ask anything of him tonight and he’d say yes, say anything to make her happy, “but if you want me to stay, I’ll stay.”

“I love you so much,” Ally muttered as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. 

Pulling her to his chest and wrapping his arms around her, he rocked them gently in the swing. His world grew blurry as tears rushed him and for the briefest moment he thought to keep up the bravado, to bite back the tears, not wanting one of her last memories of him to be of him crying, but it wasn’t as if it was the first time she’d seen him cry, so he let them fall. He rubbed her back soothingly, knowing that by the time she lifted her head, his new shirt would be stained with mascara. 

“I love you too,” Arvin said, cursing the way his voice broke, “always will.”

“You better,” Ally said, looking up at him with a sad smile. Wiping the mascara from her cheeks, he kissed her gently. She looked down at the ring in her hand, before saying, “It might fit?”

He knew it wouldn’t, not on the finger he wanted her to wear it on. Still, he lifted it from her palm and turned her hand over, his own shaking slightly as he slipped it onto her left ring finger. The nauseous rushed him again as she smiled down at the loose ring. 

He always said that she was going to be the death of him, he just hadn’t realized it would be the leaving that would kill him. 

“You want me to put it on your chain?”

“No, I like it right where it is,” Ally told him and he sighed.

“Ally, it’ll slide right off.”

“It ain’t that loose,” she said, twirling it slightly. “A little string wrapped around the band and it can stay right here forever.” 

“Forever…” Arvin repeated softly, prompting her to nod and grin at him.

“That’s how long you’re gonna love me, ain’t it?”

“Yes.”

His serious affirmation contrasted with her teasing question. She kissed him once more, before rising from the swing. The sun had set well over an hour ago, before long, he knew her daddy would be calling her to come in for the night, but watching her stand in the glow of the porchlight, that ring glistening on her left hand, he couldn’t let her disappear just yet. 

“Can we take a ride? One last trip up to Jackson’s farm before you leave?” 

“Let me tell Mama,” Ally said and disappeared into the house.

Arvin let his head fall in his hands, cursing himself. He had a plan. One last meal with her family and a memorable evening, and absolutely no dragging out their goodbye. Every moment in her presence made the whole damn situation harder. He lifted his head as the door opened expecting her to be standing in the porch light.

“Sir,” Arvin said, his eyes wide as he stood up straight. 

“Calm down, son,” he said, waving for him to return to the seat, before taking the seat next to him. “She’ll be out soon. Her mama is just getting her some string. She’d hate to lose that ring so soon.”

Arvin didn’t respond. Not knowing what to say and not sure that she wouldn’t throw it in the creek the second she read the letter he left her. Mr. Hartford didn’t seem too perturbed by his silence.

“She loves you.”

“I love her,” Arvin said firmly and Mr. Hartford nodded. 

“I’m sure you do, son,” he said and Arvin felt as if his eyes were boring into his soul, reading all the sins he didn’t want him to know, “but that car is loaded up and she’s leaving for Chicago in the morning. Nothing is going to change that. You understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Arvin nodded, his palms clammy and feeling a desperate need for a cigarette. “Ally’s been clear about her future, even before we started seein’ each other.”

Mr. Hartford chuckled lightly, muttering the name ‘Ally’ under his breath as he shook his head ever so slightly. “Allison’s had big dreams ever since she was a little girl. Bossy as all get out, I would tell her that she was made for management. I used to bounce her on my knee in my office down at the mine and let her ‘sign’ papers in my place. All of that is to say, Allison has always known what she wanted.”

“She’s nervous about how she’s gonna compete with the other students. She’s already two weeks ahead in her textbooks,” Arvin told him, grinning, “but she’s gonna knock ‘em dead. I know it. She’s got a whole schedule mapped out in that planner of hers. Ain’t nobody better at keepin’ focused than Ally. She had me quiz her everyday since you brought the textbooks back from the city.”

“You two have been spending a lot of time together the past couple weeks. I know you both had your struggles,” he responded and Arvin shifted uncomfortably. 

“That seems like a bit of an understatement, sir,” he muttered, staring at his boots. “We lost a month and a half, ‘cause I was an idiot.”

“That’s the thing about love, son, it goes hand and hand with forgiveness,” Mr. Hartford said, offering him a cigarette, before lighting his own. “Besides, if I remember correctly, she cost you plenty of time in the beginning.”

Mr. Hartford laughed as Arvin choked on the smoke, before patting his back roughly. 

“I didn’t know-How did you-” Arvin attempted to ask, but his eyes were still watering and his throat felt tight.

“She’s my baby girl, Arvin. Just because I spend plenty of time away doesn’t mean I don’t know what goes on in her life,” he told him as Arvin slowly began to feel as if he could breathe once again. “You think I don’t know you haven’t slept in your own bed in a month.”

“I-We ain’t-” he fumbled with the words trying to explain that they never slept together when he stayed at least not while her parents were home. Getting caught in her room would’ve been awful, getting caught in her room with his pants down would’ve ensured his death.

“Calm down, boy. If I thought you were having sex in my house, I’d have shot you ages ago.”

“Yes, sir,” Arvin managed to say, wishing Ally would hurry the fuck up.

Mr. Hartford laughed and patted Arvin on the back roughly. For a moment, the terrifyingly serious, larger than life man that Arvin always saw when he looked at Mr. Hartford faded and he saw where Chris’s mischievous, good nature came from. 

“Just have her back by midnight, I don’t want her driving tired tomorrow,” he said as he stood from the swing and put out his smoke. 

“Yes, sir,” Arvin agreed as Mr. Hartford opened the kitchen door.

“And, Arvin,” he said, a teasing grin on his lips as he glanced at him, “just park in the driveway tonight. Your car is killing the grass behind my shed.”

Ally furrowed her eyebrows as she slipped out the door with her mama. They looked between Arvin and Mr. Hartford, before Mrs. Hartford smacked his shoulder lightly and Ally scolded him.

“Daddy! I asked you to tell him that he could stay, not give him a heart attack.”

Mr. Hartford merely laughed and wrapped an arm around his wife, before pressing a kiss to her temple and saying, “We’ll see you in the morning, princess. And Arvin?”

“Yes, sir?”

“You keep your hands to yourself in my house.”

“Joseph!” Mrs. Hartford exclaimed at the same time Ally said, “Daddy!”

“Yes, sir.” 

With a nod, he led the way back into his house, grinning as his wife scolded him lightly. Ally shook her head and sighed roughly. 

“He can be so embarrassin’,” she muttered, grabbing Arvin by the hand and leading the way to the Bel Air. “I just thought you’d feel more assured hearing it from him.”

“I’m just glad he hasn’t shot me,” Arvin told her, using their linked hands to pull her to his chest. 

Ally giggled as he kissed her neck, backing her slowly into the passenger side door of his car. Running her hands up his chest and wrapping them around his neck, she asked, “I thought you agreed to keep your hands to yourself.”

“I did, but we ain’t in his house yet.”

“You’re really in the mood to push your luck tonight,” Ally laughed. “You know you’re gonna see me again in a few weeks, right?”

Allison leaned against the back of her car as the work truck pulled up to the field. Arvin raised an eyebrow as he jumped off the bed of the truck, his cigarette dangling between his lips. Tugging her bottom lip between teeth, she dragged her eyes over him, taking in the rough look of him after a day of hard work. His work boots scuffed from the road and his jeans faded and dusty from dirt. His white shirt stained with the work material and the same tattered old hat from the day she first ‘saw’ him. He looked around for the Bel Air as he approached her. 

Arvin pulled the smoke from between his lips, clearly intending to ask her where the fuck Earskell’s truck was, but she didn’t give him the opportunity. She pushed up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her entire body to his as she kissed him, until someone called Arvin’s name and another whistled at them. 

“Hi,” she muttered breathlessly, before kissing him again. 

Allison ran her hands over his chest and down his arms, needing to have her hands on him. She trailed her lips along his jaw as eliciting more wolf whistled and hollers from the men around them. She didn’t care, though she rarely did with him. Arvin pulled away, his cheeks red as he glanced around at his coworkers.

“Ally, what the fuck?” he asked. Allison looked up at him through her lashes as she leaned back against her car. Immediately regretting the distance she had put between them, she pulled him closer to her by his jean jacket, needing his lips or hands or something on her. Arvin’s hand hit the trunk to steady himself.

“I was at the house checkin’ on Emma,” Allison explained, kissing along his throat, “and Earskell needed the truck to go down to Perry’s house. He said he might have the part to fix the Bel Air, so I offered to drive you home and brought him here.”

“I meant,”  Arvin asked, grabbing her hands to stop their wandering and looking down at her, “what’s goin’ on with you?” 

Allison offered him a coy smile and a shrug.

“What do you mean?” 

“Darlin’, you know damn well what I mean.”

“Oh, well,” Allison said, pushing up on her toes and her lips brushing the shell of his ear, “I don’t normally get to see you lookin’ like this… you normally get all cleaned up for me.”

Arvin snorted at the statement, understandably, as even though he did wash up and change before driving to see her, he was far from cleaned up.

“Ally, I’ve been workin’ on the road all day,” he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

“I like how you look after a day’s work.”

“I’m covered in sweat and dirt…” he said incredulously.

“I know,” Allison told him, running her hands along his back, beneath the jacket. “I like it.”

“You are gonna be the death of me,” Arvin muttered, tilting his head to kiss her gently.

“At least you’ll die happy,” she shrugged, causing him to chuckle. 

She kissed him again, certain if they stayed like this forever they’d both die happy. Arvin pressed her against the car, momentarily forgetting where they were. 

“Boy, are you just gonna wait until we all leave or are you gonna get her home?” one of the men laughed, clapping Arvin on the shoulder as he passed, causing him to pull away abruptly.

“I-” Arvin opened his mouth to respond, his cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red.

“We were just leavin’,” Allison responded, before guiding him by the hand to the passenger side of her car. 

She could get them home in half the time, but she knew he preferred to drive, so she passed him the keys. Arvin opened her door. She kept her eyes on him as he slid into the driver’s seat. He started the car and pulled out of the field. He glanced at her as he reached over to place a hand on her thigh.

“Ally, if you keep lookin’ at me like that,” he told her, “we aren’t gonna make it very far down this road.”

“Good.”

Arvin cursed under his breath, looking for a place to pull off as she slid closer to him, her thigh pressed against his.

“My house is closest,” she suggested, trailing her hand teasingly up his thigh. 

“Your parents-” 

“-are at some dinner and not expected back until tomorrow afternoon,” she told him.

Arvin caught her hand as it wandered a little too high. He gave a brief warning look, before returning his focus on the road.

“Are you gonna be able to wait the five minutes to your house?”

Allison shrugged, pouting at him. She could get them to the house in two. Still she relented, sliding back to her side of the car.

“Fine, I’ll behave,” she sighed. Arvin barked out a disbelieving laugh.

Allison wasted no time, sliding back to him as he pulled into the drive. The moment he put the car in park she pressed her lips to his, relishing how rough his hands felt as they groped the back of her thighs and pulled her into his lap. Allison worked at the buttons on her blouse, pulling away from him as her hands shook in anticipation. She managed to get the top few buttons done, before tugging it out of her skirt and over her head. 

She brought her lips back to his frantic and sloppy as he ran his fingers through her hair. Allison pushed his shirt up his chest. 

“Slow down,” Arvin whispered, brushing her curls back behind her ear. “We have time.”

Arvin leaned down and kissed her slowly. Ally hummed happily against his lips, running her hands through his hair. Arvin smiled as they parted, his forehead pressed to hers and his eyes still closed. 

“I love you,” he said, grabbing her blouse and passing it to her. He cupped her face gently, leaning back towards her for a soft kiss before speaking again. “Let’s go inside.”

“I love you too,” she responded, because she did, she loved him so much it scared her.

She didn’t bother with the shirt as she exited the car. The Hartford’s had no neighbors and the house wasn’t visible from the road. Arvin pressed his chest to her back as she unlocked the door, placing gentle kisses to her neck. She kicked off her shoes in the entrance, waiting impatiently for him to unlace his boots.

“Where are we goin’?” he asked, stopping short as she stepped on to the stairs. 

“My room,” Allison said, as if it was the most obvious thing, giggling as his mouth formed an O in understanding.

She grinned when he wrapped his arms around her, stepping up so he could join her on the step. Arvin kissed her roughly, pressing her back against the railing. She laughed as she pulled away, curling her finger in a come hither motion and racing up the stairs. Grinning, he chased her up the stairs and into her bedroom. 

He shut the door the second he crossed the threshold. Catching her hand, he twirled her back towards him, kissing her roughly as he pressed her back against the door. Allison’s hands ran over his shoulders, knocking his jacket to the ground. His hands fumbled with the clasp of her bra. Allison pushed herself off the door, not breaking the kiss as she reached back to help him.

Allison pushed his shirt up his torso, prompting him to pull away just long enough to yank it over his head. Arvin tangled his fingers in her hair as she ran her hand down his chest. Arvin inhaled sharply as she rubbed him through the front of his pants. His hands shook as he yanked at his belt, undoing it enough to force the pants down his thighs, nearly tripping as he stepped out of them. The backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed and Allison pushed his chest just enough to send him crashing onto the bed. 

“Move,” she said, nodding towards the pillows. 

He scooted up until his head hit her pillows. Allison knelt on the bed, kissing up his bare chest until she was straddling him. Arvin ran his hands up her legs, cupping her ass and moving her against him.

Allison slowed their movements, pinning his hands above his head and kissing him long and relaxed. She tugged his lip between her teeth as she pulled away, “I think I should come pick you up from work more often.”

“Yeah?” Arvin gasped, rutting up against her. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

“Are you sure?” Allison asked, keeping his hands in place, “Do you think you’ll be able to handle the teasin’ you’re gonna get tomorrow.”

“T-Teasin’…I don’t…Fuck…sure…just…can we…please?” he begged, shifting underneath her as she rocked against him too desperate to be embarrassed.

“Hmm…I don’t know,” Allison teased, running her free hand down his chest as she attached her lips to his throat, fully intending to give them something to tease him about.

“Allison, please?”

Leaning back, Allison wet her lips, looking at him through her lashes.

“Protection?” she asked.

Arvin swore, his head falling back against her pillow. “It’s in the glovebox of the Bel Air.” 

“Oh…”Allison muttered, releasing his wrists and chewing the inside of her cheek as she thought, attempting to visualize the calendar she kept in her purse. “That’s okay.”

“Ally, there ain’t no way I can get to town before the drug store closes,” Arvin sighed, pushing himself up on his elbows.

“I know,” she said softly, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, “and I’m sayin’ okay…”

“Okay, what?” Arvin asked, shaking his head lightly.

Arvin’s eyebrows furrowed slightly and Allison nodded again. With a shaky breath, she held his gaze with hers.

“It’s okay.”

“As in…”

Allison’s heart pounded on her chest and her stomach fluttered with nerves as she nodded. Arvin pressed his lips to hers, shifting to lay her back on the bed. Allison’s hand stopped him, pressing him back into the mattress and restoring her previous position atop him. She pressed against him as he pulled her down into a kiss. Arvin rocked his hips against her. 

“Let me,” he muttered, shifting a little awkwardly in order to push his boxers down to his thighs. His erection pressed firmly against the bare flesh of her inner thigh as she sat up.

Allison kept her eyes on his face as she rose from the bed and slid the zipper of her skirt down allowing the material to fall. Her half-slip and underwear followed soon after. Arvin took the opportunity to fully remove his boxer shorts. 

He swallowed roughly and his hands running up her thighs as she climbed back on top of him. Arvin’s hands continued their ascent up her body, taking in the soft sounds that left her. 

He groaned as she reached between them and took him in her hand. Arvin’s eyes rolled back as she finally sunk down on him. He gripped the sheets attempting to focus on anything but her.

Allison shifted ever so slightly and he very clearly damn near lost his mind. She loved it. She placed a steadying hand to his chest, coaxing him to look at her. 

“Are you okay?” she asked him. Arvin opened his mouth though it took a few seconds to find his voice.

“Yeah” he responded, “You?”

“It’s different…” she nodded, not sure if it was the new angle or the lack of protection that stood out the most.

“Different bad or different good?”

“Different good,” she said, shifting again so she could kiss him. “We should try new things more often.”

Arvin didn’t get a chance to respond as she moved again, intentionally sliding herself back up his cock. Allison’s expression shifted as she experimented. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head, before shifting again to find a much better feeling. Allison's lips parted and her fluttered closed. She repeated the movement and Arvin bit his lip, his fist balling up her sheets.

She didn’t have to see him to know that he was forcing himself to focus, despite the distracting sounds that fell from her. He slid his hand between them searching blindly for the bundle of nerves. Allison caught his hand, guiding him where she needed him to be. He only needed to hold out a little longer, as she’d found her stride. She only needed a little more time from him. Her pelvic muscles squeezed at him as her release began its build and his name fell from her lips. God, if they stopped now, she’d kill him. She increased her tempo chasing the feeling higher and higher. She needed his eyes on her. 

“Look at me.” 

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard her and opened his eyes. Her head fell back and she played with her breasts while his name fell from her lips paired with the feeling of his eyes on her sent her over the edge immediately. Arvin’s head pressed back into the pillow and his thighs shook as he followed directly after her. 

All of Allison felt flushed as she collapsed against his chest. Arvin’s cheeks grew pink with embarrassment. He rubbed Allison’s back gently.

“Sorry…” he muttered, shifting slightly beneath her.

“Wh-” Allison blinked and shook her head, breathing heavily as she searched for her voice. Giving up, she turned his face towards her for a sleepy kiss. 

Arvin furrowed his eyebrows at her, brushing her hair back from her face. “Are you okay?”

Allison slid off of him, curling up with her head in the crook of his neck, her breathing still unsteady and her thighs sore as she nodded lightly. “Very okay.”

“Ver-” Arvin began, his head snapping towards her. “Very okay? Very okay as in…?”

“Yes.”

Arvin grinned so widely that his cheeks hurt. “Yes?”

“Yes,” Allison laughed lightly, as Arvin peppered her face with kisses. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said, pressing his lips to hers gently. 

Arvin rubbed her back gently, yawning as a comfortable silence settled over them. Allison snuggled in closer, growing cold as her pulse steadied. 

“Hey, Ally,” Arvin asked, receiving a sleepy hum in response, “you think we could use your shower?”

“I don’t think I can walk,” Allison muttered, causing him to laugh. She sat up and wrapped her arms around herself, goosebumps rising on her skin. “If you want, I can grab you some of Christopher’s sleep pants and we can throw your work clothes in the washing machine.”

“I’d like that,” Arvin responded.

So, they did. Allison joined him in the shower, showing him the luxury that she’d grown accustomed to. Enjoying the way his shoulder muscles relaxed beneath the hot water and her fingers. She started the washer soon after as he fried them up some dinner. 

“I could come with you, you know, once Grandma starts feelin’ better,” he said softly later that evening, as she laid across his chest, half asleep. She could hear his heart rate increasing as he spoke, “I mean, there’s work in Chicago, right? I could send money back to Grandma and Earskell. Maybe keep savin’ up. Get you a proper ring.”

He said the last bit so softly, she barely heard him. She pushed herself into a sitting position, before leaning in and kissing him gently. 

“I’d like that,” she whispered, running her hand up his chest. 

“Me too.” 

He kissed her again, firmer this time.

“Are you sure?” she teased. “Seein’ as I’m gonna be the death of you?”

Arvin chuckled, rolling them so her back pressed in her mattress.

Arvin laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep knowing Allison was just down the hall, though in all honesty, he hadn’t been sleeping much anyway. Earskell had insisted the Hartford’s still go on their weekend getaway. Telling Mrs. Hartford that in spite of everything they still want Allison to stay. 

Footsteps sounded down the hallway, growing closer and closer, before his door opened and closed quietly. He reached over and turned on his lamp. Allison stood in front of the door, fiddling with the pale blue robe that covered her white nightgown. He shifted to sit on the edge of the bed.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Allison said, her cheeks glistening and her voice breaking. “Not in her room. I-I tried the couch, but…”

“Grandma will tan both our hides if she catches you in here,” he whispered as she moved towards him. 

“Do you want me to go?” she asked, stopping at the end of the bed. 

He shook his head, blinking tears from his eyes. He didn’t. He missed her. He needed her.

Arvin reached for her, taking her hand and guiding her in between his thighs. Allison ran her fingers through his hair. Arvin leaned into her touch, wrapping his arms around her tightly, laying his head against her chest. His shoulders shook, despite his best effort to keep the tears at bay. Allison let out a sob, the tears running freely down her cheeks as she curled around him. 

Arvin felt her knees shake as he pulled back from her. He shifted back onto the bed. She reached for him unsure so he took her hand and helped her climb in next to him. 

“Come here,” Allison said, pulling him to her. All of his resolve broke, his whole body shaking with sobs as he buried his head in her chest. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, all the tears he’d been holding in flooding out, all the strength he tried to hold for his grandma crumbling. 

“I shouldn’t have blamed you,” he told her, his voice hoarse as he finally lifted his head from her. “It was both of us. It’s our fault.”

“I know.” 

Allison wiped his cheeks with the sleeve of her robe.

“If we hadn’t…” he took a deep breath, attempting to steady himself so he didn’t dissolve into sobs once again. “If we had…”

“I know.” Allison wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand. 

Arvin laid his head back against her chest, allowing the sound of her heartbeat to calm him. Allison breathing was shaky as she stared at the ceiling, absentmindedly twirling his hair in her fingers. Feeling calmer, he pulled away from her, glancing down at where he had buried his head. 

“I’m sorry.”

Allison glanced down at where his tears had soaked through her robe. She shrugged halfheartedly, sliding the robe open and off of her body. She dropped it over the edge of his bed. Arvin ran his eyes over her, the light from his lamp causing a translucency in the thin white material of her night gown. He ran a hand up her side, before cupping her face. He brushed his thumb across her cheek, staring into her sad green eyes. Fuck, he’d missed her. 

“I’ve missed you,” he said softly. 

Ally wet her lips, tilting her face up ever so slightly. Arvin leaned down to kiss her, slow and deliberate. He wanted to feel her, to feel something other than sadness, grief, worry and anger. He needed her, needed to feel loved, wanted, missed and needed. She ran her hands up his back, as he moved to lay between her thighs. He fondled her breast with one hand as he kissed down her neck. He nipped at her collar bone.

“I love you,” he whispered. 

Ally gasped as he touched her. She didn’t stop him as he ran his hand up under the skirt of her nightgown. His fingers ghosted over her thighs, before brushing against her core. Leaning back, he held her gaze as he rubbed her through her underwear. Ally whimpered and, fuck, he’d missed the sound, not caring as her nails dug cresent moons into his shoulder. 

Briefly, he thought about shushing her, just in case Emma woke up and left her room or Earskell decided to move in from the porch due to the light rain, but he wanted to hear her, to hear something other than Emma’s sobs and the heaviness of Earskell’s boots. 

After a moment, Arvin kissed her again, swallowing her moans. He slid her underwear to the side as she ran her fingers through his hair. Tentatively, he slipped a finger between her fold and her hips bucked involuntarily. Pumping his finger a few times, before he added a second finger and repeated the motion. He curled his fingers in a come hither motion until her breath hitched.

He ground his erection into her thigh, before leaning back. Ally whined as his fingers slipped from her, looking up at him with pleading eyes. Arvin gripped the edge of her nightgown and pulled it over her head. He wanted to see her, to see something other than Lenora’s empty room.

He kissed her roughly, pressing her back into her pillow. He nipped his way down her throat to her breast. Allison dug her fingers into the back of his neck as he pulled a nipple into his mouth. He didn’t play with her for long, before kissing down her stomach until he could easily yank her underwear down her legs, tossing them carelessly onto the floor. 

Allison tugged him back to her lips and he slipped his fingers back into her swiftly, causing her to gasp loudly against his lips. He didn’t offer the same gentleness that he normally used when he touched her, though she clearly didn’t mind. Ally’s eyes closed as she rocked with the roughness of his hands, her moans certainly too loud as he pressed his thumb to the bundle of nerves between her legs. His free hand found her breast, fondly the flesh, before tugging at the nipple as he nipped at her throat. 

His bicep ached as she dug her nails into his skin. Ally’s thighs shook around his hand. 

“Arvin, please,” she whimpered, pushing him away with the hand not digging into the flesh of his arm, “I need you.” 

He nodded, rising from her to pull his sleep shirt off. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and fished out an old wooden box. Allison shifted behind him, pressing her bare chest against his back and had he not been painfully hard, he may have relished in the feeling. She trailed kisses along his shoulder as she watched him. He shifted through the items in the box: a dirty magazine, his mother’s wedding band, the light blue pair of panties from their rainy afternoon in the Bel Air, a smaller wooden box that held her ring money, before grabbing the tin of condoms. He’d removed them from the glovebox a week after their break up, both nervous they’d be found and upset whenever he saw them. 

Arvin turned his head towards her and she kissed him, desperate and impatient. He dropped the box blindly on the nightstand. He turned awkwardly, his lips still moving against hers as he knelt on the bed. Allison pulled away, moving so she could lay back on the bed. Arvin removed his boxer shorts and slipped on the condom, swallowing roughly as she parted her legs so he could settle between them. 

“I love you,” she whispered, a soft gasp slipping from her as he entered her. 

Arvin repeated the phrase over and over as he moved. He buried his face in her neck, focusing on nothing but the sounds that left her and the feeling of her around him. He knew it all would be over soon, but for once made no attempt to prolong it. He hiked her leg up over his hip as he increased his tempo. His whole body tensed and his back arched, pushing into her further as his hips stuttered through his release.

Arvin pressed his face deeper into her neck, wrapping his arms around her tightly and his breathing changed from rapid to shaky. Allison ran her fingers through his hair gently and he was sure she could feel his tears on her neck. She shushed him softly, hugging him and rubbing his back, until he pulled away. Silently cursing himself for being so emotional, he refused to look at her, rubbing his eyes roughly as he sniffed and stood from the bed, cleaning up and grabbing their clothes.

“I love you,” Allison blurted out, her voice scared and vulnerable, causing his head to snap in her direction.

She’d moved to sit back against his pillow, her knees pulled against her chest, anxiously holding her breath as she waited on his response. She wrapped her arms around her legs, grabbing her own wrists to stop her hands from shaking. He offered her her nightgown and the color drained from her face and she blinked back tears. Arvin pressed his forehead to hers. 

“I love you too,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss her lips gently. 

“You don’t have to…” she muttered and he shook his head.

“I love you,” he repeated, firmer, holding her gaze with his until she nodded. “And I’m sorry. I was stupid.”

Allison slipped the nightgown over her head. She stood from the bed, opening the small wooden box as Arvin continued to get ready for bed. Needing to hold her, Arvin wrapped his arms around her with his chest pressed flush against her back and pressed a kiss to her temple as she thumbed through the box. 

She raised an eyebrow at him with a teasing grin, lifting up the underwear with one finger. He merely shrugged. She’d known he’d kept them. She ran a finger over his daddy’s Luger, but let it be. With both hands, she picked up the dirty magazine, a 1960 edition of “Man’s Favorite Pastime” that Daryl had stolen from his father. 

“The Most Beautiful Girls in the World,” Allison read aloud as Arvin’s cheeks grew hot. She looked at the brunette on the cover dressed short, translucent, red robe, revealing just enough to tease, but still covered. “She is pretty.”

Then before he thought to stop her, she flipped the magazine open to a random page. Allison squeaked in surprise, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. Arvin slapped a hand over her eyes, the other knocking the magazine to the ground. Arvin pressed his eyes closed, unable to understand how she managed to open the magazine to the only page that included a man, technically it only featured the man’s erect cock wrapped in the hand of a surprised looking blonde.

Allison turned to look at him, fighting a fit of giggles every time she opened her mouth to speak, before she gave up. She bent to pick up the magazine, but Arvin beat her to it, snatching it up and away from her. 

“That was a… creative take on a beautiful girl,” Allison commented and Arvin furrowed his eyebrows at her. He flipped the magazine back open, keeping the page out of her line of sight.

“She is pretty,” he said, looking over the picture of the blonde.

“There’s was a girl on that page?” Allison blinked at him, standing on her tiptoes to look at the page.

Arvin snapped the magazine closed as he laughed, a full deep belly laugh that he hadn’t been sure that he’d ever do again. After a moment, Allison stopped trying to grab the magazine and laughed with him. Once they settled down, Arvin slipped the tin of condoms and the magazine back in the box and returned it to its spot under his bed as Allison yawned loudly.

“We should get to bed,” Arvin said, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, “it’s half past one.”

“Yeah,” Allison nodded, yawning again. 

She hesitated, looking at the door, before taking a reluctant step towards it. Arvin caught her hand and shook his head.

“Stay.”

Allison smiled at him softly and his heart fluttered, suddenly nervous about the intimacy of sleeping and waking next to one another. He’d laid next to her in her bed many nights, though he never slept too nervous to get caught. He kissed her gently, before climbing into his bed and under the covers.

“So, are you going to make me ask you to be my girl again or…” Arvin asked, offering her a small grin as she settled in against his chest. Allison shook her head as she smiled at him.

“I think we can skip that part.”

Sleep came quicker and easier than Arvin thought possible as he listened to her steady breathing, enveloped in the sweet, floral smell of her perfume.

A firm rap on his bedroom door woke him the next morning. Arvin blinked, feeling an unfamiliar weight on his chest. He looked down to see a mess of blonde hair and the events of the night before rushed him. A second rap hit his door and his eyebrows pulled together, no one ever knocked when coming to wake him. He slipped from beneath her as gently as possible, grinning as she rolled over, burrowing in his covers. A third rap sounded before Arvin made it to the door, opening it ever so slightly.

“Come on. I fried eggs and potatoes,” Earskell said quietly. Arvin shifted awkwardly, glancing back at Allison. “Let her sleep.”

“Wh-” Arvin began to lie, but shut his mouth at the look on Earskell’s face, his own cheeks flushing as he shut the door.

Arvin slipped on a pair of pants and pressed a kiss to the top of Allison’s head. He left the room quietly, his stomach tight as he entered the kitchen. Earskell glanced at him and nodded towards the plate. Arvin settled into the table, waiting to see if Earskell was going to speak before tucking into the food. 

“A last meal?” Arvin asked and to his surprise Earskell laughed. A loud proper laugh. 

“Emma’s likely to tan your hides,” he nodded, “but she took one of those pills Lizzie gave her ‘for bed last night. You couldn’t have woken her if you tried.”

“You sleep on the couch last night?” Arvin asked, his cheeks burning Earskell nodded. He was curious as to what he’d heard, the sobbing, the moaning, the laughing, but he would die before he asked.

Earskell took a couple bites of his breakfast before he spoke again. “You bein’ careful?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I ain’t gonna tell you not to let her sleep in there again tonight,” Earskell began, taking another bite and speaking through the food, “but Emma ain’t got another one of them pills. You understand?”

“I understand.”

The sun shouldn’t have been out. Of all the days for the sky to be sad or angry, the morning of Lenora’s funeral would have been most fitting and yet, the sun shone bright over the cemetery. A heavy silence had settled over the small group, no one quite knowing what to say.

Allison didn’t look at Arvin for the duration of the funeral. She couldn’t. It was already taking everything in her not to break down completely. Elizabeth wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm softly. Still, she could feel herself shaking, trying her hardest not to burst into tears. 

Earskell shifted next to her and she reached out blindly, grabbing his hand. He squeezed her hand in thanks, holding it as they watched Emma kneel beside the casket, her prayer book in hand. They hadn’t spoken since her break up with Arvin. He never attended church and she hadn’t been back to the house but she’d missed the old man with his slightly too inappropriate jokes and the way he practically robbed her blind during cards.

She felt Arvin’s eyes on her for the briefest of moments and her resolve crumbled. Elizabeth pulled her face to her shoulder gently, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. As if he could feel the change, Earskell squeezed her hand again as tight as the arthritis would let him, but she didn’t mind the pressure. She pressed her nails to the inside of her free palm, attempting to focus on anything to stop the tears. Elizabeth’s tears wet her hair as she laid her head atop hers. 

After what felt like an eternity, she regained control, forcing her breathing to steady and lifting her head. Earskell squeezed her hand one more, before pulling away. Allison didn’t know what to do in the silence.

The last time she’d attended a funeral she’d been five years old and her paternal grandmother had passed. Allison hadn’t really known the woman, not learning until much later that she’d disapproved of Elizabeth so much that she refused to allow her in the main house on the Hartford estate in New York. Though in her grandmother’s defense, she doubted that Joseph or Elizabeth would be thrilled if she brought home a fiance after only knowing them for five weeks. 

After the funeral, Elizabeth drove them to the Russell’s house. The back seat of the red Mustang held a week’s worth of casseroles. Allison's stomach was in her throat as they pulled into the driveway behind Earskell’s old truck. 

“Mama,” she said in a small voice. 

She didn’t want to go back into that house, to step back onto that porch. Elizabeth offered her a pitying look and patted her hand. 

“I know, sweetheart,” Elizabeth said and opened the door. “Let’s go. Emma needs us.”

Reluctantly, she followed her up to the house, casseroles in hand. Arvin opened the door for them, holding it as Earskell took the casseroles from Elizabeth as she continued into the house in search of Emma. Though she didn’t look at him, Arvin glanced at her then turned to follow her mother down the hall. 

“Boy,” Earskell said shortly, prompting Arvin to turn on his heel.

Allison finally looked up at him as he stopped directly in front of her. By God, she wished she hadn’t. She wished she could turn right around, climb back into the car and go home. She wished she never ran into him that day at school. She wished she’d never let herself grow to love him, because at least then the rage and hatred in his eyes wouldn’t make her want to die.

Arvin’s jaw clenched as he reached for the dishes. Her stomach lurched as his fingers brushed hers. She almost apologized as if she was wrong for having her hands there in the first place, but he took the items from her roughly and stalked down the hallway to the kitchen before she had the chance.

“He’s hurtin’,” Earskell muttered to her as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“I know,” she said softly, blinking back tears and following Earskell down the hall.

Try as she might, Allison couldn’t stop herself from looking at Lenora’s empty room. Without thinking, she came to a stop in the doorway, then ever so slowly, she stepped into the room. She ran her fingers along the washstand. 

Lenora had been so excited the first time Allison had braided her short hair. She had twisted and twirled in front of the attached mirror. At the time, Allison had laughed at her impatience, telling her that her hair wouldn’t dry quicker if she watched it. She’d been so happy with the final result that she asked her to braid it every night that Allison had stayed in her room. She hadn’t minded, teaching her the movement so she could do the same for her.

Allison looked to the bed where they had sat and took turns fixing one another’s hair. She moved towards it, sitting on the edge. The romance novel Allison had given her sat on the nightstand, just more half read judging by the placement of the book mark. A lump formed in her throat, Lenora would never know how it ended. 

They’d been in the room when she gave it to her. A cliche tale of star-crossed lovers, certainly doomed, yet one couldn’t help but root for them in spite of the opposition. Lenora had giggled when she’d read the synopsis and said that it was just like Allison and Arvin. Allison had rolled her eyes, but blushed all the same. 

Allison brushed her hand across the worn old comforter, blinking back tears once again as she remembered the last time she’d sat on the bed with Lenora. 

A small box of Allison’s stuff had sat on the floor beside their feet. Lenora had been crying, and if she was honest with herself, she had been too. 

“I don’t understand,” she’d forced out through the tears and Allison shook her head. 

“I don’t either,” she’d admitted. She had lied to her friends about the break up in an attempt to save face, but she didn’t need to pretend with Lenora.

“But he loves you,” Lenora had said, shaking her head in confusion, “and you love him.”

“I know, but love isn’t always enough, Lenora.”

“He’s just being difficult,” she sniffed, “I’ll talk to him when he gets back and he’ll see sense. I know he will. He loves you.” 

“Lenora…” Allison had muttered with a shake of her head, though she felt as if she was lying, “he wasn’t wrong. We only had until September anyway.

Lenora sobbed again, launching herself at Allison and burying her head in neck. Allison hesitated before hugging her back tightly, her own tears glistening on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I just…” Lenora muttered, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her dress, “I love Arvin, I do, but…”

“It’s nice to have a friend,” Allison said and Lenora nodded, smiling slightly. 

“Right, we’re friends. Real friends,” she said, nervously fiddling with her skirts. “And we can still be friends, right? Still spend time together? Even though you and Arvin ain’t together no more.” 

Allison swallowed roughly as she looked into Lenora’s pleading brown eyes. She didn’t have the heart to tell her that she didn’t think she’d be able to come back to the house and that she highly doubted that Arvin would drive her to see her, so she lied. 

“Of course,” Allison said, forcing herself to smile back at her. “I’m not friends with you because of…I’m friends with you because I like you.” 

“And friends tell each other things, secrets…” Lenora said, her tears fading as she looked at her intensely. “Like you told me about you and Arvin?”

“Do you have something to tell me, Lenora?” Allison asked, her eyebrows furrowing, though she couldn’t imagine what Lenora could be keeping from anyone, she only really left the house to go to the church.  

“I-” Lenora began, but the slamming of the screen door pulled both their attention. 

Someone tripped in the hallway and Arvin’s voice hit her ears as he swore. Just like that she couldn’t breathe. He appeared moments later, Lenora called his name, stopping him in his tracks. Allison could smell the alcohol from the bed as he blinked at her, as if he wasn’t sure if he was actually seeing her. Lenora said his name again, pulling him back to reality. 

“Girl, don’t start,” Arvin snapped, continuing to his room and slamming the door. Allison felt ill. She needed to get out of that house.  

“I need to go,” Allison said, squeezing Lenora’s hand as she stood, “but we’ll talk next time I see you, I promise. This Sunday. After church, okay?”

But Lenora never made it to church that Sunday, nor the next. A stomach bug according  to Emma. Allison should’ve swallowed her pride and driven to the Russell’s house, but the risk of running into Arvin had felt too high and she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

The next time she saw her friend was in a pine box. 

“What are you doin’ in here?” Arvin’s voice pulled her from the memory, causing her to stand abruptly. “You shouldn’t be in here.”

“I was just-” Allison couldn’t finish her sentence, choking back a sob.

“Why the fuck are you cryin’?” he snapped and her eyes swung towards him.

“She was my friend.” 

He was angry and wanted to upset her, she could see it in his eyes.

“If she was your friend, then you would’ve been here for her,” Arvin lashed out. “You would have done somethin’, stopped Maston and Gene and everyone. You would’ve stood up for her.”

“I did stand up for her,” Allison countered angrily, “Might I remind you that I lost the ability to stop Tommy, when I chose you.”

“I guess that was another fuckin’ mistake on your part. Maybe if you were a better friend then she wouldn’t have…” Arvin swallowed roughly and turned his head from her. “Get out of here.”

Allison opened her mouth to argue, to tell him that she had every right to grieve, to remember Lenora and the memories they had made, but no sound left her as she couldn’t help but agree with him. Had she been a better friend, not prioritizing Arvin, not prioritizing her pain, sticking up for Lenora more vocally, inviting her to more events, maybe she wouldn’t have hung herself. 

Arvin didn’t make room for her as she went to leave. She turned to the side, careful not to touch him as she squeezed past him and out the door. Tears streamed steadily down her face as she entered the kitchen. Emma sat at the table, her gaze unfocused as Elizabeth watched her, unmasked concern clear on her face. 

Emma didn’t look at her as she sat at the table. In truth, she didn’t seem to notice that Allison had entered the room at all. Elizabeth stood from the table and moved to Emma’s side.

“Why don’t you heat up one of the casseroles for Arvin and Earskell?” she suggested without looking at her. “I’m going to help Emma to bed. It’s been a long day.”

Allison nodded and forced herself up from the table to heat up the oven. By the time the casserole was hot and Allison’s tears had ceased, Elizabeth still hadn’t returned. Allison scooped a large helping onto a plate and took it out to Earskell’s rocking chair. The screen door slammed behind her, prompting him to look up. She handed him the plate, before sitting down next to him.

“Did I ever tell you about the time I lived in Cincinnati?” Earskell asked her.

He had, still Allison shook her head, needing something to fill the silence.

“I wasn’t much older than you are now,” he told her. “Followed me a girl up there. Just like you, she wanted to go to school in the city. Secretary school, though…Alice Lousie Berry.”

“Bet you loved her something awful,” Allison said as Earskell gazed out into the trees, something about the way he said her name told her that he was no longer on the porch with her, not really. “Are you upset that she went away?” 

“She always had big dreams and I loved her for it,” Earskell admitted, his voice barely above a whisper as he shook his head, blinking his way back to the porch, before he asked, “Do me a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t give up on the boy just yet. He just needs some time to pull his head from his ass.”

Allison probably would have cried again had she had any tears left in her. Instead, she allowed the silence to wash over them as the sun began its descent. Earskell set the plate on the porch as he finished his meal and fished a half-empty whiskey bottle from under his chair. He took a sip, before offering her one. 

If Elizabeth smelled the whiskey when she exited the house, she didn’t say anything. Earskell snored loudly, the alcohol helping him sleep. The world spun a little as Allison rose to her feet and she blinked rapidly trying to bring the world back into focus. Elizabeth frowned her, glancing at the empty bottle, before wrapping her arm around her waist.

“Mama,” she asked softly, tears swimming in her eyes again, “can I sleep in your room tonight?”

Daryl and Hobart sat on the tailgate of Earskell’s old Ford as Arvin bent over the hood of the Bel Air. They’d been pestering him for an hour for details of his last date with Ally. The three of them had had plans to meet after he dropped her off at home, but he never made it to the meeting spot. In all honesty, like most nights, Ally had barely made it home in time for her curfew that night, only to sneak out to meet him forty-five minutes later behind her daddy’s shed. Sneaking in and out of the Hartford’s home had become almost a nightly habit for them since their night by the creek. Over the past month, Arvin had barely slept in his own bed, spending most his nights with her either in her room or down by the creek, before catching a few hours in the Bel Air as he waited for the work truck to arrive.

“I told you already,” Arvin snapped, looking down at the perfectly fine engine of his car. “The transmission is acting up again.”

“The transmission hasn’t acted right in months,” Daryl said, hopping off the tailgate to look at the Bel Air. 

“Which is why we know you took her out in the Ford,” Hobart chimed in as he joined them both. “He just doesn’t want to tell us whether he finally got in his cheerleader’s pants or not.”

Arvin willed his cheeks not to flush, but they betrayed him turning bright red beneath his hat. He rolled his eyes at them. 

“Make yourself useful and get me a rag from the glove box, will you?” he asked, hoping to distract them long enough to create an easy to fix issue. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Hobart muttered as he rounded the car. 

“Come on,” Daryl whined, nudging Arvin with his elbow. “If you get somewhere with her, then you got to tell us something. That’s what friends do.”

“Why?” Arvin snorted. “So you can imagine my girl naked?”

“He already imagines your girl naked,” Hobart teased and had it been anyone else that may have gotten a rise out of Arvin, but they were his friends. Giving him hell, especially when he was the only one with a girl was their right.

“I do not!” Daryl protested and Arvin grinned slightly, knowing he was lying. Daryl had been crushing on Allison Hartford from a far since 1954 and they both attended the same first grade class.

“Oh, oh, oh! Jackpot!” Hobart called, the large grin audible as he spoke. He rose from the car, peering over the hood as he hung out the door, holding up the tin of condoms Arvin kept in the glove box high above his head for Daryl to see. 

“Fuck,” Arvin swore, moving around the car to snatch the tin from him. 

Hobart laughed, tossing the tin to Daryl as Arvin closed in on him. Daryl caught them easily, backing up as he popped open the tin. 

“Half of ‘em are missing,” he told Hobart, closing the tin and tossing it back to him as Arvin moved towards him. Arvin's cheeks burned as he found himself in an embarrassing game of monkey in the middle as they teased him.

“Keep your voices down,” Arvin snapped, looking towards the house, before sighing in defeat and sitting down with his back against the Bel Air. 

“Come on, man, we’re just givin’ you shit,” Hobart said as they stopped tossing the tin, the game no longer enjoyable without their monkey. 

“So you gonna keep lyin’ to us or….” Daryl asked, as they slid down the Bel Air on either side of him. Arvin ran a hand over his face, he knew it was his fault, when he’d first started making progress with Ally he’d been too excited and nervous to keep his mouth shut. Though he realized quickly, yet too late, that neither Daryl nor Hobart were any help as they hadn’t any more experience than he had.

“I don’t know,” Arvin admitted, running his hand over his face. He didn’t want to tell them that his moments with Ally, the truly intimate moments, not just the sex, but the dancing in the rain, the sweet nothing they exchanged and the fact that most nights he just enjoyed holding her until both she and his arm had fallen asleep. Those things were only for him and Ally to know, besides they’d never let him live down such corny shit, so instead he said, “She’d never let me up her skirts again if she knew I told you anythin’.”

“You’re gonna tell us eventually,” Daryl shrugged. “Why make us wait until September?”

“What?” Arvin asked, furrowing his eyebrows at him.

“Come on, Arvin,” Hobart added. “It’s not like you’re gonna marry her.”

Arvin crossed his arms over his knees and didn’t tell them about the small wooden box he’d hidden under his bed, separate from his coffee can savings, where he’d been squirreling away any extra money he could. Every opportunity that crossed his path, chopping firewood, picking apples, slopping hogs, not to mention the work his neighbor had gotten him with the construction crew paving blacktop on Route 60, got him one step closer to having her a proper ring by the time she left for Chicago. 

“Don’t get like that, Arvin,” Hobart continued, as Arvin frowned. “Girls like her marry lawyers and businessmen. You know, men like her daddy. They don’t settle down in Coal Creek with guys like us.” 

“Coal Creek ain’t that bad,” Arvin muttered.

Hobart scoffed, “It is for a girl like her.”

“You can’t tell me you haven’t been preparin’ yourself for her leavin’,” Daryl said, “Not after how bad Mary’s leavin’ hit you.”

Arvin hadn’t thought about her in months. His throat felt tight as he stared at the treeline. If Mary Jane Turner’s leaving had wrecked him, Allison Hartford’s leaving was going to kill him. He shook his head and stood from the ground.

“Man, we told you from the start that this ain’t nothin’ serious to her,” Hobart said, looking up at him. “Just a fun phase for her to think about when she’s a bored housewife.”

“I got to go,” he told them, closing the hood of the Bel Air. He hated when they talked about her like that, but between them and Emma’s constant reminders of her leaving, he couldn’t stop picturing her moving on with someone new. “I told Ally I’d meet her down by the creek for dinner.”

“Don’t forget these,” Hobart grinned at him and tossed him the tin of condoms. 

“Thanks,” Arvin muttered, shoving them in his pocket, before climbing into the car and heading to the creek.

Ally was already at the creek when he pulled up, standing in her headlights as she set up the picnic. She turned as he parked, the skirt of her pretty dress swishing as she grinned at him. She met him halfway, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her lips to his. Arvin shook his head slightly as they parted. Daryl and Hobart were wrong, he was going to marry her.

“What?” she asked and he shook his head again.

“I just love you,” he responded. Ally blushed as she beamed up at him.

“I love you too.”

She grabbed his hand and led him to the picnic blanket. Arvin grinned at the selection that she had set up. 

“You’re turnin’ into quite the homemaker,” he teased, kissing her cheek as he settled onto the blanket. “Burgers, fries, Coca Cola.”

“I labored in the kitchen all day,” she giggled, “Pourin’ over the phone book, tryin’ to figure out which dinner to order from.”

“And you landed on Perry’s?”

“You mean the only dinner in town?” she asked with a laugh. “Yes, I settled on Perry’s. I thought about drivin’ to Fox Knob for some variety, but I figured the food would be too cold by the time I got it here.”

“I don’t mind cold food,” Arvin shrugged, taking a large bite of one of the burgers. Ally snorted and wiped sauce from his chin, before settling into her own meal, significantly less messily than he had.

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

Arvin had finished his burger and grabbed a handful of fries before he spoke again. 

“That was really good,” he muttered. Ally reached into the basket and handed him another burger. Watching her out of the corner of his eye, he unwrapped the burger and said nonchalantly, “You keep treatin’ me this good and I’ma marry you.” 

Ally’s eyes flickered toward him and a smile crept across her lips. She cleared her throat and said, “You should see what I brought for dessert.”

Arvin raised his eyebrows at her, a grin creeping across his lips. Ally smacked his shoulder. “Arvin Eugene Russell! Get your mind out of the gutter! That is not what I meant.”

“I didn’t say nothin’!”

“Your face said enough.” 

“I should probably tell you that Daryl and Hobart found the condoms in the glove compartment,” Arvin told her cautiously, unsure of her reaction. She shrugged at him.

“I figured you told them somethin’,” she said, “not everything, but somethin’ surely…”

“Did you tell your friends?” he asked, unexpected nerves in his stomach as Ally’s cheeks flushed and she nodded. “W-what did you tell them?”

“Just that we had…that I let you…” Ally struggled, before taking a deep breath and trying again. “I only told Abigail and Dorothea. I love the rest, but they’re far too loose-lipped to be trusted. I just wanted some perspective, I guess? I mean, you know that they’ve both already done it.”

“Yeah,” Arvin nodded, taking a sip of his drink. 

“Well, ours felt different than how Abigail described it,” Ally explained. “Different than Dorothea’s too, so I had follow up questions.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t exactly the first time Tommy had done it,” Arvin muttered, his cheeks flushing as he avoided his gaze. “Of course, he was gonna last-”

“Last longer?” Ally suggested as Arvin stopped talking abruptly, she scooted closer to him as he didn’t respond. “I’m not gonna lie for your ego and say that he didn’t.”

“Geez, thanks,” Arvin muttered and rolled his eyes. 

“Will you look at me? That didn’t matter. Tommy didn’t…he wasn’t…” Ally sighed and reluctantly he did, “You took care of me. That’s what made the difference.”

She kissed him then, long and slow. She pulled back as his fingers tickled her thigh.

“You said somethin’ about dessert,” he whispered, pressing a kiss just below her ear. Ally laughed and scooted away from him.

“I did,” she confirmed, sitting up on her knees so she could dig in the basket. Unable to help himself as she bent in front of him, he smacked her ass. “Arvin Eugene!”

She smiled as she scolded him, pulling pie from the basket.

“Apple?”

“Blackberry,” she answered, scooping some onto a fork and offering it to him. “Did I tell you that Daddy and I are going to look at the dorms in Chicago next week?”

“That seems rather soon, doesn’t it?”

Ally shook her head as she responded, explaining the dorm life and the pressure from the dorms to become more coeducational. Arvin’s throat grew tight as he thought about Hobart’s words, about her meeting someone new. A good looking successful man in her coeducational dorm room that could give her a life he never could.

She’d been growing more excited every time she talked about Chicago, more excited as the semester grew closer. More excited about moving, about leaving Coal Creek, about leaving him. If Maston didn’t fit into the next phase of her life, how the hell could he?

“Hobart and Daryl think you’re gonna leave in September,” Arvin blurted out, interrupting her explanation.

“I have to leave,” Ally said, furrowing her eyebrows. “I’m goin’ to university.”

“No, like leave me,” Arvin said pointedly, his heart beating rapidly.

“Like break up with you? What? No, Arvin,” Ally shook her head rapidly. “I love you.”

“Why not? I mean, do you want to spend the next four years wastin’ your time writin’ and waitin’ on letters?” 

“Arvin, what are you goin’ on about?”

“You’re gonna be in Chicago for the next four years. Then what? You’re gonna come back to Coal Creek?”

“I-” Ally sighed and shook her head. “No, I mean there aren’t really jobs here.”

“Exactly,” he said harshly.

“What are you saying?” Ally asked, panic clear in her voice and she blinked tears away as she watched him. 

Arvin swallowed hard, his chest aching as he looked at her. Ally shook her head as he opened his mouth, willing him not to say it. She was going to leave him, he knew it. It was just a matter of when.

“I’m sayin’ maybe they’re right. It’s not like this is gonna work out,” Arvin shrugged, looking away as the tears glistened on her cheeks. “You’re gonna leave and meet some successful guy and you’re gonna forget all about me. So why are we wastin’ our time and draggin’ this out?”

“Wastin’ our… What? Why are you doing this?”

“Doin’ what? Pointin’ out the inevitable? Why leave in the first place? What’s wrong with Coal Creek? With stayin’ here? With me? I got a good job now, Ally. We could get married. I can support you, support us,” Arvin told her.

“I don’t need you to support me,” Ally responded. “I want to work.”

“As your husband, it’s my job to support you.”

“I thought you understood-”

“Understood what? That you planned to make a fool of me?” Arvin shook his head as he looked away from her. “Let everyone think that I can’t support you? That I can’t make you happy?”

“That’s not-”

“That’s exactly what will happen!”

“Other women have jobs, Arvin!” 

“Yeah, waitressin’ and hairdressin’. Secretaries if they’re ambitious enough, but they don’t out work their husbands. What if we had kids, Ally? How are you gonna take care of a baby from an office?”

“I-” Ally began, shaking her head at him, “We could hire help.”

“You want to pay someone else to raise our babies?”

“I want to be with you!” Ally yelled. 

“Then stay!”

“Why can’t you come with me?” she asked, her voice breaking as tears ran down her cheeks.

Arvin scoffed. He had no good reason, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t follow her to Chicago, just to watch her meet men more successful than him, men that could give her everything he couldn’t until she restented him. Earskell had told him not to ruin her future.

“What the fuck would I do in Chicago, Ally?”

“Be with me,” she responded softly, sounding as broken as he felt. He didn’t respond, didn’t even look at her, pretending as if he hadn’t heard her. If he looked at her, he might take it all back.

“I think I want to go home now,” Ally said, wrapping her arms around her legs.

“Then go,” Arvin snapped. 

He regretted the words the second they left his mouth. He wanted to grab her hand as she stood to beg her to give him the last few months they would’ve had had he not opened his stupid fucking mouth. His throat felt tight as she backed out at an unsafe speed. He stumbled to his feet and lost his dinner in the bushes, his whole body shaking as the realization of their break up hit him.