Mistakes

I loved it when David called from the road. He usually tried to call me every night, and sometimes I'd get a call a few times a day if they weren't busy or if David had more stories to tell me. So much happened and he had all these crazy friends, so he was always full of stories when I finally heard his voice.

"Hey, baby. I was just thinking about you," I said into the phone, when David finally called.

"I love it when you say that," he said, laughing. "I've been thinking about you, too."

"You're so cute. So how's the UK, Dave? Did you guys get to see any sights yet?" I asked.

"Nah, not yet. They keep us pretty busy here," he said. "But I love it, Kalel. All the fans here screaming the lyrics back at us every night. It's such a rush, you know?"

I laughed. "Well, no, I don't. I'm not the one in a band," I teased him. "But if it pleases you, then it pleases me, baby."

"I am completely pleased. I am pleased as punch, in fact," David said and I could almost see his goofy smile.

"I've never understood that saying 'pleased as punch.' I've never had a glass of pleased punch in my life."

"Not true, babe. You've had spiked punch before," he said and laughed.

"Like I need spiked punch when I'm dating you," I told him, which only made him laugh more.

---------------------------------------------

"You did WHAT?" Bradley yelled. "Oh, my God, Kalel. You have done some stupid shit in your life, but this. Oh, this takes the cake. What is the matter with you?"

"You know I've never understood that expression. Takes the cake. What does that even mean?" I asked. Bradley's hand raised to me, like she was going to slap me, but she stood up and walked away instead. "Oh, come on, Brad. Help me. Please."

"Why did you tell him you have a boyfriend?" Bradley asked, standing in front of the window in our living room, looking out. "What if you really hurt his feelings, Kalel?"

"He has a girlfriend, Bradley. I can't hurt his feelings. He's dating someone else." I sat back on the couch, frowning at my hands.

"So what? He told you he still loved you. As in, current feelings. He loves you, Kalel," Bradley said and came back over to me, plopping back down beside me on the couch. "Why would you lie to him?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. To make him feel better about moving on? I didn't want him to think I was still so hung up on him. I thought maybe it'd make him feel guilty or weird, you know?" I sighed. "I didn't think that maybe it'd hurt him."

"Lying doesn't protect someone's feelings, Kalel. It sucks being lied to," Brad said gently. "And you know David. He'd rather be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie."

"You're right. I need to fix this. I don't want any more lies between us," I said. "I'll call him and find out what he's doing."

"Good girl. Then after we need to get to American Apparel. There's a bag there calling my name," Bradley said and stood up, walking out of the room to give me some privacy.

I pulled my cell phone from my back pocket and, as if on cue, it began to ring. For whatever reason, Eric was calling me. "Hey, Eric. What's shakin'?"

"Ellie! How you doing, girl?"

I laughed. "Not bad. Yourself?"

"Can't complain, can't complain. But listen. I have a bit of a favor to ask. I know this sucks balls, but I'm gonna ask anyway."

"Sure, Eric. Fire away," I said, not sure if I would like agreeing to whatever he wanted.

"So we're in the studio, right? And we're just jamming and shit. David's been off since we got here. He wasn't really listening, and he wasn't really contributing much when we were here jamming. We told him he should take a break to get his head together, and we all kind of figured he'd just sit in the parking lot and smoke. But he's gone, Kalel. We lost David."

My head was swimming. "Uh, okay. That's... not good. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Well we all kind of figured he'd got to one of his usual places, but we weren't sure he'd wanna talk it out with any of us. If anyone could get through to him, Kalel, it's you."

"You think he'd talk to me about whatever's going on?" I asked. "I hope it's not something with Kyle or something." Even though it was probably because Bradley was right and I broke the poor kid's heart. Fuck, I was so stupid.

"I'm pretty sure he'd talk to you, Ellie. Will you at least try?"

I nodded and stood up, even though Eric couldn't see me do it. "Yeah, of course. I'm on my way out right now. I'll find him and bring him back. Tell the guys I'm on it."

"Thanks, Elle. It'll give us some time to explain to our manager what happened when he gets here."

"Godspeed, boys," I teased him and then ended the call. "Bradley! The boys lost David. Eric called and he wants me to go find him. I think it might be because I hurt him."

Bradley gave me a hug. "Go get him, and explain everything. No more lies, got it?"

"I promise. I'll be back soon! I love you!" I said, grabbing my keys before heading out the door.

There were a few distinct places David could have gone. He had his favorite haunts and one of them was bound to have him. There was a movie theater in Hollywood, Venice beach, this bowling alley near our old apartment, the LACMA, and the Griffith Observatory. I tried there first.

I walked around the grounds twice before I noticed him. He didn't look the same. He was sitting on the ground, his back against the railing, facing away from the Hollywood sign in the distance. There were shades over his eyes and the beanie on his head was probably supposed to mask who he was. He definitely looked like hell.

"David?" I asked, coming closer to him.

His head tilted and he lifted his glasses to look at me. "Kalel? What are you doing here?"

"Eric called. He said they lost you, and asked me to come find you," I said softly. "Can I sit with you?"

"Of course," he said and I sat down beside him.

"What's going on, David?" I asked, after sitting with him in silence.

"You and I used to go on picnics here all the time. Do you remember that? This was your favorite place for the longest time," David said, ignoring my question.

"It's still one of my favorite places in LA, David," I said, humoring him for only a moment. "It's beautiful here."

"Yeah, it is," David agreed and then sighed, staying quiet for a long time before he spoke again. "I broke up with Melissa last night."

"David!" I exclaimed. "You didn't! Please tell me you didn't!"

He nodded. "I did. She didn't even look surprised. Guess that's better than anything."

"David, I have to tell you something," I said, looking down at my hands.

"No, you don't, Kalel. I know you don't have a boyfriend," he said and I looked over him.

"How did you know? Did Bradley tell you?"

"Of course not. I know you, Kalel. You don't just date guys for the hell of it. You have to really like them," he explained, and then cracked a grin. "Plus, your mouth does this weird thing when you're lying. It's fucking cute."

I covered my mouth with my hand. "It does not," I said, appalled. "Fuck, I feel like an idiot."

"It's okay. I think I get why you did it. You didn't want me to feel weird about having a girlfriend now that we're trying to be friends or whatever, yeah?" I nodded and he smiled. "You're really sweet, you know that?"

I looked away for a moment and then frowned. "So is that why you broke up with Melissa?" Weirdly, he started laughing. I was so confused. "David, why are you laughing? We're having a serious conversation right now. Jesus."

He shook his head and pulled his glasses off, looking me right in the eye. "I just never imagined that you and I would be back here, together. I thought I'd never see you again after you left. And I thought that dating a bunch of girls would get you out of my head. But I noticed that, when I'm on dates with them, I'm thinking about you." He laughed again. "The only reason I settled on Melissa was because Kyle told me I needed to quit fucking around and just move the fuck on. She reminded me so much of you. Maybe that's why I stayed with her."

"That's horrible, David," I said softly.

"It is horrible," he agreed. "But it was horrible that I couldn't get you out of my head, Kalel. I was thinking about you constantly. Whenever something funny happened, I wanted to call you and tell you. Any time anything happens, I want to tell you about it. I love you, Kalel. And seeing you again has been the best thing that's happened in the past year."

"David, I don't know what to say," I said, feeling a little breathless.

"That's okay," David said and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine.

I didn't even hesitate for a second. I kissed him back as hard as I could, his hand sliding to the back of my neck, his thumb against my jawline. Oh, God, I'd missed him touching me this way. I'd missed him touching me in general.

"I love you, too, David," I whispered against his lips.

Abruptly, he pulled away from me and stood up. "I have to get back to the studio."

Dazed, I looked up at him, his mouth swollen just slightly. "What? Why?"

"No reason," he said, a cheeky grin tugging the corners of his lips. He offered his hand to me and pulled me up when I took it. His hands slid around my waist and he kissed my breath away again. "Oh, right. Can I not be single anymore?"

I threw my head back and laughed, smiling when David pressed a kiss to the hollow of my throat. "Yes, David. You don't have to be single anymore. But you'll have to fight my boyfriend. He's very protective, you know."

"I can take him," he said against my ear and kissed my neck softly. "I love you. I'm so glad I have you back."