How Many Ways

Reflection

A/N: So last night I was about halfway through a story (3,000 words already written). When my computer glitched out and doesn't work anymore. So I just went to bed because I was so upset I was crying (for real). So we are working on fixing my computer and getting that story back.

In the meantime, I wrote this. Honestly, I just started writing stuff and it turned into this slightly emo story. But im gonna blame   emba91 cause she left me unsupervised, lol!

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They say a crush only lasts for four months. If that was true, what exactly was this? Sure, when he first met her, he thought she was annoying. She was so bouncy and loud, exploding into every room she entered in dramatic fashion. He smiled at the memory of when they had sat outside his tour bus and talked for hours. Just the two of them. He felt it start that night, the fluttering in his chest every time she looked at him, they couldn't help smiling at each other every time their eyes met.

He adjusted his tall frame in the small airline seat and continued scrolling through his Instagram DM's with her, he found the picture he was looking for. It was of the two of them when they were on the Austin Mahone Tour. He was 16 and she had just turned 17, babies. He ran a finger over the screen as if he as caressing her cheek. A small smile forming on his lips. He knew. He knew what this was, he had all along. He would be lying if he said he didn't. He loved her. He was in love with her.

It hurt to think of all of their missed opportunities to be something. His chest ached when he thought back to how it felt to watch her with Austin. Then how it felt to hold her while she cried into his shirt, after they had broken up. For some reason, it didn't tell her. He didn't tell her that everything about her made him smile, that her very existence made him want to be a better person.

They had been so close when they were out promoting IKWYDLS. They had done an interview with James Cordon, and the question, of course, came up if they were dating. Both said no, and that was the truth. But when James asked if they had ever made out, that hit home. He wasn't lying when he said they never had, but he didn't mention all the times he was dreamt of it. All the times they had shared quick kisses after a performance. It was after that interview, that they almost gave in. She had asked him the next night. It was late and they were both in his hotel room, like always, they rarely stayed separate. They were sitting on the bed, and something in the air changed. Neither of them knew what it was, but their eyes had locked and as quickly as a finger snap, their lips were smashed together.

She had climbed into his lap, her arms wrapping around his neck, his hands running up her legs, dipping under her shirt and brushing against her skin. They had moaned into each other, complete consumed by the sensations exploding throughout their bodies. If it wasn't for the knock on the door from her mother, they would have completely crossed that line. He brought his hand up to his lips, remembering what it felt like then to kiss her. How was it, that when he was 16 years old. Just a kid on his first tour, that he found his person, his soulmate. That doesn't happen unless you are in a Nicolas Sparks book. But here he was, sitting on the plane, thinking once again about her.

He flipped through the pictures on his phone. It was amazing how many were of her. Most of them saved from her mom, Brian, Connor, and Andrew sending them to him. There were those that she had sent and a bunch more he had found himself. He smiled at a picture of the two of them from the BBMA's in 2017. It was her first time performing solo, without the group and without him. He had watched her, up on that stage performing "Crying in The Club" she was flawless. He was pretty sure he fell more in love with her that night, seeing how she bloomed on that stage. He knew she was going to go on to do incredible things.