Band One Shots (CLOSED PERMANENTLY)

Alex Gaskarth - I Like You, That Better?

I pulled up next to the lake and stepped out of my car, undressing to reveal my swimsuit. I closed my eyes and breathed in the cool morning air. That was my favourite time to go swimming, just before dawn when the air was clean and no one else was around. It was peaceful, calming. I picked up my towel and clothes and took them to the edge, hiding them in where I normally do.

I walked into the cool lake, enjoying the familiar feeling of the water moving around my legs. I'd been swimming ever since I could remember, my dad and I used to come to this lake every morning and swim, sometimes for just ten minutes sometimes for hours. I still come out here as often as I can, though it's hard now that I have a job and responsibilities, not like when I was a kid.

Swimming out to the middle of the lake I gently float for a while, enjoying the sounds of morning. I shot around in the water as I heard another car pull up. In my whole twenty five years of living there has never been another person at this lake this early in the morning. They went straight to my clothes and sat down, looking at me.

I swam quickly back from the lake, only realising who it was as I walked out.

"Alex, what are you doing here?" I asked, taking my towel. I shared a house with Alex and our friend Rian, neither of them have ever followed me here before.

"I have to talk to you." He had his eyes trained on the floor and he looked conflicted, like he was trying to make up his mind.

"Could it not have waited until I was home."

"No, because Rian would be there, and this is something I need to say to you, and you alone." He sighed and looked up for the first time. "MaKenna, I-"

"Why did you come here Alex?" I asked, anger bubbling up inside me. "You know how important this place was to me. It was my place, the place I came to with my dad. Why are you here?"

"What?"

"Before my dad died, we used to come here all the time to swim. Why do you think I've never asked any of you to come with me? Why do you think I come when there's no one else here?"

"I just thought you wanted to be alone." Alex said quietly.

"I did! I wanted to be alone here, so I could feel close to my dad again." I was close to tears but I held them back. No, I wasn't going to cry here. I looked up at the sky as I felt a drop of rain on my cheek, laughing humourlessly. Great, I thought to myself, Weather to match my mood.

"Are you going to say what you came here to say?" I asked, the efforts of drying myself going to waste as the rain fell harder, soaking me to the skin, my dry clothes now not so dry.

"I don't know why I should bother, you obviously don't want me here."

I sighed, shaking my head, "If you're going to be a dick about this I'm just going to leave." I said, storming off with my clothes in hand.

"What? You can't just leave!"

I turned to face Alex again, staring him straight in the eye, "Watch me." I spat, walking towards my car. I tried reversing away but found that Alex's car was blocking the way out. I sighed and caught his attention as he trudged along, pointing behind me to his car. 

"What?" He shouted, obviously hearing me but trying to make me even more annoyed than I already was.

"Move you're fucking car!"

"Make me."

"Excuse me?" I asked. By now I was stood two feet away from Alex in the pouring rain, not caring that I was soaked to the skin.