atwoodd@turing.cs.rpi.edu (Deb Atwood) (02/26/91)
Reunion ------- (c) 1990 Deb Atwood (aka, D-Singer) "Sally..." My eyes were crusted with sleep, and the keyboard of my terminal seemed to have imbedded its pattern in my face. I could smell the strong scent of coffee that had been cooking far too long and when I raised my head slightly I saw my officemate grimacing at the dark sludge in the bottom of our coffee pot. He moved towards the sink, obviously intending to rinse the offending muck out of the pot. "No, Jake." My voice was raspy with sleep. "Don't throw it away... I think I need it that strong to wake up." Jake turned to look at me, distaste all over his face. He walked over and held the pot beneath my nose. Up close the smell was so strong the caffeine could have permeated my body without me ever tasting the substance. I could already feel my brain clearing. I glanced down into the pot, as Jake moved it slightly, showing me that the coffee had long since turned into something worse than solid. I felt some of his mood rub off on me. "You made your point," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. I heard the sink running behind me, and soon the sounds of the coffee pot were audible as he started up a fresh pot. My brain was slowly dealing with the idea of morning, and I turned to face Jake, while my hand rubbed futiley at the sleep patterns encrusted on my face. "What time is it?" I asked with an attempt at good morning cheer. He laughed. "Noon. How long have you been here?" "Noon?!" Oh Christ, that was awful. And such a long drive ahead, too. I couldn't keep my damn eyes open and I was supposed to *drive*? I felt hands on my shoulders, urging me to stand. My legs were wobbly and I clutched at Jake to keep from falling. "How long were you working?" he asked softly. "Is it really Friday?" I countered. He nodded and I groaned. "Damn, I thought maybe I dreamed yesterday and it was only Thursday. I've been going since Wednesday after dinner. And I don't think I've been asleep long because the last thing I remember thinking was that the people going by me were awfully loud for 9am classes." I groaned again. Jake draped me about his shoulders and propelled me to the lounge, pushing me down onto a couch. "Sleep," he told me. "Didn't you have to go somewhere today?" "My high school reunion," I said, my voice trailing off. My body couldn't take this abuse. "Wake me up at 3, I still have to pack and drive for hours and hours and hours..." I felt one of the blankets we kept in the lounge being placed over me. "Sleep, idiot," a voice said softly, and I did. Jake woke me again at 3, and I was much more coherent then. He offered to drive back with me to my home town, but I couldn't take him up on it. His interest in me was all too evident, and had been for all of our first year in the PhD program here, and I didn't want to encourage him by dragging him to something so personal as a high school reunion. Hell, half the friends I'd had were probably married, with *babies*. I couldn't deal with the thought. All I'd done in five years was graduate with a degree in CS and go on for the first year of my PhD. I spent my days and nights with computers, eating and sleeping with the damned machines. I pulled a mirror from my bag to check my face, but the keyboard imprint had faded to be replaced by the pattern of the couch. Well, that would fade too by the time I saw anyone from home, assuming I even made it there in time for the 8 o'clock dinner. I said goodbye to Jake, hastily packed, and got on the road. Despite my complaints, the drive was only a couple hours long. I just hate driving when I'm tired. All the pretty lights and cars rather hypnotize me, and I'm a confused driver at best. So I like to be in peak performance. This day I concentrated on my terror of seeing all these people again. I hadn't talked to more than one or two (and then oh so rarely) since my freshman year. I was working myself into a hell of a case of nerves. I mean, did I even *know* these people any more? What would we say to each other? The dinner was in the old gym (I'd made it in time, barely, with no time to change out of my traveling clothes) and someone had decorated it to try to dress it up somewhat. I almost snickered, wondering if they were planning to serve us with food cooked by our dear old cafeteria ladies. My laughter died when I saw how others were dressed. Most of them were pretty dressed up, showing off how well they'd done. And there I stood, a bright t-shirt over black spandex slacks. My only concession was the heeled boots I wore instead of sneakers. I looked like what I was, a student far out of her element. My nerves got worse. "Sally?" My heart shot down to the floor and bounced around a bit as I turned to face the voice. "Bryan? Bryan! And Eric, Chris, Liann, Meg..." my voice trailed off as I realized that all my friends had obviously gotten here long before me. Most of them were dressed up, like the others, but a few - Bryan and Eric in particular - were both not much more formal than myself. Chris and Liann stood so close together it appeared they were glued at the hip, and I guessed that their romance had survived the terrors of college. I wondered if they'd gotten married yet. After more than five years they really *should* have. I looked around, my face showing concern. "Where's Damien?" "Out west," Eric supplied. "He's got a job in LA and couldn't save the money to fly out here for just a weekend. But he's hoping to come out for Chris and Li's wedding next month." Ah, two answers with one question. I was pretty psyched. Li started chattering about the wedding - I was invited of course - and I nodded to the endless stream of people moving by me. All these people I had barely known in high school kept walking up, interrupting what we were talking about, and saying how much they had missed us. My brain was getting beyond overwhelmed, especially considering my lack of sleep lately. "So, what are you up to?" It took me a minute to realize that Eric was talking to me. "Sally?" I turned to face him. He and Bryan had been talking, catching up I suppose. Those two and Damien had been inseparable during high school, with me usually tagging along behind, so it only made sense that they'd spend a lot of time together now. I wondered if they'd talked since ever so long ago. I realized they were still waiting for an answer. "Oh, me? I'm, uh, working for my PhD. In computers. Doing graphics and stuff." Eric laughed. "Never thought I'd see you in computers." Bryan smiled as well. "Mm, was always my field of the lot of us. Had you pegged for the bioligist." I shrugged. "Bio got boring, computers got easy. And fun. So I decided that if making money could be fun and easy, I'd do it!" "Smart girl." Bryan flung an arm around me, giving me a quick hug. It felt strange to me, but normal too. I just hadn't dealt with all these high school things in 5 years, but the memories were still there. Dinner was dazed. I found out Bryan was going for his PhD too, and nearby. He planned on going back to the lab for some more programming after the dinner. Eric was working for some theatre in the city. Everyone seemed to be pretty well settled into life, and not always where we'd expected. Liann, our English major, had ended up in politics, and Chris, our politician, was teaching Latin in the city. It felt odd. After dinner someone suggested we go down to get ice-cream, at our favorite place with the mix-ins. Who could resist the taste that had been absent for five years? We squeezed into two cars, leaving the rest in the high school lot, and went. I found myself in Eric's car, perched on Bryan's lap. We were pressed into a corner of the back seat, and as we sat I felt his hand tickling the back of my neck. I turned to look at him. He wasn't doing it on purpose, I think, his hand just dangled and brushed against me whenever the car took a corner (which Eric had always done with excessive speed). But he leered playfully at me and I blushed instead of laughing as he'd expected. "What's wrong?" he whispered close to my ear. "Don't like being in the lap of one of your old flames?" A little bit of my old high school spirit began to infect me. "I think you're the one who doesn't like it. This lap's too cold to be a flame." I grinned, wondering if he'd pick up on our old flirtatious banter. His hands caught my hips and settled me against him close. "So warm me up, girl." His mouth was smiling but his eyes were serious. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was noticing that somewhere in those five years Bryan had grown up a lot. And so had I. I wondered just how much this would affect our friendship. I raised a hand to his cheek. "Here? Now? With everyone looking?" Eric's voice carried over the back seet to us. "I would've thought that after five years you two would've cooled off!" Jill giggled next to us. "I think they just have five years worth of catching up to do!" Bryan laughed. "Sure do!" When he turned to look at me again,his eyes were deadly seriuos as he whispered, "Okay, so not here and now. Name the time and place for our rendezvous and I'll be there." A delicious shiver spread down my body, and he didn't help matters by surreptitously placing his hidden hand against my thigh. I was surprised at the way I was reacting. Bryan and I had never been lovers in high school, just typical boyfriend/girlfriend without going all the way. I didn't lose my virginity until college. But here I was as jittery as if I were in high school and as hot as if I were in heat. The car stopped and as I slid off of Bryan's lap I felt his hands caress my ass and his lips brush lightly against the back of my neck. If I'd thought my nerves were bad before, they were terrible now. Over the ice-cream everything went back to normal. Bryan and I chatted about programming. Turned out he was in graphics as well, so we had a lot to talk about. He offered to show me the lab, since he had to go back there tonight anyway, and I accepted. I wasn't staying with my parents, since they had moved while I was in college, so no one except a motel clerk would know how late I stayed out. It was nice to have to worry about getting home early so I didn't scare my parents. Eric dropped us by my car. It turned out Bryan didn't have one, and was going to just bum a ride from Eric anyway, so I offered to drive, of course, since I was going anyway. I just hoped I could keep my eyes open, since my lack of sleep was slowly beginning to affect me again. Bryan went to a larger school than myself, so the lab was incredible! They had some of the same software I'd used, so I was pretty familiar with the whole process. He started to show me the project he was working on, and I found myself really looking at the code and trying to make suggestions. Hours passed before I realized that the funny light outside the lab was the sun trying to come up on Saturday. "Shit," was my eloquent response to the situation. Bryan looked at me. "What is it?" I yawned. Now that my brain realized it needed sleep, I was fast falling apart, just like the previous morning when Jake had found me, face planted on my keyboard. "I need sleep," I yawned, "and soon." Bryan didn't answer, just stood and scooped me up like I was a child (as a point of fact, Bryan does happen to stand a good foot taller than myself). My eyes had already grown too heavy to keep open, and I propped my head agaist his chest as he walked. I was beyond protesting - my entire body screamed for sleep with every nerve. I was lucky I hadn't passed out. Eventually, I felt myself set on something soft, I assumed a bed. Hands helped me slide my shirt over my head, and slid the spandex over my hips as I kicked my boots off. For the second time in two days someone tucked me in, and cuddled under the blanket, clutching the pillow, I fell asleep. It was a deep sleep, nice and relaxing, warm and fulfilling. I dreamed chaotic images, but they didn't bother me, because I knew they were dreams so it was like watching a movie. Weird, but not bad. But the warmth, that was best. It was like being cuddled up in the softest, warmest of beds. And I loved it. A strange scent tickled my nose. Coffee? It couldn't be coffee, it smelled too wonderful. My eyes flickered open just a crack and I saw a mug sitting sitting on a table barely a foot from my nose. The cup was chipped at the rim and very familiar to me - the one I had bought Bryan when we were juniors and I had gone to Italy and had to find souvineers for him, Eric, and Damien. I'd brought back a trio of mugs, and they'd loved them. And now one was staring me in the face with the most delicious aroma coming from it. Slowly my body started to wake up. As my eyes opened all the way, I noticed a weight across my shoulder, and a pulling against my hair. I rolled over slightly and saw Bryan lying next to me, one arm casually across my body, his mouth smiling. "Good evening, small one," he grinned, ruffling my hair. He sat up and climbed off the bed, moving around to pick up the mug and offer it to me. "Caffeine?" I took the mug in both hands and inhaled deeply. "All right, Bryan, how the hell do you make coffee that looks this good?" He laughed. "It's my one vice. I buy imported coffee - not the cheap stuff - and I don't have any roomates to ruin it for me." I took a sip. It was wonderful not to drink the black sludge that came out of the coffepot Jake and I shared in our office. My brain started to click into motion. "Bryan, where are my clothes?" He grinned. "Wondered how long it would take. The shirt and pants are there, the boots are where you kicked them." The expression in his eyes darkened. "Must say, you look very nice sitting there wearing a blanket." I peeked under the blanket. Yup, bra and panties still on. I hadn't exposed myself completely to my old friend. When I looked up I was blushing, and Bryan looked amused. "Shy?" He looked away from me. "I think I've seen most of it before, Sally. Besides, we always did flirt more than we ever did anything else." I was silent. I could barely remember yesterday, the lack of sleep taking its final toll on my mind. But I did remember teasing Bryan in the car, and the way he had looked at me. I opened my mouth, trying to say something, when Bryan suddenly stood. He walked to the door of the room, pulling it shut as he left. "Get dressed, Sal. The reunion dance is in only an hour." I felt dismissed. And angry too in an unreasonable way. Just who did this man think he was? We hadn't seen each other in five years, had only talked maybe twice during that time. But here he expected me to not mind stripping in front of him, to fall back into our old teasing pattern as if we had never left it. Didn't he realize how much people change in five years? I was thinking furiously as I dressed, then drove us both to my motel where I showered and quickly changed into the one nice outfit I'd brought with me. When I emerged from the bathroom, makeup in place, dress clinging softly to the small curves I had, I saw a light of appreciation in Bryan's eyes and I quickly looked away. We got in the car and drove to the Sheraton. It was where our senior prom had been held, five years ago. Where I had an awful lot of memories to think about. I handed my car over to the valet parkers and we went in. Again, Eric and Chris and Li were there. It was as if we had gone through a time warp. Eric and Chris looked amazed at the transformation I had made from tomboy to woman, and kept commenting on it until I blushed and threatened to smack them if they didn't shut up. The songs the band played were too "pop" to make the men happy, and they refused to dance with us. It was fun, even without the dancing, and oh so much like old times. I once again slipped into the old pattern with Bryan, and we made up and teased again like it was five years ago. As the last song started to play, Bryan grabbed my hand and dragged me to the floor. "What?" He pulled me close as we swayed to the strains of "Memory" and he said laughing, "I figured that if tonight was being such a repeat of the prom, maybe I should try to do just one thing different, so you'll have a new memory to take back to school with you." I laughed with him, then lay my head on his shoulder as we danced. I felt a sense of warmth, of comfort coming over me. A sense that I didn't want to move away. The song ended and people were milling all around us, getting ready to leave. I felt as if my brain had taken a walk, and I couldn't seem to pull away from Bryan. I glanced up at him and saw that strange serious look back in his eyes again. He tipped my chin up and bent until his lips touched mine. The kiss was so soft, and so quick, I don't think anyone else but us noticed it. When he stood back up again, he was smiling softly. "Come on." He took my hand and pulled me over to where the others were looking for us. "Ice cream again?" Li asked, a grin on her face. I shook my head, intending to say that I was tired, but Bryan squeezed my hand hard. "It's only midnight," he said. "We should do something. You're parent's basement still made up, Eric?" Eric's face lit up. "Hey, right! It wouldn't be a complete reunion if we didn't get over there at least once." Oh so quickly we rounded up an awful lot of people and trekked over to Eric's house. We spent nearly two hours there, just sitting around and playing hit records from five years before and talking and laughing. Bryan and I teased each other with gusto. I was sitting on his lap again, one of his hands around my waist, the other hidden cupping my behind. Every once in a while he would drop a kiss on my neck, or lightly brush my thigh. As for me, I wriggled against him until I felt him hard beneath me. I grinned when he grimaced, realizing he didn't dare move from his seat considering his condition. My hands dropped often to my sides where I could touch his thighs. And we teased with words as well, double entendres and hidden meanings in everything we said. I think if we hadn't left after two hours, we wouldn't have survived. I drove him back to his apartment, and he invited my up for a drink. I could see in his eyes that that wasn't really what he had in mind, but now that we had had some time to cool off in the car, I was getting nervous. After all, it *had* been five years. I sat on his couch, waiting, while he went to the kitchen to grab a couple coolers. When he brought them back he sat next to me and commented , "Do you remember the couch in my dad's study? The room with the pinball machine." I laughed. "And your little sister who decided to play pinball at midnight one night..." "When we were on the couch," Bryan finished my sentence. He set his cooler on the floor and turned to look at me. "If Kelly hadn't come in that room then, do you think we would have...?" I shook my head. "No. I don't think I was ready for it then, Bryan." He sat up, not facing me again. He picked up the cooler and toyed with it between his hands. "I've thought about it a lot, Sally. For a long time you were the best friend I had, as well as the love of my life." I knelt on the couch next to him, one hand on his shoulder. "I wish we hadn't lost touch. I think I miss my best friend." We were hugging as if we couldn't get close enough. I didn't think I'd lose touch with Bryan again - it had been too big a mistake the first time. I think we both felt that we had to put a lot of distance between us so we could get to know other people. But I could never think of a life without Bryan. No matter how, he would always be a part of my life. I don't know when the hug turned to kisses, or when his hands slid up under the skirt of my dress. My fingers tangled in his chest hairs as I tried to unbutton his shirt. I only managed three buttons because it was so hard to do that and concentrate on his kisses at the same time. The kissing was wonderful, but oh so distracting. He must have had the same idea, because he pulled away. He stood up and held out his arms as he leaned over. I placed both arms around his neck and again he scooped me up, heading towards his bed. He lay me down and then started to strip while I watched. I rolled over on my stomach, propping my chin up on my hands. "How did we get here last night?" He grinned at me. "This morning you mean. I drove your car - damn lucky I remembered how to drive a stick!" I groaned, thinking of my poor little car having its gears stripped. And then Bryan was on top of me, completely naked, tickling me through my dress. I laughed, trying to get away, but he only tickled more until I finally collapsed, giggling, in his arms. He tugged at the hem of my dress. "This *has* to go, Sal," he said softly. I lifted my hips as he pulled it up over my breasts and my head, his hands carressing what they passed. I wore no bra, so all he had left to do was tug my nylons and my panties over my hips and drop them on the floor next to the bed. My shoes had been left in the living room and forgotten. He propped himself up on his elbow beside me, surveying me as he ran a hand down my side, over the swell of my breast, the curve of my thigh. "Do you realize I've never actually seen you naked before?" he said thickly. I playfully pushed at his chest until he fell back and I could see all of him. And a nice view it was too - his body filled out from a rangy teenager to the hard musculature of a man. "That's okay, I haven't seen you either." He grinned. "You can't say I didn't *try* to fix these facts five years ago." He grabbed my hips and pulled me over him, until I sat on his chest. His hands reached up to caress my breasts, his thumbs brushing my nipples, and we forgot about the past. He leaned up until his tongue could reach my nipples, and I moaned as he took first one, then the other into his mouth. I slid my hips along the length of his body until my mouth was level with his, and our lips locked. His tongue slid into my mouth, and I thought of his rod, which I could feel hot and pulsing against me, sliding inside of me. I sucked against his tongue and felt his heartbeat speed up. His hands were against my hips, pushing me closer to him as his hips rocked. I tore my lips from his and kissed a path down his neck. My hands trailed across his body as I slid down him, my hands and tongue playing with the coarse hairs of his chest, his small rigid nipples, and flat muscles across his stomach. Finally my fingers reached his hardness and curled around it. His hips were still moving, and he groaned as I began to stroke him. I touched him only lightly, my fingers tracing the vein on the underside, scratching it with a single fingernail. One hand cupped his balls while my other thumb softly stroked the head of his large staff. His hips pumped still, and finally I lowered my head to kiss him. "Sally!" His fingers tangled in my hair as I pressed my lips to his shaft. He groaned and his hips bucked, the hard rod sliding between my lips. I stroked him with my tongue, feeling him sliding in and out of my mouth. His fingers caressed the back of my neck, and his body moved as my mouth moved over him. With a huge amount of will I pulled my head from him and sat back. He was breathing hard, and his eyes were closed. I was amazed at the look of passion on his face as I'd never seen a man look so vulnerable before. His eyes opened, and I saw a dangerous expression in them, a combination of love, passion, heat and fury. His fingers were still tangled in my hair, and he pulled me up until his lips found mine. The kiss was harsh, demanding, and the feel of his tongue inside my mouth made me even wetter. My hips were level with his, and I could feel him poking against my slit. As his hands moved over my breasts, slowly teasing them, I began to slid along him, back and forth, allowing the head of him to tease my clit. I could feel him growing slick with my juices, and I was quickly losing control to the sensations. His hands were all over my body, touching my ass, my breasts, my neck. His tongue slid over me, teasing parts of my body that I'd never known could bring such sensations to me. And still I slid against him, growing wetter. He was groaning, and I could tell he was trying hard to hold back. His hands stopped moving over me, and he grasped my hips and held me against him as he thrust. Each thrusts touched my swollen clit and I gasped and then collapsed against him as I felt shudders fall over me. I gasped again, still shuddering, as I felt him slide deep inside me. He was still thrusting hard, and I felt as if each thrust reached my deepest parts. I could feel the sensation building again oh so quickly, and I started to kiss his neck, sucking on the tender flesh where his neck met his shoulder. His fingers dug into my hips as he thrust into me, and I heard myself yell when the waves broke, my shouts intermingling with his own as I felt his release. I had *never* fallen asleep after sex before. Then, I had also never been so *exhausted* before! When I woke, I peeked at the clock and realized that it was only 4 in the morning. I still had plenty of time to sleep before I had to drive back to school. One thing was for sure, I *hadn't* gotten all the rest I'd needed! I slid off of Bryan, curling up next to him. I felt comfortable in his arms, comfrotable sleeping next to him. I was quickly asleep and didn't wake up again until I felt him move when the clock said 10. "Did I wake you?" Bryan tugged on my shoulder until I rolled to face him so he could kiss me. "Good morning, Sally." He stood and picked up a robe that was lying over the back of a chair. "Here, you can wear this while I make breakfast, ok?" I put the robe on - he wore sweats - and followed him out to the kitchen. He made eggs, and we ate in silence on the living room couch while cartoons played in the background. When I finished, I set the plate on the coffee table and pushed the too-long arms of the robe up so I could see my hands. "What happens now?" He turned to look at me, a forkful of eggs still in his hands. I don't know how my expression looked, but it must have been pretty interesting because he immediately set down the fork and the plate and turned to grasp my hands in his. "Little one, if I knew it would bother you this much, I *wouldn't* have done it." I shook my head. "I don't know if it bothers me, that's the problem." He cocked his head and motioned for me to continue. "You see, I don't feel like it was wrong. I also don't feel like it's something I'm going to keep going. Another relationship with you doesn't sound right to me." I looked up at him to see what he was thinking, but he just nodded for me to continue. I shrugged. "I guess I feel like it was supposed to happen this once and that's it." Bryan smiled. "I'm glad we're still thinking the same, even after five years. This hasn't messed up our friendship, has it?" I shook my head. "Nope." "Good." He reached out and pulled me to him in a warm hug. We sat that way for a while, until I realized that my hair was stringy and gross and really needed to be washed, and that I still had a two hour drive ahead of me, *plus* the project I'd been working on before I left! I reluctantly sat up and asked for a towel. When I left, Bryan walked me to the car. I'd grabbed my stuff from the motel and checked out the night before, somewhere between Eric's house and Bryan's apartment, so I didn't need to go back for anything. I was chattering about the project I had to work on as I threw my stuff in the car, and when I turned around Bryan had that silly amused look on his face again. "Computers. Who would have ever thought you'd go into computers." I smiled up at him. "People change a lot in five years. That's what reunions are for - to find out how we've changed." I had to stand on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, and then we gave each other a big hug. "Take care of yourself," he said quietly. "And keep in touch this time." "I will, if you do too. Promise?" He nodded as I got into the car. "Good!" I closed the door and started the car. I saw him watching as I drove away, heading back to my classes and projects and an officemate who complains about my coffee making, and I smiled, knowing that in five years we'd be having another reunion. And I couldn't wait to see how people had changed this time. -- Mail rec.arts.erotica submissions to erotica@telly.on.ca. Most software will automatically mail your postings to that address.