Falling Dumb Into Desire

Shifting slightly in her seat, my girlfriend turned her stare to me, giving me a questioning look. "Do you want me to call your grandparents to tell them that we're almost there?" She asked.

"No, that's okay." I said. "We'll suprise them. They probably think that we're still in Pheonix."

"You told them we weren't leaving until later?"

I glanced over at her, giving her a soft smile before I squeezed her hand gently. "They like to be surprised" I assured her. "And to add to it, I didn't tell them that you're my girlfriend. I mean, they know I have a girlfriend bu they don't know it's you."

"Why not?"

"I wanna see the looks on their faces when they see you." I grinned. "They really like you babe. At the reception, they kept asking me if you were my girlfriend and when I kept saying no they looked really disappointed with me." I laughed softly. "Imagine their reaction when they see you get out of my car."

"Are your grandparents going to be old fashioned and make us sleep in separate rooms?"

"No, of course not." I replied. "Just to warn you, though, they may or any not start talking about us having kids. If they don't come out and directly ask us about having kids, they'll most likely imply it here and there."

Madison made a cute face and then shook her head. "Kids?"

I laughed quietly to myself and nodded my head as a confirmation. "Kids." I repeated. "Like I said, they really like you, babe."

My girlfriend smiled softly in response and then turned her hazel eyes back to the window, watching the beautiful scenery as we passed by. We drove the rest of the way in silence, and within a matter of minutes I was slowing to a stop in my grandparents driveway. I saw my grandpa on the front lawn, playing fetch with his dog, while my grandma sat on the porch, her old grey cat perched beside her, either of them watching the latter in amusement.

I got out and waved to them before I went around to the other side of my car to help Madison get out. "Hey grandpa, grandma." I called out before I opened Madison's door for her.

"Kennedy," my grandma replied, "we weren't expecting you until - oh, Madison!" She laughed happily. "Sweetheart, you got him, didn't you?" She teased.

Madison giggled cutely as she straightened her shirt out and then made a move to go over to my grandparents, but my grandpa's dog rushed over, yipping at her happily. She laughed softly and then held her hand out so the dog could get her smell before he let her pet him.

"That's Bruiser." My grandpa said with a smile before he reached over and gave Madison a quick, yet welcoming hug. "It's good to see you again Madison."

"It's good to see you too." Madison replied before she turned to my grandma, who welcomed her with a hug as well.

"I've been nagging at him to ask you out," she grinned as she released Madison. "But all I got from him in response with a mischievous giggle."

"Not a 'giggle'," I said defensively.

"It made you sound like a little kid, Kenny," my grandma said, turning her gaze to me momentarily, "it was a giggle."

I blushed slightly and shrugged my shoulders. "Anyway, I was 'laughing' because the thing is that I'd asked Madison to be my girlfriend the night of the reception." I admitted.

"Kennedy, you've waited this long to tell us?" My grandma asked with the sound of laughter in her voice.

"He said that he wanted to surprise you." Madison said.

"Well," my grandpa said slowly, giving me a half smirk, "we certainly were surprised."

"Are you kids hungry?" My grandma asked. "Dinner is almost done I think. If its not done already, it should only be a few more minutes."

"That sounds good." I said.

Madison shot me a quick glance before she turned to my grandma. "Do you need any help with anything?" She asked.

"Actually," my grandma said slowly, "I could use a little help setting the table."

"Watch out, Madison," I warned teasingly, "she only wants to take you away and interrogate you." I laughed quietly.

"I don't know what you're snickering about," my grandpa said with a sly smile, "that's exactly what I'm going to do with you once these two gals get inside."

"Ah, grandpa," I sighed, "what could you possibly interrogate me about?"

"Things that don't necessarily need to be discussed in front of the ladies." He said, nodding to my grandma and Madison with a soft smile, signaling for them to head inside and talk while they set the table for dinner.

My grandma laughed quietly and took a hold of Madison's hand, patting it reassuringly before she led her inside, leaving just my grandpa and I outside with Bruiser, and the cat, Darrel. When the door shut behind them, my grandpa turned to me and then shoved his hands into his pockets before he nodded toward the garage. Knowing what he wanted, I walked beside him as we entered the garage and took a few seconds to admire the '69 Mustang he had been restoring over the past few years before I glanced up at him.

"So everything been going good for you and Madison?" He asked quietly as he lifted the hood of the car to look over everything.

"Yeah," I replied, "things have been good." I paused slightly, licking my lips before I decided to add on a little. "Well, for the most part at least."

"You two got into a fight?" My grandpa questioned.

"Yeah." I mumbled. "It was my fault really, I was the one who started the fight but I made up for it."

My grandpa looked up from the engine, and frowned at me. "You made her cry?"

"Yes." I mumbled. "I said a lot of things that I didn't mean. But, I was just getting so frustrated because it felt like she was pushing me away, and not telling me a lot of things. The thing is, though, is Madison doesn't really open up to people that easily. She has a rough home life that she tries to hide from me."

My grandpa's frown deepened, but he still didn't say anything.

"I went back and made up for it though." I assured him. "Everything is good with us now."

"Well, good." He replied. "I'd hate to see anything bad happen between you two already. I like Madison. She's very respectful and she seems like the kind of girl you'd like to settle down with.

"Gramps," I sighed, "please don't start talking about me and Madison settling down, getting married, and having kids. We're only seventeen years old. We can't even run off and get married without our parents consent."

"I'm just saying," he said, holding his hands up in defense with a sly smile on his lips, "when your grandma and I got married we were only eighteen."

"Gramps, your entire generation got married early." I pointed out. "Things are different now. People usually don't get married until their mid-twenties."

My grandpa nodded his head, knowing this. "Yeah." He sighed. "Okay, look Kenny, I not gonna lie, I knew that you and Madison were together all along."

"How'd you find out?" I asked quizzically.

"Your mom told me when you and Madison had gotten into a fight. She saw how upset you were and then decided to give me a call because she had the feeling that her boy was falling in love."

I bit my lip slightly as I stared at the mechanics underneath the hood of the car, thinking to myself carefully before I voice my response. "We've only been together a little over a month, gramps." I mumbled. "isn't that a little early to claim that I'm falling in love?"

"No, not really." He said. "Just because you've only been together a month or so, doesn't mean that you couldn't have been falling for her before that."

"Mom told you that I've always had a crush on Madison, didn't she?" I questioned.

My grandpa nodded his head with a soft smile. "I wasn't even with your grandma when I fell in love with her." He said. "Hell, I don't even think she was interested in me, but somehow I was able to win her over."

"I didn't think that Madison would be interested in me either," I admitted. "But, I decided to grow a pair and ask her to be my girlfriend."

My grandpa rolled his eyes slightly at my choice of words but chose not to comment about it. "So," he said, "enough about the love aspect of your guys' relationship. Are you being responsible?"

"Responsible?" I repeated. "What do you - oh," I mumbled, suddenly realizing what he was talking about. "We haven't had sex yet grandpa."

"Well, before you do make sure that you two get, you know, checked out and stuff."

"Gramps," I sighed, "neither one of us have anything." I felt my cheeks start to burn slightly, indicating that I was blushing. But can you blame me? I had already received the responsible sex talk from my dad, I didn't need to hear it from my grandpa now.

"As long as you two remember to use protection once you do, you know, start messing around." He said.

"I know." I mumbled.

My grandpa stared at me with his wise stare for a few seconds before he nodded his head. "Well, I suppose dinner should be ready; go ahead and head inside. Tell the ladies that I'll be in, in a couple of minutes."

"Okay." I said softly before I turned around and made my way toward the door that led to the main part of the house.

Glancing over my shoulder one last time at my grandpa, I saw him tinkering around underneath the hood, and I couldn't help but smile to myself slightly. Maybe he was right, maybe I was already falling for Madison. I've liked her since our freshman year ... that was a long time for my feelings to develop into something more than just a crush.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Kenny!" Madison squealed as I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder with ease. "Kennedy, put me down!"

"You're slow!" I protested. "I want to get there before nightfall."

"I was trying to fix my flip flop. It was going to fall off my damn foot!"

"Maddi," I sighed, but didn't say anything else. After a little ways, I swung my girlfriend around and set her carefully back on her feet. As I brushed her hair aside, she stuck her tongue out at me and then linked her arm with mine before pulling me along, taking the lead despite the fact that she had no idea where we were going.

"What's with the soccer ball?" She questioned, nodding to the ball tucked tightly underneath my other arm.

"I'm gonna teach you how to play soccer." I said simply. "I miss playing soccer, so I'm gonna teach you how to play, so that we can play together."

"What makes you think that I want to play soccer with you?" She teased.

"Shut up," I said, bumping my hip into hers.

Madison laughed softly and then leaned over, resting her head on my shoulder as we continued our walk.

"Since you're teaching me how to play soccer, can I teach you how to play volleyball?" She asked.

"Sure." I replied. "Good luck with finding a net, though."

"I'll find one." She assured me.

With that, either one of us fell silent, each wrapped up in our own thoughts. After a few minutes of walking, we rounded the corner of the path and I heard Madison gasp softly when we came to a stop at the edge of a medium sized grassy field that rested beside a peaceful little creek.

"My brother and I used to come out here and play soccer all the time." I said as I dropped the soccer ball and kicked it lightly. "And then when we were done, we'd take a swim in that little swimming hole over there. It used to be a lot bigger but now we don't come around as often anymore, so our little dam has been falling apart."

"It's beautiful here." Madison whispered. "It reminds me of my grandparents place in Oregon. I went there every summer when I was little, and my grandpa used to take me and Jesse fishing every morning." She paused slightly, grasping my hand tightly, "I miss them."

Not knowing what to say in response, I simply squeezed her hand. Madison's grandparents she was speaking of - her mother's parents - had passed away a few years ago. She doesn't talk about them much, but she had told me that her grandmother had passed away after suffering from a heart attack; her grandpa passed away a few months later from what Madison claims to have been a broken heart. They were married for fifty-seven years, but they had known each other their entire lives.

Glancing down at Madison, I couldn't help but wonder what our future looked like. Would we stay together forever? Would she take my last name and have my kids? I know its pretty early to start wondering this, but I kept thinking about my grandpa's words from earlier.

"Madison?" I whispered.

"Hmm?"

I bit my lip slightly, gathering my courage before I spoke, "I love you," I said softly.

At my words, I felt Madison still before she slowly turned her hazel gaze to me. "Yeah?"

I nodded my head, brushing her bangs aside. "Yes, I do."

I watched as a slow, giddy smile pulled across her lips. "I think," she said slowly, "that I love you too." She hesitated slightly before she added. "I've never felt like this about any one before." She admitted. "I don't want you to break my heart, Kennedy Brock."

"I won't." I promised her.

I'm usually not the kind of boy who makes promises, and I'm usually not the kind of boy who keeps the promises he makes. But this meant promise meant a lot to me, I was going to keep this one.