But I Never Promised You

It wasn’t very late; only about seven thirty, so I decided to text Jack. I wanted to tell him the good news.

Guess what loser. I’m engaged and going on tour.

It couldn’t have been more than a minute later that I got his response.

Get your ass over here. We have to talk!

I laughed and started getting out of bed.

“Where are you going?”

“To see Jack. We haven’t hung out much lately and I have so much to tell him.”

“Okay. I think I’m gonna hang out here.”

I kissed him before I completely lifted myself out of bed to find some clothes.

“Basically all your stuff is here anyway, Alex. How long has it been since you slept in your own bed?”

He thought for a moment. “Pretty much since I met you.”

“Exactly.”

By this time, I was dressed and I walked out the bedroom door. I grabbed a pair of shoes by the door and stuck them on my feet.

“I’ll see you later, Alex,” I called before I walked across the hall to Jack’s apartment.

I knocked on the door and it immediately opened to reveal an overly ecstatic Jack. He jumped a little as he grabbed my hand, bringing it up to his face to examine the ring.

“It’s so big and so pretty. I want one. Go tell Alex to get me one, too.”

I smiled. “Jack, Alex can’t buy you an engagement ring. You’re not getting married.”

The childlike expression that adorned Jack’s face fell.

“But Mika…”

“Why don’t you go ask Rian to get you one?”

His gaze lit up again and he scampered off to find Rian, letting my hand fall.

“Rian!”

“Jack, whatever it is, no.”

“But…”

Rian glanced up from the game he was playing with Zack. “What is it?”

“Will you get me a pretty ring like Mika’s?”

I walked into the living room as Jack was asking this and waved.

“Let’s see this ring of yours.”

Rian and Zack both stood up and walked over to me and I held out my hand.

“Whoa! Where did you get this?” Zack asked.

“Alex gave it to me.”

“Jack! There is no way in hell I’m buying you an engagement ring.”

“Fine, I’ll go get my own. Let’s go, Mika.”

Before I could protest, Jack had grabbed my wrist and was pulling me toward the door.

“Bye guys.”

They gave me a sympathetic look as the door closed behind us.

“Jack, slow down. I can’t walk that fast.”

Jack slowed his pace slightly, just enough so I wasn’t being dragged after him.

“You can let go of my wrist now. I can walk on my own.”

He looked down at his hand clamped around my wrist. “Oh, sorry.”

We had only been walking for a few minutes, but looking around; I had no idea where we were.

“Jack, where are we?”

He stopped walking and looked at his surroundings. He scratched his head, trying to remember how we got here. “I don’t know,” he paused for a moment. “We could have an adventure.”

I giggled. “Alright, Jack, let’s have an adventure.”

He started jumping up and down like a small child. He looked at me briefly and he seemed to remember that I was still here. He stopped jumping just for a moment; just long enough to pull me into a bear hug.

“Where should we begin our adventure?”

Jack spun around in circles. He stopped and pointed with his arm in the direction he was facing. “That way!”

He took off running through the side yard of what I’m presuming to be, a rich person’s house.

“Jack, wait for me!”

He stopped briefly, shook his head at me and continued running.

Rolling my eyes, I started running after him. He was faster than I was and I didn’t want to lose him. I’d rather be lost with someone than by myself.

We ran through yards for the next ten minutes or so. Jack had stopped to pet a dog that was outside and I was able to catch up to him.

“What kind of adventure is this?”

He looked up at me and grinned. “The let’s get ridiculously lost adventure.”

“Great.”

“Is that sarcasm I detect there, Missy?”

“Not at all,” I said, sarcasm dripping off each word.

“If I had known you were going to be in such a pissy mood, I wouldn’t have invited you on an adventure.”

“I’m not in a pissy mood, Jack. I’m actually in a very good mood.”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

“Oh, shush it, Barakat. Do you have any idea where we are?”

“In someone’s backyard petting their dog.”

“Smartass.”

He just grinned at me and I started walking again hoping to find a street that was familiar to me. Jack jogged to catch up again.

“I thought you didn’t want to participate in our adventure anymore.”

“I don’t, but I’m trying to find a street we know so we can either walk back home or call one of the guys to come get us.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

It actually didn’t take us long to find a familiar street, only a few minutes. We were a few miles away from the apartment, but I didn’t feel like waiting for the guys to find us, so I started walking.

“Mika, I’m tired.”

“You should have thought about that when you decided to get us lost.”

“Can we call for a ride?”

“You can. I’m going to walk.”

“I don’t want to wait here by myself.”

“So, call the guys and walk with me until they find us.”

“But…”

“Jack, stop being a baby.”

He just sat down by the curb and started pouting.

“Have fun waiting here.”

I turned around and started walking again. I heard Jack’s voice, but it wasn’t directed to me, so I figured he was calling for a ride. I kept walking.

I had gotten roughly a block away before I heard footfalls coming toward me. It was Jack.

“They wouldn’t come get me.”

“Well, it serves you right for getting us lost.”

“You’re mean today.”

“I’m sorry, Jack. I don’t really have a reason to be. I’m engaged, I’m going on tour with you guys for eight months, and my parents have yet to pay me a visit. Everything is going good for me right now.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I don’t have a right to be mean to you, even if you did get us lost for an hour.”

He grinned.

“What?”

He pointed at something.

“What are you pointing at?”

“That.”

“I still don’t see it.”

Jack placed both hands on either side of my face and turned my head. “That.”

I finally saw what he was pointing at.

I smiled wickedly at him. We were both thinking the same thing.

Up in front of us was a huge skatepark that we hadn’t noticed before.

This was going to be fun.