Riptide (An Emblem3 Fanfic)

Chapter 23

Wake up, wake up, wake up sleeping beauty.

Open your eyes.

Open your eyes.

"Haha Avery wake upppp." I felt Wes smooth my hair. I rolled over chuckling.

"Wow, way to ruin the mood." I punched him in the arm laughing. He stuck his tongue out at me.

"Well there's no point in singing to you when you're basically unconscious." He teased. I smiled and rolled over to read the clock. I should really just get contacts that I can wear over night. It was 11:30. I turned and cuddled into Wesley's shirt.

"So do I still get to decide what we do today?" I asked him hopefully. 

"Yep. Now go get dressed before I completely regret that decision." He said smirking. I grabbed a bunch of my clothes and went into the bathroom. I opted for a Van Halen t-shirt. It looked really cool and vintage because I decided to pair it with some American flag shorts. I walked back into my room and started lacing up my black Vans. Adrianna walked in from the living room.

"Well don't you look hipster?" She joked. I glanced down at my outfit and chuckled.

"Eh, well at least I'm not wearing a bandana." She smiled at me.

"Where are you going so dressed up anyway?" She asked me, sitting criss cross applesauce on top of my bed. I plopped down next to her and bit my lip shyly.

"Wes and I are gonna go out." I smiled. Her mouth basically hit the floor and she jumped up on the bed and started bouncing.

"Oh my god! You mean like a date?!" She asked excitedly.

"Shhh! He's waiting in the living room!" I clamped my hand over her mouth. Her eyes were glistening in anticipation.

"So is it?!" She tore herself out of my grasp. I looked down at the comforter and started smoothing out the messed up blankets. 

"I don't know." I admitted. And I didn't. I actually had no idea if it was a date. My mind started freaking out. I've never been on a date before. I started getting so nervous. Adrianna looked over at me and widened her eyes.

"Oh my god. I completely freaked you out didn't I?" She grimaced. I started nodding excessively. She pursed her lips. "Okay, Okay. I'm sorry. It won't be that bad." She said putting her arm on my shoulder. "You guys hang out all the time, it's not going to be any different." I took a few deep breaths. It's just another day. We're just hanging out.

"You're right. It's not going to be any different." I repeated back to her. I collected myself and burst into the living room. Everyone snapped their heads up when I came in Wes looked me up and down and gave me that signature Stromberg smirk. I blushed so intently that I had to look away from him. Horribly enough, I made eye contact with Owen. He looked like a little kid that just had his puppy taken away. I couldn't pull myself from his gaze fast enough. Keaton smiled at me nicely. That kid was too sweet.

I think I was happiest when I looked over at Drew. He wasn't checking me out; he had his gaze fixed over my shoulder at the other blonde girl in the doorway. He looked at Adrianna like she was a princess. I couldn't contain the smile breaking out on my face. They were completely perfect for each other.

Wes hopped up from the couch. "You ready to go?" He asked. I walked over to him and looked him up and down; he was wearing really cute board shorts and a gray tank top. I glanced down at his shoes and nudged him in the foot. They were totally sick.

"Yep! Oh, and don't be surprised if I steal those from you one day." I laughed, referring to his sneakers.

"Oooh! You better watch out Avery, Wes loves those shoes more than he loves me." Keaton called from the kitchen table. Wes and I laughed.

"Haha, no pair of shoes could ever compare to you bro." Wes laughed. He turned to me, "You can wear them any time." I smiled. I was about to walk out the door when Wes stepped in front of me and whispered in my ear. "Plus, I think you'd look really hot." I could feel him smirking, and I hit him on the shoulder lightly. I laughed and he slipped his arm around me.

"Where are you guys going?" I froze at the sound of Owen's voice. Shit. Shit. Shit. No, please don't ask any more questions.

"Where ever Avery wants to go." Wes shot a sweet smile in my direction. It was impossible not to like him. Before Owen had a chance to say anything, I ran out the door, pulling Wes behind me laughing. I breathed a sigh of relief when he slammed the door behind him. He slipped his arm around my waist and smiled, "So, where do you want to go?"

I grabbed his hand and led him outside the hotel. I nodded over to a small stand over on the corner. I smiled broadly, "We're going longboarding." He smiled at me, and we rented the boards for the rest of the afternoon. I had a longboard at home, but it just felt normal in California. It was a different feeling here. We skated through the side streets where there were less people. Skating here was way different than at home, I kept getting distracted every time we passed a different building. This city was gorgeous.

We skated around until it started getting dark. Wes grabbed my hand. "I know I said that you could pick what we did, but do you mind if I took you somewhere?" He raised his eyebrows at me. It was so cute when he did that. Where did he want to take me? Is this even a date? I still can't tell.

"Sure." I said, not letting my inner doubts show through on the outside. We hopped on a bus and got off at a place called the Griffith Observatory. Or that's what the sign said anyway. What were we doing here? Wes bought us passes, and he led me up all the stairs to the observation deck. What I saw was a giant telescope. Okay, that's kind of cool. He nudged me in the shoulder.

"Go on. Look through it." He said. And it was absolutely amazing. Never had I ever seen so many bright, beautiful stars. The beauty overwhelmed me completely. The stars had always been there, but I was never able to see them like this. They were so clear and vivid. It was amazing.

We must have spent 40 minutes just looking up at the sky through that telescope. I heard footsteps come up behind us. I tore my eyes away from the looking glass and saw a security guard standing behind us.

"Sorry guys, but it's time for us to close up." He said smiling at us. Oh my god, does he think we're on a date? Do we look like a couple?

"Alright." Wes said sadly. He took my hand and we headed back down the stairs. We strolled out of the observatory and sat down on the grass. 

"The stars look a little less impressive from down here." I joked. "Up there was the first time I really realized how beautiful they were." I turned to Wes and he locked eyes with me.

"Sometimes you don't know how amazing something is, even though it's been right in front of you the entire time." He said seriously. His stare was so intense; it felt like he could see right through me. Like he could read my mind and all of my thoughts. I bit my lip and looked back at him. Something told me that we were talking about more than just stars. He leaned in and kissed me.

In that moment, I forgot every doubt I've ever had about him. I felt him smiling into the kiss, and I couldn't help but blush. Suddenly he pulled away.

"Avery." He said kind of nervously.

"Yeah Wesley?" 

"Uhm, do you want to like, go out some time?" He asked, biting bottom lip. Did he really just ask me on a date? Why am I actually hesitating to answer this? I grinned.

"Sure! When?" I asked him trying not to sound too eager.

"How bout now?" He flashed a huge smile at me.