Chapter 82: Homeward Bound

"On the road again, just can't wait to be on the road again..." Warren sang as they pulled out of Madison, heading home for the summer.

"Yeah, drive three days, be home for less than a week, and then get on a plane," Sophia mock-grumbled.

"Yeah, but we get to get on a plane to go skate in the COI tour for a month."

"Yeah, I am looking forward to it, but our life is getting really, really hectic if you think about it."

"Yup." Warren drove in silence for a bit. "I have to say, I'm glad this year is over."

"Wasn't all bad," Sophia pointed out.

"Yeah, but the bad parts were really bad."

"Yeah. Worse for you than me, I think. I actually learned a lot about myself this year. Things I needed to learn, I think. I'm a lot stronger person pulling out of Wisconsin than I was when we pulled into Wisconsin in September."

"I agree," Warren said. "You are stronger. Which makes one of us."

"Yeah, you are stronger too, Warren. You just don't see it yet."

"Sophia, everything I learned about myself this year was bad."

"Everything?"

"Well, let's see. I learned that my unassailable self-confidence isn't unassailable. I learned I can get hurt, badly. I learned that I'm weaker than I thought. I learned that if bad things happen to me I can have a lot of difficulty dealing with them." He sighed. "A year ago, I thought I could take anything. I thought I could stand anything, and I thought the only person that I ever really, truly needed was myself, and finding out that I was wrong about that was a brutally hard lesson to learn."

Sophia thought for a minute. "I can see that being disturbing in the abstract--but figuring out that you needed me, specifically, as much as I need you--that couldn't have been a totally bad thing."

Warren smiled despite himself. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. I shudder to think what I would have done after the attack if you hadn't been there."

"Well, dear heart, I promise you--no, I swear on a stack of Glenn Miller and Beatles CDs that you will never, ever again have to find that out, not until the day I die."

"Good."

"And there's some things that I hope you've also learned--good things."

"Like what?"

"That our relationship can withstand almost anything. It's stronger than it ever was. That you can go through absolute hell personally and a brutal work schedule and get out with a 3.8 GPA for the year."

"Well, that's one part of my self-confidence that is intact. Genius is genius. And let's not forget your 3.5."

"Yes, let's not," she giggled. "You also learned that you can survive things that would destroy other people. Yeah, you're shaken, but you're OK, you really are, for the most part. And last, but certainly not least, you found out that people love you, that they're on your side, and that the two of us are damn good skaters!"

Warren laughed at that. "Yeah, I must say that Worlds was pretty special. And, you're right, we are good."

Sophia shot him a wicked smile. "You also learned that if I ever leave again, you can make a damn good living as a gigolo."

Warren cracked up laughing. "I have to admit that those two months that we were apart were... interesting."

"Not just those two months. What about the other week with Alexa?"

"Can't get any more interesting than that, I think," Warren giggled. "We should probably talk about that."

"Well, I think we did." Sophia said.

"To a point." Warren thought for a minute. "Alexa's not going to be around this summer. Do you still want to experiment with other girls should the chance arise?"

"I don't know." Sophia thought for a minute. "No, not really. It's not that important. I liked it, but I think one of the reasons I liked it was that it was Alexa."

"Yeah. I don't mind, you know."

"Part of you does mind, and I understand that. You don't have to be open and accommodating all the time, you know," Sophia pointed out. "Look, I know part of it was that it was Alexa. What if we're on the tour and I get propositioned by... oh, Stephie Eberhardt?"

Warren blushed. "Damn. You've got a point. I'd be insanely jealous. Of both of you."

"Right. Unless, of course, you got invited in again," she giggled. "So, anything I do will be done with your approval, and I don't mind if you say no, and if I really want it I can wait until we see Alexa again, because I know you don't have a problem with that. And, like I said, I could live without it forever if I had to. Look, I enjoyed it, but the next night was infinitely better, because you were there. I told you the truth--I liked having sex with a girl, but only to a point. When you fucked me after Alexa and I had fooled around, that was the best. I'm getting wet just thinking about it."

Warren cracked up laughing. "So, what you're telling me is that you're always up for a three-way."

"With you and another girl? OK, I admit, I can't see myself ever turning that one down."

"Even thought I'd be fucking another girl? Again, pretend it's someone other than Alexa. Pretend it's Stephie Eberhardt."

Sophia thought for a minute. "Yeah, I'd do it. Watching you fuck another girl while she's eating me out, I found out, is very exciting."

"OK." Warren grinned. "I wonder if Stephie is bi."

"I'll find out when we get on the tour," Sophia said coyly. "Besides, with all the joking, Stephie is not the girl on the tour that you really want."