Lesson Learned✔

5

Aspen

Chris did pick me up as promised, and was leaning against his car as I stepped out of the library. My fingers couldn't turn the key to lock the doors fast enough before running to him, colliding with his chest as he pulled me in for a kiss. The taste of coffee in his lips mixing with the lingering taste of juice I had been drinking all day.

Joy bloomed in my stomach, and relief that he hadn't forgotten me. My mind pushing back the idea that he would forget me, ranting over how it was only one time. That it was because he had an emergency.

Chris took me out for dinner that day. Talked with me about what he had done, asked about my day. In which I refrained from telling him about what I had been asked. And what I had agreed to. I would tell him, but not yet.

I had time. And anyways I was still debating whether to go or not. From all I could gather, those parties were different. They weren't chill or quiet, it was the opposite. Loud and crazy. They were something I was not used to, not that I think I'd ever get used to.

The days passed and still when I bought the costume, I didn't bring it up. I didn't know why, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to tell Chris about it. I wasn't afraid of his answer because even he had said I should go out. Make friends and do what teenagers did.

And that's what I was doing. Or trying to do because I was still debating it. But the closer we got to Friday, the less I could back out. All of us who were going had already agreed on everything, Elijah would pick Lilith, Penelope and me up since the guys already lived at the campus.

Then he'd drive us back, safely. Unless either one decided to stay, which would not be me because I had Chris. I did have a suspicion that Lilith would stay behind, and so would Penelope. And maybe even Elijah which made me uneasy because if he did end up finding someone, I'd have to find a way to get back home. Unless I took my car, but I hated driving long distances.

It wasn't until we were days away, and when I say days. I mean the party was this upcoming Friday that I finally brought it up. I had found out Chris wouldn't be working that night which made me more nervous about telling him. I'd told Lilith and Penelope how I would have liked to spend Halloween night with him, but they just told me we had years.

Which in a way made me feel less nervous about asking him. They were right, Chris and I had many more years. Even if we hadn't talked about it, I had a feeling we would last. That maybe not now, but years later we could get married. That's if Chris asked.

But I wouldn't pressure him to ask me. I wanted him to ask me without me knowing. For him to feel it and not feel pressured by it. Or me.

Sitting down on the couch, my hand skimmed over the top of the shark Elijah had given me. I had left it up in our bedroom, but it was just so cute and comfortable that I took it with me. Sometimes just hugging it close or other times putting my laptop on top of it. But either way, it always moved from place to place.

I looked away from the movie I was supposed to be watching to Chris, my eyes skimming over his bare chest. My cheeks heating up slightly even thought I had seen him shirtless almost every day. Even though I had seen all of him, done things with him. But still, seeing him just made me feel all types of warm.

I gazed all the way to his face, seeing him completely relaxed. His eyes on the tv while his fingers moved across my feet that sat on his lap. Fingers moving across my calf, steady that seemed to trace imaginary lines. "Chris?"

He turned his head to me, brows raised but didn't stop. Only continued all the way to my knee, dragging his fingers to my ankle. "Yes?"

"I got invited to a Halloween party-" I said digging my hand into the shark- "At Alworth." He didn't so much as stop, or look away from me.