Why Wait?

16

~~~fair grounds~~~
I smile at Cody. "You did this for me?"

He nods. "I hope it's okay that we're not going to a party. I just didn't want you to drink while you're upset."

"Well, come on," I exclaim, grabbing his hand. "What are we waiting for!"

He chuckles. "Alright."

The first thing we see is a stuffed animal contest thing. I noticed an adorable little stuffed bunny. Cody must've noticed me eyeing it because next thing I know, we're going in the direction of the stand.

"Hello, kids," a stuffy man with a beard says as we walk up to him.

Cody smiles and pulls up his wallet. "How much for the stuffed rabbit?"

The guy chuckles. "You have to knock the the cones down. You get five balls."

By some miracle, Cody is able to knock down all the pics in one try. I grin as he hands me the stuffed b bunny. "Thank you so much," I say happily.

Something goes through his eyes but I don't know what it was. "Lets go ride stuff."

I nod vigorously. "Yes! Let's go."

About three hours later, we were physically done for the day. "Do you want to go back?" Cody asks.

I slowly shake my head. "No, not really."

He looks over at me with a sympathetic expression. "We can stay at my hotel for tonight. There's an extra bed if you want it. And I'm sure we can find something for you to wear tonight."

I look over at him. "Really?" I ask and he nods. "Sure."

We get in his car and he drives us over to his hotel room.

My phone rings in my pocket. I sigh. "Can you answer it?" I ask Cody.

He takes my phone. "Just ignore it. Lets just forget about today."

I smile at him. "I wouldn't want to forget all of it."

We head up to his room and I sit down on the bed that looks empty. Cody heads to the bathroom and I take the liberty of calling my brother.

He answers on the third ring. "Where are you?" he demands before I can say anything.

"I'm with Cody," I say coolly. "I'll be fine."

He sighs. "Kelli, please come back. I'm Sorry it came out that way. Let's talk about it."

I let out a humorless laugh. "All we ever do is talk. And I'm sick of it. So just do yourself a favor and leave me alone."

Just then Cody gets out of the bathroom. He stops when he sees me on the phone. "Kelli," he says softly.

"I have to go," I tell Austin. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Kelli, wait. Don't do--"

I hang up before he can finish his sentence. Cody gives me a sad look. "You have that look in your eyes."

I look up at him. "What look?"

He lays down beside me. "That look you usually get whenever you want to cry. I saw that look every time I would hurt you."

I lay my head against his chest. "It's okay, though. I already forgave you."

He hesitates for a while. "Kelli?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you and Alex actually a thing?"

I shake my head. "He had a girlfriend. Well, he likes someone. He's writing a song for her."

"Do you know who that girl is?"

I shake my head. "He won't tell me."

Then I don't know what happened but he wraps his arms around my waist and makes me look up at him.

"Would you like to give us another chance?" he says softly.

My eyes water. "Really?"

He nods, placing a small kiss on the tip of my nose. "I promise I won't hurt you like I did again."

I let him kiss me for a while before finally kissing him back. My hands wrap around his neck and I pull myself on top of him. "I love you," he mutters when I pull away to look at him.

"Yeah?"

He nods, pulling me back down. "I do."

~~~arena~~~
Cody dropped me off the next day. But not before promising to come back next weekend. I give him a light kiss before heading inside.

Austin was waiting for me with his arms crossed. "Hey," he says.

I avoid looking at him. "What do you want?"

He sighs. "I just want to apologize," he says quietly.

I stay put and stare down at my hands. I was hoping to avoid this conversation as much as possible. I guess not.

"Are you and Cody together?" he asks in a strained yet quiet voice.

I nod slowly. "Yeah."

He walks up to me. "Do you actually like him?"

I take a step back. "Yeah."

"Kelli," he says, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry. It's not what I meant for it to come out as. I was just upset that you would think--"

"Cody ended up taking new to the fair," I say, cutting him off. "Not you. We were originally going to this huge party but he decided against it."

Austin doesn't say anything. He knows I'd always go to parties. I'd go with Cody. And last night would've been Connie's birthday party. So not going turned out to be pretty good.

"I was supposed to go with you," I say, my voice cracking. "He wasn't even supposed to show up."

"But you like him--"

"That doesn't matter," I snap. "He's not my brother. You are. And to find out that you don't even like me?"

He looks guilty. "That's not what I meant to say. I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I meant to say that it's hard. Watching over you. I mean, yesterday was not the first day I've thought about giving up music."

"Music," I repeat.

He nods. "Mom and dad are always gone and they're always busy. I want to be around you. I want to be there for you. I want to be able to take you to the fair. And I know it came out wrong. But I want things to be different."

I fall against his arms and sob. He holds me tightly for a while as I cried against his chest. I feel his tears fall against my neck.

He's crying too.

My arms wrap around his waist and force myself to stop crying. I haven't taken my medicine yet. And crying will only make me feel depressed.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

He nods, placing a kiss on my forehead, though he got most of my hair. "I love you, Kelli."

"I love you too, big brother," I say, following him inside.

HEY!!! EARLY UPDATED JUST VECAUSW I WANTED TO. THERE WILL STILL BE AN UPDATE ON FRIDAY, THOUGH

SORRY, I JUST HAD TO BRING CODY BACK IN THE PICTURE. I PROMISE THERE WILL BE MORE OF ALEX AND KELLI IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, THOUGH. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!

THANK YOU FOR READING!! HAVE A VERY HAPPY WEEK!!!