Why Wait?

- Thirteen Months Later -

"Are you sure we have time to get there?" I ask Alex. "

He nods, pulling on his shirt. "They're already in the car. We have about an hour."

I grab my towel and head into the bathroom. "I better start getting ready."

He smirks. "Do you want me to join you?" I asks, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

I lightly punch his arm. "Gross. No."

He fakes a wounded look. "Oh, come on. It can't be too bad."

Ignoring him, I go into the bathroom. Don't get me wrong, I would love for us to be together in that way, but I also want to wait. It sounds silly, and probably hard to believe, but I want my first time to be special. And he jokes about it sometimes but he knows how I feel and respects my wishes, hoping he'll be the one I marry one I marry some day.

We've been together for a year and two months. The world still thinks this is second year of being together. MarieAnne and mom decided to keep it that way since we've become so close.

When I got out of the shower, Alex was watching television. He didn't notice me and I went to do my hair. I was halfway done curling my hair, I felt arms wrap around my waist. "Have I ever told you you're the most beautiful person in the world?" he whispers softly.

I nod, leaning against his chest. "Every day."

"You deserve to know," he says, peppering kisses on my neck.

I sigh. "You aren't going to let me do my hair, are you?"

He shakes his head, smiling triumphantly while leading me to the couch. "And call your brother to tell him we'll be a little late."

About half an hour later, we pulled into the restaurant's parking lot and ran inside. The waitress takes us to where everyone else is and I immediately hear them.

"It's about time you got here."

"We already called the search party."

"We thought you had gotten abducted."

"You were supposed to be here forty-five minutes ago."

I let out a sigh. "I know, I know. We're late. We lost track of time."

Luke snorts. "Yeah, right. Lost track of time my butt. What were you doing?"

I blush and Alex sends him a glare.

They start laughing.

Austin outs an arm over my shoulder. "Well, whatever it was, I'm glad you made it."

I say hi to Sidney and she smiles. "How your modeling?" she asks me.

I shrug. "They are sending me to Spain in a few weeks for another shoot. I'm super nervous. If this looks good, they'll send me to Paris so I can actually start modeling. It won't be the end of the world if I don't make it. There's other agencies I've been looking at. But this one is really important."

She grins. "I'm sure you'll make it. You're really good."

The rest of the night was spent laughing and talking to our friends while enjoying our food. I mostly fingered my salad, not really wanting to eat it. I'm on a diet the modeling agency gave me. It's something they do every year. It isn't anything too bad, I can still eat other stuff. But I have to have a salad every time I eat. No meat, no dairy. And the salad can't have dressing on it.

It's disgusting.

Alex notices me looking down at my food and leans in. "You don't have to eat that," he whispers.