The drive wasn’t even that long, but on the way back, I didn’t feel like I was in a hurry, so we were going slower that before. I’d been right, too. Now and then, everything would hit me again, and my eyes would blur with tears. I’d remove a hand from the wheel to wipe my eyes, and go on driving.“Why don’t we stop somewhere on the way?” Adele was the one to make the suggestion.I glanced over at her. “You think it’s a good idea?” I asked, not feeling against it.“I think so. You need some time to calm down, at least, and you can't do that while you’re driving. An hour won’t put us out too much, right? We’ll get back on the road before it gets too dark. We passed a small hotel on the way; we could see if they do hourly rates…”There was no argument from me, and when the hotel came into view, I got off the road. We were lucky; they did do hourly rates. We didn’t pay any less if we stayed under the hour, but if we were over by a minute, there were extra fees. I didn’t even care, paying
It was growing dark by the time we started on the way back, but neither of us cared. And I felt much better, so I picked up the speed a bit. It wasn’t too late by the time we got back, and I decided to take us back to my house, so I could leave the car and walk Adele home, or take her on the bike if she wanted to be quicker.I parked the car in the drive where I got it, and as I stepped out of the car, I held my hand out to Adele so she could join me.“Mom could be waiting for me at home,” she pointed out.I shrugged. “You won’t be staying long, just for a little bit. You could come in for some water, at least. I’ll take you home myself in a bit.”Without further argument, she took my hand, and I led her to the door. I reached for the handle to open the door. It was unlocked, so I assumed Dad was still at home, and not out somewhere, trying to talk Laurie to get back together with him. He’d have locked the door if he left; I knew where the spare house key was.When I opened the door,
The car came to a stop, and I took a look out the window.“Are you sure it’s fine to be out here?” I asked, glancing over at Liam.He shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, we’ve been out here in the dark before. And it’s a relatively safe town, no wild animals running around, so it should still be fine, right?”I bit down on my lip, watching anxiously as he stepped out of the car. A second later, I sighed and stepped out as well. He was right; we’d been out here in the dark before. How could I not remember that night? I’d been at home, and out of nowhere, Liam had been outside my window, throwing pebbles. I snuck out, and we spent the night out.“Help me out with this,” Liam called out.He had the trunk open, and he was pulling some stuff out. He held a blanket out to me, moving closer so he could keep whatever else he still had in the trunk a secret. Tonight was a lot like that night. I’d been home, and he’d come to pick me up. Only, this time, he knocked on the door. Mom was out, she and
“This is the oddest place to do this, right?” Liam said, grinning at me.I giggled. “It is, but it’s also pretty awesome of you, so thanks. If I haven’t said it yet, I’m enjoying tonight.”“You’ve said it now, and I’m glad you like it.”We were pretty much-done eating. Besides the sandwiches, there had been cookie ice cream and a piece of cake that we’d shared for dessert. The drinks were just apple juice for both of us, but all I could think was how glad I was that there wasn’t any alcohol. Not for tonight, because that would only ruin it.Liam was busy packing things away now that we were done with it all. I watched him work from the side until I decided I couldn’t just watch anymore. I reached for him, grabbing onto his shoulder and tugging. I put quite a bit of force into it, but the only reason I managed to pull him down, was probably because he was surprised by it.“Whoa! Adele, what gives!”Even though he was complaining, there was laughter in his voice. I crawled over to him,
After our little rest, it was back to packing things up. The blanket and candles would be last to go, so I just sat back as I watched him carefully arrange everything in his bags. He had his back to me, so I couldn’t see exactly what was going on, just his limbs moving as he worked. I was feeling lazy and sated, so I didn’t even offer to help, though I was the one that distracted him in the first place.“How did you think to come out here?” I asked, feeling curious.“Hmm?” He glanced at me over his shoulder. “I don’t know. I figured doing it at either of our places was a bit risky, and I didn’t want to share tonight with anyone else. And then it just hit me, that somehow, we had plenty of highlights in our relationship right here, so why not add one more?”I snickered. “We’ve had sex here before, though,” I reminded him. “So I don’t think that counts.”Liam chuckled. “I guess there’s that, huh.”His voice sounded a little odd as he said it, though, and it was enough to get me to stop
I ended up not spending the night out, like I’d thought. The last time we had sex out in the woods, we slept in each other’s arms until the morning after. He’d gotten a ring on my finger, but Liam was surprisingly quick to want to get rid of me, enough to make me a little suspicious.When I got home, I opened the front door, and walked in a few steps before realizing Mom was home. Honestly, I would have expected she would be staying out for the night, though that probably wouldn’t be the case if Liam had dropped me off to rush home himself, right? Even more surprising, she looked like she was in a good mood.“Honey, you’re home!” she said, looking up with a wide smile.I was a bit nervous as I walked inside, but she didn’t ask where I was coming from so late at night. I was pretty sure it was close to midnight already. She had her laptop on in front of her on the coffee table. Whatever she must have been looking at put her in a good mood.“Sorry I’m late,” I apologized as I walked ins
Mom and I went on a little shopping spree and Chanel, came along with us. I would have invited one of my own friends, but all the ones I called were busy, so I let it go anyways. Besides, there still wasn’t anyone who knew about the pregnancy, and if I mentioned a wedding at my age they would probably guess, so I was a little glad no one had the time.I felt a lot safer with just Mom, her friend and me.Besides going to the boutique to look through and try dresses, we went around to look at shoes, some purses and accessories. After exhausting myself for most of the day, Mom and Chanel were ready to move on to flowers, but it was pretty late already. I would have gone to dinner with them, when they invited me, but I got a text from Liam at around the same time, so I went to see him instead.I practically dragged my feet to my front door, where Liam was already waiting for me, and I opened the door for us to walk in. we were both silent, until I walked into my bedroom and dropped onto t
It was the day before the wedding, and I was stuck indoors with Mom. We were getting ready for the big day by giving ourselves the full spa treatment.I knew everything would go without a hitch. We had all made sure of it, Mom and me, Liam and his dad, friends from both sides…Everything will be just fine!I thought that, but by the time lunch came around, I didn’t feel hungry at all, and I hadn't even had breakfast.“Come on, honey,” Mom tried to coax. “I made you your favorite, fried chicken and rice.”I sighed. “I’m not hungry…” though my stomach did grumble a bit at the smell, just thinking of putting any of it in my mouth made my stomach uncomfortable.Mom took a seat beside me, taking my hands in hers and meeting my eyes with a frown on my face.“Adele, what’s wrong? The wedding is tomorrow. Don’t tell me…” Her voice trailed off. I shook my head quickly so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea out of anywhere. I hadn't suddenly changed my mind about the wedding. If anything, I’d only