She sighed again. Folding her arms across my lap, she set her chin down on them and then let her head loll to the side on one cheek. "In some ways, nothing's changed since last year. I still find myself Lying awake at night in bed, fingering myself while wishing you were next to me."

“You DO get to have me next to you tonight," I pointed out.

“Nobody else gets consistent overnights with me, as much as they may want them."

“And I LOVE that change, too. And yet..." She had Looked up at me for a moment, but now went back to sighing and laying her cheek down across her arms.

“If I told my dad I was your girlfriend, he'd probably Let me sleep here every night. I mean, he wouldn't be happy about it, but he wouldn't stop me, either.”

I thought about cuddling my little Annabelle in bed EVERY night. I thought about the feel of her warm body beside mine EVERY night, not just twice a week. Sure, Mari's body was better built for cuddling, but

I didn't have the same feelings for her as I did for Belle. And with a sigh, I said softly, "I'd like that, too."

Exhaling slowly, Belle got off the floor and crawled into my lap.

Wrapping her arms around my head, she at first merely pressed our foreheads together and breathed deeply with her eyes closed. I cuddled her body close and let my hand rub up and down her spine. Eventually, she gave me a quick peck, rubbed my Lips with her thumb, and then gave me another kiss, this one Lasting a few seconds before she pulled away.

Almost experimentally, she tilted her head to kiss me one way before tilting her head the other way. After three or four different attempts, she seemed to settle on angling her face at a ninety-degree angle to mine, really mashing our mouths while our tongues twisted together in-between.

Suddenly, she stopped and shivered in my grasp. I held her upper arms, the goosebumps on her skin pebbly beneath my touch. Her lower lip quivered, and the first tear rolled down her cheek. She looked so impossibly sad that I yearned for nothing more than to do ANYTHING humanly possible to make her smile again. And with a sob and a shudder, she muttered quietly, “What if I'm missing out on the greatest love of my life out of fear?"

"I'm right here."

"I'm not your girlfriend."

“You don't need to be. You're my Annabelle. Now and forever.”

"I love you, Matty."

“I love you, too.”

“I'LL always Love you."

“And I'll always love you."

"I hate Neevie's fucking guts right now."

I jerked my head, taken aback by the vehemence in Belle's tone, and my eyes went wide.

She clenched her eyes shut, immediately embarrassed as she pointed her face away from mine. "I didn't mean that."

Raising both eyebrows, I gave her a serious look even though she couldn't see it.

“Yes, you did," I murmured softly.

Taking a deep breath, Belle sagged.

“If I was your girlfriend, the others would be going out of their way to give ME extra time to fuck your brains out."