Is Love All or Nothing? Ch. 11

Jackie's face turned beet red and Lauren put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure having your best friend see that is much better than having one's parents walk in and seeing that," Lauren says somewhat sheepishly. Melissa and Jackie look at her in shock and horror. "Yep, I spent the night at a friend's house and my boyfriend at the time was there. We got a little drunk and decided to stay there instead of driving home. Needless to say we had sex that night. The next morning my parents came to the house to find out why I didn't call and well, I was grounded for a month after that."

"Wow," Jackie says feeling bad for Lauren. "That is pretty bad."

Melissa's phone notifies her that she received another message. With it still being in her hand, she just opens the message up and reads it to herself.

I know Keith has Asperger's now. A lot makes so much more sense about him and I'm glad he was able to tell me. Hope you and the other ladies are having a great time.

"Did he send another video?" Lauren asks, hoping for a change of subject.

"No," Melissa replies as she locks her phone. "He just said he's happy to be having a guy time and hope us ladies are having a great time as well."

"Luke seems like a great guy," Lauren says.

"He is. I really can't imagine my life without him."

"Wait," Jackie says catching something Melissa said, "can't imagine life without him? Are you actually saying?" Melissa just grins as she picks up her glass and drinks some more wine. Lauren catches on quickly as to what Jackie is implying.

"Do you think he is going to ask the question anytime soon?" Lauren asks very giddy.

"I hope so. I don't think I could have found any man more perfect for me," Melissa says with a big smile on her face.

Lauren looks at Jackie. "I think Keith will ask you one day. You two seem great together."

Jackie fakes a smile. "I think we still have a long ways to go."

"Oh come on," Melissa not believing her ears. "You two have gone through a lot as is and both love Star Trek. I haven't seen you be so happy ever in all the time I've known you."

"I don't know," Jackie says trying not to sound too down. "Maybe my past is just scaring me."

"Your past?" Lauren asks confused.

"I've had a lot of bad luck with guys over the years. Before Keith, I dated a guy for a long time, but found out he was cheating on me. Before him my luck wasn't much better. All the guys seemed nice but as soon as he we had sex they would never talk to me again."

Lauren puts her hand on Jackie's shoulder trying to comfort her. "Does Keith know all of this?" Jackie lightly nods her head. "Do you think he would do anything to break your heart?" Jackie looks at Lauren and shakes her head, but smiling realizing where she is going. "You have nothing to worry about then. I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little jealous of the relationship you and Keith have. You two just seem so honest and open with each other."

Jackie pulls Lauren in and gives her a tight, loving hug. "You will get there with Andy. It just takes time. Open up to him more."

Lauren wraps her arms around Jackie. "Thank you. Sometimes I guess I need to not worry about things I have no control over."

"Sometimes that is a hard lesson to learn," says Melissa. "There are only so many things one can control in a relationship. Have to learn what can't be controlled and learn to live with it."

Jackie lets go of Lauren and turns towards Melissa. "What things are there that you are not in control?"

Melissa lets out a sigh before she starts. "I'm not in control of how long some of his business trips take. I'm also not in control of the fact his family doesn't like me."

"That is their fault they don't like you," Jackie says, trying to comfort her best friend.

"I know, but it still doesn't make things any easier when I visit. In their eyes, I will never be good enough for him."

"What does your family think about Luke?" Lauren asks hoping to cheer Melissa up.

"They absolutely love him," Melissa says beaming. "They loved who he was from the start and how he treated me. My parents don't care that he is successful at all. It was more important to them that any guy I'm with treats me with respect. I remember when my dad first met him with his gun on the table," Melissa starts laughing and tries to compose herself to finish the story. "Luke wasn't scared at all. In fact, he asked my dad if he wanted to shoot it at a gun range later that afternoon. My dad was caught so off guard by that but they went. I still don't know what he said to him that day, but when they got back my dad pulled me aside and told me that he approved. Up until that point, my dad never approved of any guy I brought by until then."

"If your dad approves, then that should be all that matters," Lauren says.

"I know, but still," Melissa says starting to wish things were different, "it would just be nice to know what I could do to make his family like me, but that is something out of my control."

The women drink some more wine and chatted for a few more hours before they decide to call it a night. Jackie was planning on spending the night at Melissa's and Lauren made sure she was sober enough to drive home safely. Melissa offered Lauren her bed and she could just sleep on the floor, but Lauren said she had an early shift and didn't want to wake up anyone when she left. Melissa didn't feel like pushing so she let Lauren leave.

"We should do this again sometime," Lauren said happy with how the night went.

"Maybe after all the holidays are over," Melissa offers. "Sometimes it is nice to talk about things only with close women friends."

Jackie and Melissa give Lauren a goodbye hug before she leaves.

Once Lauren gets back to her apartment she locks the door and changes into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Her phone starts ringing and when she sees who is calling she picks it up and answers.

"Hey, it went better than expected."

"Better than expected? Why do you say that?" the voice on the other side asks.

"They are really starting to trust me and Jackie opened up to me."

"What did she open up to you about?"

"She has some doubts about her relationship because she's had bad boyfriends in the past including one that cheated on her."

"Well then, we could certainly use that."