Finding Alley

Facing feelings

Alley's eyes widened with surprise, she nearly couldn't believe her own eyes! She saw a familiar male figure wearing a black jacket with silver lining she had given him for a present, with his arms wrapped around a blonde girl, then kissing wildly. She didn't know what to think-she had finally got up the courage to confess, and she had to see him doing this!

Dana and Tom were just coming back from a movie date when they saw the lonely figure sitting at the side of the house, hands covering her face. "Alley? Is that you?" They asked with concern.

Alley looked up, "Yes?"

"Are you alright?" They put their arms around her, lightly hugging in a group hug.

"Yes, I am perfectly fine, what could be wrong?" She shrugged it off, but they saw the weird expression on her face. With a determined look, she set off to find Josh.

The door opened to reveal a tired-looking Josh. "Alley! Why are you here at this hour!" He glanced at the clock, it was past 1am. He pulled her in, offering a seat to her.

He hadn't expected a reply from her that fast. "I am willing to give us a try, Josh."

"But what about him? Have you sort things out already?"

She replied him flippantly, "No, we haven't had a chance to speak at all, but it doesn't matter now."

He took her hands in his, his large hands covering hers completely, warming her cold hands. "Of course it matters, if we were to have a relationship, we have to be committed to each other."

Alley buried her face in his neck, inhaling deeply. "Oh Josh, I will be committed to this, if ever I find my feelings have changed, you will be the first to know okay?"

"That's my girl, now will you go out on a date with me?"

"Of course!" She smiled happily, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek.

"Now let's go to bed."

"W-What? Umm isn't that moving a bit to fast?" Alley stumbled and blushed, one of the few times she did that.

Josh gave an exasperated sigh, "Alley, no I don't mean That, we are sleeping in separate beds."

"Oh, I misunderstood then, sorry!" She grinned abashedly. That night she had one of the most restful sleep she ever got in the bedroom beside Josh's.

Alley was dressed casually, as per instructed by Josh, wearing a soft white blouse and capri pants. She laughed in delight when she saw the place Josh had brought her to-a small cafe called Kozey Koffee. The cafe was decorated in shades of brown and served snacks as well as beverages. Of course she ordered what they were famous for, a sweet extra milky latte and a slice of pecan cake while Josh ordered a black coffee and cupcakes.

"Black coffee? Eee! It tastes awful!" Alley teased him. As Josh threw up his arms in mock outrage, he accidentally knocked over his cup of steaming hot coffee. She gasped, then started laughing as he rushed to mop up the coffee before it spills to the floor. The date only got better from there.

Alley felt a wave of real happiness for the first time in ages, she could see a high chance of them developing a serious relationship in the future, if only a certain someone didn't keep popping into her mind.

Dante slapped his head unhappily, Alley had been acting weird the past few days, could he have done something to make her mad? She gave him short answers when he talked to her, and avoided being alone with him, not even going with him for their weekly dinner trip.

Dana and Tom were dating and often together, so Dana hadn't notice anything amiss yet, but she would soon if this weird things continued on. 

Alley sighed with dread, she wasn't looking forward to their Outings, as Dana and Dante called it.

The Outings can be anything from quick meals to shopping trips, as long as they get to spend time together with each other for a couple of hours at least, keeping their friendship going strong.

They sat in a corner at MacDonald's', trying to decide what to have for breakfast. Dana had wanted to help them order, to save the hassle of them ordering one by one. Alley groaned, she had been nearly an hour late meeting them, and now she couldn't decide what to eat! Dante grinned knowingly, "Alley! Couldn't decide what to eat again?"

She threw him a Look. "Yes, they all look so delicious!"

"Have the Chicken Muffin meal then! That looks nice!"

She grinned and hit him lightly on his shoulder. "You just wanted me to share because you want to eat it too right? Okay then, thanks Dana!"

Dana laughed and nodded before going to order, coming back quickly with their meals. Dante heaved a sigh of relief when their Outing was over, he and Alley seems to be back to normal again, but they should still have a talk.

Dante went to buy some soya beancurd and curry puffs, one of Alley's favourite Asian snacks, before they met at his house for their movie night later.

Alley smiled happily when she saw the soya beancurd from LBA Delights, a shop known for their delicious snacks from Asian countries. She hugged him tightly, pressing her fingers into his firm back in delight. Then she remembered the reason why she had came over to Dante's house.

Just then, Dante said, "We need to talk." Alley's hands squeezed her shirt nervously as she wondered what Dante wanted to talk to her about, and hopefully he doesn't want to talk about That.

New addition starting below!!

Dante felt Alley pressing her fingers in his back, the feeling was wonderful, her nails digging in slightly. She could do almost anything to him and he wouldn't have minded. He smiled into her wavy hair, little things like this can make her so happy, unlike other girls who demanded so much- that was why he never dated.

He noticed when she drew back, she couldn't meet his eyes. "Hey, Alley you okay?" He brushed a concerned hand over her soft cheeks.

Alley felt whirlwinds of feelings,  the unrequited feelings probably strike her hard, no she couldn't start feeling things she shouldn't, not towards one of her best friends!

"Danny I am fine, what do you want to talk about?" She pulled back from the hug, which lasted a bit too long in her opinion, but Dante didn't comment on that.

"Dana's had a fab idea- we could all go camping in Rechester Woods and have a short holiday!" His enthusiasm is contagious, and Alley found herself warming to the idea. Internally, she sighed with relief as he was not going to talk about That.

Details had to be finalized, how long, where, what to pack, how many people were going and all that made the next few weeks pass by fast as they prepped for their trip.

Dana, Alley and Dante worked furiously to put their plans to perfection, they were using their own money and all.

There was a total of 5 people going on this trip to Sussland, Rechester Woods. It would be a 2 to 3 days' drive, depending on their speed. At their speed they are likely to reach in one and a half days, Alley chuckled at the thought of Tom's driving, he once clocked 80 miles on a small side road. Dana had been petrified and recounted the whole tale to Alley afterwards.

They had laughed together at Dana's look of fright which Tom had captured using his phone. No, Tom definitely won't be one of the drivers, maybe for the last leg of the trip.

They will spend roughly 2 days in Sussland, a lovely small city, touring the area before setting up camp in Rechester Woods for a 3 days. The last 2 days  will be spent on the outskirts of Sussland, at Sudsy Village near the sea.

What they thought to be a fun trip may turn out to be life changing, though they didn't know it yet.