Journey (3)

Chapter 55

the story of us- taylor swift 

CONNOR'S POV:

I stand outside the bar, waiting for Tessa to arrive. Normally, she's on time, and I'm the one running late, but it looks like things have changed.

A few minutes later, she appears, her hair looking styled. "You're early," she says, walking over to me quickly.

"I'm on time, you're late," I laugh, pulling her into a hug. I catch a slight smell of her perfume, and smile. "You're wearing that perfume that I bought you," I point out.

"I always do," she says, smiling at me. "Should we go in? I'm sure that they're probably in here already, wondering where we are."

"Probably," I say, following her into the bar. "You look great, by the way. I like what you did with your hair."

"Thank you," Tessa replies, and I notice her blush slightly. Without saying anything else, I follow her right into the bar.

As soon as we enter, I see Natalie and Will, sitting opposite each other at a table, with Maggie pulling up a chair next to them. Somehow, Ethan has joined them, and I didn't realise that he would be a part of this as well.

Tessa and I make our way over to them. "You made it," Natalie says, smiling warmly, and I don't know which one of us she's directing that to.

"I'm sorry for being late," Tessa says, smoothly. "At least I'm here now. Should I go and get drinks for everyone?"

"I'll do it," Maggie says, standing up, abruptly. "Why don't the two of you sit down, and talk." She looks right at me when she says this.

"Okay," I say, sitting down, and Tessa does the same. I know that she wants to be the one to lead the conversation, so I stay silent, and let her talk.

"You've probably noticed that Connor and I are spending more time together," Tessa says, and everyone turns their heads to look at her.

"Of course we've noticed," Will says, unhelpfully. "You're always together." He laughs. "You're practically joined at the hip nowadays."

I look over at Tessa, who seems more nervous now, to tell everyone the news. Will's comment definitely didn't help. I reach under the table to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

She looks up at me, smiles gratefully, and continues talking. "I guess, we have some news," she says, shrugging. "We're dating. Actually, we've been together since the airport, but we're taking it slow."

There is silence for a moment, and even I am wondering how they'll all react to what they just heard. Eventually, Ethan is the first to speak up.

"I think we knew that already," he says, awkwardly. "Last week, I saw you two kissing in you car."

I feel myself turning slightly red on my cheeks, a telltale sign of mine. "Wow...I didn't realise anyone saw that," I say, quickly, feeling slightly embarrassed by that.

"And don't forget those little glances that you keep on giving to each other, those secret little smiles," Will says, grinning, seeming proud. "I think that I was the first to guess."

"Actually, I think it was me," Natalie says. "And that was before that time I saw the two of you kissing in the doctor's lounge a while ago."

"You all knew?" Tessa asks, in complete disbelief. I'm shocked, too. "If you all knew, then why didn't you say anything?" she asks, confused.

"We figured that you were keeping it secret," Natalie explains. "And it was only a guess, anyway. We didn't know anything for sure, but we knew that you would tell us in your own time." She shoots a glance at Will. "Of course, some of us couldn't keep their mouths shut about it."