The Road Ahead of Us

"Hey Kara, can I borrow your feather earrings? The ones you wore the other day to dinner?" Isabelle asked, walking into her best friend and roommates bedroom to find her lounging on the bed, flipping through a magazine.

"Yeah, sure." She responded, putting the magazine down. "They are on my dresser." She instructed, pointing at the mentioned piece of furniture. Isabelle nodded and went to grab them, quickly slipping them into the holes in her ears. "Wow. You look hot." Kara told her, looking up and down her body, noting the black strapless dress and black heels. "This all for Alex?" She questioned, making Isabelle smile.

"So I look alright? He still hasn't told me what we are doing, just that I had to dress nice." Isabelle told her, doing a complete spin so Kara could check out the entire outfit, as well as her updo, to make sure it looked alright.

"You look amazing, Alex will love it." Isabelle smiled at her friends words.

"Do you know what Alex has planned?" Isabelle went to sit on the edge of Kara's bed. She had to be leaving soon, if she wanted to get to Alex's house by 6 like he asked, but she had a moment or two to spare for some girl talk.

"Nope, I don't." Kara responded, with a grin, meaning that she did in fact know. Isabelle rolled her eyes but chose not to question it, knowing that she wouldn't tell her no matter how hard she pushed.

"What are your plans for the night? You gonna do anything with Rian?" The smile suddenly slipped from Kara's face. She looked down and began to pick at a loose thread on the blanket of her bed.

"Um.... no. I'll probably just stay here, make myself some dinner, watch a few movies before heading to bed. I'll do some packing as well." Isabelle frowned.

"Is there something going on between you and Rian, Kara? Is everything okay?" Kara just sighed and shook her head.

"No, we're fine." She lifted her head to give Isabelle a small smile. "You need to go or you'll be late." Kara stood up, pulling Isabelle up as well. Isabelle continued to frown but allowed Kara to pull her from the room anyway.

"Fine, I'll go but I know that something is up so as soon as I get home you and I are talking about this, okay?" Isabelle told her, making Kara sigh again and nod.

"Have fun tonight." Isabelle nodded and pulled Kara into a hug.

"If you need me just call me and I'll be home in a second." Isabelle told her. Kara laughed and shook her head.

"Everything is fine, Izzy. Don't worry about me. Now go." Kara gave her a small shove towards the door, making Isabelle smile. She grabbed her bag and keys. She opened the door, turned and gave Kara one more smile before she left the apartment.

Her moment with Kara made her pull up at Alex's house at 6:07. It wasn't that late but apparently it was late enough to make Alex freak out as he stood on his porch, leaning against the railing, waiting for her to pull up. When she did, he smiled and went to stand on the steps as she made her way to him.

"You're late." He said when she stopped on the last step below him.

"Only by a few minutes, Kara was acting strange so I tried to get what was wrong out of her but she wouldn't talk. Do you know if something is going on with her and Rian?" Isabelle asked, figuring that maybe Alex knew something but the frown on his face told her that he knew nothing.

"No." He responded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Rian seems perfectly fine, I figured he'd be going over to her house, seeing as we'll be gone all night." This was the first hint as to what the couple would be doing, making Isabelle smile.

"So we'll be gone all night, huh?" Alex smiled and reached his hand out, allowing her to place her soft hand within his. She took the last remaining step so she stood in front of him as he pulled her against him.

"Yes, we will. Now, we must go. We are already behind schedule." He leaned down to peck her lips before leading the way back down the stairs and towards his car.

"Where are we going, Alex?" She questioned him as he opened the passenger door for her.

"You'll find out soon enough, well... at least one part of it at least." He grinned, closing the door before she could say anything else. He went around the car and took his place in the drivers seat, starting up the car and headed in the direction of their destination. It took about fifteen minutes before they pulled up at a large brick house. Isabelle recognized it instantly.

"You're parents house?" She questioned him, making him laugh and shrug as he turned off the car.

"They wanted to see you, so my mom planned a family dinner. We won't be here long, just long enough to eat. We have other things to do tonight." For some reason, this statement made Isabelle blush and things low in her body tighten. She was hoping that he meant what she thought he did. Alex simply grinned at her before getting out of the car, coming to open her door for her. He took her hand as they walked up the short walk way. He gave one short knock on the door before simply opening it and walking in.

Isabelle looked around the once familiar surroundings. The pile of shoes beside the door, the jackets on the coat rack behind the door, the small table that held the mail and car keys and then, if you looked close enough at the wall behind the small table, you could see the small indent that the table had once made when Alex and her had come home late one night, his parents gone for the weekend. The two had been in a rush, making out in the dark and Alex stumbled into the table, making it slam into the wall, forever leaving that mark.

Then she remembered the last time she had been in this house. The day they had broken up. She had walked through this same entry way, her palms sweating, her hands shaking, as she thought about the conversation she was about to have with her boyfriend. She never thought it would lead to her rushing through this door, tears flowing down her cheeks, after he told her it was over and to get out of his house. Four years later and it still looks exactly the same.

"Alex? Is that you?" Isabelle jumped out of her thoughts. She looked through the doorway ahead of them to see none other than Isobel Gaskarth walking towards them. Peter Gaskarth, Alex's father used to call them Iz One and Iz Two if Isabelle and Mrs. Gaskarth were in the same room together. Mrs. Gaskarth was of course always Iz One.

"Yeah, mom. It's us." Alex said, pulling Isabelle into the living room.

"Oh, Izzy. It's so wonderful to see you!" Isobel gushed, pulling the woman into a hug. Isabelle couldn't help but hug her back tightly. This woman had once been like a mother to her, even when her own mother had died, Isabelle spent the entirety of her funeral either curled up with her father or Isobel, finding solace and comfort in the mother like arms, knowing that she would never have her own mothers arms wrapped around her again.

"You too, Iz." It had been years since Isobel had to chastise Isabelle for calling her Mrs. Gaskarth. She had simply spent so much time with the older woman that calling her anything but her first name felt wrong.

"I'm glad its under better circumstances this time." Isobel pulled back to give Isabelle kind, mother like eyes. Of course the last time they had seen each other or spoken was at her father's funeral two years ago.

"Yes, I am too." The women shared another smile before Isobel went to pull her tall son into a hug.

"Dinner is almost ready, your father is in the dining room so you two may go and have a seat." Isobel instructed, giving the two a warm smile before turning and disappearing into the kitchen. Alex took Isabelle's hand once more and pulled her towards the dining room where sure enough Peter Gaskarth was seated at his usual seat at the head of the table. As soon as he saw the couple though, he jumped up.

"Izzy!" He shouted, quickly enveloping the now giggling girl into a tight embrace. "How are you, dear?" He questioned, pulling back to hold her at arms length.

"I'm fantastic, thank you." Isabelle responded, grinning up at the tall, yet slightly chubby man.

"Dinner!" Isobel called, walking into the room holding a steaming plate of roast and potatoes. Isabelle's mouth immediately began to water when she realized just how hungry she was. She also remembered how delicious everything that Isobel made was and watched excitedly as Alex piled her plate full of food for her, just as he used to.

"So, Iz Two, Alex tells me that you two are back together again. Is that true or is that just Alex's wishful thinking?" Peter asked, making Isabelle giggle. She smiled over at Alex, earning a smile in return before turning towards Peter.

"We are back together, Peter." She told him, making him grin and Isobel clap happily.

"Good, I was so hoping that the two of you would find each other again. Truthfully, I never liked that Carrie girl." Isobel told the table honestly. "How was California? How is Adam doing? He was a nice fellow." Isobel and Peter had of course met Adam when he came with her for her parents funerals. They hadn't been together then though, she just needed him there for moral support and just in case she ran into Alex.

"Adam is doing... alright. We actually were dating." Isabelle responded, her voice low. She didn't want to talk about Adam. She was still upset by the situation and was trying to do her best to push him from her mind at all times.

"Oh, I knew you two would eventually." Isobel said, either ignoring Isabelle's, as well as Alex's, uncomfortableness or she simply didn't notice. "Let me guess, Alex came and stole you away from him?" Isobel grinned at Alex, reaching for her glass of wine, taking a small sip while she watched Alex over the rim of her glass.

"Actually... Carrie stole him away from her. The two of them had a.... mishap during our road trip. It broke me and Carrie up, as well as her and Adam." Alex quickly explained, twirling his potatoes around on his plate with his fork, not looking at anyone.

"Oh dear...." Isobel spoke quietly, her hand going to her mouth. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart." She reached forward to pat Alex's hand, making him smile at her softly. "And you too, dear, that's just awful." She said to Isabelle who simply shrugged, reaching for her wine glass and basically downing the entire thing, swallowing it loudly.

"It's okay, really." She responded with a sigh. She looked up at Alex, meeting his eye and giving him a small smile. "It brought me back to the man that I truly love, so even though it hurt, its okay." Alex nodded and leaned over to peck her lips gently.

"Oh this is marvelous. I never thought I'd see the day again." Isobel once against gushed over the two of them, making them both laugh.

The rest of dinner passed without a hitch. Isobel made strawberry crumble for dessert, which was just as delicious as the roast had been. Soon, Alex and Isabelle were giving their goodbyes.

"You two need to come back again soon. We sure have missed you around here, Iz." Peter told them as Alex and Isabelle walked out the door, Peter and Isobel standing in the doorway.

"I've missed being here, Peter. I'll definitely see you guys soon." She told them.

"Alex, you treat her right, you hear?" Isobel told her son in a stern voice, making Alex laugh.

"I will, ma, don't worry." He reassured her, wrapped his arm around Isabelle's waist as they walked down the walk. "Bye!" He called one last time to his parents as the couple got into the car.

"That was really nice. I've missed them." Isabelle said as Alex drove towards their next destination. "So where are we going now?" She questioned him, making him laugh.

"Well... first we are going to my house for a quick second. We need to change into something that can be ruined. And then... I'm not telling you where we are going." He told her, making he grown. Soon they arrived back at his large house and went inside. "I'll just give you a pair of my shorts and a t-shirt to change into. We'll be coming back here after to shower and then I have one more place to take you." He told her as they made their way up the stairs, calling a hello to Rian who was in the living room.

"We sure are doing a lot tonight, Alex." She said when they stepped into his bedroom. He laughed and nodded, going to grab the clothes he had already set out earlier that afternoon. He handed them to her before grabbing his own. He stripped down to his boxers and slid on the red shorts and black t-shirt. She watched him as he did this, checking out his body as he did so.

"You checkin me out?" He questioned her, smirking when she grinned and nodded. "Like what you see?" She giggled and shook her head.

"Nope, I don't like it. I love it." She told him, making him roll his eyes but smile none the less. He moved forward, gathering her up into his arms and leaned down to press their lips together. She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling her body closer to his. Her body tensed with desire as he slid his hands down her hips, going to rest low on her ass, pulling her pelvis towards his. Suddenly he pulled away, taking a step backwards from her, a small grin on his face as she pouted.

"No, we can't get distracted, we are already a little behind, so change. There's time for that later." His last sentence made her grin and grab for the clothes she had previously tossed on the bed.

"I hope there will be." She mumbled before she slid out of her dress. She grinned as she watched Alex checking her out while she stood there in nothing but a black pair of panties and a strapless bra. "You checkin me out?" She mocked him before she slid into the black shorts and green t-shirt. He laughed and shook his head.

"Nope." He reached for something that was sitting on the bed. "Here, these are Kara's, I figured they'd fit you better than any of mine would. We'll be taking our shoes off once we get there but I still figure out'd like to wear something other than heels." He was holding out a pair of black flip flops. Isabelle took them and slid them on her feet as he slid into his own pair of flip flips. "Come on, let's go." They then left the house, quickly getting in the car. Isabelle didn't even try to ask where they were going as she knew Alex wouldn't tell.

After about twenty minutes, they pulled up at some time of small building, making Isabelle frown. She looked up at the sign on the front, seeing that it read Lance's Photos in large letters on it with a picture of a camera beside it.

"Please tell me we are not getting our pictures taken." She asked Alex as they got out of the car. He laughed and came over to her, taking her hand.

"No. See, Lance is a friend of mine. He takes photos of All Time Low when we play shows. He's doing a shoot next week with paint on his models but he needs the backdrop to be painted. He asked if me and the guys wanted to do it, but I asked if me and my gorgeous girlfriend could do it instead, it will be fun." He told her, making her frown and look up at him as he grinned.

"We are going to paint?" She questioned, thoroughly confused as to why this would ever be fun. She was not a good painter and surely should not be trusted to create the background for a photoshoot.

"No. We are going to play in the paint." He answered, her making her mouth drop open. "He said all we have to do is throw paint around, at the sheets on the walls, on the floor, at each other." He mumbled the last part making her laugh and shove him a little. "Come on, it'll be fun." With that he pulled her into the studio. She had to admit, she was pretty excited, this sounded like fun. After being introduced to a short man who was apparently Lance, he led them to a small room that had every inch covered in white sheets. There was about twenty buckets of paint in the center of the room. No brushes.

"Here ya go. I'll come see how you've done in an hour. Don't kill each other. Oh and it's all washable paint, so it will come out of you're hair, don't worry." Isabelle nodded, she had been worried that it would mess with her hair but was glad to hear that it wouldn't. With that Lance shut them into the room.

"So, shall we get started?" Alex asked her, walking over to a bucket of deep purple paint. He dipped his hand in and then swung it back, splattering it against the wall nearest him.

"No no no, Alex. That is not how you do it, at all." Isabelle told him, making her way over to a bucket of yellow that she liked. It was bright and made her think of sunflowers.

"Oh yeah, how's it done then?" He asked her, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her take a handful of the paint. She grinned over at him. As soon as he realized what she was going to do, it was too late. Her arm was already raised and flinging towards him. Before he could even uncross his arms, the yellow paint splattered against his chest and arms. She giggled as his mouth fell open. "Oh, so that's how it's going to go, huh?" He looked over at her, making her giggle again and nod. "It is so on babe." And the paint war began.

"Wow." The couple didn't even notice that it had been an hour already until Lance walked in. He eyed the room, a smile on his face. Almost every inch of the walls were covered with splatters of paint. He looked into the middle of the room where Isabelle and Alex were standing. He laughed at the site of them. Isabelle had just taken a small bucket of purple paint and dumped it on Alex's head. He was now shaking his head like a dog, flinging the purple paint everywhere, including Isabelle who giggled and shielded herself, not that it did much good, she was covered head to toe in multiple colors of paint. "Well... you two seemed to have had fun." The couple laughed and nodded.

"Thank you so much for letting us do this, Lance." Alex told him. "I'd shake your hand but..." Alex lifted his paint covered hand, making Lance laugh and nod.

"Don't worry about it. Now please don't track too much paint through my studio." The couple laughed and ventured from the room. Alex disappeared into a bathroom to wash the paint from his hands as best he could so he could drive.

"What about your car seats, Alex?" Isabelle asked him when they went outside.

"I have it covered, don't worry." Before she could ask, he went to his trunk and pulled out two large blankets. He then covered both the seats completely with the blankets. He opened and closed Isabelle's door for her, as well as buckled her in, since she still had paint on her hands.

"So, that was fun." She said as he drove off. "I could really use a shower though. This is going to be so hard to get off of me though." Alex grinned over at her.

"I could help you." His voice was low and seductive, hinting at exactly what Isabelle wanted.

"Yes, please." She said back without hesitation. He smiled and reached over to pat her leg, leaving his hand on her thigh the entire rest of the way home.

"Shower time!" Alex yelled almost as soon as they were in his house. They heard Rian grown, which made them laugh. "We'll be quiet, promise!"

"Well... I might now be. Fair warning, Rian. I can be loud." Isabelle yelled as they ran up the stairs.

"I'll be going out then. Have fun!" They heard Rian yell before they heard the front door shut.

"Good, now we can be as loud as we want." Alex said. In the next second his lips were on hers and he had her pulled against his body. She smiled and pulled back. She lifted her arms above her head, making him grin. He reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it from her body. It was a little stiff but came off with some wiggling. She did the same with his shirt, tossing it onto the floor where he had thrown hers. Their shorts quickly followed. Now that they were missing the stiff, paint covered clothes, they went into the bathroom where he turned on the water as hot as it would go before reattaching their lips. Alex reached onto her back and easily unclipped the strapless bra, letting it fall down, landing on the floor at their feet.

She couldn't hold back the moan as her bare chest pressed against hers. She reached down and quickly slid his boxers off of him, her panties quickly following. Without breaking their kiss, he stepped back and slid them into the shower, letting the hot water wash over them. They broke from the kiss, simply because the hot water was making the paint on their faces run down, and it didn't exactly taste all that good. They then spent the next ten minutes washing the paint from each others bodies. The paint washed easily from Alex's shorter hair but when Isabelle attempted to wash her hair, she simply couldn't get it all so Alex ended up massaging her head, running his hands through her long locks, lathering up the shampoo. She moaned at the intimate contact his hands were making with her, loving every moment he touched her, even if it was simply on her head.

After her hair was done, they double checked to make sure that all the paint was gone before turning the water off and stepping from the shower. Alex grabbed a large towel and wrapped it around Isabelle, pulling her body against his so the towel wrapped around them both. They reconnected their lips and stumbled into the bedroom. Alex let the towel drop before lightly shoving her backwards onto the bed. She fell onto it with a soft giggle before he was leaning over her, his lips back on hers.

Her body was pulsing with his touch, his kisses, which were now being littered all over her neck and collar bone. She had her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, her nails digging into his soft skin, creating small half moon indents. He moaned when she wrapped her left leg around his waist, pulling him down onto him. He reattached their lips and ran his hands down her sides before grabbing her right leg and pulling that around his waist as well. His erection was not pressed against her, making her moan and want nothing more than it inside her already.

"Alex," She breathed. "Please, now." She begged when he reattached his lips to her neck. He pulled back to grin at her, brushing her wet hair from her face.

"You ready for this?" He asked her, positioning himself.

"God, yes." She moaned, her eyes closing in anticipation. Four years. It had been four years since she had felt this amazing. She had no idea how she had survived without this. "Alex." She moaned when he slid inside her.

"Baby." He moaned as he settled deep inside her, waiting a second so she could get used to his size. She wrapped her hand through his hair, tugging a little before pulling his face down to hers. As their tongues met, he began to move. Slowly at first but when her moans increased, her hips rocking against his, his thrusts became and in time with her moans.

"Fuck, how have I gone this long without this?" She basically screamed, her nails digging deeper into his back. He smirked and leaned down to bite at her neck, making her moan again. His thrusts continued until he flipped them over so she was on top of him, making them moan when he slid even deeper into her with the new position. She slid her hands down his chest, kissing at the soft skin as they both thrust their hips together.

She felt the tightness low in her, the warmth spreading as she grew closer to her orgasm. He was gripping at her hips, his eyes closed as he moaned out her name.

"I can't hold on much longer, baby." He moaned out, digging his nails into her hips. She moaned and leaned down to press her lips to his. In a stream of curses, kisses and a few last thrusts, they came, screaming each others names.

She fell into his chest, nuzzling her face into his sweaty neck while he wrapped his arms around her torso, holding her tightly. Both of them were breathing deeply but had matching, pleasured smiles on their faces.

"God, and I thought you were amazing back in high school. That was nothing compared to this." She told him breathlessly, making him laugh and turn to kiss her forehead.

"It was amazing for me too." He brought a hand up to stroke her still wet hair. "I love you." She shifted so was on her elbow, staring down at him. The movement made them both moan, as he was still buried deep inside her.

"I love you, too." He grinned, still breathing deeply.

"I'd say let's have a round too, but we still have somewhere to go." He said, making her laugh.

"Do we have to? I'd much rather have a round two." She told him. He laughed and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Alright, we can just go there in the morning, it doesn't really matter." He told her. He too wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her for the rest of the night. So that's what he did.