Riptide (An Emblem3 Fanfic)

Chapter 50

"Oooh wait! Turn here." I said scrunching up my face. It was so dark out that I couldn't really see. Wes jerked the wheel to the right and we screeched onto the gravel of the new street.

"You're lucky no one's out driving at one AM, that could have been bad." Wes said with equal relief and anxiety in his voice. Thankfully there weren't any other cars on the road. Just the thought of getting into an accident sent chills down my spine.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to remember how to get back. It's kind of hard to tell where the streets are in the dark." With that I sat farther forward in my chair to get a better look so I wouldn't miss the next turn. The method worked because I was starting to make out familiar landmarks along the road. "Okay next left, and then I think it's the second or third house on the right. Rick said he'd leave the porch lights on."

Wes made the turn and slowly pulled up the driveway. I looked up at my dad's house; it looked really beautiful in the glow of the soft porch lighting. Well I guess as of tonight it was my house too. My house. I smiled to myself. There was no way that I was ever going to get used to living here. 

"Casa de Avery." Wes said turning off the ignition and chucking the keys onto the console. He got out and ran around to my side to open the door for me. Which by the way was adorable. Believe it or not, chivalry is the way to my heart. It's gives me butterflies when Wes pulls out my chair for me, and holds open doors... I just find it so attractive. 

"Do you want to come in for a bit?" I asked him as we were almost at the steps. He checked his phone.

"Are you sure Rick would be cool with that?" I gave him this insane look. He chuckled and gave me that cute smile that he always wore. "I mean I want to, but is that okay?" He asked nervously.

"What has you caring about Rick's rules all of a sudden?" I laughed.

"I don't know. I mean, I'm dating his daughter so I just want to make sure that he likes me." Wes said biting his lip. He actually wants to impress my dad. I think a little 'aww' escaped my lips because Wes started laughing and giggle punched me on the shoulder. "All right, all right. No big deal Avery."

"Awww! But it is a big deal! It's actually so cute that you want him to approve of you." I laughed.

"Oh great now I'm cute. I'm not cute, I'm bad ass." He said folding his arms across his chest.

"So does Mr. Badass want to come inside? Or is he just gonna go home because he's afraid of talking to my dad?" I joked. A small smirk crept across his face as if to say challenge accepted.

"I'll just go grab my keys then." He winked at me.

"No it's cool I got em." I replied. I skipped over to his car and scooped up his keys. I made sure to lock his car before returning back to him. The keys jingled together as I walked. I held them up to the little light that was present. You can tell a lot about a person from his car keys. There were a bunch of little plastic cards hanging of the key ring, like the ones my mom has for the supermarket. But instead of A&P, Wes had them for stores like Modell's and Vans. A small silver thing gleamed and caught my eye.

It was hard to make out the writing so I decided to wait until I was back where Wes was standing. When he saw me holding it his face got all red and embarrassed.

"I was going to give it to you before you left, but it didn't come in time." He said sheepishly. This would be a lot easier to understand if I could actually read what it said. I adjusted the trinket so that it caught the light perfectly. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.

I looked down at my hand, which held the small silver keychain with my name on it. My real name.

"Wesley, where did you get this?" I asked my eyes tearing up a little. Never in my seventeen years on this planet have I ever seen anything with my name on it. 

"I made it on one of those customizable websites. After you told me about your name I wanted you to finally own something with you name on it." He grinned. 

"This is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." I told him.

"I'm just glad that I got the chance to give it to you." He said. I turned over his keys in my hand, admiring all the other loops and tags he had hanging off the ring. I smiled as another keychain caught my eye.

"I have a better idea." I said grinning. I unclipped a little football shaped key chain and took out my own set of keys. As we walked closer to the porch I could see that it had Wesley written on it in small letters. I clipped it on to my own keys and showed it to him. "Now you'll go wherever I go." I told him. 

"Well in that case..." Wes started as he held out his arm to me. I took it and we climbed up the stairs. "I guess I'm going inside." He grinned and I used the shiny brass key that my dad gave me to unlock the front door. I stepped inside and could feel the smooth tile underneath my shoes. Wes was right behind me as I led him into the living room. 

This was the start of our story together... the start of something new. This was my second chance.