Hidden Treasure

“About time,” Alex huffed as he flipped open his phone, connecting to the incoming call from Jack.

“Sorry, dude,” Jack sighed into the phone. “Things have been pretty hectic around here. I’m playing two members of the band, remember?”

“Yes, I remember,” Alex said with a roll of his eyes. “How the hell did the tabloids get news of this? And I’m labeled as missing? What the fuck?”

“Well what do you expect, bro? You’re not here, no one knows where you are… Did you honestly expect Keith not to lose his mind over this?”

“But missing though?” Alex groaned, pacing back and forth in front of the diner he’d just arrived at.

“I tried to tell him you were fine but he still got his panties in a wad about it. Everyone’s pretty pissed at you for bailing, though,” Jack said.

“Who’s everyone?” Alex asked, his pacing coming to a halt.

“Management, the label, the crew, Zack and Rian,” he listed. “I mean, think about it man, you left right at the beginning of a tour cycle.”

Alex blew out an exasperated breath and pinched the brim of his nose. “I figured no one would understand.”

“I do though,” Jack offered. “Kinda. I’ve been you for four days now and I’m already starting to see why you needed to escape.”

“Yeah,” Alex said flatly.

As Jack rambled, listing all the things he’d accomplished the days prior, Alex barely paid attention as he caught the sight of Lily walking towards him. She looked pretty stunning in a strapless floral print dress with a cross body bag hanging off her shoulder, her long blonde hair swaying behind her. He took a quick glance at himself in the reflection of the glass and deemed his outfit of a light blue button up and white shorts suitable.

“Hey,” Lily chimed as she approached him.

Alex lowered the phone from his ear. “Hey. Sorry, it’s just going to be another minute.”

Lily nodded. “No problem, take your time. I’ll go ahead and get us a table.”

“Just a minute,” Alex repeated as she slipped into the diner.

When he brought his phone back to his ear, he found Jack to be silent.

“Who was that?” Jack asked.

“Just a girl I met,” Alex shrugged. “We’re having dinner tonight.”

“Ooo,” Jack teased. “Even on vacation you still find time to lay down the pipe.”

“Jesus fuck,” Alex groaned. “Just… tell Keith and everyone else to chill the fuck out, okay? I’ll be back soon to fulfill their never-ending wishes.”

“Wear protection!” he barely heard before slamming the phone shut.

Alex shoved his phone back into his pocket before swinging the diner door open. He scanned the faces at the tables and noticed the flutter in his gut when he saw Lily smiling at him, waving a little to get his attention. He took a deep breath as he walked over to join her.

“Sorry,” he said as he slid into the booth. “Work stuff.”

“Not a problem,” she grinned.

“You look really nice,” Alex commented.

Lily smiled down at her dress and smoothed it out. “Thanks. So do you.”

As the pink starting cover his cheeks, Meilani approached their table and she smiled wide at Lily.

“Aloha, Lily darling,” she cooed as she ran a hand over Lily’s head.

“Aloha, Mama Mei,” Lily replied. “Have you met Alex?”

Meilani turned her attention towards him and smiled politely. “Not formally. I’m Meilani Kahale.”

“Alex Gaskarth,” he smiled back.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alex,” she nodded as she pulled out her book. “What can I get you kids started off with to drink?”

“Coke, please,” Lily said.

“Make that two,” Alex added.

Meilani nodded and turned to grab their drinks. Alex gestured towards her and asked, “Is she your mom?”

“No,” Lily giggled. “She’s like a mom, though. Her son and I go way back.”

“Oh,” Alex nodded. “Nice.”

After Meilani brought back the drinks and took their order, Lily stirred her drink with her straw as she studied Alex for a moment.

“So,” she chirped. “Tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?” Alex asked after swallowing a large gulp of soda.

“I don’t know,” she chirped. “Where are you from?”

“Well,” Alex sighed. “I was born in England. We moved to Maryland when I was eight, and about two years ago I moved to L.A.”

“England,” Lily said. “Wow. What brought you to the good ol’ U.S. of A?”

“Parents. Jobs. Opportunities,” Alex shrugged.

Lily nodded. “Did you want to move?”

He shrugged again. “I was eight, you know? I didn’t realize America was on another continent.”

“Where did you think it was?” Lily giggled.

“Across the pond,” Alex admitted with a grin.

She covered her mouth with her hand as a fit of laughter washed over her. She apologized for her reaction, but Alex didn’t mind it so much. Her laugh was one of the most enjoyable things he’d heard before.

“So, what about you?” he asked after her fit subsided. “Were you born and raised here?”

“No,” she giggled, clearing her throat. “We moved here when I was seven.”

“And where are you from originally?”

“Wisconsin,” Lily grimaced.

“No way,” Alex laughed.

“Way,” she nodded. “Sad, huh?”

He shrugged. “More like unexpected. I was thinking more along the lines of California or Florida. You seem to naturally belong here, not in cheese head county.”

The smile that graced her lips vanished quickly. “If you ever say ‘Go Packers!’, I will probably hurt you.”

“Please,” Alex scoffed. “I’m a Raven, thanks.”

“Okay,” Lily smiled.

“He turned his cup around a few times on the table top before asking, “Did you want to move here?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately. “I’ve always – always – been captivated by the ocean.”

“Really?” he asked.

She nodded. “My dad’s a marine biologist. He was always traveling for work, and for my seventh birthday he took my mom and I along with him for a week, and ironically, we came here. I learned all sorts of things about the ocean: tides, currents, inhabitants… I fell in love with it.”

Alex rose his eyebrows. “So, how was it that you miraculously ended up staying here?”

She shrugged as she grinned. “Little did any of us know that my dad’s time here was essentially a try out. A week after he came back home, the aquarium called and asked him to be the senior biologist. I, of course, was stoked, but my parents almost didn’t go through with it; something about it seeming too far away because it was detached from the rest of country. But, we did it, and I haven’t looked back since.”

“That’s awesome,” Alex smiled.

Normally when people were telling him about themselves, it was hard for him to stay interested. But as he listened to Lily talk so passionately about what she loved, he had a craving to know more.

“So, what do you do for a living?” he asked.

“Right now?” she asked, earning a nod from him. “Just living.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

She looked away nervously as she began to explain. “I work a lot during the off season so I can afford to take the summer off. But when I’m not being useless, I juggle my time between my photography business, helping at the aquarium, and occasionally picking up a shift here.”

“Wow,” Alex nodded. “That must be hella convenient.”

“It is, but I get so much heat for it,” she frowned.

“Well, I’d be jealous, too. But you can’t blame a woman for hustling when she has to and taking it easy when she doesn’t.”

Lily perked up a little and nodded once. “Amen.”

They smiled at each other, and though she tried not to acknowledge it, there was flamboyant chemistry pulsating between the two of them. It’d just been a long time since someone seemed to genuinely care about what she had to say. Most of the guys she’d met would have tried to hook up with her by that point in the date – er, hang out – but Alex seemed to be the type to take his time. She tried to catch herself before falling too hard as she thought that maybe he wasn’t making a move because he just wasn’t interested in anything more than that one meal with her. She did kind of force him to come to an extent.

“What about you?” she asked suddenly, distracting herself from her thoughts. “What line of work are you in?”

Alex stared at her for a moment, debating whether to tell the truth. He wasn’t too proud of his occupation at the moment.

“Um,” he faltered. “Entertainment.”

Lily squinted at him before slowly saying, “Like, a stripper?”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the idea. “Absolutely not. I’m in a band.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?” He nodded. “What’s the name? I might know you!”

Alex glanced at the people around him and ducked down a little before whispering, “All Time Low.”

Lily, who was ducking down as well so she could hear him, tilted her head to the side. “Nope, guess not.”

“Thank god,” Alex chuckled.

-----

“Oh, I have an idea!” Lily said excitedly. “Rapid fire questions! We’ll take turns asking each other questions and we have to answer immediately.”

“Go for it,” Alex smiled.

“Favorite super hero?” she asked.

“Batman,” he nodded. “You?”

“Aquaman, hello,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Should have known,” Alex chuckled with a shake of his head. “Favorite board game?”

“Chess,” she smiled. “You?”

“I hate board games,” he admitted. When Lily’s mouth fell open in disbelief, he added, “They’re just time consuming and it’s impossible to keep up with all the pieces and cards and it’s just unnecessary.”

Lily shook her head. “For shame. Anyway, you should like this one, Mr. England: favorite Spice Girl?”

“Baby,” Alex said quickly.

“Seriously?!” she gasped.

“Hell yeah,” Alex nodded. “She was the best.”

“Victoria Beckham is still the baddest bitch to ever exist,” she said sternly.

“Which one was she?” he asked teasingly. “Sporty?”

Lily scoffed loudly.

“Kidding,” Alex chuckled.

“You almost broke my heart,” Lily said, her bottom lip poked out dramatically.

“It’s that serious?” Alex asked.

She nodded. “She’s been my woman crush ever since I first saw the ‘Wannabe’ video. Plus, her husband is fine as fuck.”

“Yeah he is,” Alex agreed.

Lily’s eyebrows rose at his confession. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” he nodded. “Listen, as a straight dude, I’m totally comfortable enough with my sexuality to say that David Beckham is a hot piece of ass.”

“Wow,” Lily laughed.

Alex listened to the tinker bell- like sound, absorbing it for a moment. “Okay, my next question is ‘what’s your favorite movie?’. But, I already know it’s something ocean related, so tell me: is it Blue Crush, Soul Surfer, or Pirates of the Caribbean?”

Lily tried to bite back her smile as she muttered, “Smart ass.”

He laughed and held up his hands innocently. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she shrugged. “I kind of like it.”

Alex tried to ignore the fluttering in his rib cage and smiled bashfully. Before he could respond, Meilani was walking up to their table, and she looked exhausted.

“Hey, kids,” she huffed. “I hate to interrupt, but we’ve been closed for about an hour now. We have to lock up.”

Alex and Lily both blushed as they looked around at the empty diner. The sun that was still shining when they sat down was long gone, replaced by a bright moon and a sprinkle of stars. Neither of them even thought to check the time while they were talking.

They apologized and quickly gathered their things before making their way to the register. Alex paid volunteered to pay for their meals – not without protest – and he left a nice tip for Meilani for making her wait so long. After receiving a smile of approval from Lily, they exited the diner.

“I didn’t realize how late it was,” Lily giggled.

“Yeah, me either,” Alex smiled.

They walked slowly in no particular direction. They both knew the night was coming to an end, but it was like neither of them wanted to be the one to end it.

“So, which of those three is your favorite?” Alex asked, picking up where they left off.

Lily couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “My favorite movie is actually 50 First Dates, thank you very much.”

“Which is set in Hawaii,” Alex pointed out.

“Whatever,” Lily huffed, playfully nudging his arm with her elbow. “It’s cute. I hope someone loves me enough someday to go through all of that trouble should I need it.”

“Alright, I’ll give you that one,” he laughed.

“What about you?” Lily asked.

“Mine is The Fifth Element.”

Lily’s brows furrowed. “That futuristic, space-y movie?”

Alex nodded. “Space is my thing.”

“It’s okay, I guess,” she shrugged.

He stopped in his tracks and waited for her to turn to look at him before saying, “Space is way more than just okay, Lily.”

“Alright, alright, fine,” she laughed and motioned for him to keep walking with her. After a few seconds of silence, she looked up at him and said, “I had a really great time tonight.”

Alex glanced down at her and nodded, a satisfied smile smeared across his face. “I did, too.”

He realized he only had two full days left on the island, but he was drawn to her in a way he’d never been. She’d completely captured his attention in the past few hours, and he wasn’t against devoting just a little bit more to her before he left.

“Do you have anything planned for tomorrow?” he asked. When her expression showed some shock, he was quick to add, “I was just thinking we could hang out again if you wanted.”

Lily smiled, relieved that her previous worries were unwarranted. “A friend of mine is having a bon fire tomorrow night. It’d be pretty cool if you could make it.”

Alex nodded, suddenly anxious about meeting her friends. But he was so desperate for a little more time with her, he was okay with having to share that time with other people, too.

“Of course,” he smiled.

Lily’s smile grew and she searched her bag for a pen, pulling one out and jotted her phone number on the palm of Alex’s hand. She signed it with a smiley face and recapped the pen.

“Text me tomorrow afternoon and I’ll let you know when and where.”

Notes