One Last Sunset - Ch. 6

>Your heart thumps in your chest as you look over the imposing brick structure in front of you. CHS looms over you like an uncaring obelisk of your past, holding every horrible memory and emotion that pushed you out to that beach in the first place, from Sunset's insults to the disgusted looks of your former friends. A pit of nervousness grew in your stomach as you rest against the cold concrete of the statue. You know you don't want to be here... you never wanted to see this awful place again, yet here you are, staring down the front entrance as your fellow students flow by you to their first classes. Regret flowed in as you thought of all the awful things that might happen if you step foot on those checkered tiles again. You know you can't handle those awful looks, the whispers of disgust, the disdain as everyone tells you to get lost over what you allegedly did.

>You close your eyes and take in a deep breath, trying to push away the negativity poking at the back of your mind. This time the horrible thoughts don't seem to stick to the walls like mold on an abandoned building anymore. You brush aside the the nervousness and do your best to let it rest like a paper boat in the ocean to be swept away. It was always true that you never wanted to come back to this place, but now you know that even in the darkest of nights, there's always a shimmer of hope to hold onto.

"Hey! There you are," Sunset calls out as she skips up to you with a bright smile plastered on her face. She jumps over to you and lets the toe of her boot line up with your shoes as you face her.

"Hey, Sunny," you say, unable to keep the goofy grin from spreading across your face as well.

>Sunset doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms right around your shoulders and lean up on her tip-toes to steal a quick kiss. You happily oblige her, leaning down to let the sudden jolt of pleasure from her lips spread a happy warmth through your torso as memories of the last few nights of your vacation slip back into your mind. You blink a few times as you remember there are other people around.

"You aren't... uh..." you say, letting your eyes scan around the curious eyes along the sidewalk, obviously taking in Sunset being lovingly pressed up against you with her hands on your shoulders.

She follows your gaze to the awkward gazes and then rolls her eyes. "Worried? Of course not. You're my boyfriend now and I'm not going to be ashamed of that."

Your smile returns in force and joy spreads through your system again. "That's... well that's really good to hear. Maybe things won't be so bad after all," you say, more to yourself than to her.

"Things are going to be fine. Better than fine, if you ask me. On top of everything, we've got each other for a little... stress relief?" she says, letting her eyes turn to a sultry gaze as she lets her hips sway against you.

You pull her close to you and shoot back your own confident grin. "Should've said, 'on top of everything now we've got each other to be on top of too'."

Sunset giggles and shakes her head. "I'll have to leave the sex jokes to you. I'll worry about when and where... like my place after school?" she asks, tracing her finger up and down your chest while biting her lip.

>You lean down to get another kiss, this time letting your lips linger together just a little bit longer to feel that pleasure and warmth at the loving contact spread through your entire body. You hear her let off a satisfied hum as you finally pull back, neither of you caring about the prying eyes of your fellow students anymore.

"That sounds good to me."

Sunset takes a step back out of your embrace and reaches out an open hand to you. "Ready for our first day back?" she says with an eager grin.

>The smile resting on your face fades. Your hand lifts on its own at first, but the sudden pit growing in your stomach stops it before you can accept her. Your eyes trace back up to that entrance again, the thought of crossing through those doors pours anxiety into you even with Sunset standing right there. Doubts shoot through your mind again over all the worries you had before your first time with her. The curious stares all around you suddenly seem so much worse and your brain imagines a thousand different scenarios where the wonderful girl in front of you ends up just as bad as you were.

>Sunset's excited expression fades as concern takes over her face. Her hand slumps down as you fail to meet her gaze, instead looking out to the street, momentarily considering just making a break for it and cutting off the chance of anything bad happening. You close your eyes tightly at the thought of Sunset losing her friends, losing her reputation, losing her happiness... all because of you. If there was even a remote chance of it happening, you know you'd never want to take it anymore. You open your mouth to say something, finally looking into those worried teal eyes, but she starts instead.

"We said we'd do this together, no matter what, right?" she says with her trademark determination, sternly putting out her hand for you yet again.

"Sunset... I just—"

With a shake of her head, Sunset pushes her hand out even further. "No matter what. We're in it together, okay?"

>You look into her sweet, caring eyes as they soften and her face does its best to put on a reassuring smile. You try to get something out to counter it, but instead you just let out a little laugh at yourself and raise your hand to hers.

"Together," you say with a firm nod as your fingers interlock with hers.

>The swarm of worry building inside you washes away in the light squeeze of her soft fingers. You take in a slow, deep breath as you both turn towards the school. With your hand in hers, you finally look at the looming pile of bricks and awful memories with a different thought in your mind. You look over to your girlfriend's proud expression and she gives you a gentle nod.

"No matter what happens, we'll get through it. Together," she says with another light squeeze of your hand.

>You give her delicate palm a light squeeze back. "Together." A strange feeling hits you as you look back to the school. Suddenly everything felt like it was going to be okay. Suddenly, you want to go back in to start this new chapter of your life... with her. Tears threaten to form at the edge of your vision, not because of sadness or pain, but because you finally let it sink in that in her embrace, the depression could finally be over—you could finally be free.

You do your best to swallow the lump in your throat as the sappy smile takes over your face. "Thank you, Sunset... for everything."

Sunset's grin grows even wider and she nuzzles her cheek into your shoulder. "Thank /you/ for trying with me. We're both going to be better than ever," she says, planting a gentle kiss on your sleeve. "You ready?"

You give her one last nod and turn your attention back to the school. "Let's do this." You push aside your nervousness and take the monumental first step towards the entrance, the first step towards lasting happiness, and the first step of the rest of your life.