Faded Memories

“Is there something going on between you two?” Nathan asked, waving his finger at us. We were eating dinner at a restaurant. Cameron and I spent the rest of the day together and didn’t get the chance to tell the guys we were going out. Cameron’s hand rested on mine and would play with it every once and a while. Everyone stopped eating and placed their utensils on the table. All eyes were on us.

“Actually…” Cameron smirked, still holding my hand.

“I knew it,” Michael yelled and stood up from his chair. A few people looked at us for a moment and turned their attention back to their dinner. “I knew it ever since you guys came into the restaurant looking all lovey dovey.” Michael sat back down and I began to blush.

“It’s about time,” Zach speared his pasta with his fork. “Cameron kept going on and on about how much he likes you and how he didn’t have the guts to tell you.”

“Yeah, we were ready to tell you ourselves because he kept chickening out,” Nathan added to Zach’s comment. This made me think about what went on a couple of weeks ago. The guys were talking about something, most likely about me, while I eavesdropped on their conversation.

“I don’t understand why you haven’t told her yet,” I could hear Michael say as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

“It isn’t that easy, guys.” I heard Cameron respond. What were they even talking about? I decided to stay where I was to hear more about their conversation that was clearly not for my ears to hear.

Zach gulped down what was probably water and agreed with him, “Cameron’s right. She would probably freak if we told her.”

“This would be easier if she already knew,” Nathan pushed his chair back, got up and opened the fridge. I started to walk towards the kitchen, slowly, acting as if I didn’t hear the conversation at all.

“Then we wouldn’t have this problem,” I saw Cameron run a hand through his hair. He placed his hands over his face and mumbled, “Why can’t she just know, already?”

My thoughts were interrupted when Cameron pulled my chair out and told me we were ready to leave the restaurant. I got up from my chair and interlaced my fingers with his as we walked, stepping out into the city that never sleeps.

In our hotel room, I threw my purse onto my bed along with myself. My feet killed from walking all around New York City. The only time we took a cab was when we went out for dinner. I flipped myself over to face my pillow, too tired to take my shoes off, change and do anything else.

“I’m going to bed,” my voice was muffled into the pillow. I shut my eyes for a minute until the weight on the bed shifted.

“But we still have one more thing to do.” I lifted my head up from the pillow and saw Cameron give me that same cute puppy dog look he gave me earlier. I rolled my eyes playfully and rested my head back on my pillow. The weight shifted again and this time Cameron was standing. “You’re gonna make me do it, aren’t you?”

I knew what he meant and as soon as he said those words, I got up from my bed and ran around the room avoiding him as he chased me around. He dodged a couple of pillows I threw at him until one actually hit him. It gave me just enough time to run to the bathroom and lock the door.

“Abby, open the door,” I heard Cameron say on the other side of the door. He knocked on the door a few times, repeating the same words over and over.

“Nope,” I simply said. “You know I’m ticklish Cam, so there’s no way I’m going to open this door.” I heard a door open, then close. After waiting for a couple of seconds, I unlocked the bathroom door and peeked out. The coast was clear. I stepped out and called out his name, “Cam?” No answer. I opened our door to the hallway and peered out into the hotel hallway. There was no sign of Cameron until he snuck up behind me, snaking his arms around my waist from behind and lifted me up. I shrieked as Cameron spun me around in circles before setting me down on his bed and tickling the sides of my stomach. “Cameron, stop,” I tried to tell him in between laughs.

He picked me up, swinging me onto his back giving me a piggyback ride. We went outside into the hallway and Cameron walked towards a door that read ‘stairs’ in big, black block letters. He opened the door, put me down, and leaned against the railing looking up.

“We are definitely taking the elevator,” he said grabbing my hand and heading for the elevator.

“Where are we even going,” I asked as we entered the elevator.

“It’s a surprise,” he winked at me once the elevator doors closed.

Once we reached the top floor, he picked me up again giving me a piggyback ride and headed for the stairs. When he opened the door, I was amazed with what I was seeing. I jumped off his back, captivated by the view. You could see hundreds of buildings, many of them with their lights still on and the sky matching it perfectly with its black blanket and bright stars. I walked towards the edge of the building, taking everything in while I still could.

“How did you…”

“When we went here a while ago, I did some exploring and found it. Isn’t it great?”

“Yeah…” I agreed drifting off. He wrapped his arms around my waist, kissed my cheek before resting his chin on my shoulder. “Hey, Abby,” he spoke, “my birthday wish came true.” I turned my head to look at him.

“What was your wish?”

“To be with you,” he beamed. He picked me up, spinning me in circles just like he did earlier.

Everything felt so right that day, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I still was missing something. Just when I thought I found it, the feeling came back once more.