Forever

XI

Austin parked the car in the place all too familiar to them—the university. It was 07:30 in the evening and probably few to no people were there in the premises. Austin got out of the car as Olivia watched him walk to her side, opening the door. She was surprised when she saw him extending a hand, and Austin just gave her a reassuring smile. He helped her get out of the car and after which, slamming the door shut. Olivia looked around the place still not knowing what to do, or what was going on.

"Shall we?" Austin said, offering his arm. Olivia looked at it quizzically and before she knew it, Austin grabbed her hand and rested it on his arm, guiding her to wherever they were going.

Olivia couldn't speak; she still couldn't even process what was going on. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth she might say something stupid, or she might ruin the moment, or she might blurt out the thing she didn't want to say. They walked and walked until they came at the front of a room they know by heart.

Austin opened the auditorium door, revealing to Olivia what was inside, and when she saw it, her heart stopped (in a good, kind of way, though). She was then again afraid that she might feel something that can ruin everything, so she placed a hand over her chest near her heart and it was still there, beating. And she can still breathe. She remained calm, assuring herself that she was okay.

Austin led her inside, feeling proud of what he and his friend had done. It was not as grand as a prom night, simple yet elegant enough for the girl who is also fitting for that description. Austin can feel the tightening grip of Olivia's hand on his arm, and what he did was place his hand over hers, squeezing it in a comfortable way.

They walked through the red carpet directed to the stage where Olivia can see a fancy table with what seemed to be fancy things on top of it. She also noticed the grand piano placed on the left side and a guitar on its stand just beside it. The wall had old book pages as backdrop, whereas there were also strings hanging from above that each have a photograph or paper piece with scribbled notes attached to it. She let go of Austin's arm to pay close attention to the photos hanging, touching one. She saw a picture of them, one that they'd taken when they were in the first year of college. On the table she noticed that there's a bouquet of yellow roses—her favourite.

Everything looked so personalized that it made her heart swell with emotions. She turned around to find Austin, and she saw him smiling genuinely at her. She walked nearer to him and when they were close enough, Austin noticed that she was welling up.

"Hey, why are you crying?" He asked worriedly. Olivia shook her head shamefully, beaming at him

"Thank you for this," she said, referring to what he had done, her voice evidently cracking up.

Smiling, he reached out for her hand before placing a kiss on the back of it. "Anything for you," he said.

*

They were dancing, despite of Olivia's reluctance not to. Austin taught her patiently and persistently, enduring those several times she had stepped on his foot. He had always been patient to Olivia; it seemed to be effortless on him.

If there were people watching, it may looked like they were not dancing, but just two people seemingly hugging each other and swaying to a slow song. Olivia's hands were rested on the back of his neck, while Austin's hands were either on the side of her waist. Olivia was slowly learning not step on his foot, and eventually they were swaying to the song peacefully.

"You know," she started off. "This is one of the reasons why I don't want to go to prom," she opened up, referring to her dancing. "I utterly suck at this, and I'm sure I'm just going to shame myself in front of so many people."