Irish Oxytocin

Always You | 32

                          ❁ Chapter 32 ❁

Prom was easily one of the most insane nights of my life. It is everything TV shows and society makes it out to be.

Aaliyah was taken off picture duty so she could enjoy the night herself; meaning Shawn wasn't left to fend for himself. Shawn remained my date, though. We agreed we'd still do it because friends could attend prom together too.
Daniel and Ella won prom king and queen! Daniel's mood finally loosened up when his name was called on stage. I voted for them, personally. They're my role models.
While I know I'm surely wrong, Daniel and Ella are my only friends that set up the true example that love isn't easy. I've been there for every hiccup and every argument. But, I truly know Daniel learned to love a woman from my father. Aaron Pierce is the man who loved a woman more than he needed oxygen to breathe.

He made me set my standards high because he wanted someone to love me as much as he loved Mom. While I only knew him for thirteen years, he was my hero. Daniel's too. Dad taught him everything he needed to know from Daniel's very first word.
I remember when Daniel and I were ten, a major secret came out that showed me how much he really loved my mother.
When Daniel and I were born, Mom was battling with horrible postpartum depression with the stress of two completely opposite twins. Dad spent a lot of time with us for the first couple of months while Mom doubted herself.

Of course, Daniel's first word ended up being "Dada", but Dad kept it a secret. This was so when Daniel finally said "Mama", mom would feel like she was doing something right. It worked, because something triggered inside her and pulled her out of whatever she was going through.
Mom still doesn't know the story, but I think it really set an example in different ways for Dani' and I.

At the end of the night, Ethan's family rented us all two hotel rooms to party for the remainder of the night. A lot of us had consumed a scary amount of alcohol, so we all split up into Ubers to meet at our hotel rooms. The girls were sharing one, and the boys were sharing the other. But, we were all going to hang out in the boy's room to finish off the rest of the night.
Nolan paid for an Uber for both of us. He was quiet a lot of the night, but no one tried to make him feel like he wasn't welcome. His guilt was radiating off of him the entire night in the hall, but he was making a lot of effort to not bring down anybody's mood. We had all been excited about prom before he even arrived in Los Angeles, and until a month ago... I thought he was too.

The drive was silent as downtown Los Angeles was still booming with life at eleven PM. Streetlights and build boards displayed the excitement the city had to offer in the late nights of summer. Our Uber driver followed close behind the group's cars, and played "Lover" by Taylor Swift low on the radio.

Nolan faced out of the window, clearly amazed by the action going on outside the vehicle. It never dawned on me that Nolan has yet to see so much of the city yet. His hand was crept around my thigh over the flow of my dress. My hair was starting to lose its curl, and hug the sweat around my face. Although, I wasn't paying attention to anything else other than him.
My shoes were resting at his feet while mine comforted in the frills of the bottom of my dress.

I couldn't help but wish I could see inside his head. Everything he was battling with, and everything he was thinking about. A month of our lives had been separated, and even though I lived a full eighteen years before him, I've never felt like I've missed more now than I have before.
All was left was after him. And while I felt I should be mad he left me alone, I couldn't be. I only cared about the fact that he was home.

A fifteen-minute drive ended as we approached the hotel. We departed the car and I grasped my shoes in one hand. Nolan wheeled his bag all the way to the front desk where the rest of the group was waiting. Everyone was rolling out of the public bathroom in a change of clothes, telling me they'd been there for a couple of minutes already. I walked over and plopped myself on the carpet.