Carry Us Away

Garrett:

Gabrielle leaned her head against the inside of the car door. “I can’t believe we’ve been gone since eight this morning. I’m fucking tired.”

I looked over at her and then down to our hands that were laced together as I drove around with one hand. It got difficult at some turns but I still had yet to let go.

“It’s only one in the afternoon.” I pointed out to her.

“Yeah, I know.” She said lazily. “But we’ve done a lot in that short amount of time.”

I nodded in agreement. Today had been one of the best days of my life and it was only one in the afternoon. I stared out of the front window as we drove around town. We didn’t have a particular destination in mind. We were just cruising while listening to the Cage the Elephant CD that I had bought for her earlier. It made me happy, in a warm kind of way, to see her head bobbing slightly to the music.

She looked over to me with a small smile on her lips. Her eyes were starting to droop. “You were right, Gare, they are really good.”

“Told you.” I said softly. “I can make you some mixes if you want.”

“Special mixes for a special girl?” She asked with a small chuckle.

“Only the best, for the best.” I responded.

She let out a deep relaxed sigh. “I’m so sorry for getting tired on you, Garrett. I hope you don’t think that I think you’re boring, because you’re not. I’m just really tired.”

“That’s okay. Last night was… we had a long night last night and an early morning.”

She laughed before closing her eyes.

“Can we just pause for like thirty minutes so I can take a power nap and then we can resume this day with energy?”

I looked over at her. “Power nap?”

Her eyes were still closed and her words were coming out slower and slower. “Yeah, in college you learn a lot of important things, like to never let a guy hold your drink while you go to the bathroom, or what library is the best to find information, and like how to function on less than five hours of sleep.”

I was actually really curious as to what college life was like as I had taken a completely different path in life, but Gabrielle just wanted to rest. We continued driving for about ten more minutes until I found an open parking garage that we could actually park in the shade where it was probably about ten degrees cooler than in the sun.

Her eyes fluttered open.

“This is perfect.” Still holding my hand she had to twist her arm and her body to get into the back seat. She pulled me back there with her. She let me sit down first and then sat down in between my legs and scooted back so that her body was snuggled up against me. She leaned her head against my chest and then brought her hand up to my chest.

Her body vibrated against me as she laughed. “You’re heart is beating like crazy.”

I put my hand over hers. “It always beats crazy for you.”

She squeezed my shirt in her hands. “I feel like your heart is beating so fast you could have heart attack any second.”

“Well, if I were to die right now, at least I’d die happy.”

She let her hand fall from my chest and laced it with mine so that my arms were wrapped around her and our hands were clasped together around her stomach. “Don’t make death sound romantic.” She teased. “It just doesn’t seem right.”

“I want to take you to dinner tonight.” I told her.

She nodded her head making her hair crunch against my shoulder. “Dinner sounds really nice.”

I started to run my fingers from the tips of her roots all the way through to the ends and then over again just letting her silky dark brown hair run through my rough fingers. A purr came up from the back of her throat. “You should get some rest too, Garrett.”

“I’ll stay awake.” I told her.

“Fine, but I’ll wake you up in half-an-hour.”

I chuckled, making Gabrielle have to reposition herself so that she was more comfortable. “Whatever you say Gabrielle.”

It wasn’t long before I heard her breathing slow down. Her warm body was actually making me grow sleepy and the low thud of her heartbeat created a steady rhythm that made my eyes grow heavy. I leaned my cheek against her head and soon I was asleep.



Gabrielle:

My eyelids fluttered open. I hadn’t woken up feeling this happy in a long time. I turned my head and instantly regretted, because it made Garrett’s head bop down. I didn’t know he had been resting it against mine.

“Good morning.” He said with a grin.

“Morning.” I told him back even though we both knew it was the middle of the day. I checked my phone to see that it was now three.

“Well, we definitely slept longer than expected.” I told Garrett, showing him the time on my phone. “What happened to not falling asleep?” I asked him

“What happened to waking me up after half an hour?” He asked back.

I sat up and tied my hair into a loose bun. “Where to now?” I asked him.

“Dinner?” He asked unsure.

“At three in the afternoon?” I thought for a second and shrugged. “Sure why not.”

He grinned. “Dinner it is.”

As he climbed into the front seat, I slapped his butt causing him to jump. He sat down quickly and I followed.

“Hey!” He said with a laugh. “I don’t appreciate being spanked.”

“That’s what she said.”

He turned to look at me. “Seriously?”

I locked eyes with him. “Dead serious.”

Garrett’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Wait, are we talking about the ‘that’s what she said joke’ or spanking?”

I smirked. “That’s what she said joke. I like being spanked.”

He shook his head with a laugh as we pulled out onto the street. “Sometimes you are too much.”

I sat up straighter and crossed my legs, sitting Indian style. “Whatever, Garrett. Too much of me is never enough.”

He didn’t say anything, but just smiled to himself.

It took almost half an hour to get to the restaurant downtown. Garrett had to parallel park and he did it so effortlessly. He turned off the car and once again told me to stay seated so that he could get the door. I’ll admit it was a nice thing to get used to.

Garrett led me into this small Italian restaurant. The waitress sat us down at a booth and suggested some entrees. After telling her what we would drink, water for me, Dr. Pepper for Garrett, we looked at the menu.

Garrett closed his after a minute. “I already know what I’m getting. I’ve been here so many times before.”

I nodded and let my eyes fall back to the menu. I bit my lip. I hadn’t eaten since we picked up something quick from Starbuck’s this morning. I was starving, but years of being with guys who always treated me like shit had a strange effect on me.

“Do you know what you want to get?” Garrett asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know… I’m not really hungry.”

His eyes opened in shock. “You have to be kidding me! How are you not hungry?”

I looked down at my lap. “I just want salad or something,” I said it like I didn’t really care.

His eyebrows furrowed together. “Why are you acting strange?”

“I’m always strange.”

He laid his arm on the table gesturing for my hand. I put it in his and he gave it a squeeze. “I mean, why are you acting stranger than normal.”

I laughed at his attempt at humor. I didn’t answering him but the kept staring at me. He wouldn’t look away and I felt like he wasn’t planning on quitting anytime soon.

Finally, I gave up and sighed. “I wasn’t exactly the skinniest girl when I was younger and then this guy that I was with for a year constantly complained about my weight.”

Garrett began to protest.

“Hey, I’m not looking for compliments. I’m happy with my body now. I’m just afraid of falling back into that girl that I used to be. I mean that’s why I don’t even drink that much at parties. Alcohol is so unhealthy.”

He let go of my hand. I looked up wondering why. He got up and sat down next to me. He kissed my cheek. “You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Rule number whatever when dealing with girl’s you like: Tell her she’s beautiful constantly.”

I felt my cheeks grow warm under his lips. I turned so that he was facing me. “Hey, rules are my thing.”

He pulled away, grinning. “Well, fine then. Mine isn’t a rule. Let’s just call it the way I live my life. You’re beautiful.”

I blushed again.

Garrett scooted closer to look down at my menu. “But you have to eat something. If I’m the only one eating and you’re just watching me, I’m gonna feel like such a fatty.” He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

I leaned down and kissed him. “Okay, I’ll get something, but if I don’t finish it will you finish it for me?”

“Sure, or we can just take it home and eat it tonight.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Tonight? Who said I’m hanging out with you tonight?”

“Well, I need someone to watch the porno with tonight.” He said with a shrug.

I grinned. “Oh, well then in that case. I guess we will be together tonight.”

He nodded. “So, is it cool if I just sit on this side next to you? I always think it’s weird to sit on a huge booth by yourself. It’s much better if we sit next to each other don’t you think?”

I grinned. “Yeah, because then I can do this.” She leaned forward and kissed me lightly.

Garrett leaned closer to me, but I pulled away.

I shook my head. “I hate too much PDA, one of my pet peeves are people that are overly touchy in public.”

Gare nodded in agreement. We soon got our food and remembering what Garrett had told me I took a bite. I tried to focus on my own food, but I couldn’t help feeling Garrett watching me eat.

“Ugh, I already know what you’re looking at.” I said with a sigh.

Garrett laughed. “No, it’s just really cute.”

I took another bite and Garrett couldn’t help laughing again.

“Garrett!” I exclaimed, but only ended up laughing myself. “I don’t know why I do it. It’s just something I’ve always done since I was a little girl. My mom used to say that I was mad at my food.”

I grinned and put another bite in my mouth. Garrett smirked to keep himself from laughing. I didn’t know why but when ever I would chew good my face would scrunch up in determination. My eyebrows would bunch together like I was angry.

I put down my fork to take a sip of Garrett’s Dr. Pepper despite his protests. I set the cup down and grabbed his free hand. Still grinning I said, “I really like being here with you, Gare. Thanks for this.”

Our intertwined hands where underneath the table in between us. He gave my hand a squeeze.

He smiled and said, “Honestly, I could be anywhere with you and still have a good time.”