This Is The Dawning Of The Rest Of Our Lives

TRÉ’S POV

I nervously rang the doorbell, trying to think out a plan in my head. I had to see Jessica. I didn’t care if she was grounded, I just had to.
The door opened, and a woman with an annoyed look on her face appeared. She looked at me, waiting for me to say something.
“Hello, Mrs. Isar, My name is Frank Wright,” I started, trying my hardest not to grimace at the use of that name. Somehow, I thought that, even if she’d seen me passing by a few times already, it would give a better impression. Mrs. Isar didn’t say anything, but looked at me with a “so what?” look.
“I’m a schoolmate from Jessica, and we’re doing this science project,” I continued, surprised by my own resourcefulness “and I need to ask her a few things.”
“Why don’t you call her then?” she spat “She’s grounded.”
I sighed. “I kn-” I stopped myself, realizing it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to let her know that I knew that Jess was grounded.
“I know I could’ve called,” I said quickly “but I was around, and I’m sure you know how much easier it is to explain something face to face than over the phone.”
Jessica’s mother rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Oh all right then, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt Jessica to do some schoolwork. You ask what you need to know, but then you’re out!” she added threateningly. I nodded and quickly got in, making my way towards the staircase. I felt sort of relieved that I’d managed to get in. I was going to see her! I’d been here two or three times before, with Mike and Billie. Jessica had showed us her music collection and her guitar, Jingle. I’d loved to just sit there on her bed and watch her play. She looked so happy, so careless when she was playing. When she called me last night she seriously scared me. She’d sounded as if she was crying, and I hadn’t got a clue what was going on. When she got to my place, it made me sad to see her so worn out, and the only thing I could think of to make her feel better was to hug her, to hold her. She didn’t seem to mind. I hope she didn’t. I hope I didn’t scare her off. We were just friends after all.
I got to Jessica’s room and noticed that the door to Tessie’s room was slightly open. I decided to go see if she was okay. Poor thing. I slowly opened the door.
“Hey you, little monkey.” I said with a grin. She looked up, and her face lit when she saw me. She got up from the floor, where she’d been playing with her dolls, and stretched her arms out to me. I walked up to her and picked her up, holding her close for a moment. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I smiled.
“Guess what?” I said, putting her on the bed and sitting down next to her.
“What?” she asked curiously.
“You forgot something yesterday,” I said. She gasped, and I chuckled.
“You know what it is?” I asked. She shook her head. I took something out of my pocket and held it in front of her.
“Snuggles!” she exclaimed, looking at the stuffed monkey.
“But Snuggles is yours, I didn’t forget him!” she said, looking at me confused. I shook my head.
“He’s yours now. You showed me yesterday how well you could take care of him. From what I saw, that’s a lot better than me, being busy with my drumming and all. If you keep him here, he’ll be happy and I’ll still be able to see him right?” I asked. Tessie nodded solemnly. I ruffled her hair and handed her the monkey.
“Thank you!” she said, smiling widely and getting on her knees to kiss my cheek.
“That’s okay.” I smiled.
“Now you go introduce him to your other dolls and animals, so he can make new friends okay? I’m going to see your sister for a bit now.”
“Okay. Will you come see me soon again?”
“I’ll do my best.” I said, smiling a bit.
“Bye now!”
“Bye bye!”

JESSICA’S POV

I was laying on my bed, facing the ceiling, listening to the Ramones. I didn’t care what my mother would think if I put the music too loud. Tré had told me not to move, and that he’d be right there. I hoped with all my being that my mother would let him come in. She’d seen him quickly a few times, when I’d introduced him as 'a friend from school' just like Billie and Mike, but I don’t think she liked him very much. Somehow I had the feeling that yesterday some kind of barrier inside my head had disappeared.
Sure, Tré had been a great friend before, just like Mike and Billie, but there was something different now. I felt that I could tell him anything and not be afraid of being ridiculed. But next to that, somehow, I also had an incredible urge to see him now, to hug him, to be close to him. That’s natural right? It’s natural to want to hug good friends. Of course it is.
He’d been so sweet to Tessie as well, letting her sleep on his lap, even letting her have Snuggles, his stuffed monkey.
The jacket he’d lent me was still on the end of the bed, right where I’d put it last night when I got home.
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. I didn’t react, assuming it was my mother.
There was another knock, and when I still didn’t respond, the door slowly opened.
“Tessie?” I asked, turning my head towards the door.
Tré’s face appeared around the corner.
“Hey you.” he said softly.
“Tré?” I asked, not believing the fact that my mother had actually let him up.
“In the flesh.” he smirked, getting in and closing the door.
I got up and hesitated for a second before hugging him tightly.
He wrapped his arms around me and stroked my back, making me feel warm inside.
“How did you get in?” I asked curiously, leaning my chin on his shoulder.
“Front door.” he said. I giggled.
“Yes, but apart from that."
He chuckled. “I managed to make your mom believe I needed to ask you some stuff about a science project.” he smirked. I released him and looked at him.
“A science project? You?? She bought that?” I giggled.
“Uhu, don’t ask me how, but I tend to be very convincing at times,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed and sat down on my bed.
“She annoys me so much though…” I muttered.
Tré looked at me, sitting down next to me.
“I mean, this morning I woke up to Tessie crying, so I went downstairs, where I heard mom and dad fighting, so I got into the kitchen and picked Tessie up to comfort her and stuff, and mom was like sitting at the table half crying, and dad had left, so I asked her what was wrong, I mean, that’s a logical thing to do right?” I asked frustrated, looking at Tré for support. He nodded.
“And then, she like…snapped at me that it was none of my business, so I told her it wás, and that I’d heard them fight last night and that I wanted to know what it was all about and then she asked me where Tess and me had been last night, so I told her we were at a friend’s house…” I paused for a second, staring at the floor. I felt Tré put his arms around me.
"And then she grounded me..." I concluded, tears of frustration welling in my eyes.
“It’s okay Jessie,” Tré said softly “She’s just confused...and you happened to be the only one around she could react to. It hasn’t got anything to do with you.”
I looked at him and sniffed.
“Shh,” he said, stroking my hair and holding me tight.
“I shouldn’t be bothering you with my life, I’m sorry.” I sobbed, moving a bit from him and looking away. He put his hand on my cheek and wiped away the tears that were rolling down with his thumb.
“Don’t say that Jessie,” he whispered, “you know that’s not true,” he added softly.
I smiled a bit though my tears and chuckled. “I’m sure you’re not waiting for someone to whine about their problems the whole time. You can hardly call someone like that a friend...” I muttered.
“Jess, listen to me. I want to help you, because you áre my friend, and...”
He paused. I looked at him.
“And what?” I asked softly.
He looked into my eyes.
“And I really like you,” he whispered, wiping another tear away.
He slowly bent forward a little, bringing my face closer to his with his hand. My heart started pounding. Somehow I was fully aware of what was happening, but at the same time, I hadn’t got a clue.
When I felt his lips on mine, I closed my eyes, but didn’t react in any other way.
Too soon, the contact was broken, and I slowly opened my eyes.
Tré looked at me for a second before turning his head away in guilt.
“I-I’m sorry...” he muttered “I shouldn’t have - I was - I’m sorry, I’ll just go,” he stammered, and he got up. He walked to the door, reaching for the handle. I was finally able to think and act again.
“Wait!” I said, getting up and grabbing his hand, causing him to turn around.
“Don’t be sorry Tré, I don’t know why I didn’t - I - I...I like you too.” I stuttered, looking at him.
His expression changed from guilty to happy, and he grinned widely, pulling me close against him and kissing me again.
Butterflies were racing through my stomach, up to my chest and back again, making me feel fuzzy as I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around him. He softly rubbed my back as we kissed.
After a while, he slowly pulled back and looked at me, with a happy twinkle in his eyes and a big smile plastered to his face. I smiled as he stroked a fling of hair out of my eyes.
I felt happier than ever as I sat back down on my bed, pulling Tré next to me, feeling how he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me onto his lap.
I leaned against him, placing my hands on his and entwining our fingers.
He placed a soft kiss on my cheek and I turned my head a little to smile at him.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do that.” he said softly, nuzzling my neck.
I kept smiling “I’m glad you did.” I whispered, before placing a soft kiss on his lips.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Tré and I looked at it wide eyed to see my mother enter the room.