I Only Wanted You

(Author's Note: This story is a love story which eventually includes sex. One of the characters has a lot of baggage that the couple must patiently deal with in order to open the door to a loving, fulfilling physical relationship. Please enjoy the buildup and getting to know them.)

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Chapter 1: But That Mall Sucks

One cool mid-September day, I complained to a co-worker about being bored with the local lunch fare. We'd both worked there long enough to have explored everything nearby. It was the same few restaurants with the same, unchanging menus. I needed something new in my life.

"Try the food court at the mall downtown," he suggested. I started to object, but he interrupted. "I know, I know. It's been renovated. Yeah, it's a longer drive, but it's got some new restaurants." He shrugged. "Maybe you'll find something you like."

Without a better plan, I went for it. The choice was easy enough: same old boring shit versus not that. So yeah, I pulled into the mall parking lot and found a spot near the food court. It'd been years since I had last been here, and from the outside, it didn't look like anything had changed. Inside was better, and I wandered around for a while, hoping one of the new restaurants would catch my eye.

This mall didn't have much else going for it anymore, despite the renovation, except for the movie theater. The food court was connected to one of the better theaters in the area, so it still managed to get busy on weekends, but the Tuesday lunchtime crowd wasn't deserving of the name.

I made my choice, more or less at random, ordered my food, and paid. I figured this would be my lunch destination for a while. Soon enough, lunch in hand, I turned to the common seating area and looked for a good spot that wasn't right next to other people, because sitting next to strangers as a solo diner has never not felt weird.

I picked an empty table and sat down. As I took my first bite, I looked around idly and noticed a table directly ahead of me with a group of girls sitting around it. Attractive girls, who looked to be my age, or at least close to it, so of course they now had my attention. The girl who was facing me was, in fact, watching me, and because I was watching her watch me, I noticed when she said something and made a subtle gesture in my direction.

I immediately dropped my attention to my food so I wouldn't be caught staring at the girls, who, if I guessed correctly, were now sneaking glances at me. I hoped it was because the first girl thought I was cute, and not some other--

"Rob?!"

I looked up instantly at the sound of my name, trying to figure out who had said it. It was definitely one of the girls, and it sounded familiar. Did I know one of them?

Oh shit. Had I dated one of them?

I sought out each of their faces, but then one of the girls stood up, drawing my eyes. She brushed her hair behind her ear as I studied her face, and then recognition set in. My stomach dropped. My mouth hung open.

It was her. The one that got away. The one I never thought I'd see again. The one I hadn't seen, in fact, for five years. And here she was, randomly sitting two tables away in the food court of a mall I don't go to anymore.

My mouth regained its use. "Natalie?!" I blurted out, but I was way behind the times because she had already crossed the distance and was reaching for me.

I stood up just in time, my arms reflexively closing around her. I marveled in the feel of her against me and the smell of her hair and... and realized this was literally the first time we'd ever hugged. And yes, that was a weird thing to think about 'the one that got away.' I realized it as soon as I thought it, but my brain was still trying to make a three-point turn in traffic.

"Hi," she said. I took her in, her look, her sound, everything. "So..." she said, trailing off, eyebrows climbing as she waited expectantly for me to say something.

I pushed her back a bit so I could see her face. She had dark eyes and long dark brown hair, but smooth, pale skin, like someone who didn't spend much time outside. She was about five-six or so, and thin, or in really good shape. Five years older, but considering how young we'd been the last time we'd seen each other, that was no problem whatsoever. The baby fat was gone, and she was drop dead gorgeous in a no-longer-a-teenager way. She was wearing what looked like some sort of uniform, but I didn't spare any thought for that. Also, she wore a pair of earrings. I distinctly remembered she was definitely not allowed to have those before.

"Yes, it's me, you dork," she said around a huge smile, and then, in a quiet voice meant only for me, "I've changed."

"So I see," I said just as quietly. I realized I had my hands on her shoulders. I didn't remember how they got there, but I took the opportunity to give her slim shoulders a little squeeze. "I can't believe it's you."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I don't even know where to start. I'm so sorry we lost contact. My parents..." She shuddered. "There's so much to tell. When they found out I had gone on a date, to a dance, and held hands with a boy... well, I was grounded for life, basically."

I said nothing as I let all that sink in. My brain was rebooting and logic and reason were on their way back.

Her eyes were welling up with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry... I tried to look for you..."

"No need to be sorry," I said, giving her shoulders a good rub, then I deliberately let go because it was honestly starting to feel a little awkward. "I tried to look for you, too."

"But you didn't know where I lived. My parents didn't let me have a phone. They didn't let me share my email address." She actually managed to crack a weak smile. "It was pretty hopeless."

I coughed. "Yeah... I asked your friends, but nobody knew anything. You just disappeared."

The other girls from the table had circled around us as we spoke, but none of them had said anything yet. I glanced around at them, but Natalie seemed fine with them being there. "So... what happened?" I asked.

"My parents," Natalie practically spat. "That's what happened. You couldn't find me because we moved away the very next day."

"Moved? But, how?" I was stunned. "Who can move so fast?"

"They own a second home in Los Angeles. They packed some things and we left on a plane the very next morning. They set me up in a private girl's school and I started there the day after that."

One of the girls, a pretty, petite blonde, finally couldn't hold back anymore. "Holy shit, that really happened?"

Natalie looked hurt. She turned to her friend. "You didn't believe me?"

One of the other girls, a curly-haired brunette, had the grace to look embarrassed. "It's just that it's so extreme. It's hard to believe your parents would overreact so..." She fished around for the words. "That they'd be so..."

"So fuckin' crazy," said the third girl, who had very long, black hair and reminded me of someone I worked with. Curly girl nodded emphatically.

"So Rob is real, too," said the blonde, looking at me. "And taller and cuter than you said, Nat."

I winked at her. "Well, I've been eating my vegetables and really working out my cuteness muscles."

The girls giggled.

"Let's join tables," said curly girl. They brought their trays to me even though I insisted it would be easier if I moved since there was only one of me, but they were already in motion. One of them grabbed a chair and we fit all five of us around the table without making it too tight. Natalie, of course, ended up right next to me, which was just how I liked it.

Natalie introduced her friends. The blonde was Ashley, the curly-haired brunette was Monica, and the one with long, black hair was Brooke.

"So..." I said, trying to figure out how to continue this conversation. "You moved to L.A. overnight. What happened after that?"

She let out a long breath. "There's so much I haven't told anyone."

"Oh god," Ashley said, her eyes wide. "What didn't you tell us?"

"Yeah," said Monica. "If you thought the stuff you did tell us was bad, I'm dying to know what you left out."

Natalie spilled the beans while her friends and I listened in horror. Once we got used to the general level of awfulness her parents operated on, the girls and I remembered our food and we managed to eat and listen. The lecture Natalie had received had been in multiple stages over two whole days, and her parents forced her to meet with several religious leaders who lectured her more. They'd made her read and recite bible passages about purity and deceit and other things that really didn't seem to apply. They'd forbidden her from even talking to boys, and the girls' school was an easy way to make sure there were no boys around. No phone, of course. No unmonitored internet usage. She wasn't allowed to go out with friends, and she ended up so depressed she didn't have friends anyway. She was told repeatedly how worthless a "used" woman was, how no man wants a slut, and plenty of other crap like that.

And just when I thought she was done, she kept going. "One time, my mom heard a rumor that girls were wearing thongs and 'sexy' bras to school, so she wouldn't let me out of the house without checking my underwear first. And, oh yeah, I forgot this one. They set a rigid daily schedule for me and if I didn't follow it, they'd punish me by taking away my stuff. Something different every time, and I'd have to earn it back. They took away my bed and I had to sleep on the floor. It took a month to earn that back."

She put her head down to take a bite of food, and I took the opportunity to share horrified looks with the girls. Brooke spoke up tentatively. "Uh, Nat, that kinda sounds like abuse."

Well that killed the conversation. Everyone just looked at each other uncomfortably. Nat still had her head down, but she wasn't eating, just sitting there in stillness.

I cleared my throat. "So let me get this straight," I said in a desperate attempt to salvage things. "The date with me, in which I took you to a high school dance, and held your hand, and--" I fixed her friends with a serious stare. "Where nothing else happened, was, in your parents' eyes, such a serious crime that they instantly took you a thousand miles away and changed your entire life?"

Natalie was just toying with her food, but she nodded. I placed my hand atop hers.

"I'm really sorry, Nat," I said. "It sounds like I totally messed up your life."

"Oh come on," said Brooke. "She went on a date! That's what teenagers are supposed to do! Her parents messed up her life, not you."

"It's not her fault they're nuts," Monica said.

"Fuck them," Ashley said, then continued eloquently, "I mean, what the fuck?"

Natalie looked up, eyes fierce. "Rob, going on a date with you was my choice. I knew they'd be mad if they found out. I knew it was a risk." She shook her head. "I just didn't realize how far they'd go."

"But if I hadn't asked you out--"

Natalie raised a hand to stop me. "No." She paused for effect, then her face softened and she smiled at her friends. "Thanks for defending me, you guys. I really appreciate it." She turned her attention back to me. "You asked me out, but I'm the one who said yes. I wanted to go out with you. I liked you." Emotion crept into her voice. "Our date was the best day of my life. Over the next few years, I thought about it a lot." She swallowed. "I thought about you a lot." She ducked her head and looked at me through lowered lashes. "I missed you."

"Aww," Monica and Brooke said together. Ashley, despite her previous tirade, even wore a big smile and leaned forward on the table.

"I missed you, too," I said, squeezing Natalie's hand.

"Nat calls you the one that got away," Ashley said.

"Ash!" Natalie said, turning to her friend, eyes wide.

"Huh. That's how I think of Natalie, too," I said. "Thought, I guess, now."

"Hey, uh..." Monica said, looking meaningfully at Brooke and Ashley. "Why don't we go do some shopping and let these two star-crossed lovers talk?"

"Aw, I wanna see them kiss!" Ashley said, but then she grinned and got up. She gave Nat a big hug and whispered loud enough for me to hear, "He's hot. Go for it!"

With the other three girls gone, it was just Natalie and me. She gave me a rueful smile. "Sorry, I guess that was a bit much to dump on you."

"I'm here for you." I still had my hand atop hers, so I gave her a reassuring squeeze.

She turned her palm over on the table and looked down at our joined hands meaningfully. "This is what caused me so much trouble." Before I could speak, she put a finger on my lips. "Don't say you're sorry. I don't want to hear that from you. It's not your fault." She squeezed my hand. "To my parents, this was the point of betrayal. I'd touched a boy. I'd sullied myself."

"Uh, usually when people talk like that, they mean sex, not just... hand holding."

"Yeah. Turns out my parents are pretty extreme in their views. No, scratch that. They look down on other extremists for not being extreme enough."

"So... Los Angeles. For the past five years?"

"Four and a half. I moved back here about six months ago."

"You've lived here for six months and I didn't know? Man..." I shook my head.

"You look really good, Rob," she said earnestly. "Like, really good. You've grown up."

"So have you," I said. "I mean, I always thought you were pretty. But now, it's like an enhanced version of you."

"Before we go any further," Natalie said. "Before I get my hopes up... are you dating anyone? I don't see a wedding ring."

"No, I'm single." She visibly relaxed at the words. "I had a girlfriend but we broke up about four months ago."

She listened intently. "Makes sense. Look at you. Of course you'd have a girlfriend. You broke up four months ago? Well, I'm glad we didn't run into each other back then. I don't know if I could stand finding you after so long only for you to be taken."

I let it all sink in. The timing was good, I had to admit. I was single and enough time had passed that I was over my ex. "What about you?" I asked, though the answer seemed obvious. "No boyfriend?"

"Never," she said immediately. "I wasn't allowed to, of course. And once I started doing what I wanted, I didn't want any other guy. I only wanted you."

"About that... what changed for you to go your own way? I mean, you would've turned eighteen, what... three years ago?"

She hunched forward. "Yeah, when I turned eighteen there really wasn't anything I could do about it. I had to get a job and find a place and be able to make ends meet. None of which my parents wanted me to do. They said they'd give me as much money as I needed, but there were always so many strings attached. I didn't want their money. So I had to figure it all out, behind their backs. That took time. I finally managed to move back here six months ago."

"Yeah, you said that. Why here?"

"To look for you." She looked at me shyly.

"What? Really? What if I'd moved away?" I asked. "In fact, I did move away. I went to school in Colorado for two years. Got my Associate's degree."

"I worried that might be the case," she said, then tilted her head. "But... here you are."

"I got a job here after graduating. Moved back in with my parents for a while before getting my own place. It worked out pretty well. Plus, I'm going for my Bachelor's degree, and in-state tuition is a lot cheaper. I'm taking online classes."

"Me, too. Anyway, I couldn't find you," she said. "I could barely find anyone I remembered from school, let alone anyone who knew you. I searched for you on the internet. I called a bunch of guys with your name, trying to find you." She laughed softly. "It was mostly fine, but there were some weird conversations."

"Yeah... that's because Robert is my middle name. My first name is Marcus, but only my grandma calls me that."

She made an exasperated sound. "Well that information would have been nice five years ago."

"Heh. Five-years-ago me apologizes."

She squeezed my hand. "Water under the bridge. Anyway, after I moved back, I met Ash and Monica and Brooke and became friends, so that's been really nice."

I felt bad about what she had told me. "I never thought about it before, but I guess I was practically impossible to find, huh? Any old classmates wouldn't have helped much. I only keep in touch with a couple of 'em anyway, and those guys moved out of state, so your odds were definitely long."

"I had to try. Once I was free to do what I wanted, what I wanted most was to find you." She clutched tentatively at my arm and gave me a self-conscious smile.

"Wow, you were really smitten," I said. "I'm not sure I can live up to this."

She gave me a serious look. "I'd rather have a second chance, even if it doesn't work. I'm not stupid. I know it's been five years. We might be different people now." She shook her head briskly, as if to brush aside everything she'd just said. "I thought about what I'd say, when I found you. Planned it all out. And all that went right out of my head as soon as I saw you."

"Heh. My brain practically froze up."

She gave me a quirky smile. "I thought so." She sat back in her chair and looked at me, her expression one of... relief? Was I reading her right?

She turned serious. "That whole summer between grades, when we kept running into each other? I went out with my friends as much as my parents would let me, and it seemed like you were always wherever I went. You always looked happy to see me... you always wanted to talk to me. I had a crush on you from the very first time. And then you were so nice to me. You didn't care that I was rich. I remember you wanted to know my favorite flower and then you drew me a picture of one when you couldn't find the real thing. School started... we even had a class together despite you being a grade higher... and then you asked me to go to the dance with you."

"Wait, you were rich?"

She studied me with an amused expression. "Right to the important stuff, huh? A second home in L.A.? That doesn't mean anything to you?"

"I don't think that really qualifies as making someone rich."

"My parents own over a hundred homes. Their company rents out all the others, but the one in L.A. they kept furnished but empty so they could go there any time. That's expensive all by itself."

"Pfft. Like I could have known any of that."

She laughed and leaned closer, but stopped herself short of hugging me.

I wanted to hold her close, but her body language was making me unsure of what would be okay. "So, your parents. Did they eventually come around?"

"Oh, no," she stated firmly. "They never came around. As far as they're concerned, I'm an outcast. A pariah."

"Damn..." I said. "So a big falling out."

She nodded emphatically. "It was awful. We fought, they tried to bribe me to stay, I refused, they called me nasty things, I told them to go to hell, they told me that's where I was going--it was great, believe me--and then I left. I didn't tell them where I moved to, but they tracked me down and sent a certified letter informing me that if I didn't return home and apologize for my behavior and promise to obey them, they'd cut me off and remove me from their will."

"I'm guessing you didn't return home and apologize."

"Hell no. I moved here instead. Without telling them." She still held my hand, and with her other one she gripped my forearm tightly. "Though I'm sure they'll eventually use their real estate contacts to track me down again." She tossed her head to flick her hair out of her face. "Probably send me another ultimatum."

"Did they actually remove you from their will?"