There's Only One Way Down This Road

“Alexander, why did you never tell me that you could cook?” I asked, finishing the rest of my chicken alfredo. It was probably the best meal I’ve ever had in my life.

“Because I can’t. Flyzik came home with me today and he had to help me get everything ready.” Alex said, smiling sheepishly.

We were sitting cross-legged on his couch, facing each other. As soon as I put my empty plate on the table with his, Alex took my hands in his. He just sat across from me, smiling and not saying anything until he shook his head.

“How was it back home while I was gone? What did you do the entire time? Even though I kind of already know.”

“Well, I spent almost every minute with Becca and at least half of everyday with Spencer. We went on a few double dates, Bex and me and Spence and Ben. It was all for fun though. I ended up getting to know Ben pretty well. Also, I spent a lot of my weekends at Becca’s house with her family. I seriously adore them all to death, and her little brother and sister are adorable. Like Jack requested, I hung out with May and Joe a few times. Spencer’s family is just now accepting the fact that he’s not in love with me so I hung out with them a lot. Of course, I steal Pey and Baz a lot and take them on walks and cuddle with them. School kept me swamped lately, though, because of finals and all that. Whatever, anyways. How was tour?”

Alex’s face developed certain brightness when I mentioned tour. It was so obvious that he absolutely loved it more than anything.

“Oh my gosh, it was fantastic. The energy was great all the time and it made me realize a lot. And take me seriously when I say that because I do mean a lot.”

“What did you realize, baby?” I asked, leaning closer to him, hands still intertwined.

“Welll, I realized how much you mean to me and exactly what I feel for you. I realized that I need to go back to my mom and find out why she was such a bitch to you for no reason because I hate being mad at her. I realized that Jack is in love with Becca, which isn’t very shocking. Oh, and that the press or fans have absolutely no idea that we’re dating.” Alex’s smile got wider and wider with each word he said. It was honestly adorable. “I think I want to give you your gift now.”

Alex picked up the dirty plates and got up off the couch. He walked out of the room, only to return with a huge box behind him. He placed it on the ground in front of the couch and sat down right beside me.

“Alexander, that is huge. What is it?”

“Just open it, silly. You’ll find out what it is.” Alex playfully nudged my shoulder and laughed softly at my statement.

I moved back a little on the couch and placed the large box in between us. Immediately I started unwrapping the present. I tore open the box and put it back on the ground, unable to see inside if it were still on the couch.

The first thing I pulled out of the packing peanuts was a scrapbook. On the cover, it had “Alex and Jasmine” written in large letters above a picture of us, and “nine-seventeen-ten” under it. The picture was of us on the night of the Art Showcase, our first fancy date. My heart swelled when I opened the book up. The first fifteen or so pages was full of pictures of Alex and I. The beginning was in the very first stages of our relationship, and as more pages went on, the more recent it got. On every few pages, there was a part of our emails that started us, and progressed through our relationship. The next fifteen pages was filled with pictures of Alex on tour. Each one had him and “me,” or a printed out picture that he held. There were also lyrics to his songs about me, and screenshots of us when we were Skyping. The very last full page of the scrapbook had pictures from today at the airport. When we were hugging and kissing, and just walking. At the very bottom of the page, there was a picture of Alex and I making faces at each other, completely oblivious to the camera. In quotations below it, the line “I know you can’t help who you fall in love with, but I’m really glad I fell in love with you.” was hand written in.

I felt tears fill my eyes as I looked up at Alex. He smiled widely at me before kissing my cheek.
“Keep going baby. There’s more.”

I reached into the box again, and pulled out a t-shirt. Of course, it was an All Time Low shirt, but I loved it anyways. On the front, the shirt just said “All Time Low” and on the back, the words “Gaskarth’s Girl” had been ironed on in white, along with a huge heart. I couldn’t help but laugh at how silly he was, and kissed Alex’s lips lightly.

The next few presents were just clothes that he knew I wanted, but didn’t want to spend money buying. Alex must have talked to either Becca or Spencer about this, because they’ve been shopping with me.

The last present in the box was a little velvet case. Perfect for a ring. Alex took the small box out of my hands and moved my body so I was facing him on the couch. He took both of my hands in one of his, and smiled at me. The tiny box was opened, and I had to cover my mouth in shock at what was inside.

A little diamond ring was sitting in the box, nothing complex. It must have cost a fortune though.

Alex uncovered my mouth, and kissed me before taking my hands in his again.

“Jasmine Davis, I am head over heels in love with you. I know it’s only been four months, but you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. When I’m with you, I can be myself and not have to worry about making a fool out of myself in front of you. Since day one, our relationship has been easy. We don’t fight, we can act like best friends one minute and lovers the next, and we can just be ourselves. I realized on tour how much I loved you, because it killed me to be away from you. I admit, I cried like a baby some nights because it was so hard to leave you, but other nights I was so grateful. I was on tour for two months, and it didn’t change our relationship at all except for making it stronger. I know that one day, I want to marry you. But obviously, this isn’t an engagement ring. It’s a promise ring. It’s my promise to you that I will always love you and that one day, I will give you that engagement ring and we’ll be together forever.”

Tears were pouring out of my eyes by the time he finished talking, and all I could do was kiss him. My mouth was unable to form the words to tell Alex how much I loved him as well, so I just kissed him. Our lips were locked in a passionate kiss until I pulled away.

Alex’s hands moved up to my cheeks to brush the tears off with his thumbs. He smiled at me lightly kissed my lips again.

“I love you too, Alex. So freaking much.” I said, smiling back at him through my tears. He leaned in and rested his forehead against mine. We sat in that position for a few minutes before I remembered his present.

I pulled out of his grasp and held up one finger to him, signaling for him to hold on. The present was sitting on the ground beside the couch in a little silver bag. I picked it up and handed it to him, a smile never leaving my face.

“I think we kind of had the same idea going on, Lexy. Happy four months and happy belated birthday.”

Alex pulled a picture frame out of the bag first. It was a picture frame that opened kind of like a book, so there were two pictures inside of it. The picture on the left side was one of the pictures from our first date, and the one on the right was from our most recent date.

The second gift was a watch that I had bought when I visited New York. It was pretty simple, silver and a medium size, but I knew he would love it.

The very last gift was a box much like the one Alex had given me. When he pulled it out, Alex just stared at me with a smile on his face before opening it.

The ring was nothing too extravagant. Just a simple silver band with the date of our anniversary engraved on the inside.

“It’s my promise to you, Alex. I know I’m in love with you, and I know that will never change. You’re my best friend and you’ve changed my life more than I ever thought possible. Whenever you’re around, a smile is almost permanently plastered onto my face and you make my heart soar when you do even the smallest things. Just looking at you makes me giddy and butterflies erupt in my stomach. Every time I look at you, it’s like I’m doing it for the first time. I don’t think that’s ever going to go away. This is just my way of promising you that no matter what, you will always have my heart.”

Alex looked up at me with a smile on his face, and leaned in to kiss me. One of his hands moved to cup my cheek as he slowly deepened our kiss. My left arm wrapped around his neck and my right one rested on his chest. Alex pushed me back on the couch so I was lying down with him partially on top of me. His lips left mine and moved down to my neck, quickly marking me.

“You’re so beautiful, baby. I didn’t get the chance to tell you how gorgeous you look at the airport, but I sure did think it. I missed you so much.” Alex said after he finished kissing my neck. He looked down at me, smiling wider than I have ever seen. “You’re sleeping over, right?”

I nodded and pulled his head back towards mine, kissing his lips gently. Alex’s tongue slid across my bottom lip as our kiss deepened even more. I opened my mouth as he did, and let my tongue enter his mouth. We fought for dominance until Alex gave up, pulling away from me.

I growled quietly as he got off the couch and pulled me into a standing position. Alex just laughed and picked me up, carrying me to his room.

He sat me down on the edge of his bed before stripping down to his boxers and climbing into the bed. I stood and did the same, climbing in next to him.

“Good night baby girl, I love you.” Alex said, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him. He kissed me gently on the lips and then on the forehead.

“Good night Lexy, I love you too.” I said, resting my head on his chest and my arm across his waist.

For the first time in two months, I fell asleep with the man I love next to me. It’s been so long since I’ve felt so at home. I don’t know what’s going to happen when he’s forced to leave again in January.