The Road Ahead of Us

"Oh come on, stop being such a prude and just jump in!" Alex yelled at Isabelle who laughed and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, Alex. I don't want to." She told him. They were currently in Dallas, Texas and it was 2 in the morning. They arrived at the hotel at around 11 at night and everyone went off to pass out, except for Alex and Isabelle who were once more sharing a room together. Alex decided that it would be fun to sneak into the hotel pool, the door for which had been unlocked even though it was past the specified closing time.

"Oh come on, even if we get caught we can just play dumb and act like we didn't know it was closed. It's not like we broke in." Alex was currently standing in the shallow end of the pool, the water up to his waist. He was in nothing but a pair of boxers and the t-shirt he had worn that day.

"I don't care about getting caught, I just don't feel like swimming. I only came with you to keep you company." She told him, turning to make her way over to one of the lounge chairs.

"Oh no you don't!" Alex yelled and quickly climbed from the pool. He ran over to Isabelle and quickly gathered her up in his arms.

"Alexander William Gaskarth! Put me down!" She screamed, punching at his chest but he simply laughed and made his way over to the pool.

"Hold your breath." He warned before jumping into the deep end, Isabelle going with him. When they surfaced she splashed him, making him laugh.

"You jackass." She swam over to the shallow end, pulling at her now soaked t-shirt that she had put on when they arrived at the hotel, changing out of her dress. She had on a pair of sweatpants with it.

"You know you love me. And you have to admit, it's pretty nice in here." Alex called to her as he swam around in a circle across the deep end. She rolled her eyes but smiled none the less.

"It is pretty nice in here." She waded around in the shallow end. They swam in silence for a short period of time before they both sat on the last step of the stairs, leaving them half way submerged in the warm water but also resting so they could talk.

"So I was talking to Jack earlier..." Isabelle started, picking at her nail.

"Yes? And?" Alex pushed. "What about?"

"What's going to happen once we get into LA." She started, making Alex nod. He too had been wondering what would happen then, where she would go, what she would do. He almost offered to have her come stay with him in Baltimore until she figured things out but he figured it would be pushing her too far. "Adam is going to get most of my stuff together when he gets back, which he would have by now. Jack and Micky said I could come stay with them for a few days until I get back on my feet. So... I guess I'm moving back to Baltimore, for the time being at least." Alex felt a pang in his chest.

"Oh... why don't you stay with your parents or something? They are still in Baltimore, aren't they?" He questioned. He couldn't help but feel jealous of Jack, even though that was absolutely ridiculous.

"Ummm.... my parents will forever bee in Baltimore but... where they are isn't somewhere I plan on being for a very long time." Isabelle answered softly, looking away so Alex couldn't see that she had tears well up in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Alex questioned her, frowning.

"They are dead, Alex." She whispered, making Alex gasp.

"What? When? How?"

"My mom passed about two and a half years ago, car accident. After that, I came and stayed with my dad during the summer while I was off school. Jack came with me to her funeral actually... Then my dad started drinking, trying to numb himself I guess. He was found by one of his buddies in November of that same here my mom passed. He had killed himself. He just couldn't live without my mom. I came back and stayed over Thanksgiving break. That was the last time I was in Baltimore until a few days ago." She explained. Alex was stunned. How had he not heard about this? Why had Jack not said something? Why had his parents not mentioned it? They had been best friends with Isabelle's parents, that's why Alex and Isabelle had known each other since birth.

"Wow. Izzy....." Alex was at a loss for words. What do you say to that? "I'm so sorry." Alex could do nothing but wrap his arms around Isabelle, pulling her close to his body. She was glad that the tears had stayed away for the most part. She buried her face against his neck, letting her eyes slide closed.

"So that's why I have to stay with Jack, I have no where else." Alex sighed at her words.

"You can come stay with me." He found himself offering. "Rian used to live with me but he's always at Kara's so he basically lives there. My house is lonely. Plus you wouldn't have to put up with Jack and Micky being all cute and gross." Isabelle lifted her head to look into his eyes.

"Really?" She asked him quietly.

"Of course." He smiled down at her, gripping her a little tighter.

"I won't stay long, just until I can find a job and can afford my own apartment." She told him, making him shake his head.

"You have a place to stay for as long as you need." He told her, making her smile gently.

"Thank you, Alex. You have been so great the last few days. I can't thank you enough." She told him, earning a shake of his head.

"No need to thank me. It's no trouble at all." They smiled at each other. Isabelle couldn't help but focus on the fact that he was so close. She could feel his breath on her face as he stared down at her, his chocolate brown eyes gazing back into hers as his smile slowly slid from his face. "Izzy..." He whispered. "I've missed you so much." He brought his right hand up to rest on her cheek as he moved ever closer.

"I've missed you too." Her breath was barely audible as she looked down at his lips. Her heart was racing as he moved closer to her. She brought her hand up to rest on his hand that was on her cheek. She could feel how close he was, how close their lips were to touching again for the first time in four years. She craved it, she needed his touch. Adam had never made her feel like this with just his proximity. This reaction could be brought on by no one but Alex Gaskarth.

The seconds seemed to drag on for the both of them, both of them anticipating the moment their lips touched once more. Alex's breath was shaky, coming out in raspy gasps. He couldn't believe that she still made him feel like this. He felt like a fourteen year old again, about to finally show his best friend how much she meant to him.

Finally, the moment came. Their soft lips were pressed together for the first time in years. Isabelle let out a soft involuntary gasp, feeling that once familiar spark shoot through her body as she returned the pressure his lips were putting on her own. Her heart felt like it was about to explode with excitement as she moved both of her hands to get lost in the hair on the back of his head while his hand slid from her cheek down to her waist. Alex pressed a little more pressure to Isabelle's lips, making her lips part, just as he wanted. Even after all these years, her kiss tasted just the same; so sweet, so luscious and oh so addicting.

"Holy shit! I so fucking called this!" They jumped apart when they heard a loud female voice scream at them. They had been so wrapped up in each other that they hadn't even noticed the door to the pool open and all of their friends walk in, wearing their bathing suits and towels over their arms. Kara, having been the one to yell, came skipping over, a large grin on her face. "That was the cutest moment ever. We watched the entire thing. I wanted to let you two continue, but Jack wanted to be a cockblock." She explained, kneeling down on the edge of the pool beside them.

"Well right now, Kara," Alex started, not removing his arms from around Isabelle. "you are the one being the cockblock." The smile fell from Kara's face as everyone laughed.

"Oh..." Kara spoke, backing away from the pool. "My bad." She stood up. "Carry on. Ignore us." She walked back over to Rian who was laughing at her. Alex laughed and reached over to kiss Isabelle's cheek, making her blush and smile softly, looking down at her hands that were clasped together in her lap now.

"Come, let's swim." Alex said, standing and grabbing her hands, pulling her into the deeper water as their friends dived in around them.

"This is how it was meant to be. All of us together again, no intruders. Everyone with who they should be." Jack said, grinning around at the group, his arms tightly around Micky's waist.

"Yeah, things are good. And just as they should be." Alex agreed, kissing Isabelle's temple, making her smile softly. A little later they all agreed that it was time to head back into their rooms so they all grabbed towels and headed out, leaving a trail of water after them.

"So...." Alex said as soon as he and Isabelle were alone in their room. "We should talk about what happened back there, shouldn't we?" Isabelle nodded.

"Yeah.... we should." She watched Alex as he scratched the back of his head.

"What did it mean to you?" He asked quietly, making her sigh.

"It was everything that it used to be, Alex. Perfect, spectacular, mind blowing, everything that it should be.."

"Why do I feel like there is a 'but' coming after that...?" He asked softly, his eyes narrowing as he watched her bite her lip nervously, her brown eyes staring at him sadly.

"I loved Adam... I'm still... messed up about what happened." She explained. "I want to be with you, Alex. I do... I just.... I can't right now." The high that Alex had been on since they kissed quickly evaporated, it was as if she just popped a balloon, the loud bang of its explosion hurt his heart.

"Oh." Was all he could muster up and say.

"I just need to be sure that I am completely over Adam before I do anything with any one else, even you. I don't want to have any shred of doubt that I'm with you simply to get over him. I want to be with you one hundred percent because that's what you deserve but right now I don't think I can do that... not yet." She told him, her eyebrows creased together, her bottom lip clutched between her teeth as she watched him nod softly.

"I understand." He smiled at her gently. "I'm gonna get changed. I'm exhausted." He turned and grabbed a pair of pajama pants from his suitcase.

"Alex..." She said gently as he made his way to the bathroom. He ignored her and shut the door gently. He fell against it and let out a breath. So close.... and yet so far....