			GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME (Chapter 76)
					 

Warren went to see Mary the next day. Sophia was waiting for him in his room when he got done.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

Warren sighed. "Difficult. You know I've always been pretty well in touch with my emotions--well, for a guy, anyway." They both grinned at that. "And I've shut down since....it happened. And when I try, all I feel is pain, and humiliation, and anger. I feel weak, and abused, and all kinds of horrific things I'm not used to feeling. I never thought of myself as weak, Soph. I can't help it, now."

"I used to think of myself as weak. Then I met this fabulous guy who convinced me otherwise." That got a hint of a smile. "Nobody can be strong all the time, Warren. There were four of them. You had no chance."

"I know. Mary asked me if I thought this would have happened if there was only one of them, and I told her, no fucking way. I'm an athlete. I might not look like a football player, but I can lift you off the ground while gliding around on skates. Four of them were just too much. I know that, intellectually, but....."

"Been there, done that, could write a book."

"True." He grinned at her. "How's it feel, being the strong stable one for a change?"

"HORRIBLE!" she mock-yelled. They both cracked up laughing. "Warren, if there's anything I've learned, it's this--I love you. Whatever you need, if I can give it, I will."

"Thanks, Pookie. It means a lot."

"And, you can't just resign yourself to feeling bad things. Change your attitude. I know what happened is hard to deal with, but you can't make it your life. Deal with it, sure--that's what Mary is for--but try to get your life back, too."

"That's what Mary said. She says I'm avoiding the things that make me feel good, and that I can't if I want to be able to deal with the bad things."

"Right." She reached under his desk and withdrew a bag. "I got us some ice time, starting in twenty minutes."

He looked at his skate bag, and at Sophia. "OK," he said, smiling, taking the bag. 

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They had an hour. The limbered up some, then ran through the Golden Waltz and the Sinatra. He handled it fairly well, all things considered, Sophia thought. When they were done, she turned to him and said, "How do you feel?"

"Tired and sore all over," he smiled. "I'm still healing physically. My ribs ache, and my wrist is screaming at me. Outside of that? I feel OK."

"Good."

"And I was very glad to see that you didn't fuck up the Golden Waltz again, Pookie," he grinned at her.

"Oh, thanks," she stuck out her tongue at him. "You hungry?"

"Famished."

"Dorm slop?"

"Actually, I'm in the mood for some shrimp with cashews, a little fried rice, maybe an egg roll....."

She beamed at him. "You got yourself a date."

They went to the Chinese restaurant, and grabbed a table. They ordered.

"By the way," Warren said, "I don't think I've said 'thank you.'"

"What for?"

He took a deep breath. "You threatening to leave is the main thing that snapped me out of it. It's probably the only thing that could have. Now, I know why you did it this time, but it made me flash back to what happened last semester. And I realized that that was, in some ways, worse than what I'm going through now." He smiled at her. "Even thought I thought you might be bluffing this time."

"I probably was," she smiled back. "I was at my wits' end, though."

"I know you were. I tell you all the time that I love you. I probably don't make it clear enough how much I need you."

"I know," she smiled. "So, you've seen Mary, you've skated. How do you feel?"

"Shaky. I still feel like I could either burst into tears or go on a murderous rampage in an instant. I also feel very grateful to you,  and very much in love with you. So I suppose that's a fair trade."

"Don't be too grateful. Enlightened self-interest, don't you know."

Warren burst into laughter. "Oh, so that's your line now? Should I start calling you Saint Sophia?"

"Well....if you must....," she teased.

"Hey!" a voice approaching called out. It was Papa Bear and Caitlin.

"Hi guys!" Sophia said.

"Yo, you two. Just walk in?" Warren asked.

"Yup," Caitlin answered. 

"Join us, we just ordered," Warren said. Sophia looked at him in happy surprise. 

"Don't mind if we do, Lobster-Breath," Papa Bear smiled.

The four friends enjoyed their meal together. 

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Back in Warren's room, they had studied a bit, and were now getting ready for bed. 

"That was nice, seeing Paul and Cait in the Chinese place," Sophia said.

"Yeah, it was. It was blessedly normal." Warren laughed. Then he turned somber. "Now, if I can only get through tonight without a nightmare," he said very softly.

"I know," Sophia said. Warren looked up at her, startled. "Yes, I heard you, and, yes, I know you've been having them. You wake me up more nights than not."

"I'm sorry."

"Warren, don't be sorry for that. I just wish there was something I could do."

"Mary says they're normal, and they'll go away when I come to better terms with what happened. You can help by getting in this bed, though. I didn't have one last night, not that I remember, anyway. I know the bed's too small....."

"I don't care. I've only been sleeping in Tim's bed because you were flinching every time I touched you."

"I know. I'm not flinching now, Pookie." They climbed into the bed together. Sophia leaned above Warren and gave him a kiss, and, suddenly he pulled her down on top of him, kissing her with a furious passion.

"Oh, wow, what did I do to deserve that?" Sophia said after they had just broken the kiss.

"Just for being you," Warren said. He kissed her again. "God, I love you so much."

"I love you to, Warren. Everything's going to be OK, you know. You're a strong person."

"So are you, you know." He kissed her again. Then he kissed down her neck. She felt a hand move up under her nightgown and grab hold of her breast. He tugged on the hem of her nightgown with his free hand, and she helped him get it over her head. Her panties were gone in a flash. He stripped off his sweatpants and underwear, and was hovering over her, his hand back on her breast.

"Sophie....I need.....I need......."

"Whatever you need, sweetheart, you know that," she smiled up at him. She felt him, she felt his cock at her entrance. Before she knew it, he was in.

"Oh God!" she screamed. He was pistoning in and out of her like a man possessed. He did need this, she thought. That was OK. It was even OK when he came very quickly. It didn't matter, she realized. This was for him. It was all right.

And then she realized that it really didn't matter, because he was so full of pent-up frustration and lust that he stayed hard. And, then, he was moving in her again, a bit slower and more deliberate this time.

"Twice in a row, Snugglebear? You stud!" she playfully whispered in his ear, and he was rewarded with a huge grin and a noticeable relaxation in his tense back muscles, which she was holding on to. He wasn't wildly flailing to a desperate orgasm this time, he was deliberately rocking back and forth within her, bringing her along with him. "Oh God Warren that's so good, you're so good, oh yeah.....," she whispered in his ear. "Oh YEAH Warren fuck me, fuck me good, make me cum, I need it so bad, oh yeah, fuck me, fuck me...." He kept moving inside her, wanting to bring her along with him. "Oh Warren, oh honey, so close, so close.......uh! uh! uh! uh! uh! UNGGGGYYYEEEAAAHHHH!!" 

She came down from her orgasm, and he was still pounding away at her. "Oh Warren, baby, you are a stud tonight!" she gasped. "Oh, yeah, keep that up and I'll be going again...oh GOD!"

"You like being fucked, Sophie?" he growled in her ear.

"Oh YEAH Warren...OhGod....OhGod....Fuck! Fuck!"

"You want it harder, Sophie!"

"Harder! Harder! Fuck me harder, Warren! Oh please!" He picked up the pace. "OH YEAH!" she screamed.

"You ready to cum again?" he asked her.

"Close....real close......" He slammed into her, and she arched her back and came again, just as he poured his seed into her. 

They collapsed on the bed. After a couple minutes, Warren spoke.

"My....ribs....HURT!" 

Sophia couldn't help but giggle. "Between the skating and that, you might've overexerted yourself a bit, sweetie."

"It wasn't the skating," he said. Sophia cracked up laughing.

"You needed that in any case," she said simply.

"True. It's just that I'm too sore to do my usual thorough job on you."

"That's OK. I came twice, what else can a girl ask for?"

"You're right, though, I needed that. I'd apologize for being a bit rough at first if it weren't for the fact that you like it that way."

Sophia giggled. "You're right, but tonight was for you in any case."

"Thanks, Pookie."

"Thank you. It's been a while."

"You've been patient."

"Horny, but patient," she giggled. "Good night, my love."

"Good night, ruler of my heart."

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They got back on the ice in earnest, and word spread throughout the skating world. The messages of support and encouragement poured in. 

Warren, with Mary's help and Sophia's support, slowly got better. The nightmares came much less frequently. And, he decided to fight back. Preacher Watson held a rally on campus, hoping that the ruckus had died down. Warren, and his friends, made sure it didn't. They made up a pamphlet, entitled "This is what 'Reverend' Watson's hateful words can do," detailing what had happened to Warren, and he and his friends handed it out at the rally. The crowd thinned considerably.

The University community as a whole was very supportive. Their practices started to fill up with people supporting and encouraging them. Sophia joked they should start charging admission.

Shortly, it was time for Worlds. 








