It's Just Not Meant To Be || Brad Simpson (The Vamps) Fanfiction

part 1: Sunday

I remember the day when Rocky got her first bike.

After declaring a perfect afternoon for productivity, my sister and I did our homework together, then we heard a knock on our door. After opening it, I saw Rocky standing there, with her pink, glittery helmet and her matching kneepads, a big smile plastered on her face as she asked me to guess who just got her brand new bike.

When I turned eight, my parents decided to give me a bike as a gift. After my mum taught me how to ride it, I also taught Rocky, who picked up almost instantly, then she begged her parents to also get her one when they can so we can ride our bikes along the neighbourhood all the way to the park, where we would always meet after class.

We rode side by side to make sure that when something goes wrong, the other one was readily available to help. I took that to my advantage since I couldn't stop staring at her; her blonde hair that was poking out of her helmet gracefully fluttered with the wind as she happily cycled next to me, her eyes brimming with joy as we enjoyed our moment together.

It killed me that she didn't know how lovely she looked.

"Last one who gets to the park will buy the other one ice cream?" Rocky challenged me, then a smirk formed on my lips as I nodded my head.

"Game on," I replied, then we stopped our bikes and made sure that they were in line with each other. We counted down from three, then we started to cycle to the park. I pedaled as fast as I could, not allowing Rocky to beat me, then I got to the park first, with Rocky following a few moments after.

"I win, Rocky! I win!" I cheered out, then I stopped my bike and waited for her to be beside me. She was breathless when she arrived, so we waited until her breathing was normal before talking.

"I barely caught up with you, Brad. You're too good at cycling; maybe you should be an athlete," Rocky told me, then I shook my head.

"I like football more. Maybe I'll get into that one day," I replied, then she smiled at me.

"Should we get that ice cream now?" She asked me, then I nodded my head.

"If you want to," I said, then we looked for the man who was selling ice cream. We wheeled our bikes towards him, then Rocky bought us two ice cream cones—a scoop of cookie dough for me and a scoop of mint chocolate chip for her. We decided to lay our bikes in the middle of the wide, grassy field in the middle of the park and sat right next to them, enjoying our food and not caring about the grass that will be stuck on our bums.

"Do you think you can marry ice cream when you grow up?" She asked me, then I chuckled at her question.

"What kind of question is that? You're literally eating the worst flavour possible, but you want to marry it?" I asked, then she grunted in response.

"I can't believe you called my favourite flavour the worst! Have some respect, Simpson," she said, making me laugh.

"I'm not respecting what I despise, thank you very much," I reply, then she chuckled as she licked the sides of her cone after seeing that her ice cream was staring to melt.

"Hey, just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it isn't good," Rocky told me, then I thought about her outlook before humming in response, letting her know that I agreed with her thoughts.

"Rocky, what do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked her as I continued to eat, then she thought to herself as she looked around.

"Right now, I want to be a mermaid so I can swim to the deepest darkest oceans. And oh, they sing great, and I want that, too," Rocky said, making me laugh.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but what about something more, I don't know, less mythical? You don't even know if there really are mermaids or not," I told her, then I let her take her time eating so that she could think about her answer to my question.

"Well, my mum said that I'm quite a good dancer, so I can be a professional ballerina. But, I happen to enjoy protecting people from bullies more than that, so I can also be a lawyer," she said, then she snapped her fingers.

"Oh, oh! I can be a lawyer who does ballet at the side! Isn't that great?" She enthusiastically told me, then I imagined her ambition in awe.

"Wow. That's brilliant!" I told her, then she laughed as she gave me small head bows and ate some of her ice cream again.

"What about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?" She asked me, then I shrugged as I finished my ice cream.

"I don't know, actually. I want to be in the football team, but I'm scared that the other guys won't take me seriously. But, I also enjoy making up ideas that I could sell to my parents, no matter how crazy they get. They always said that I have the craziest yet brilliant ideas," I said, then the thought clicked in. I imagined myself wearing a suit, and I knew what I wanted to be.

"I want to be a business entrepreneur. It sounds fancy, just like my name," I said, then Rocky laughed beside me, finally finishing the ice cream that she was eating.

"Bradley Will Simpson isn't that fancy, Brad," she said, then I glared at her playfully.

"But Rocky Evangeline Tamara is?" I asked, then she bursted into laughter. I laughed along with her, too, and when our laughs died down, we looked at each other again.

"Can you just imagine that? You, having your own business, playing some football on the side, then there's me, defending innocent people from what they are falsely accused of, dancing in the ballet shows the local theater holds at night," Rocky said as she closed her eyes, then she slowly lied down on her back. I looked at her in surprise, then she opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Well, don't just sit there! Lie down and imagine with me," she said, then I laid down beside her, closing my eyes so that I could really feel how we want to be when we grow up.

"I can see myself trying to defend you when someone against you is trying to accuse you of something you didn't do. I show them evidence, then they set you free! Then, after that, you're watching me perform ballet at the front row. Throwing me roses as I give my final bow," she said, but I couldn't imagine what she said, because something completely different was on my mind.

I was imagining myself walking inside a big house. Rocky was there, as well, ready to greet me with the things that make me happy. She looked grown up and sophisticated in my imagination, but beautiful regardless. I imagined that I was wearing a black suit, and she was wearing a white dress. I was about to imagine a conversation going on when Rocky cleared her throat.

"What about you, Brad? What can you imagine?" She asked me, causing me to stop seeing what I just saw. Obviously, I don't want her to know what I was thinking about, so I decided to lie.

"I was imagining how our parents are going to scold us because it's late," I said, then she looked at her watch.

"Brad, we have to go!" Rocky said with worry, then we immediately stood up and cycled back to our neighbourhood, abruptly saying goodbye before going to our separate houses.