Floating at Night

3 A Princess and A Prince

Present...

Ali's arm was looped through mine as we walked the aisles of the grocery store mindlessly. She slept with me last night, curled underneath the fluffy white comforter on my parents old bed. After all these years, their room brings me more comfort than pain now. Ali moved in a little over a year ago and I let her take over my room. It doesn't really matter though, because neither of us sleeps alone unless there is a guy over.

And there is rarely a guy over.

"Noelle, be a dear and grab me that pair of sunglasses," she mocked a british accent as we strolled. She'd ask for this and that, but we'd end up putting it all down on a random shelf and overloading on snacks before we left.

It was mid afternoon when we decided to make our way to the pool hall. We were incredibly bored and not a single day since summer has come back did we stay indoors. We are burnt and burned out to say the least. "I missed this place." I inhaled the scent that I longed for most nights. Smoke and teakwood.

Baker and I had our first kiss here.

I opened my eyes again, taking in all the familiar faces. "Justin!" I ran across the room to the only guy in the world who could possibly be a bigger asshole than me. I threw my arms around him, sending him back into the wall behind him. "Whoa! If you wanted to get rough all you have to do is say so," he laughed. I punched his shoulder. "If I wanted to get rough, it wouldn't be with you." I said, making his buddies all ooh and ahh. "Oh, that's right. I forgot. You use me for the slow-," I cut him off by slapping my hand over his mouth before he could say anything else.

Justin is a handsome guy. He's tall, lean, tan, and has two bright blue eyes that could eat me up inside. There's only one thing I want from a guy like Justin.

"You wish," I mumbled, winking as Ali giggled. I think she's the only one that knows how often Justin and I actually... see... each other. He doesn't like to tell his friends about it, I think it's because he's hoping I'll marry him one day. He wants more than what I can offer him, I feel bad but he knew how broken I was when we started this.

He knew and he wanted to start having sex with me anyways.

"So, where's David?" Ali asked, looking around. "I don't know, he left about an hour ago and said he'd be back." One of our other friends answered us, Tina. She's one of our favorite little bunnies and she knows it. "Tina! Come give me some suga!" I called, making a loud pucker noise. She giggled as she ran over and threw herself in my arms.

Tina wasn't around way back when. She was in another state with her then toxic boyfriend. She left him and landed here as a waitress in our local diner, The Grub. She doesn't know much about my past, she just knows it's bad. I don't want her to know. She looks at me with the highest of praises and I don't want her to start looking at me like that. Like I'm a very fragile, broken wing. Like I'm toilet paper and it's about to get shitty.

Justin snaked his arm around my waist as I sipped on my crown and coke. Another one of these and I might just cave in and let him stay the night.

"Shut your mouth, I did not act like that," I protested. Justin laughed with Ali as they both nodded. "You kind of did, Noelle. Don't be mad," Ali agreed. They were all laughing now. Justin said that I acted like I was too good for him in high school. I don't remember even talking to Justin. Back then, it was only Baker.

I nodded a goodbye to Ali and the others. The look of disapproval was clear as I walked out hand in hand with Justin. He pulled me back toward him as we got to the car. "So, you gonna kick me out again tonight?" I let my hand graze his cheek before I grabbed his collar and brought him down to me. "Maybe." He grinned down at me, his dimples get me every time. "You sure you want to do this?" He asked. I pressed my lips to his slowly. His lips were warm and soft, just like him.

"We've already done this, remember?" I asked, slipping my hand under his shirt. He shuttered under my touch as I let my hand roam. My lips were on his neck now, tracing kisses down to his collar bone. "We should get home." He opened the back door, waiting for me to climb in his truck. "Or," he paused to pull his shirt over his head. I let my eyes wonder down his torso, his abs, his shoulders... perfection.

He climbed into the truck beside me, sliding his hand up my thigh. My jean shorts were riding up and he knew exactly what I wanted when he slid his finger underneath the fabric. "Justin..." I moaned underneath his touch. He pulled his fingers away slowly as he unbuttoned my shorts. I let him climb on top of me as I slid out of my shorts. His hands were quick to undo his belt.

We were both sweating as he pulled himself away from me. I sat up too, grabbing my shorts and underwear from the floor board. "Do you want to go back to your place, still?" I glanced over at him, picking at my lips. "Not tonight. I'm sorry." He looked down for a second. He's disappointed I can tell. "When are you going to be ready?" He asked, leaning forward and resting his head on the back of the driver seat. "Don't do this." I opened the car door to get out but his hand wrapped around my arm before I could.

"Justin, don't make this worse. You knew I couldn't do it," I mumbled. I shoved past him and got out of his truck, ignoring the pain in my heart. I can't keep breaking his heart. I may not be in love with him, but I care about him nonetheless. "Noelle!" He called, jumping out after me. "What do you want from me? Justin I can't go down that road again! I don't have anything left to give. I don't have any part of me to give to you. I lost it all!" I yelled, spinning on my heels. His face dropped as he glanced past me, focusing on something behind me.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, turning around.

There he stood.

His eyes have turned into an even deeper blue, his dirty blonde hair even longer, curlier. He had a nice tan to his skin and his face his chiseled in all the right spots. He's not that scrawny boy anymore.

"Baker."

I remember once, my dad told me a story about a prince and a princess. He said the prince took the princess for granted and that the princess almost ran away because of it. In moments like these, I sympathize with the princess, because there is nothing more that I want right now than to run away.