The Road Ahead of Us

As the next few months went by, Kara and Rian worked out the awkwardness between them and were able to become friends so the group was all able to hang out together though they were no longer together. Alex and Isabelle were still going strong and everything was great. Isabelle got a job working at a law office, working the phones and filings. The pay was great and she loved the people she worked with.

"So me and Rian are thinking about having a Halloween party." Alex told Sophie one night when they were out to dinner together, just the two of them.

"Oh yeah? That would be fun." She told him, biting into her burger as he nodded.

"It would be costume. The couples are supposed to coordinate. What should we wear?" She smiled and bit her lip in thought.

"Can you be Scooby and I be Shaggy?" She offered, making him laugh and shake his head.

"No thanks. How about... You be Dorothy and I be the scarecrow?" He asked, grinning.

"Yeah, that could work." She agreed. They smiled at each other before returning to their food. After they finished eating and Alex paid, they ventured from the restaurant and back towards his car where he began the short drive back to her apartment.

"So ever since Jack found out that me and you have sex, he brings it up every chance he gets." Alex told her, making her laugh.

"It was the same way in High School. Jack is just jealous that you get some and he doesn't, just like High School." She said, making them both laugh.

"Oh, Iz. I love you." He reached over and took her hand, bringing it over to his lips as he drove before he laced their fingers together and rested their linked hands on her lap.

"I love you, too." She told him, smiling over at him.

"Does that mean I'm going to get laid tonight?" He wondered, making her laugh and nod.

"Duh."

"Score!" He yelled, doing a fist pump with the hand that he was driving with.

"Hand's on the wheel, big guy, or neither of us are getting anything but a hospital visit." She warned making him nod.

"Don't worry, my love, I'd never let anything happen to you." He squeezed her hand and smiled over at her. She truly did have the greatest boyfriend ever.

_______

"Well why such short notice? I mean... I have a life here, I have my girlfriend, I can't just up and leave now." Alex said into the phone, his band manager having just told him that he and the guys were to fly out to Los Angeles the next morning to go into the studio to record their next album for the next month.

"I know it's short notice, Alex." Keith said. "I tried to get a later date but this next month is all they had. It's now or never." Alex sighed.

"Fine. Have you told the other guys?" He questioned, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I have." Keith responded. "So, your flight leaves at 10 in the morning, I emailed Rian your boarding passes so he will print those out he said. I'll see you guys when you land here tomorrow." With that Keith hung up on the frustrated singer who stood in his girlfriends kitchen, in nothing but his boxers.

"Sexy look you got there, Lex." Kara joked when she walked in to get some coffee.

"Yeah, thanks." He answered distractedly.

"What's on your mind, bud?" She wondered, frowning at him as she put her mug down.

"Nothing. Is Iz still asleep?" He questioned making Kara shrug.

"You two seemed to be very... busy... last night, I'd be surprised if she's not dead." Alex couldn't help but chuckle before he left the room.

"Sorry, Kara." He called to her, making her laugh.

"It's okay, I'll just go out and invest in some super duty earplugs for the future." Alex's smile immediately fell, tonight was the last night they would have together for a month.

"Yeah, alright." He called back before making his way down the hall towards his girlfriends bedroom. When he pushed the door open, he found that she was still asleep. He simply stood in the doorway and watched her. She laid on her back, the sheet pulled up her chest to cover herself and her auburn colored hair spread across her pillow like a lions mane. He knew he was the luckiest person alive to call this beautiful human being his. He never wanted to let her go. He would try to get her to come to LA with him, she had to. He couldn't be away from her for a month, he could barely handle one hour away from her.

"Babe." He whispered, walking towards the bed. He sat down beside her and brushed some of her hair out of her face. "Izzy, wake up." He said, gently running his hand down her cheek. She groaned and rolled over, away from him. He laughed and shook her a little. "Baby, I have to talk to you, wake up." She groaned again before rolling over once more, looking up at him, frowning a little.

"What's wrong?" She immediately questioned, making him sigh.

"Keith just called me." He told her simply, making her nod, signaling for him to go on. "He got us time in the studio to record." She suddenly sat up, smiling.

"That's great, Alex!" She reached forward and hugged him, not caring that the sheet had slipped down to expose her bare chest.

"Yeah... it is." He said softly, burying his face in her warm neck.

"What? What's wrong? Why aren't you excited about this?" She questioned, pulling back to look at him.

"We leave tomorrow morning." He responded. "We'll be gone all month." Her smile suddenly fell and she looked down. She then felt very self conscious with how exposed she was so she pulled the sheet back up, holding it over herself.

"Oh.... I see." She didn't know what to feel. She was of course excited that they get to go record, but she wasn't happy that he would be gone for a month and on such short notice.

"I'm sorry, baby. Keith said that this was the only time he could book us..." He told her, making her simply nod.

"Well... you guys need to go in and record so... that's that." She went to stand up but he pulled her back down and into his lap, not caring that she wasn't clothed, he wasn't thinking about that right now.

"Baby, please don't be mad. I don't want to leave you. Come with us." At his words she burst into laughter and shoved away from him, walking over to her closet and grabbed a t-shirt, quickly slipping it on.

"Yeah right, Alex. I have a job here, I can't just leave for a month." She told him, crossing her arms over her now clothed chest.

"Please, baby, I can't be away from you for a month." He stood up and made his way over to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. She unwound her arms and wrapped them around his neck, looking up at him.

"What about my job?" She questioned him, making him sigh.

"Well... just see what they say about you taking a month off... if they fire you then... I'll support you until you can find something else once we get back from LA. But please, Izzy, I can't be there without you. I went four years without you, I just got you back, don't make me lose you again..." His eyes actually began to well up in tears as he thought about being away from her. He simply could not do it, it would destroy him.

"Okay." She whispered, agreeing that she couldn't be away from him either.

"Really?" He asked, smiling a little, making her nod and smile too. "Oh thank you, babe, thank you so much." He pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her sweet smelling hair.

"I couldn't bare to be away from you for that long either, I just couldn't do it." She told him, pulling back to smile at him. He nodded and attached their lips.

"I'll go call Keith and tell him to book another flight. Thank you so much, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead before rushing out of the room, making her smile but then frown. She had to quite a job that she loved. Of course when it came to Alex, she would give up anything to be with him..