Walls

Its three hours before the date and I am having the worst of panic attack, I called Mack about twenty minutes ago and she’s not here and I really need her to be.
“Calm down I’m here now.” Mack said walking into my front door
“I can’t do this Mackenzie.” I said
“Why?” She asked
“Elliot, what if.” I said
“Alex is going to be nothing like Elliot I swear. I talked to all of the guys and they assured me that Alex has never been like that.” She said
“Have they known him his whole life? I know him and Jack met in high school.” I said
“They all met in high school, no one dates before high school. And Alex used to live in England.” She said
“Really?” I asked
“Yes, Ry you’re going to be fine. I promise.” She said
I nodded
“No go get ready.” She said
I nodded and walked into the bathroom, I still didn’t know where we were going. I picked up my phone and called him.
“Ryan I’m not telling you where we’re going.” He said as he answered
“What do I wear?” I asked
“Clothes.” He laughed
I laughed
“I’ll see you in ten.” He said
“Okay.” I said
I got dressed and walked into my living room where Mackenzie was nowhere to be seen, she probably went to work. I sat down on the couch and waited, my foot quickly tapping the floor. My tapping woke Baltimore up but he just walked in too see what was going on, he walked right back into my bedroom a few seconds after. There was a loud knock on the door, I sprung up and opened the door.
“Well.” Alex said
I took in his appearance, he had on a V-neck black shirt with a leather jacket over it, a pair of dark washed skinny jeans, a beanie, and old combat boots.
“What?” I asked
“You look breathtaking.” He smiled
I felt the heat rushing to my face and I smiled at him.
“You look good too.” I said
“Always.” He winked
I laughed and walked out my door locking it with my doorframe key. He took my hand and walked us down to the parking garage, I looked over at him and smiled knowing he wasn’t paying any attention to me right now.
“Why are you smiling?” He asked
Uh oh, I was wrong
“Huh?” I asked
“You’re cute.” He said
I looked down at the ground and smiled, he opened the car door for me and I got into it and he closed it carefully. He walked around the car and did a little dance in front of it to make me smile, which I did. He climbed in and smiled at me
“Do you like my little dance?” He asked
“I like your silliness.” I smiled
He looked over at me and winked, we drove for a little bit and he pulled into one of my favorite burger joints in LA; Juicy Lucy’s Burger Bar and Grill.
“Did you talk to Mack?” I asked looking over at him
“No?” He questioned
“Oh.” I smiled
“Why?” He asked
“This is one of my favorite places.” I said
“Mine too.” He laughed
I smiled and we got out of his car and walked in, we were seated pretty much right away.
“So classy first date.” I smiled
“Well you know, it can only get classier from here.” He winked
“She works here you know.” I said
“Mackenzie works here?” He asked
“She’s the manager.” I said
“Nice, I thought you guys’ only job was being a tech.” He said
“Only me.” I said
“Well I think that’s awesome.” He said
I laughed,
“Hello my name is Erica and I will be your server tonight. Here is your menus, I’ll be right back to get your drinks.” A platinum blonde girl said as she held onto Alex’s shoulder.
She flipped her long hair and walked away.
“Alright.” Alex said
“I’m sure you’re used to that.” I said
“Somewhat, I always go places like this with Jack. He kind of wards off people with his nose.” He smiled
“Why doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” I asked
“That is still a mystery for the guys and I. Rian has a girlfriend; Cassadee Pope. Zach, I don’t really know about him.” He said
I nodded.
“Can you order me a Heineken, I have to go to the restroom.” I said
“Heineken?” He asked
I nodded, he nodded back at me and I got up and walked towards the restrooms pulling out my phone. I hit speed dial number two and put it to my ear.
“Yes my darling? Aren’t you on a date?” Mackenzie answered
“Yes. Are you working tonight?” I asked
“Yeah, I’m there now. In the bathroom looking at my gorgeous face in the mirror. Why?” She asked
I hung up and pushed open the door to the bathrooms, she indeed was looking at herself in the mirror
“You’re pretty enough.” I said
She jumped and looked over at me.
“Don’t you look fantastic? You two came here for dinner?” She asked
“It’s one of his favorite places.” I smiled
“You two have so much in common. What do you need ma’am?” She asked
“Our server is Erica?” I asked
“Okay, Erica is a flirt but no need to worry.” She said
I looked at her
“Alex likes you, not some platinum blonde bimbo that serves him food.” She said
I nodded.
“I love your outfit. What’s he wearing?” She asked
“A black V-neck with a leather jacket, dark washed skinny jeans, a beanie, and his old combat boots.” I said
“You two and your beanies.” She laughed
I smiled at her.
“Well you have a date to get to and I have work. I’ll talk to Erica when I see her and warn her to stay away from him.” She said
“Am I not scary enough to warn her away?” I asked
“You have that one glare. That may do it.” She laughed
I nodded and we walked out, I walked back to our booth and Erica was sitting down in my seat across from Alex giggling, he was just sitting there looking uncomfortable. I walked over and touched Alex’s shoulder, he scooted in and I took a seat next to him and leaned over towards Erica.
“Shouldn’t you be working? I know your manager.” I said
She looked at me.
“Mackenzie Morgan? The woman that’s responsible for firing and hiring people, yeah I’m her best friend. Now I ask again, shouldn’t you be working?” I asked
As she stood up Mackenzie showed up.
“Is there a problem Erica?” Mackenzie asked
“No, no ma’am.” She said
“I’ll cover this table.” Mackenzie said
Erica nodded and Alex started laughing beside me.
“Heineken for Ryan, Alex what’ll you have?” She asked
“Same.” He said while coming down from laughter.
“I’ll be back with those.” She said
“I think you two just scarred the server.” Alex said as Mack walked away
“It’s what we do. So how was your chat?” I asked
“She kept touching my arm and shit, I wanted it to stop.” He smiled
I smiled and he leaned over a kissed my cheek
“Well you two are adorable. Here is your beers. Do you know what you want Alex?” Mack asked walking over
He ordered and looked at me.
“I’ve got her usual.” Mack said
He nodded and she walked away.
“It’s a salad isn’t it?” He asked
“Do I look like that kind of girl?” I asked
“Not really.” He said
“But yes it is, but my normal usual is the burger you got.” I said
He nodded and smiled at me.
Our dinner went on talking about his band, when they started and that type of stuff, we walked about my job as a tech and some of the problems that’s caused me like my hand being broken. I’ve only been hurt a few times like that but I get into a lot of arguments. We talked about how he and Jack met, and when the other guys came into their lives, about when I met Kenzie. When we were done eating he paid and walked me back out to his car.
“It’s not over.” He said
“What?” I looked at him as I buckled my seat belt
“The date, it’s not over.” He said
“It’s not?” I asked
He smiled and shook his head, he started the SUV and started speeding off out of the parking lot of the restaurant.
“Where to?” I asked
“Some place cheesy for a first date.” He laughed
I nodded and he reached over and took my left hand in his right, my heart jumped into my throat. I calmed my breathing and smiled out the windshield. We pulled into a bowling alley.
“Bowling?” I asked
He nodded and I swear I had the biggest smile on my face
“You’re lucky I’m left handed.” I laughed holding up my casted right hand
“I knew you were.” He smiled
“Let go bowling!” I exclaimed climbing out of his car
“Do you like to bowl?” He asked shocked at my enthusiasm
“Yeah, it’s kind of my first memory of living with my dad.” I said
I took his hand and dragged him towards the building.
We rented shoes and began to play, he was good, but so was I. We bowled for hours and I don’t remember ever having this much fun without Mackenzie or the guys. It was nice to hear my own laugh for once, to know that I was smiling a real smile. As we headed home we kept getting caught in all of the traffic lights, finally we pulled into the parking garage and we sat in the car for a few.
“I had a lot of fun.” I said
“Best date I’ve been on in a while.” He said
“Same here honestly.” I smiled
“In all honesty.” He said
I looked over at him and he smiled at me,
“I really want to kiss you.” He said
“You’re going to have to catch me.” I winked getting out of the car
I stuck my tongue out at him and he smiled and got out, locked the door and started chasing me. I ran towards the entrance and we ended up in a crowd of people waiting on the elevator, when we got on our floor number was already pushed, he couldn’t attack me in the elevator. I stood on my toes to lay my head on his shoulder for the boring ride up to floor thirty, when it dinging he winked at me and I started to run past the few people that also lived on this floor. I heard Alex curse and I saw my apartment door in the clearing, I ran towards it but when I reached up for the key Alex was in front of me gently holding me to the door. We were both pretty much out of breath but he looked down at me.
“No more running.” He whispered
He pushed his lips to mine and I melted into the amazing kiss, I blindly wrapped my arms around his neck as he pushed me against the door with his body. His tongue slid into my mouth and explored, just as our lips became in sync my apartment door opened sending us both to the ground. Alex landed on top of me with an ‘Oof’, I looked up and Mack was standing there laughing. Alex got up and then helped me up.
“I see it was a good date.” She laughed
“Why are you here? I thought you were working?” I asked
“It’s almost midnight Ryan.” She said
I opened and closed my mouth not knowing what to say
“I heard noises outside of the door so I opened it, I wasn’t expecting to see you to having sex against it.” She said
I smiled at her.
“Alex I’ll show you out.” I said
He chuckled and we walked out the door closing it behind us.
“I really did have a lot of fun tonight.” I said
“So did I, I’m glad you agreed to come on a date with me.” He said
“Me too.” I smiled
“When can we see each other next?” He asked
“Whenever, you live down the hall.” I smiled
He smiled back and me, he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. He turned and walked towards his apartment… I turned and walked back into my own.
“That kiss was pretty intense.” Mack said
“You knew we were out there didn’t you?” I smiled
“No actually, all my common sense was telling me to just look out the peephole but I opened the door instead.” She said
I laughed
“So how was it?” She asked
“The kiss?” I asked
“That and the date.” She said
“Both were amazing.” I said
“Well tell me the details on our way up to the pool.” She said
"Mack it's midnight." I said
"Duh. Go put your bikini on." She laughed
I groaned and pulled my shirt off and threw it at her, I walked into my bedroom and Baltimore was asleep on the bed. I pulled my red bikini out of my dresser and changed into it, I pulled my cover-up dress on and walked to the living room. Mack had her arms full of the towels.
"Ready?" She asked
I nodded and we left and rode the elevator to the rooftop pool, it was completely empty and the view was amazing. I pulled my cover up off as Mack jumped into the pool.
"How's the water?" I asked
"It's a little chilly, but you'll warm up to it." She smiled
I sat on the edge with my legs in the water, I slid in and swam over to Mack.
"It's not too bad." I said
She laughed and dunked me under the water, when I resurfaced I stared her down.
"What?" She asked innocently
"You're asking for it." I said
She laugh and swam away quickly. I smiled and just kept myself afloat in that one spot. Suddenly I was being engulfed in water, I swam back up and sucked in an urgent breath.
"What the hell?!" I squealed looking at Mackenzie.
"It was him!" She yelled pointing behind me
I looked behind me and I was suddenly pulled into a kiss
"Alex." I smiled
He pulled me to him and then there was another giant splash,
"Jack?" I asked
He nodded and kissed me again.
Eventually him and I got out of the pool and sat in one of the folding lounge chairs while Jack and Mackenzie annoyed each other in the water.
"So Ry." Alex said
"Yeah?" I asked
"Will you be my girlfriend because that date was amazing?" He said
"Well duh I'll be your girlfriend." I said
He pulled me to him and kissed him.
A good hour and half went by and Jack and Mackenzie got out of the pool.
"I'm going back to your apartment." Jack said to Alex
"Alright man. I'll be down in a little bit." Alex said
"Same for me Ryan. I'll feed Baltimore." Mackenzie said
"I'll be down soon." I said smiling at her
"Keep it PG you two." Mack said
I laughed and the two left us alone.
"How do you deal? She seems so crazy." Alex asked
"She's my best friend." I said
"Sometimes I think if I have a best friend like that and then I realize I kiss jack on stage almost every concert." He laughed
"Jalex." I laughed
"Yeah man, it's real." He smiled
"You have the perfect smile." I said
"Whatever you say." He laughed
I kissed his cheek and smiled at him.
"So I noticed these awesome tattoos you have." He said
"They each have a story." I said
"I'd love to hear one." He said
"Well my hand." I said
"That rose matches mine." He said
"I can't really say it's my most special one cause I don't think I could pick. But it's for my grandma. Her name was Rose and when I would be having a tough time, which was all of the time, she would be there to comfort me and make me hot chocolate. We'd watch old Disney movies together, that was really the only time I was happy when I wasn't I'm school." I said
"Rose Rosen?" He asked
"Rose Monroe." I laughed
"That makes more sense." He smiled
"What about you?" I asked
"Well I really only have three, my rose, the Skeleton, and my band thing. My skeleton was my first one, it's just a skeleton dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween." He said
I smiled and stood up to stretch, as I arched my back to crack it Alex pulled my waist and pulled me to him. He cuddled his head into my stomach
"Watch your hair with my belly ring." I laughed
He nodded and I ran my hands through his hair.
"I love that. Don't stop." He said
"Okay Lex." I smiled
"I talked to Kenzie, she told me about the walls you've built up. I wanted to say I have them too and when you’re comfortable to tell me anything I'll always be open ears. Wake me up at three am and I'll still be all ears." He said
"I think that's the sweetest thing someone has ever said to me. I will tell you when my mind lets me." I said
"I'm always here." He said
"Good." I laughed.
He looked up at my through his eyelashes and kissed my exposed belly.
"We should probably head down home." I said
"Jack is probably watching home alone or jacking off in my bathroom.
"Let's hope for home alone." I laughed
He smiled and I grabbed my stuff and we walked towards the elevator. We kissed and split off when we got to out floor, I walked into my apartment and smiled
"What?" Mackenzie asked
"I have a boyfriend." I said

Notes