Give up Forever to Touch You

Andie stood in front of her closet, a towel wrapped around her body as she tried to decide what she was going to wear. She had scanned through her clothes half a dozen times already but couldn’t decide on whether she should dress smart, casual or somewhere in between.

She took a deep sigh, turning at the sound of a knock at the front door. before she could reach the bedroom door she heard the door opening and knew it was Rhian and Jimmy.

“It’s only us!” Rhian called out, closing the door behind her.

“I’m up here! Rhi, I need your help!” she called back.

“What’s wrong?” Rhian said as she walked into the bedroom, Jimmy behind her.

“I don’t know what to wear.” Andie whined with a pout.

“What? But Brian is going to be here in twenty minutes.” She yelled.

“I know! Help!” Andie yelled back!

“And that’s my cue to leave. You coming little one?” Jimmy said turning to lift Abi out of the bouncer and cradling her in his arms.

“Thanks Jim. She may start crying for her bottle in a little while.” Andie said as Rhian began to search through her clothes.

“Okay, so where exactly are you going?” she asked.

“Tuna Town.” She replied simply.

“Okay, well that’s a start. We don’t want anything too fancy but you don’t want to dress down too much either.” She said as she continued to look through the closet. “You go and sort your make up and hair and I’ll find you something.”

Andie nodded and walked over to her dresser and started applying her make up.

“Okay, so what about this?” Rhian asked holding up a black dress.

“Are you kidding me? I am not wearing that.” she exclaimed.

“Why not? I’ve always loved this dress.” She replied.

“Because it barely covers my ass!” Andie told her with wide eyes. “And I haven’t exactly got the figure for that dress since having Abi.”

“Oh shut up! You’ve got a fucking amazing figure; anyway you can wear it as a top. I’ll find some pants to go with it.” she replied with a roll of her eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, Andie was pacing the living room waiting for Brian to arrive as Jimmy gently rocked Abi off to sleep after giving her her bottle.

“Sweetie, would you just sit down before you wear the heel off your shoes.” Rhian said quietly.

“Sorry.” Andie muttered before taking a seat at the edge of the sofa.

“Calm down sweetie, you’ve got nothing to be nervous about.” Rhian replied with a smile. Andie opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted as there was a soft knock at the door. she took a deep breath as she stood up and walked over to open the door.

“Hey.” Brian said quietly as she opened the door.

“Hey, come in a second.” She replied with a smile as she took a step back to allow him to enter the house.

“Here, these are for you.” he said handing her a bouquet of lilac lilies.

“Oh Brian, they’re beautiful. Thank you.” she said with a beaming smile.

“You deserve them. You look amazing by the way.” He replied blushing.

“Thanks, you’re looking very handsome yourself.” She replied running her eyes over his appearance. He was wearing a black pair of jeans with a fitted button down shirt, that he had unbuttoned to his chest. To be honest all she wanted to do was drag him upstairs.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked softly.

“Oh um, yeah. Let me just put these in water.” She replied.

“I’ll do that. You just go have fun.” Rhian said taking the flowers off Andie.

“Can I quickly say good night to Abi before you kick us out?” she asked with a smile.

“Of course.” Rhian replied as she made her way out to the kitchen with the flowers. Both Andie and Brian kissed Abi good night before Brian took hold of Andie’s hand and led her out of the house, to his car.

He held the door open for her, making sure she was settled before shutting it after her. the drive to the restaurant was filled with a comfortable silence with Brian occasionally reaching over to place his hand on her knee.

He took her hand once again as they walked across the parking lot to the restaurant and as they were shown to their table.

“Is it just me or does this seem a little, I don’t know…”

“Weird?” Andie finished Brian’s sentence as the waiter brought their drinks over to them.

“Yeah. I really wasn’t expecting it to be like this.” he replied.

“Thank fuck you feel the same, I was beginning to think it was just me.” she replied.

“Why is it so weird?” Brian asked.

“I really don’t know. Anyone would think that we were on a blind date or a proper first date. Not knowing what to say to each other or how to act.” She replied with a smile.

“It’s stupid isn’t it? Maybe we know each other too well.” He replied.

“Maybe going on a date wasn’t the best idea given the circumstances.” Andie said with a saddened smile.

“Don’t say that. You deserve to be dated properly. After all we’ve been through; it’s the least I can do. You deserve better.” He replied reaching his hand over and placing it on top of hers.

“I don’t deserve anything special Brian.” she replied softly.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. You deserve the world Andrea Jennings. And I’m going try my best to give you it.” he replied with a smile.

Andie smiled back at him, her heart swelling at the sound of those words. Four small words edged their way to the tip of her tongue, almost becoming audible but were stopped by the waiter returning to take their order. The moment lost, for the time being.

“I’m going to talk to Michelle tomorrow.” Brian began as the waiter took their empty dessert dishes away. “About having the kids to stay over for the entire weekend.”

“Well, you did say that she’d told you that you could as soon as you had a house of your own for them.” She replied.

“Yeah, she’s got to admit that it’s about time I got to spend the entire weekend with them. And well um, I was hoping that when they do come over you and Abi would be there too?” he replied.

“Of course we will. I’ve missed Connor and Ella so much these past couple of months. And it would be nice if they finally got to meet their half sister.” She replied.

“Good and thanks. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to or not.” He replied.

“Why wouldn’t I want to?” she asked with a smile.

“I don’t know really. I’m just a little nervous I guess.” He replied running a hand through his hair.

“You have no reason to be nervous. I’m the one that should be nervous. Connor and Ella may hate me for what’s happened.” She replied.

“Don’t be silly, they adore you, they’re not going to hate you.” he replied softly.

With the bill paid, Brian again took hold of Andie’s hand as they made their way out of the restaurant.

“Do you fancy a walk along the pier before heading back?” Brian asked quietly.

“Yeah, that would be lovely.” She replied quietly looking up into his brown eyes with a smile.
Brian smiled back at her, almost loosing himself in her gaze before she gently tugged his arm. “Are we walking or not Haner?” she teased.

“Sorry, kinda got distracted.” He replied as both of them blushed.

They walked in a comfortable silence along the quiet pier, Brian letting go of Andie’s hand only to slip his arm around her waist, pulling her slightly closer to him.

“Are you cold?” he whispered.

“A little, but I’m okay.” she replied.

“Do you want my jacket?” he asked as he began to shrug it off his shoulders.

“No, it’s okay, just keep your arm around me.” she said pulling his arm back around her.

“That I have no problem doing.” He replied pulling her gently closer again. As they reached the end of the pier and stood up against the railing, he moved so that he was stood behind her, his arms wrapping tightly around his waist, his head resting on her shoulder.

“It’s such a beautiful night isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

“Hmm, yeah. I could stand here with you all night.” He replied turning his head to nuzzle his nose against her neck before gently kissing her.

“This is going to sound a little stupid and childish but if we’re going to do this properly I think it may be necessary.” Brian said quietly after another moment of silence.

“And what would that be?” Andie asked intrigued, turning in Brian’s arms to face him.

“Andrea Jennings, will you officially be my girlfriend?” Brian asked. Andie smiled as she bit her lower lip.

“Yes I will.” She replied quietly, watching as a smile quickly spread across Brian’s thin lips.

“Good.” He whispered before leaning towards her to kiss her, his tongue softly slipping into her mouth to entwine with hers.

“You make me so fucking happy Andie.” He said as he pulled away.

“You make me happy too.” she replied pressing her lips to his again before turning again in his arms to look over the moonlit ocean. That’s how they stayed, watching the moon raise in the sky for a good hour before Andie decided it was time to head home.