Once Upon an Ice Cream

Rain pelted my clear umbrella from the dark clouds above. I stared at them from my make-shift shelter. The air picked up, taking the hem of my bright pink rain coat with it. A sigh escaped my lips and penetrated the dark atmosphere. Ringing met my ears. My free-hand immediately pulled the cell phone from the pocket in my jeans. Without reading the caller id, I flipped it open.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Answer your damn door. We've been out here for thirty minutes," a voice exclaimed.

"William?" I gasped.

"The one and only. Now open your door, Baby Beckett," William demanded.

"I'm not at home. Give me five minutes."

"'Kay," he hung up.

My brother's home.

A smile broke out on my face.

That means Adam's home.

Feet ran on instinct, hauling my body with them in the direction of the house. I turned the corner. From the distance I could see five figures standing outside the door of my home. One turned and pointed on my direction. Yelps of excitement could be heard through the street. The tallest of the group ran towards me, picking up my body when he reached me and spinning me in the air. My umbrella flew to the ground.

"I missed you so much, Baby Beckett," he yelled.

"I missed you too, big brother," I said.

William set me back on my feet, grabbing a hold of my hand and dragging me to the group. The rain hit us lightly as we walked down the side walk. We approached the group, their smiles more noticeable from up close. Michael opened his arms to me.

"Hug. Now," he instructed.

I laughed and obliged to his request. He squeezed me tightly in his arms before letting me go. Mike hugged me after Michael, followed by Andy. When Andy released me, I stared at Adam.

"Hi, Adam," I said, a smile on my face.

"Hi, Elizabeth," Adam smirked.

We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Adam made the first move, pulling me into a tight embrace. My lips met his. Someone cleared their throat from next to us. We pulled apart and turned our heads to look at our disrupter.

"As much as I love you both, I still hate seeing you touch my sister so don't do it," William said.

"Billiam, we've been together for a year. You need to chill," Adam said.

William turned to the door, ignoring him. "Door. Open. Now."

"You guys need to stop with the one word sentences," I said, pushing myself from Adam and walking up to the door.

I unlocked the door, opened it and stepped aside. Four members of the band pushed past me and into my home. Arms slinked around my waist from behind. I looked up. Adam looked down at me, his eyes held emotions I couldn't place. He bit his lip.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"About what?"

"Just something. It's important."

"Do you want to go inside?"

"No. Can we go to the ice cream parlor down the street?"

"Sure."

What the hell is going on?

"Cool," he stepped inside the house, "Guys, we'll be right back."

Numerous "okay"s could be heard.

"Let's go," Adam laced his fingers with mine.

I nodded in agreement. We walked down the sidewalk in silence. I stared at the concrete afraid to look up at Adam's face, afraid that the answer to his madness would be there and that that answer may not be what I wanted. We stopped in front the ice cream establishment. Adam grabbed the door handle and pulled the door open.

"Ladies first," he said.

I mustered up the best smile I could for him and stepped inside. Adam followed behind me.

"You want your usual, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"Okay."

He walked up to the counter.

"How can I help you?" asked the teenager behind the counter.

"I'd like one scoop of chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone and one scoop of wedding cake ice cream in a cup with sprinkles," he winked at the girl behind the counter.

She gave him a knowing smile, "Sure thing."

Why did he wink at her?

The girl turned and made the ice cream, taking special care on the sprinkles of my wedding cake ice cream.

She's going to poison me. Then she and Adam will run away together and get married. That's what Adam's stupid plan is.

"Here you go," she handed to the ice cream to Adam.

"Thank you," he smiled and paid for the ice cream.

My body followed him mindlessly to a table. He set my ice cream down and pulled out a chair.

"My lady," he said.

A fake smile plastered on my lips. "Thanks," I took the seat.

He sat in the seat across from me, licking his ice cream.

"So I like what you did with your hair," he said.

Subconsciously, I fiddled with one of the bubblegum pink streaks in my black hair. Awkward silence took over us.

"Tell me what needed to talk about, Adam," I pleaded.

"You want to know what I need to talk about?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Look at your ice cream," Adam instructed.

My head tilted to the side. He gestured for me to do as he said. Eyes traveled down to the cup in front of me.

The sprinkles spell out something...

I looked closer. "Marry me?" the sprinkles read. My mouth dropped. Wide eyes looked back up to see Adam on his knees in front of me, a small velvet box in his hands.

"Please?" he asked, hope evident on his face.

He opened the box, revealing a diamond ring. Breath caught in my throat.

"Elizabeth?"

"Yes, yes. A million times yes."