Part 28

                                    

                                          
Nolan POV-
I was on my way to pick up Mary from a Chinese restaurant she went to so she could study...and eat. The restaurant was about to close so I sped up a little, but not going over the speed limit.
                          
Mary POV-
I had packed up my stuff, put my leftover food in a styrofoam container for later, and was waiting for Nolan.
"Mary?" I heard from behind me. I turned my head and saw a guy I had known in middle school.
"Jarod?" I said. Jarod and I weren't the best of friends during middle school because he talked badly about me for the entire three years we had known each other.
He nodded and I stood up and walked towards him.
"Oh my god, how are you?" I asked.
"Good. What about you?" he replied. 
"Great. What are you doing here?" I asked.
He chuckled before saying,"Just-uh-trying to get some dinner before it closes."
I laughed as we walked up to the counter. After he had ordered what he wanted, he turned to me and said,"Hey, Mary. I uh...I wanted to say sorry for being such a jerk to you in middle school. It wasn't right..."
"Oh no. It's fine. I accept your apology." I said with a smile.
"Oh cool. Thanks."
It was silent between us for a couple of seconds before I got a text.
"Oh, my boyfriend's here. I should probably go." I said as I got my book bag and leftovers.
Jarod walked up to me and said,"Well it was nice seeing you."
"Yeah, you too." I replied.
He leaned really close toward me and I immediately pushed him back.
"What are you doing?! I just said I have a boyfriend!" I yelled.
"Yeah right. You know you want me." he said with a smug smile. He started walking towards me again and I tried to push him, but he grabbed my wrists so that I couldn't get away from him.
"Get off!" I screamed, trying to get out of his strong grip.
I felt his hot breath against my lips as he leaned closer to me against my will. Before his lips pressed against mine, I saw Jarod tumble to the ground. I looked to my right and saw Nolan. He had punched Jarod. I was surprised so I just stood there in shock.
Jarod had stood up, but before he could swing a punch at Nolan, Nolan gave him a right hook.
Jarod was back on the ground, with blood coming out of his mouth.
"What the hell, dude!" Jarod yelled after spitting out some blood onto the floor.
Nolan stood his ground and kept his eyes on him as he stood up.
"Hey, Nolan. How ya doin'? You know...I don't even know what Mary sees in you. She deserves a real man. I would know." Jarod spat at Nolan as he stood up. 
I saw so much anger in Nolan's face, I thought he was going to kill him.
We were the only ones in the restaurant, so it was silent. Nolan looked at me and said,"Let's go, Mary. Your dad is probably gonna start to worry where you are."
Nolan grabbed my hand and we started to walk towards the door.
"God, when are you gonna realize she's over you? She's probably still a virgin." Jarod said.
Nolan stopped walking as I let go of his hand and touched my purity ring. We stood there, with our backs to Jarod. I saw in the corner of my eye that Nolan had put his hand in a fist. I immediately let go of my ring and held Nolan's hand to try to calm him down.
Before I could pull him towards the door before he did something stupid, Jarod had continued talking,"She probably said that she's saving herself because she wants to remain pure, but it's because the very thought of you touching her gives her shivers at ni-"
I heard a huge thud and quickly turned around. Nolan was on top of Jarod swinging numerous punches. I saw Jarod's nose start to bleed as well.
Before I could say anything, Nolan quickly got up.
"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, talk about Mary that way. You're such a spineless coward who can't get a girl because you don't how to respect them. The only reason I didn't break your face is because Mary is here and I'm sure she doesn't want to see your face for another second."
Nolan yelled in a voice that made me flinch.
Nolan then grabbed my wrist, firmly but gently, and walked out the restaurant, to the car.
Once we were in, I could see that Jarod was still on the floor, but a cook from the restaurant had come out and was standing over him.
Before the cook could come out and catch us, Nolan had gotten out the parking lot and started driving.
We didn't talk for a while. The silence was speaking for itself. But I knew that it couldn't say what I was thinking so I said silently,"Could you pull over, please?"
Nolan looked at me concerned, but he pulled into a vacant parking lot and turned off the car.
Before I could say something, Nolan said,"I know you're mad at me but you gotta understand-"
"I'm not mad at you." I interrupted gently, looking into his eyes.
"Really?" Nolan asked confused.
"You protected me when I couldn't protect myself. You tried to leave but...but he kept provoking you and then... and then he just went for the throat."
Nolan didn't say anything, he just looked away from me, embarrassed.
There was still a big elephant in the car so I said looking down,"You know-...Nolan...that stuff he said. You know, about me and you...it's not true."
"It doesn't really bother m-"
"I love you, you know. And I don't want you to think that anything he said was anywhere close to the truth. I...I..." I couldn't control the tears that rushed out of my eyes. I tried to cover my face, but Nolan removed them.
"Mary, don't think that for one second I think that you don't love me. I know why we haven't had sex yet. Because neither of us are ready. Okay? I know that everything that scumbag said was a lie. Okay?"
"...Okay..." I whispered.
He held my hand as he leaned in and kissed me.
I had stopped crying and rested my other hand on his cheek.
"I love you. I love you so much." Nolan said against my lips.
"I love you too." I said slightly shaking from my after shock of crying.
Nolan let go of the kiss and held my head in his hands as he wiped my tears away.
"You're my best friend, you know." he said before kissing my forehead.
I nodded as he let go of me and started the car back up.
I turned on the radio, but had it at a low volume. Soft songs of soul had played throughout the car ride.
When we arrived at my house, Nolan got out of the car and opened my door, like he always does.
I got out of the car and he closed my door. Before we started walking towards the porch, I gently grabbed Nolan's wrist. He looked confused for a second, but I then softly pulled him from his collar and slowly kissed him. Nolan stood in front of me as my back was against the cold car door.
I was about to stop kissing him but he lifted me and twirled me around, never letting go of our kiss. He smiled against my lips.
"Mary?" I heard coming from behind us. Nolan immediately put me down, having me almost fall.
My dad was standing on the porch with a stern look on his face.
"Where have you been?" he asked.
"Well I-" I started saying but then Nolan interrupted me.
"It was my fault, Sir. There was a...situation at the restaurant and we got held up. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"What kind of situation?" he asked.
Nolan and I looked at each other and looked at my dad.
I began to say,"We saw Jarod..."
"Jarod? You mean Jarod from middle school?" my dad asked.
I nodded, and continued to say,"He tried to kiss me and-and Nolan punched him. We were about to go but then..."
Nolan grabbed my hand as we walked up the porch.
"Jarod said something... inappropriate about Mary, Sir. It made her extremely uncomfortable and-uh..."
I continued for him saying,"And then Nolan and I left."
Nolan looked at me confused, but I then gave him a look that made him be quiet.
We looked back at my dad and waited for his reaction. After what seemed like forever, he finally said,"Okay. All is forgiven. Come on, Mary. You gotta get up early tomorrow." he said and without saying another word, he went back inside.
I turned to Nolan and mouthed the words "thank you" to him.
He smiled and kissed my forehead before going back to his car. I waved him goodbye as he backed up out of the driveway and drove down the street.
I went inside and noticed by dad was in his bedroom, so I put my book bag down, took my leftovers and tiptoed upstairs into my room.
I was tired from the full day I had, but I got into my pajamas and went on Netflix on my laptop and watched a movie while finishing my eating my leftovers.
When the movie was over, I threw away my container, put my laptop away and texted Nolan goodnight before drifting off to sleep.