Hearts So Pure

The next morning I woke up to the smell of coffee. I turned around, and noticed other than me, the bed was empty.

I saw Garrett sitting at his desk, looking at his laptop. He had a cup of coffee resting on his desk, and headphones in his ears. His head was lightly bobbing up and down.

“Hey,” I said, a little loudly.

Garrett turned around, and smiled when he saw me. He took his headphones off. He pointed to the nightstand right next to me and said, “I brought you coffee.”

I sat up and grabbed the cup. Garrett’s focus was back on his laptop, and I took a sip. I felt the warm coffee go down my throat, warming my stomach.

The room was quiet. Everything was quiet. I looked around, and realized that there wasn’t any sound coming from the kitchen or living room. Mornings were usually the loudest, with banging pans and opening and closing doors.

But everything was silent. I looked back at Garrett, who was bobbing his head again. “Where is everyone?” I said.

Garrett turned around again, and said, “What?”

“Where is everyone?” I said. “It’s too quiet.”

Garrett smirked. “They left.”

“Where?” I said.

Garrett was smiling wide now, his teeth showing. “I told them to find something to do. I wanted to spend the day with you. Well, if you want. We can hang out today, just us.”

I smiled, and I leaned back into the bed a little bit, feeling self conscious. Garrett was looking at me eagerly, waiting for a response. I bit my lip and nodded. “That sounds great,” I said.

Garrett nodded and said, “Cool. Get ready then.”

Garrett was fully dressed and his hair wasn’t as messy as it usually is in the mornings, so I assumed he was already ready. I got up and walked over to the drawers where my clothes were in.

I grabbed a change of clothes and walked to the bathroom. “I won’t take long,” I called out to Garrett, and closed the door.

I showered quickly. We hadn’t spent much time “out” since….well you know. It had been a while. I was nervous, and I sped through my shower.

I got out and changed, then dried my hair quickly and put it in a loose bun. I put on just a hint of makeup, enough to hide my ever present dark circles, but it wasn’t obvious I had any on. I put on a tiny bit of eyeliner, and some mascara. I walked out of the bathroom and found Garrett still in the same position as last time. He was bobbing his head, staring at the computer screen.

“So,” I said from the doorway. “What are we gonna do today?”

Garrett turned around and smiled when he saw me. Then he stood up and closed his laptop.

Walking over to me, he said, “You’ll see.”

Then he grabbed my hand, and we walked out of the house.

We walked down the street, and as we got further into town, it got more crowded. I was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic, so I held onto Garrett’s hand tighter.

He noticed I was nervous, and pulled me closer to him. We stopped at a stoplight. “Let’s get a cab,” he said, and hailed one.

We drove for a while, but Garrett didn’t tell me where we were going. I just looked out the window, watching all the people on the streets. I grew up in a fairly small town, and this was the big apple, it was quite a big deal. I watched as we passed tall buildings and important looking people. Garrett just stayed quiet.

Soon the cab stopped, and Garrett pulled out some money. He handed it to the cab driver and we got out. The first thing I noticed was the Statue of Liberty.

I saw it in the distance, over a large expanse of water. “Wow,” I said, my mouth hanging open. Garrett’s hand slid into mine, and he pulled me into a small building.

Inside, there wasn’t much. It was mostly racks of knick knacks, Statue of Liberty magnets and calendars and post cards. Garrett walked to the front desk while I looked around.

Soon he walked over to me and pulled me back outside. I honestly had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. Garrett walked me to this dock by the water, and I watched as people filed onto this big boat.

Garrett stopped, stared at it, then back at me. “You ever been on a ferry?” He said, eager.

I shook my head. I had never been to a lake.

“There’s a first time for everything,” he said quietly, almost a whisper. Then he pulled me to the ferry, and soon we were on the top deck, and sailing towards the Statue of Liberty.

I leaned over the rails and looked down at the water. It was scary, but also a little relaxing. I watched my reflection from the water down below and felt Garrett slip his arm over my shoulder. “It’s nice to be out of Arizona,” he said, looking out over the water.

The boat rocked back and forth slowly.

I nodded. I could only watch as I watched the outlines of hundreds of buildings. I turned to Garrett. “So we’re together now, right?” I said, breaking the silence.

Garrett turned to me, a little surprised. “I don’t know..” he said. “Is that what you want?”

I looked back at him and bit my lip. Is that what I wanted? I stared at those beautifully colored eyes, the eyes that I could never get enough of, then my eyes traveled down to his lips. A smile crept on his face, and I watched his lips as he said, “Is that a yes?”

I let out a small chuckle, and I could tell by the silence around us that we were probably only two of the few people still on the top level. The rest had gone to sit on the bottom level where there were seats, I guess.

Garrett’s hand slid down to my waist, and he pulled me in for a kiss.

I kissed him there and the boat rocked back and forth, I could hear the water smacking against the ferry below us. His soft kisses never got old, his lips always felt right against mine. He let go slowly, and turned out to the water. I did the same, and then we both looked down at our reflections over the rail.

I saw me standing there next to him, our shoulders touching. I saw Garrett’s outline, and the reflection of his dark blue jacket. Then Garrett said, laughing, “Damn, we make a good couple.”

I laughed and pulled away, nudging him in the arm. Soon we were at the Statue of Liberty, and I was glad I got to share that experience with Garrett. We spent a couple hours there, and it was fun.

Back on land, I asked Garrett what we were doing next.

“I wanted to meet up with everyone else,” he said. I noticed the sun was starting to go down. How long had we been on that boat?

“Alright,” I nodded, and soon we were walking back to the house.

Everyone was back, and getting ready for a show. No one spoke much, and I got a little nervous. I pulled Nicole over to the side of the room and said, “How was your day?”

She smiled nervously. “Boring, actually. We went for pizza, then went bowling. A little juvenile if you ask me.” I frowned.

We got in the van and drove off to what I was assuming to be the venue.

When we got there, it was empty. We walked into the silent building and the boys didn’t seem to notice.

“Where is everyone?” I said, looking around. The only light was on the stage. The bar was empty, everything.

Everyone ignored me, and I looked over at Nicole. She was just as confused as I was. The boys grabbed their things and set up on stage.

“Are we early?” Nicole said. They kept setting up, and John looked up at her and smiled, not saying a word.

Shrugging, me and Nicole sat at the edge of the stage. We watched as they performed their sound check.

When they were done, Pat said to us, “You guys have front row seats,”and nodded to the empty area at the edge of the stage.

Still confused as ever, we walked to where the crowd was supposed to be. “What’s going on?” I said, but the boys started to play, quietly and slowly.

It sounded like “My Girl” by the Temptations. John looked at Nicole from behind the microphone. “This ones for you, baby,” he said, and smiled wide.

He started to sing, “I got sunshine… on a cloudy day..”

I turned to Nicole, there were tears in her eyes. We stood there and watched them play the whole song, Nicole being reduced to tears. John looked right into her eyes when he sang, and I knew she was putty in his hands. I mean, who wouldn’t be? When they were done, John reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her on stage. She wiped her eyes, and smiled at him.

“Nicole,” he said softly, and we all watched. He hesitated a little before he said quietly, “I love you.”

“Oh my God,” Nicole said, with tears running down her cheeks. She reached out and grabbed John, pulling him in for a hug. He hugged her back, and when they let go he kissed her passionately. It was so cute, all I could do was stare.

Suddenly, from behind, a hand grabbed my waist. I tried to turn around, but Garrett whispered in my ear, “Shh,”

He pulled me away from the stage, and I looked back at the boys, no one had even noticed. They were all still wooing at John and Nicole.

Garrett led me through the dark building, holding my hand. We went out the back door, and soon we were out on the street.

We walked down two blocks in silence, Garrett gripping my hand harder than ever. He stopped at a hotel, and walked into the lobby. I followed him in, confused.

He headed straight for the elevators, and we got off on the 15th floor, not saying one word. He led me down a hallway to a door, and then slid a card through a slot on the door.

The door opened, and we walked into a suite.

I looked around, my bags were by the door, already packed. There was a wine bottle by the bed, and I stared at it while Garrett handed me a rose. Completely surprised, I couldn’t even speak.

“Um..” Garrett stammered. “I’m not one for romantic stuff or whatever, but I thought you would like it if we got some alone time. And all girls like roses, right?”

He bit his lip and fiddled with his fingers, looking at me. I smiled and took the rose. “This is very sweet,” I said, and rushed toward him, wrapping my arms around him.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Great,” he said. “I’m glad you liked it.”

He hugged me back, and I wanted to cry. He was so sweet, and terribly clueless. He was adorable.

I let go and looked at him. “I’m really glad I’m here. In this room, today, this summer, with you.”

Garrett smiled his perfect smile at me. “Yeah,” he laughed. “Me too.”

He kissed me on the cheek, and hugged me again. I don’t know how long we stood like that, in each others arms, but I knew I never wanted that moment to end.