Chapter 63: Option Two

BEN

-- FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2009 --

“I HATE YOU!!!” I howled, trying to scream so loud she could fucking HEAR me in her car forty miles away.

“I HATE YOU, BITCH!!!” I howled again.

“Tiger, Ben, seriously...” Adrienne soothed, trying to calm me down.

Whirling on Adrienne, I waggled a finger in her face. “I hate her because of you.”

Adrienne jerked her head back in shock. “What?”

“And because of Summer!”

Adrienne’s jaw flapped up and down. “I ... I don’t...”

And all the anger fled me. With my energy sapped, my shoulders slumped, and I dropped down heavily onto the floor. My cheeks were soaked in both sweat and tears. I tasted snot in my mouth and felt it all over my face. I bowed my head, my chin dropping to my chest. But before it got there, I started shaking it side-to-side.

Adrienne sat beside me, an expression of infinite love and concern on her face. She was clearly worried about me, but there was no fear.

Eventually, I found my voice. “Forever and Always mine, my Tigress,” I said with a sigh, reaching out to caress Adrienne’s cheek.

She flinched just a little, understandably unnerved by my recent outburst, and I started to pull my hand away. But then she quickly grabbed my hand and pressed it to her cheek. “Forever and Always, Tiger. I’ll love you for the rest of my life. I am yours. One hundred and a million percent yours. NOTHING could ever make me leave you.”

“Exactly.” I nodded, my tone mournfully bitter. “Unlike Dawn.”

Taking my hand down from her cheek and then squeezing it between both of hers, Adrienne shook her head. “That’s not true. Dawn loves you and will ALWAYS love you. What did she say this morning? That she’s loved you for twenty-five years - her entire life - and has never stopped for even a single day.”

I blinked in surprise and frowned. “Wait, did you just say ‘this morning’?”

“Summer, Sasha, and I drove down there this morning and pulled her out of work so we could talk.”

“You did?”

“We had to get her to come back. She belongs with you, Tiger. She belongs with us in The Quad. It was obvious to all of us how miserable you were without her. She’s an integral part of your Happily Ever After, and she knows it. You’re an integral part of hers. All we really had to do was remind her of that. ‘Forever and Always’ may be my personal catchphrase, but it applies to Dawn as well. She’s messed up in the head a bit and she’s been trying to sort through things on her own - typical - but she will NEVER truly leave you and in fact promised she was coming back tonight for good.”

I blinked and furrowed my eyebrows, not yet daring to believe. “Define ‘coming back for good’.”

“‘For good’ for good. Back on the team. Back in The Quad.”

“How the hell did you pull off THAT?”

“Bottom line: I told her... we told her that we’re not letting her walk away from this relationship or break up with us anymore. She’s gotta stop running away to try and deal with things on her own. We told her that the one thing you’ve wanted more than anything else is for her to stay by your side and try to work things out together. I asked Iris for calendar availability on the weekends for the next month or so until Dawn moves back to Berkeley for the school year, and she was willing to set up an 8am appointment tomorrow. It’s a little early in the morning for a Saturday and not even a regular timeslot, but she’s doing me a favor. Summer booked the three of you for a Krav Maga class at 11am. And we pushed back the ‘birthday party’ stuff to Saturday night so the four of us in The Quad can talk tonight. But we at least already came to a decision this morning: Dawn’s gonna be your official girlfriend again.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “Dawn’s gonna ... You went ... I can’t believe...” My mouth flapped and I couldn’t get out any more words than that, basically stunned speechless.

Adrienne grinned. “Quite honestly, I’m still trying to talk her into being your official wife.”

“You did all that this morning?”

“Well it wasn’t just me. Summer and Sasha were definitely big helps as well.”

“You’re bringing Dawn home.”

“For you, Tiger. Because I know how much her absence has pained you. And because I know how important it is to you that she remains in your life.”

I winced. “We still have our issues. There’s no guarantee things will work out between us.”

“But now you’ll at least have the opportunity to try. I know you’ve felt all week like she abandoned you. I know how helpless you felt last night, sitting alone in your room, unable to DO anything to fix the problem. Well you’re gonna get the chance to sit down and work things out together. I will wake up at the crack of ... umm ... well I’ll wake up early on Saturday morning and drag her by the hair to Iris’s office if I need to. So then a professional can tell her she’s being an idiom, and maybe she’ll actually listen.”

“Did you just say Dawn’s being an ‘idiom’?”

“Did I what?”

I couldn’t help but laugh, and as I did so I felt a mountain load of tension start slipping off my shoulders. The tears started falling as well, with all my pent-up emotion leaking out of me. And as the tears rolled down my face, Adrienne quickly scooted her butt alongside mine and wrapped me up in a fierce hug.

I continued to cry-laugh for another minute or so, scarcely able to understand why. I couldn’t stop laughing. It wasn’t like the joke was even that funny, but the more I thought about how ridiculous it was that I was laughing over such a minor slip of the tongue, the more I kept laughing. The word “idiom” also made me think of BJ, and as I pictured his chubby cheeks, bright eyes, and inquisitive grin, the more impossible it was to maintain any feelings of anger.

But eventually I managed to stop laughing and found myself hugging Adrienne in return. I set my cheek against her forehead and squeezed her tightly. And as I slowly caught my breath, she stroked my arm and waited me out.

Once I’d finally calmed, Adrienne and I both sat up straight and I wiped the moisture off my eyes. She gazed at me with infinite compassion, took my hand in hers, and gave it another squeeze.

“I was going to surprise you with the good news when I picked you up after work,” she explained. “But then you called me right after your session with Iris, came into the apartment, and immediately said, ‘I hate Dawn.’ And then your emotions got a little out of hand there for a minute.”

“I’m so sorry.” I squeezed my Tigress’s hand. “I scared you there for a second, didn’t I? I’m sorry about that. My anger wasn’t directed at you.”

“Your anger wasn’t really directed at Dawn either, I think.”

“I’m angry at myself,” I sighed. “I’m upset that I’ve been too passive about this whole thing. I let Dawn talk me into taking a break by citing that it was my idea in the first place. I let her deflect away conversations too many times instead of pushing her to communicate with me.”

“You did your best. She told me about the times you followed her rather than let her walk away, reminded her how much you loved her, and that you would wait as long as necessary. As for getting that extra push to force her to communicate...” Adrienne flashed me a megawatt grin. “That’s where -I- come in. Trust me, Tiger. I’ll get her to talk.”

I smiled at the gorgeous blonde’s cocky smirk. But then I arched an eyebrow and challenged, “Does that mean Dawn’s allowed to push you whenever you don’t want to communicate?”

“Not wanting to communicate isn’t exactly my natural state, but still...” Adrienne took a deep breath and regarded me seriously. “I’m gonna make you a promise - a promise I’m asking you to make sure that I keep. I’ve seen how much it hurts you every time Dawn turns turtle and bottles up her thoughts and feelings instead of being honest with you. It’s not that I’m trying to vilify what she’s done, but I want to learn from her example of what NOT to do. So here’s my promise: For the rest of our lives, I WILL communicate with you. Demand that I communicate with you. If you ever feel like I’m hiding my true thoughts and feelings from you, remind me of this moment when you found yourself screaming ‘I HATE YOU’ at the wall as if you could scream loud enough to make her hear you. Because I never want you doing that because of me. Ever. Dawn told me that Honesty was one of the four core qualities of being in a relationship with you, and admitted it’s something she’s failed at time and again. That won’t be me. Please don’t ever let it be me.”

I nodded slowly and pledged, “I’ll remind you.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank YOU for everything you’ve done for me today. Thank you for making the effort to drive down there this morning. Thank you for setting up Dawn for a session with Iris. And thank you for talking Dawn into coming back to me ... to us.”

“For you, Tiger. Forever and Always for you.” Adrienne smiled, held my head, and gazed deep into my eyes as she finished, “Because you’ve already done so much for ME.”

“I love you, Adrienne.”

“I love you too, Benjamin.”

And then we kissed.

Adrienne moaned into my mouth, grabbed my head, and started kissing me a little harder in that way that signaled to me she was inclined to transform this from a makeout session into a pin-me-to-the-fucking-floor-with-your-big-dick session, but I sighed and pulled back.

My golden-haired goddess gave me a wistful smile but nodded her understanding. “Let’s go pick up June and then head home. Maybe we can beat Dawn and Emma and you can be there when the girls arrive.”

“Maybe,” I agreed with a smile, caressing her cheek.

We got up, headed down the elevator to the parking garage, and walked over to the Porsche. Adrienne shooed me away from the driver’s side and told me to sit back and relax for a bit, and I wasn’t about to argue with her. I was emotionally wiped OUT. As she drove us up the ramp and out onto the streets to head, I noticed that the rain was still coming down, although not quite cats and dogs anymore (where did that idiom even come from?). And I lost myself in the rhythm of the windshield wipers rather than make my brain hurt pondering all the things I needed to say to Dawn when we saw each other again.

Happy Birthday.

I’m glad you’re back.

Why the fuck did you fucking abandon me in the first place?!?

Thought you were losing yourself in the rhythm of the windshield wipers?

We’re in the JKE parking garage now. The building isn’t that far from The Love Nest. No more windshield wipers to distract me.

I vote you tell June to drive so Adrienne can fuck you in the backseat again.

Dude, is sex ALL you think about?

Yes, obviously. Are you really so dense as to have NOT figured that out by now?

I stared out the side window, lost in thought while Adrienne texted June to let her know we were in the parking garage. I then roused myself long enough to text Summer and let her know we’d be on our way soon.

When Adrienne put her phone back on the magnetic air vent holder, I closed my eyes and tried my best to clear my mind and not think of the things I wanted to say to Dawn.

Yeah, good luck with that.

I love you.

I need you.

I need you to communicate with me, alright? No more running away.

But still, don’t blame yourself. I let you go.

I’m sorry for letting you go. I should never have let you go. I should’ve fought harder for us. This is my fault for not putting my foot down about what I wanted from you. I should’ve made clearer before you left how much I needed you to stay with me.

But then, maybe I needed you to leave me.

Maybe I needed to lose you again to remind myself how much I want you in my life.

Maybe I needed you to call my bluff about ‘taking a break’.

I was so happy when you said, “I am NOT letting you break up with me!”

And then you broke up with me.

And I couldn’t handle it.

Because I want you to be mine.

I’m a hypocrite that wants to claim you for my own.

You spent months trying to tell me you WANTED me to claim you as my own, to accept your Oath of Ben-ogamy and say, ‘You’re MY fish, and ain’t no other man fucking MY fish.’

I heard your words, but I wasn’t really listening.

I told myself ‘Fair is fair’, even though that obviously worked SO well for us last time...

I tried to be the better man, tried to be ‘Perfect Ben’. I tried to corner the market on guilt-inducing sacrifices, unilaterally deciding for myself what was best for you - instead of listening to you literally screaming in my face that you didn’t want those things for yourself anymore, and would very much like me to stop pushing an unhealthy behavior on you.

The truth is: I’m jealous of you.

You’re my cow.

And I don’t ever want you to become someone else’s cow.

Just mine.

For all eternity.

Will you please marry me?

Well, I want to marry Adrienne too.

And Summer.

Fuck, why is the legal system set up so that I can’t marry all three of you?

One problem at a time: Please stay with me. Married or not, please stay with me.

Don’t ever leave me again.

I won’t let you ever leave me again.

Just like that time you dug your nails into my hand and actually cut my skin, I will follow you.

Just like that time you walked out of the room on Valentine’s Night, I followed you. I told you I never wanted us to go to bed angry for the rest of our lives, and I promise I’m going to do a better job of that going forward.

For the rest of our lives.

Forever and Always.

For all eternity.

I do.

“Thank you, Adrienne,” I said quietly.

“Hmm, Tiger?” She glanced over at me from the driver’s seat before returning her attention to the road. We were on the Bay Bridge already, halfway home. I hadn’t even noticed when we’d picked up June, now sitting in the back seat.

I gave her a wan smile, and held it until she glanced over at me again and smiled back. “Thank you,” I repeated. “Thank you for bringing her back to me.”

“Of course, Tiger. I got your back.”

Just keep being awesome, Adrienne.

Agreed.

Adrienne parked the Porsche in the garage and she, June, and I exited the vehicle. Emma had texted Adrienne that they’d arrived ten minutes ago, and I found myself trembling with excitement, anxious to see Dawn again. Adrienne and June both giggled as I practically sprinted from the garage to the kitchen back door of the house and snicked my key into the lock.

Sasha, Eden, and Emma were in the living room as I skidded to a halt and started whipping my head around left and right.

Not on the couch. Not in the chair. The kitchen was empty. In Adrienne’s office? Must’ve gone to the bathroom.

“She’s in her bedroom with Summer,” Sasha answered the unspoken question.

“She was complaining of a headache in the car,” Emma explained. “Even blacked out for a second. Once we got home, she said she wanted to lie down for a minute.”

I frowned in concern and immediately headed for the stairs, taking them two treads at a time. Dawn’s bedroom door was closed but unlocked, and I had to take a deep, calming breath to open it slowly and quietly rather than burst in unannounced.

Summer sat against the headboard, watching over her BFF, and she glanced up with a warm, sunny smile at my appearance, and I quickly moved over to give her a welcoming kiss and then turned my attention down to the bed.

Apparently asleep, Dawn was beautiful in repose, looking peaceful and serene. She lay flat on her back atop the covers, her hands crossed atop her chest like Sleeping Beauty. That notion put an idea in my head, and I sat down on the side of the bed, slowly bent forward, and gave her a gentle kiss.

My touch was featherlight, and I pulled back after only a moment, just like in the movie. My Dawn’s eyelids parted open and then flapped like butterfly wings, up and down and then up and down, repeating several times. Recognition ... well... dawned on her ... and she gave me a tranquil smile that slowly warmed with each passing second.

“I know you,” she murmured quietly, sky-blue eyes aglow.

“You’re quoting Once Upon a Dream? Adrienne’s gonna sue you for copyright infringement.”

“Huh?” She blinked again and frowned in confusion.

“Nevermind.” I smirked and shook my head before bowing my head to kiss her again.

This time I didn’t pull back after only a moment. My featherlight touch deepened as I tilted my head at more of an angle to really mold the contours of my mouth to hers. She hummed happily and held my head, flowing back into me while wrapping both arms around my back.

There had been very few words between us since my arrival. We hadn’t seen each other face-to-face in almost a week, and I was still less than an hour removed from spewing emotional fireballs of vicious hate in her general direction while screaming at the top of my lungs.

But none of that mattered right now.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was that I had my Dawn back in my arms.

My Dawn.

My Dawn.

Because Adrienne had brought her back to me.

Thank you, I mentally whispered back to my Tigress, and in my heart of hearts I felt like she could hear me.

I stared down at My Dawn with a smile of contentment. There were no words between us. None were needed. Not yet. We’d have to talk, of course. Two people don’t simply go from being ‘broken up’ to ‘back together’ without some discussion of the matter. So we would take the time to talk.

Later.

To be perfectly honest, I felt like I’d already said most of what I needed to say to her in the car. Between my therapy session with Iris and my explosion of hate with Adrienne, I’d already word-vomited up a metric ton of emotional angst tonight, and I really didn’t want to talk anymore.

And apparently Dawn didn’t feel the need to talk either, because she started to strip herself naked just then.

Well, she did sorta talk.

I haven’t felt your big dick deep inside me since camp, and we need to fix that ASAP, her voice silently spoke straight into my mind.

Good talk.

Dawn was dressed in a form-fitting, long-sleeved indigo crew-neck shirt that showed off the curvature of her big tits without actually exposing any skin, the dark color making her bubblegum pink hair really pop. Spray paint-tight jeans hugged her legs, and also told me just how wiped out she must’ve been to have come right upstairs and take a nap. Dawn would typically be fussy about “outside” clothing she’d worn to work contaminating clean bedsheets, so perhaps that explained why she’d laid down atop the comforter. But she would also normally change into more comfortable cotton shorts or something to lounge around the house (nobody likes sleeping in tight jeans), so perhaps she’d been more tired than she’d realized and zonked out unexpectedly.

I pulled apart from our kiss and stood up beside the bed. Dawn sat up, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and whipped the garment over her head. Meanwhile, I was unbuttoning my own shirt, although I fumbled with the last two buttons, distracted as I was when Dawn slipped the hooks on her bra and bared her beautiful breasts to my hungry gaze.

You’ve seen these puppies naked a million times by now, she said without saying, a sparkle in her sky-blue eyes.

‘And I’m delighted to see them a million and one.’

She helped me with the last two buttons and then dropped flat on her back to start working on her spray paint-tight jeans. I pulled my arms free of my dress shirt, whipped off my undershirt, and then went to work on my pants as well. And only then did I notice Summer sliding off the bed and moving away.

I arched an eyebrow at her with a look that silently said, ‘You’re welcome to join us.’

I’m not about to claim that Summer and I had developed any mystical link or anything; not in such a short period of time, at least. But she seemed to get my drift and shook her head, replying aloud, “This moment is for the two of you. I’ll see you guys later.”

Dawn beamed at her BFF, saying, “Thanks, Sunshine.”

Summer blew us kisses at the same time with both hands and then slipped out of the room. By then, Dawn was completely naked and I had only just managed to unbuckle my belt. My soulmate lover slid down to the floor and squatted before me, unzipping my slacks and then dragging my pants down to my ankles. My big dick sprang out right in her face, and only a second later she crammed half of it into her mouth.

‘So glad you’re back,’ I told her silently, gazing down at her beautiful face and caressing her cheek.

I never should’ve left, she replied with a mouthful of meat, a twinkle in her eyes. And I’ll never leave again.

My girlfriend grunted and groaned beneath my heavy assault, cumming again and again. She’d screamed aloud her satisfaction several times. I knew I had satiated all of my soulmate’s sexual needs. I knew I could splooge her soaking wet snatch full of scalding sperm whenever I wanted.

But it just felt so damn good to be inside my girlfriend’s pussy that I didn’t want it to end.

My girlfriend.

Officially.

Finally.

And I wanted to make my girlfriend cum ONE more time.

So I pounded her harder and harder. Our fingers interlaced and I pinned her hands against the mattress behind her head. She crossed her ankles behind my lower back, tugging with her powerful legs to meet my thrusts just as hard as I hammered into her.

Grunting and groaning, my girlfriend came again. Her inner walls spasmed around my shaft, milking me for my steaming spunk. Her sky-blue eyes glittered as she gazed up at me with infinite adoration, recognizing the strain on my face. I still didn’t want our fun to end, but she freed her hands, clutched my shoulders, and crooned into my ear, “Cum, babe, cum...”

So I slammed forward one final time and came, grunting my orgasm into my girlfriend’s ear as a quart of spunk flowed out of me and into her sucking pussy. She clutched my heavy body with all four limbs, embracing me with her entire being as my liquid love filled her to the brim. And I twitched and shuddered and sighed and muttered as wave after wave of semen flooded her womb to overflowing.

What felt like hours later, Dawn hummed and patted my shoulder. “That was a good one, babe.”

“They’re ALL great ones ... whenever I’m with you,” I murmured in weary satisfaction. I sagged onto my girlfriend’s chest while she rubbed my back, sighing happily. Neither of us was in any hurry for me to pull out.

For a long few minutes, I remained where I was, my forehead pressed into the pillow and my eyes closed as I absorbed the sensations of still being inside Dawn’s saturated snatch. Big Ben was still pretty hard, standing at the ready should I call on him to recharge for a second round, and I twitched my Kegel muscles a couple of times just to get the extra sensation of hard dick in sweet pussy.

I felt her turn to look at me, a soft smile on her face. “I love you,” she intoned quietly, sincerely.

I smiled and made my dick twitch inside her again. “I love you, too.”

“Wholeheartedly. No more hiding from the truth,” she stated quietly. “I love you. I want to be your girlfriend again. I’ve always wanted to be your girlfriend again, but I’ve been terrified - and continue to be terrified - of screwing it up again. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. Your heart has always been in the right place, and that’s enough for me. I love you, I’ll always love you, I’ll happily be your boyfriend again, and I can’t believe it took so long for us to finally get back here again after what ... four years?”

Dawn sighed. “Four of the hardest years of my life.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to make those years better for you.”

“I’m sorry -I- didn’t do more to make those years better for us. All this drama has been MY fault.”

“Can we NOT get into an argument about which of us is more at fault for what happened?” I chuckled and pecked her nose. “The past is past. Let’s move forward, alright? Be honest with me. Tell me the truth about how you feel. Have faith in ME that I’ll do whatever it takes for us to work things out and keep us together. Please?”

She gave me a tentative smile. “I’m not perfect.”

“I’ve never asked you to be.”

“So I can’t promise with a hundred percent certainty that I won’t screw something up again or find myself hiding something I shouldn’t try to hide. But I CAN promise that I’m going to try.”

“That’s all I ever wanted from you. Let’s try ... together.”

“Together,” she repeated with a smile. “As a team. A quad. Ben and his three committed girlfriends.”

I grinned. “That’s my Happily Ever After right there, more or less just like we talked about when we put our cards on the table at camp. We had a little speed bump for a week coming off the end of it, but I’m glad the four of us seem to be on the same page again.”

Dawn took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Not quite...”

I frowned, not understanding. “Not quite?”

Dawn nodded. “The four of us need to talk.”

“Rrrggghhh,” I groaned, rubbing my forehead.

Haha. I’m imagining BJ rubbing his forehead just like you right now.

Dude, shut UP.

Rather than rejoin the others right away, Dawn and I went to take a shower together. I knew we still had a looming conversation with our Nestmates, but a naked, wet Dawn beneath the shower’s spray after a week apart from each other proved quite distracting, and the next thing I knew I had her pinned to the wall slamming my big dick almost frictionless through her swampy snatch still full of my previous load of sperm. But rather than give her a second injection to join the first, I dropped her down to the floor, and she briefly grabbed my ass to help me skullfuck her down the final stretch until I pulled out and gave her a Jackson Pollock painting of liquid love all over her pretty face.

We then got dressed in comfortable clothes and headed downstairs hand-in-hand. Adrienne, Sasha, Kim, Eden, and Emma were all seated on the living room couches together. June and Summer were seated cross-legged on the floor with BJ playing between them. Emma was the first to turn around from the couch and look up at us, telling Dawn, “You’re certainly looking a lot healthier now.”

“Getting plowed by our big brother has that effect on a girl,” Eden drawled.

Emma rolled her eyes and returned her attention back to Dawn. “You were making me worry in the car.”

I blinked and tugged on Dawn’s hand, asking, “What happened in the car? Oh, wait. Headache? That’s why you went to lie down and take a nap?”

“The nap wasn’t planned,” Dawn explained as we hit the foyer and turned to take the final two steps down into the living room. “And the headache ... I dunno. Emma and I were driving back here after work and ... I just started getting a migraine or something. Felt like my head was splitting apart.”

“She blacked out on me for a second,” Emma explained. “I freaked out and pulled the car over. But by the time I got parked on the shoulder, she was already up again, blinking and looking dazed. Her skin was pale and she was sweating a bit.”

“I was fine, I was fine,” Dawn insisted, giving me a reassuring look in response to my concerned expression. “I did black out for a second, but then when I came to, it was all over. I felt fine.”

“Around what time was this?” Adrienne asked curiously.

“Time? Uhhh...” Dawn fished into her pocket with her other hand and pulled out her phone. “It was right after I texted Ben to ask if everything was alright. So... 5:18.”

Adrienne glanced back at me. “Seems like she COULD hear you howling, ‘I hate you, bitch!’ Not that I’m actually surprised.”

Dawn blinked and looked at me. “You were howling, ‘I hate you, bitch’?”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “The absolute LAST thing I want to do right now is talk about this. Hey, little man...”

“Rrrggghhh,” BJ groaned, rubbing his forehead to mime me.

Hahahaha!

“Don’t you start,” I scolded, waggling a finger reproachfully. “How was daycare today?”

“Dohn you stah,” he scolded back at me, waggling his finger. His eyes were narrowed, but a moment later he giggled and grinned.