The Women of Custer City Ch. 02-03

I took a handful of creaky steps across the treehouse and saw where the names that had been etched into the wall of the people that came long before us. We'd written over them, of course, and by the time we'd spent the last night there, that castle was well and truly ours.

Our names were still the most recent. Amanda's mural of geodesic shapes wasn't as vibrant as it once was, but it still had her same personality.

I stood for a moment, admiring the small fort and bathing in the nostalgia, when I heard a familiar knock on the hatch. Two quick rasps, a long one, then a whole mess of fast knocks, begging me to open up.

I took Amanda's hand and helped her through the hatch. She was older than I remembered. In truth, it'd probably been a year and a half since I'd seen her even before the timeloop started.

She wore her brunette hair in a messy bun, and it was the first time I'd ever seen her in her work scrubs.

"Jesus Christ on a cross I can't believe it's still standing," she said. I couldn't stop from laughing, and I felt her throw herself into a hug.

It'd been countless days since I'd seen her, but her mousy voice, with a little too much nasal wind was exactly the same as I remembered. We pulled apart and I couldn't tell who had the bigger smile.

"When's the last time you came up here?" she asked. She took her moment to pace the small space and take it all in. I watched the loose hair on the back of her neck, and felt my heart start to race again.

"It's been a while," I said softly. I was still nervous, but it was starting to subside. Now that she was here, she was the same friend I'd had all my life, "Do you remember that stormy night?"

"I do," she said, still taking in her old mural.

"I don't think I've been back since," I said.

She shook her head, "Me neither."

"You look good," I said, and for the first time she turned to face me. I saw her hand dart out to fix a tuft of hair and plant it behind her ear. Even during the day, the treehouse was always dark. The old, corrugated tin roof kept it well shaded. Even so, I saw how wide her eyes had gotten.

"Yeah," she said, "You too."

"I've never seen you in scrubs before," I admitted. She took the time to look down, but offered a hint of a smile, just enough to encourage me to continue, "That must have been a long twelve years."

"Yeah," she said, "It really was."

"I'm proud of you," I said, still trying to break through the tension.

She ended the small talk, "Why'd you bring me here?"

I looked down. I stared at my shoes for a moment, then the carpet. I felt my gaze run up my pantleg, anywhere but her. I'd spent all night trying to remember where I was on June 15th, and tried to picture what she thought of me.

"Things didn't work out between Sadie and I," I finally said. I reached for my back pocket and dug at the little jewelry box.

"I got her a ring," I said, "I was ready to propose, but I couldn't. I liked her, and I know she liked me, but I never loved her. Amanda. I'm single."

She wasn't moving. She was standing opposite me, her eyes as still as stone, but she wasn't looking away. She tried to find my gaze, and she listened to every word with the focus of a monk.

"I never wanted to ruin things," I continued, "You were my best friend, my favorite person in the world, but damn it, I always liked you. And I think that's part of the reason things with Sadie didn't work out. I never got butterflies the way I did around you."

In a morning full of waiting in agony, I got one last dreadful pause. She kept staring at me unblinkingly, but her feet were starting to shuffle closer.

"My first night at Browden," she said softly, "I cried my eyes out."

The two of us were face to face now, and she still wasn't backing down. "And the night after that, and the next one too. For almost a year I thought I'd made the biggest mistake of my life, because we'd gone our seperate ways."

Her hands had crawled up and rested on my shoulders.

"Because," she said, "I never told you how I felt."

I couldn't help but smile. I felt the dampness in the corner of my eyes, and when I was around her, I didn't care about the tiny chip in my tooth, the way I always did when I smiled. She just made me happy.

"Oh my God it was the same," she laughed, "I told myself things were so good. I'd just fuck everything up. I was so in my head."

Her voice had become almost hysteric with laughter, "I said to myself. I talked all about boys, told you all my crushes, my dreams, how the fuck could I then go and try to date you? I was all in twisted up."

"You have no idea how much of a relief that is."

"Yeah," she said softly, "Yeah I really do."

She inched across the treehouse, and the two of us fell against the wall. We were still tired, but as my back slid down the splintery old wood, I felt her head plop against my shoulder, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Were you going to work after this?" I asked. The only sounds in the quiet woods were the distant birds chirping, and her heavy breathing at my side.

"Yeah," she said, "I still am."

"No," I said, "You're not."

I didn't want to lie to her, but it'd be easier than telling her the truth that today didn't matter at all. She could do whatever the hell she wanted and there wouldn't be a single consequence.

"I called ahead," I said, "I may have lied about who I was to get them to listen to me, but I got you the day off. Today's just you and me."

I felt a shimmy worm its way up her body. It started in her hips, worked its way along her spine, and ended as she buried her head deeper into my neck.

"The day I knew I liked you," I said, my voice still a nervous whisper, "Was that night in the storm. You curled up next to me, and my heart must have been going two hundred beats a minute. It didn't matter that limbs were falling off trees, I was next to you, and I was happy."

Her laugh came like as suddenly as a belch. Her head fell from my shoulder, and her wide mouth was laughing against my chest.

"You had the biggest," she started, but she was laughing too hard to get it out in a single breath.

"You had the biggest fucking boner I'd seen in my entire life."

She was laughing so hard her back was shaking. Her fingers clenched against my shirt, and I felt my heart racing again.

"The blanket literally had a tent," she chortled, "All fucking night it stuck up like a gopher."

Her laughter had turned to a breathy wheezing, while I felt an embarrassment I hadn't felt since I was a teenager.

"Don't mind me," I said to her chorus of laughter, "I'm just gonna, um, jump out the window."

She laughed again, and her back arched with a spasm.

"Well here," she said, still struggling to catch her breath, "Let me make it up to you."

She dug through her backpack and pulled out a bag of Waddles, a purple package I hadn't seen in a decade.

"Where the hell did you find-"

"You said the castle," she said. She was holding them out with a proud smile, "It's not the castle unless we're sharing these."

She pinched open the bag, and another familiar scent filled the air. She dug her hands in greedily, and the two of us laid against each other, snacking on Waddles just like the good old days.

"Now what?" she asked as she dusted her fingers against her pants.

"Well," I started, but in my mind I thought a different thought. We have to fuck, I thought Otherwise this is all for absolutely nothing.

Out loud I tried to compose myself. "We stay the same friends we've always been," I said, "But now it's only better. We can be honest about how we feel, and we can actually be together."

Her head was still on my chest, and she rolled her neck back to look at me. It was my turn to laugh. "You have orange fucking powder," I laughed, "All over your face."

She was unphased and didn't look away, "Clean it."

I leaned forward, and the motion was totally instinctive. Her head was almost upside down, but our lips met like a pair of puzzle pieces, and instead of cheesy waddles dust, I tasted the meringue of her lips. Her eyes shut and she struggled for breath.

Everything was going perfectly, until my hands started up her chest. I barely brushed the bottom of her breast when she shot bolt upright. I felt her wriggle away, and she turned uncomfortably.

"Why," she wondered, "Why do we have to move so fast? Can't we just see where things go?"

My mind went into overdrive trying to think of a way to get things back on track. "It's not moving fast," I stammered, "Amanda. I've been waiting a decade."

"I just don't want-" she started, trying to find her thoughts.

"That's why we never moved forward in the first place," I said. I was starting to find confidence in my words, "Neither one of us wanted to ruin things. We were scared. But you said it yourself, you thought you made the biggest mistake of your life. It's not like we see each other anymore. Shouldn't we try?"

Amanda was inching towards me again. There was a nervousness in her pursed lips, but determination had started to peek through her eyes. "I like you," she said, "You have no idea how much I like you, but what if everything's wrong? What if we ruin things right away?"

"Just kiss me," I mouthed, but I never finished the words. She pressed her lips against mine, and I felt her hands along my back. I massaged my way up her stomach and when I reached her bra she, this time, she leaned even closer.

That moment right there, my hands finally cupping her tits, and her kissing me back; that would have fulfilled about a million dreams I'd had about her.

We pulled apart, just long enough to take a breath, and we were back at it.

"What are we doing?" she laughed. Her lips were still flush with mine, and I felt the way she formed each syllable. She pulled off her shirt, and her hands dropped instinctively to cover her nipples. I took a moment to admire her, and tried my best to reassure her.

"You're beautiful," I promised, and she knew I was telling the truth. I was already sweating, my heart beating so fast it could have leaped from my chest, and when her hand finally started tugging at my belt, she felt just how ready I was.

She stifled another laugh and as her fingers wrapped around me, she brought her other hand to her mouth. She was lost in the ridiculousness of it all, finally sleeping with a life-long friend.

"The gopher's back," she laughed, and she tried to swat away the nervous joke with her hand.

"Are you ok?" I asked, and she answered with her fingers. She started stroking, and her laughing hand started cupping at my balls. I leaned in to kiss her again, and couldn't stop my hands from reaching around her back. I dug my fingers down her thong, and traced my finger across her asshole, hiking until I found her soaked pussy. I started with a slow circular motion of my middle finger, and she dropped her lips to my cock.

"Take your pants off," I muttered, and her free hand struggled with the lining. I helped as best as I could, but I'd never wanted to keep my hands in place more than when they were cupping her backside. She twisted her ankles and wriggled the fabric over her shoes, then went to work on my cock.

I felt the cum start to build, quicker than it normally did. She worked her tongue around the shaft, and her hand moved in perfect synchronicity.

My heart was pounding harder than it was the night I lost my virginity. I felt my cock pulse, and throb, and knew I couldn't hold it for another minute. I also knew, that as of that point, the day was still going to reset.

"Let me fuck you," I whispered. I grabbed the hair on the back of her head, and pulled her up so we were face to face. Drool and spittle were hanging down her chin, dotted with pubes that came loose, but I didn't care. I leaned in and let our tongues wrestle, before I turned her over.

Amanda backed towards me. For a moment I only saw her ass and the small of her back. I gave my dick a pair of quick strokes, then dipped the head between her legs. She crossed her ankles, just to make it tighter, and I grabbed her by the waist.

I fucked her slow at first, but she started commanding the rhythm. She backed into me and looked over her shoulder. "Pull my fucking hair."

My hand shot out like it had reacted to a hot stove. I bunched my fingers in her messy bun, and twisted until the bun fell apart and I had a fistful. Her head rocked back with a gentle tug, and she rocked in opposite motion of the thrusts.

"Where do you want it?" I asked, and she spun.

"We're not done yet," she said with eyes like a temptress. She crept her pussy towards me as she lay on her back. Her legs were spread eagle, and she gave her crotch a gentle massage.

She leaned forward, and gave me just a moment to recuperate. She kissed her way up my thigh, one hand still between her legs, and stopped when she reached my belly button.

"I want you," she whispered, and her feet dug into the back of my thighs, teasing me closer. I rocked forward on my knees, and the two of us locked eyes as I slid between her legs.

Her tits were perky and small, but once we got the treehouse shaking, the laws of reverberation grabbed hold and spun her nipples in opposite circles.

"Cum on my belly," she finally said, and her words had a magic touch. The second she started speaking I felt the first spurt, and rushed to give a final jerk as I watched her stomach turn white.

She spun her finger in the mess, and drew with it as expertly as she painted the wall.

We were both out of breath, and the woods had fallen silent. She was the first to speak, "Well this," she said, still gasping, "This changes things."

I crawled across the treehouse until I was at her side. I gave her another quick kiss, and rested my head opposite hers.

"For the better," I said, "So much better."

Her breathing started to slow, and she pulled herself closer to me. She wrapped her arms behind my neck, and I felt her firm breasts against my torso.

"I'm really glad you called," she said, another quick kiss.

"I'd been putting it off," I heaved, "I was scared shitless."

"I wish you called sooner."

"Me too."

Amanda's hands started gently massaging my upper back. She took the time to really feel my form and I did the same. My fingers traced her shoulder blades and found her narrow waist.

"You don't have work tomorrow," I said. I'd finally caught my breath and knew there had to be some preparation for the morning, "You don't. When you wake up, come straight to me, and we can figure this all out ok? You still know where I live?"

Her eyes were closed, but she gave the gentlest little nod.

Maybe this was gonna work after all I thought, My own little happily ever after.

That night I didn't reset the day. I went to sleep like a normal person, and as I lay there, I couldn't stop smiling. For the first time in a really long time, I was looking forward to waking up on June 16th.