Light in the Shadows

              He had tapped the end of my nose with his finger.  “So nosy.”  I rolled my eyes.
                    Clay unlocked his car and turned to lean against it, pulling me between his legs, his arms wrapped around my middle.  “He was giving me the dad warning.  Letting me know he didn’t want me hurting you again.  Threatened bodily harm, you know how it goes,” Clay said lightly and I pinched his side, knowing he was messing with me.
                    “Ouch, okay.”  Clay had sobered and pulled me tightly against his chest.  He looked down into my upturned face and kissed me on the lips.  “He told me that what happened before had hurt you deeply.  That they had been terrified for you and it had been the most helpless he has ever felt as your father.  He told me that he would not watch you go through that again, even if that meant being the bad guy and keeping us apart.”  I sucked in a breath, scared and shocked by my father’s candor with Clay.  Though I should have expected it.
                    Clay had kissed the top of my head.  “I told him that I understood and that is why I hadn’t contacted you while I was in treatment.  I was convinced that staying away was the best thing for you.  That you needed to live your life without me in it.”  His grip around my body had become tighter and his voice broke.
                  “But I then told your dad that I now knew living my life without you wasn’t an option.  And that is why I was taking my medication, going to therapy, doing whatever I had to do to make sure the life we have together is a good one and that it makes you happy.  Because there is nothing more important to me than your happiness.”  My eyes had stung with tears and I pulled up on my tip toes, pressing a kiss to his mouth.
                    He had held me for a long time, tasting me, caressing my lips with his.  Our tongues tangled in a dance of total love.  When we pulled away he had run his hand down the side of my face.
                    “I love you, Maggie May Young,” he had whispered. 
                    “And I love you, Clayton Reed,” I responded with equal ardor. 
                    After Clay had left and I went back inside, my parents didn’t discuss Clay’s visit.  But I felt the ice thaw and I knew that while they didn’t necessarily trust Clay, they at least respected where he was coming from.
                    Saturday night dates quickly became a regular occurrence.  It was as though Clay were making up for lost time.  Sometimes he took me to dinner.  Sometimes it was a movie.  Sometimes we went hiking in the afternoon and had a picnic.  Other times we met up with Rachel and Daniel and went to the mall. 
                    It was all so normal.  So teenage.  I felt better knowing that Clay was consistently taking his medications.  He had to take them at lunch time and he did so every day without fail.  He didn’t make a show of it, but he never hid it from me either. 
                    How did we ever get so lucky as to be in this place together?  It was like a dream.  I was terrified that I would wake up and everything had popped like a bubble and Clay would be gone and I would be alone and all of this would be nothing more than a massive delusion.
                    But while I was deliriously happy, some people, or should I say person wasn’t so thrilled with my relationship.  My friendship with Jake had significantly cooled.  Gone was our easy banter while we worked.  In fact, we hadn’t shared a shift in over two weeks and I couldn’t help but wonder if he had requested a different schedule. 
                    My heart hurt a little at the thought that I had callously led him on; only to drop him in a red hot minute the second Clay gave me the time of day again.  I felt like a total asshole.  I had tried to talk to Jake, to make it right in some way, but he either was too pissed or just not ready to talk to me.  So any attempts at making myself feel better where he was concerned would just have to wait; if it ever happened at all.
                    But Clay and me.  We were pretty close to perfect.
                    I tried not to stare at him as he sat on his bed after school, sketching in a