Rory

"I don't want things, Levi! It's not about that! I have plans... I want to go to college. Not online, but really. I've applied to several places, Ivy league... and I know I won't have any issues getting into them... I want all of that. I want to live in a dorm, join a sorority and go to classes and parties and all that."

"Rory! Is all of that really more important than you and me?"

"Levi, there IS no you and me! We're two strangers who met by accident and had a little fun. The fun's over and it's time to move on with life now."

"It was fate!" Levi cried, his whole body tense as he clutched her against him.

"Let go, Levi!"

"Listen to me," he pleaded, pulling her down to the floor of the stand and laying her on her back to hover over her. "Just listen! Parties, Rory? Dorms? You don't even know what you want to do, do you? You didn't mention it, you just want the college experience. That's bullshit now, Rory! Now there's a bigger picture! The REAL picture and you know it! It's me and you!" he breathed, his face in hers as tears rolled down his cheeks. "I love you! I need you and I need you to need me too! I will take care of you! Please? Make love to me again, Rory," he whispered, then kissed her.

Rory tried to turn away, but he quickly caught her face to hold her in place before reaching down and shoving her pants off.

"Levi, don't! Please!" she cried softly, her heart hurting as he undid his own pants.

"I need you! I need you, Rory! I need you so badly and it sucks that you don't need me too! I love you so much! I want you to love me too! Look at me! I have a lot to offer! And I know you like me too! I know you do! You could try it! We could make it work," he pleaded, pushing her legs apart and reaching down to play his long fingers over her pussy. "God dammit you feel so good!" he sighed, kissing her temple. "I love you, Rory! Say you're mine! Say it for me again, please?" he begged, then gripped his long cock and pressed it to her slit. "I love you!" he moaned, pushing into her.

"Please don't," Rory whispered, her heart breaking.

"Shhh, it's ok. We're in love and we've been doing this the whole time," he told her, his tone almost angry now. "The whole time! We've done this... oh god... we've done this so many times and it's still so good. So perfect with you. I love you, Rory! Tell me you're mine! Say it! I need to hear you say it!" he demanded, thrusting harder and faster.

Rory grit her teeth and turned away, wanting it over so they could leave.

"I love you!" he cried out as he finally rammed in and stopped, spilling into her with a growl. "You're mine, Rory," he told her, clutching her close. "You're mine and I'm not letting you go."

Rolling, he fixed his pants, then helped her put hers on before pulling her close and laying on his back to hold her.

"Please, can we go back now?" she asked, her voice small as she tried to stifle tears.

"No, baby. No. I'm not taking you back. I don't want to let you go. If we stay here long enough, you'll have to stay another night. We can have a little more time together."

"Ok," she whispered, trying not to sound as afraid as she was. Turning as if snuggling into him, she eased her phone out of her hoodie pocket and texted her father where they were and to come get her.

Levi held her close and talked to her, telling her all of his plans for the property and trying to get her to open up and get excited about it. Asking her what kind of house she wanted to build and how many chickens she wanted.

Rory couldn't answer, the lump in her throat too big as she waited for her father.

It was his father who pulled up in his big truck, but her father was with him.

"Rory?!?" he called, hurriedly jumping out as Levi sat up in alarm.

"How did they know where we were?" he asked in an alarmed whisper.

"Levi, what the hell is going on? Did your truck break down? Why didn't you call?" his dad yelled.

"Rory, the RV is fixed and lunch is ready, let's go!" her dad called.

"Coming dad!" she yelled, trying to move to climb down.

Levi clutched her close. "We're not coming back yet! We're hanging out here for a while... we've decided. We need more time together! Just go ahead and eat without us and we'll be back tonight. After dark."

"I'm sorry, but we need to leave as soon as lunch is done so we can get to our family before dark," her father countered, and Rory could hear the wariness in his tone. "Come on Rory, no more playing around. We need to go."

"We're staying here!" Levi called, his voice going angry as he pulled Rory in even tighter.

"Dad! Please help me!" Rory cried, actually starting to panic now.

"Levi! Levi, let her go right now!" his dad cried, horrified and shocked as Levi clamped a hand over Rory's mouth.

"Why? Why'd you say that?" Levi cried. "We just need a few more hours! I need a little more time to show you! To convince you! I love you Rory and you love me too! You just need time to see it! Please, SEE it! See me! See how much I love you!"

"Levi! Let that girl go NOW! What the hell has gotten into you?"

"I love her! I can't let her leave! I've never loved anyone like I love her and the thought of letting her leave here, letting her just drive away... I can't, Dad! I can't let her drive away!"

"You damn well can't kidnap her either, can you? Think about this! If she's meant to be then even if she does drive off today, she'll be back, won't she?"

"But she needs more time to see it! She doesn't love me like I love her yet! I just need her to see it and she won't want to leave!"

"Levi, you're smarter than this! What the hell has gotten into you? This isn't like you at all! You need to think, boy! If she's going to fall in love with you, feel for you what you feel for her, then you need to let it happen naturally. You try and force it and she'll run far and fast and never look back. Let her go. If she leaves it's because she needs a little space and if she's meant to be yours, she'll be back."

"You kidnapped mom!"

"That was different! Her dad was mean as a snake and she WANTED to come with me. I just had to get her away from him! She doesn't want to be with you yet! Just give her time!"

"I want them to stay another night!"

"You don't let my daughter down from there right now, I will call the police," her dad promised, pulling out his phone.

"There's no need for that! Levi is going to let her go and we're all going to go back to the house and have lunch and talk about this. Come on, Levi. Let's go eat and talk about this."

Levi loosened his grip and as soon as he did, Rory jerked as hard as she could out of his arms and ran to the ladder, almost dropping down to the ground in her haste to get away.

Levi followed more slowly after watching her run from him in stunned silence.

"Rory?" he called to her as she cried in her fathers arms.

"You drive your truck back, she'll ride with her dad in my truck," his father snapped angrily. "And you are in for it when we get home!"

Rory sat close to her dad, not letting him go on the ride back. She ignored his probing questions, especially the ones that touched on things she didn't want to think about.

Did he force himself on you?

He'd been so sweet and nice, what had happened? What had she done wrong that he had suddenly changed like that?

As soon as they got back, her father hugged her closer. "If you don't mind, I think we should go ahead and leave now. Could you take us to our RV?"

"I understand and I am sorry. I really don't know what's gotten into him, what's come over him. He really is usually just the sweetest boy! He's always been just sweet and quiet and shy and just an all around good kid. This isn't like him! All I can say is... I think he's being honest. He loves her and the thought of her leaving is a real physical ache for him. A literal loss he can't bear. Please... don't hold it against him. I'm sure he didn't hurt her, he only scared her, right, Rory?" his dad asked hopefully.

"Yeah," she agreed, blushing.

He nodded and went in, looking stressed.

Moments later, Levi's mother came out to the back porch looking worried, then Rory's stepmother hurried out with her son and an armful of their clothes.

Levi pulled in and jumped out as her stepmom was getting in the truck. "You're leaving? I thought we were talking! Rory! Please!"

"Get in the house, Levi!" his father demanded.

"You can't leave, please! Rory, I LOVE YOU! At least give me your number so we can keep in touch!" he yelled, tugging on the locked door as his father got in on the driver's side. "RORY! AURORA" he screamed as they pulled away.

Rory let out a wail when he dropped to his knees in defeat and his hands went to his head.

"What happened?" her step brother asked in confusion.

"Nothing," her father spoke up quickly. "The RV is fixed and we're going to Aunt Ruby's now."

"I really am sorry," Levi's father told them miserably. "I'll understand if you feel the need to press charges, but I really hope you'll consider letting it go? He's normally such a good kid, so well rounded! I never would have expected this from him in a million years. I don't know what happened, but I know he's not the type to hurt a soul. He's always been a good kid!"

"It's fine," Rory managed. "He didn't hurt me... he just wouldn't let me go. I said no when he asked me to stay and he... just took me out there and wouldn't let me go. Said we would stay there until it was too late for us to leave. That was all," she fibbed. "It scared me but he didn't hurt me. He was just being... really intense and wouldn't accept that I wanted my own life that I've been planning since I was 10."

"Levi has his life planned out too," his father nodded sadly. "He's always quietly gone after all of his goals. This is the first I've ever seen him get worked up over anything. If... if you want it, I could give you his number? In case you decide you want to keep in touch? You obviously made an impression on him."

"No thank you," Rory told him quickly, though she actually kind of did. Keeping in touch would have been great right up until the last hour.

When they got in the RV, her dad and stepmom both tried to talk to her, but she only shook her head and locked herself in the back on the large bed, then cried herself to sleep thinking about all of it.

About Levi and how he'd gone from that shy and quiet innocence to the man who was so intense and demanding.

She wasn't old enough for what he wanted, she was still in highschool. 18 was still a kid, not old enough to get married and make huge life decisions. She didn't even know what career field she wanted to go into, nothing had ever struck her fancy. She knew she'd find it eventually and she wasn't in a hurry. That's how kids were supposed to be, and it was ok to not have it figured out before she was out of school. It was normal. It was Levi who wasn't normal with his planned out life and all his ducks in a row and his intensity and drive for more.

For her.

Still... it was a little nice to know there was someone out there who felt that way about her. Who'd met her and fallen so utterly that he literally lost his shit.

It had been a little scary when it was happening, but as she considered it over her vacation, she realized it was the stuff out of storybooks. A love so epic that he refused to let her go.

But in the stories, the girls always felt the same way and wanted it. She had no idea how she felt, all she knew was that it was too much to deal with when all she wanted was a day or two of fun with no strings.

The week after graduation, Rory sighed as she looked at her GPS again. Nothing looked familiar! Was she going the right way?

Was this the curve they had broken down on or was it the last one? Was it just a curve and she was lost?

A moment later, she felt relief flood through her as she saw the huge log cabin house and pulled in, pulling all the way back where there were three trucks last time she was here.

Looking at the back porch, feeling nervous, she wasn't surprised to see his mom step out, shading her eyes to see who it was.

Rolling her window down, Rory lifted a hand in greeting and gave the woman a tight smile.

Her face went shocked and stunned, then she fled back inside and immediately reappeared on the back porch with a phone to her ear as she held up a finger. Rory nodded, then waited.

The woman hung up after just a few seconds, then came down the steps. "I'll be honest, I never thought I'd see you again," the woman told her, obviously curious. "Levi doesn't live here anymore. He put a used trailer in at his property while he's building his house and he's living there. He's been living there since... since just after your family visited. Are... did you come back to see him? I guess you're out of school now too?"

"Yeah, I graduated," Rory managed, blushing. "I did come to see him."

"Did you come for a visit, or...?"

"To talk to him," Rory told her quickly. "I didn't have a way to get in touch with him."

"He looked for you. He looked all over social media for you and even combed through schools where you said you were from in Chicago, trying to find any girl with the name Aurora."

"I don't go by my name on social media," Rory told her awkwardly. "Umm, do you think you could give me directions to his house? I can't really remember. Dad only barely remembered how to get here. He had to put in the name of the place where you got the parts because it was on a credit card statement and find it on a map and then look on google maps for your house."

"He'll be here any second," the woman smiled. "I called him as soon as I saw it was you. You... you aren't about to take him away to the city, are you? We've been a little afraid he was going to leave to find you..."

"No," Rory mumbled as his truck roared into the driveway, sliding sideways and fishtailing because he was going so fast. Slamming on the brakes, he stopped inches from her car and jumped out as his mom backed up, watching him.

Rory looked up at his stunned face as he looked down at her.

"You're here," he finally managed, looking confused.

She noticed his hair was a little longer and he was trying to grow a scruff on his face. "I am," she agreed, starting to shake slightly.

"I looked for you..."

"I know."

"You still look beautiful," he told her, his eyes moving over her face like he wanted to memorize her. "Can... can I hug you? Kiss you?"

"We need to talk first," she told him nervously.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry about what I did and handling you roughly! I shouldn't' have done that and hand to god I will never do it again, I swear! I promise! Can I hug you now?"

Rory gave him a tight smile, then glanced back at his mom who had faded back to the steps to the porch but was still watching.

Taking a deep breath, Rory opened the door and faced him.

Levi's eyes dropped and he blinked, then he dropped down to squat next to her car as he put a hand on her swollen belly.

"We're having a baby!" he whispered, awestruck.

That wasn't really the reaction Rory had been expecting. Not after she'd cried about it for three whole months. All of her initial confusion coupled with this new development had just left her feeling lost completely. She had no idea what she wanted to do, but she knew what she couldn't do.

Her final idea had been to come and just talk to Levi about it. Let him know. She'd imagined several different reactions, but not this one as he stroked her tummy and grinned with dreamy eyes.

Finally, his eyes turned up to hers. "Now you just have to marry me," he shrugged. "We can't raise our baby out of wedlock. When is he due?"

"How do you know it's a boy?" she asked, surprised, her mind derailing from the other topic.

"Family curse," he shrugged. "We all have boys. Girl hasn't been born to a Tompkins in more than 8 generations. That's how far back the records go, could be longer. I like the name Colton."

"I like the name Fern, after my grandmother," she told him, amusement in her eyes.

"You're sure?" he asked excitedly.

Rory leaned back and pulled out the sonograms and showed him the label that pointed to the girl parts.

"A girl!" he laughed, then turned to his still watching mother who couldn't see anything from where she was. "It's a girl!" he yelled happily. "I'm going to be a dad! You're gonna be a gramma! C'mon!" Levi cried happily, pulling Rory up as his mother held her hands over her mouth. "Wow! You're adorable! Your little belly is so big! When is she due?"

"September," Rory blushed as his mother circled closer to look her over, tears in her eyes.

"Then we'll have to be married in July at the latest. I'd prefer June, before it get's stupid hot!" he laughed, then hugged her close. "I've missed you, Rory! I've missed you so much, but I knew you'd come back! Didn't know this would be why, but I knew you would."

"She isn't the only reason I came back and she's... I'm not 'back' back, Levi. I came to talk to you."

"Talk hell, Aurora. I know you've thought it through and I know you felt things as strong as I did! You just didn't have a direction to point your feelings and I did. You do too, now, especially now. You came back to try."

"I want to go to college."

"I won't stop you," he shrugged. "There's a community college just 45 minutes from here and they have online courses. Mom will be happy to babysit!"

"I will!" she cried, then rushed in and hugged Rory, breaking into sobs. "A grandaughter! I never imagined I'd get to spoil a little girl! Levi! You're going to need to push them on getting your place built! That trailer is too small for both of you and a baby! Your dad said all they've done is pour the concrete for the pad!"

"Well it may take longer now! Rory is finally here to tell me which house to build!"

Rory's eyebrows went high.

"What? You didn't think I'd build our house without you there to tell me what you wanted, did you? Now we need to decide how many kids we want so we know how big to build it too. I'll settle for two, but I'd rather have three. Four would be ideal."

Rory laughed, shaking her head. "One. I wanted none and I'll settle for one."

"Compromise! Two!" he laughed again. "Or three... however many till I get a boy. I need at least one boy to take care of his sisters."

"Come inside, both of you!" his mother smiled, wiping away tears. "I'll make some tea!"

"Sorry mom, another time. We'll have plenty of time for that! I'm going to get her home and... yeah, I'm going to get her home," he chuckled. "Come on, Rory," he grinned, pulling her to his truck.

"I can follow in my own car," she promised him.

"You think I am ever letting you out of my sight again? Rory, I am about to pick out classes with you just so I can follow you around college and spend my days with you."

She only shook her head, still giggling. "I'll follow," she promised again.

He went still, looking down at her with his content smile. "I knew you'd come back," he finally told her again. "I knew it. I could feel it in my soul. I left the closet mostly empty for you and there's a dresser for your things too. Stay close. Bye mom!"

Rory followed him, unable to stop smiling. She'd made the right choice, coming back. It felt right. Picking up her phone, she called her dad.

"Rory?"

"Hey dad, I found it, made it ok."

"Did you? Was he there?"

"No, but he was only a minute away and he got there quick."

"Was he still... off?"

"No... not like he was, you were right."

"How did he react?"

"He was happy! Incredibly happy and excited. Dad... can you cancel my summer internship and... do you think you could maybe just find a renter for my house for me?"

"You're STAYING there? I thought you were going to tell him and come home? Move into your house and do your summer internship and take the job at Watts and VanderWahl once classes started in the fall?"