Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Eighty-Three

    Drake's brows shot up and he burst out laughing. "Wow. On that note, I need a drink." He turned and headed towards the bar area, which was located near the grill.

    Shawn trailed behind him. "You love her, don't you? I mean, really love her?" he asked, confused at Drake's nervous laughter.

    "Yeah," Drake said, rummaging behind the bar for glasses and evaluating the drink selections he had stored in the small, stainless steel refrigerator. "Proposing, though? Now? Way too soon."

    "I don't think there is any such thing as too soon, if you're in love with someone," Shawn said stubbornly, sitting on a bar stool and resting his elbows on the counter.

    Drake shook his head as he set several liquor and fruit juice bottles on the bar counter beside the Styrofoam cups he'd pulled out of the bar cabinet. "I didn't think I'd ever find someone who was a bigger romantic than I was." He narrowed his eyes and turned his head, as a thought occurred to him. "Speaking of that ring, I never got a chance to ask how that went."

    "I haven't proposed yet," Shawn said, lightly rapping his knuckles on the pebble stone counter. "With everything going on, it doesn't seem like the right time."

    "You love her don't you?" Drake asked, mocking Shawn's earlier words as he poured drinks for the two of them. "I mean, really love her?"

    Shawn rolled his eyes. "All right, I see what you're getting at," he muttered.

    Drake handed Shawn a cup, his brows furrowing. "It's not just the situation with Mia," he said, after taking a sip from his own cup. "You're nervous."

    "Petrified, actually," Shawn confessed, staring towards the pool. "Now, when I think about it, proposing to her in that hotel room would have been so...tacky. She deserves better than that."

    "What, like horse-drawn carriages and gondolas and shit?" Drake asked him.

    "Something like that, yeah," Shawn said softly, fidgeting with the Styrofoam cup.

    Drake looked at him, the wheels in his head turning. "She deserves better," he said, speaking slowly while he gathered his thoughts, "so...give her better."

    Shawn didn't even try to mask his confusion. "What?"

    "Give her better," Drake repeated. "We'll put together something. Plan something major. So you can give her the proposal she deserves."

    "You'd...help me with that?" Shawn asked in disbelief.

    Drake lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I told you...I can be quite the romantic."

    They talked more for a bit and tossed a few ideas around. There was an idea that Drake was flirting around with, but he didn't bring it up to Shawn just yet. Before mentioning that idea to Shawn, he'd have to find time to get into the studio.

    Their conversation came to a halt when their girlfriends decided to interrupt the conversation.

    "I don't know if I like this little bromance going on here," Bri said with her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you two up to? What are you planning?"

    Shawn played it off smoothly. Instead of responding, he stood up and snaked his arms around her waist. He leaned in close to her and whispered something in her ear while hooking one of his fingers in the waistband of her turquoise bikini bottoms.

    She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

    Drake lifted an eyebrow at Shawn's audacity. He didn't know the guy had it in him. Go you, brother, he thought, looking past the two of them and focusing on Mia. When he looked at her, he saw beyond the bruises and cuts marking her face. He saw beyond the haunting sadness that was in her eyes, whether she was aware of it or not. He slowly walked around the bar counter and came to stand in front of her, swirling the liquor around in his cup while his eyes were locked on hers. "How do you feel?" he asked her quietly.

    "I feel good," she told him. "I'm glad I came out here instead of staying cooped up in that room."

    He smiled.

    "How do you feel?" she returned.

    The corners of his mouth turned downward. "What, knowing that I could have possibly killed a man?" he asked wryly. "I'm doing quite well, considering."

    She closed the few inches of distance between them and slid her arms around his waist. "I think everyone here has told you that you've done nothing wrong. I just wish I could have seen you in action."

    "You wish you could have seen me nearly kill a man?" he asked, raising his cup to his lips. He took a long sip, then lowered his cup and continued to swirl its contents with a subtle three hundred sixty degree motion of his wrist. "You are a true savage."

    She frowns. "It sounds horrible when you say it that way."

    "It sounds horrible, no matter what way you say it," he pointed out.

    She bit her lower lip and shrugged. "Call me heartless, but I feel no sympathy for him."

    "Remind me to stay on your good side," he said with an arched eyebrow.

    "For the sake of your well-being, it really is best that you do," she advised him jokingly. She raised up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I want to swim. Come swim with me."

    "Are you sure you can?" he looked her up and down. "You should be posted up in bed resting, not moving around and making your injuries worse."

    She blinked at him. "I said I wanted to swim. I didn't say I wanted to play full-contact football." She grabbed one of his hands and tugged on it. "Please? Come with me."

    "All right, all right." He laughed and set his cup down on the bar counter before following Mia's lead. As he passed by Shawn, he called over his shoulder, "We'll continue that conversation later, brother."

    Mia continued to drag him towards the pool, but he still heard Bri demanding Shawn, "Continue what conversation? Huh? What the hell are you two scheming?"

    Drake threw his head back and laughed as he followed Mia to the swimming pool. As he walked behind her, his eyes scanned down the length of her, taking in every inch of exposed skin. The sun beamed down on her and made her skin glow. Her long, dark hair hung down her back, down past the knot holding her bikini top up. She'd straightened her hair again, and although he preferred her hair curly, the straight look was also beautiful on her.

    She hesitated at the edge of the pool and turned to look up at him.

    And she had him. Simple as that. In that moment, with those beautiful brown eyes looking up at him, her warm hand holding on tightly to his, face bruised and marked like the little warrior she was, she could have asked for anything and he would have given it to her. No questions asked. A light California breeze rushed at them, playing with Mia's hair and making it whip across her face. And oh, how his sneaky mind worked...for he could have sworn that the wind carried Shawn's previous words, followed by a series of echoes. "Remember that ring I showed you? Ring I showed you? Ring I showed you?"