The Road Ahead of Us

"Break it up you two!" Jack yelled as soon as he entered his best friends kitchen to find none other than his best friend making out with his girlfriend, the couple quickly jumping apart and glaring at the tall lanky man who grinned at them. "Rian informed me of the love triangle drama that just went down."

"It is not a love triangle, Jack." Isabelle said, rolling her eyes at the man as she stepped back into the comforting circle of her boyfriend who snuggled the side of his face into her chest, his eyes closing in happiness when her arms wrapped around his shoulders, one of her hands coming up to play in his long hair. There was no place better than the circle of her arms.

"Yeah, sure. So, is it food time yet?" Jack questioned.

"Not yet, I was a little preoccupied, Jack." Rian answered as he walked into the kitchen followed by Zack.

"I'm really sorry about all of that, Rian." Isabelle apologized but Rian simply gave her his shiny wide smile and shook his head.

"No worries, Iz." He assured her as he grabbed the steaks from the fridge. "Let's go out back and fire up the grill! I'm starving!" The group agreed so they all ventured out to the large backyard. They spent the next half hour making the steaks. Isabelle ventured inside and let the boys have some man time while she prepared a salad and other small sides to have along with the steaks.

When everything was cooked they sat around the back patio table, enjoying the last few rays of warm sunlight while they devoured their delicious food. When the sun had set, bringing with it the chilly night time air, Alex gave Isabelle his jacket and sat wrapped up with her in a patio lounge chair. The couple ignored the rest of the guys, simply in their own world, Alex would occasionally kiss her forehead gently, never wanting to let her go. Eventually it became too late and far too cold so they all went back inside.

"I think I'm going to head out." Isabelle told her boyfriend when they walked back inside. The rest of the guys had already gone to the living room to pick out what movie they were going to watch leaving the couple alone in the kitchen.

"You sure?" Alex asked her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms which were still sheathed in his sweatshirt.

"Yeah. I feel bad for leaving Kara home alone all day." Isabella said, making Alex nod and lean down to give her a soft kiss.

"I'll walk you to the door." She nodded and allowed him to take her hand, leading her through the house. After a quick good bye to the guys they made it to the front door where she grabbed her keys from the side table and went to slip off Alex's sweatshirt. "You can hold on to it." He told her, putting it back on her shoulders. She smiled up at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" She asked, earning a nod in response from him. He leaned down and pressed their lips together, smiling against her soft lips.

"I love you." He told her when they pulled back. She kissed his cheek and went to open the door.

"Well I love you. Bye." He grinned and smacked her ass, making her yelp and fake glare at him.

"Think about me while you lay in bed alone tonight. If you miss me too much just call me and I'll come over to fix that." He winked at her, making her laugh and shake her head.

"Will do, Alex." She blew him a kiss before turning and walking down the porch, making her way to her brand new Mustang. She got in and spent the next few minutes admiring the gorgeous interior. Alex watched on from the front porch with amusement. Finally after Isabelle was satisfied with the inspection of her beautiful car she started it, grinning at the wonderfully loud purr it gave. She gave Alex a wave as she backed out and was soon zooming down his street. There wasn't much traffic and with the speed her car could do, she made it to her place fairly quickly.

"Kara, my love!" She called when she walked into their apartment. "I am home!" She put her bag and keys down before making her way into the living room, finding Kara sitting on the couch, watching TV and drinking a glass of wine.

"Hey, beautiful!" Her best friend greeted, grinning at her. "Is it your goal to have all of Alex's sweatshirts in your possession by the end of the year because you are well on your way there. You have a new one like every day." Kara commented, seeing the hoodie wrapped around Isabelle, recognizing it instantly as Alex's, much like the other five that were hung up beside the door or in Isabelle's bedroom.

"Maybe. It's not my fault he always insists I wear his sweatshirts." Isabelle retorted, coming to sit beside Kara. That's when she noticed the second glass of wine sitting on the coffee table. "Did you have company?"

"I still do." Kara responded right as someone walked down the hall from the bathroom. The girl seemed slightly familiar to Isabelle but she couldn't quite place her. She had long wavy brown hair, a large smile and was super skinny and quite tall. "Lisa, this is Isabelle. Isabelle this is my old friend Lisa. You remember her from high school, right?" That's when it hit Isabelle why Lisa was so familiar. She had hung out with the group in high school. She had also been in love with Alex.

"Nice to see you, Lisa." Isabelle greeted giving the woman a kind smile.

"So I hear that you and Alex are back together?" Lisa questioned, not even giving the girl a greeting as she went to sit in the chair next to the couch.

"Yes, we are." Isabelle answered, shrugging. She could see the venomous look that Lisa was trying to hold back. She obviously still had a thing for Alex.

"I've actually been meaning to talk to you, Iz. See, Lisa doesn't really have a place to stay for the next week or so. Her apartment had some sort of leakage and it's being repaired. She was staying with her parents but they went away on vacation. Is it alright if she stays here for a few days? She's okay with sleeping on the couch." Kara questioned. Kara knew that Isabelle and Lisa had never gotten along in high school, especially after Alex's drunken one night hook up with Lisa senior year.

"Oh yeah." Isabelle said, giving another shrug. "That's fine. You don't have to sleep on the couch though. You can have my room." She said, grinning.

"Where will you sleep then? I don't want to kick you out of your own room." Lisa told her, frowning.

"Oh no, it's fine. I can just go sleep with Alex at his place. I'm there a lot anyway." Isabelle knew that she was saying it like that to simply have a dig at Lisa and rub it in her face that she was with Alex. She was a female though, they liked to be petty. Before Lisa or Kara could say anything else there was a knock on the door. Kara jumped up and went to answer it.

"Alex?" Isabelle jumped up when Kara spoke her boyfriends name. She looked towards the door to see that sure enough her boyfriend was walking into the apartment, a large grin on his face.

"What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" Isabelle questioned as he walked in.

"I was sitting there with the guys after you left and I just... all of a sudden I wanted nothing more than to have you back with me. So, I've come to kidnap you back to my house." Alex told her, wrapping his arms around her waist, completely oblivious to the fact that there was someone else in the room and that it was Lisa.

"It's been like ten minutes, Alex." Isabelle told him, laughing. He simply shrugged and kissed her lips.

"Ten minutes too long. So, how about it? Sleep over at my house?" He questioned.

"Actually, your timing is perfect. Kara has a friend staying here for the next week and I offered her my bed. I can stay with you, right?" That's when Alex turned to see Lisa sitting in the chair awkwardly. She looked up at Alex and gave him a soft smile.

"Lisa.." Alex muttered. "Nice to see you again." He then turned back to Isabelle, smiling at her but she could see that his smile was forced. "Of course you can stay with me. In fact, I'd prefer it that way. Why don't we go get a bag packed for you and then head out? You can drive your new Mustang." Isabelle grinned and kissed him before stepping out of his arms, taking his hand.

"There ya go, Lisa. You have a bed to sleep in now." Before Lisa could respond, Alex and Isabelle disappeared into her bedroom, shutting the door after them.

"Lisa and Kara are still friends?" Alex questioned as soon as the door was shut.

"Apparently so. She was here when I got home. She seems quite bitter that I got you. Sucks for her." Isabelle spoke while she grabbed a duffle bag from her closet and began packing up some clothes for the next week or so. "Have you seen her since high school?" Isabelle watched as Alex became rigid, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"A few times but nothing really much." He muttered not looking at Isabelle.

"Okay then." She decided to not press the situation. It wasn't really that important. She quickly finished packing her bag, getting all of her stuff from the bathroom that she needed as well. "Well, it's all yours, Lisa." She said to the brunette when they walked out of the room and back into the living room where the two girls sat awkwardly still.

"Oh, thanks Isabelle." Lisa said quietly.

"I'll see you later, Kara." Isabelle called to her best friend who nodded and smiled at the couple.

"Bye guys. Have fun this week. Don't kill Alex, Isabelle and use protection!" Kara always gave Isabelle this warning when she was going out with Alex. She claimed that none of them needed a mini Alex running around just yet.

"Yes, mother." Isabelle grumbled while Alex laughed and Lisa sat there even more awkwardly. With that the couple left the apartment. "Thanks for letting me stay with you, Lex. Me and Lisa... well I don't think it would be a good idea for her and I to be under the same roof for a week. We couldn't even stand one class period in high school."

"Hey, no need to thank me. This just guarantee's that I get to get laid every night for the next week. Really I'm being selfish and doing this for myself." Alex joked, looking quite satisfied with himself. Isabelle rolled her eyes and punched his arm though all the while knowing that he was right. She had a sexy, adorable, sweet, perfect boyfriend. He was hard to resist.