I See Sparks Fly Whenever You Smile

Alex

"I kissed her," I vented to Rian. "She came over to give me Christmas presents and I fucking kissed her!"

Rian had left our house before me on Christmas Eve and spent the night at his parents' house through Christmas Day, like I had. I hadn't seen any of my friends since my encounter with Lina and now I was boiling over in need to vent to someone.

Rian nodded slowly, probably letting the situation sink it. "I'm not going to say I told you so, but I-"

"Rian, please," I held my hand up. "Don't say it. Just help me," I practically pleaded, dropping down on the couch across from him.

"Help you? Dude, you are so beyond my help at this point," Rian said, laughing at me.

"It's not funny," I whined. "Lina and I were supposed to be done. Then I met Brook and things are really good with her. And now Lina's back and I'm kissing her! What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Rian sighed. "Look. Can I tell you what I really think?"

"Please."

"I think you're afraid to be alone."

"What?" I shook my head. "No. That's not true. I'm not like that."

"Really? Think about it. You leave Lina home when we're on tour. A week into being away from her you're all weepy and whiny about missing her and being lonely. Then bam! You drink too much and hook up with the first girl you can find."

"That's not true," I repeated.

"Then the guilt eats you alive. You tell Lina and she breaks up with you. You then spend the next month and a half on the road mindlessly hooking up with every pair of boobs with two working legs you find so you don't feel bad about Lina or have to be alone."

I sighed, avoiding eye contact with Rian because he was essentially right.

"Oh and then-"

"And then I come home and see Lina and we get back together because we'll be able to be with each other and there's no temptation. And eventually the cycle starts all over again," I finished for Rian.

He nodded. "Exactly."

"Okay. Fine. But then what about Brook?"

"She was new. And it was different. But when you realized it was more than just an attempt to get laid and it was something real, you freaked out. Lina showed up and bam! Easy street."

I sighed again. "I am so fucked."

Rian nodded. "Yeah. Maybe just a little."

"Thanks," I had to laugh. "I have to get going. I'm supposed to pick up Brook."

Rian nodded. "Do yourself a favor and don't bring up anything that's going to scare her away."

"I know," I nodded. "I'm going to try at least."

"For what it's worth," Rian started as I stood from the couch. "I think you should give things a chance with Brook before you go running back to Lina for good."

I smiled a little. "I'm going to," I said, gathering my stuff and the gifts I'd pick up for Brook and heading out.

Brook

"Am I crazy?" I asked, packing the living room. "I mean Sam told me this guy's got a sketchy past when it comes to girls. And here I am agreeing to another date."

Jenny sighed. "Brook, I told you to check this guy out before and you didn't listen. And now you're even more attached and you find this out."

"I know," I sighed. "But am I crazy?"

"Of course you're crazy. But you're going to give this guy a chance because you felt something with him. And I think you owe it to yourself."

My phone vibrated and I saw I had a text from Alex saying that he was here.

"Oh God," I gasped. "He's here."

"Brook. You need to relax. Don't do anything that's going to ruin this for you. If Alex is genuine about you, he will tell you want you need to know when the time is right."

"You're right," I nodded, putting on my coat. "You're right."

"Now go, he's waiting for you. And don't forget his gifts."

I grabbed the shopping bag off the kitchen table. "You're sure these gifts aren't lame right? I fee like I look cheap."

"Brook. It's not cheap. It's thoughtful. Besides you haven't known each other long enough where it's required to buy each other gifts for holidays."

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah," I said opening the door. "I'll see you later," I yelled as I rushed down the stairs and promised myself I wasn't going to act any differently towards Alex. Even though I was a little mad that he had a past like that and hadn't mentioned it to me. But at the same time we weren't that serious and there were things he didn't know about me.

I took a deep breath before opening the door because I knew Alex was going to be there waiting for me.

"Hey!" he chirped when I stepped out of the door. I had to smile at the stupid, excited grin he had on his face.

"Hi Alex," I said excitedly, mocking him a little bit.

He quickly pulled me into a hug and spun me around a little. "This is going to sound crazy but I've missed you."

I laughed a little. "I've missed you too, Alex."

He smiled a little bigger and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. It was in that instant that I kind of forgot all about being mad at him.

"You ready to go?" he asked when I pulled away and nodded.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we climbed into his Range Rover.

He smiled. "Well, actually I don't really have anything planned."

"You don't?" I looked at him funny.

"Nope. Last time I planned everything and it was a surprise to you. So, now I'll let you decide what we do and it can be a surprise to me."

"Okay," I laughed. "So now the pressure's on to decide what to do."

"No pressure," he said, leaning back in his seat

"Okay. Let's start easy. I'm hungry. So, let's eat first."

"Good choice," Alex nodded. "What are you in the mood for?" he asked and started driving down my block.

"Wow. After all the eating we did during Christmas I couldn't imagine thinking about food again. But I can really go for a pizza."

"Pizza sounds great," Alex agreed and I gave him directions to my favorite pizzeria.

"I swear they're the best pizza place in town."

Alex

"Okay. You were right. That was definitely the best pizza I have ever had," I admitted to Brook as we got back into my car after eating.

We ordered a pie for the both of us and it was refreshing to sit across from a girl who wasn't embarrassed to eat three slices of pizza in public.

"Oh well you just wait until you try my homemade pizza. It will blow that pizza out of the water."

"You make your own pizza?" I asked.

She nodded excitedly. "My grandfather used to own a pizza place in Brooklyn when my dad was growing up. It's an old family recipe."

"I would love to learn to make it sometime with you."

She smiled. "I think that could be arranged."

"Alright. So we ate. Now where to?" I asked pulling out of the pizza place's parking lot.

"Don't think I'm lame, okay?" she said quickly.

"I can try," I laughed.

"I really want to see that New Year's Eve movie."

"Really?"

"I know. It's lame. Forget it. I'll come up with something better."

"No," I protested, turning in the direction of the nearest movie theatre. "It's fine. I can see that movie. I don't mind."

"Are you sure? It's a total chick flick."

"Absolutely sure. To be honest with you, I kind of have a soft spot for chick flicks."

"Really?" she almost beamed. "I think I just planned our next four dates."

"Alright. Don't push it," I laughed. "Here," I passed her my phone. "Use the Fandango App to check what time the movie is playing."

She looked at me a few times, a blank stare in her eye. "How do I do that?"

I laughed a little as I slowed to a red light. It was cute how technologically behind she was. I showed her how to get to the app and chose the movie we wanted and which theatre we wanted to go to."

"Okay," she said, scrolling through the page. "It looks like the next one starts in about an hour."

"That's fine," I nodded. "We can go get the tickets now and hang out for a bit."

"Sounds like a plan," she smiled.

We pulled into the parking lot of the theatre and I smiled when Brook let me hold her hand as we walked inside. I bought our tickets and argued again about me paying for her.

We pulled into the parking lot of the theatre and I smiled when Brook let me hold her hand as we walked inside. I bought our tickets and argued with Brook again about me paying for her.

"You still want snacks? After all that pizza?"

"Duh," she rolled her eyes. "You can't go to the movies and not get snacks."

"I agree. But we'll see if I let you pay."

"Let me?" she gasped. "You have no choice."

"Of course I have a choice. It's a free country."

"I have an idea," she said, looking around and her eyes landed on the arcade games. "I'll play you in Pacman. High score gets to pay for snacks."

I stood up and shook her hand. "You're on."

Ten minutes and about four dollars in quarters later, I was official that Brook was a better Pacman player than me and that I had to suck it up and let her buy me a snack.

Brook was a gracious winner and didn't really flaunt her victory that much.

We played a few more games and I dropped another five dollars in the crane game trying to win a stuffed animal for Brook. I was down to my last quarter when Brook insisted she could win the bear in one try and she did.

"I wanted to win the bear for you," I grumbled as we waited on line for the snacks, tucking the stuffed teddy bear that was hugging a big red heart that said "You're unBEARably adorable!" under my arm.

"Oh don't be such a baby," she huffed. "Plus, you're more unbearably adorable than I am anyway."

I smirked. "That's true."

She nudged me with her shoulder. "What do you want?" she asked when we were next in line.

"You know, if I decide I don't want anything, the whole winning the bet thing doesn't count."

She frowned. "Please. Just get something."

I smiled. "Milk Duds and a bottle of Fruit Punch Vitamin Water, please."

Her smiled widened as if she was a kid in a candy shop and my heart did a sort of flutter in my chest.

When we were up she ordered my candy and drink and a bag of M&Ms, a medium popcorn and a small Sprite for herself.

I smiled at her as we walked over to get our tickets ripped and head into the theatre.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just really glad I met you," I said pretty lamely.

She looked up at me. "You are? Why?"

"You're so different from other girls," I answered honestly.

"Good different?"

I nodded, leaning down and kissing her quickly. "Great different."