Why Wait?

45

I felt my heart skip a beat as everyone around me let out excited gasps.

"That wasn't what he was supposed to say," Chance growled beside me.

Luke and Ty are both glaring at the spot where Alex had been before he fell. That wasn't what he was supposed to say? I mean, it's a lame thing to say on our 'one year', but I thought it was sweet. And apparently, so did everyone else.

People quitted down, waiting to see if Alex will resurface. He did, a few seconds later. He came up from the water, sputtering and coughing but he's okay.

The fireworks went off behind him. He looked around, smiling faintly. Our eyes meet. He gestures for me to find him at the dock.

I get there right as he was getting off the boat. He grins at me. "How was that for our one year?"

I chuckle, playfully pushing him. "It was hilarious, you goof."

"I meant it," he tells me, looking me in the eyes.

I freeze. "What?"

He wraps his arms around my waist. "I wasn't saying it because I wanted it to look real. I said because I want it to be real. Kelli, will you be my girlfriend?"

Three things happened then.

One, Austin and the guys showed up and they were mad.

Two, I gave a slight nod of the head, wanting this moment to last.

And three, Chance pushed Alex back in the water.

Paparazzi show up, immediately shoving cameras and microphones at his face, asking him what caused him to push his own brother off the dock, or why his brother's confession make him so mad. It was obvious he hadn't thought he was being filmed.

"Back off," Luke snaps at Alex when he charges at Chance.

Ty holds Chance while Luke holds Alex. They glare at each other for a long while before Alex yanks himself free from his brother's grip before walking up to Chance, his fists clenched tightly together. I go to stop him but Austin holds me back. "Not a chance," he whispers in my ear.

I frown at him. "Why not? They're about to fight."

He pulls me closer to him. "Trust me, Kelli. You do not want to get involved."

So, I am forced to watch as Chance gets punched in the face, with such force that he actually loses his balance and ends up falling.

"Okay," Austin says. "Let's go."

Austin drags me away from the crowd. After the incident with the girl who got ran over, you'd think we would all try to lay low.

But Chance had to ruin that.

     ~~~ tour bus ~~~

It wasn't until two in the morning that Alex finally called. He was really upset. "This isn't how I wanted my day to go," he grumbled.

"That's okay," I assure him. "Did you fix things with your brother?"

He sighs. "He's mad at me."

"Why?" I ask him, looking through my laptop for Austin's schedule for next year's tour.

"He thinks I'm going to hurt you."

This caught me guard. I stop what I'm doing. "Why would he think your going to hurt me?"

"No reason," he assures me. "I guess he thinks about you and Cody a lot. We've all taken a like to you and want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine," I say defensively. "You don't need to check up on me all the time. I---"

"Kelli," he says, cutting me off softly. "That isn't what I meant. We just like to watch over you. I hated seeing you cry after that jerk broke your heart, and so did my brothers. We just don't want to see you get hurt again. And that is why Chance is mad at me."

I relax a little and go back to my work. "Oh. Okay. I guess I understand. What are you doing now?"

He lets out a groan. "I'm supposed to be writing a song that should be done by this Friday but that isn't happening so I am just laying in bed listening to your melodic voice."

I sit up. "Use that."

"What?"

"I'm just laying in bed listening to your melodic voice. That's what you just said. Just add that to your song. I'm sure you can make it work."

He's silent for a while. I thought he fell asleep when he hums in agreement. "Huh. That's actually really good. Thanks, Kelli."

"No problem," I tell him, holding out a bunch of papers.

"Why aren't you a singer?" he asks me. "You're amazing."

I smile faintly. "I am perfectly fine  with just modeling. I sing duets with Austin sometimes when he can't find someone to sing the songs with him. And he's already uncomfortable with me modeling. I don't want to give him a heart attack."

"Kelli," he says softly. "Do you ever do anything for yourself?"

"Of course," I answer quickly. "And I have everything I want at the moment. Maybe someday, I will get comfortable with singing in public or comfortable enough to record myself singing but right now isn't that day."

He drops the subject and I am thankful. He talks about his song for a while, then about how he and his brothers became a band - they started liking music after their father died of leukemia - and he told me about how he had a twenty - seven year old sister who had been in a bad car wreck three years ago and, though she lived, is not able to walk. she has three kids and a husband.

I tell him about my story, how we found out I was bipolar when I was little, then later proceeded to find that I could be suicidal, and then about how Austin became very protective when he found out I was dating Cody.

"Hey, Alex," I say after a while.

"Hmm?" he asks me.

"It's four in the morning. Don't you have an interview at six? Then choreography?"

He sighs. "Yeah. But I like hearing your voice."

I chuckle. "Jason is going to be mad at me if you aren't able to do what he asks in three hours. At least fall asleep for me."

He whines. "I wish I could stay up with you."

"Maybe next time," I promise. "But right now, I need to get back to work and you need to sleep."

I hear him yawn. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

I hang up and can't help but smile to myself.

Hey, guys!!! Sorry I took forever! I have abstoodly no excuses.

Three chapters left!!!

Thank you guys for reading! Have a great week!