Coolness Under Fire

Foreword:

Ok, this isn't what I usually write in this category. No, it isn't a cucktale, and will probably piss off the cucks and wife sharers big time. Ask me if I give a shit. :)

This one could go in several different categories, but I'm publishing it in LW.

You've been warned. I officially relinquish any responsibility for any complaints that come my way due to the content of this tale. That makes any complaints NMP [Not My Problem]

Enjoy the ride, folks. :)

I.D.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

* * * * *

Hmmm. Where do I start my tale? The beginning, you say? Good idea. I'm Mark Gallows, my wife is Kellie Gallows, and this is our tale.

I remember being born... Ok, just kidding there. But that WOULD be the beginning, right? Ok, ok. I'll skip ahead some to when I first met Kellie Everett.

We were 6 years old, and to me, girls were still "icky" and "gross", so I was a bit pissed off that I was being made to spend time and play with a GIRL! It didn't matter to me that she was black. She was a GIRL, and that made her "icky". Luckily, I got over that tidbit as I got older.

Now, our dads had served together in the Army back in Vietnam, and had become Best Friends on the battlefield. After the war, they moved back home and got married. Dad to my Mom, and her Daddy to her Momma.

It turned out that Kellie and I were born at around the same time, and Kellie's Daddy moved them to Santa Barbara where my Dad had his construction business. Dad gave Mr. Everett a job, and soon they were partners in the business.

Everything was going well, but when Kellie and I entered 2nd Grade, their construction business fell on hard times. So they fell back on what they knew, and reenlisted in the US Army.

Over the years, we were stationed at several duty posts together. Kellie and I had grown to be the "Second Generation Best Friends" our parents had joked about us becoming when we were younger. So when we'd get posted together, we'd gravitate to each other. Hey, anyone who grows up an "Army Brat" knows that moving every few years is tough, and you have to prove yourself at each new school to avoid getting bullied or shunned.

So we stuck together, and had each other's back wherever we found ourselves. Our friendship grew even after we started dating. No, we didn't date each other at that time. We dated other people. To her, I was just her best friend, and she was the same to me.

However, after my first breakup, we started a tradition that we would go the Mall on the Saturday following either of us breaking up to a matinee movie. Usually something violent and full of action, as we would have a lot of tension to work out. Watching a sci-fi or action movie usually did the trick. We'd get pumped up and let our frustrations and hurt flow out of us with the action unfolding onscreen.

When our Dads got out as we entered our Sophomore year of High School, they started up their construction business again, and this time it worked out really well. More and more jobs took them down to L.A. and even as far as up to Sacramento. They were gone sometimes for a week or two at a time, but they were in high demand. General contractors, and more importantly, COMPETENT general contractors are always in high demand, as long as they don't keep their business too localized.

So it came to pass that Kellie and I became even closer to each other than to our own families. We also had a few close calls and nearly "crossed the line" several times between Best Friends and lovers. We kept our cool, though. Barely. It got harder and harder (no pun intended) to stop myself from crossing the line with her. We didn't want to ruin our friendship.

It all came to a head when we got dumped the week before our Senior Prom by our significant others. Ty just up and dumped her over the phone, which caught everyone by surprise. Meanwhile, Bridget was in the process of writing me a "Dear Mark" letter, which she then delivered to my house without a word. She wouldn't even talk to me! So, needless to say, we were both SOL for Prom.

That Saturday, we lucked out and caught a Chuck Norris marathon at the Cineplex. Older Chuck movies are still great.

Now, Kellie was still a virgin, as was I. She was a cheerleader and track star at our school, while I played Baseball. My buddy Tyrone had asked about dating Kellie, and I had introduced them. He played First Base, while I played Second Base. We racked up quite a few double plays, and we were a great one-two punch offensively at the plate, too.

Well, Tyrone had dated Kellie for almost a year. Hell, I thought, and a LOT of others thought, that they would get married after graduation, Ty's history notwithstanding.

Well, to make a long story short, Ty dumped Kellie a week before Prom so he could take another girl. The girl he took was supposed to be MY date, my aforementioned ex-girlfriend Bridget. So that ended not just my relationship, but Kellie's relationship with Ty and my friendship with Ty. Oh, and Kellie's friendship with Bridget, too. They had been on the cheerleading squad together. Pretty convoluted, right?

Yeah, a LOT of hurt had been hurled out at the exact same time with as little effort as possible. Ty and Bridget had hurt both my best friend and me at the exact same time. Like I said, we lucked out with the Chuck Norris movie marathon that Saturday.

Oh, Ty didn't get away with it unscathed, though. But we'll get to that shortly.

Kellie and I ended up going to Prom together. I still had my two tickets, and neither one of us had a date, so it just made sense. We danced. We had fun, and that seemed to be a slap in the face to ol' Tyrone and Bridget.

I still remember picking her up at her house (which was two houses down from mine) on the night of Prom. She walked downstairs in that emerald green dress that hugged her figure like a second skin from the waist up. My breath caught in my throat as I wondered for the first time what the fuck Tyrone had been thinking! Mr. Everett saw my expression, chuckled deep in his throat, and told me to have his Princess home by midnight. I vaguely remember agreeing to do so, and took Kellie's hand.

She looked stunning with her hair done in ringlets that fell around her lovely face. She wore minimal makeup, which she honestly didn't need at all. I was awestruck by how beautiful she looked that night, and barely managed to squeak out how beautiful she looked.

Kellie smiled, hugged me, and told me that I looked very handsome too. That broke me out of my hormone-driven stupor, and we were once again Best Friends, and I was completely comfortable with her again. I even managed to pay attention to the road while driving us to Prom.

Well, Ty and Bridget, a fiery hot redhead, were rubbing our noses in it as often as possible that Ty had "stolen my girl" and dumped Kellie while he was at it. At first we ignored them. They weren't worth the trouble, but trouble would be coming Ty's way soon.

In spite of that vow to keep our cool, Kellie damn near lost it a couple times, and I admittedly wasn't far behind her when Ty really kicked the taunting up a notch. He was grinding on Bridget every chance he got. He would then look over at us and grin while Bridget would smirk.

However, we steeled ourselves and kept our tempers in check... barely. We had to keep our cool, and we did so. My whole plan depended on it.

Things went from bad to worse as EVERYONE knew that Tyrone had "stolen" Bridget from me, while they looked at Kellie as my "consolation prize". What they didn't know was that Bridget wasn't all she was cracked up to be. She was a decent kisser, but Kellie was better.

No, the BIG secret was that Ty had "stolen" a LOT of white girlfriends with his smooth talk and the myth of the "BBC". He was actually smaller than me. Hell, we'd done the bet on whose was larger, and measured them out. He was an inch shorter and a bit skinnier than my 7 1/2 long, 2 1/2 inch thick cut cock. Due to the Bro Code, I had kept that a secret, as bros aren't supposed to rat on their bros' cock size, or lack thereof.

Now, Ty's dog status had been our secret, too. We'd laugh about his "conquests" which I didn't take seriously. I thought he was bullshitting.

I started to worry after he bragged about how he stole Max Garrett's girl 3 months before he started dating Kellie. Max was an ok guy, even though we weren't much more than passing acquaintances. We jocks were cool to each other, mostly. The other jocks found my quirk with comic books to be "uncool". That was ok, though. I had some nerd friends to talk comics with, and Kellie is a fan of some of the indie comics.

No, I had worried because Max and Cheryl had a very public breakup, and she'd refused to tell ANYONE why she'd dumped Max. She had then moved away a month later.

"I can't believe that asshole!" Kellie whispered to me as we danced close during a slow song, breaking me out of my reverie of all the things that had happened to bring us to this point. It was coming up on the Coronation of the King and Queen.

"Don't worry about it, Kell. I talked to Max earlier this week. I also talked to Sam and Dave, and they're getting the word out, too." I smirked as I whispered in her ear. "Besides, I have the hottest girl here in my arms right now."

She smiled at me, showing off all her perfect teeth. "Damn, you are one smooth talker!" She giggled and kissed me with her lush full lips. I returned her kiss, then she broke it to look at me seriously. "What are you planning?"

"You'll see. Trust me, before you and Ty started dating, he was a big time dog when it comes to women. Turns out, he still is. When he asked me to introduce you, he swore he was done with the crap he'd been doing. I, unfortunately, believed him, and I'm sorry for him hurting you." I nodded to where they were dancing and shooting glares at us occasionally.

"Ok, white boy. Spill it, and don't worry about the shit he pulled. I knew he was a dog before we started dating, and I thought he'd changed too." She smirked back.

"Well, remember just before you two started dating and Max got dumped by Cheryl?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, that was ug... No way! He didn't! That motherfuckin' piece of shit!" Kellie was stunned as she got it. Yeah, she'd known he was a dog, but not THAT big of a dog... until right that moment.

"Yep, exactly." I nodded. Cheryl had moved away shortly after that incident, and Max had never been told why she dumped him... until earlier in the week. I made sure he needed to keep his cool until tonight though. Somehow, some way, we all managed to keep word from getting out that something major was going down on Prom Night involving Tyrone.

Kellie got a huge grin on her face as she got my meaning. "You told Max, didn't you?"

I just nodded and smiled smugly. I caught Ty and Bridget glaring at us again, and let them think what they wanted about my smugness. It was time for a bit of vengeance with a dash of style.

The song ended, and we walked back to the punch bowl hand in hand, our fingers interlaced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you've all been waiting for!" Our principle, Mr. Skinner (no, not the one from The Simpsons, even though he was just about as goofy) announced that the votes were all in for Prom King and Queen.

After announcing the 2nd and 1st Runners Up, neither of which were Ty and Bridget, Ty and Bridget were even more convinced than before that they'd won it.

Then Mr. Skinner smiled out over the crowd as we reached the moment I'D been waiting for. "And the winners are: Mark Gallows and Kellie Everett!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Tyrone shouted in disbelief. He'd just been upstaged by his ex-friend and his ex-girlfriend. My vengeance was complete.

"Yeah, Tyrone. What the fuck," Max said as he came up behind my former bud with Sam and Dave beside him. "What the fuck were you doing going after Cheryl? What the fuck were you doing WITH Cheryl that caused her to break up with me? You know, I didn't believe it at first, but when I called Cheryl up... we're still friends, by the way... she confirmed what Mark told me about what you were saying."

Ty shot me a glare full of hatred before grinning at Max. "Hey, man. That was just us guys bullshittin'. I never did nothin' with Cheryl, man."

Max wasn't buying it, and neither were the other guys who'd had their girls stolen by Tyrone. Yes, I'd told all three of them. Like I said, when Ty stole mine, we were no longer Bros, so the Bro Code was no longer in effect. He really should have thought of that before he set his sights on Bridget. But then, he always thought with his little head first.

Kellie and I went up onstage where our crowns were waiting. We were crowned King and Queen, and after thanking everyone who voted for us, took the dance floor for our Coronation Dance. I glanced around, but Ty and the guys whose girlfriends he'd messed with weren't in the gym anymore. Neither was Bridget, from the lack of fiery red hair anywhere to be seen.

I leaned forward and kissed my best friend as her lips parted for mine. "God, you're beautiful." I whispered as we broke the kiss.

"You're pretty fine yourself, baby." She whispered back as she molded her body to mine. All 5'5" and 128 pounds of athletic goddess with C-cup breasts pressed up against my 6'1" 198 pound frame. Her heals added another 4 inches, making her 5'9" and just the right height for me to not get a crick in my neck while kissing her.

To be honest, I had kissed Kellie before this. When we were with our parents stationed in Germany before our dads ETS'd, and we were still in Junior High, we'd done some experimenting together. Nothing really sexual, though the thought had crossed my mind. Hell, I was a hormone driven teenager, and Kellie had grown in a nubile Nubian beauty!

But no, we just kissed and found what we liked and told each other what we liked. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my Best Friend was my First Kiss.

My thoughts were snapped back to the present as Max and the guys returned to the gym, but Ty was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Bridget, still. Yeah, she'd kind of disappeared at the same time Ty had. Oh, well. Bridget wanted Ty, she could be with Ty. No worries, here. I was with Kellie, and was more than happy to have my Best Friend in my arms. I somehow knew in my heart and soul that she would never betray me.

Max and the guys had satisfied smiles on their faces as they rejoined their dates, and I figured they had beaten Ty down like the dog he is. I wasn't far off the mark, as it turned out, but more on that later.

Kellie and I finished our dance as Prom King and Queen. God Almighty, she's a beauty to behold. For reference, think Nicole Beharie only taller. Yes, she's that cute and sexy! And that night, she looked even better than normal, and that's saying something! All I could think was that Tyrone had to be an idiot to dump her like he had.

We walked back to the punchbowl for another drink, with smiles from all of our friends sent our way. Now that they knew the truth about Tyrone, they no longer felt sympathy for us. Now they gave us looks of respect, that in spite of Tyrone rubbing it in our faces, we'd kept our heads up high and kept Ty and Bridget from ruining our night.

And we'd done it with style.

Some might call me a wimp for having others do my "dirty work" for me, but that wasn't the case. I'd just told some guys what Ty had done. My revenge on him was in living well and taking the King spot from him while Kellie took the Queen spot from Bridget. I just facilitated Max's and the other guys' revenge on Ty for what he'd done to them in the past, since I found out the truth about Ty's bragging.

All debts were paid that night, as far as Justice went.

But the night wasn't over yet.

Now, my plan had been to take Kellie home after Prom. We would hit one after-party for a bit, then head on home. I wasn't going to presume anything. What I didn't realize, however, was that Kellie had her own agenda for tonight.

When Prom was wrapping up, Kellie grabbed me and whispered in my ear. "The night isn't over yet, baby. I think it's time we do something we shoulda done a long time ago."

The way she said it made me hard as a rock. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what she was referring to, and I'm smarter than the average bear, if I do say so myself. Eat your heart out, Yogi!

I felt myself hardening at the thought of being with Kellie sexually. The thought of giving her my virginity as she gave me hers did the trick, and a switch was thrown in my head. I allowed myself to love my Best Friend as more than a Best Friend. It was at that moment that I fell inextricably in love with her.

"Good, because I'm thinking the same thing, Beautiful," I replied with a look that showed her just what I wanted. I think she could tell by the growing bulge in my pants, too.

"Mom got me Birth Control pills when I told her that I was going to give it up to Ty. Too bad he didn't want this." She gave me a wink as she said it along with a sexy smile.

"Well, Ty is a dog and an idiot," I countered. "I'm neither one of those, but if we do this, it isn't going to be just a one-night thing. Kellie, I love you, and I'm falling In Love with you. Are you ok with that?"

"I love you too, Mark. I always have, and you know that. I've been falling In Love with you over the last week, so it's all good." The smile she gave me and the look of love in her eyes told me that she was telling the truth.

I took her in my arms and kissed her again. This kiss was different than the kisses we'd shared earlier, though. This was a kiss that claimed her as my own. This was a kiss full of the heart's promise that we would always be together from this night forward.

She gave back as good as she got, giving me the same unspoken promise. However, as soon as we broke the kiss, she put that promise into words as well.

"I'm yours, Mark. Forever and always," she whispered in my ear. "Remember what I told you when we were 10?"

I thought back to when we were in Georgia together and going to Morgan Road Middle School in Augusta for 7th Grade. I grinned as I remembered that conversation.

"Yeah, I remember. Should we get married before I go to Basic Training or after I get home?"

"After, baby. We need to get the wedding planned and tell our folks what we're going to do."

"And I need to get you a ring, sweetheart," I replied, grinning ear to ear to match her own.

We left the Prom shortly after that, and got into my Camaro. She told me to drive to our spot. It was the spot we'd gone to whenever we needed to talk and needed the privacy to do so. The Bluffs are the cliffs overlooking the Pacific near Santa Barbara. They're a very romantic spot, by the way.

When we got there, Kellie pulled the blanket out of the back seat that I always kept in there. We got out and she spread the blanket on the grass in a secluded spot.

I took her in my arms and unzipped her dress as she untied my tie and unbuttoned my tux jacket.

We undressed each other slowly, her dress and my tux landing on the grass. When she removed her strapless bra, I looked upon her beautiful breasts for the first time. God, her Cs were perfect!

I laid her down gently on the blanket, itself laying on the soft thick grass. I moved down beside her, drinking in the sight of her beautiful body before leaning down and kissing her lips.

"Eat my pussy, baby?" She asked in a whisper as we broke the kiss.