Chapter Text
She ran her fingers along the wall as she walked down the hallway of Calhoun School, a small town, public k-12 school in rural Tennessee. El has been working as the school nurse here for five years, but her roots run so much deeper than that. Before she was an employee, she was a student.
She paused as she passed the room she went to Kindergarten in and waved to Mrs. Hutchinson. Mrs. Hutchinson had been freshly graduated and married when Elara’s family moved to Calhoun County in the middle of the school year. Mrs. Hutchinson had made Elara feel at ease immediately when she demanded a retake of the photo of her in inaugural class.
The door opened, pulling Elara from her memories.
“Hello, dear!” Mrs. Hutchison exclaimed hugging El tight.
“Hey, Mrs. Hutchinson,” El breathed, strangled by the tight hug.
“Honey, please. You’re grown! You can call me Leslie. I’ve told you a hundred times,” Mrs. Hutchinson beamed.
“I know you said that, “ Elara said, slowly, “but mama didn’t raise me like that, ma’am. She’d have my hind end if she knew I called you Leslie. Mama always said I’d never be too old for her to pull me across her lap!”
Mrs. Hutchinson threw her head back in laughter.
“I know, I know. Your mama sure was a hoot. I’m sure she’s very proud of you.” Elara smiled, sadly.
“Hey, no sad faces, El! It’s your wedding day!” Elara immediately pulled her shoulders back, a smile stretching ear to ear, exposing her one dimple on her left cheek.
“I know, Mrs. Hutchinson. One o’clock can’t get here fast enough!” El almost screamed, placing her hand on her chest to calm herself down.
It was the last day of school before Christmas Break, which meant the kids got out a little early. Because El and her fiancé both worked at the school, it seemed like the perfect day to make their vows to each other.
“Honey, are you sure you don’t even want a reception when you get back from the honeymoon? It’s just, getting married at the courthouse in the middle of the day... you know how people ‘round here can be,” Mrs. Hutchinson whispered, placing her hand lightly on El’s forearm.
Elara smiled, “Well, Mrs. Hutchinson, they’ll just have to talk. They need something to keep ‘em busy anyway! Besides, we aren’t your traditional couple.”
Mrs. Hutchinson laughed, “Oh, Honey, I know that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but he’s well old enough to be your daddy.” She chuckled, but El only smiled. They had never felt the age gap. It always just felt right. “If you’re sure about the reception though, I’ll drop it. What are you even doing here today? You should be off getting pampered! And what if he sees you, y’know it’s bad luck for the groom to see his bride before the weddin’!”
“I know I know,” El said, looking away, “but he’s gonna see me anyway. I have to go help him teach the Sex Ed class this afternoon.”
Mrs. Hutchinson face flamed red. “Well you tell those hoodlums to keep it in their pants! I retire in 10 years and I am tired of having parents needing class excuses for parent conferences!” She was so serious, but El couldn’t help but laugh.
She turned down the hall toward the gym, “I’ll see you later, Mrs. Hutchinson!”
El opened the double doors to the empty gym and checked her watch. Twenty minutes early, just like she’d intended. The kids are at lunch and she, well she was going to pay a little visit to see her fiancé.
She rounded the corner and knocked on the office door.
“Come in!” His gruff voice commanded. She shivered. It amazed her how he could say any old thing, and it would send electricity down her spine. She opened the door slowly sticking her head in first before opening it all the way. There he was, sitting behind his desk eating lunch. His grey spandex shirt stretched across chest exposing his toned body. His hair was tousled on top of his head. He was clean shaven, as he always was.
“Well excuse the fuck outta me! I thought you were some little asshole, not an angel come to take me to heaven,” he said, chewing a piece of microwaved chicken. She smiled and walked over behind the desk as he wiped his hands on his napkin, then took both of hers in his looking into her eyes. “You ready, doll?”
She sighed. “Honestly no. What if these kids ask me something and I have no idea what to say? Negan, I don’t know the first thing about sex and I think I’m about to make a fool out of myself in front of fifty hateful teenagers!”
He pulled her into his lap. “Elara,” he practically sang her name, and she loved it. He was the only one who ever used her whole name, “I was asking if you were ready to marry me this afternoon,” he smirked, making her cover her face with her hands as she blushed, “but don’t worry about those little fuckers, doll. It’s their fuckin’ job to try to make you feel stupid.” He brushed a stray hair out of her face, cupping her cheek, “and you, goddamn, you are the smartest person I’ve ever met. What with your fancy university Master’s Degree. You tell ‘em the science shit, and I’ll handle the freaky shit.” His voice lowered, pulling her close and breathing into her neck “And then tonight, I’ll teach you any freaky shit you want to know.”
She couldn’t take it. Elara dipped her head down and brushed her lips across his as she straddled his lap. He pulled her close, and when she tilted her hips she could feel that he was just as excited as she was. His hands snaked beneath her purple scrub top and he grabbed both of her breasts, squeezing them hard and pressing them together. The kiss deepened until they felt like the only two people in the world. That is, until the door flew open, making Elara immediately jump up and stumble to the ground.
“Whoa-ho-ho, Coach Negan! I didn’t think this was going to be an interactive presentation!” Three senior boys stood in the doorway snickering. The tallest of them and the speaker, Tanner, was Negan’s star. He had a harsh home life, but Negan took him under his wing, encouraged him to get his grades up, and found an aunt for him to stay with. Now, he was captain of the baseball team and on track to be the salutatorian, just like Negan was in his day.
“Get outta here, you little assholes!” Negan laughed. Elara pulled her self up and looked in the mirror hanging on the wall.
“Great. I’m bright red!” She said, touching her face.
“Yeah well,” Negan walked behind her pressing her against the wall, “you feel that?” She most certainly did feel it. It was pressing into her back in the best way. Without thinking she let a small moan escape. He grunted, “That’s what you do to me, baby doll. And tonight, I’m gonna show you what I can do to you.”
He pushed himself away from wall and took her hand, smiling as if nothing had happened, and led her into the gymnasium to the waiting class. Elara reached up and quickly smoothed her hair. She looked at Tanner first who smiled, confirming he did not tell what he’d just seen. Elara was so thankful for that.
“Okay you little fuckers!” Negan yelled, “everybody got their permission slip?” The class held their slips up in unison with no sound, eliciting a laugh from Negan, who was leaning over the table set up with all El’s diagrams and teaching tools, “Alright then, take it away, Nurse Elara.”
El smiled as he said her name, pushing herself away from the table, “Okay so let’s start by me asking you what you think you know about safe sex.”
Several hands shot up. “Okay you,” El said, pointing to a small dark skinned girl in a crimson sweater.”
“Well, I know if you pull out you can’t get pregnant,” the girl said triumphantly.
“Uhm,” El spoke slowly, “Actually that’s a very common misconception. You can definitely get pregnant. I always like to say ‘What do you call a couple who uses the pull out method as their primary form of birth control?’” She stared at the blank faces around her, “Parents!” She laughed at her own joke before realizing she was the only one laughing. She looked up at Negan, her eyes pleading.
He stood up from the table and said, “Okay, show of hands, how many of you have seen a dick?”
El blushed immediately and kept her hands firmly at her sides, pretending she assumed the question didn’t apply to her.
“Well those of you that have? You see that sticky stuff? That’s precum and that shit will get you pregnant. Easy. And you shouldn’t be ridin’ bear back anyway. That’s how ya get herpes and chlamydia and that shit is NASTY,” Negan continued, “and another thing,” he stopped abruptly as Elara touched his arm. She looked up at him, her face clearly reading “that’s enough.”
They continued this way for the remainder of the class. El would answer a question the best she knew how, the way her nursing text books explained it, and Negan would follow up in layman’s terms, from experience.
Finally, the bell rang, signaling that Christmas break had officially begun. As the last student filed out , Elara leaned against the table, her head low, completely exasperated.
“Hey, Hey, baby girl,” negan said as he sauntered over, picking up her chin with his forefinger and forcing her to look at him, “you were great.”
She smiled, “No, you were great. You relate to them so well. And you have so much..” she trailed off.
“Experience?” He smirked. She loved that smirk. It tore her apart inside.
“Yeah,” she said barely above a whisper.
“Well,” he said,his voice low and gravely, “this time next semester, you’ll have so much experience you won’t even need me here.” El shivered at his words. Elara was a virgin. Not by lack of opportunity, but by choice. When her mother died, she made a decision to wait. She didn’t know why, but it was what felt right. Negan had known that when they started dating, and despite some very passionate nights and very close calls, it was always him that had forced her to keep her promise, knowing how upset she’d be if she didn’t.
Negan moved away to grab his bag from his office, and El let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding.
“See you at 5:30?” She finally had the courage to say.
Negan reappeared from his office and quickly ran over to give her a deep kiss, “Five thirty, doll,” he whispered then turned and walked toward the parking lot.
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