12 comments/ 25923 views/ 14 favorites Magazine Quality By: magmaman Patrick got to the dance fashionably late. It was one of the rare times that he didn't have a date, the object of his most recent attentions had smiled and told him that she already had a date. Jennifer was the most popular girl in their freshman class at State. Patrick had dated her in high school, just a few times. Like always, she was either with one jock type or another most of the time, even getting her attention for a few minutes wasn't easy. If she wasn't surrounded by a half dozen of the other upper crust girls in class, then she was cornered by some over sized football player. Part of everyone's interest in her was the constant happy smile on her face, the other part was that she was blessed with a kind of beauty that went way past normal. Jennifer was magazine quality and she made sure of it. Every hair on her head was perfection, every piece of clothing she ever wore was intended to demonstrate that she was something special. Yet it was not a flaunt, everything appeared natural. Jennifer was somehow always the center of attention, some people just are. The other wonderful thing about her was that she treated everyone she met equally, unlike some of the other self proclaimed "special" girls that acted like their poop didn't smell. Jennifer did date, but it was always with the athletes, the popular ones. So Patrick, not being from one of the "better" families and unlikely to be confused with being an athlete, was slightly surprised when he asked her to go to a concert with him and she said "Sure, love to!" Patrick was hopelessly and totally head over heels in love with her by the end of that first date, she was all that he could think of. Jennifer at 5'9" was tall as women go, with long flowing hair that had every color possible in it. Her body shape was easy to ascertain because the clothing she wore was intended to make it clear that she was well built, yet she always looked well dressed, never slutty in the slightest. Some of the other girls let skin show, Jennifer not only didn't do that but had no need to. Patrick did see her up at the lake in a bathing suit a few times. She wore a one piece white suit, the only one piece outfit on the entire beach. It looked like someone had made it to fit her, she was easily the best looking female there. Jennifer was also the star on the high school woman's basketball team, some of the other girls were taller but Jennifer was faster and far more athletic. On the third date he had with her in high school, he had leaned in for a kiss, not completely sure of himself. The surprise was that she not only allowed that but joined in eagerly. Patrick was far too fearful of trying for any petting though, but he did have plans on finding out if she just might allow that, given some time. There were a few rumors going around about her putting out for a few guys, mostly from the blowhard athletes. Patrick didn't believe any of that, though. Jennifer was just too sweet. Then came the crushing blow, she already had a date for the big dance. She didn't mention who it was with and Patrick didn't ask. He spotted her the instant he walked in. She was dancing out in the middle of the room, the center of attention, like always. She was dancing with Terry, one of the football jocks. Of course. Patrick hated Terry, he delighted in picking on people. He was around 240 pounds, hell, he looked like he had muscles behind his ears. In the gym he used his weight and size to bang people around, Patrick being one of them. At 5'9" and 155, Patrick more or less bounced when Terry put a shoulder into him. Then in the locker rooms it was a wet towel on the ass when he went by, no end to crap like that. Patrick knew damn good and well that a part of the problem was his going out with Jennifer. It was like Terry thought that she was the football team's property or something. Most of the rest of the class had acted like that was the way it was, so Patrick had almost been floored when he mustered his courage and asked her to the Stones concert. As luck would have it, the concert was completely sold out, but he had two tickets that he had snagged. His Mom worked for the sales company which helped, and got those for his birthday. That turned out to be a bit of an advantage. Jennifer's odd look when he approached had turned into a huge smile when he asked her, showing her the tickets. Up to that point the only thing he had ever done was nod to her in the halls and say hello. She would smile and nod back but that was it. That concert had been fun, Jennifer was bouncing up and down on her feet the entire time, screaming, her face flushed. A few of the other women did the shirt pulled up thing as Jagger ran around the stage, Jennifer didn't though. Terry had nailed him at least three times with the wet towel in the locker rooms once he found out. Patrick knew Terry was pissed off but he didn't give a shit. He even popped Terry right back, got him good too, making it out the door before Terry could do anything about it. "I'll get you, you little bastard!" Terry let loose with a rewarding howl, rubbing his over muscled ass. A few days later Patrick asked Jennifer out for a Pizza, damned if she didn't smile and say, "Sure!" Then there was the picnic, that was the best date because it was warm and nice out, and they were all by themselves. She wore that same white one piece bathing suit that day, it really didn't show anything at all yet looked like she was showing everything. He was having a bit of a time keeping himself under control, several times Patrick noticed her sly smile, as she was well aware of the effect she was having on him. Jennifer told him about her plans to go to college, her dreams of becoming a model for awhile, but she wanted a backup degree in business. Patrick told her about his plans to work designing and developing electronics. That evening, when he dropped her off he leaned down for the kiss. She kissed him right back, too. He was in heaven, the best looking and most popular girl in the entire school actually seemed to like him! Now there she was, out on the dance floor with Terry. Terry, the over sized loud mouthed jerk whose only real claim to fame was his ability to carry a football and run over people. Not a thing he could do about that, so Patrick mixed a little, he had dated several of the other girls in class. None of those had ever really led to anything, though. He finally ended up dancing with Karen, a short and cute young woman he barely knew from class. Karen wore glasses, and she felt soft, her body had some obvious extra padding on it. He couldn't really concentrate, and kept glancing Jennifer's way to see what she was doing. The only reason he asked Karen to dance was to get closer to Jennifer and keep an eye on things. Karen and Jennifer did hang out together sometimes, odd in a way, a bit like a Rose and a Dandelion. Karen was one of those straight A students, an advantage to be friends with. She had a nice smile but she was only 5 feet tall, plus the heavy dark framed glasses she wore were were so thick it made her eyes look monstrous. She seemed to own just three dresses, he had seen the one she had on no less than two dozen times. Patrick did notice that she felt like a feather in his arms, she was very easy to dance with. Even being a bit on the heavy side, she felt like she was floating. "Hung up on that one, huh?" Karen finally said, grinning up at him. "What?..I...Sorry." He told her, looking down. Her face was tilted up to him, like she was trying to see him through those thick glasses. He felt himself blush furiously, was he making it that obvious? "It's OK. Everybody likes Jennifer, she is nice." Patrick didn't say anything more, he led Karen back to her seat, thanked her and then wandered off to where some of the other guys were standing around. Patrick never did get another date with Jennifer in high school, he asked her a few times but the answer was always the same. She had a date already, so she would smile and then tell him "Maybe another time." +++ By the time he went off to the community Junior College he had given up. Jennifer of course went on to the State College like nearly all of the other kids from families with money did. Patrick had no other choice, he wasn't big enough or athletic enough to have any chance at a sports scholarship, and while his Mom and Dad both worked hard, their combined income was nowhere close to enough to pay his way. They doted on him, and did send along a dab of cash each and every month, Patrick knew that was hard on them and was grateful. Normally his parents were so busy trying to make ends meet that they had little time to invest in Patrick, he had picked up on doing household chores like laundry and normal cleaning at an early age. That early work ethic meant he was different than many of the other young men around, he was never in trouble, never raised any hell at all. His Mother did notice the change in his manner, though, so she took the time one evening to sit him down for a talk. She just listened quietly as he told her about liking Jennifer and how he wasn't really getting anywhere with her. Then life wasn't fair, so many of the other boys were larger and more athletic, it was like he always found himself on the outside of everything, looking in. "You just do the best you can and try, life has a way of working things out the way they are supposed to be if you do." She said. "You know, your Dad didn't interest me at all when we first met, he was smaller and was not any good at sports or anything like that. But he just would not give up. It took me a long time to realize that he was such a good man, then one day I knew I just wanted to be with him all the time." Then she just hugged him, that was all she really had to say. That didn't help much. +++ Patrick took a job on the night shift at the local Texaco, his life became work until midnight, sleep until 6 AM, get up and study some and then go to class. Weekends he slept in to catch up. He knew several of the other students, and of course Karen. Karen lived a half mile away, she was in the same boat financially as he was, she worked for commissions down at the furniture and appliance store. Karen regularly seemed to be around somewhere, but he never really paid much attention to her. She always wore those dumpy dresses, those thick glasses. She had heavy eyebrows and a cute round face, but the clothes she wore couldn't hide the 20 extra pounds on her. Patrick would go out and ride his bike in the evenings, most of the time she would be out there on hers. They became friends, sometimes going down to the little nearby cafe and have one of their sodas that they made, with foam piled way up high on top of the glass. The idea of dating her never even crossed his mind, she was just a friend, someone to talk to. One day at work he looked up and saw Ray, one of the bad asses from high school drive in for gas. The guy drove an older Chevy that you could hear coming for about a mile. The thing was not only noisy but had flames painted on the hood and fenders. He probably thought it looked cool but to Patrick it only looked silly. He wore his hair in a pony tail, and always had a T-shirt on, his arms covered with poor quality tattoos. The word was that if something happened around town, something came up missing, anything at all like that, then Ray wasn't too far away. Patrick really didn't know him very well, Ray was one of those types that it wasn't a good thing to be seen hanging around with much. It was also a bit of a surprise to even see Ray pull in for gas, since the off brand place a few blocks down the street was always a couple of cents less. The other surprise was Karen sitting in the passenger seat. Karen, out with Ray? Patrick didn't like that one bit, Ray had a reputation for always being in some kind of shit. Patrick looked at her, something was different, it took him a moment to realize she wasn't wearing her glasses. Her hair was shorter, too, in a page boy style with different colors in it. Up until then it was always just black, long and straight. Still, it wasn't any of his business, he filled the tank and collected. As he was walking back with the change Karen rolled down the passenger side window and smiled at him. "Hi Patrick!" She called out. "Hi, Karen. What's up?" "Oh, we are just going to a movie." "You look different." He told her. "My Mom got me some contacts, and she cut my hair differently. Do you like it?" She smiled at him. "Yes, I do. You look really nice." That was it, Patrick handed the change to Ray who glared at him. Then he saw Ray turn to her and say something, he looked angry. Karen flushed and looked down, then he started the car and did a huge burnout off the lot, sliding the car sideways out into the street. He was so intent on displaying how much power his old Chevy had that he missed the huge 4 wheel drive pickup truck coming and nailed it dead square in the left front fender. The man in the big truck was at full speed, he had no time to reach the brakes. The older Chevy lifted up on the left side and back down, something happened and it swerved out of control to the right across the street, the engine screaming. There was a flash, all the power around went out as it sheared off a power pole and went on for another few feet, down over the bank and into the ditch. The power pole came down in what appeared to be slow motion, crashing across the top of the old Chevy. There were more flashes of light as the wires shorted out, Patrick didn't hesitate, he was already running. The engine was still screaming at full throttle, one tire spinning wildly, off the ground. Patrick reached inside through the smashed window and shut off the ignition. Ray was slumped over to the right of the the steering wheel, the driver's side door and his side of the windshield caved in against his body. Patrick could barely reach through the smashed glass to the ignition switch, managing to slash the back of his right arm in the process. He looked over at Karen, her body was crumpled on the floor boards. Jerking on the driver's side door, he found it was jammed. "The guy pulled right in front of me!" Someone said behind him. Patrick looked back, a middle aged man stood there, his face a mask of blood. "Karen!" Patrick yelled at her, but got no answer. Tearing on the passenger side door, it wouldn't budge. He reached out and tore the remains of the passenger side window out, slashing his hands even more in the process on the shattered glass, struggling to get inside the window to reach her. Looking in, blood was pouring out of a gash on her neck in huge spurts, he reached into his back pocket for the rag he had stuck there, pressed it to the wound. It was all he had. She came awake, turned her head and looked at him. Her face and upper body was a mass of blood. "Patrick, thank God." She said. "Just lie still, help is coming." He told her. "He took off before I could get the seat belt on." She whimpered. Patrick glanced over at Ray, he still lay slumped against the wheel, the top of the car jammed down against him. He was breathing slowly in short gasps, but it sounded rattled, and bubbles of foam was coming from his mouth. Patrick hung there half inside the window and held her wound closed, keeping her face turned his way so she wouldn't see Ray like that, it was all he could do. He felt her go limp, said a prayer for them to hurry. Then far off in the distance, he heard the sirens. Finally some men arrived, pushed him out of the way. They were busy through the window for quite a long time. They cut open the car and got Ray and Karen out. One of the ambulance attendants looked at him as they wheeled her by. Patrick couldn't see her face, it was covered with bloody bandages. "You saved this one's life, son." He said. "How is Ray?" The man just shook his head. +++ Patrick went back to the station, found a flashlight, digging out the medical kit. Inspecting his own cuts, he saw they were all minor. There was no power and it was already after 9 PM, so he locked up and went home. The next day he stopped at the hospital to see how she was doing but they wouldn't let him go in. "She is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances." A tired looking nurse told him. He went on to work, the next day he tried again. This time an older woman was standing at the reception desk, she was an obvious mature version of Karen. She looked over at Patrick when he asked about her. "Are you a friend of my daughter's?" The woman asked. "Yes, we went to school together, I was at work at the Texaco when the accident happened, I tried to help." "Oh. I am Margeret, you are the young man who saved my little girl." She grabbed Patrick and hugged him. That flustered him a bit, he stood there unsure of what to do. "Can he come in and see her also, please?" The woman asked the desk nurse, she nodded, not taking her eyes off the computer screen in front of her. Karen lay in the bed, her face and left side of her neck covered in bandages. All he could see was one eye, Karen looked at him. "Hello, Patrick. Thank you for coming. Hi, Mom." "How do you feel, honey?" "Better now, they gave me a shot." Patrick noticed her voice sounded very tiny, and her words were slightly slurred. Then she reached down and pushed a button on the bed controls, bringing it up slightly to a reclining position. She let out a small moan when she did that. This caused the blankets to slip down, revealing the thin gown. She had her right arm tucked into it but the left side was just draped over her, they couldn't get it all the way onto her since her shoulder and arm had a huge cast on it. The cloth fell away to reveal her nakedness, Patrick glanced quickly away as her Mother reached out and tugged it back into place, tucking it over her shoulder. He barely got a glimpse of her left nipple, the bandages covered her from there upwards to the side of her neck. Karen glanced at Patrick but didn't say anything. "They have her gown on this way for easier access, they don't want her turned or moved much for a few days. She has some broken ribs and a broken leg." Her Mother explained to him, like she was apologizing for the momentary accidental display. He left soon after and went to work, then began a regular ritual of stopping off to see her every single day. He walked in a few weeks later to find her with the bandages off. Her face bore angry red scars where the glass had slashed her, the one on her neck started just under her ear and continued on down out of sight, it was by far the worst one, raised and angry appearing. The cuts on her face were going to leave very bad scars. "They told me I would have bled to death in a few minutes except for you. You will always be my hero." She smiled at him. "I guess, I just did what I had to." Patrick felt himself flushing at her comment, he really didn't feel like any hero. He did notice she had new glasses on, these were smaller with gold colored round wire frames. Someone had cut her hair again, instead of the just below her ears and straight look, it now was in an even shorter page boy style than the way she wore it the day of the accident. "Your hair looks cute that way." He smiled at her. "Thank you. They let my Mom trim it last night. I got these new glasses, they never found my contact lens but Mom says insurance will take care of that." They had changed her cast, now she was up and walking the halls, with the aid of a cane. Each step was a struggle, she had an injury to her back also. Her hospital gown was on the correct way now, she had it carefully tied at the waist for modesty. It was obvious that she was naked under the thin gown, he was cautious to not look at her blatantly. Magazine Quality As Patrick walked with her, they talked about everything under the Sun. Then one day she was released, Patrick stopped by her house a few times, but finally he returned to his normal life. For the next year and a half it was work, study, eat and sleep. There was no time or money for dates at all. He saw Karen with her Mother from time to time, they stopped in for fuel. Several times they had him over for a dinner, that was nice and her Mother could really cook well. Karen attended the same small school he did, but they didn't share any classes since she was taking subjects that prepared her for a nursing career. +++ Patrick was ecstatic the day he found out that he had won a scholarship to State College. It wasn't enough to live on so he would need to work, but it did cover nearly all of his tuition. With his Associate's degree in hand, he now had one leg up. Patrick was happy, he knew that Jennifer attended the school, he could hardly wait to see her. Things hadn't changed much, Jennifer was still always the center of attention. He quickly found out that Terry was in the picture, too. If anything, he had gotten bigger. Patrick did manage to talk to Jennifer a few times, she seemed happy to see him and was tickled that he had won some financing. When he asked her out, she accepted with a smile. He was higher than a kite all week, looking forward to their date. She looked beautiful when he picked her up, after the movie they stopped at a little cafe for some french fries and a soda. Terry was there, and if a look could kill, Patrick would have died that day. He dropped Jennifer off, got another wonderful kiss from her. For an instant her tongue touched his, she giggled and then stepped back, saying good night with a sly smile. He didn't even remember the long walk back to his dormitory room, and that night he dreamed of her in his arms. The next day he was walking down the hall to one of his morning classes when Terry intercepted him. "Hey, dickwad! Consider this a warning, Jennifer is spoken for!" "Jennifer is all grown up, she can think for herself!" Patrick retorted, then tried to step by him. That got him slammed into a nearby wall, Terry grabbed him by the neck. Patrick realized he was about to be involved in his first fight ever, and one he probably wasn't going to win. Just then Jennifer and Karen stepped out of a nearby room. Patrick was totally embarrassed at that, here he was being manhandled right in front of Jennifer and there was little he could do about it, the jerk was a solid 80 pounds larger. "You get your hands OFF of him!" Karen waded in, giving Terry a shove. Jennifer stood there with her hand to her mouth, but he noticed she had a smile on her face. Terry suddenly didn't know quite what to do with this tiny little woman shoving on him, hitting at him with both hands. It was having no real effect other than to make him pause. He finally turned and walked away. Jennifer came over and asked him if he was all right. "What was that all about?" "Nothing. He was just being a bully." Patrick said, still totally embarrassed at her having seen that. "That's strange, Terry is so nice usually." She still had a silly smile on her face. Patrick didn't say anything, rubbing his arm where Terry had tried to crush his bicep. "Well, see you guys later, give me a call after class." She said to Karen. "What are you doing here?" Patrick asked Karen. "I just started classes, I am taking up nursing." "How did you afford it?" He asked. "I am a pretty good furniture sales person, I saved every penny I made. Then Mom cashed out that annuity that Dad bought years ago, so it's almost enough. Plus I got a job with the same company I worked for back home, it's downtown." "Great! We can see each other sometimes then." He said. "Yea, that will be nice. Hey, want to go get a soda?" She asked. "Sure." Patrick looked at her face, it still bore the scars from the accident, making her left cheek look larger than the right. The lines were much less than they had been after the accident but they were clearly visible. The dress she had on was modest and pretty, it was also clear that she had lost a lot of weight. She also again did not have glasses on, her eyes were a pretty dark blue color. She apparently had mildly tinted contacts in again. Karen noticed his quick inspection, she flushed slightly but didn't say anything. They went down to the cafeteria, sat and visited for awhile. He found out her Grandpa had passed away and also left her over $20,000 for college. Even that wasn't enough for everything, but it helped and she was working. With her job working in the department store on commissions, and sharing an apartment with Jennifer, she was making ends meet. That was a surprise, also. Patrick knew that Jennifer lived off campus, no way could he afford to himself. "How do you afford that?" He asked her. "There are four of us, Jennifer leases the apartment and then sublets to us." "Oh. I wish I could find a deal like that." "Maybe you can, there are a bunch of tenants there mostly from the College and they are always looking for someone. On the main floor is a common room, it has computers and microwave, a fridge and huge TV set. It even has a pool and deck outside." "Sounds like a party house." Patrick grinned. "Yes, a little bit but not too bad, everyone has to study of course. The women are all upstairs and the guys have the downstairs section. Sometimes a few the guys come up, though." They both laughed at that, college kids being college kids meant lots of parties. A week later Patrick saw Karen in the hallway, she mentioned a unit share at the apartment building, gave him a phone number. That evening he called, then went over to put in an application. The deal turned out to be almost $150 less per month than where he was living, a few weeks later he was moved in and settled. Patrick could have almost done handsprings, Jennifer lived one floor up in the same building. His room mates were Jack, who had the lease, Marcus, a tall and lanky African guy that had a heavy accent and was on the basketball team, and Jonas who he decided was obviously gay yet oddly on the quiet side. Jack was a smoker, he had made that clear, watching to see if Patrick was concerned about it. But he was also careful to always go out onto the deck. He told everyone they were welcome to use the deck but he was going to smoke out there and if it bothered them, then don't rent the damn place. Marcus was nearly always gone, either out of town to a game or at practice. Jonas was always studying and kept to himself, and Jack was a no nonsense kind of guy that was easy to get along with. Four very different people, yet the apartment was always neat as a pin. Jack was fussy about that, and Patrick didn't mind it at all. Once settled, Patrick involved himself in his studies, and his attempts to date Jennifer. The last part was not an easy thing to do, but after a dozen attempts she agreed to take in a movie. Once again, as they stood outside the security door to the upstairs portion of the apartment building, Jennifer slipped into his arms. His head swam when their lips met, the tip of her tongue traced across the tip of his. Almost automatically Patrick's hands came up and cupped her breasts. They felt firm yet soft, he could feel the shape of them through the light bra she wore under her pullover top. She allowed that for a few moments, then she leaned back and looked at him. Patrick missed the signal from her, lost in the sensation of actually touching her like that. "Don't." She said. Patrick let his hands drop instantly. "I didn't think you were that kind of guy." She told him, a fathomless expression on her face. "I'm sorry! I just thought...." "You guys. Always just grabbing. If I wanted you to....I would tell you." She turned and punched in her access code, walked inside. Patrick was confused, he had gotten completely mixed signals there. Jennifer let him walk her up to her room. Then she turned to him. "Thank you for the nice evening." She smiled, then tipped her head up and kissed him. Again, her tongue slid slightly into his mouth, quickly she turned with a soft giggle, went in and closed the door. He went to his room, feeling confused and miserable. "S'up dude?" Jack asked when he came in, noticing the expression on his face. "Nothing, really. I just don't get women." "No shit there, dude. None of us ever figure one of them out. What happened?" He was sitting there flipping cards, playing solitaire. "I guess I went to far too fast, got out of line with Jennifer." "Jennifer? That one is hot!" "All I did was...touch her, she even..let me for a minute, then she....?" "Got shot down, huh? You and everybody else, except maybe for that Terry prick." "Terry?" "Yea, the asshole claims he is hosing that regular as clockwork. A couple of the other jocks claim they got some too." "I don't think so." Patrick said. "I don't think so either, but that's what the prick says." He flipped another card. "Shit! Can't be done!" He picked up the cards, shuffled them. Terry and Jennifer? The thought of that made Patrick feel sick. He went to bed, and had one hell of a time getting to sleep. The next morning he came out and Jonas was making pancakes. "Hey, want some, Patrick?" He smiled. "Sure." Jonas liked to cook and all four of them got the benefit of that when they happened to be around. "You would make somebody a good wife!" Patrick wisecracked, though a mouthful of pancakes. Jonas laughed, came over with a huge plate and sat down. Just then Marcus came out, took one look and joined them, Jack was right behind. It was very rare that all four of them were home at once. "Patrick here has female troubles." Jack piped up with. "Oh, we had better check him then!" Jonas wisecracked. They all laughed at that. "Women, yea? What's up?" Marcus asked, stuffing half a cake into his mouth. Patrick told them what had happened and Jennifer's reaction. "Maybe she just wants to know you better before she lets you at her stuff." Jack said. "Maybe, but we have been dating on and off since high school." "Women are weird." Jack said. "No shit." Marcus added. "So what do I do?" Patrick asked them. "Just go with the flow, man. She either will come around or she won't, if not then what the hell. The school is full of women." Jack said. "Not like Jennifer." Patrick said. "What the fuck, Corvettes is nice but a Buick will get ya there!" Jack grinned. They all laughed again at that. "Why don't you take out her room mate?" Jonas asked. "Room mate? Which one?" He knew that Karen lived with Jennifer, so did a tall skinny blond named Barbara and a East Indian girl he didn't know what her name was, having seen her just one time. "The one with the scars on her face, what's her name, Karen?" He said. "Karen? She is just my friend?" Patrick said. "Fuck, guy! Haven't you seen the way that chick looks at you? Besides, she has an ass and tits to die for!" Marcus stuck that in there, a huge grin on his face. "What? Karen? Oh, come on. We just visit and talk, is all." "She is in two of my classes, it's Patrick this and Patrick that, the broad is like totally stuck on you!" Jonas said. "Oh, come on!" Patrick said again. "Jonas is right, what are you, fucking blind?" Marcus added. Patrick shook his head, then got ready for class. Karen? What in the hell were they talking about? +++ That afternoon Patrick went into the library. Karen was sitting at one of the tables, a stack of books in front of her. Patrick waved and sat down at a different table, opened his own books. A few minutes later, Karen came over. "Can I sit here with you?" She asked. "Sure." He looked at her more closely than he ever had before, what the guys had said earlier stuck in his mind. She wore a simple blouse and skirt, there were traces of makeup but that was all. He realized that Karen had really slimmed down and she had a nice figure. The angry scars on her face were not hard to see, plus one cheek was larger than the other, reddened. Her blouse was open at the throat, he could see the tops of her breasts although barely, the long scar obvious. The guys were right, Karen was well built for being such a short little thing. "What?" She asked with a funny look. Then she glanced down at her blouse, thinking maybe it had come undone or something. She realized that Patrick had been inspecting her closely. "Oh, sorry. You just look so....pretty today." He blurted out, blushing. Karen's face also turned scarlet, her hand came up and brushed back her hair. "I....thank you." She said in surprise. They both studied quietly for about an hour after that, then she closed her book and started to get up. "Hey, want to go get a soda?" Patrick asked her. "Sure, that sounds good." She said. They walked side by side down to the cafeteria, like they had so many times before. Jennifer was sitting at one of the tables with two other girls and Terry. Terry looked up and smirked at Patrick, then looked away. "Want to go join them?" Karen asked. "No, let's sit over here." He led Karen over to a smaller table on the other side of the room. "Really? Usually you want to..sit near her..?" She let that trail off, a surprised look on her face. "I want to visit with you." Patrick told her. She beamed at that. Later, after a long visit with chat about classes and nothing in particular, Patrick asked her if he could walk her to her room. Normally they just said good night and that was it. He took a good look at her as she got up, the guys were right. Karen was in shape, and she had a round fanny no dress could possibly hide. He glanced over at Jennifer who had caught him looking Karen over. She had a blank look on her face, their eyes met and then she looked quickly away as Terry said something to her. On the way to their apartment, Patrick reached and took Karen's hand, she looked down and then up at him but didn't say anything, simply smiled. "Karen?" He asked her when they arrived, she had reached out to punch in the access code. "What, Patrick?" She turned to look at him, he still held her hand lightly. He reached down and put his hands on her waist, turning her to face him. Her waist felt nice and snug, where did the fat go? Puzzlement crossed her face for a moment. "OH!" It took a moment for it to register on her what he wanted. She eagerly slipped into his arms and they kissed. It was just a sweet brushing of their lips but it made his head swim. Then she leaned back, wonder on her face. "What brought that on?" She asked him with a smile. "I just wanted to." "So did I!" She leaned in and kissed him again. A tear trickled down her cheek, she blinked as he reached up and wiped it off with one finger. Then she turned and hurriedly punched in the code. She stopped in the doorway, looked back. "I really didn't expect...." She said. Then she gave him a shy smile and went inside. He stood there for a moment completely confused, why had he done that? Curious, perhaps, due to what his room mates had said? Patrick had dreams that night, he had Jennifer in his arms, she was holding him. He was reaching up for her, she leaned down to kiss him. The face changed to Karen, he felt that same sensation waft over him that he felt when he had kissed her earlier. Patrick woke up with a start, glancing at the clock he saw it was 4 in the morning. What was happening? He didn't understand that, any of it. The conversation with his room mates had put thoughts in his head. +++ The next afternoon he called Karen's apartment. Jennifer answered. "Hi Patrick!" She said as soon as she heard his voice. "Hi, Jennifer. Can I speak with Karen please?" Jennifer was silent for a few seconds. "Just a minute." "Hello?" Karen picked up. "Hi, Karen. I just want to know if you would like to go with me to the dance Saturday night?" He sensed her momentary surprise. "Yes! I would! Thank you!" She sounded tickled. Saturday night Patrick pushed the buzzer for their apartment. He got the buzzer in return a few seconds later, so he opened the door to their upstairs section and went up. Jennifer answered the door, smiled and let him in. There were a few minutes of discomfort as he stood there waiting, she didn't say a word to him, just went over and sat down on the couch. A few minutes later, Karen came out of one of the other rooms. His jaw dropped, she had on a beautiful dress, it left both shoulders bare. The tops of her breasts showed, way more of her than he had ever seen except for the one accidental glimpse in the hospital room. She wore enough makeup that there was nearly no sign of the scars on her face, although the line on the left side of her neck went down and out of sight on her left breast. She saw his gaze, flushed for a moment. "I don't have any way to hide that in this dress." She told him, almost apologetically. "Oh, that doesn't matter. My God you look beautiful!" She beamed at that. As they went out the door, once again he saw Jennifer with an odd look on her face. She had her legs crossed at the knees, her upper leg swinging back and forth. That evening was a marvelous time, they danced all night long. Several other guys came over and asked Karen to dance, Patrick allowed that, and he also danced himself with some of the other women. About an hour after they got there, Jennifer arrived, with Terry of course. Patrick didn't dance with her, he did notice that several times he saw her looking at him, that same odd expression on her face. Each time their eyes met, she looked quickly away. Back at the apartment, they once again kissed. Patrick felt his head swim as her lips touched his. The first one was very brief, just like before, then she pressed against him more tightly and kissed him far more seriously. Patrick was completely aware of her soft bust against his chest. "I would ask you in, but the other girls...." She smiled again at him, finally disengaging. "That's OK. Thank you for going with me, that was fun!" "Yes, it was, thank you." On the way back down to his own place, he met Terry and Jennifer coming up. She looked at him and smiled sweetly. "Struck out, huh bud?" Terry smirked at him. Patrick ignored him. He stopped at his own doorway and waited. Five minutes became ten, Terry didn't come back down. Finally Patrick went inside. Jonas got home about 20 minutes later. "Hey, how was the date?" He asked. "Fine, we had a good time." "Yea, I saw that, I was there. Karen looked hot!" He grinned. "Yes, she did." Patrick said, the vision of the way she looked in his mind. "Hey, Pat? That one is a winner, guy." Jonas said. "Yes, I think so. Funny, I never even realized, never thought of her...that way." "You really are a dumb ass! She is fucking nuts about you!" Jonas laughed, went into the living room and turned on the TV. Patrick went into his room and went to bed. That was the beginnings of a whirlwind period of dating. Karen and Patrick were either at the library, off on a picnic, at the movies, somewhere together. He carefully kept his hands to himself after the reaction he got from Jennifer that time, when he made his ill conceived pass at her. Sometimes when they walked down the street and Karen had her arm tucked into his, he was acutely aware of her soft breast pressed gently against his elbow. One day after they had been dating for about a month, she wanted to go on a picnic. It was a hot day, there was a spot down by a nearby stream that they both liked. The bank there was grassy, and it was about a half mile walk to get there. They rarely saw anyone there, most people stayed up above at the park, not wanting to make the trek though trails that had blackberry bush hazards along the way. They picked their way carefully through the brambles sticking out. Magazine Quality Once again, it was private. They spread out their blankets, Karen slipped out of her pullover outfit, she wore an on the conservative side flowered bikini he had seen her in many times. They enjoyed the sandwiches and chips, then opened a bottle of wine. Karen took out a small bottle of oil, she rubbed some on her fingers and began stroking it on the scar on her neck. Patrick had never seen her do that before. "What are you doing there?" He asked. "The Doctor gave me this, he wants me to rub it in sideways on the scar, he says it will make it mostly go away. I hate this scar, it's ugly." "It's not ugly, it's just part of you." "I can't do this right myself, it's hard to do with one hand." "Do you want me to? I mean, I can rub it in if you don't mind." "I don't mind. What you do is rub back and forth with both hands, it's called cross fiber and it's supposed to break up the tissue and make it fade." She handed him the little bottle, then lay down and turned her head away from him. He put some oil on the heavy scar, he could feel the ridge of it under his fingertips. He began at the top and slowly worked his way down, stopping when he got to the part where it ran down over the front of her left breast and into the cloth of her suit top. "Can you get the rest?" She asked. "I would have to...I mean...it's..." "It's OK. You can touch me." Then she giggled. Patrick carefully rolled the top of the suit down slightly, baring a good portion of her. He worked the oil in, back and forth, up and down, as she lay there quietly. Touching the upper part of her breast like that was fun, it felt soft and the flesh moved easily under his fingertips. Then she sat up. "I want you to do all of it but it really is ugly...farther down." She looked at him, checking for a reaction. "Are you sure?" Patrick asked. "Yes. I am sure. It's OK. I trust you." She slid the strap off her shoulder, then reached up with her hands and turned the bra cup downwards. She looked again at him, then blushed. Her bare left breast was completely in view. It was full, her nipple turned upwards slightly. It was pink, the tip like a tiny button right on the end of it. "You don't mind, do you? I know my scar is bad, I want it to go away." "It's not bad, you are beautiful! God, I want to...thank you for trusting me to do this." He instantly regretted saying it like that, it sounded stupid. Karen giggled, then lay back, her head on his leg. She turned her face to her right so he could reach her more easily. He saw the scar continued all the way down, stopping just at the upper edge of her nipple. There was a small vertical indentation right at the top that reached barely into the darker flesh. "See why it is so hard to do? I can reach it but I can't really work it back and forth properly since my left arm is still so stiff." She said, a cute smile still on her face from sitting there with her bare breast exposed to him. Up until that very moment, Patrick had not touched her intimately at all, that confusing reaction from Jennifer still stuck in his mind. "Yes, but you sure aren't ugly at all!" He applied some oil, then began to work the scar tissue. Patrick was careful at first, but she showed no concern at all from his touch. Finally, he couldn't help himself, he let his fingers drift down over her nipple. "There isn't any scar there." She tittered. "I know." Patrick leaned forward, slid his lips over her nipple. He had never really touched a woman's bare breast before, it just seemed like the thing to do. Karen shuddered, letting out a tiny "Oh!" "You aren't supposed to be playing!" She giggled again. "I want to, is it all right?" "Yes. That feels...really nice, no one has ever...." She smiled, as her face flushed even more. She shuddered, then closed her eyes and just lay there. "May I?" He asked her again, placing his hand on her ribcage just below her bikini top on her right side. Her eyes opened, she looked at him for a moment. "Yes." She answered in a tiny voice. Patrick reached behind her and tripped the catch, removed her bikini top completely, then felt her big soft breasts. He began lifting them and gently teasing her nipples as she lay there moaning quietly in pleasure. Her right breast was perfectly shaped, the left one's nipple was more oval from the scar tissue. He found her beautiful, it was marvelous fun to stroke her and pet like that. His erection was very hard, and he felt himself trembling in excitement. The very first completely naked breasts he had ever touched in his life, it was wonderful. After that, Patrick spent many hours over the next few weeks working on the long scar line, she simply sat and allowed it, her upper body bared to him. She let him kiss and nuzzle her, also. He either took her to the spot they liked or brought her to his apartment, using his own bedroom. Usually none of his room mates were around, except sometimes Jonas who gave them a big grin and left them alone. A few times he let his hands wander downwards, each time she stopped him with a soft, "Please don't." She would let his hands explore her stomach, and she loved it when he used his index finger to tickle her navel. One day as she lay there at their nearly private spot letting him stroke her, she sat up suddenly. For a moment he thought he had done something wrong. "This isn't fair to you, I know you get..aroused. I want to make you feel good. We can't..do IT..because I want to be married first. But I can, you know..with my hands?" She managed. "Really?" He said. "Yes, really!" She pushed him back onto the blanket, then sitting there naked to the waist she tugged at his shorts. Patrick had to lift his hips to help her, she pulled them down halfway on this thighs. Her eyes got big when she saw his penis sticking almost straight up, then she took the bottle of oil and rubbed some briskly between her palms. It was obvious that at first she wasn't sure what to do but she kept on, finally he spasmed into her hands. She watched that in fascination. Later, as they lay there just cuddling, he asked her why she had decided to do that. "My Mom and I talked, she told me that boys need it or it can hurt them later. I even asked her what to do and she just told me I would know. Did I do OK? I really wanted you to like it." "Yes! That was great! Can I..do it back to you?" "No. We..I have to wait." Things got a lot more interesting after that, then one day instead of rubbing the oil on him, she leaned forward and took him into her mouth. That was another total surprise, even more surprising was when he did climax, she just kept on and swallowed it. "What brought that on?" He asked her after. "Mom told me. She said that it keeps men from pestering us about sex. She said I might find the taste yukky at first but it wasn't so bad!" She grinned at him. "Your Mom is one hell of a woman!" Patrick laughed. "Yea. Well, did I do good?" She asked. "You sure did!" Patrick answered. +++ Then Karen left to go home for a visit. Patrick stayed behind, planning on spending the time with his studies. The next day after Karen left, the phone rang. It was Jennifer, she asked to come over, saying she wanted to talk to him. "Sure, I am just hitting the books, come on over." He didn't even give it a second thought. He hadn't asked her for a date for months, she really had not even entered his mind since he had become involved with Karen. Jennifer arrived minutes later, wearing a soft white blouse and slacks. One look at her was enough for him to feel a tingle, like always she was beautiful. Jonas was home, he looked at Jennifer and then at Patrick, got up and went into his bedroom. Jonas had a sour expression on his face. "Can we go into your room, it's more private?" She asked. "Sure, I guess." They went in, she shut the door behind herself. "What's up?" He asked. "You don't call me any more." She asked. "Well, I have been busy, and besides, I didn't think that you were....?" "I really like going out with you, you are nice." She smiled, wandering around the room looking at things. "Well, I liked seeing you, too." "That's good. Say, do you remember back when you tried to..feel me up?" She grinned. "Yes, I...I said I was sorry." Patrick felt himself blush. She stepped up close, very close. "I was thinking that maybe you might like to try again?" "What? I didn't..I don't..." She had rejected his one attempt, now she was actually suggesting...? Jennifer reached up and quickly undid the buttons on her blouse, shrugged it off her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. She was naked to the waist underneath. Her upper body was perfection, her brown nipples puckered in arousal. She stood there smiling, it was almost like a pose. "Jennifer! I..." Lust nearly instantly poured over him, he felt himself begin to erect at the vision standing there, unashamed. "Come on!" She reached down and took his hands, placed them on her breasts. Patrick felt his face flush with heat, for a moment he lost control. Her breasts were so soft, so fine, capped with round brown nipples. She slid into his arms, pressed herself against him and kissed him. "I want you to make love to me." She whispered. Her hands slid down to the front of his blue jeans. "I can see you do want me. You are nice and big, too." She pushed him back onto the bed, reached down and undid his pants. Reaching in, she grasped his erection, letting out a small moan when she did that. Then she was struggling with her own slacks, trying to undo them with one hand while holding onto him with the other. Patrick rolled her over onto her back, reaching, he pushed her slacks down, then turned and stripped them off. There were no panties, his hand slipped between her legs, there was no hair there at all. He could feel the slippery wet softness of her. "I don't have any condoms." He told her. "It's all right, I am on the pill." She answered. Jennifer lay back on his bed, pulling at him as she did. She opened her legs widely to allow him access. He saw the tiny red heart shaped tattoo, it was right alongside and slightly higher than her pussy. Then Patrick was on top of her, his erection poised, his mind filled with lust. He glanced down at her perfect breasts, there were no marks, no scars. His penis slid inside her easily, invaded her as she lifted her hips to meet him. Jennifer let out a low groan, began to buck her hips up against him wildly. Patrick's orgasm was nearly instant, not what he wanted but he had no control over that at all. His very first time actually inside a woman was just too much. Just after he felt his body release, the vision of Karen lying on his bed just like that, her breasts bare as he had worked on her angry scar tissue, then played with her flooded into his mind. Suddenly he felt that this was all wrong, he stiffened and pulled back. "What's wrong?" Jennifer asked as he slid back off the bed and stood up, his erection still huge and jutting outwards. "I don't know, we shouldn't have..we can't. This is..." "Why not? I want you to! What is the matter with you, I can see you want me?" She sat up, an angry expression crossing her face. Just then there was some kind of ruckus out in the living room. "You can't go in there!" He heard Jonas yell, then there was a crash and the door burst open. "I warned you, motherfucker!" Terry stood there yelling, his face contorted in rage. Jennifer reached down and grabbed the top cover on the bed, jerked it up to cover her nakedness. Patrick was standing there naked by the edge of the bed, except for his socks. His cock was still fully erect, the evidence of what had just happened still obvious. He retreated, the back of his legs hitting the edge of the bed causing him to fall. Jennifer scooted higher on the bed as he fell back, her breasts once again bared when the covers would not reach. Terry advanced on him, Jonas appeared in the doorway yelling something about calling the cops. They were going to be far too late, Terry was swinging wildly at him, missing mostly as Patrick ducked and twisted, trying to avoid the blows. Then his head felt like it exploded and he fell off the bed onto the floor. He felt a kick to his side, he was trying to grab Terry's leg, something, anything. Suddenly Terry was off of him, Patrick rolled over to his knees. Marcus stood there, his big arms wrapped around Terry's neck. Terry was struggling, trying to get loose but Marcus was as big and strong as he was, and several inches taller. He took Terry down to the floor and pinned him. Terry quickly gave up, so Marcus dragged him back out into the living room. "I'm sorry, I couldn't stop him." Jonas said, standing by the door. Patrick saw the blood on his face, he went from being frightened to being pissed off. Reaching up to wipe his eye, the back of his own hand came away bloody. He glanced over at Jennifer, she sat there with a smile on her face like she had enjoyed that or something. Realizing he was still nude, Patrick suddenly felt ashamed. "Get dressed!" He told her, reaching for his clothing. She slid off the bed, looked at him, then at Jonas, seemingly now unconcerned at being stark naked in front of the two of them. Then she reached for her clothes. She stood up, pulled her top on first. "Well, this is a fucking mess!" She said, grabbing her slacks and tugging them on. Two very large police officers were out in the living room when he walked out, they had gotten there very quickly. Terry sat on the floor, his hands cuffed behind his back. Jonas was signing something. They asked Patrick a few questions, glanced at Jennifer as she came out. They very likely instantly knew what the deal was. "Do you want to press charges?" One of them asked Patrick. "No. I just want him out of here." "Well, I am going to. That is a terrible man, he HIT me!" Jonas said, handing the clipboard to one of the officers. "OK. That's all we need." They dragged Terry to his feet, hauled him off. Jennifer still stood there, she still had that smile on her face. Jonas glared at her. "You like that, causing troubles, don't you?" He said. "No! What did I do?" She protested, an innocent expression crossing her face. "How did Terry even know you were here?" Marcus asked her, his big arms folded across his chest. Jennifer flushed, then she headed for the door. She stopped and looked back at Patrick. "If I had known that was all you had, I wouldn't have fucking bothered!" She said angrily, then turned and left. At that exact instant, she did not look pretty any more. +++ The story was all over campus by the next afternoon, Patrick saw the looks and smirks of the other students. Terry of course was out on bail, he spent a total of less than an hour in custody. He knew that Karen was due home the next afternoon, he expected her to call but she didn't. He called her apartment and a woman that he didn't recognize the voice of answered, she told him that Karen didn't want to talk to him. It was obvious she had heard what happened, Patrick was tormented. How in the world was he going to ever explain that? He skipped one of his classes to be outside hers when she came out, she looked up at him when he called her name, then she just turned and walked away without a single word. +++ Patrick had to testify at the trial, it was more like a hearing before a Judge than a trial. Terry had a lawyer, and he made it appear that all he was doing was just attempting to save Jennifer's virtue as a close friend. But Terry was found guilty, fined $50 and put on 60 day's probation. There was no sign of Jennifer there. Patrick tried everything he could think of, he even wrote a long letter to Karen and poured out his heart, apologizing and trying to explain. There was no answer. She ignored him, and refused to even speak to him. Spring break came, Patrick just went home. He moped around the house the entire two weeks, completely miserable. When he told his Mother that he had decided to drop out of school, she threw a fit. Demanding to know why, Patrick broke down and told her what had happened. "Pat, you get up and go see Karen's Mother, tell her the truth. She likes you, maybe she can help. I do know that if you give up, then you will never get what you want." "I don't think I will anyway." He answered. "You love Karen, don't you?" "Yes. I guess I do. I thought it was Jennifer, but now I know that was a mistake." "Go over there, son. I mean it." Patrick really didn't want to very badly but he also knew his Mother and so he found himself knocking on the door. "Patrick! Hi, Honey, come on in." Margeret held the door open wide for him. It was quite a conversation, Patrick with a bit of embarrassment told her to complete truth. At one point Karen's Mother asked him bluntly if he and Karen had been having sex. Patrick told her no, since they hadn't, which wasn't completely true. He realized even as he said it that very likely she knew all about what they had been doing. He did tell her that he had been trying to help her with the scars, she raised her eyebrows slightly, then just grinned at that. "That daughter of mine, maybe I shouldn't have pounded it into her head that she needed to be a virgin when she got married." She said, laughing. That comment made Patrick blush. "I didn't..we haven't.." He started to say lamely. "I know all about young people, Honey. It's all right. Maybe she should have, things might be different." "I don't know what to do. I know I messed up with Jennifer, I thought I really liked her but I know now that Karen is the one I want to...be with?" Patrick said. "I will talk to her, I can't promise anything since that girl is stubborn, but I will try. It sounds like you didn't even really have sex with that girl?" "I don't know, I guess? I never did before with anybody, that just...happened." "Well, I know about men, honey. It's hard to resist when a woman just throws themselves at you. So don't feel bad, that's more normal than not. You will learn that sex with love is a different thing than sex just for kicks." "Karen always insisted that she wanted to be...pure..when she got married, so I was going to be, too. Now I have gone and ruined that." "Patrick? You mean you have been thinking of marrying my daughter? Really?" She asked, a small smile crossed her lips. "I...well..after we graduate, I was thinking maybe?" Patrick felt himself blush, he realized that he had been wondering if Karen and he might end up together. "I see. We shall see about that. I will talk to her, though." +++ Back at school, Patrick just buried himself in his classwork. He was hoping that Karen's Mom would talk to her and things would sort themselves out, but here was no sign of any changes at all from Karen, she still completely ignored him. Then he found out from Jonas that Karen had moved out of Jennifer's apartment, into a smaller one by herself. There had apparently been some comments back and forth that developed into a major argument, so Jennifer had kicked Karen out. One evening he walked over there, hoping to see her, try once again to talk to her. He was standing across the street, mustering his courage to go try and talk to her when a car drove up. There was a couple in the back seat he didn't know, then Terry got out of the front and went into the building. He came out a few minutes later with Karen, they got into the car and drove away. She was wearing a pretty dress, her hair fixed up. It was obviously a date. He felt like someone had hit him in the pit of the stomach. Patrick felt the bile rush into his throat, he couldn't help himself and threw up on the sidewalk. Magazine Quality +++ Completely depressed, Patrick gave up at that. Of all the people on the entire planet that Karen might go out with, the worst possible choice from his point of view would be Terry. Then he found out just days later that Karen had dropped out of school, no one had any idea at all of why. She was just gone one day, not a word to anyone. For a couple of weeks, he felt completely miserable. Finally Jonas had enough, sat down and gave him a talking to. "You need to get off of your dead ass and go get that girl! If you have to camp out in the street in the rain, do it, for God's sake." He said. Finally Patrick called Margeret, figuring Karen was there, hoping she would at least talk to him. "Karen is really unhappy right now, Patrick. She won't talk to anyone. I don't want to talk about it either over the phone, why don't you come by when you get home on break? I need to sit down and speak to you privately about it." She told him. She sounded completely upset about something. Patrick had a sinking feeling about that, but there was nothing he could do until the semester ended. The day he got home, he again called Karen's Mother, she asked him to meet her at a local Coffee shop. "How much do you care for my daughter?" Margeret asked him the moment he sat down. "I..I guess I am not 100% sure, but I think I was falling in love with her." He answered, as honestly as he could. "I know she really does care for you, but she is afraid. Something happened and now she thinks you won't want her any more. She has always been very sensitive, partly my fault I guess." "Happened? What happened?" Patrick asked. "Karen. She was...raped. By that boy, that Terry. She told me when she came home, we even talked to the police but there were three of them and they all denied it. Even the woman that was there. So the police couldn't do anything at all. They tested her, put her through all of that, but he must have used a...condom." Her eyes were damp, she reached up and wiped at them. "Oh, God, no!" Patrick put his head in his hands. "She is afraid that you would go try to do something about it, and she doesn't want you hurt." "I think I will get a gun and go...." "That's exactly what she is afraid of, she doesn't want you to be hurt or get into trouble." "Why in the world did she even go out with him?" "She had that fight with Jennifer, that was over you. I know about that, you told me. Young men find it hard to resist....sex...and Jennifer is a very pretty young lady so I don't blame you, not really. But Karen did, and she was upset." "But Terry?" "Well, he started being nice to her, she was still mad at Jennifer...and at you..so when he asked her for a date, she decided to go." "Oh, God." "Young women can do some silly things sometimes, it was a mistake, she was angry with Jennifer...and you. Terry apparently did that deliberately, took advantage to get even with you for being with Jennifer." Patrick sat there trying to think, his vision blurred from his eyes being wet. "God, this is all my fault, what do I do now?" He asked her finally. "It's not your fault, it is that terrible man's fault. Give it time, if you do care for her, let it show. She is still upset and frightened, but inside she is still my same little girl." Margeret's eyes were trickling with tears now. +++ Over the next few weeks, Patrick went to dinner at their house many times, Karen at first was reserved and would barely respond when he tried to talk with her, but a few times it was like she would forget and the same happy young lady would come out. Then one evening they were sitting on the porch, it was a balmy night. They had a slider bench out there, she was using her feet to slowly rock the two of them back and forth. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked suddenly. "Only if you want to." Patrick answered, knowing exactly what she meant. Karen went into detail, her words coming out in a rush, almost like if she stopped then she would not be able to go on. Patrick sat and held her hand quietly. "He hurt me, ruined me. He made me...bleed." She broke down and sobbed, her face turned away from him. "I am so sorry, Karen. But he didn't ruin you, you are still the same wonderful person." "I don't feel that way, I feel...dirty." Patrick held her as she sobbed quietly. "Who was the other couple?" He asked when she finally fell silent. "Stanley Porter, and a girl named Bella. I don't know her but Stanley is..." Patrick nodded. He knew who Stanley was, a loud mouth jerk from back in high school that was always in some kind of trouble. He hadn't recognized him that night in the dark. He had heard rumors that he was now part of a biker gang but wasn't sure of it. "Don't you do anything! If you got hurt that would just make everything worse!" She said. "I won't, I have no plans at all." He lied. "I'm really sorry, I wanted to be..pure...when I...?" She looked at him with her eyes large, her lip quivering. "You have nothing to be sorry about, you still are the same person, and I still love you." Patrick told her. She stared at him for a moment. "You never said that to me before." "I should have. I have loved you for a long time." "God, I have loved you since we were little kids! When I found out that you and Jennifer...It was like the whole world ended right there!" She hugged him so tightly that for a moment he almost couldn't breathe. "Jennifer is nothing at all compared to you." Patrick told her. +++ Things got much better after that, there was no need to speak about any of that at all. Karen even allowed him to once again work on her scars with his fingers, he was cautious though until one day she asked him with a smile why he didn't kiss her there like he used to. "I want to but..." Patrick grinned at her. "Well, do it then!" She lay back with a smile. So Patrick did, Karen always seemed to love it when he nibbled at her bare breasts. It was also a delight to stroke her stomach, tickle her navel which she liked so much. He made no real attempt at more than that, though. Once after they had spent literally hours petting in her bedroom, he came out to find Margeret sitting in her chair in the living room. She looked up at him and winked. He decided that Margeret was one hell of a woman. +++ Patrick never mentioned to either of them, but he signed up for afternoon classes at a local Karate studio. For one thing, if they even had an idea that he had plans on trying to handle Terry they very likely would have thrown a fit, at least Karen would have. Margeret he wasn't sure of, she probably would have taken Terry on herself given half the chance. He only had a few weeks left before his classes started again, so he paid careful attention to what he was taught. The parts that interested him were the elements of surprise, how to flick out a blow without allowing his body to telegraph the motion, angles that gave leverage to over power strength. There was no way in hell that he was going to ever become a well versed fighter in the short time he had, so he learned a few holds and ways to hurt someone badly and quickly. One day the instructor demonstrated a hold he found fascinating. "If you get a grip on someone just like this, I don't care how big or how strong they are, you will have them!" He said, lightly applying a choking grip which made Patrick's head swim in seconds. He also used the weight room they had, forcing his muscles into total agony and beyond. Results are fairly quick when a person does that. He had learned how to kick, the sound of his leg hitting the heavy bag had gone from a soft thumping sound to a very solid whack. The instructor pounded it into him over and over that the blow was not delivered at the object, but through it. Stretch exercises now allowed him to strike the very top of the bag with that satisfying sound instead of the middle. All of that had added a more confident air to his walk. Margeret noticed that, she noticed everything. "Have you been working out?" Margeret asked him one day. Patrick had dropped by, he was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, having just showered after a session at the studio. The change was subtle but obvious, his upper body had firmed up nicely and he now felt fairly solid at 170 pounds. Even his legs had thickened and become limber. "Yes, a little." He grinned at her when she asked. "You be careful, honey." She told him with knowing eyes, then she just grinned. She didn't make any other comments, but Patrick knew he could hide nothing from that lady. +++ The day Patrick left for school was tearful, he had tried to convince Karen to go back but she refused, saying she could never go back there and chance running into Terry again. Patrick had plans of doing exactly that. Terry he knew would respond with violence if he stood up to him. It took less than a week. Patrick was back living with Jack and Jonas, the new room mate was a young man named Carlton. Jonas and Carlton seemed to be quite close, Patrick just grinned to himself at that. Marcus had joined a ball team and was playing in the semi pros. He had just walked into the lobby, when Terry came in with another jock he didn't know. "Well, I'll be damned! The wimp is back!" He sneered. Patrick set his books down, turned and looked at Terry. "You really are a piece of shit, aren't you?" He said. "What? You little fuck, I will whip your ass!" He glared. "I know what you did to Karen, you worthless bastard." Patrick told him. "Yea, so what? The slut had it coming." Then Terry advanced at him. Patrick dropped into his stance, just like he had been taught. "What the fuck is this?" Terry stopped and laughed, looking him up and down with a sneer, glancing back at his buddy who was standing there grinning. Then he turned and swung a huge fist. Every single aspect of Patrick's far too brief training went right out the window at that, he tried to backhand Terry in the abdomen but missed and hit his ribcage which had no effect at all. He felt the impact as Terry's fist struck home, it made his eyes blur. Then Terry was on him, grabbing him and slamming him down to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. On sheer instinct, Patrick turned his head and sunk his teeth into Terry's right cheek. He bit down with all his strength, Terry let out a howl and pulled back. Patrick managed to get his left arm free, he leaned forward and slid his wrist behind Terry's ear, then rapped him behind the other ear with the knuckles of his right hand. Terry's eyes glazed for a moment, Patrick rolled and twisted loose and was back on his feet in a flash. Terry was just starting to rise when the left foot hit him right upside the head with a resounding smack, he tipped over to his own left and put a hand down to the floor to catch himself. When Patrick's right leg snapped out, it hit Terry full in the face. Blood flew from his smashed nose, he went over backwards as Patrick took one step forward. The next blow landed exactly where he aimed it, right between Terry's open legs. A gush of air exploded from his mouth as he fell back. The other man's mouth was open in surprise, then he reacted and reached out to grab Patrick. He suddenly found the two smallest fingers of his hand trapped, Patrick shoved straight down, feeling the bones snap backwards. Then he rotated the man's hand, getting a rewarding high pitched scream. He released the man's hand, knowing he was probably all done. Since the man was turned away slightly, Patrick side kicked him in the ribcage, he went straight forward and down. The surprise was that now Terry was actually getting up, Patrick's second mistake was hesitating. Terry lowered his head and charged again. Patrick punched him in the face, but Terry didn't even slow down as he bowled him over onto his back again. Fists flailed at him as he twisted and turned. He could hear the other man yelling. "Kill the motherfucker!" The second man was screaming, Patrick got a glimpse of him standing there leaned over, holding his one hand with the other. He tried some chops to Terry's neck with the edge of his palms but it was hard to have any effect since he was jammed down on his back with the large man's weight on him. He felt his head swim, knew he was going to pass out. "Fucking motherfucker, next chance I get I am gonna fuck your girlfriend again!" Terry growled, still swinging with all his might. That did it. In a blinding rage, Patrick gave a mighty heave, managing to tip Terry's body off of him to the side. He rolled and got his arm around his throat, reached up and grasped his wrist with the other hand. Then he got his legs hooked, twisted him back with all of his might. Terry flopped and struggled, but he had the choke hold in deep. Patrick clamped down with all the strength he had. The big body quit struggling, then went limp, Patrick kept the hold on, continued to bear down. He felt things begin to give in Terry's throat. He knew he was killing the man, with his mind blurred in a red haze, he fully intended to. Someone grabbed him, dragged him backwards. He let go, glancing back he saw it was Jack that had stopped him. "Jesus!" Patrick heard someone else exclaim, he looked over and Jonas stood there. "He came at me." Patrick said. "Yes, we saw that, Jack and I were just coming out when we heard the yelling. You whipped him, you actually whipped him!" Jonas exclaimed, almost in glee. Looking around, Patrick saw the other man was gone. Terry lay on the floor, Jack was now pumping away at his chest. Terry suddenly took a deep gasp. "Much as I would enjoy it, it wouldn't do to kill this motherfucker. The asshole ain't worth the fucking trouble." He grinned up at Patrick. Jonas grabbed Patrick and started wiping at him, he had gone and grabbed the medical kit out of the room. "Man, you are chopped up, that was one hell of a scrap!" He said. Patrick just stood there and let him work. A few minutes later, two policemen arrived. One of them was the same man who had arrived after the scuffle with Terry before. Jonas spoke with them, then they asked Patrick if he wanted to press charges. "No. Hopefully this is the end of trouble with this guy." "I doubt it, this makes at least four times we have had to put up with him, but it looks like you handled the situation. No problem, self defense, you have lots of witnesses." The cop grinned at him. An ambulance crew arrived, Terry was still out. They tended to him, finally they had to run a tube down his throat to keep him breathing. Then they loaded him up on a stretcher and hauled him away. "This guy isn't going to be able to swallow for a month!" One of them said as they rolled him out. "He isn't going to be raping anyone for a long time, either. We know about that, too bad we can't hang him for it." The cop said, reaching out and touching Patrick on the shoulder. That actually hurt, Patrick knew he was going to be very sore. Jennifer came down the stairs just as they picked Terry up. She looked at Terry, then at Patrick in surprise. "What happened?" She asked. "Your asshole boyfriend attacked me so I beat him up." Patrick grinned at her. She just stood there blinking, with that same odd smile on her face. "You did?" She asked, in surprise. Patrick didn't answer, just retrieved his books and went to his room. He felt sick inside, wondering how he had ever seen anything at all in Jennifer. She was beautiful, beyond belief on the outside. On the inside was nothing at all, he knew that now for sure. +++ The story poured through the campus in just a few hours, Patrick found quickly that nearly everyone looked at him with a new respect. The smirks that he had been getting as a result of Jennifer's stories changed. Terry had bullied quite a few people, it seemed. The other sudden change was that some of the women now showed an interest in him that they hadn't had before. But Patrick showed no interest in return, he had just one woman on his mind. By the end of the month, he heard that Terry had been released from the hospital, he dropped out of school and left town. Patrick just went back to his studies, and he called Karen each and every night. When he could afford to, he went home for a weekend so he could spend time with her. He was now spending far more time at her house than he was at his own folk's place. One evening at home, Patrick sat down with his parents and told them what he planned. His Mother went into her bedroom came out and handed him a tiny box. "This is my Mom's rings, honey. I saved them for you, for this day." Then she hugged him as his Dad grinned at him over the top of his ever present newspaper. +++ On one of those weekends visiting, he had gone down to the hardware store to get a new faucet for Margeret's sink. He came back out with his purchase, had just opened the door to the pickup when he looked up and saw Stanley standing there. The man was dressed in biker's garb, his bare arms tattooed, his long hair stringy. He hadn't really thought much about him. They just looked at each other. "What do you want?" He asked Stanley, after a few moments. "I wanted to talk to you." "About what?" "That deal with your gal, that wasn't my idea." "I didn't figure it was." "Terry told us some stuff that wasn't true, so we have been looking for him. Then I figured since I was there you might be looking for me." "I was, but now I don't care." "That's good, there are quite a few of us." He grinned at that comment. "If I wanted you, it wouldn't make any difference." Patrick told him. "I didn't think so. I heard all about you." Stanley laughed. "Hey, if you ever see Terry anywhere, let us know, OK? Our club women are one thing, but...You know how it is, we don't tell cops nothing." His voice trailed off. Patrick knew about that, they had their own code. Some things are best to just let be. "I don't think I will see him again, but if I do, I will take care of that myself." Stanley looked Patrick up and down, grinned and nodded, turned and walked away. Patrick got in the truck and went home, everything seemed to be settled. After he had taken a shower, he drove over and installed the faucet for Margeret. She thanked him and gave him a hug. "Can I ask you a question?" He said. "Sure, honey. Anything." "I want to ask Karen to marry me." Margeret's eyes almost instantly dampened. "About time, Patrick." She said softly. "Do you think Karen will like this?" He reached into his pocket and showed her the ring set he had gotten from his Grandmother, he had taken the stones to have them reset for her. "She sure will, from you she would be tickled with anything at all but that is beautiful." "Thank you." He told her, as she stood up and hugged him, kissing him lightly on the cheek. Then feeling happy, he went over and tapped on Karen's bedroom door. He felt reasonably secure in what her answer would be. "Come on in, Patrick." He heard her call out. She knew it was him, of course. She also knew why he was there, she wasn't deaf. She felt giddy with happiness. He stepped through the door to the rest of his life, a smile on his face. Magazine quality. Patrick knew that was what waited for him. He had learned the difference. Magazines just have pictures, real is what's inside.