Mistakes

"I really don't understand why David always wants me around when his girlfriend is here. It's like he's rubbing it in my face or something," I told Kyle, sitting beside him. It was a beautiful summer evening, and the boys had some people over for a cook-out, including David's girlfriend, Lynzie.

"Elle, you know he's not," Kyle said. I rolled my eyes. Of course he was defending David. They were best friends.

"I just really don't want to be second anymore, you know?" I took a sip of my beer, frowning.

"You're not second, Kalel. David's just a dumbass. He'll come around. You know he will," Kyle said, sliding his arm around my shoulders to give me a quick hug. "Besides, between you and me, they've been having massive relationship issues. It's only a matter of time before they break up again, hopefully for good this time."

Looking over at David again, I watched him grab Lynzie around the waist and kiss her. Relationship issues my ass.

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"We always end up ordering so much food when we come here. Why is that?" David asked, looking at the spread of appetizers on our table.

"Face it, David. You and I are secret fat kids," I teased him, and it made him smile.

"Truth," he agreed and lifted his wine glass. I tapped mine against his and we both took a sip. "You look really great, by the way, Kalel."

"Thank you," I said, smiling. "You don't look too bad yourself. You clean up nice, David."

"What ever happened to us, Kalel?" David asked, setting his wine glass down completely.

I moved a piece of calamari around on my plate with my fork. "I was just asking myself that the other day," I said softly. "I still have all of our old photos, you know. I keep them in this shoe box in the back of my closet."

"I'd like to see them, some time." I looked up and smiled when I found David smiling at me.

"I'd like that, too." Things felt so precarious. I didn't know where to step. What would blow us up?

"Kalel, do you remember earlier today when I told you that Kyle and I were having issues?" David asked.

"Yeah, of course. I feel so awful about that," I said, frowning when I noticed the deepening sadness on David's face. "David, what haven't you told me?"

"We kicked him out," he admitted, after a long few moments of silence. "He flipped shit a few days before tour ended. He took a swing at me but Lou held him back. Kyle got him real good in the jaw for that. But we kicked him off the bus and he told us to go fuck ourselves and that he quit."

"Oh, baby," I gasped and squeezed his hand across the table. His head was down, and it hurt me knowing he was probably trying hard not to cry. "David, I am so, so sorry."

It took him long to collect himself, but there was a rainstorm in his eyes when he looked back up at me. "It was coming for a while. This whole last tour was a disaster. We were always fighting. I pulled him aside one night to ask what his deal was. We'd had disagreements before, but never like this. It was like he was picking fights. I thought things might get better after that, but they didn't."

"Well it's not official yet, right? He doesn't have his walking papers. You guys could still work it out," I said, holding David's hand as tightly as I could.

"I don't know, Kalel. I think this is one of those things that needs to stay broken. If he's bored with this, he'll only keep holding us back," David said quietly. "And, honestly, the first show without him was the best show I had in a long time."

"I just want you to be happy, David," I said softly. "And if you think Kyle leaving the band will do that, then I support you. You know what's best for you and your friends, as well as your business. Who knows? Maybe it is better this way."

David lifted my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles. "How did I ever snag such a wise, beautiful woman?"

I blushed. "She was attracted to a very ambitious man with big dreams he couldn't contain."

Dinner was absolutely lovely, just like it always was. We had our usual meals, which mostly consisted of a lot of seafood and amazing wine. David honestly was one of the most amazing people I'd ever met. He was funny and sweet, and he never really ran out of stories to tell me, and he was always so endless fascinated with all of my own stories.

Getting to know David again was honestly one of the most magical things about seeing him again. He had changed so much since I had seen him last, and he was just as charming as ever. Somewhere, I knew I had to tell him the truth. I just didn't want to hurt him.

"I had such a wonderful time tonight," I said, after David had paid for us and we were headed down the street. "Thank you. For everything."

"I really hope you don't ever say goodnight to me. I want this night to last forever," David said, quietly, his gaze thrown on the ground. "I haven't felt this way in a long time."

Carefully, nervously, I placed my hand in his, and he didn't hesitate. His fingers threaded through mine and he held onto me tightly. "Do you love her?" I asked. "Melissa, I mean."

David paused, choosing his words carefully. "No," he said, at last. "I care about her very much. She helped me through a lot of shit, mostly working through the stuff with you. It's hard not to care for the person that helped you pick up the pieces."

I nodded slowly and bit my lip. "Well I'm glad you have someone, David. Your happiness is really important to me," I said honestly.

"So you're not jealous?" he teased me.

I smiled at him. "I was at first," I admitted. "But then I remembered that you being happy, whether or not its with me, is the most important thing."

"I don't know how you do it, Kalel. I'd be crazy jealous if you had a boyfriend," David said.

I laughed nervously. "Why in God's name would you be jealous?"

"I don't know. Something about the idea of someone else having you just fucks with me a lot, you know?" He stopped us and turned to me. "I want to be the only guy that makes you happy."

"You can't. You have a girlfriend," I said, but the words felt stuck in my throat.

"I would leave her in a heartbeat if I thought you'd take me back," David said quietly, his eyes moving from my own down to my lips.

"Who told you I'd ever tell you 'no'?" I asked, and he kissed me so fast he stole my breath away completely.

At this point, I wasn't even thinking. My fingers knotted in his hair and I kissed him, hard. His hands roamed me. My arms, my shoulders, my hips, my back, my neck; they couldn't settle anywhere. It occurred to me that we were making out on a street corner in downtown Hollywood, so I pulled away from David long enough to catch my breath.

Once again, I thought it necessary to fill the silence with my stupid words, so I said, "You taste like apples."

David laughed, then, breaking the spell. He leaned his forehead against mine and I could practically taste his smile, his mouth was so close to mine. "I've missed your awkwardness."

"David, I have to tell you something," I said, pulling away from him completely, rather suddenly.

"Sure, babe. What's on your mind?" David asked, his hand reaching for mine to pull me back to him.

"I have a boyfriend, David," I blurted.

He stopped short. "You what?"

"I know, I know. I should've told you sooner, but I was so happy to see you. And we've been saying all these sweet things back and forth, and you wanted to take me to dinner tonight. I just didn't want to ruin whatever was starting to grow between us again, David. I'm sorry!" I wasn't even really sure why I was apologizing. He was taken. I had ever right to date someone else, right?

"So you were just leading me on?" David asked, irritated.

I was outraged. 'Oh, I was leading you on? You have a girlfriend, David, but you had no problem telling me you loved me and kissing me like that."

David softened almost instantly. "You're right. I'm sorry. That was so hypocritical. I'm so drunk." He sighed, shaking his head. "Listen, why don't I call you a cab so you can go home? I don't want to keep hurting you by saying things I don't mean."

I was shaking, but I wasn't sure if it was because I was drunk or if it was getting cold out. "So this is it, huh? We're officially over now. We both are in a relationship."

"Y-yeah. I guess so," David said, after getting off the phone with the cab company.

"Well it's been an honor to stand by your side, David Schmitt. I hope Melissa makes you happy. Truly, I do," I said softly.

"I hope your boyfriend makes you happy, too, Kalel Carter," David said and pulled the cab door open for me. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, David," I choked and then climbed in the cab. I did not start crying under the driver pulled away from the curb.