I See Sparks Fly Whenever You Smile

Brook

It was the day after New Years and most of my family had left to head back to New York early this morning. The only ones left were Sami and her parents. My Uncle Robby had a little too much to drink the night before and was in no shape to drive home this morning and Heaven forbid he let my aunt drive.

I figured I would take advantage of the situation and spend the day with Sami since it would be a while til I would see her again.

"Brook, why won't you tell me where we're going?" Sami whined from the passenger's seat of my car.

"You'll see," I insisted. "I just have to make a quick stop first," I said as I pulled over to the side of the road.

"Where are we? Who's house is this?" she asked, looking out the window.

Just then the wind blew and the giant Raven's flag hanging over the garage sprang to life and Sami's eyes widened and her jaw dropped with realization. "You're kidding."

I laughed a little. "How could I continue to consider myself your favorite cousin and not introduce you guys?"

"Brook, are you sure? I know how limited your time is. You really want to waste a day having your little cousin tag along?"

"I most certainly do," I said, sending Alex a text that I was here. "My time is limited with you too, dear. I figured this way I was killing two birds with one stone."

Sami frowned as I undid my seatbelt. "I hate that expression."

"I'm sorry," I chuckled , opening my door. "I'll be right back."

"Ooooh," she squealed. "You gotta meet him at the door so you can suck face?" Sami asked with a smirk.

"Exactly. And shut up. If you embarrass me, I'll kick your ass."

Sami laughed as I got out of the car. "Same goes for you!" she called after me.

I'd probably never admit it out loud but there was something to be said about the butterflies I felt in the bottom of my stomach as I approached Alex's front door. I hadn't seen him in two days and I was really excited to see him again.

His front door was open, as if he was waiting for me, but I felt awkward just walking in. I didn't think we were at that level yet.

I knocked lightly on the glass storm door and instantly was greeted by two barking dogs. I recognized one as Sebastian and I had to fight back a smile when I watched the dog jump around and excitedly bark up at me. I still had nightmares from the night I thought I hit him.

"Quiet, boys!" I heard Alex's voice call from out of my view and a second later he appeared. I didn't want to smile too wide but I couldn't help myself.

He walked up to the door and placed his palm against the glass. "Give me one second," he said. "I have to put these two away. They're so riled up right now, if I open the door, they'll go running."

"Okay," I smiled, watching as he ushered the two dogs towards the back of the house. I felt awkward for a minute or two while I waiting for him to come back.

"I'm so sorry," Alex said when he came back and opened the door for me. "I planned for them to be taken care of before you got here."

"It's okay," I smiled, stepping into the house.

"Hi," he smiled, stepping closer and pulling me into a tight hug.

"Hi," I mimicked him, looking up just in time for him to lean down and press a kiss to my lips, his hands moving from my waist to my face.

"Just so you know," he said pulling away. "That's what I wish I was doing at midnight the other night."

I smiled, probably more goofy than I was willing to admit and leaned up to kiss him again. "Me too."

He kissed the tip of my nose quickly before finally releasing me. "So, did you decide what we're doing today with your cousin?" he asked, reaching for his coat and slipping it on.

"I think we should go bowling."

His face lit up as he looked over at me. "I love bowling."

"Good," I smiled. "Are you sure you don't mind that Sami is tagging along?"

"Of course not! I just hope you guys don't mind me tagging along."

"Oh I highly doubt she minds at all," I said following him out of the house.

He locked up and slipped his arm around my waist as we walked towards my car. "Okay good."

Sami immediately jumped out of the car to move from the front seat to the back seat as Alex and I approached.

"Sami, this is Alex. Alex, this is my cousin Sami," I introduced them.

I could tell Sami was doing her best to stay calm and collected as she shook Alex's hand.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sami. Brook's told me a lot about you," Alex said with a smile.

She nodded, letting go of his hand. "Same here."

"All good things I hope," Alex said with a wink.
"You'd think," Sami shot back before sliding into the back seat.

Alex raised an eyebrow at me. "What have you told her?"

I laughed a little. "She's just being a brat. Relax," I assured him and went around the car and we both climbed in the car.

"Everybody in?" I asked, starting up the car and putting on my seat belt.

"Yep," Sami chirped from the back seat as I started to drive off.

I flipped the radio back on because I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Sami asked. She still had her iPod thing hooked up to it.

"What's wrong?" I asked Alex quietly, noticing him shift uncomfortably in his seat and his cheeks may have been a little pink.

He shook his head quickly. "Nothing."

I raised my eyebrow and glanced in my rearview mirror and saw Sami fumbled to reach her iPod that had fallen on the floor.

"Sorry," she mumbled when she finally grabbed the iPod and the song quickly changed.

When the next song started her and Alex started laughing and I had a feeling I was completely missing something.

"What's going on?" I asked, glancing in my mirror again at Sami, who despite laughing, was blushing a little too.

"That's me," Alex said.

I glanced over at him. "What's you?"

Sami giggled and reached over from the back seat and highered the radio volume. "This."

"Oh!" It clicked. "It's Sami's iPod," I said quickly.

Alex laughed. "It's okay," he said, and I noticed him look in the rearview mirror and smile at Sami. "I kind of figured. It's not like you would have an iPod."

"Right!" Sami squealed from behind us. "You noticed how she's stuck in the middle ages too?"

"Of course," Alex laughed.

"Sometimes I feel like she's a martian or something," Sami teased.

"Yeah," Alex laughed again and I shot him a glare. "A very cute martian," he quickly added.

"Okay," I said, quickly changing the subject. "Sam, are you ready for bowling?"

"Really?" she said excitedly from the backseat. "Of course. I just hope you're ready for me to kick your ass-"

"Sam!" I gasped, cutting her off.

"I'm sorry," she grumbled. "I shouldn't say ass. I just hope you're ready for me to kick your rear."

"What's so funny?" I asked as Alex chuckled from next to me.

"Nothing," he said, clearing his throat. "I just probably would have went with tushy instead of rear."

"Don't think I won't kick your tushy too," Sami snapped from the back seat.

Alex spun in his seat to face her. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she nodded confidently.

"You willing to put your money where your mouth is?"

"What's your price?"

Alex leaned into me quick. "Does she have money?"

I laughed. "Probably more than me and you have combined."

Sam nodded. "Babysitting."

"Awesome. Loser buys pizza."

"You're on" Sam said and I watched her and Alex shake on it.

"And just so you know, I like my pizza with extra cheese," Alex said, sitting right in the seat again and winking up at Sami through the rearview mirror.

"Good. You'll be able to tell the guy that while you're up at the counter paying."

I rolled my eyes, suddenly feeling like it was going to be a long day.

"I like her," Alex said, squeezing my knee. "She's sassy."

I laughed. "Yeah... She's heard the before. It's usually about the time my aunt is screaming at her all 'Samantha Marie! Don't make me slap the sass out of you!' It's quite entertaining."

"I'm from Brooklyn. What does she expect?" Sami explained, turning her attention back to her iPod.

Alex laughed. "What's a little badass."

I shot him a look.

"Badtushy, I mean..." he corrected himself.

I laughed, as hard as I had tried not too.

"Oh, sorry Brook," Sami said as she had been skipping through songs on her iPod and passed over one from the Hairspray soundtrack.

"It's okay," I said, turning up the radio just a little bit when she went back to the song.

Alex frowned. "What am I listening to?"

"The Hairspray soundtrack, duh?"

"This doesn't sound like how I remember it..."

"You've probably seen the original," Sami explained. "Brooky here is obsessed with the re-make from a few years ago."

"Oh. I see," Alex nodded. "Zac Efron was in this one, no?"

I nodded. "Yes. And he was perfect."

"Sam, do you and Brook share this love for Zac Efron?" Alex asked.

"Sure. I mean, I enjoy his movies and he's definitely good looking. But I'm sixteen...

"What's that supposed to mean? He's my age!" I said to defend myself.

"Okay," Sam nodded. "Then what's your argument about your crush on Nick Jonas. Alex, please tell me she told you about that."

Alex laughed. "She briefly mentioned her enjoyment of his band. She didn't tell me in detail that she had a thing for the Jailbait Jonas."

"He's not jailbait anymore!" I insisted. "And I'm sorry. He's adorable."

"I agree," Sam nodded. "But again, I'm sixteen."

"Does she have any celebrity crushes that you approve of?" Alex asked, spinning in his seat again to face Sami.

"Well, besides you?" she paused for a second and I immediately felt my cheeks flush. "I guess I can support the fact that she desperately wants to have Gabe Saporta's babies."

"Really?" Alex asked, spinning around again, his entire body facing me. "You want to birth the offspring of Gabe Saporta?"

"Oh, God, yes," I said way too quickly without thinking and I saw Sami giggle from the back seat.

"Good to know," Alex nodded, reaching in his pocket and pulling out his cell phone and tapping at the screen.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Well, if you're that interested, I'll let Gabe know," Alex shrugged.

"What? No. You know him?"

Alex laughed. "I've known him since I was nineteen and been a fan of his for even longer."

"Really?"

He nodded. "One of the first tours me and the guys did was with Cobra. Gabe's awesome. He's taught me a lot about this industry."

"That's cool," I smiled.

"I'll just add him to the list of people I need to introduce you too," Alex said with a smirk.

"Sounds good," I said, pulling into the bowling alley parking lot.

Alex

"So, listen," Sami said coming up behind me in the bowling alley.

I spun around to face her. "What's up? Where did Brook go?"

"She's looking for her ball. She's very particular about her choices," Sami explained with a slight eye roll.

"Right," I nodded. "So what's up?" I asked again.

"What's your intention with my cousin?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.

"Do you really like her? Is she just someone to pass the time while you're home? I know that it's not about getting laid because you haven't yet..."

I shook my head. "Of course I really like her."

"You see, Brook's been hurt in the past. And I mean seriously hurt. And you're the first guy she's really shown an interest in since and I would hate for her to get hurt again."

I nodded slowly, my interest peaked at what had happened in her past. "I don't want to hurt her. I'm not going to hurt her. Who hurt her before?"

Sami shook her head. "It's not my place to tell you the details. She'll tell you eventually when the times right. And it's also not my place to tell her your details, which I hope you'll tell her."

"My details?"

She sort of gave me a look like I was stupid. "I'm a fan of your band. I know what some of your songs are about."

I nodded slowly, unsure of what exactly I was supposed to say in this situation. The kid had a point. I did have a past and given my career a lot of that past was all over the internet.

"What does Brook think about all that?" I finally decided to ask.

"She doesn't know. I offered to tell her but she refused to listen. She felt it was "cheating." She wants to hear whatever it is she needs to know from you when you decide to tell her."

"I'll tell her," I insisted. "But I don't see the point right now. We're not even that serious," I said, suddenly finding it awkward I was having this conversation with the girl I was seeing's 16 year old cousin.

Sami nodded, glancing behind her where Brook was approaching, a bright pink ball in her hand and a satisfied smile on her face.

"She's such a good person," Sam said turning back to me. "She doesn't deserve to go through all that pain again."

I nodded. "Believe me, I know how good she is." I was beginning to think maybe she was too good.

Sami nodded and immediately stopped saying whatever she was about to when Brook approached us and pressed herself into my side, her arm going around my waist. "What were you guys talking about?"

My eyes widened and I was suddenly at a loss for words. To buy myself time, I slipped my arm around Brook's shoulder and pulled her just a little closer. The coconut smell from her hair drifted up in my nose and my heart did another unusual wiggle in my chest.

"Oh," Sami spoke up. "I was just telling Alex about the Twitter bet me and my friend Jasmine have."

"What bet?" she asked.

"We wanted to see who can get a famous person to follow them on Twitter first. And I figure since Alex and I are practically family now he would help me out," Sam said quickly, shooting me a wink at the end of her sentence.

Brook looked up at me, her face screwed up in a confused look. I wasn't sure if it was because she didn't believe that story or because she didn't understand the concept of Twitter and following someone.

"Okay. Whatever that means," she shrugged. "You guys ready to bowl or what?"

I smiled. "So ready."

"I'm ready. I just hope you guys are ready to lose," Sami said, walking towards the lane we were assigned to.

"Come on," Brook said. "Let's beat her."

"Consider it done," I said pressing a soft kiss to Brook's mouth.

"Quit making out!" Sami whined. "Let's bowl!"

Brook set her bowling ball down and dropped into the seat in front of the computer where she started to plug in our names.

I watched her concentrate as she did such a simple task, and I could tell she was pretty proud of herself that she was able to put the names in with no one else's help.

It was in that moment that I realized just how much I really did like her. And just how much my past could potentially screw this up.