A Photograph of You & I

"You talked to him right?" Bam slurred slightly as he gripped my arm. I nodded once and then wandered back to the booth Ville and I had been sharing. I settled back into the exact same place, exact same position I had been in. As if I'd never moved. As if the conversation I'd just had with Ville hadn't happened.

I almost wished it hadn't. Leaving him would have been so much easier had he not confessed every pent up feeling he'd been harboring for so long.

And then there was the decision I had to make after all of this proclamation of love and undying affection. I could leave and break his heart all over again; possibly beyond repair...or I could stay and risk my own heart.

My selfishness told me to go and leave him to his misery and the good part told me to sacrifice myself and savor what happiness could be found.

Both had their good and negative points. Still, it was left undecided because Ville soon sauntered back in, immediately finding me and setting himself in the seat across from me. I felt Bam and the boys watching our every move, trying to find hidden meanings in our body language.

In their drunken state I wasn't sure they would be able to tell whether or not I waved to them or flipped them off.

"So Sweetheart, what do you want to do tonight?" Ville asked, breaking my attentions off my nosy friends. I made a face at them and turned to face Ville. All traces of his sorrow seemed to have melted away, replaced with a brightness that seemed foreign even to him.

"Doesn't really matter." I replied nonchalantly.

"Would you like to have one of our infamous movie nights?" He asked, a gleam in his eyes. My frown quickly transformed to a wide grin.

"Yes!" I agreed excitedly. I checked my watch quickly and found that it was four o' clock. I decided that the boys had had enough drinking for one afternoon and jumped up, grabbing Ville's hand and dragging him along with me.

I had to admit...our hands fit perfectly.

"Come on guys, time to go!" I yelled, taking the beers from their hands and moving them out of reach. I received several protests and empty tickle-torture threats from my friends as I hurriedly herded them outside to the Hummer and Lamborghini.

"What the fuck Aina!" Ryan yelled as I pushed him with all my might out the door. I watched with a smirk as Ville threw a few bills on the table to cover our tab. The man tending the bar looked at me as if I'd grown a third eye but soon turned to another man, already six beers deep.

"I want to get home!" I shouted over their vehement protests.

"We're capable of driving ourselves!" Bam shouted as he tripped over Raab who had fallen. Ville picked up the two victims of my shoving and escorted them to the Hummer.

"Yeah, as if I'm going to let you all stay here, get even more drunk then try to drive home." I replied sarcastically.

"Sounds like a good plan to me..." Novak muttered as he climbed in the door that I held open. I waved Raab and Ryan into the car as well as they got in the back seat. Bam wandered over to the Lamborghini and waited patiently by it. I decided that since he was the only mildly sober one with a license, he would have to drive. We tossed the keys to each vehicle to each other and I turned to Ville who waited patiently next to me.

"You go with Bam, I want to make sure he actually gets home and doesn't go to another bar or something." I told him and he nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaning in to kiss the top of my head.

"I'll meet you up in my room when you feel like watching movies." He whispered in my ear before leaving me on unsteady legs, to retreat to the car that Bam was now firing up.

"Damn you." I said under my breath as I climbed up into the driver's seat. I checked in the back seat and found that all three men that I'd shoved in there, were completely knocked out. I laughed softly as to not wake them, and followed Bam as he left the parking lot.

Sitting in silence as I followed the Lamborghini through the winding streets of West Chester, I found myself with enough silence and no distractions. I needed to make a decision on whether or not I would stay. Ville was making it increasingly harder to want to leave.

"Should've left the moment he said he had a surprise for me." I chastised myself as I drove, finding myself driven further into my indecisiveness.

I thought back to the previous night and early morning. It amazed me that we'd made such great strides in our broken relationship in such a short time. It also scared me, that he was so willing to forgive me for the way I'd treated him.

My memory rested for a moment on the kiss we'd shared at the stroke of midnight. My heart beat so quickly that it actually physically hurt. I clutched at my chest in an attempt to ease the ache but it only increased as I glimpsed Ville as we took a right turn into the driveway.

"Oh for fuck's sake." I cursed myself, wanting to rid my body of any and all emotions, feelings, and thoughts pertaining to Ville. The ache drove me insane.

I sped up as Bam did as we approached the house. Without thinking about it, I pulled into Bam's place for the Lamborghini as he began to back up. I glided around, threw the car in park and shut it off.

"What the fuck!" Bam yelled at me as he rolled down his window. I rolled my eyes and walked inside, not bothering to wake up the three men who had passed out in the back seat.

I hurried upstairs to April and Phil's room and knocked softly on the door. I heard Phil grunt as if I'd woken him from a nap.

"Come in." He called and I quietly opened the door and shut it behind me, just as Bam came into the house cursing up a storm. I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped he wouldn't find me for a little while.

"What's up honey?" April asked, from the chair she was reading in. I glanced over to Phil who looked at me sleepily. I had indeed woken him.

"Sorry for bugging you, but did my mom happen to bring any clothes by?"

"Yeah, she did while you were out. I tossed them in Ville's room, I didn't know if you'd be staying in there again." She winked at me as she said this and I flushed involuntarily.

"Thanks Ape." She grinned at me and I waved goodbye to Phil as he turned over again and attempted to fall asleep despite his son making a racket downstairs.

I slipped through the door quietly and quickly scampered over to Ville's room, avoiding Bam at all costs as he turned round and round, looking for me.

I quickly threw the door open and shut it behind me, careful not to make a sound. I leaned my back against it and sighed; happy I'd made it without being caught.

"These are yours I presume?" I jerked my head over toward the bed where Ville stood, holding the bag of clothes my mother had left. I winced when I saw the bra that was clearly visible in the plastic grocery bag.

"Yes, now can you please go distract Bam so I can change without him barging in?" I asked, snatching the bag and clutching it to my chest.

"And how might I go about doing that?"

"Tell him Rake set his skateboard on fire outback or something." I threw a suggestion out there. He looked at me skeptically but then nodded.

"Alright." He breezed by me and shut the door.

Not knowing how much time I had to change, I quickly stripped off my two-day-old clothes and tossed them in a pile on the floor. I quickly pulled my fresh clothes out of the bag and pulled them on, not knowing if anything was inside out or not.

Within seconds I was dressed, a personal record for me. When I was satisfied that everything was on straight, I placed my old clothes in the bag and tied the top off in a tight knot and shoved the bag under the bed.

My underwear in a house full of men who liked to prank people could prove disastrous. I shuddered as a long forgotten memory of my senior year in high school resurfaced.

Quickly I pushed that thought aside and climbed into Ville's soft bed. The coldness of the sheets was a welcome change compared to the warmth of the house. I snuggled against the soft pillow and felt that I could fall asleep at any given moment.

Then Ville returned, looking rather pleased with himself. He removed his shoes and walked around the other side of the bed, crawling into it beside me and drawing me to him.

I didn't once think of objecting; the feeling of him being so close was so comforting...

"Aina?"

"Hmm?" I uttered, I felt myself drifting off.

"Are you still leaving soon?"

I opened my eyes hesitantly and met his bright green ones. I loved looking into them in moments like this, when there were no walls between us.

And just as quickly as I had made the decision to go, I unmade it just as easily.

"No, no I think I'll stay a while longer. West Chester suddenly got a whole lot better." He grinned at my statement and pressed his soft lips to my forehead.

"I'm glad to hear it, Love. I'm glad to hear it."