The Bravest thing He Ever Did

"It seemed like a good choice for Christmas," Cassie said, allowing herself a look down at her red and green plaid skirt and the sweater in the same shade of green. She could only hope to hide her surprise at his bringing up that photo, but then even she'd been surprised that morning at how much she looked like her long-ago self.

Randy handed Cassie and Penny a cup each of the hot cider, and said, "Andrew's mother just called. He's running late but he'll be here."

"Andrew asked you out?" Jay asked Penny. "Never thought he'd have the guts to do that, he's so shy."

"Actually, I asked him." Penny sounded utterly proud of herself, but Randy could hardly blame her.

"That figures," Jay said.

"Hey, shy guys are the best once you get through to them!" Cassie admonished him.

Randy had to turn back for the kitchen to avoid letting them all see him laugh. He had no doubt Jay - or any red-blooded teenage boy - would have believed anything Cassie told him while she was looking so beautiful. He poured wine for Cassie and himself and ginger ale for the kids, and had just enough time to carve the turkey before Andrew arrived.

The poor kid looked mortified as Cassie opened the door for him. Penny immediately set him at ease with a hug. "Merry Christmas, Andrew!' she said.

That made all the difference. Suddenly Andrew was confidence itself as he unzipped his jacket once Penny had released him. "Thanks," he said. "My mom made cookies for after dinner," he added, reaching into his backpack for the tin. When Randy came in from the kitchen, he handed it to him.

"Thanks, Andrew, and welcome," Randy said.

"Pleased to meet you, mister..."

"Call me Randy. All Penny's friends do." It had always been far easier than explaining why he and Penny didn't share a last name. "Everyone come on in. Dinner's ready."

Randy immediately felt some suspicions about Jay crop up as they sat down to eat. The way Andrew was so careful to smile at him and the girls but never looked at Jay - no doubt Jay often bullied Andrew at school. Later on Penny would confirm those suspicions, but for the time being Randy contented himself with being impressed at how Andrew handled himself in what must have been a rather awkward situation. Penny had good taste, anyway, and Randy was prouder than ever of her.

And apparently she was funnier than Randy had ever known. "You should hear some of Penny's answers in French class, Randy," Andrew said. "One time when we were practicing negatives, Monsieur Doivin asked, Qui téléphone Andrew? and she says -"

"I was only joking, Andrew!" Penny interrupted.

"I know, it was hilarious! She said, Pas elle!" Everyone but Jay laughed.

"I'm sorry if you thought I really meant it," Penny said.

"He knows you didn't, Penny," Cassie said. "Andrew, way too many boys your age aren't any good at laughing at themselves. It's great that you are. I hope my son will be like that."

"Yeah, it is sweet," Penny said to him.

Jay looked like he wanted to kill them both. Instead he asked, "Andrew, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you talk to anyone at school?"

Everyone else felt a wave of discomfort, but Andrew didn't miss a beat. "Well, you see, Jay, I've got this extrovert switch, right behind my left ear, but I always forget to turn it on!"

This time Jay did join in the laughter around the table. Then he said, "Sorry. It's just that you're so quiet at school, everyone kind of wonders why, you know?"

"It's nothing personal. Not everyone is born to talk a lot."

"I can relate to that," Randy said.

"That's cool," Jay said with a nod. "Look, I'm sorry. For everything."

"I feel a bromance coming on!" Missy announced.

Andrew insisted on helping with the cleanup after dinner, so the others joined in as well. When the leftovers were in the fridge and the dishes were clean, Missy reminded the others that the movie theater on the square was always open on Christmas. "They're probably showing some old Christmas movie, but it's only two dollars," she said. "Want to go?"

While the boys both said yes, they did want to go, Penny looked to Randy and he nodded his consent. "Be back by seven," he told her.

"I will, Randy. Thanks!" She kissed him goodbye and was off to get her coat from the rack by the door, where Missy and the boys were already collecting theirs.

"That Andrew is a class act," Cassie said as soon as the door was shut. "Good for Penny for calling him, too."

"It'll break both their hearts if I take that job," Randy said.

"It'll break mine too, but you've just got to do it, Randy! Don't you dare tell me you're thinking of turning it down for the sake of a seventh-grade romance, of all things!"

"Well, no. It's just one more thing to make me second-guess the whole thing. So much change when things have been so stable here, a lot better than I ever imagined on the night Tammy and Brian died."

"That's just it, Randy. You've paid your dues and theirs! And I remember how you wanted to see the world. It's past time you start."

Randy nodded, deep in thought. They were standing just a bit apart, still right inside the door - what if she decided it was time to go too? It was now or never.

"You're right, Cassie. But the thing is, on top of everything else..."

"Yes?" Cassie's heart was flying with anticipation.

"I...I think I love you."

"Oh, Randy!"

"I'm sorry!" he said, so terror-stricken it failed to register with him that Cassie was beaming at him and opening her arms.

"Don't be! I love you too!"

"You do?"

His question made Cassie laugh, but he couldn't hear it so much as he could feel it as her body jiggled while pressed tightly up against his.

"I don't even know for how long, Randy. But you know how I always admired you for standing up against the bullies, from that very first day in the yearbook room, the way you refused to let those jerks define you. I was so proud when I heard you got into Claxton. And then raising Penny so well! I don't know just when I started seeing you as more than the plucky kid brother I used to know, but somewhere along the line I did."

As she spoke, Cassie rubbed his back up and down but kept him locked tightly in her embrace, which he gladly returned. "God, this feels so good," he said. "I've been wanting to hold you from the moment you walked in here, you know that?"

"I hoped you might," she replied. "Because I felt the same!"

Randy couldn't help but wonder what his ninth-grade self - who'd fantasized about Cassie countless times but couldn't even bring himself to imagine himself with her - would think of this. Then he remembered what Cassie always said about how he needed to stop imagining she was some kind of goddess. She would be delighted to know she didn't feel like a goddess in his arms now, she only felt like a beautiful woman who adored him just as much as he adored her.

But there was no need to tell her that. There was no need to tell her anything with words. Their first kiss got the message across just fine, as did her eager rubbing up and down his back and sides. Though his hands itched to reach farther afield, he kept them on her back as well.

Randy had no idea how long they'd been at it before he finally dared reach further down. He'd never been an ass man, but he had always thought hers looked great in the tight jeans she'd always favored. It felt great, too, and evidently his playful squeezes appealed to her as well. "Oooh!" she squealed, and then let out a joyful laugh and accompanied it with her first rubs on his chest, which promptly had him gasping in pleasure too.

Almost imperceptibly, she prodded him to the couch, where she climbed on his lap facing him. He once again clamped his hands on her rear end, but she pulled them off and guided them upward. "Don't be shy at a time like this!" she cooed, and she placed both of his hands on her breasts.

Randy couldn't help but look down in disbelief. But he felt only relief when Cassie laughed. "Don't you dare think you're not worthy, Randy!" she ordered him. "We're all grown up now, remember?"

"Kind of hard to miss right now, isn't it?" Randy quipped, still marveling at how supple and full they felt, even through the thick fabric of her sweater. Once he had his bearings again, his thumbs felt around until they found her nipples. If their hardness wasn't noticeable even through the layers of cloth, her gasp of joy as he set about rubbing them would have let him know. Once that was out, she clamped her mouth on his again and her responses were muffled, but they were still there.

Cassie was the first to breach the final frontier, rubbing his hardness through his pants. She tried to unzip him, but couldn't get a grip, and contented herself with unbuttoning his shirt. He was wearing a t-shirt underneath, but welcomed the gesture anyway. Though his hands felt all but glued to her breasts, he managed to pry his right one away and slide it down her front, slowly all the way down to the hem of her skirt.

"Bout time you found your way under there," she whispered in his ear before giving it a playful nibble. So Randy had no lingering inhibitions about reaching up and rubbing the gusset of her tights. It was soaking wet, and she let out a yelp when he rubbed harder up against her even wetter pussy.

"Let's get you in the bedroom," he teased, still rubbing with abandon.

"I insist!" She slid off his lap and helped him up from the couch, and squeezed his hand as she led him down the hall.

Randy paused to shut the door, just in case Penny came home early, and Cassie took the opportunity to pull her sweater and camisole off. She grinned at him as he instinctively looked away, then found his eyes drawn as if by magnetism to her lacy red bra. "My favorite bra," she explained. "And I figured you'd like it too."

"You were expecting this?" Randy didn't mind in the least, but he was surprised.

"Let's just say I was hoping for it." She gave him a moment to admire the view, and welcomed his hands once again on her breasts, though she was beyond ready to have them set free.

"I always wanted to..." he almost whispered it as he caressed the undersides playfully.

"And I've wanted you to, for ages!" With that she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms tightly around him, hoping he would take the opportunity to unfasten the bra already. To her delight, he did. She responded by reaching down to unbutton his pants. "I think somebody wants out here," she teased as she pulled back to let him pull her bra away, hoping he wouldn't linger too long just admiring her breasts. He did, in any event, do that long enough for her to relieve him of his pants and boxers. She gave his erection a playful squeeze and a tickle on the underside as he leaned over to kiss her nipples, which took her breath away. "Oh, yes, more of that!" she grunted.

With his lips busy on her breasts, Cassie was easily able to get his shirt out of the way. When he straightened up to pull his t-shirt off, Cassie took the opportunity to pull her tights and panties off. With all his clothes now out of the way, Randy kissed her again and, with one hand around her back, he reached under her skirt - the only article of clothing either of them had left - with the other.

Cassie's vagina tingled with anticipation even before his welcome fingers found their way into it. "Ooofff!" she screeched with joy as they did. Two fingers, from the feel of it, and he curled them in a gentle come--hither motion that felt utterly heavenly on her warm, wet inner flesh. Still lost in wonderful sensation, she opened her eyes to see him gazing at her, a look of absolute joy on his face. Though her hands itched to touch him as well, she was too wrapped up in her own pleasure to think straight enough to do anything with them. "Oooh! Ohmygod!" She closed her eyes and gave in entirely to the sensation.

If his fingers inside her didn't do the trick, his thumb on her clit sealed the deal. Cassie grabbed onto his shoulder for dear life as he brought her off, and she let out an uninhibited howl. She was still seeing every color in the rainbow as she opened her eyes. "Thank you!" she kissed him and wrapped her hand affectionately around his penis, rubbing the precum all over the head with her thumb. "Now get on the bed!"

"Don't you want..."

"What I want is you inside me." She prodded him and he fell back onto the bed. "Now." She unbuttoned her skirt and let it slip to the floor, and Randy was nearly catatonic as he drank in the view of her whole body for the first time. It was no use in reminding him yet again about putting her on a pedestal. If she were to look in the mirror and see saggy breasts and stretch marks and thighs that seemed bigger every time she looked and a veritable forest between them that had seemed too big ever since her pregnancy with Jimmy, she knew he was looking at that very same body and seeing the most beautiful woman on Earth.

Who was she to argue?

Cassie grinned at his palpable appreciation and climbed onto the bed. Kneeling over him, she rubbed his hard cock playfully through her bush and around her wet lips and thighs, drawing his loudest responses yet. "Like that, do you?" she teased, though she ached to take him inside her already.

"So much!"

"Me too, but not as much as..." She said nothing more as she guided him inside her. "Onnnhhh!" she grunted as she threw her head back and gazed up at the ceiling. "Feels so good!"

"For me too!" He thrust his hips up as hard as he could, and she enjoyed the intense push and let out another husky moan to let him know.

There were no more words but plenty of noise as she set into rocking back and forth. Her breasts jiggled just enough to be a bit uncomfortable, and she hoped he would notice and play with them some more.

It took only a moment before he did. He rubbed a little harder than before, but she enjoyed it. His thumbs flicked at her nipples, and they seemed to grow harder by the second. The shy kid he'd once been, the sense of forbiddenness he'd seemed to view her with even as recently as a few weeks ago, her own fears that he would never see her as an equal who loved him as much as he loved her...all these and more were only fleeting memories as she rode him into a throaty screech of joy. As she came, she pressed hard over his hands so they mashed her breasts just a bit too intensely - but in the moment she enjoyed it.

Once the orgasm had washed away, she let go of his hands but hoped he would keep them where they were as she went on pushing into him again. "Come for me," she whispered, pleased that he did go on playing with her breasts.

"Can't come on the bottom," he managed to say between heavy breaths.

"I bet you can!" She set into rocking harder and faster, and tickled his sides with both hands.

"Oh, close!" he said.

"Good! Help me out!" She took his right hand off her breast and guided it down to her clit. Despite her rapid thrusting, his thumb had no trouble finding it and giving her just the help she needed, and together they came in a beautiful harmony of joyful yelps.

"Oh, Randy," Cassie gushed in a triumphant sigh as she lay down atop him and let her hair spill onto the pillow, leaving them together in their heavenly moment. They shared a long, gentle kiss. Cassie thought she just might cry.

She did not imagine Randy would do so. But he did.

"Randy! What's wrong!" He was still hard and still nestled well inside her, and she closed her legs tightly around him and propped herself up on her elbows. "It was beautiful! Or is that why you're..."

Randy shook his head. "Sorry, Cassie, it's just, we could have had a few years of this, and now here I am off to France..."

"You're going to take the job, then!"

"You're right, it's too good to pass up, and it'll be good for Penny. But I can't tell you how much I'll miss you, especially now!"

"Randy. You do know I'm a certified teacher, don't you?"

"Of course...wait a minute, are you saying..."

"After you gave me the news the other day, I went looking online for jobs teaching English over there. There are quite a few of them. They don't pay very well, but..."

"But my job will." Randy smiled, and the tears stopped. "Of course..."

"Oh, don't you dare say it'd be moving too fast if we moved in together!" Cassie ordered him. "We've had how many years to get to know each other?"

Randy laughed, and said no more.

Hours later, showered and dressed again, they were sharing a dinner of leftovers when Penny arrived home, just ahead of her curfew. When she saw them sitting close together and obviously flirting with one another, she said, "It's about time!"

Cassie and Randy both laughed. "You're taking the news well," Randy said.

"I've been hoping for it forever!" she said, helping herself to a seat across the table. "Missy was right, it was some dumb old Christmas movie. But now I'm really glad we left you two alone! It was great spending time with Andrew, too, but I'm not so sure if I like him that way after all. He felt more like just a best friend." She grinned. "I hope that doesn't disappoint you!"

"Not at all, Penny," Randy said. "You see, we've got more news, and I'm afraid it'll involve you having to make new friends."

"We're moving?" To Randy's surprise, Penny looked delighted with that. "Randy, I've always hoped you'd move us into the city already. Of course I'll make new friends, and I mean, I'll stay in touch with Andrew and Missy and the others, and sure I'll miss them, but I thought you knew I really wanted to move somewhere more exciting."

"Well, that's good." Randy exchanged surprised looks with Cassie.

"Oh, don't worry, Randy, it's not like I'm expecting you to move me to Paris or anything!" Penny laughed.

Randy smiled and took a deep breath. "As a matter of fact, Penny..."