Every Storm That Comes Also Comes to an End

"Alex..." she breathes, looking down as we take a seat on the blanket.

I couldn't help the easy grin that pulled up my lips, reaching over to grab my guitar that was propped up against the chair beside me. "Yes?" I ask.

"This is perfect," Avery repeats, smiling. "I can't believe you actually did this. I...I don't even have words for it." I felt as if the muscles in my cheeks would burst from how much I was smiling, so I don't even answer and just lean forward in my chair to capture her lips in mine. It felt so right to be kissing her again, our breath mingling and our mouths meshing. So right.

I agreed with Avery on some level that we should start things off slow. It was never right to dive into a relationship headfirst. But I guess I just wanted her all to myself, pick up where we left off. So many things went unsaid that I thought we should've started there.

But if she wants it slow, I'll take it to the slowest setting I have.

So I took her back to our very first date.

"So," I clear my throat, adjusting in my chair. "Before we break out the champagne," I head nod to the picnic basket at our feet, "I felt that I should sing you a song. It's one you've already heard, the one I wrote for you last summer, but it needs to be reinstated."

Avery grins. "Am I thinking what you're thinking?"

"Well, great minds do think alike."

She giggles and I close my eyes, trying to savor that sound. It felt great knowing I was making her laugh again. Making her laugh was so much better than making her cry.

Immediately I flow into Time Bomb, remembering our first date, when I had sang her Circles after I had just written it back in high school. It was so nostalgic being in this setting again, underneath the moonlight, the candles littered around us, playing the guitar for her like I was some slick sixteen year old looking for a hook up. I missed being like this with her, and knowing that I had her again, even if we were starting completely new, was enough for me.

I watched her face as I sang, her cheeks blushing a light pink with a soft smile on her lips. It was everything I'd remembered from the first date too, her fifteen year old self looking so cute with the candlelight flicking in her bright eyes. I have every memory from the first night stored in my brain. Always will.

The song ended sooner than I expected, my fingers plucking the last note on my guitar.

Avery claps quietly, still smiling. "I still can't believe you wrote that song about me." She curls her legs under her Indian style as I lean my instrument back up against my chair.

"Everything I say in that song is true. You know that, right?" I ask gently.

She nods. "I do now."

I grin again and scootch off my chair until my butt was plopped on the blanket. "Join me," I grin, patting the empty spot beside me. She laughs but complies, taking the seat to my left. I pop open the champagne, spilling the golden liquid into two glasses. I hand her one as she looks out at the horizon, the sun setting and letting off a warm yellow and orange glow around us.

"Why did you move to California?" she asks softly, looking away from the gorgeous scene before us and glancing over at me. I fall silent as I close the champagne bottle and put it back in the basket. I pondered on her question for a few moments.

"Haven't you heard the answer to this from Jack already?" I ask, not bitter, but just perplexed. I don't know why she'd ask, since she already knew what I had to say.

"He's told me, and you've told me. But now I'm really listening."

That wasn't the response I was ready for. I felt my eyes widen a tad, my fingers fumbling with my champagne flute. I take a sip of it before setting it down, bringing my eyes back up to lock gazes with her.

"I thought it was best to get away from you," I murmur. "I know it's a repetitive response, but nothing felt right the way it was. I ruined your life, Caitlyn's life, and your dad's life. I knew I had taken it too far when I popped those pills and overdosed. I couldn't hurt you any further, so I knew it was time you moved on from me. I knew it was for the best. And I knew the only way you could move on was for me to finally let you go. I love you, Avery, but I had to do what was best for you. And that was letting you go."

She didn't say anything for a few moments, just letting a thoughtful look take over her face. I reach out and tangle her fingers with mine, which she doesn't object to. I wait patiently as she rolls everything over in her mind, just tracing her hand with my free one. She finally speaks, making me move my head up.

"If you thought staying away was for the best, why did you insist on getting me back when I moved here?"

My response was immediate. "Because the moment I saw you, I knew I couldn't just let you walk out of that Starbucks without me fighting for you at least a little bit. You're my everything and I couldn't let my everything walk away from me."

Avery gives a small smile. "You are quite the charmer, Alex Gaskarth."

I grin. "And you are quite the challenge."

She laughs, leaning over to give me a quick, sweet peck on the lips. "I like to make it difficult. Keeps the competition full of spice." I chuckle as she clink glasses, taking sips of the champagne together.



The next morning, I woke up with a smile gracing my lips.

I was alone, which I was fine with. By the time Avery and I had finished talking outside last night, even playing her a few new songs, it was well past one o'clock in the morning. She crashed here, luckily not having work today, but we agreed to keep things slow that she would sleep on the couch. Now I just had to see if she was still there.

I push out of bed, stretching and grabbing a pair of gym shorts from the floor. They seemed clean enough so I pull them on, walking over to the door and peering out into my house.

I look to my left at the couch, seeing the noticeable lump of Avery's body under the blanket.

A grin settles on my mouth again as I tip-toe out, passing by her and going to the kitchen. I grab the ingredients for waffles and start mixing, trying to stay quiet so I could surprise her with breakfast in bed. Or, well, breakfast in couch.

When I had two waffles finished, unplugging the waffle machine Jack and I bought at K-Mart two days ago, I put the crispy cakes on a plate, smoothing butter on them and pouring syrup on them, adding just the amount that I knew she liked. I got out a container of strawberries, putting a few on a separate smaller plate.

I then go into the living room, setting the plates of food down on the coffee table in front of her.

She was still asleep, her lids fluttering as if she were dreaming. I smile and bend down, kissing her forehead shortly, before retreating back to the kitchen to get her a glass of milk.

I return a few moments later with the glass, almost jumping when I see her sitting up.

"Morning," I grin, walking over and placing the glass of milk down beside her waffles. She scrunches her brows at the breakfast, seeming a bit puzzled. I sit down beside her on the couch, leaning over to press a small kiss to her cheek. "I made you breakfast."

"You..." she smiles a little, "you didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," I shrug casually. "Now eat."

She laughs but nods, reaching forward and grabbing the plate of waffles. She uses her fork to cut off a piece, plopping it in her mouth. "Delicious," she smiles around the food, glancing at me.

I watch her eat, not really saying anything. I could get used to this, waking up with her every morning, making breakfast for each other. I wish it would happen, but if she wants to take this thing slow, then it may be awhile before I could do this with her. There would be times when we'd spend the night, but I want to do this with her every day. Drink coffee, laugh, talk about the morning newspaper, kiss her goodbye as she goes off to work every morning.

It's something I'd wanted ever since we started dating in high school.

And to know I was that much closer to that was bittersweet.