Catch Me When I Fall

I ran my fingers through my hair and paced back and forth in the living room. Matt looked at me like I was crazy and just shook his head in disbelief, “Chill, Ella,” he said for a hundredth time today. I shook my head at him and let out a loud sigh. I stopped by at Matt’s house before leaving to work. I knew Emma may flip at me for doing this without telling her, but so what. I needed to see Matt!

“I can’t. Things can be so awkward since that day. Sure, it feels good to finally hear him saying that to me directly, but... Ugh!” I groaned in frustration.

“You still like him, don’t you?” I shot Matt a look and he just smirked at me, “What? Am I wrong for asking that to you? No, right?” Again, that question made me confused. I still don’t know about my feelings towards Kendall. Sure, I felt the change in me because of him these past few days. He brought out something in me and made me to feel different. It felt like I could trust him.

“I don’t know,” I said as I plopped down on the space next to Matt, “I have no idea why I told him everything about my past yesterday. It’s like he has this effect to make me tell him anything. It’s overwhelming,”

“Well, as long as he won’t hurt you and make you happy, I’m fine with the fact that he’s your boyfriend,” Matt said randomly that made me to smack his back head, “Mean!”

“For heaven’s sake, Matt, we are not dating!” I said to him in a ‘duh’ tone.

“Yet,” he butted in, rolling his eyes in annoyance, “Then what about the kiss that happened at James’ house?” what the hell happened with Matt? I think I was wrong for telling him everything that happened at James’ house and my apartment yesterday.

“Uh… Um…” I sighed loudly, “That time Kendall was only trying to distract me from what I was looking at! It was spontaneous, Matt,”

“But, you kissed him back, right?” I turned to look at him and give him a look, “Hey, I’m just asking that! You kissed him back, right?” He continued and I just rolled my eyes at him.

“Well… yeah… I did, but-“ I stopped and sighed loudly again, “this conversation is over. Bye, Matt. Love you,” I kissed his cheek before walking out from his house. I got into my car and drove off to the office.

When I got at the office, I only went to Emma to ask about the concerts that I have to attend this month and Emma told me to go home again. Weird? Yeah, I know. She didn’t need me until I attend those concerts and write her the review. So, because it’s too early, I decided to go to the coffee shop and chilled for a little while. But when I was about to take a sit and enjoy my coffee, my phone rang. And it was a call from Kendall. I put my laptop case and coffee on the table before answering the call, “Hello?” I answered with a smile on my face.

“Hello beautiful,” he said through the phone that made me smile wider and my knees go weak, “What are you doing tonight?”

“Um, nothing, I guess. I don’t really have any plan for today, though. I went to the office, met Emma, and then she told me to go home again after she gave the list of concerts I have to attend this month.” I rambled to him.

“Have dinner with me tonight.” He stated and I could feel that he was smiling when he said it.

“Okay… sure. When and where?”

“My house. I cook for you tonight.”

“You cook?” I asked in a surprised tone.

“Why you sound so surprised?” He asked with a laugh, “Okay, just come here, okay? We can have dinner, watch movies, and such. How’s that sound?”

“That sounds like a plan. Just text me your address, ‘kay?”

“Mm ‘kay. I’ll see you soon, beautiful,” I grinned widely at the phone and hung up. I shoved my phone into my jeans pocket and grabbed my coffee and laptop case before walking out from the coffee shop to the parking lot.

A few minutes later, Kendall sent me his address. Before driving to his house, I called Ally to tell her that I would be home late but she and Diana ended up teasing me about Kendall. Those girls were pretty crazy, I know. As I drove to Kendall’s place, I listened to BTR’s CD and couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. It’s just… why did Kendall say ‘beautiful’ to me over the phone? Was he trying to flirt with me? Ha. That’s impossible.

When I arrived at his house, I saw another car that clearly wasn’t Kendall’s. I took a few sip of my half-drank coffee and grabbed my laptop case before getting out of my car and walking towards the front door. I knocked a few times and waited patiently until someone opened the door.

The door opened by a tall guy with short brown hair and his face was look like Kendall’s, “Hey…” he greeted warmly and smiled softly and when I was about to open my mouth and say something, I heard Kendall’s voice from behind that guy.

“Kevin, I told you— Ella!!” Kendall pushed that guy aside and gave me a warm hug, “Kevin, meet Ella. Ella, meet Kevin. He’s my older brother.” Kevin stuck out his hand and I shook his gently, smiling softly to him.

“That Ella? The one you always talk about?” He said to Kendall and turned to see me. Kendall’s cheeks brushed in red, “FYI, Kendall can’t stop talking about you.” He said with a smile that made Kendall to nudge him, “Okay, I’m leaving. Have fun!” Kevin said again and patted Kendall’s shoulder before walking out of the house towards his car.

Kendall stepped aside and let me in, “By the way, sorry about Kevin. That’s pretty embarrassing, eh?” Kendall said with a nervous chuckle as I followed him to the family room.

“Nah, that’s alright,” I said casually and looked around the family room. I noticed a shelf that full with photo frames in it. I put my bag and my laptop case on the couch.

“I’m gonna prepare our food for a while and Ella, just make yourself at home. I’m pretty sure it’ll be done in a few minutes.” Kendall said before disappearing to the kitchen. I continued to take a look at the photos he had. Most of it was his childhood and family photos and the rest was only his photos with his best friends slash band mates.

“Ella! The food is ready,” I turned around and saw Kendall smiling softly to me.

“Okay,” I followed him to the backyard and my mouth slightly hung open when I saw what Kendall did to the backyard. He decorated the picnic table with a banquet of flowers, candles, and there were 2 plates of spaghetti, “You did all of this by yourself?” I turned to ask him.

“Why you sound so surprised?” He asked with a chuckle and blinked his eyes a few times before clearing his throat, “By the way, you look beautiful tonight.” He said with a sincere smile on his face.

“Thanks,” I could feel my cheeks heat up.

So, we had dinner together on his backyard under the beautiful moonlight in chilly January night. Kendall and I talked about our day when we had dinner. I told him how suck my day was when Emma told me to go home again after she gave me the schedule because basically I didn’t have anything to do at the office.

“It’s kinda weird that I haven’t met Kenneth yet after all this time. I mean, we’re friends since years ago and just reunited a while ago but I haven’t really met Kenneth. It’s always Kevin and it was, like, only the 3rd time I met him.” I spoke up as I watched Kendall washing the dishes.

“Yeah, that’s kinda weird. Remember that I was the one who always went to your house back when we’re still in junior high? Maybe that’s the reason why you rarely met him.” Kendall said and shrugged his shoulders. When I was about to stand up from the stool and walk to the family room, suddenly all the lights off and it went dark.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. I pulled out my phone and unlocked it to keep the lights on, “So, what are we gonna do? Looks like your second plan is cancelled…”

“Actually, I just changed the second plan a few seconds ago. Come with me,” he took my hand and led me to the backyard again. When we’re out, I just realized that Kendall carrying a blanket on his hand.

“Where did you get that blanket? I don’t remember you carrying a blanket,” I looked at him in curiosity.

He spread the blanket on the grass and sat on it, “Come here,” he patted the spot next to him, completely ignoring my question before. I decided to just lay on it and a few seconds after that, Kendall lay beside me.

“So, this is your second plan, huh? Laying on the grass and looking up at the starry sky with me? I’m impressed,” I spoke up and chuckled as I kept looking up at the starry sky.

“Thanks. I actually never thought that you agreed to come here and have dinner with me,” he said with a slight laugh that made me to smile a little bit. We had a peaceful silence for a little while. I realized that we stole glances at each other for a few times and suddenly, something came to my mind.

“Kendall, can I ask you something?” I asked him, breaking the silence around us.

“You just did,” he laughed slightly and I just rolled my eyes at him, “Okay, shot.”

“What was this? What was all of this? Why were you asking me to come here and have dinner with you? Is this a date?” I asked him after taking a deep breath. Kendall sat up and looked at me straight in the eyes. I sat up and sighed softly, waiting for his answer.

“Look, I’m gonna tell you the truth so please don’t cut my words, okay?” he said to me and I raised my eyebrows in curiosity but I nodded anyway, “Yes, all of this is a date. It’s a spontaneous date, actually. Kevin was here because he helped me setting this up. Actually, I was planning to take you on a real date, like going to a café and to the beach afterwards, but Kevin and James told me not to. They said ‘be unique’ and this idea came up.”

“Why are you taking me on a date?” I asked again, getting pretty confused with all of his words.

He took my hand, squeezed it a few times, and took a deep breath before saying, “Because I like you, Ella. I like you a lot. I’ve liked you since our first meeting after long time in New York. Actually, I wasn’t really sure because Logan and Carlos told me that I fell too fast and hard. But on that New Year’s Eve, I was sure that I really like you. On that day when we spent day together at your apartment, I realized that I like you from the start. I really want to kiss you and cuddle with while watching movies whenever I want to. I wanna be with you, Ella.” He explained and I just froze on my place, “Will you be my girlfriend?” I could have sworn that my heart stopped beating for a few seconds. I looked at him in the eyes and noticed that he’s serious. Oh my God. What should I say?