“You think that I’m breaking up with you?” I asked. She nodded as she swiped at her face, wiping a tear away but she looked like she was trying not to show any emotions. This girl needs a CT scan.

“Ellie, you seriously, think that I’m,” I pointed to myself to clarify what I was saying, “breaking up…... with you?” I asked incredulously, pointing at her.

Her breath seemed to catch in her throat as another tear fell down her face. “Yeah?” she whispered.

I needed to get that CT scan booked quickly, because something must be seriously wrong with this girl for her to even entertain the thought that I would break it off with her. I cupped her face in my hands, wiping another tear away with my thumb as I looked into her watery eyes. “I’m not breaking it off with you. I thought you were dumping me,” I whispered.

She frowned and shook her head, chewing on her bottom lip worriedly. “No.”

I smiled and bent forward, kissing her lips, revelling in how perfectly they felt against mine. Her arms looped around my waist, crushing her body against mine as she kissed me back. I pulled back after a few seconds and put my forehead to hers. Happiness was burning in my veins, my feet itching to do a happy dance in the middle of her kitchen because she wasn’t dumping my worthless ass. I also loved the fact that she looked so upset because she thought I didn’t want to be with her.

“Why on earth would you think that I didn’t want to be with you?” I asked curiously.

She sighed and closed her eyes. “You’ve been distant, quiet, I thought maybe you were just waiting until after the dance so that I wouldn’t have to go on my own,” she replied.

I laughed and stepped impossibly closer to her. “Ellie, I’m so totally crazy about you. I’m hooked; you have me for as long as you want me for. Don’t talk crazy,” I assured her, brushing a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. “Corny line,” she teased.

“You love it,” I replied, grinning.

She nodded and pressed against me, her face nuzzling against the side of my neck. I grinned and stroked her back, feeling completely and utterly happy. Then she spoke and my happiness wavered for a second. “Mark kissed me last night when he drove me home,” she whispered, her breath blowing down the side of my neck. “I didn’t kiss him back, I promise. He caught me by surprise and then I told him to leave. Seeing as we’re putting stuff out there I thought I should tell you that,” she said.

I nodded, kissing the side of her head. I decided then and there not to tell her that I already knew that, that her mother had told me. I didn’t want to be the cause of trouble in her life and I knew that if I told Ellie that her mother was stirring and trying to come between us, that there would be a family argument, and I didn’t want that. So instead I took a deep breath and tightened my arms on her. “Thanks for telling me.”

She pulled back to look at me worriedly. “I didn’t kiss him back. I promise I didn’t.”

I nodded and smiled reassuringly, seeing the truth in her eyes. “I know. Don’t worry about it. But if at any point you decide that you’ve had enough of me and want to go back to him, or someone else that makes you happy, then just know that I won’t stand in your way.”

She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t want anyone else, Stud. I’m so totally crazy about you too,” she replied, using my words, smirking at me.

I grinned. “Corny,” I joked.

She laughed her tinkering little laugh and nodded. “My boyfriend is the king of corny, I guess it’s rubbing off on me a little,” she teased. I laughed and pressed my lips against hers, kissing her passionately, trying to convey that I loved her without me actually saying the three little words.

I broke the kiss just as it was getting a little too heavy for her the middle of her parent’s kitchen.

“Stay at mine tonight?” I asked hopefully.

She looked a little confused. “I thought you were out with Callum.”

Another lie I’d told her to cover up for the fact that I was going to be working tonight. Maybe I should tell her the truth; she’d been honest with me about Mark. “While we’re giving out confessions, I should probably tell you that I’m not going out with Callum tonight, I never was.” A hurt look crossed her face that I never wanted to see there again. “I have a second job that I’m starting tonight. I’m gonna be working at a bar,” I continued, omitting a little bit of the truth, she didn’t need to know it was a strip club.

Understanding flashed across her face and her shoulders seemed to relax as I said that. “You are? How come?” she asked, sounding relieved.

“You’re expensive,” I joked, kissing the tip of her nose. She rolled her eyes and slapped me in the stomach playfully. “My rent is a little more than I thought, I just need a second job for a while, that’s all. Everything should be okay after Christmas,” I lied.

“Okay. But if you’re working then how am I supposed to stay at yours? Are you gonna pick me up after or something?” she asked curiously.

I shook my head. “No. Stay at mine while I’m not there. Treat the place like your own, eat all my food, make a mess, and let me come home to you. Please?” I begged. “I’d love to just come home and have you waiting there for me.”

She smiled, a blush creeping across her face, she looked like she liked the idea too. “Okay,” she agreed.