Let's Not Ask Why It's Not Right

[Three years later...]

I switched the phone from my right ear to my left, stretching out my stiff right arm. I'd been on the phone with Kaitlin for over an hour, but I never wanted to hang up. It seemed like we hardly ever got to see each other anymore, so we made our phone conversations last as long as possible. It would have been easier, I thought, if we'd got accepted to the same college. But honestly, I couldn't complain; our sort-of long-distance relationship had fared much better over the past few years than most would have.

"Tyson?" Kaitlin's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"What? Sorry, I was distracted."

She laughed. "I asked you how college is going."

I hesitated. Should I tell her? I had pretty much made up my mind, after all.

It's time, I decided.

"Kaitlin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm, uh... I'm thinking of dropping out."

She was silent for a few seconds. "Really? Why?"

"It's just not for me. This band... the one me and Nick started up with Mike and Chris... I think it could really go somewhere. I want to give it my all."

"Okay," she said simply. I smiled. I should have known better than to be worried. Kaitlin never minded my impulsiveness. Hell, Kaitlin was the queen of impulsive. This was the same girl who, three years ago, had escaped from her mother and taken a taxi halfway across Oklahoma so we could spend one last night together before she moved. That night, the first time we...

I suppressed a grin at the memory. It may not have been the best sexual experience of our lives, but it still had a special place in my heart.

Suddenly I couldn't help wishing that Kaitlin was here, right now, lying beside me in my bed, and maybe wearing that black lacy lingerie she'd surprised me with the last time I saw her. I wished she could be there every night.

Maybe she can, I reminded myself. I forced myself to continue on with the next part of my idea.

"The thing is," I said, "I'm going to need somewhere to come back to after tours. Nick rented a place here in Stillwater, and Mike and Chris have their house up in Edmond, but I'm still living with my dad. I was thinking of getting a place... maybe a little closer to you."

"How much closer?" she asked. She sounded cautiously excited.

"I was thinking of the same city."

"I'd love that!" she exclaimed.

"That's not it, though," I continued, trying to hide the mixture of excitement and unusual nervousness in my voice.

"Go on, then," she said.

"Kaitlin... would you like to move in with me?"

"Really? Wow," she said. "It's a big decision, I mean, I..." she paused. "Oh, fuck it," she said, laughing. "Of course I would!"

I grinned, feeling my heart lift. "I'm glad," I said. "I was thinking about moving up next month. Is that too soon?"

"No, no, no," she said. I could imagine her shaking her head furiously; a cute image. I felt a silly urge to hug the phone. "No, that's perfect. I can't wait."

"Me neither," I said. "I love you, Kaitlin."

"I love you too," she replied. I smiled, as I still did every time she said it. I pulled open my desk drawer. I pulled out the small black box - the one I'd searched my entire front yard for, three years ago, regretting throwing it out the window. The one I'd finally found, under a rose bush, where a single rose blossom had fallen on top of it; some kind of sign, I was sure, that we would work things out. And we had. We really had.

I opened the box and caressed the ring inside it. Gold band, two diamonds, still as beautiful as the day I'd bought it.

I closed the box and put it back in the drawer. There would be a time for it, someday, but right now I was happy with what we had. There was no need to rush. We had the rest of our lives in front of us.