SEVEN: Only Fools Rush In [FLASHBACK]

Charity had been to Coney Island plenty of times, but this one had been her favorite by far. It was her seventeenth birthday and her boyfriend of less than six months had taken her there – it felt so good to be out in public and able to just be herself with the man she loved. She'd dressed for the day in a tie-dyed bikini with a reddish see-through button top, cut-off denim shorts, and red flip flops. They'd spent the majority of the day riding rides, eating delicious food, and seeing the sights. Walking on the boardwalk with Bruce's arm draped over shoulders, or their hands interlocked, she felt so happy. Charity was proud to be his girlfriend.

The sun had just set as the two found themselves on the beach. They'd grabbed some blankets from the trunk of the car and spread one out. There was a picnic basket with some snack foods and some beverages. She was lying comfortably on her side, the breeze from the water chilling her a bit. She was warm enough where Bruce's leg rested against her back.

He was sitting there, staring into the black button eyes on the teddy bear that he'd spent an hour and over forty dollars trying to win for her. It was a hideous shade of pinkish-purple that looked like it had been faded in the sun and its nose was slightly askew – Charity had fallen in love with it the moment she'd laid eyes on the thing.

Looking at Bruce now as he contemplated the ugly bear, the smile wouldn't leave her face.

"Thank you for today." She took the bear from his grasp and set him in the picnic basket. "This is the best birthday I've ever had." She found his hand and grabbed it, giving it a squeeze.

"Was nice," he agreed, squeezing her hand back, "tae just be us in public." He shook his head slowly, a smile on his lips, "got a confession, love. This was my first time. Always meant tae come here but…" he sighed, shaking his head. He'd been too busy with his narrow little world, playing errand boy to really strike out and do things on his days off.

Sitting up with a playful smile on her face, she leaned in and kissed him. "I'm glad that your first time could be with me." It was a bad joke but it still made her laugh.

He laughed right along with her, "aye. Suppose that's a good way tae see it. First time for..." he hesitated, kissing her back. Off in the distance, he could still hear the music of the midway and it lent a sort of surreal feeling to everything. "Least I didn't toss any cookies. That would've been awful. Embarrassing, like. Especially if I got any on you... or meself." There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he looked out over the water.

"I would have just had to take you back to my house for a shower." She said it as though there was any debate. "Glad it didn't come to that, well glad there wasn't puke. The shower would have been fine." She let that hang for a moment, wondering if he'd get the message.

He chuckled, nodding.

She had decided that she was ready to be intimate with him. To her, it was the next logical step. She'd also overheard stories at the bar about how he'd always had plenty of ladies to keep his bed warm. It was intimidating and deep down she was worried he would lose interest if she didn't give him something more. Her hand rested on his leg. "Though the shower could still be an option."

He glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Sure. Or... bear with me here. There's water right here. Tell me, Miss Cherry-love... ever been skinny dippin'?"

Biting down on her lower lip, she shook her head. The thought of being completely naked with him was causing her cheeks to flush. "No, but I always wanted to try."

"Did yeh now?" Bruce shook his head in feigned surprise at her boldness. "Nae time like the present then." He pulled off his own faded Harley t-shirt, letting it drop on the sand. Even though it was getting darker by the minute, he was still plenty warm from the day. His eyes were on her as a slow smile crept across his lips.

She hesitated only for a split second and slid off her red blouse, revealing her bikini top. Standing up, she slid down the shorts to reveal the tiny matching bottoms. "You only live once, right?" Charity threw a smirk his way as she undid the ties on her top. Walking towards the water, she took off the top and tossed it to the side. An arm came across, covering her chest. "Shall we?" Turning, she walked into the water, heart pounding in her chest.

Laughing, Bruce was quick to his feet and he kicked off the swim shorts he had on before running down to join her. He let out a whoop as he hit the water at a sprint, running past her to give her a nice view of his bare backside before he dove into the oncoming wave. When he came up, he was dripping and he was in waist-deep, still laughing.

Charity laughed along with him as she made her way in his direction. Stopping, she reached into the water and pulled down her bottoms. She threw them onto the beach and turned her attention to Bruce. Still feeling shy, she covered herself, but smiled at him. "So... what do people do when skinny dipping?"

"Can yeh swim?" Bruce murmured, watching how she was still keeping herself covered. "We'll go out a little deeper an' I'll show yeh."

"Of course, I can swim. Pretty well actually." She followed after him until they were out far enough for the water to come up to her collarbone. The water was a bit cold and she stood close to him. "I haven't been out here in a while."

"Haven't been anywhere, really." He murmured, wrapping an arm around her. He was thinkling of the future, of other places they could experience together. "We'll go somewhere fun. Where do you wanna go next?"

"I kinda like it here." Her arms went around him, her chest pressing against his. "You, me, the water. Not sure if there's anywhere else that I'd want to be."

Bruce's smile was genuine as he held her close. "Someday..." his voice came out soft, "wanna see the world. All of it." As he spoke, his hands rested gently against her lower back. "We're doin' this wrong. Think the point is just nude swimmin', love. Not…" he chuckled, "ahh, can't complain, though. Feels…"

Charity shook her head as she looked up at him. "This is nice." She kissed him eagerly before pulling back. "Bruce, tonight I wanna give you something." She kissed him again. "Me."

He didn't answer, instead kissing her hungrily, his hands drifting a bit lower. When the kiss broke, he sighed and rested his forehead against hers. "Yeh already did," his hands inched a little lower, warming where she was starting to get chilled from the water. He knew what she was trying to do, and a part of him was very much into the thought doing it right here, right now with the prospect of getting caught. The other part was stone-cold sober and was terrified of that same thought. If they got caught...

"I love you, Cherry." The words came out before he could check them and it was a wonder that he said them clearly, without the Scottish burr that seemed to get thicker whenever his emotions started to get the best of him. At least in this moment, he could pretend he wasn't some foreign dipshit who had lucked into this thing with the girl of his dreams.

He couldn't believe that it had taken him almost six months to say those three little words but now they hung there in the twilight air. He kissed her again, trying to quiet the doubts. It wasn't as though there was anyone around.

"I love you too." The words came out in a whisper as she kissed him back. Her hands roamed his bare back. She moved her lips to his neck, all while a tiny voice in the back of her head was telling her to slow down. She ignored it as it also told her she wasn't ready for this.

"You're freezing-"

"We should-"

Both said something at the same time and both stopped talking immediately. Chuckling, Bruce took a few steps closer to shore, bringing the water level low enough that if she wasn't clinging to him, she'd need to cover up again.

Once they were in more shallow water, her arm went back to instinctively cover herself. The voice in the back of her head was getting louder, but again she chose to ignore it. "We could go to the blanket." She kept an arm around him. "There's no one around."

He swept her legs out from under her and for a moment she thought he was going to playfully dunk her. Instead he picked her up without a word and started walking back in towards the blanket. He paused at her discarded bottoms, grabbing them with his toes and flipping them in the air for her to catch.

She caught them, amazed that she'd been able to. He'd carried her like this before, but they'd always been clothed. His hands on her bare skin was causing her to feel all sorts of things and she was torn between wanting him to throw her down and ravage her or stopping before they went further. She compromised by kissing him on the lips.

Setting her down on the blanket, he grabbed his t-shirt and dropped it in her lap at the same time as he pulled away, laying down on his stomach beside her. He propped his head up on his hand, elbow digging into the sand as he smiled sadly. "Was a dumb idea – skinny dippin'. Water's already tae cold... feel half frozen." He was saying it mostly for her benefit, to give her an out if she chose to take it.

"Oh... yeah I guess." She was relieved but then there was a part of her that wondered if he had really wanted her. "I've been known to have a few dumb ideas." She slid on his shirt quickly and worked on getting the damp bikini bottoms on. She wasn't sure what to say, but she felt embarrassed. It was dark enough that he couldn't see how red her cheeks were.

He felt the shift in her body language, realizing that he'd gone too far past what she was comfortable with. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was only interested in getting into her pants-- he was well aware of what his reputation was. The gossip mongers failed to understand that while he'd been with a few too many of the barflies and floozies, he'd never once been serious about any of them. "Cherry..." he reached out and touched her arm, "meant what I said out there... don't want yeh thinkin' it was just because..."

She turned so that she faced him, her hand going to his cheek. She'd known when he said it that he was being honest. The words had naturally came out in reply. "I know you love me and I love you, too."

"Yeah?" His expression brightened as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. "A fella could get used tae hearin' that. Not gonna lie."

Leaning in, she kissed him softly on the lips. "I don't think I'll get tired of saying it." She kissed him again and pressed her forehead against his. "I do want you to be my first, Bruce... I don't know when, but I do."

"All the time in the world for that, love. Can't go crossin' off all the firsts in one day. Just seems wrong." He chuckled to let her know that he wasn't mad. Truth be told, he felt a huge sense of relief. At least he could hold onto her for a little while longer. In his experience, sex always ruined everything and this was the longest he'd ever gone without hopping between the sheets.

She snuggled against him, wanting to be as close to him as she could. "I actually thought of somewhere I wanted to go for the rest of the night."

"Where's that, love?"

"Back to my house... we can take hot showers, get in pajamas and watch movies?" She kissed him again before reaching out for her shorts. "I wanna wake up with you."

Following suit, Bruce grabbed his shorts and stood up, putting them on a lot less quickly than she had. He wanted to give her a chance to catch a glimpse, at least. "Jammies and movies? Sounds like a good end tae a great birthday."

Her eyes widened when she got a look at him and she quickly turned her head. Smiling to herself, she worked on gathering up their stuff. Despite the awkwardness that happened earlier, this was without a doubt her best birthday. To make it an absolutely perfect birthday, she was going to fall asleep in the arms of the man she loved. It didn't get much better than that.