After thinking about it for a day or two, I understood Tony's point of view in it. His problems really were different than mine. He didn't have to worry about his parents finding condoms on their floor and if they did find something, he wouldn't be embarrassed about it because sex was only natural. And I had gotten so embarrassed in front of my mother and now Tony thought that I was just a kid. I was younger than him, sure, but I wasn't that young. We most certainly did not live in different worlds like he had said.

And what hurt the most was that everything had gone so well before that. Tony had made up his mind and had been about to ask me to be his girlfriend and then boom. Now he didn't want anything to do with me and that was that.

I wasn't childish but I understood what Tony had meant by saying that he was too old to be with me. He probably didn't want a girlfriend who would get embarrassed if her mother found some condoms from the floor. He probably didn't want to date somebody who would completely freeze in a situation like that. But what could I do about it? Tony should have known what I was like and apparently he didn't.

---

After thinking about it for 48 hours, I walked up to his door and rang the doorbell a thousand times before the door opened and I saw him standing in front of me. His hair was messy and he smelled like old booze and beer.

”You can't just dump me like that,” I said right away, ”You cannot just walk away like that. If you don't want to be with me then man up and tell me.”

”I did tell you, Abby,” he told me, ”I did.”

”Well that was wrong. You should've explained exactly why you decided to leave me like that. I'm not too young for you – that's just bullshit. I think you're just too afraid to be seen with me. You think that people will judge you if you're with somebody that gets embarrassed by condoms on the floor. You care too much about what people think about you and that's just plain stupid.”

”You know what, Abby? You're absolutely right. I do care about what people think of me. But I can't be with somebody that's so different,” he told me.

”So different? That is bullshit and you know it. I came here to fight for you, for us, and I'm going to win this. Even Vic, who knows you the best, thinks that I'm the right girl for you. I know you like me and in a couple of days you would have been behind my door and I know that for a fact. Do you want to know why I know that? I know that because you love the sex we have too much to ever walk away from me like that. And it's not even about the sex. I've changed your world and we both know that I'm perfect for you.”

”Really?”

”Yes, really. You need somebody like me that will want to have deep and honest conversations after sex in the middle of the night. You need me in your life, just like I need you in my life. I'm not going to deny that because we both know it's true.”

”Look, Abby, it doesn't matter. None of that matters,” he told me.

”What's that supposed to mean?”

”I don't know what to do with you.”

”Why can't we just be? Why do we have to overthink this? Why does everything have to be so complicated?” I asked and he stopped to think about it for a moment.

”When I get my next girlfriend, she has to be somebody that I want to spend possibly the rest of my life with. What about you? Are you ready to settle down at the age of 22? Don't you want to travel the world, see people, discover new things? Don't you want to see everything before you settle down?” he asked me. I stood there, slightly confused by his words, and just looked at him.

”Don't you realize that I love you?” I whispered and furrowed my eyebrows.

Obviously he was taken aback by the word love and only then I realized, too, that I had never told him that. I had never once said it to his face. I had never told him that instead of just liking him a lot, I actually loved him.

”That's stupid, Abby. You don't love me. You don't even understand what love is,” he muttered and that was when I got angry.

”You know what, even if I'm slightly younger than you doesn't mean that I'm stupid. Just because you're older doesn't give you the right to underestimate me,” I told him, ”Don't doubt my feelings. Don't act like you're any better than I am.”

”Do you really love me?” he asked quietly.

”Yes. I really do fucking love you, you idiot. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it!”

And after I had shut my mouth after shouting those words at him, I felt him grab my face and pull me into a rough kiss. In just a few seconds he had wrapped his arms around me completely and was holding me tightly against his chest and kissing me like there was no tomorrow.

”I'm sorry, Abby, I don't know what got into me. But that speech you just gave was really something,” he whispered against my lips, ”I had no idea you felt that way about me. I... I don't know what to say. I'm sorry.”

And when he pulled away from me, he never let go of me. He kept his arms tightly around me and kept looking straight into my eyes. Had all been forgiven and forgotten? Probably not, no, but everything was now better and that was what brought a smile to my face.

”I'm not young and stupid,” I mumbled, ”I'm really not so don't ever tell me that again.”

”I won't. You're not young and stupid.” And it was true. I wasn't young and stupid. I was just in love.

I spent that night at Tony's place after I had informed my mother that I would be at my boyfriend's place. Of course, and unfortunately, Tony wasn't really my boyfriend but my mother thought he was and I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth.

We ate pizza and watched TV and did nothing special which was absolutely fine with me because all that mattered was that I got to spend time with him and we weren't fighting.

After watching TV for a while, my eyelids grew heavy and I drifted into sleep, only to be shaken awake by Tony.

”Abby? You can't sleep on the couch, let's get you to bed,” he murmured quietly into my ear. But I was so comfortable and so tired that I just nodded and tried to fall back to sleep. Tony chuckled quietly and his chest vibrated under my head.

”Baby,” he whispered, ”Come on.”

”Mmhm, no,” I mumbled and buried my face into his warm chest.

A few seconds passed by and then I felt him sit up straight and wrap his arms around me. He lifted me up from the couch and started walking me towards the bedroom. He put me down on the bed and pulled the blanket over me before leaning closer and kissing my cheek softly. I smiled and felt myself being pulled back into sleep. Tony joined me in bed and I could feel him pull me into his arms before burying his face into the back of my neck. And the last thing I heard before I was completely out was the reason I woke up with a smile on my face the next morning.

”I love you, Abby. So much.”

When I woke up in Tony's arms the next morning, the sun was shining through the window and burning the room. I was getting sweaty but I didn't mind because so was Tony. His chest against my back was awfully warm and made me want to dip myself into the pool right away. But I didn't dare move. Tony was snoring quietly into my ear and I couldn't bring myself to wake him up so I laid there in silence until he groaned and let me know he was awake.

”Why is it so fucking hot in here?” he mumbled and wrapped his arms more tightly around me before yawning.

”The sun shines through the window. We forgot to close the curtains,” I murmured.

”Fuck,” he groaned and rolled over onto his back, releasing me from his grip. I rolled over to my other side and looked at him. He turned his head and our eyes met and I gave him a wide smile.

”Good morning,” I murmured.

”Hey,” he whispered and returned the smile.

I reached closer to touch his cheek with my fingers and just looked at his face for a really long time. And then the memory of the previous night came back to me. He had told me he loved me, holy shit! I tried not to freak out as I really realized that he really did truly love me. And maybe that was why he had doubted my feelings for him earlier. Maybe his feelings, his love for me was so strong that he couldn't possibly believe that I could love him as much as he loved me. Or maybe I was just overanalyzing.

”Tony?”

”Yeah?”

”I love you,” I whispered with a grin. Thinking about it felt good but saying it out loud to him was even better. And watching the smile on his face grow wider was the best.

And after having said that, I expected and waited for him to repeat what he had whispered to me the previous night but he didn't and I was disappointed. I understood that he wasn't probably ready to say it to my face and I didn't want to push him. Maybe it was just something he could whisper to me only when I was half asleep.

When we finally got up, I went to take a shower. I brushed my teeth in front of the mirror with the toothbrush I had bought for his place because I spent so much time there.

Tony appeared behind me and I watched us in the mirror. He started brushing his teeth and we really looked like a real couple. Except that we weren't. And I could only once again wonder why he didn't just ask already.

”I'm going to take a shower,” I told him after finishing, and put away my toothbrush. He nodded as I started pulling off my clothes. He watched my naked figure in the mirror and then I disappeared behind the shower curtain.

I turned on the water and waited for it to be warm enough before stepping into it. I closed my eyes and let the water run down my face.

And then I felt a pair of arms on my waist and I shivered under his touch. I turned around, facing Tony who was looking at me and biting his lip which made him look really sexy. He took a step closer to me, pushing me gently between the wall and his body, and lowered his head. In a few seconds I could feel his lips against my mouth and he kissed me softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer.

His already wet hair felt nice and soft under my touch and his soft lips were hungry for me and I thought to myself that morning sex plus sex in the shower could not be a disappointment.

He left a trail of kisses down my neck and all the way to my chest as he leaned closer to me and pushed his thigh up and between my thighs, earning a moan from me. I dug my nails into the skin on his back as he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. And, honestly, it wasn't as easy as it seemed. I laughed into his mouth when he nearly dropped me and as a reply he slid himself into me, turning my laughing into moaning. He slammed me against the wall, hitting the cold tiles with my back and I started riding him.

”This is really hard,” I breathed against his lips. And it was. Even though it was wet and steamy and hot, it was hard. And Tony soon realized that, too. He groaned and laid me down on to my back on the wet floor. Then he climbed on top of me and thrust himself deep into me once again. And let's just say that I preferred a soft bed and blankets and pillows all around me.