What the Past Never Told Us

The next morning Kara and I woke up around ten o'clock. She panicked that we had overslept but after I got some chocolate chip pancakes in her system she calmed down. My parents joined us for breakfast before bidding us farewell, telling us to stay safe and have fun, before they left for New York.

We then spent the next hour, after cleaning up from breakfast of course, putting up the streamers and balloons we had gotten the day before. We pushed the living room furniture to the side of the room, creating a makeshift dance floor. While Kara busied herself with setting up the stereo, I went about setting out the snacks.

Alex called around 1 asking if he could come over early but Kara stole my phone saying that 'no he could not because Kara was not done with girls day yet.' Kara likes to speak in third person apparently. Around 2 Kara made me get in the shower before she spent an hour doing my hair in soft waves and having me get dressed in my dress, jewelry and flats before she did my makeup, giving me smokey eye shadow and red lipstick.

It was 5 minutes until 4 and I knew I should get downstairs and outside to wait for Alex so he didn't walk inside like he always did. He would see the decorations and the entire thing would be ruined.

"Now, remember: Do not get here any sooner or later than 7 unless I text you and tell you otherwise." Kara instructed as we walked down the stairs.

"Yes, master." I responded, joking.

"Have fun!" She hugged me before I opened the door and walked out of the house. Right as I shut the front door, Alex came bounding up the stairs.

"Wow!" He gasped, looking me up and down. "You look beautiful." He told me. I grinned and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"All for you, babe." I responded, pressing my lips against his. He groaned against my lips and pulled away before smiling at me.

"You just love getting lipstick on me, don't you?" He joked, wiping at his lips. I grinned and reached up, pecking his cheek, resulting in a red lip print on his smooth cheek. "Thanks, babe."

"You are welcome! Now come on!" I yelled, taking his hand and pulling him down the stairs and towards his car. "We need to go!"

"And where exactly are we going?" He asked me when we were in the car.

"Well... do you remember Comechi's Pizza?" I asked, grinning at him. He looked over at me and nodded.

"Of course I do!" With that he started the car and backed out, heading in the direction of the pizza/arcade place we used to spend everyday after school. Back when he and I went to two different private schools we would meet up here after class as it was in walking distance of both of our schools. We spent almost 3 hours a day here until one of our parents got off work and would come pick us up. We hadn't been there since we finished 8th grade at the private schools though.

Pulling up to the old building brought a smile to my face. This place had been like my second home. It had been Alex and I's place. None of our other friends were allowed to join us after school, it was Alex and Isabelle time. I missed this place.

"God, this place brings back memories." He commented as we got out of the car.

"Good memories." He looked over at me and nodded, grasping my hand in his.

"Very good memories." He agreed, bringing my hand up to his lips, kissing the back of my hand gently. We went inside and got a table, ordering a pepperoni pizza to share. It tasted just as I remember, if not better. After we ate we got up and challenged each other to a game of DDR, the game that had always been the biggest competition between us. I was the champion in the past, Alex was determined to change that.

"You won't win, Alex! Just give up!" I yelled at him as we followed the steps that were getting harder and faster as the song progressed. Alex was breathing heavily and stumbling a little, missing some steps while I made every one, just as I always had. Finally the song finished and WINNER flashed across my side of the screen. "Told you!"

"That's not fair." He pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. I giggled and stepped over to him, pecking his lips.

"Let's play again, I have a feeling I won't do as good." He rolled my eyes and chose another song. A minute into the song, usually when he started messing up, I began stumbling over the arrows, missing them. Part of it was purposely and a part of me was just too tired for this. I didn't have the stamina I had when I was 12.

"That's not fair, you let me win!" Alex exclaimed once the song was over and his screen flashed WINNER at him for once.

"I so did not. I'm just not as good as I used to be. I couldn't handle it." I told him, shrugging. He rolled his eyes and took my hand, pulling me over to the air hockey table. Of course, the one game he always beat me at. "That's not fair, you cheat!" I yelled at him after the fifth game of him winning.

"How on earth do I cheat, babe?" He questioned, laughing. I just shrugged, putting down my paddle, crossing my arm over my chest.

"Let's play something we both suck at." I told him, making him grin and nod before leading the way over to the basketball game. Both of us could never play this for shit. Let's see if that had changed..

It hadn't. Three games of this and I had gotten a total of 3 baskets, Alex had gotten 4 total. I deemed him the winner and bowed down to him while he pretended to wave to an imaginary crowd. As Alex gathered up our tickets, I pulled out my phone and saw that it was 6:15. We had just enough time to do the other thing that I had wanted to.

"Come on, let's go cash those in and get you a prize. There's something else I want to do." I told him making him nod. We walked up to the counter, finding that in all the games we had played we got 200 tickets.

"What do you want, babe?" Alex questioned but I shook my head.

"It's your birthday, you pick whatever you want." I told him. He smiled and nodded, looking at the glass case containing random little toys and trinkets.

"Alright, it's going to be a surprise, go wait by the door. I'll be there in a second." I laughed and rolled my eyes before kissing his cheek and doing as he asked. When he walked towards me a minute later he held his hands behind his back, making me raise an eyebrow at him.

"What did you get?" I questioned him. He grinned at me before sliding down onto his knee. I gasped and looked down at him. "What are you doing?"

"I got us both something." He told me, pulling his hand out from behind his back. Clutched in his hand was two mood rings. I frowned at him. What was this?

"Are you like proposing to me?" I questioned. "Because I'm sorry to tell you but I don't think Comechi's Pizza and Arcade do weddings." He laughed and shook his head.

"I'm not proposing marriage. I am proposing a promise though. You wear this ring, and I wear this ring. As long as we both wear them, we will be together." He offered. The gesture was so cute, I couldn't help but aww at him.

"Alex, that's so sweet!" I gushed making him grin.

"So you'll wear it?" He asked making me grin. He reached forward and took my left hand, sliding the cheap ring onto my finger. It immediately turned purple, I had no idea what that meant but it was pretty. Alex stood up, sliding his ring onto his own finger. "Together forever." He whispered before leaning down to press his lips to mine.

"Come on, let's go." I said when we pulled apart. I took his hand and together we walked to the car.

"So, where to?" He questioned as he started the car.

"The beach." I told him, grinning. He looked confused for a second before grinning.

"To the beach." The drive took about 15 minutes so I knew we wouldn't be able to stay long but even just a few minutes in our spot would be fine. When we got out Alex and I made our way down the familiar beach to the bank of rocks, easily finding the small cave we had discovered almost six years ago now. We sat at the entrance of it, staring out at the water, our hands linked together as I cuddled into his side for warmth. I was in a sleeveless dress in December on the beach, I really should have brought a jacket, luckily Alex kept me warm enough.

"Today as been so much fun." He told me as we stared at the setting sun. I looked over at him and grinned. He had no idea how fun today would be.

"Well come on," I said, standing up. "Take me home, I have something else to show you." He stood up and frowned at me.

"Something more? What else? And why is it at your house?" He questioned as we walked back to the car.

"You'll see." I told him, grinning. He shrugged and opened my door for me before going to his side after I was in. Pulling up to my house I was glad to see that the few people we had invited had parked somewhere else, meaning Alex was oblivious to the fact that his friends were waiting inside.

"Does Kara ever leave your house?" He asked, seeing the living room light on as he turned off his car.

"No, she doesn't. She basically lives with me." I told him, laughing. He just nodded before we got out of the car. I couldn't control my smile as I took his hand and pulled him to the front door. "Ready?" I asked him. He frowned and nodded confusedly. I grinned and threw open the door.

"SURPRISE!!" Everyone screamed making him jump.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed. I laughed and pulled him all the way inside, shutting the door after us.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." I told him. He looked over at me, grinning.

"You did all of this?" He questioned, making me shrug.

"No, mostly it was Kara and Jack. I just offered the place, and set some guidelines." I explained.

"A lot of guidelines." Kara exclaimed, walking up to us. "Happy birthday, Lex!" She told him, pulling him into a hug.

"Thank you, Kara. This is amazing." He told her, making her grin.

"Come on." I pulled his hand into the living room fully. He stopped and said hi to the people around the room. Lisa tried to hug him but he deflected it, making up an excuse to have to go talk to someone else. I couldn't help but laugh. If looks could kill I would be dead ten times over. It just made me laugh more.

"Do you want a drink, babe?" Alex asked me as we got to the table with alcohol on it. I shrugged and nodded, accepting the cup he then handed to me. "Thank you for this. I know you don't like parties, but this means a lot to me. I promise I will not be leaving your side at all tonight, though." I laughed and nodded.

"Good. I won't allow you to anyway." I told him. He smiled and pecked my lips before pulling me to the make shift dance floor. This night didn't seem to bad, I unfortunately didn't get to speak with Rian much as Alex avoided him except for a quick hello and since Alex and I stayed together all night, I didn't get to talk to Rian.

Around 11 at night everyone was pretty intoxicated, even myself. Kara insisted on starting a game of spin the bottle and insisted that everyone played. Alex and I sat on opposite sides of the circle, forced by Kara who organized everyone in a certain pattern to 'better enhance everyone's chances of getting someone they actually like'. Her words, not mine.

"Alex, since you are the birthday boy you get to spin first!" Kara yelled after she placed an empty bottle of wine in the middle of us all. Alex nodded and got up on his knees and leaned forward, spinning the bottle. I closed my eyes as it spun, not wanting to see it land on someone else. I kept my eyes shut even when I heard a few people laugh. Kara nudged me but I shook my head. A second later a pair of lips pressed against my own. My eyes sprang open before I giggled and kissed my boyfriend back. When he pulled back I saw that sure enough the bottle had stopped on me.

"See, my seating arrangement so works." Kara exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Yes, but now I have to spin and if it lands on Alex then we just keep on going back and forth. Now I have to spin and probably kiss someone else." I told her making her pout.

"It's alright, Iz. As long as its just a quick kiss, I won't get too jealous." Alex said, winking at me. I laughed and rolled my eyes before reaching forward and spinning the bottle. We all watched it spin and start to slow down. I thought for a second it was going to stop on Alex but it slid over one more. I looked up to find that it had stopped on Rian. Great. Kara nudged me, making me sigh. I got on my hands and knees and crawled over to Rian, knowing that everyone, my boyfriend included, was watching. I sighed and closed my eyes, not wanting to look at Rian. My lips pressed gently to his for a second, his pressing back before we pulled apart.

I knew my face was as red as a tomato as I crawled back to my seat. I looked down at my hands, not wanting to look at Rian or Alex. I hated this game. Why did Kara insist on playing this game?

"Rian's turn!" Jack yelled from the other side of Alex. I finally looked up at a flushing Rian who sighed and nodded before spinning the bottle. As fate would have it, it landed on me. Of course it did.

"Why is it me kissing everyone?!" I yelled. A few people laughed but Kara fidgeted awkwardly. I looked at Alex who shrugged, his face blank. I sighed as Rian crawled over to me and gave me a quick peck on the lips before sitting down again. "This game fucking sucks." I grumbled as I spun the bottle. It landed on Jack who looked excited before he looked over at Alex who narrowed his eyes at him.

"You know I would never kiss your girl otherwise, bro." Jack said. Alex just nodded. I groaned and crawled over to Jack. I actually cringed as he leaned forward to kiss me. When we pulled apart I shook my head before looking over at Alex who was staring at me blank faced once more. I sighed and crawled over to him.

"None of them kiss like you do." I mumbled before connecting out lips. Everyone broke into laughter and cheers as Alex wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his lap. When we pulled apart we grinned at each other.

"Iz and I are out of the game, you guys keep playing." Alex said, scooting us back out of the circle. Everyone exchanged looks before moving the circle in again, filling our empty spaces. Jack then spun, landing on one of Alex's friends named Mike. Mike cringed as Jack kissed him but Jack pulled away grinning saying that he had fallen in love. Mike spun and landed on Lisa. It seemed Lisa tried to make some big show of kissing someone. She looked over at Alex after they finished but he was too busy nuzzling my neck and hadn't even noticed who Mike landed on. Again, I would be dead ten times over. I just grinned back. Lisa spun it and landed on Rian, when Rian spun it landed on Kara. Let's just say they kissed longer than any one else, apart from Alex and I. My matchmaking skills were amazing.

After everyone got bored of this we all went back to dancing and drinking.

"So, that was fun, huh?" Alex asked me as we grinded to the fast paced song playing. I laughed and nodded.

"Sure was." I agreed.

"I didn't like seeing you kiss Rian again though. Jack I can handle cause well... cause its Jack but-" I cut Alex off by turning around and pressing my lips to his.

"You are all I want, remember that." I assured him, making him smile and lean down to kiss me once more...