Sequel: The Road Ahead of Us ›
Status: active as often as possible
What the Past Never Told Us
Chapter Eighteen
Over the next little while, Kara stuck to my side like glue. She avoided Rian at all costs, which meant I was spending less time with Alex, since Alex and Rian were almost always together. The day after the Halloween party, Alex and I went to Rian's, Alex ready to beat him but Rian explained that the girl had come on to him and he had been too drunk to fight her off. He seemed actually very remorseful, having not wanted to hurt Kara, so we let him off the hook but Kara wasn't ready to forgive him yet.
"Our anniversary is tomorrow!" Alex sings as I get into his car the next morning for school. Kara was running late in getting ready so she was going to drive my car to school later. Finally, some alone time with Alex, even if it was just a short drive to school.
"So where are you taking me?" I ask him for the thousandth time since he told me he had our date planned. He just grins and shakes his head. "Okay, can you at least tell me what I should wear? Should I dress up, dress casual? What?" I wonder.
"I guess I could tell you that." He says, scratching at his chin as he drove. "Just wear something casual. We aren't going on like a fancy date or anything so you can wear jeans if you want." He tells you, making you nod.
"Thanks for at least telling me that." I tell him, making him laugh. He reaches over, taking my hand in his.
"I really hope you like it." He mutters insecurely. He was nervous about the date, how cute.
"Alex, just as long as I'm spending time with just you, I don't care what we're doing." I tell him honestly, that's all I really wanted. I don't care if we just sit in his room and watch movies and eat junk food. As long as it was with him.
Soon, he pulls up to school and parks in his regular spot and we head into the school, meeting up with the guys.
"Where's Kara?" Rian asks me shyly as we all stand at my locker while I get my things.
"She's running late." Is all I tell him. I was still angry at him for what he did but a part of me still wanted him and Kara together.
As the day progresses, nothing exactly exciting happens. Kara joins the group at lunch, the first time her and Rian have been in the same place for more than a minute since the party. They don't speak but Rian keeps sending her glances. I try to stay out of it though, simply staying tucked close to Alex's side as he jokes with Jack.
"So, Alex told me it's not a fancy date tomorrow." I tell Kara a little later as we lounge on my bed, doing our homework. Alex and the guys were at band practice.
"But did he tell you what the date was?" I shake my head. "How come he told you it wasn't a fancy date?"
"I asked what I should wear. He said I can wear jeans if I want to." I explain. I then grin, thinking about the fact that it's been a year. One year since Alex and I began officially dating. The little girl crushing on Alex still couldn't believe that this was happening.
"What's got you smiling so much?" Kara asks, tossing a balled up piece of paper at me. I smile and throw it back at her.
"I just can't believe that it's been a year." I say, making her smile and nod.
"You guys are gonna get married one day, I can feel it." She says, wiggling her fingers in the air. I laugh and shake my head.
"How about we just take it one year at a time, kay?" We both laugh while she nods.
Waking up the next day, I dress as normal for school but when I get downstairs to meet Alex he greets me at the bottom of the steps with a bouquet of roses and a smile.
"Awww, this is so sweet!" I say, taking the flowers. "Thanks, baby." I reach up and kiss his lips before rushing into the kitchen to put the flowers in water.
"Happy anniversary, you two!" My mom says, smiling at us both. I grin and kiss Alex's cheek.
Soon, the rest of the guys and Kara and I are piled into Alex's car and heading to school. Jack was nice and sat in between Kara and Rian. I offered to drive her and I to school separately but she declined, saying she needed to get over it already.
"Happy anniversary, babe." Alex says later once we are all walking into school. He takes my hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss it. I smile over at him, feeling my heart melt like it always did around him.
"Happy anniversary." I say back to him. He just grins at me and we head into the school. Throughout the entire day I try to get him to tell me where we're going but once school is out he drops me off at home before band practice and tells me to be ready at 6:30 before pushing me from the car.
"I just wanna know what we're doing." I groan a little later after I've showered and stood in the entrance to my closet, looking for something to wear. Kara sat on her usual place on my bed, biting at her nails and picking off the nail polish.
"Patience." She says, laughing and shaking her head. Alex will be here in an hour and I was just so anxious. What did he have planned?
"What should I wear?" I ask, tugging at the sleeve of a shirt. Kara gets up and together we decide on a red long sleeve shirt with a pair of blue jeans and a black cardigan over it. After I use my large curler to make my hair wavy, I do simple makeup, just foundation, some blush and eyeliner and mascara. I finish off the look with a pair of converse and a black scarf since it was kind of cold outside and I didn't know if we'd be outside much.
There is a knock on my bedroom door and then Alex walks in, wearing what he always was; simple jeans, t-shirt, a hoodie and a beanie. He looked handsome, like always.
"Is what I'm wearing okay?" I ask. He looks me up and down and smiles.
"It's perfect. Come on." He holds his hand out to me. I grin and happily cross the room to lace my fingers in with his. We give our goodbyes to Kara and then rush out of the house, calling goodbye's to my parents and then we are in his car.
"So, where we going?" I instantly ask as he drives off. He smiles and shakes his head.
"It's a little bit of a drive." I groan and fall back in my seat, letting out a breath. He just laughs and we sit in silence, listening to the radio.
It's in the way you want me
It's in the way you hold me
The way you show me just what love's made of
It's in the way we make love
The station was playing a country song that I hadn't heard before but the words made me look over at Alex who had a small smile creeping on his face too. The song was very slow, cute, and romantic.
You've got a way with words
You get me smiling even when it hurts
There's no way to measure what your love is worth
I can't believe the way you get through to me
It's in the way you want me
It's in the way you hold me
The way you show me just what love's made of
It's in the way we make love
Oh, how I adore you
Like no one before you
I love you just the way you are
"This can be our song." He whispers as the song plays it's last few bars. He reaches over and takes my hand in his, squeezing tightly. I knew in that moment that I would never feel this way for anyone else. Alex was the only one for me. I wanted to grow old with him. I couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else.
"Who would have guessed, a punk rock teenage boy having a country song with his girlfriend." I joke as the song ends. The DJ says that the singer was Shania Twain and I knew I would look it up when I got home and probably listen to it for the rest of ... forever.
We sit in silence for the rest of the drive, just clasping each others hands and being there in that moment together. One year down, many more to come.
When Alex pulls up to what I see is the small amusement park we had outside of town, I frown. It wasn't a place I'd been to in years. The rides were fun but it was just so packed with little kids that it had lost it's appeal when I had to dodge 8 year olds every step. But it appeared to be empty, not a person or a car in sight, though the lights of every ride and stand was on.
"What..." I start, unsure how to form the question I needed to ask. What were we doing here? And why was it empty? Alex just grins and gets out of the car, coming to my side of the car, opening the door for me and helping me out.
"I told you this date cost me some money." He says.
"This.. this is where we're having our date?" I ask him, still looking at the empty park. He laughs and nods, taking my hand and pulling me in the direction of the entrance.
"We get the entire place to ourselves. No lines, no annoying kids. Just you and me, fattening foods, games that I will do my best to win you a stuffed animal at." He says as we walk in. We are greeted by a man in a suit who exchanges words with Alex. I don't listen much, I'm still dazed by all of this. Alex got us an amusement park to ourselves for an entire night for our one year anniversary date. Holy shit, I had a great boyfriend.
Once the man and Alex are done talking, he disappears off into a building at the entrance and Alex turns to me.
"That guy owns the park. He's a family friend and agreed at a certain price to close it down for the night for me."
"This is amazing, Alex. Thank you." I reach over and press my lips to his, wrapping me arms around his neck.
"Well come on, we have rides to ride!" I laugh and nod, running with him towards the nearest roller coaster. We go on it three times straight before getting off to eat some cotton candy and then he decides it's time to win me a prize so he tries the ring toss game. He ends up spending twenty dollars there before he finally wins me a medium sized panda bear. I love it. I named him Edmond.
As the night progresses, Alex and I go on ride after ride, eating all kinds of food, funnel cake, ice cream, more cotton candy. He also wins me one more small bear before we sit down on a bench and just look up at the night sky. It was a little cold now that we'd taken a second to calm down so we sat close together and he put his arm over my shoulders, my head tucked perfectly against his neck.
"So... how does this rank on the date factor?" He asks. I laugh and lift my head to look at him.
"I think you are going to have to work really hard to up this one, babe." I tell him. He laughs and nods, kissing my forehead.
"So I did okay?" He asks. I nod and peck his lips.
"It's been the most perfect night." I whisper against his mouth.
"Good, now let's go home and keep celebrating." He mumbles back. I giggle and nod.
"Sounds like a plan to me." He takes my hand, I grab the stuffed animals and we head back to the car. We decide to go to his house so Kara doesn't bother us. I send her a quick text saying I wouldn't be home for the night and i'd see her in the morning. Alex takes my phone from me before i could read her response and he tosses it on the floor behind me before tugging off my scarf and cardigan, his lips on mine. I giggle, pushing his hoodie off his shoulders. We both kick off our shoes as we tumble back on his bed and truly celebrate one year together under the covers.
"Our anniversary is tomorrow!" Alex sings as I get into his car the next morning for school. Kara was running late in getting ready so she was going to drive my car to school later. Finally, some alone time with Alex, even if it was just a short drive to school.
"So where are you taking me?" I ask him for the thousandth time since he told me he had our date planned. He just grins and shakes his head. "Okay, can you at least tell me what I should wear? Should I dress up, dress casual? What?" I wonder.
"I guess I could tell you that." He says, scratching at his chin as he drove. "Just wear something casual. We aren't going on like a fancy date or anything so you can wear jeans if you want." He tells you, making you nod.
"Thanks for at least telling me that." I tell him, making him laugh. He reaches over, taking my hand in his.
"I really hope you like it." He mutters insecurely. He was nervous about the date, how cute.
"Alex, just as long as I'm spending time with just you, I don't care what we're doing." I tell him honestly, that's all I really wanted. I don't care if we just sit in his room and watch movies and eat junk food. As long as it was with him.
Soon, he pulls up to school and parks in his regular spot and we head into the school, meeting up with the guys.
"Where's Kara?" Rian asks me shyly as we all stand at my locker while I get my things.
"She's running late." Is all I tell him. I was still angry at him for what he did but a part of me still wanted him and Kara together.
As the day progresses, nothing exactly exciting happens. Kara joins the group at lunch, the first time her and Rian have been in the same place for more than a minute since the party. They don't speak but Rian keeps sending her glances. I try to stay out of it though, simply staying tucked close to Alex's side as he jokes with Jack.
"So, Alex told me it's not a fancy date tomorrow." I tell Kara a little later as we lounge on my bed, doing our homework. Alex and the guys were at band practice.
"But did he tell you what the date was?" I shake my head. "How come he told you it wasn't a fancy date?"
"I asked what I should wear. He said I can wear jeans if I want to." I explain. I then grin, thinking about the fact that it's been a year. One year since Alex and I began officially dating. The little girl crushing on Alex still couldn't believe that this was happening.
"What's got you smiling so much?" Kara asks, tossing a balled up piece of paper at me. I smile and throw it back at her.
"I just can't believe that it's been a year." I say, making her smile and nod.
"You guys are gonna get married one day, I can feel it." She says, wiggling her fingers in the air. I laugh and shake my head.
"How about we just take it one year at a time, kay?" We both laugh while she nods.
Waking up the next day, I dress as normal for school but when I get downstairs to meet Alex he greets me at the bottom of the steps with a bouquet of roses and a smile.
"Awww, this is so sweet!" I say, taking the flowers. "Thanks, baby." I reach up and kiss his lips before rushing into the kitchen to put the flowers in water.
"Happy anniversary, you two!" My mom says, smiling at us both. I grin and kiss Alex's cheek.
Soon, the rest of the guys and Kara and I are piled into Alex's car and heading to school. Jack was nice and sat in between Kara and Rian. I offered to drive her and I to school separately but she declined, saying she needed to get over it already.
"Happy anniversary, babe." Alex says later once we are all walking into school. He takes my hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss it. I smile over at him, feeling my heart melt like it always did around him.
"Happy anniversary." I say back to him. He just grins at me and we head into the school. Throughout the entire day I try to get him to tell me where we're going but once school is out he drops me off at home before band practice and tells me to be ready at 6:30 before pushing me from the car.
"I just wanna know what we're doing." I groan a little later after I've showered and stood in the entrance to my closet, looking for something to wear. Kara sat on her usual place on my bed, biting at her nails and picking off the nail polish.
"Patience." She says, laughing and shaking her head. Alex will be here in an hour and I was just so anxious. What did he have planned?
"What should I wear?" I ask, tugging at the sleeve of a shirt. Kara gets up and together we decide on a red long sleeve shirt with a pair of blue jeans and a black cardigan over it. After I use my large curler to make my hair wavy, I do simple makeup, just foundation, some blush and eyeliner and mascara. I finish off the look with a pair of converse and a black scarf since it was kind of cold outside and I didn't know if we'd be outside much.
There is a knock on my bedroom door and then Alex walks in, wearing what he always was; simple jeans, t-shirt, a hoodie and a beanie. He looked handsome, like always.
"Is what I'm wearing okay?" I ask. He looks me up and down and smiles.
"It's perfect. Come on." He holds his hand out to me. I grin and happily cross the room to lace my fingers in with his. We give our goodbyes to Kara and then rush out of the house, calling goodbye's to my parents and then we are in his car.
"So, where we going?" I instantly ask as he drives off. He smiles and shakes his head.
"It's a little bit of a drive." I groan and fall back in my seat, letting out a breath. He just laughs and we sit in silence, listening to the radio.
It's in the way you want me
It's in the way you hold me
The way you show me just what love's made of
It's in the way we make love
The station was playing a country song that I hadn't heard before but the words made me look over at Alex who had a small smile creeping on his face too. The song was very slow, cute, and romantic.
You've got a way with words
You get me smiling even when it hurts
There's no way to measure what your love is worth
I can't believe the way you get through to me
It's in the way you want me
It's in the way you hold me
The way you show me just what love's made of
It's in the way we make love
Oh, how I adore you
Like no one before you
I love you just the way you are
"This can be our song." He whispers as the song plays it's last few bars. He reaches over and takes my hand in his, squeezing tightly. I knew in that moment that I would never feel this way for anyone else. Alex was the only one for me. I wanted to grow old with him. I couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else.
"Who would have guessed, a punk rock teenage boy having a country song with his girlfriend." I joke as the song ends. The DJ says that the singer was Shania Twain and I knew I would look it up when I got home and probably listen to it for the rest of ... forever.
We sit in silence for the rest of the drive, just clasping each others hands and being there in that moment together. One year down, many more to come.
When Alex pulls up to what I see is the small amusement park we had outside of town, I frown. It wasn't a place I'd been to in years. The rides were fun but it was just so packed with little kids that it had lost it's appeal when I had to dodge 8 year olds every step. But it appeared to be empty, not a person or a car in sight, though the lights of every ride and stand was on.
"What..." I start, unsure how to form the question I needed to ask. What were we doing here? And why was it empty? Alex just grins and gets out of the car, coming to my side of the car, opening the door for me and helping me out.
"I told you this date cost me some money." He says.
"This.. this is where we're having our date?" I ask him, still looking at the empty park. He laughs and nods, taking my hand and pulling me in the direction of the entrance.
"We get the entire place to ourselves. No lines, no annoying kids. Just you and me, fattening foods, games that I will do my best to win you a stuffed animal at." He says as we walk in. We are greeted by a man in a suit who exchanges words with Alex. I don't listen much, I'm still dazed by all of this. Alex got us an amusement park to ourselves for an entire night for our one year anniversary date. Holy shit, I had a great boyfriend.
Once the man and Alex are done talking, he disappears off into a building at the entrance and Alex turns to me.
"That guy owns the park. He's a family friend and agreed at a certain price to close it down for the night for me."
"This is amazing, Alex. Thank you." I reach over and press my lips to his, wrapping me arms around his neck.
"Well come on, we have rides to ride!" I laugh and nod, running with him towards the nearest roller coaster. We go on it three times straight before getting off to eat some cotton candy and then he decides it's time to win me a prize so he tries the ring toss game. He ends up spending twenty dollars there before he finally wins me a medium sized panda bear. I love it. I named him Edmond.
As the night progresses, Alex and I go on ride after ride, eating all kinds of food, funnel cake, ice cream, more cotton candy. He also wins me one more small bear before we sit down on a bench and just look up at the night sky. It was a little cold now that we'd taken a second to calm down so we sat close together and he put his arm over my shoulders, my head tucked perfectly against his neck.
"So... how does this rank on the date factor?" He asks. I laugh and lift my head to look at him.
"I think you are going to have to work really hard to up this one, babe." I tell him. He laughs and nods, kissing my forehead.
"So I did okay?" He asks. I nod and peck his lips.
"It's been the most perfect night." I whisper against his mouth.
"Good, now let's go home and keep celebrating." He mumbles back. I giggle and nod.
"Sounds like a plan to me." He takes my hand, I grab the stuffed animals and we head back to the car. We decide to go to his house so Kara doesn't bother us. I send her a quick text saying I wouldn't be home for the night and i'd see her in the morning. Alex takes my phone from me before i could read her response and he tosses it on the floor behind me before tugging off my scarf and cardigan, his lips on mine. I giggle, pushing his hoodie off his shoulders. We both kick off our shoes as we tumble back on his bed and truly celebrate one year together under the covers.