Behind These Bruises...

Behind These Bruises...[Part 19]

"Are they closed?" Derek asked.

"Yes!" I said, shutting my eyes.

"No peeking!" he said.

"I'm not!!" I cried, like a child.

"Yeah, right. You're totally looking. I just saw you," Derek said. I reached out and slapped his arm. He laughed and threw the blindfold back at me.

Two weeks later, after an intense week of finals, Derek had finally asked me out on a date. I had no idea where he was taking me or what we were doing. But I followed him. He had blindfolded me in the car, but I took it off.

Now, I put it back on and slumped in his car seat.

"It's bothering me!" I complained.

"Stop acting like a child," he snapped in a light-hearted voice. "Anyway, we're here," he said. I felt the car stop moving and heard him get out. He opened my door and took my hand. I got the cast taken off early because my arm and rib healed pretty fast. The cold December air hit my bare legs hard. He told me to dress up, so I wore a short, pearl white dress with black booties. I had on my black wool winter pea coat, which kept my upper body warm. Derek took my hand and led the way. I walked carefully because I couldn't see where I was going. He stopped walking and then I did, too.

"And, open..." he whispered in my ear. He pulled off the blindfold and I gasped.

He had taken me to the beach that we had met at on so many occasions. Only he had set up a tent and underneath it, a table. There were candles all over and two fires on either side of the tent to provide warmth. Besides the fires, I saw an electrical heater, too.

"The season wasn't too helpful, but I thought the fires and heater should be good enough to keep us warm," he said. I smiled. It looked absolutely amazing.

"Derek...this is so beautiful," I said softly. He grinned and took my hand. We walked to the little tent he had set up. He pulled out my chair for me and I sat down. He sat across from me. This whole time I could not stop smiling. It was the most perfect idea ever.

"I figured that since this is where we used to have all of our moments, that we should have our first date here. It'll add to the list," he said.

"You have no idea how perfect this is," I said. The fires and heater did a good job of keeping us warm. It felt like we were indoors and not outside in the winter air.

"So, what would you like to eat?" he asked, handing me a menu. I laughed.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, opening the menu.

"No. I went all out for this," he said, smiling at me.

"Yeah, I can tell," I said. "What restaraunt-" I began.

"Not a restaraunt. The family cook," he corrected. I looked down at the menu. It was blank. I looked at him.

"Very funny," I said.

"So the food's already prepared. Less waiting, right?" he said, flashing his winning smile at me. A waiter brought out our food and set it in front of us. "Thanks Sebastian," Derek said. The man smiled and nodded at him.

"Enjoy your night!" Sebastian said, walking away.

"Dig in," Derek said, gesturing to my plate. I was still looking at him. "What?" he asked, laughing slightly.

"Why did you go through all of this trouble?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders.

"You go through trouble for the people you care a lot about," he said, his green eyes intense. I felt color rise to my cheeks and picked up my fork. We ate and we talked. We talked and talked and talked. We finished eating and we still talked. The sun had set a while ago. The only light was coming from the moon above and the candles placed strategically across the beach.

"You want to dance?" he asked. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, come on," he said, holding his hand out to me. I smiled and took it. He reached down and turned on a nearby boom-box. I laughed and he took me in his arms. The song was "She is Love" by Parachute. We swayed back and forth to the soft music. I smiled against his chest and looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Thank-you," I said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For the most perfect first date ever," I replied. He smiled down at me and brushed my hair behind my ear.

"Thank-you," he said.

"For what?" I laughed.

"For allowing me to have the most perfect first date ever," he answered. Then we both laughed.

"And the most Cliche Line Award goes to...Derek Thomas! Give him a round of applause, ladies and gentlemen," I said, making my voice deep like an announcers. He chuckled and we both grew serious. A small smile played on his lips as he drew a line along my jawline. We had stopped swaying to the music, which was still playing in the background.

"Mila..." he said softly. The corners of my lips twitched up slightly. Then he leaned in and his lips met mine. I felt an explosion of fireworks inside my stomach and my heart raced faster and faster. I put my arms around his neck and he pulled me closer to him by my waist. We deepened the kiss, keeping it slow, but simple. When we finally broke away, we were both breathless and starry eyed. He smiled down at me and I beamed back.

I knew then that this would be a night that I would never forget, no matter where the future took us. This was going to be one of those stories that I would tell my children and my grand-children. The story of finding my first real love, my high school romance.

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A/N: I'm writing an epilogue! I've decided! I want to write about their graduation. Because they are seniors. And I have to bring all of the characters back into one last part.

Sorry this one was short. I just wanted to write about their first date. Cute, huh? The picture of the beach dinner is in the side bar. Also, three updates in one day? Can I get WOOP WOOP?!

XOXO