Book 1: Beyond Me and You

Surprise PT. 2 - Thanksgiving

The next few months were a blur. Nothing out of the ordinary really happened. After watching the movie with Caleb I stayed up all night writing the movie review. We ended up getting an A+ and Caleb promise to keep my secret. He has surprisingly kept to his promise as long as I continue on doing his work and maintain his A in that class. Dean and I are still together and have been doing well. We spend as much time together as possible and he has helped take away part of my pain. Dean means so much to me and it is still surreal that he cares about me the way I care about him. 

I haven't told Dean about the deal I made with Caleb because I didn't want him to have to worry about it. I wanted to keep our relationship a secret from the start which is the reason we're in the mess we're in right now. To think that if I wouldn't have forced Dean to keep it a secret for as long as we did, maybe..just maybe, our parents might not have gotten together. But the thought of my dad not meeting Kayla made me heart hurt. The thought of never seeing him smile the way he has the past month hurt too much to imagine it as a reality. 

I love my dad more than anything in this world, he is the only family I have left. 

"Lark. You seriously need to stop daydreaming" Vivi says as she throws my napkin at me. 

"Are you okay?" Dean asks as he rests his hand on my thighs. 

"Dean?" I ask as I gather up the courage to speak my mind. 

"Yes?" he says as he looks right at me. Our eyes meet and for a moment I hesitate but I know that I can't keep it anymore. 

"Should we really continue with us even though our parents are together?" I ask as I break the eye contact. The thought of how complicated things are worries me but the thought of losing Dean scares me even more.

"Lark. I-" he begins to say but stops himself. "We don't know what's going to happen next but right now there is nothing wrong with us being together. So let's just focus on ourselves and worry about that when the time comes" he says as he giving my thigh a reassuring squeeze. 

I smile back at him realizing that he's right.

Before I know it, it's time for Thanksgiving and my dad invited Kayla and Dean over. After a long and thought over conversation, Dean and I have decided to tell our parents about us. We decided that it would be best to let them know. 

"Lark hurry with the mash potatoes will you?" dad says as he takes the turkey out of the oven. I'm gonna be honest, I'm really nervous about later but it's something that needs to be done. 

I take the mash potatoes from the kitchen and set them down on the dining table just in time. As soon as they're placed on the table the doorbell rings meaning Kayla and Dean are here. Dad quickly goes to the front door and opens it for them. 

"Kayla! Dean! Thank you so much for coming" he says as they walk through the door. 

"Thank you for inviting us John" Kayla says as her and dad greet each other. 

When I saw him I felt like time froze. His light brown hair was perfectly disheveled and his hazel eyes are warm. We stare at each other forgetting about where we are. It's just me and him. 

The sound of Kayla and dad walking into he kitchen quickly wakes us up from our daze and we find ourselves seated across from each other. We all get settled down and begin to eat. 

We're taken by surprise when my dad suddenly stands up from his chair. He clears his throat, grabbing for our attention.

"I'm thankful for every single one of you here today" he says as he fidgets with his glass. "I'm happy we're all together because there is something Kayla and I have been meaning to tell you two" he says as he looks at me and Dean. 

Dean and I quickly share a look of confusion before Kayla stands up as well. 

"We're engaged!" she yells out in excitement, unable to contain it any longer. 

Once again I am left in shock. They're engaged. As in they're planning on getting married. My face goes completely pale and I feel no emotions at all. My vision goes blurry and I feel a lump in throat. My heart has just taken a sharp hit causing it to shatter. My flight or fight instinct kicks in and I find my feet taking me upstairs to my room. 

I can hear them shout my name behind me but I continue to lock the door to my room. I run into my bathroom and barely make it to the toilet before I throw up up everything I had eaten. It felt like hours of constant vomiting until there was nothing left in my stomach. 

I sit on the bathroom floor crying until there are are no tears left to cry and I'm just hiccuping. The pain in my chest is indescribable and the thoughts going through my head are too fast to comprehend. 

"Larkin?" I hear my father call from outside my room door. "Please" he begs but I remain silent. 

After what seems like another hour I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. 

"Lark?" I hear someone call from the other side of my room door. It's Dean. His voice is unmistakable. "Please open the door"

I fall asleep on that same cold floor. 

The next morning I wake up with a painful headache but I soon remember the events of last night. After hours of crying I know what I must do. 

I have to.