Stay.

Chapter 12

I smiled slightly at Lynn and held her hand in mine. "Here are your shoes", said the man at the cashier. I thanked him and walked to one of the alleys. I was first to go. I rolled the heavy bowling ball on the wooden floor, it rolled smoothly and then tilted to the far right, falling into the indent at the side missing all cones. I tried again and hit three of the cones.

"What happened to you?" asked Lynn jokingly, "You said you were the best at bowling. I thought I would actually lose." I forced a small laugh and took a seat beside Lynn.

We sat in silence, the sound of the bowling balls hitting the plastic cones followed by cheering filled the place. I gazed at Lynn as she checked her phone. She opened Twitter and then looked up at me. She smiled and pecked my lips. "Why did you bring me here, Lex?" she asked, a hint of worry was seeable in her eyes. "You're not a spontaneous person most of the times, no offense of course." I looked into her beautiful shining eyes and sighed.

I have to tell her. Lacy is probably right, it's better she hears it from me than find out from another source.

I looked down to the floor and thought of how I can explain the situation without making her annoyed or threatened by Emma or myself. When I finally figured out how to pass the news to Lynn without hurting her, I started speaking. But who am I kidding? I couldn't find a way to do that, so I decided to be honest and straightforward.

I took a deep breath and exhaled through my mouth. "I need to tell you something," I said, looking back up at her worried face, "it's important. You'll probably get upset, or irritated and you'll probably hate me after this but please promise me you won't leave me. At least not straight away." I babbled, "Babe, calm down. I would never leave you. Just tell me because you're kind of scaring me." She stroked my hair and smiled at me sadly, I smiled back and ran a hand through my hair before telling her the not-so-new-news that will probably ruin our relationship.

"Okay. So in 8th grade, a little while after me and Alex broke up, I met this girl called Emma. We dated for a while until she left in the summer. We didn't officially break-up but I never replied to her e-mails or text messages and basically lost all contact with her. This morning, I was watching Poltergeist for the millionth time and I got a text. From Emma. She's coming over around Christmas and will be staying at my house. Now the problem is that she doesn't know about you and I don't think she understands I basically broke up with her. And, I'm so sorry. I have no feelings for her whatsoever anymore and I don't like her and I'm so sorry I'm kind of double crossing you an-" I continued apologising but Lynn interrupted me, "Alexa. Alexa it's okay," she chuckled, "I'm fine, I know you have no feelings for her. And Alex sort of told me about Emma a while ago." She said softly. I smiled from ear to ear and hugged Lynn, she giggled and embraced me. Her toasty body heat warmed me up.

"Lets get out of here," I suggested after we finished our first game that I won, obviously. "Okay, lets go" Lynn said, picking up her jacket and waiting for me.

I smiled to myself and intertwined our fingers while leading Lynn to my car.

We drove for a while, trying to find a small café that wasn't too full. I finally spotted one and parked the car. I got out and opened the door for Lynn, she chucked and walked out. We entered the café and waited to be seated.

We were seated a small table for two near a window. I ordered some hot tea and a piece of cake for us to share and Lynn ordered a latte.

"Do you have a track meet next week?" Lynn asked me while we were waiting for our drinks to come, "No, track ended this week" I said, a little disappointed I didn't get to participate in the last meet of the season.

A young waiter, probably my age came to our table with our order. "Here is you latte," he said kindly, setting a mug in front of Lynn, "Your tea" he said and smiled at me. "And cheesecake to share," we both thanked him and picked up a small fork to eat our cake.

I slowly sipped on the burning hot tea and nibbled on the cake, "This is so good," I started, taking another big bite of the cheesecake, "It's like tasting a rainbow or something, not in a Skittles kind of way." Lynn laughed and I chuckled in response.

"Hey babe," I said quietly, "Yea?" Lynn inquired as her eyes got bigger as she looked at me with love. "I- err- I love you." I blurted out shyly and blushed deeply. I finally got the courage to look up at Lynn to see her smirking at me. "Why are you smirking?" I asked, "How long did you want to tell me that?" she said, I blushed and looked into my tea before answering. "A while," I say eventually. I hear Lynn laugh slightly and feel her soft, long fingers holding my chin up so I am looking right into her eyes. "I love you, too you idiot", she says and kisses my lips passionately.

We finish our beverages and cake and leave the café. We walk to the car and get in. "Back home?" I ask as I start the engine. "Actually, I have a cool place we can got to." Lynn replies and smiles slyly. She opens the door and I open mine and we switch seats. "Where are you taking us?" I ask curiously, Lynn smiles, "First, to a grocery store. Then? You'll see." I chuckle and turn on the radio.

We stop at the first grocery shop we find and buy some cookies, plastic cups and ginger ale, a lighter, a couple blankets and a few sweatshirts. "What do we need all of these for?" I ask as I grab two bags and put them in the trunk of my car. "It's a surprise." Says Lynn and puts another plastic bag in the trunk.

I sit back and sing along to a few song I know as we drive into a place I've never been to before.