𝟎𝟎𝟖

461 13 5

by -NEDFLANDERS

by -NEDFLANDERS

- Local Record Shop
²:²⁰ ᵖᵐ, ᶠʳⁱᵈᵃʸ

Three weeks. It has officially been three weeks since the therapy session. Three weeks since I last saw or spoke to Rob and Eli. Neither one of them had even called or texted me since then.

During the past weeks, I had been keeping myself busy, between work and the fact that my best friend just got engaged. Beth asked me to be her maid of honor and of course, I accepted. I'm so happy that my best friend has found her person, a part of me wishes that I wasn't having as hard of a time finding mine.

Anyways, I was currently in a local record shop, looking for the perfect gift for Beth and Tommy. They met at a gig he was working at and according to Beth, they immediately had a connection. I wonder how I'll meet my person. Will we have that connection like Beth and Tommy?

I'm immediately pulled out of my thoughts when I see a familiar dread head. He's holding a Gorillaz album in one hand and rummaging through vinyl with the other. "Josh?" He instantly looks up, the expression on his face a bit confused until his sight lands on me.

"Anna!..." His tone is slightly awkward but I don't mind it. "How's things going?" I move closer to where he is. "Good good...everything is good." He's avoiding eye contact with me. Gosh! I really must've done something wrong.

"Josh...can I ask you a question?" His expression turns to concerned but he nods anyway, " How are the boys? Are they mad at me? Did I do something wrong?" I ramble way too fast causing Josh to put his hands on my shoulders to calm me down.

"Hey, it's okay! You did nothing wrong, the boys are just working on fixing their friendship right now. Just give them time." He gives me a quick hug before we both part ways.

Josh was right. I just need to give them time. Time would be good for me too! With my maid of honor duties, I have a lot on my plate.

- Beth's Apartment
⁵:³⁰ ᵖᵐ, ˢᵃᵗᵘʳᵈᵃʸ

"And so I tell Tommy, we are not getting a chocolate swan sculpture!" I'm sitting with Beth, laughing at all the crazy stories she already has from wedding planning. It's been a week since I saw Josh at the record store. I'm doing better now, every now and then I start thinking about the boys. Beth is always by my side to distract me when that happens.

"Who knew Tommy would be such a romantic?" I grab Beth's hand to look at her gorgeous ring. "I did! It's one of the reasons I fell for him!" she pulls her hand away, admiring her ring herself.

"It's a beautiful ring Beth, it's totally you!" I give her a light smile "Here, as my maid of honor I actually got you something special." Beth suddenly pulls a small box out of her purse. I open it to see a golden ring with a simple rock in the middle. Like Beth's ring just dialed down a couple notches of course. I immediately put it on!

"I wanted to get my bridesmaids something special, of course, I added a simple rock to my maid of honor's!" Not knowing what to say, I bring Beth into a hug. It gets cut short by a knock at the door.

"Can you answer that love, I have to call Tommy." Beth immediately runs to her room and I answer the door. "Eli!" He gives me a cute smile before gravitating his sight down to my hand. His expression instantly changes to wide-eyed, confusing me before I look down too. The ring could totally be mistaken as an engagement ring.

"Oh No! Elii It's not what it looks like, the ring's from Beth!" I move the ring to a different finger.

"Well, that's a relief! Um...I'm actually here to ask you on a date. To the carnival.." He stands nervously with his hands behind his back. "I would love to! Just let me get ready okay?"

- Still Beth's Apartment
⁶:⁰⁰ ᵖᵐ, ˢᵃᵗᵘʳᵈᵃʸ

"How do I look?" Eli turns his head to see me standing in the doorway of my room. "Wow." is all I hear him mutter. I'm wearing some baggy blue jeans and a red tube top, nothing too crazy.

"Ready to go then?" He says making his way over to me. "Yup." I grab his hand and we were off. Our hands fit together like puzzle pieces, I liked it.

- The Carnival
⁷:¹⁵ ᵖᵐ, ˢᵃᵗᵘʳᵈᵃʸ

"How about that one!" I point to a giant pink teddy bear. Eli was trying to win me a prize at the fair, "memorabilia" he said. So far he had played ring toss, basketball, and now skee ball, not with much luck may I add.

"This is for you!" Eli points to me before rolling the first ball. After three whole rounds, Eli finally wins me my pink teddy. "For you madame." He hands me the giant pink bear that's almost the full size of me.

"Oooh let's go on this one!" I grab Eli's hand and drag him to the bumper cars. "Bumper cars? Really?" He says with a light chuckle. "Yes! Bumper cars happen to be one of my favorites since I was a child." After we played on the bumper cars and went on some other rides Eli suggested going on the Ferris wheel.

I hesitantly said yes, I'm a bit scared of heights but Eli doesn't need to know that. "Well, I know your favorite carnival ride and favorite pizza topping. Anything else I should know?" Eli says looking at me as the Ferris wheel slowly starts to turn.

"Do you know my favorite song?" he shakes his head, his messy hair flowing. "It's Wonderwall, by Oasis." I look away from Eli for a second, noticing that we're getting higher up. I grab Eli's hand for some sort of comfort, trying not to make my fear too obvious.

"Scared of heights?" I look back at Eli in shock, can he read my mind right now? "Your grip on my hand is really strong and they're a bit clammy. I quickly pull my hand away embarrassed.

"Hey, it's okay!" Eli grabs my hand again. Just then we reach the top of the Ferris wheel, not wearing a jacket was a bad idea. "Are you cold?" Eli says noticing.

"A little..." Eli takes off his jacket and drapes it around my shoulders, scooting closer to me. He puts his arm around me, leaving just an inch between us. I can't help but notice how pretty Eli's lips look.

How kissable they look in this moment. Eli turns his head to look down at me already looking at him. I notice his eyes drift between my eyes and my lips. And he kisses me.

Fireworks! No literally, fireworks started but also figuratively. I tangle my hands in his dark messy hair as I get deeper into the kiss. His hands holding my waist. "Wanna go back to my place?" is all I mutter before reconnecting our lips.