He sat down on the couch and ate his frozen pizza that was still burning hot from the oven. He looked around and wondered if she could make as much in his apartment as she had done in her own one. It wasn't that he couldn’t do what he wanted in the place. It was more that he didn’t know how to. Ann had thrown ideas out at him, but he had vetoed all of them because they would cost thousands of dollars, and he hoped in the next few years he would be out of the apartment and in his own house.That was his plan anyway. He thought of Bree in the hospital and didn’t like the idea she was there by herself. It bothered him for some reason. He had spent the day worrying about her, and then he was mentally slammed against the wall with her when the doctor had given her the news. He had not wanted to think about the rape that had happened. She didn’t either, but now it seemed that wasn't all that possible.She h

 Bree was still getting tired easily. Gabe knew when she was ready to lay down though he waited until she was asleep to leave. There hadn’t been any celebration for her eighteenth birthday, which would be the day she was released or the fact she graduated high school. She had a diploma that was handed to her by the principal, and then he left. Gabe thought it was all pretty pathetic. He planned for the night she came home to give her a few surprises.He had been left alone from everyone he had met when he was with Ann. Though he hadn’t gone out of his way to say anything to them either if they had run into each other. He wasn’t surprised that Matthew had called his brother and mother again and again. That was the extent of some of the things he did expect.The night when he got home from the hospital, Bree was supposed to be released from the hospital the next day, he received a phone call from his mother that he did not expect, “Ga

  “I just don’t want anything else to happen.” She said as she looked at him.“Anything that does, I have gone into this with my eyes open, Bree. I have taken steps to make sure that neither of us will have any problems because of this.” Gabe said with a grin, “if he wants to throw away years of friendship because of a girl that doesn’t even really care all that much for him, then that is on him and not my problem.”“Why would you say she doesn’t care all that much?” Bree asked as Gabe started up the car.“Because she broke up with him because her sister told her too,” Gabe said. “I am sorry, but I love my sister and my brothers, but I wouldn’t give a rat's ass if they told me I had to break up with someone because they got dumped by someone else. That is showing you how much Ann likes to control the people around her and why I couldn’t be wi

 They began their trip back to the apartment in silence. He knew that she had pushed herself, and she was tired. He also knew that when she got to the place, they would have to talk about everything. He had gone over this a hundred times in his head and only a few times did it work out the way he wanted it to. This was the time to prepare himself for the fact he really didn’t know her all that well.He had been her teacher, and though he did watch her closely, he realized when she was in the hospital, he really didn’t know her all that well. The age difference wasn’t the thing that would be holding them back. It was the fact that a lot between them was still unknown. He hoped that he wasn’t pushing it already, but he knew they had to clear this first hurdle in front of them.When they got to the apartment, he helped her out of the car like he had at the store. Then popped his trunk and grabbed all the bags, and loaded them on one ar

 “Gabe.” She said softly, “We can’t.”“Why?” he asked as he looked at her. They were still only inches away from each other. Her breathing had changed slightly, and so had his. He knew what he wanted and needed, but that was not going to happen then.“Because it is wrong.” She said.“How is this wrong?” he asked as he pressed his head closer to hers as their foreheads touched.“Gabe, you’re my.” She started to say, and then he cut her off, “I am not your teacher. I am not seriously older than you. Tell me how this is wrong.”“Gabe.” She said she looked at him and she couldn’t find anything. She knew that he was telling the truth to her. “I don’t know.”“You don’t have to know.” He said, “Not right now at least. Bree, I want more from you than being your friend, but this is no