Delicate

Our Town (Niall Horan)

Juliet's POV

"Fuck men!" Brooke exclaimed, exasperated. We were in my car, driving on the highway home from the lunch with some of our old high school friends. Some of them I haven't seen in a few years, but it was also good to see Jaden and Odette again even though I saw them every weekend. Brooke was in the passenger seat, staring down at the screen of her phone.

"What'd he say?" I asked, my eyes still focused on the road.

Brooke sighed, leaning back into the seat. "Harry can't come. Something at work came up."

Even though I had never formally met the guy, in general, I hated when people flaked last minute. Flakey people were just a huge pet peeve of mine. Plus, I saw the effect that this had on Brooke, and I hated people who made her upset even more than people who flaked. "Fuck men!"

She laughed, turning to face me. Within a few seconds, her face turned sour again. "I'm just so pissed. Harry was supposed to come, and shut Mom up once and for all about marriage. But he's such a douche, oh my gosh. Such a fucking, boring douche."

"Why don't you just break up with him?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's just comfortable with him. And it's not like I can just find anybody else."

I raised my eyebrow at her comment. "Oh, you can find somebody. Did you see the way Adam was looking at you at lunch today?"

She blushed, trying to hide her cheeks by looking out the window.

Adam had been Brooke's high school boyfriend. They had been together for almost two years, but they split up when they graduated, attending colleges that were on opposite sides of the country. Brooke had been accepted by Northwestern University's 7 Year Med Program, so going there was an obvious choice. Adam wasn't as well off as our family was, so he went to the school that offered him the most money in scholarships, so he had gone to the University of Richmond. They hadn't really seen each other since high school, as far as I knew, but together, at lunch today, they definitely still had that spark. Adam still looked at Brooke the way that he looked at her in high school. He was a really nice human being; I liked him a lot. And as Brooke was staring out of the window, I could tell that she was entertaining the idea of getting back together with him.

"Let's go out. I want to show you around town," I whispered in Kelly's ear, hugging her from behind and wrapping my arms around her waist. We were all around lounging around the great room and there were still several hours until dinner. I had been there supporting Brooke as she told everyone that Harry wasn't coming after all, so now, my sisterly duties were completed.

She giggled, slightly embarrassed over the fact that I was showing her physical affection in front of my family. But I didn't care. I kissed her on the neck, making it evident that I wouldn't stop until she said yes. She nodded, and I let go.

"Okay, Kelly and I are going downtown," I announced to the room, as I grabbed her hand, ready to leave. "We'll be missing dinner."

My family all said their goodbyes, and we were off.

"Don't kiss me in front of your parents," she said, still slightly embarrassed, as we were in the car speeding to the downtown area.

"Sorry, babe, I honestly can't help it. You're just so beautiful." She blushed even more at that comment. She didn't say anything more for the rest of the car ride, but she placed her hand on my thigh, a good indication that she wasn't that mad.

After I made several bad parallel parking attempts, we finally parked and walked around the downtown area for a few hours, stopping to look around in several cute little boutiques. Although I originally planned on sticking to just window shopping, by the time we reached the end of street, we were both toting a handful of shopping bags.

"I love this little downtown area," Kelly said happily, holding my hand. "It's so cute."

Downtown was incredibly beautiful this time of year. There were cute little shops with classic awnings and large windows. The trees were adorned with Christmas lights that were beginning to turn on as the sky was growing darker. There was still some snow covering the grass, the branches of the trees, and the rooftops of the buildings, adding to the magical, Christmas charm.

"Not as cute as you," I smiled at her. Kelly was always cute, but she looked especially cute in the winter, wearing a cute little beanie over her hair, a plaid scarf wrapped around her neck, and a fashionable, dark green army jacket. She blushed at the comment. Or at least I thought that she did. Her cheeks might have just been rosy because of the cold weather.

"Where do you want to eat dinner?"

"There's this really cute little Italian place up a little further," I answered. "They serve water in Mason Jars, and there are fairy lights on the ceiling. It's probably the most romantic spot in town."

"How many girls have you taken there?" She asked me, jokingly.

"Oh, hundreds," I replied, playing along. Even though I was kidding about the hundreds, I definitely had taken many, many girls to that restaurant throughout high school though and then whenever I was back home visiting my parents. "Just for the sex, though. It's in the dating rule book. Romantic, Italian dinners always lead to sex."

"Well, not tonight," Kelly teased, leaning in closer to me.

"Wow, this will be the first night that I bring a girl here and don't get laid," I smirked, enjoying the back and forth that we had going on. "You must be a very special girl indeed."

"Oh, I feel very special."

The dinner was super romantic. I even ordered a bottle of fancy wine for us to share. I could see that Kelly was very impressed when I asked for the wine by the exact name and year; it was my boss' favorite at work. The dinner reminded me of the dates we had when we were first getting together. We didn't talk nearly as much as we did back then, but we didn't really need to. We were comfortable in each other's silence; the mere company was enough.

"That dinner was really nice. I guess, we can have sex tonight." Kelly relented as we were back in the car, driving home.

I shook my head. "That's okay. Tonight wasn't about sex."

Kelly looked up at me, slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

"It wasn't about sex. It was about us."

"You're so fruity," she rolled her eyes at me, but I could tell that my response had pleased her. Cheesy, little lines like that always worked with her, I found out. However, I did mean what I said. I didn't want our relationship to be a purely physical thing; I just wanted to be with her.

I didn't reply. The hum of the engine continued as a mellow Ed Sheeran song played over the radio, adding to create a peaceful, romantic atmosphere.

"But we can still cuddle, right?" She asked, breaking the silence, her voice sounding slightly vulnerable.

I laughed at how cute she was. "Of course, babe. Whatever you want."