Letting out a quiet grunt as she felt the tree digging into her shoulder blades, she pressed her hips back into the other girl's. She would have never expected Tatum to be the one to initiate this kind of thing, it was driving her crazy. Mack rarely let other girl's take control, preferring to be the dominate one but she was enjoying the redhead's fire.

She let out a small hum as she felt Tatum opening her mouth, she tried not to let the small groan escape her mouth as she felt Tatum battling her for dominance. Pressing her tongue back against the other girl's, she pulled the other girl's hips against hers again.

Mackenzie had kissed a lot of girl's in her life, it wasn't something that she wasn't used to, but this was different. She felt like her body was on fire where it touched Tatum, she could already feel herself overheating. Kissing Tatum was like nothing she had ever experienced before, it was slowly killing her, she was sure of it. She couldn't help but let a small whimper escape her lips as she allowed Tatum to have dominance over her. It was the first time ever that a girl had been able to make her surrender.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Feeling her hips pulled back against the older girl, Tatum fought herself not to let them arch in return. It was destroying her, breaking down her security and her walls, but she couldn't get away from it. Though she knew she was pushing her luck, maybe even tempting fate, the blonde girl's kiss was just keeping her drawn in. Even the light grinding between them was making her dizzy.

When Mack whimpered, Tatum broke away from the kiss and stared at her for another split moment. Still not bothering to speak, she ducked her head back in, lips pressing against the older girl's throat, working it over with quick and desperate little kisses. She still leaned heavily into her, keeping them propped under the tree.

And hopefully keeping them hidden somewhat by it's branches, if she was lucky.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Mackenzie was slightly embarrassed when Tatum broke away from the kiss to stare at her. She hadn't meant to let it slip from her mouth but she couldn't help it. The other girl was making her feel crazy, and she was slowly losing control of her conscious mind. She was about to say something when Tatum was suddenly ducking back in and kissing her neck.

The blonde dug her nails into the girl's hips, letting out a small groan as the girl worked her neck over. It was one of her biggest weaknesses, and she was glad that Tatum was pressing her into the tree so hard. She wasn't sure she could trust her legs to keep her standing right now.

She let her hand tangle in the girl's hair as she kissed her neck, tugging at it slightly. Her other hand dragged down the girl's stomach and ghosted across the skin right above the girl's jeans as her shirt rode up. She knew that Tatum would probably freak out if she drifted any father south but it was becoming harder and harder to not act on instinct. Sliding her finger along the waist band of Tatum's underwear, she pulled the girl's hips against hers once again.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Tatum had no idea how long this had been going on between them now, it felt like forever but she was sure that it hadn't been more than a few minutes. Still it left her entire body tingling in an unfamiliar way, a way that making out with no boy had ever evoked from her. It seemed to start in the pit of her stomach and pull, working right down into her legs. Which was shaking terribly, threatening to give up supporting her.

She was lucky she had Mack and the tree to lean on, and she did just that, barely any distance or space kept between the two of them. It had been such an awful day, she had been so sour, and now this was the greatest she had felt in months, in years, since Frankie had died. But it was awful and she needed to stop, and that was awfuller still.

Feeling Mack's fingers tangling through her hair, pulling at it, the redhead let out a little groan of her own. Her cheeks flushed immediately, clearing her throat gently afterward and trying to regain her silent composure. It was desperately hard. When she felt the movement of Mack's other hand, long fingers barely grazing the bit of stomach exposed between her jean shorts and shirt, the younger girl was sure she stopped breathing for a few seconds. This was fucking insane, she had to stop, and she had to stop now.

But still she wasn't, letting her hips be pulled closer again, not fighting the urge to arch in return this time. She felt the finger testing the waistband of her underwear and swore her breathing halted a second time, waiting in slightly sweaty anticipation to see how cocky the blonde really was.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Tatum arching her hips into the blondes was what did it, Mackenzie had been debating on if she could get her hand in the girl's pants. She had been considering letting it go, she really didn't know where Tatum's head was right now. It would have been wiser to let the younger girl stay into control, but when she felt the girl arch against her Mackenzie couldn't control herself any longer.

It was like her brain shut down, all intelligible thought was gone. She stopped thinking and just felt everything, the girls small groan, her hips pressing against her's, the way she had stopped breathing as the blonde girl teased her at the top of her waistband. It was all too much for the blonde, and she had no second thoughts about sliding her hand into the girl's jean shorts and teasing her through the fabric of her underwear.

She wanted to hear the girl groan again, wanted to make her feel as worked up as she was. She was on auto pilot now, and she was pretty sure that if Tatum didn't stop her now, she wouldn't want to stop as things went on. Would Tatum let her go that far? It was already a shock to the blonde that the younger girl had let her get as far as she did, and the fact that Tatum had actually initiated it made it even more shocking.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

It became a scary realization for Tatum that, as Mack's hand slid slowly into the waistband of her shorts, that she had now officially gone as far with the older girl as she had gone with any boyfriend before. It made the redhead's heart beat even more maddeningly in her chest as she felt the blonde's fingers pressing teasingly against her through her underwear.

She was sure that she was going to pass out or something, this couldn't be reality, and how long had it been since she had last checked that no one was around? Sera could be standing a few trees away for all she knew, but she couldn't seem to muster up the brain function to actually look and see. There was only Mack and Mack's fingers and the fact that if she let this happen, there was no going back.

Years she had spent in denial, fighting against ending up in a situation just like this, letting temptation win. It was more exciting than a boy, more daring, but more wrong, it was completely wrong. Wasn't it? It was what her father had always told them, there was a reason God only made Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve was one of his favorite jokes, but how could something that felt so good be completely wrong? Completely disgusting? It simply couldn't be, but why would he lie to her?

Finally managing to break her lips away from Mack's neck, she pulled back and looked at the blonde for another split second, trying to decide what she was going to do.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Mackenzie's eyes snapped open when she felt Tatum pull away from her neck, her hand freezing in it's place. Tatum looked scared, and the blonde could almost see the thoughts racing through her head. She wondered what the girl was going to do, nothing could surprise her at this point, or so she thought. How could anything top the fact that Tatum had pressed her up against a tree and done that?

She looked back at Tatum, silently praying that she would freak out on her. Today was confusing as hell for the blonde girl. First Tatum had been completely rude to her, then this, and now Tatum was staring at her looking hot and bothered and scared shitless.

"T?" She asked cautiously, her body frozen in it's current position. She untangled her hand from the girl's hair slowly, reaching out to cup her cheek. "Are you okay?"

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

She knew Mack could read her, could tell she was panicking, and that made it suddenly worse. It was embarrassing, on top of everything else. With her cheeks blushing brightly again, the redhead continued to stare the other girl down with a slightly terrified look. What had she done?

"N-No," Tatum whispered breathlessly. She felt the blonde cup her cheek, but quickly tucked her head away from it before backing off entirely. She put a foot or so of distance between them, pulling Mack's hand from her shorts and hating herself for how much she regretted it. Yes, confession was definitely going to have to happen. It had been too long.

"I n-need you to-- we have.. j-just like, we shouldn't s-see anymore of.. u-us. We have to s-stay away from each other," she stammered, looking extremely panicked now. As if she were on the verge of hyper-ventilating.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Mackenzie let her arm drop lifelessly to her side, she watched the other girl carefully as she stammered. The panic was definitely apparent now, and Mack thought back to what Sera had said at lunch. It seemed like the brunette was just about right about her sister, she figured she should try to do damage control.

"What?" she asked, her tone also becoming panicked. She stood up fully again, her legs still not happy to support her weight. She managed to stay standing however, and took a step towards the other girl reaching a hand out towards the other girl. "Tatum, you can't really mean that. Just calm down for a minute, okay?"

She wasn't sure why she was so upset about this, it wasn't like she hung out with Tatum on a regular basis anyway. It was just the privilege of being able to see the redhead whenever she wanted, she really didn't want to have that taken away from her. She felt like she needed the redhead in her life, needed the constant rude comments and eye rolls. What was she supposed to do without that?

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

"S-Stop it!" Tatum cried out a little shrilly, slapping Mack's hand away from her as if it were covered in something terrible. She had noted the panic in the other girl's voice, knew her own wasn't hidden in the slightest, and she felt terribly vulnerable and exposed. Why did they let each other do this? Mack always came back, always took her abuse, and Tatum had no idea why. And she just kept giving it. For the life of her, she had no clue why, and she just couldn't be nice to the blonde. It was too risky.

If let her in, let her close, if she fell in love with her, that would be the end of everything, and she couldn't let that happen. Her father would be so disappointed in her, more than he already was most of the time.

"I a-am calm, that was-- that was a mistake, a r-really disgusting mistake and I just- whatever, okay? I d-don't care," she stammered out, gesturing wildly with her hands in her frustration. She looked extremely exasperated, and quite embarrassed, her cheeks high with color. Staring straight at the older girl, she swallowed a lump in her throat. "Y-You're just going to g-go and tell Hunter and S-Sera anyway, so you can high-five a-about it or whatever you do, I d-don't know! I'm not even like.."

She kept going in circles, going around the same point, and it was becoming like beating a dead horse. What was the point? She could look Mack in the eyes and tell the older girl that she was as straight as an arrow, always on the straight an narrow, but the blonde had to know it was bullshit now. They had just had their tongues down each others throats for what had felt like hours. What was there to argue that, to explain it, other than that she had wanted it? Needed it.

"F-Fuck you," she muttered with finality, her eyes starting to fill up with tears as she turned her back on the blonde and began to stalk off.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Mackenzie stopped in her tracks as her hand was slapped away, the rising panic in Tatum's voice was starting to freak her out. Plenty of girl's had gotten mad at her before, had screamed at her, had told her to fuck off, but none of them scared her more than this. Had it been any other girl, she would have just let them walk off. She usually would have probably said it right back to them, made a crass comment and been on her merry way. This time though, she remained frozen as she watched the redhead get more and more worked up then finally walk away.

She didn't even have to debate on how to react, there was no question in her mind what she should do. There was no thinking about anything anymore, Tatum was walking away from her, trying to walk away from her for good. Mackenzie couldn't let that happen, she couldn't allow this girl to walk away. No matter how rude the redhead was to her, no matter how many times she told Mackenzie to fuck off, the blonde just couldn't do it. She quickly reached out and grabbed the girl by the wrist, just like the smaller girl had done to her earlier. She didn't spin her around though, she figured she would allow her that much. She just held onto her wrist so the girl wouldn't get away before she said her peace.

"T, wait, just...stop okay?" She said quickly, her voice calmer than she felt. Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest, and she could feel anxiety flooding her body. "I'm not going to tell anyone, alright? I promise. I...I don't think it was a mistake though. Maybe it was a mistake to let it go so far, but kissing you was never a mistake Tatum. Not the first time, and not this time." She bit her lip nervously, she was extremely confused at the situation at hand. She was usually so in control of situations like this, she always knew exactly what to say next to get the desired result. This time though, this time she couldn't make heads or tails of her thoughts. She knew she was going to end up blurting out something that she would regret later, but at the moment she knew she couldn't stop herself.

"You want to know why I always put up with you treating me like crap?" She asked, not expecting an answer from Tatum. Her grip loosened on the girl's wrist, but she remained holding on, in hopes that maybe Tatum wouldn't jinx her for what she was about to let slip from her mouth. She couldn't believe she was actually going to say it, because admitting this to Tatum would also be the first time she would admit it to herself. "I...I guess...I kinda like you, okay? Like, you know, that way."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

She wasn't particularly surprised when she felt Mack grab her wrist to halt her leaving, but she still wished the blonde hadn't done it. Things would be so much easier for both of them if they could just let it go and forget anything had even happened between them. She didn't fight the grip that the older girl had on her, just facing blankly in the opposite direction, listening to what the blonde had to say to her.

The words made her own heart begin pounding, and she had to swallow a lump in her throat as the tears that had welled up began to spill over her cheeks. She didn't make a sound though, chewing the inside of her cheek. Was the blonde lying? Probably. There was no way Sera wouldn't know something was up between them after this. It would be hard enough for her, someone dedicated to the cause, to forget this. She doubted Mack, who didn't seem to give a shit about anyone she fucked with, would stick to her word on this. She would probably crack, and that made Tatum want to panic again.

She had been about to blurt another defensive lie, tell the blonde that she didn't care why she put up with her, but what the older girl actually said made the redhead's eyes go wide. Her heart seemed to skip a beat, and she knew her face was flushing, still damp with tears. "N-No, I don't k-know," she stammered back.

This was exactly what couldn't happen. Mack liked her? Just repeating the thought made her heart doing that funny stopping thing again, made her stomach feel like it was plummeting down past her legs. Mackenzie Dubinsky liked her, like that, and there was no choice but to get away from her.

"How m-many times do I have to tell you t-that I'm straight? I'm-- I'm going to go out with S-Sam. I want h-him to ask me."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

"That's bullshit Tatum and we both know it!" She said forcefully, her frustration getting the best of her. She was scared, scared because she cared so much that Tatum kept rejecting her. Scared because she felt like if she let Tatum get away things would never be the same. It confused the hell out of her, and she wished she didn't have to feel this way about the stubborn redhead. Why couldn't this just be like any of the other girl's that she had dated? Why couldn't she just walk away and not look back? It didn't make any sense, and the blonde girl was freaking out. "You know exactly what I mean."

When Tatum told her that she wanted Sam Ruiz to ask her out, Mackenzie could feel her heart plummeting. This was supposed to be her chance with the redhead, not Sam's. "T-that's bullshit too," She said, her voice wavering slightly. She wasn't enjoying the desperate feeling she was getting in her chest, it was making her whole body shake lightly. "You can't...you can't really believe that, can you? I know you felt something too, you had to! It doesn't make any sense otherwise, stop lying to yourself Tatum!"

She was getting way to emotional over this whole thing, it was too much for her to handle. Tatum had single handedly turned her life upside down and there was nothing the blonde could do about it anymore. "I see you everyday, and you always look so sad. Even when you smile, it doesn't seem real Tatum, and you know why I know that? Because sometimes, when you aren't being a huge dick to me, and I'm not talking out of my ass to you, and we really talk, you smile. It's a real smile too because it's like the sun just started shining, and I know that you are being real with me. Stop shutting me out god damn it! You're straight, fine, whatever! I really don't give a fuck, but Jesus fucking Christ, you can't do this shit to me!"

She was breathing heavily now, still hanging on loosely to Tatum's arm. She immediately wished she could take everything she said back, it had been too much, she hadn't intended to let the girl know how she actually felt. Showing this much emotion to anyone was hard for the blonde girl, and now she had let too much show. She only hoped Tatum wouldn't use it to completely tear her apart, the ball was really in the redhead's court now.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Tatum could stand there and cry, stand there and deny it until she was blue in the face, but the fact wouldn't change that Mack was right. She knew exactly what the other girl meant, and she hated herself for feeling exactly the same way. She hated the way she was itching to just turn around and push the blonde up against the tree again, go back to where they had been moments ago before reality set in.

The reality being, of course, that the feelings were unacceptable and she couldn't change that fact. She didn't see the look on Mack's face when she brought up Sam, but she swore she felt the grip on her wrist tighten up for a split second. "I d-do believe it, why w-wouldnt I? I r-really like him, he's amazing," the redhead replied, sniffling a bit. It wasn't entirely a lie. Sam was amazing, he was one of her best friends, and he was definitely cute. But kissing Sam wouldn't make her stomach flip like Mack's lips did.

"I felt a-absolutely nothing," the redhead muttered back, still not turning her head. She didn't want to look the other girl in the face while she said it. They weren't white lies, but they were lies for the best. They'd both be better off avoiding any messiness between them. "N-Nothing," she repeated.

When Mack went off, Tatum listened closely to every word. She hoped no one was nearby them, didn't want anyone to see or hear any of this. Listening to the blonde's words made the redhead's heart ache, and she suddenly felt guilty for the entire day, how she had acted, how she acted every day. Mack was how she was, a player through and through, but for some reason she had decided to try to make the younger girl smile. And Tatum couldn't let her do it. She reminded herself again how much better off they were without each other.

"I'm being f-fucking real right now!" she snapped, fighting down tears as she finally turned around and faced the older girl, regretting it as soon as she did. Frustration and desperation stood out on Mack's expression, and she was sure her own must have reflected something similar. Her cheeks felt hot with color. Yanking her hand out of the blonde's grip, she held it up against her chest instead, as if it were wounded. "Y-You and I aren't right for e-each other and you need to just.. go b-back to whatever you do and stay away from me! Fucking please!"

It was harder to keep herself restrained after that, and a little hoarse sob quickly escaped her. She lifted her hand and clenched into a fist, holding it against her lips to silence herself as she stared at the blonde across from her.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Every time Tatum repeated the word nothing, Mackenzie felt the aching in her chest get worse. What the hell was happening to her? Why would she care if the girl went and dated that ass Sam Ruiz? Girl's having boyfriends never stopped her before, hell, she had never cared about anyone else's relationship situation. It had always been about getting the girl out of her pants and in bed, and Mackenzie knew how to do that. This, however, was completely new territory. She was pretty sure that she wanted to get the redhead in bed, there was no doubt about that. There was something else though, something that was never present in her wants before. She actually wanted to hang out with the redhead, she wanted to do all that sappy shit that she always ragged on Hunter for doing with Michi. She wanted to hold her hand, wanted to fall asleep with the redhead safely held in her arms, it made her slightly nauseous to even think about. Since when had Tatum gotten such a hold over her life?

The girl yanking her wrist from her hand brought her back to reality, and she found herself getting angry with the redhead. She didn't know if they were right for each other, she didn't really care if they weren't. She just knew that she enjoyed having Tatum around and was starting to get really irritated that the other girl was rejecting her. Then she really looked at Tatum, and saw the panic on her face. She saw the tears that were about to fall and the broken sadness in the girl's eyes. She couldn't bring herself to blow up at the girl any longer, it was like all the anger that she had been storing up was draining out of her and she was left standing there feeling exhausted.

The little sob that was barely audible was what caused the blonde to move, the girl in front of her was too broken. It wasn't even about liking her anymore, it wasn't about winning her over, it was just the fact that Mackenzie couldn't stand how sad the girl in front of her looked. She had never seen anything as heartbreaking, and she took a few steps forward to wrap the girl in a hug. It didn't matter that Tatum had told her stay away, no one should have to feel that sad. "H-hey, don't cry," She said quietly, as she stepped closer to the redhead. "It'll be okay, alright? Just don't cry."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

It was hard, but Tatum kept trying to keep it together, her fist still stuffed against her lips to keep herself quiet. Why was she doing this? She never should have kissed the older girl, and she definitely shouldn't have kept standing there like she was. But she couldn't tear herself away, even as she had tried to. Mack had pulled her back and now she felt stuck.

Stuck in the moment, and stuck realizing how untrue the blonde girl's words really were. "I-It'll never be o-okay, not as long as I-I'm.. I'm like this!" the redhead spat quickly, the blonde clearly having hit a nerve for her. It was easy to say everything would be okay, to calm down, to not cry. But things wouldn't be okay, and she had every reason to cry about it. She wanted to sob about it, but she couldn't.

When the blonde game toward her, Tatum stumbled back a little, trying to get away before the blonde to pull her into a hug. If the older girl embraced her, Tatum was positive she wouldn't be able to get away, wouldn't want to get away. If Mack hugged her, she was going to lose it for sure, and things were just going to start pouring out. She couldn't let herself go that way.

"G-Go!" the redhead protested in a panicky tone, throwing her hands out blindly to ward the older girl away from her, and gasping as she felt her previously clenched fist hitting the blonde girl squarely. She immediately felt terrible, but her eyes went wide, and she began to back up again, still backing away from her.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Mackenzie hadn't thought that Tatum would actually hit her, it came as much as a shock to the blonde as it did to the other girl. She had thought at worst, Tatum would tell her to fuck off or maybe try to shove her away. One moment Mackenzie was stepping cautiously towards the redhead, trying to calm her down, and the next thing Mack knew she was seeing stars. Bringing a hand instinctively up to her face, she had to shake her head a few times to get her vision to re-focus. Eventually, her left eye became less blurry, but the right eye was another story.

The blonde could already tell that the eye was swelling shut, and if she hadn't been a mess of conflicting emotions, she would have complimented the girl on her killer right hook. Today wasn't any normal day however, and combined with everything else that had happened today, the blonde girl just couldn't find it in herself to keep up her usual facade. Instead she was angry, and hurt, and she couldn't hide it any longer. This was what she got for trying to be nice to people, this was exactly why she never bothered getting close to anyone.

"You know what? Fine," She said calmly, straightening up and dropping her hand away from her injured eye. It hadn't shut completely, but she couldn't see much out of it, what she saw was blurry at best. It was going to bruise badly, if it hadn't already begun to change color. She could probably fix it easily, but right now she didn't particularly feel like heeling it. She wished she felt as calm and indifferent as she sounded, but inside she could feel her anger rearing it's ugly head. She had to get out of here before she said something she would regret.

"Go enjoy your little boy toy. I really couldn't fucking care less." She said, backing away, her arms raised in defeat. She let out an exasperated laugh, "I don't even fucking know why I bothered coming today. Apple pickin' is for nerds, I've got better things to do on a Saturday." With that she whipped out her wand and disapperated with a loud "crack".

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

When Tatum saw the other girl's eye swelling up, she felt instantly worse. Then there was the momentary flicker of anger she had seen on the blonde's face before she began to address her with sudden calmness. The redhead fought for her voice, telling herself to keep it together and not cry again and to just apologize, but Mack was backing away from her in the other direction before she could react.

It was exactly what she had asked for, but she fought the urge to reach out and pull her back in again. Before she had the chance to confuse either of them any further though, the older girl had disappeared entirely, the crack seeming like it was resonating through the trees for a few seconds. Tatum stood there stunned, staring at where the blonde had just been standing, before having to push her fist back up to her mouth to stop the sobs again.

She really didn't feel like being here anymore, but she was sure that Sera would give her hell if she left without saying anything. Mack could get away with it, she couldn't. Sera would surely give her hell anyway when the older girl told her sister when what happened. But it had been an accident, or at least the hitting her part had. When Julian had absently suggested violence earlier in the week, Tatum had never expected to actually use it.

Turning to look back toward the farm and, presumably, where everyone else was still milling about, Tatum sighed heavily before returning to the tree that Mack had jumped out of earlier. Sniffling, she climbed the branches slowly, not afraid to fall but still unsure of her movements. She had never really been the type of kid to climb trees, or jump fences. She went up half as far as Mack had gone, sitting on a solid branch there and leaning against the trunk of the tree. She would just stay up there until it was time to go, she'd wait until Sera called her, and then she'd go and face whatever she had to do. Until then, she would just sit up there and cry, her hands pressed over her face.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)