What To Say?

[Alexander Promise R7]

Alex couldn’t tear his eyes from her now. Not even to look at their hands or at Bach or around the shop. It was like his eyes were glued to her…and technically, you could say that. Looking anywhere else just seemed…wrong. Alex worried that if he took his eyes away from her he would miss some important bit of body language. Alex tried his best to pick up on body language and words when talking to someone. Alex understood the importance body language could hold in even the most casual of conversations. You could tell if someone wanted to talk to you right off the bat if you could read their body language well. Alex was trying to read Mack’s. He paid close attention to every smile, every shrug, and every nod of the head. He watched where she looked and when she looked. He took in her every movement. One never knew how much a simple nod or shake of the head could mean.

She smiled and looked at their hands again, and the little pessimist in his head spoke up. She sat up and looked at him, a pitying smile on her face. She felt nothing for him. It was all just fun and games… No, no, Mack spoke up again and said something different. She wanted to kiss him again. She wanted to kiss him often. Wow…what a nice thought that was. The ability to kiss Mack whenever he felt like it? And to have her kiss him any time too? It was a lovely thought and his mind went on a tangent. Meeting Mack after class, having her wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him; that sweet embrace he fancied thinking of. Wow…yes, that was a nice thought indeed. Kissing Mack was a new addiction. Alex knew he wouldn’t be able to live without kissing Mack. It was like air. It was like holding her hand and talking to her. He loved it. He thrived on it. He needed it.

Alex listened as Mack described her feelings. With every word she said he grew more and more thankful he had just told her how he felt. It was rewarding. Spectacularly rewarding. To have consumed her in the way she’d consumed him felt so good. To know she felt the same. To know she cared. He loved it. She paused and looked down at their hands again. Alex had never felt this way either. He’d had girlfriends before but he’d never once felt this way about any of them. He’d never felt that…weightless after a kiss before. He’d never had the words snatched out of his mouth. He’d never been so excited over a girl. But Mack wasn’t just a girl, she was the girl. She was the perfect romance he’d been writing about for years. She was the girl that could flip his world upside down and make him need someone beyond himself. She could make him feel this way. Only her, only Mack. Alex swore it to himself. Maybe he was jumping the gun. It fact, he definitely was jumping the gun. I mean, to say that Mack would be the only girl who could ever make him feel this was definitely saying a lot. It was saying more then most people would say at least.

She looked up at him again. It wasn’t weird the way they felt, just uncommon. That was good to know. Who wants to be common anyways? Surely not Alex. He was anything but common. It scared him too at first. Being totally wrapped around a girl in under an hour had thrown him for a loop. He was still kind of in a loop, but it was a loop he enjoyed. He liked feeling this way about Mack. She smiled again, only this time; it wasn’t the same smile he had seen before. It was a slight smile. Alex didn’t know why it had changed. She looked at him for a while, and he looked back at her. When she spoke, Alex could not contain a bright smile. She’d said everything he hoped she would say. He opened his mouth immediately. “Wow…” Was all hi managed however. His cheeks were starting to hurt form smiling so big. He still couldn’t look away from her. “You know…you’re perfectly welcome to kiss me anytime.” He laughed lightly. “But I guess that wouldn’t be proper eh?” He thought for a while, his eyes searching her snow, about what to do now. He’d never been in this kind of situation before. He’d never not known what to do. Finally he decided on the best idea. “You know…if we both feel that way…and both would like to kiss more often…we could date.” He grinned. “Would you like that? Would you like to be my girlfriend, Mackenzie?”

[Mackenzie Holden]

Proper. Wow. Mack’s mind was far from thinking about what was ‘proper.’ Because, if she thought about what was proper – they’re whole relationship would be improper. Mack smiled weakly when he said that, choosing not to say anything because she wouldn’t know exactly what to say and if she ended up saying something she would regret later on, she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. So, instead of letting words ruin her, she sat and listened to him. Alex seemed perfectly fine with talking, though, and the next words that came out of his mouth seemed to come out with perfect ease. Or, perhaps Mack imagined that. But they were words she had dreamt of hearing for awhile now so maybe they only seemed like they were easy to say. She looked at him after he had asked her if she wanted to be his girlfriend. Mack had had two boyfriends. Jamie and Jack. Jamie didn’t even really count, either, because that was a school girl crush that just happened to result in an ‘Oh, I like you too! Let’s be boyfriend girlfriend!’ Jack… like previously said… was an expected sort of relationship. They didn’t even say anything to make it official, it just was. In a sense, they had thought that everyone already knew before they did; because it was apparent to everyone who they talked to that they had liked each other. Alex asking her to be his girlfriend was another first. Not because it was him asking her, but because she had never really been asked before. It was nice, but that wasn’t something Mack should be dwelling on at that exact moment.

“I…” The answer was yes, of course, she would; but the words would not come and she had to find out why. Quickly, Mack went through her mind, pinning it down to what she figured might be it. She didn’t want to go on tour in a relationship. Not because of all the ‘rock star’ things, because Mack hardly did any of that, but because she knew how terrible it was to miss someone while on tour… and although she had been missing Alex before, she knew that if they became a couple – it would just be ten times worse and she didn’t know if she wanted to put herself through that torture. She looked at him, her eyes locked on his, a small smile on her face, and yet the words would still not come. What do you tell someone when you want to be with them and yet don’t want to be put through the torture of being away from them? It was a dilemma that Mack had to overcome, and quickly for Alex was waiting and probably nervously, so she took a deep breath and said; “I would. I would really love that. But… I don’t want to say yes and then leave you for the rest of the summer hols. I don’t want to end up disappearing from you until the school year starts again.” She was afraid that if that happened, they would meet up at school and things would be different. Not necessarily from her side, but more so from his. Mack knew she wasn’t going to change her mind any, but he might. Mightn’t he? She didn’t want to think about it.

Mack looked at him and then finally let her eyes wander around the coffee shop. They landed on a clock and she felt her breath leave her before she turned to look at Alex again. Time hadn’t stopped, even though it had felt like it, and now reality was crashing back down on her. She squeezed his hand, sadness in her eyes, before she stood and pulled him up with her; “We should head back to the concert hall, and… and there I will find out what’s going on with my tour. If we’re still making the rounds, which I doubt we’ll be doing, I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do, but…” Mack trailed off, clearly confused. She didn’t know exactly what to do or say. She wanted to be able to just say yes and have that be that, but she knew it couldn’t be. There were two things standing in their way. Her career (or her late career) and her family life. For, she had no home now… or at least, she figured she had no home. Dixie hadn’t been able to get her own flat yet as far as Mack knew, and she wasn’t welcome at the relatives in Yorkshire that her mother were staying with. She took a deep breath, “Let’s just go back and we’ll see what to do from there. I’ll give you my answer there, okay? Just… bear with me for a bit.”

[Alexander Promise R7]

The pace of their conversation had slowed down at last, and Alex’s nerves had caught up with him. He could feel his hands shaking, but he tried not to make it too obvious. He resumed sliding his thumb on Mack’s in hopes this might distract her from it. If it worked, he was lucky. He’d never been so shaky in his life. Alex rarely got nervous. So this was new to him. Shaking however, was not. Anytime there was a serious…feeling…taking place in Alex’s body, he would shake. It wasn’t on purpose. Alex supposed his body just couldn’t handle stress in large amounts and therefore, the tremors would come. He shook if he was too angry, too sad, too hungry, too tired. And now he shook when he was too nervous. On occasion, he even shook when he was too happy…if there was such thing as being too happy? Alex shook quite often. A big one was when he was excited. Over a story, or an idea. He just shook a lot. That said, it should be added that as often as he shook, he rarely shook around or because of another person. Sure, if he got too hungry while he was out with his family, his hands would get shaky, but he had never shaken while hanging out with a friend. And he had never shaken because of something a girl had said…or…not said. Mack was a whole lot of firsts for Alex. It seemed like ages until Mack finally spoke, though she had been looking at him with a smile the whole time. If Alex had still been focused on body language that would have been important. Now though, words were what he needed.

She was making sense. Alex knew that if she got back on that bus, he would be ripped to shreds in general. But if they established a girlfriend boyfriend relationship, and then she got on that bus? He would go home shaking. And probably spend the rest of the summer in his room thinking about her and missing her. Missing Mack was bad before. He could only imagine what it would be like if they were really dating. If he knew that he could kiss her if only she were there. If he knew he could hold her hand and hug her and hear her laugh and see her smile and…and all those things he could do if only she were there. It would put him all inside out. He wouldn’t function. He hoped that Mack would feel the same way if they were apart. And even though she didn’t say it, he had a feeling she would. Her eyes moved, and hard as it was, he let his gaze follow hers. Around the shop, the empty, quiet shop. To the clock. Wow…time had flown. When she squeezed his hand, he looked back at her and saw the difference in the look on her face. She didn’t want to leave these moments just as much as he didn’t. Which was a good thing to know. Alex hated feeling alone. With Mack, he didn’t feel alone. Alex stood as she pulled him up and Bach looked up, bothered by their sudden move. Alex listened to her and finally when she asked him to bear with her, he nodded slightly. His next action took place easily, smoothly. Nothing stopped him, not even his nerves. His hands were still shaking slightly but that really didn’t matter anymore. He moved his free hand, the one not holding hers, up and onto her cheek before he leaned and kisses her again. He kissed her softly and slowly, holding it out as long as he could. He hoped that through the kiss, she knew that he understood her dilemma…well…at least as much as was possible for him to understand. When he finally pulled back from it, he smiled softly and pushed her hair behind her ear. “It’s fine. Let’s go back and see what’s going on alright?” He nodded and then reached to the couch for Bach’s leash, pulling the dog off the couch. “Come on Bach, let’s escort this pretty lady back to her posse.” He laughed lightly and squeezed her hand once more before heading out of the coffee shop with her, and back down the street.

The walk back was nice. Alex continued to pull on her hand if she felt too far away, keeping her body close to his as they walked. It was nice…and yet…there was a lot on Alex’s mind. He didn’t want her to have to go away. He wished she could just…stay. The street was empty by this time of night. Except for the few straggling people like themselves, enjoying the crisp night air and the silence of the deserted town. There weren’t any cars on this side of town, this was the…well you could say downtown but it had a different feel to that. You walked on this side of town, or rode bikes. The streets weren’t paved with asphalt, they were cobble stoned. It was a quaint section of town. And definitely Alex’s favorite. He frequently looked over at Mack, trying to think of something to say, but unable to for the longest time. He was trying to think of what to do. If she did have to go…what would he do? Just…what on earth would he do with himself? It was hard to know. Being away from Mack, especially now. Not having her touch or her kiss or her voice would tear him up. He really didn’t want that. Finally he spoke up. “Maybe…if you have to go…I could call you. I mean…you’ve got a cell phone? We could talk, any time you weren’t busy with tour stuff you could call me.” He nodded and looked over at her. That would at least help to lessen the torture he knew being away from her would cause. At least to hear her voice, that would be nice. Finally, after a walk that seemed much shorter then the last one they had taken, they reached the place where they had started. Alex stopped walking, for he didn’t know the way she wanted to go now. He didn’t really know where she had come from. In the last few seconds before she would take the lead and they would both get their answer, Alex prayed that he would not go home with that lonely feeling again.

[Mackenzie Holden]

Mack was feeling utterly terrible about having to tell Alex that she would have to wait to give him an answer, and she knew her facial expressions were most definitely showing that. As they stood, she was about to say something along the lines of an apology, but Alex stopped her by kissing her. She covered his hand with hers and kissed him back. There was a chill sent down her spine and Mack had to control herself from shivering. The softness of the kiss was just electric and the length wasn’t nearly long enough. When he broke the kiss, Mack knew that right then she wouldn’t be able to go the rest of her summer without him. The looming doom of her having to return on tour without seeing him until school started was even heavier than before. She opened her eyes and looked at him, trying to contain the sadness that was in them by using a smile to hide it, nodding when he said it was fine. Except, she knew it wasn’t. They left the coffee shop and Mack remained close to Alex’s side, as close as it was possible. She hated feeling too far away from him now; now that they had both established their feelings for the other. So, Mack was quite grateful when Alex would pull her back over to him if she started to drift away – which she tried as hard as she could to prevent. She kept her eyes ahead for the most part, but every now and then she would feel his eyes on her and she’d look over at him and offer a small smile and a squeeze of the hand. She wanted to let him know she didn’t want to leave if she had to.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, Alex said that if she did have to leave that they could talk on the phone. Mack smiled slightly at him, knowing that if she had to go she would call him whenever she got the chance but it wouldn’t be nearly the same; “I think that’s a good idea. It wouldn’t be the same as this, though, you know? Better than nothing, though.” Mack shrugged slightly as they reached the concert hall and paused in front of it. She looked up at the building before taking a deep breath and heading around the back alley, holding onto Alex’s hand tight. She had been expecting to see the big tour bus parked in the back parking lot, but when she saw it was empty – she paused in her tracks. “What?” Her eyes searched the parking lot as she looked for the tour bus, but she knew she wouldn’t find it. With a questioning look at Alex, she led the way inside the concert hall through the door she had exited earlier and headed toward the dressing room where she had last seen everyone. When she opened the door she raised her eyebrows. All her stuff was there. Her guitar, her suitcase full of clothes, everything, plus a note. Mack let go of Alex’s hand and reached for the note that was taped to her journal, reading aloud; “We decided we didn’t think we should wait around for you. All of your stuff is here. If you think anything is missing, contact Nelson whenever. We’re sorry things didn’t work out. Good luck with wherever you’re heading. There’s some money in your journal, about 50 pounds.” Mack sighed, “Nice."

She opened the front cover of her journal and took out the 50 pounds, pocketing it before turning around and looking at Alex; “Well, it would appear I am not going back on tour,” she told him with a smile. It was a happy feeling to know she wouldn’t be going back on tour, because it meant she could visit him whenever she felt like it. Except… Mack’s smile faded, “I don’t have a place to stay. Dixie isn’t back yet and Mum’s family doesn’t like me and there’s no way I could stay with my father or Hank and Trevor.” Mack sank into the nearest chair and put her chin in her hands, looking up at Alex with a defeated look in her eyes. She honestly didn’t know what to do. Half of her wanted to ask him if she could stay with him, but she knew that would be imposing and she wouldn’t want to make him feel like he was obligated to offer her a place to stay. After all, it was only seconds ago that they had established there were feelings there… why push it with a request like that? Mack smiled weakly at him before closing her eyes, “What am I going to do?”

[Alexander Promise R7]

Alex squeezed Mack’s hand reassuringly as she led him around the building to the back. It was like…walking into impending doom and the only thing that was keeping him from falling into a crevice of despair was holding her hand. He wanted her to know though that even if she had to go he’d still be there. He didn’t want her to feel like if she left he’d hate her and they’d be through. Not at all. If she had to go every day would make him care for her fifty times as much. Sometimes, being away from the one you care about can make you care about them more. You would think it would be opposite. You would think that being away from someone for so long would eventually break down your care for each other, but Alex had a strong feeling, in fact, he knew that being away from Mack would make him care about her more. Every time she squeezed his hand he knew that she felt the same way. Or at least, he liked to believe she did. But what did that hurt? He hoped she wouldn’t have to go and he was positive she didn’t want to go either. Alex looked around the parking lot. No bus. That was strange…wasn’t it? Unless maybe Mack was taking a magical bus? He knew that they existed, but the look on Mack’s face told him that there should have been a large, ordinary, muggle bus parked near them. She pulled him into the building and into a room he supposed was her dressing room. Inside he was completely bewildered. There were no people around, but it seemed like all her things were in the room. Mack let go of his hand and read a note she pulled off of a journal while Alex looked around the room.

They had left her. All her stuff, and her, here, in Scotland. Just picked up and left her with some money. He shook his head and then scratched it. He had a habit of scratching his head when he was at a loss. He looked up at her and smiled back when she said she wasn’t leaving until her smile faded however. He couldn’t bear to see her not smiling. He frowned and looked around the room again, not having a clue what to say. When he looked back at her again, she was sitting on a chair with her chin in her hands. She smiled at him, though it wasn’t the bright smile that filled him with warmth. She closed her eyes and Alex did so too. What was she to do? It was a sticky situation, she had nowhere to go, no one to take her in. She probably had enough money to get a hotel room somewhere, but how comfortable she would be was a different story. Finally Alex opened his eyes and looked at her. “You’re going to stay with me that’s what you’re going to do.” He smiled warmly at her and looked around at her stuff. “There’s plenty of room back home, at least five open guest rooms.” He laughed lightly and looked back at her again. “I wont take no for an answer, you’ve really got very few options, plus…” He smirked. “…my sister would kill to meet the girl that I’ve been so caught up in all summer.”

Without taking his eyes off her he took a breath and spoke again. “Micah? Could you come here please?” With a loud crack a tiny house elf popped out of the air next to him. Alex did all he could not to jump, but he failed miserably. That loud pop startled him every time. He hated it, and rarely called the elf just for that reason. He smiled and took another deep breath before looking down at the elf. He was short, like most house elves, around three foot tall and frail looking limbs, though, that was rather deceiving. If needed Micah could probably transport Alex up three flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. The elf smiled brightly and Alex offered a light smile back. He was dressed in a clean maroon pillow case, which – much to Alex’s displeasure – mixed with the elf’s green skin pigment to make him look like a miniature Christmas tree. Micah was require to keep his pillow case clean, if there was one thing Mrs. Promise could not stand it was a dirty looking house elf. Micah’s heritage was one devoted to Mrs. Promise’s blood line. When her father had died Micah had moved to live with her new family and now served the Promise blood line. House elf loyalty was a far too complicated process of laws. All Alex knew was that Micah lived with them now, and was always happy to help. That was good. “You called Master Alexander?” The house elf squeaked, craning his head up to see Alex, whom nodded and then pointed to the stuff lining the room. “Could you take all of Miss Holden’s things back to the house? To the guest bedroom…across from Mistress Chrys’ room if you would? It would be greatly appreciated.” Alex nodded and then looked at Bach, who was standing content next to him. “But first take Bach back would you?” The house elf nodded and mumbled its greatest pleasure before walking over to the dog – who was almost larger then the elf – wrapping his arms around Bach’s midsection and then disappearing with another loud crack. Alex looked up helplessly at Mack. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got a family friend in town who’s got a fireplace we could use. I don’t much like disaperating.” He smiled and waited, hoping he hadn’t pushed his limits with her, and hoping even more so she’d accept his hospitality. He held out his hand for her.

[Mackenzie Holden]

She tried to calm her mind. It was spinning in circles. Questions filtering through her head and expecting answers and yet the only thing Mack could come up with was I have no place to stay… She ran her fingers through her hair and looked at her shoes as her mind continued to run a race. It wasn’t until Alex spoke that her mind paused. She looked up at him, her eyes looking into his as he spoke. Stay with him? But… she didn’t want to impose. Would she be imposing? Mack continued to look at him when he said that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. She hadn’t planned on saying no. She managed a small smile at him saying his sister would kill to meet her. All she could really do was stare at him with disbelief in her eyes. She really had nothing to say, and before she could get any words out of her mouth, Alex was calling someone. Mack flinched when there was a pop and a house elf appeared, managing a brighter smile at Alex because he had jumped. The pop had caught her off guard, but she was accustomed to it. The house elves at the Laurie manor were constantly popping in and out. They preferred that to walking. The Laurie house elves were very lazy and Mack had blamed Hank for that. She watched as Alex requested the house elf to take all of her things and as an instinctive movement, she reached to her right and took her guitar, placing it in her lap. That guitar would never go with anyone else unless they were in her sight. Besides, she wasn’t so sure how she felt about the house elf taking her guitar to Alex’s house without them following right after. So, the guitar would stay with her.

Mack smiled at him and took his hand, standing from the chair and then slipping her guitar on before swinging it around so it rested against her back, “Sounds great,” she told him. They stood there for a moment and then it occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, she should thank him. Wow. What a concept. Thanking someone for hospitality. Mack stepped closer to him and kissed his cheek, managing a small whisper, “Thank you, for this. I didn’t…” she stepped back and cleared her throat to get her voice out of its whisper, “I didn’t expect you to, you know. I could have probably stayed at the Leaky Cauldron until school started. But, in all honesty, I’d much rather stay with you.” Mack moved her hand and linked their fingers with a fluid motion. It was a natural movement and now she felt no questioning thoughts go through her mind about whether or not Alex liked her. Because it had all been put out onto the table before. They had established they liked each other and now that Mack didn’t have to go (better yet, now that she was staying with him), there was nothing stopping them being together. Mack looked at him, she just looked at him. Taking in everything about him. Finally, after a moment of just staring at him, Mack smiled brightly; “You know what this means?” She bit her lip happily, knowing he knew what it meant. She had never felt so happy to be able to be with someone in her life. She had never felt so happy, period. “This means you have the chance to get annoyed by me and can’t kick me out,” Mack laughed lightly and looked down at their hands, woven together.

Of course, if she did end up annoying him (which was completely possible) Mack knew that if he wanted to… he could throw her out, but would he? Was it something that he would have the willpower to do? Annoyance is strong, but it isn’t that strong. And if he liked her… then wouldn’t he be willing to put up with the annoying things that she did? Mack stopped all questions. She just wanted to enjoy this. She always thought about things that could happen and that resulted in her not focusing on the things that were happening. It was a sort of defense mechanism, in a sense, because it prepared her for the worst… and in Mack’s history – the worst was bound to happen. So, she knew eventually she’d start to worry that Alex would change his mind about her and although she knew it was selfish, she didn’t want that to happen. She had waited for too long for this… in general, not just from him… but she had waited for so long for this feeling… and now that she had it? She didn’t want to let it go. Good song idea… Mack thought to herself before shaking her head slightly to get her thoughts to quiet down. She looked at Alex and smiled again, “So, I think… I think we’re ready to go.”

[Alexander Promise R7]

Alex smiled brightly as Mack swung her guitar around her and took his hand. He didn’t ask why she wanted to keep the guitar with her, it didn’t really matter did it? Alex could understand. Sometimes there were just things that you didn’t want to let out of your sight. Alex wouldn’t let anyone take his notebook anywhere, or any of his reading books. They stayed right where he knew exactly where to find him. Then there was the pen that he always kept in his pocket. And of course, there was no way he was going to let that house elf run off with Mack. He smiled to himself at the thought. Micah trying to take Mack from him. That was silly. He snapped back from that very strange…strange thought when Mack kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes for a moment as she whispered, the sound sending a chill down his spine. A good chill. The kind of chill he got the first time she had done it. Mack’s voice was…amazing. Alex loved it. And her whispers were the only ones that affected him that way. He looked over at her as she stepped back and spoke, thanking him. He had that same urge to kiss her again, but he felt like for now he’d let her say what she was thinking. When she finished and linked their fingers he grinned. “No need to thank me, love.” The words just slipped out of his mouth like they were meant to be said. He didn’t question it.

Alex looked back at her as she stared at him. It was nice, to be looked at by her. It filled his whole body with warmth, despite the cool air that seemed to flow everywhere tonight. That reminded him she still had on his jacket, he grinned, thinking that just a few hours ago he had wondered if she would keep it. Just a few hours ago he had wondered if she had liked him too. Just a few hours ago...everything was different. He grinned at her until she asked if he knew what her not having to leave meant. Yes he did, it meant she could be his girlfriend. It meant he could say she was his. He resisted the urge to kiss her as she bit her lip, she is so adorable. When she spoke again he shook his head and squeezed her hand. “Mackenzie, I’m going to annoy you before you annoy me. And if that happens, you’ll be begging to leave and I won’t let you go.” He smiled softly and leaned to kiss her cheek. The thought of losing Mack, of scaring her or running her off was just…unbearable. He hoped that she would still care about him after she spent the rest of the summer with him. No, no he wouldn’t think about the what if’s. He wouldn’t think about the what if she left. No, not now. Now he would think about the good things. The positives. She was his. She was his girlfriend and she would be staying with him all summer. That was amazing.

He was still looking at her when she looked at him again and asked if they were ready to go. He nodded happily and led the way out of the room and back out onto the street they had come from. When they were outside, he let go of her hand. The risk of her moving too far from him was one he wasn’t willing to take, and so he slipped his hand around her waist and held her close to him as they walked, straight this time, instead of making a right. He was thoroughly enjoying having her so close. Alex’s last girlfriend had been in his fourth year. And that was for about a week. He hadn’t bothered with girls all through his fifth year, not with exams and tougher homework. Not to mention his writing had gotten a hold on him. He just hadn’t had time to mess with girls. Not wasting his time flirting just for a two week fling. No, it just hadn’t been worth it. He hadn’t met a single girl that had changed his mind, not until Mack. Mack changed everything. Mack filled him. She consumed him. She infiltrated his mind and his writing, and that was something that never happened. Everything Alex wrote about he made up, but not the things he had written about Mack. Not the things he had written this summer. She was in his every thought. She was in his dreams. Alex hadn’t dreamt in years, and now he did. As he walked down the street with her he smiled softly. The city wasn’t his favorite place on a regular basis. To…cold. The lights and then sounds just weren’t any good. Alex preferred his ocean back home. The slow steady rhythm of the waves hitting the cliffs. The wavering surface of shimmering water. That was where his inspiration lay, in the ocean and in Mack. More so with Mack now. Anyways, as I was getting at, Alex never liked the city. But he had a feeling that this street would always cause him to feel different now. Now that he had walked it with Mack.

The sun was long gone and the street would have been dark if it weren’t for the many old fashioned lamp posts lining the cobblestone path. Most of the lights of the buildings on either side of the road were out, except for a few of the top floors that must have doubled as apartments. In all honest, it was quite romantic. He looked around, the street was completely empty and he couldn’t even see the road they had begun on. To be alone on this road would have been no less then frightening, but now, Alex felt completely content. The house they would be using for transportation was about a block away, but Alex was growing more and more anxious. Not about getting there, but about stopping. Finally he did. He stopped and just smiled over at Mack for a while before moving a hand to her cheek and pulling her into another kiss. He could kiss her now, he could kiss her and not feel like he was wrong for doing it. He hoped she enjoyed their kisses as much as he did. They slowed his breathing, they slowed his heart, and therefore, they slowed time. They put the world on pause. They filled him with a happiness he couldn’t put into words, and that was odd. Alex could put anything in words. Words were what he did best. But not this, not this happiness. It was just…beyond bliss. He held out the kiss for a while and then looked at her, smiling softly before moving to wrap both his arms around her waist and pull her into a tight embrace, whispering. “Just…just…one more…” He smiled and then kissed her again, holding it out even longer this time. Despite what he said, he couldn’t stop himself, and so he connected kiss, after soft kiss, after slow kiss to that first one. He would stay there with her forever if he could. In that sweet embrace.