Again (Brandy Jeffus)

you were going to answer. I was just going to leave you a message," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
    "It's okay babe. I asked Coach if I could leave early. I'm walking to my car now."
    "Wait, why? Coach never lets anyone leave early."
    Bonnie heard Eli take a breath before answering, "Bonnie, I know what's going on this afternoon. I'm about to head to your house."
    His voice was soft and patient. Bonnie felt her heart soar with a mixture of adoration and sadness. He knew, and he was coming to be with her.
    "Okay. Hurry please," her voice broke and she felt her eyes burning with the threat of tears. She hung up the phone and started bawling. It was like a dam had busted on the inside. All the anger, fear, frustration and sadness she had kept inside came flooding out. She lay on her bed in the fetal position and gave in to the release of emotions that she had been holding in all this time.
    Eli found her in the room and rushed to her. He lay down behind her and reached around to hold her. He kissed the back of her head and rubbed her arms.
    "Shhh baby, it's okay. It's going to be alright. You got to calm down, okay?" he whispered. Bonnie turned around to face him and buried her head in his chest. He smelled like a combination of sweat, outdoors and locker combined with AXE spray and she started laughing despite herself.
    Eli seemed puzzled. "What's funny?"
    Bonnie pushed herself away so she could look up at him. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was biting his bottom lip, something he did when he was confused.
    Bonnie crinkled her nose in a teasing manner, sat up and said, "You stink." She started laughing again and Eli smiled.
    "Well, excuse me. I didn't have time to take a shower; I had to save a damsel in distress after all." Eli sat up beside her and sniffed his armpits, which made Bonnie laugh even more.
    "Ugh, you're right I do stink. Sorry babe." He looked embarrassed and this made Bonnie smile. She loved this boy, so much.
    She hugged his neck, putting her hands in his sweaty hair and said, “I love you so much. Sometimes it scares me how much I love you."
    Eli pulled her back so he could look at her. Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy. Her hair was pulled into a lifeless ponytail and her color was paler than normal. Today had been rough for her, he knew.
    "Why does it scare you baby?" he whispered. He held her chin gently between his thumb and forefinger and stared into her eyes.
    "It just does. You're the only thing I know as far as boyfriend wise. What happens if we end up like my parents? If all our love just disappeared one day and we hated each other? I would be devastated. It scares me because I have so much invested in you. You make up a large percent of my life. That's scary," Bonnie explained quietly.
    She took a deep breath and took Eli's hand. "This right here," she lifted up their joined hands, "makes me feel anchored to the world. Like, if I didn't have you I would just float away. I hate being so weak and putting so much on you. But I also love feeling so protected and safe.
    "You're not weak, Bonnie. You're one of the strongest people I know. And I've got a lot invested in you too. You are my life. I can't help it either and I don't want to. It makes me happy to love you so much and to have you love me the same," Eli said finally after a few minutes of silence. He kissed Bonnie's forehead. Under his embrace, Bonnie felt a shiver run down her spine.
    "It feels like I've loved you since the beginning of time," Bonnie whispered, fresh tears spilling down her face. Eli's breath came out ragged and he straightened up. Bonnie looked up into his face and he had a pained expression.
    "What's wrong?" she asked.
    Eli swallowed hard. "I've thought that exact same thing." He smiled wide and leaned in to kiss her tenderly. With her eyes closed Bonnie felt like she was flying. This is what Eli did to her. She felt so much built up passion and longing, she started kissing him harder. Her breathing quickened and her heart sped up.
    "I love you, so much. I need you Eli," she whispered. Eli moaned quietly and started unbuttoning her shirt.
    Like so many times in the past, they made love that afternoon. It was sweet and slow, and afterwards Eli held Bonnie close to him. He could feel her heart beat underneath his embrace.
    "You are my anchor Bonnie. Nothing can make me let you go." he whispered. He felt her heave a soft sigh and hugged her tighter.
    "Good I'm glad. You're stuck with me Stone," Bonnie