I'm Such a Mess, I Wonder How I Looked Through Your Eyes

All around me, excited voices chatted about various sorts of things, ranging from the tour we were on to the Preseason football that was due to open this weekend. I gazed around the small store that we had invaded, and took a few moments to take in everyone's happy expressions, seeing as how, at the moment, they didn't have a single worry on their minds.
 
There was one exception, however, and as I looked at Caleb he decided to look up at me. Although he gave me a soft smile, I saw the sadness in his brown eyes. Without a doubt in my mind, the words from our earlier conversation were still fresh in his mind. Not having the heart to look at him any longer, I turned my gaze in a different direction.
 
I sighed quietly and grabbed a shopping basket before looking around at my company once more. Spotting a tall, blonde haired boy, I made my way toward him, got his attention, and then shoved the basket into his hands.
 
"Follow me." I instructed before leading the way into the heart of the store.
 
"Allie J," he whined, "I was going to grab a sandwich from the deli though."
 
"No," I mumbled, "you're having lunch with me today."
 
Even though my footsteps were quick, Kyle kept an even pace with me. Placing a hand on the small of my back, he raised an eyebrow in question.
 
"I am?"
 
"Yeah," I said, nodding my head. "We're having a picnic."
 
"Can our picnic include sandwiches from the deli?" He grinned.
 
"Hmm ... no." I replied. "We're making our own; that's half the fun of going on a picnic."
 
"When you say 'we'," Kyle said slowly, "you mean me, huh?"
 
I laughed softly before looking up at him. "I think I can manage making myself a sandwich." I said. "But you'll have to cut my bread and tomatoes and lettuce and whatever the hell else I'm gonna want to put on there that has to be cut up."
 
"Oh," Kyle muttered before he fell silent.
 
We reached the end of the aisle and looked at the snacks that they had. Pointing to some Hostess cupcakes, Kyle raised his eyebrows. I nodded my head in an unspoken agreement, and he reached up, grabbing a pack before tossing them into the basket. We rounded the corner and found ourselves in the chips and dips aisle.
 
"Can our picnic include chips, or are you going to make us bake them ourselves too?" He asked.
 
I faked a mean look and punched his stomach lightly before I grabbed a bag of Cheetos and a bag of Doritos with my good hand.
 
"What will it be, Kyle?" I asked.
 
Kyle wrinkled his nose, thinking to himself before he grabbed the bag of Cheetos from me. I put the bag of Doritos back on the rack and then saw that they also had Funyuns. I pointed to them and then looked up at Kyle.
 
"Do you want those instead?" I asked. "I haven't had Funyuns in a long time."
 
"We'll get them both." Kyle insisted and then threw the bag of Funyuns into our basket as well.
 
We progressed throughout the small store, and before long we had our basket filled with various sorts of foods and ingredients for our sandwiches. At the checkout, Kyle made a move to pay for our things, but I handed my credit card over to the cashier before he had a chance to protest. As we walked out of the store, with Kyle packing our things, he gave me a look that he reserved just for me after I had paid for something he didn't want me to pay for.
 
I simply smiled softly in response and then slid a couple fingers through his belt loop and pulled him along. We arrived at my bus a couple of minutes later and I released Kyle to punch in the code to the door. Holding the door open for him, I followed shortly.
 
We didn't exchange too many words as we threw together our sandwiches (with Kyle actually putting together most of mine for me) and before long we were walking hand in hand toward a nearby park. Along the way, either one of us would bring up a small topic of discussion, but nothing we said sparked a deep, long conversation.
 
Underneath the shade of a large willow tree, ran a small placid stream.
 
"Let's eat here." I told Kyle, and he silently nodded his head in agreement.
 
Holding tightly to my hand, he helped me sit down on the cool, soft grass and then took a seat beside me.
 
"You know what we're missing," he said as he handed me my drink, "is one of those checkered picnic blankets." He joked. 
 
"Don't forget our picnic basket." I added. "Unless you want to keep packing around that Victoria's Secret bag." I teased.
 
Kyle looked down at the bag at his feet, which he had taken from my things after complaining about our lunch not fitting into one plastic grocery bag, and then shrugged his shoulders. "It's not so bad," he said, "but it does leave me curious as to what you had purchased from there."
 
I blushed softly and nudged Kyle's side with my elbow. "You can imagine all you want, Kyle." I said. "Because I'm not telling you what I got."
 
"If I guess right, will you tell me?"
 
I rolled my eyes slightly and handed my drink to him. He took it from me, opened it, and handed it back. He raised his eyebrows, giving me an expectant look.
 
"Alright," I sighed, "guess away."
 
"Was it a bunch of thongs?" He asked right away.
 
Sipping on my drink, I shook my head to indicate 'no'.
 
"Was it a wine colored corset, some bras, and some black, lacey underwear?"
 
Finding myself in the middle of another drink, I choked on the liquid and then coughed it out before looking back up to Kyle's blue, amused stare.
 
"How could you have possibly known that?" I asked incredulously.
 
Kyle burst into a fit of giggles and then reached over, wrapping his arm around my shoulders in a quick hug. "You left the receipt in the bag, babe." He pointed out. "Don't worry, though, I stuck it in your wallet when you wasn't looking."
 
"You probably stole my cash while you were putting it back, huh?" I grinned.
 
"Hmm," Kyle pretended to think to himself as he dug through the bag, "I may or may not owe you a twenty." He joked, handing me my sandwich.
 
I took my sandwich from him and then licked my lips as I continued to watch him. A soft breeze blew through the area, sending some of his blonde hair into his eyes. He frowned at them ever so slightly and then brushed them aside with the back of his hand. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I watched him, and as if he felt my eyes on him, he looked down at me. As our eyes met, his blue eyes lit up with a joyful spark and he quickly looked down to his food as if he were afraid that his eyes would give away some sort of secret.
 
I sighed quietly and then licked my lips once more, finding that they were suddenly chapped.
 
"You can do me one better." I whispered softly.
 
Kyle, who was in the middle of bite, turned and looked back to me. "What'd you say?" he asked through a mouthful of food.
 
"I said, you can de me one better." I repeated.
 
Kyle swallowed what food was in his mouth and then raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yeah?" He grinned. "And what would that be?"
 
"Be my boyfriend." I whispered.
 
The joyful look in Kyle's eyes faded away, and instead burned with a sudden intensity that I had rarely ever seen in them before. He didn't reply immediately, but rather stared down at me, his expression suggesting that he did not know whether or not he had heard me correctly. As I watched, waiting for a response, he let out a long, shaky sigh and then set aside his food. Dusting his hands off on his pants, he reached over and took my hand in his.
 
"Did you really say what I think you just said?" He asked slowly.
 
"Depends on what you think I said." I muttered back.
 
His eyes lingering on me a few seconds more, he released my hand and instead wrapped his arms around my shoulders, hugging me to him tightly. I felt his lips on my forehead and then my temple as he kissed me randomly, and I snaked an arm around his middle, wanting him even closer.
 
"Do you really want me to be your boyfriend?" He whispered.
 
"Yes." I whispered back. "It's always been you, Kyle." I admitted. "It took me a while to realize it, though."
 
"You don't know how many times I've imagined you saying that." He mumbled.
 
There are two reasons as to why I decided to remain silent. The first is because I simply didn't know what to say. The second is because I knew my vocal cords would fail me if I attempted to use them at the moment.
 
I hadn't realized how much I had missed Kyle until this moment, the moment in which I was so close to calling him mine. I closed my eyes and took slow, steady breaths to help calm myself down while Kyle continued to place random kisses here and there. I wanted to open my mouth and tell him to hurry up with his answer, but instead, I continued to sit there in silence, letting Kyle do whatever he felt he had to do.
 
Lowering one arm, Kyle gently undid my arm from his waist. Pushing aside our food, he slid his arm underneath my legs and picked me up with ease, bringing me onto his lap.
 
"I'll be your boyfriend." He finally said softly.
 
Without another word, he leaned over and caught my lips with his, kissing me deeply, passionately, but surprisingly, this kiss was unlike any other kiss we've ever shared. Sure we've shared passionate kisses and the likes before, but something was different about this one.
 
Perhaps the excitement of getting to call Kyle my boyfriend once again aided this new feeling, or perhaps it was simply because of the fact that I had been gone for some long. Whatever it was, I liked it, and this time around, I didn't want to let Kyle go for anything.
 
Like I said, he's the one.