Wildflowers

Chapter 23- For you, always

MYLES July 30th

"What are you thinking about, son?" It feels weird to hear my father call me son, but I am that aren't I?

"Nothing much" I down the last of my juice and sit the glass on the table.

Dad eyes me suspiciously.

"Does it happen to be certain brunette with an eyebrow piercing?" he guesses right.

Alexandra is all I have been thinking about for the past two weeks.

I shrug in response; I don't have to say anything because he knows he's right.

"Are you going to tell me where you're going on a honeymoon?" I change the subject; he smirks catching on to me.

"Amalfi Coast." dad smiles softly. "Mich has been dreaming of going there for a while. I'm taking her to Italy, Myles" Dad has glazed over loving far-away look in his eyes.

He talks about Michelle like she's the best thing in the world, like there is nothing else. To him, there isn't.

"Alex wants to go there, too, someday" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

"You won't leave the table; she won't leave your mind" He's right, I have been sitting at the kitchen table for the past half an hour, nursing a glass and staring out of the window and trying to clear my thoughts.

I have been attempting to sort them out for a while now. They all lead back to Alexandra.

I stand up and jog up the stairs to prove him wrong.

Dad likes Alex and asks about her all the time, though he hasn't been around every day, he knows that she is here often.

I pull on the first sweatshirt I find and I contemplate on whether to throw myself out of the window or jump up and down from happiness, because it smells like Alex and brings her back to my mind as she slipped away from there for a second.

I tie up my Converses and let Michelle know I'm leaving, peeking my head into the living room to see her browsing through her computer, before stepping outside.

I pull out a cigarette to calm my nerves about upcoming conversation with Alex. Sunsets are still a nightly occurrence for us, there are now days when we don't make it there.

She has been distant and kind of ignoring me, yes, she's at Colewell by night but she doesn't talk to me, only responds. Her silence is making me question everything.

Does she regret it?

Does she regret what we did?

Did I read the signs wrong?

Did I do or say anything wrong?

Did I cross the line?

We haven't talked about her and I having sex, yet.

She isn't here yet; I sit on the bench we first met at. I stay still for a moment listening to the sounds around me- the whisper of wind between the leaves, laughter from across the street as a couple walks by, approaching footsteps and the crashing waves. Alex sits by me.

"You got a lighter?"

I hold back a smile at the memory from the night that blessed me with her. I hand it over, this time letting a grin free, upon seeing my face she breaks also.

"Thanks" pushes the lighter into my hoodie-pocket herself, suppressing a smile. "We didn't say anything after that, did we?" she asks after a moment.

"Not until we left" It's been almost two months since we met, I remember every moment with her as clear as day.