The Beautiful Ones

9- I Don't Want This To End

Alice

Have you ever felt like you were at a point in your life when everything was going right and you were just happy? That was me right now.

I mean, my whole life, I’ve adapted to the concept that no matter what I do- no matter how hard I try- nobody sticks around for long. My mom is a really amazing person and I love her to death, but both her and my dad are never home, they always have international business to take care of. Me and my brother, Patrick, have basically been raised by nannies and butlers. I rarely talk to my brother considering he, like Margaret, loves to absorb the family fame. He isn’t a dick, like Margaret, but he uses the family name to go out and pick up girls, he’s number one on magazine bachelor lists. He loves the lime light. I don’t have any personal problems with Patrick, but we have majorly different personalities and we just don’t socialize, we just live under the same roof.

Anyway, since I was little, I’ve accepted the fact that Zoey is the only person that will ever be there for me- we’re all each other have and that’s how it’s always going to be. And I’ve learned never to trust anybody because they’re always after my money and fame. Never trust a soul.

But since the beginning of the week, with Lance, I’ve been rethinking all of that. Maybe I wasn’t alone in this world, along with Zoey. Maybe it’s possible that somebody else can care about me. Maybe I’m not worthless.

On Thursday, he took me up in a hot air balloon and we watched the sun set in the sky. I know that sounds really cheesy, but it was probably the best day of my life. Friday, he rented out a whole petting zoo and I got to ride a camel- I didn’t even know they had those at petting zoos- and pet a llama. He laughed at me when I got scared by the small goat that insisted on having a little snack on my toes. For the first part of Saturday, I was with Zoey but then Lance took me to lunch and now we’re in the cabin. The cabin is a place that Zoey’s dad had gotten built for us when we were kids- it’s right between our houses, so about a fourth of a mile away from both houses and it’s in the middle of a small forest area, so you have to walk to it with a path leading to both my house and Zoey’s. Most of the time, me and Zoey go there to get away from the world, it’s like a mini house and everything is fully functioning so we’ve hid in there for days on end before when things weren’t going our way or something.

“I’ll write as much as I can.” Lance promised as we laid in the bed that was on the second floor of the cabin. Well, it wasn’t really a second floor, it was kind of a loft.

“I’ll write back.” I told him with a small smile. We were laying in the bed, cuddling with my head resting on his chest and his arms around my shoulders.

“And maybe I’ll be able to call, I don’t know.”

“Just stay safe.” I mumbled. “You gotta stay safe.”

“I’ll try my best, Ali.” He told me softly. “I don’t think they’ll put me on the frontlines anyway, but I don’t really know yet.”

“I’m going to miss you so much.” I croaked, forcing a lump down my throat. It was nine at night and tomorrow morning, Lance will be leaving, on his way to Iraq or Iran or somewhere else that the Army may send him, but I don’t want him to go.

“I’ll miss you so much back.” He whispered, holding me close to him.

“When you get back, what do you want to do?” I asked curiously.

“We already talked about that.” He chuckled.

“No, we agreed that we’ll stay together, but I mean like, with life, what do you want to do?” I asked sitting up to face him. He was gloriously shirtless, because I stole his shirt and it was the only thing I was wearing except for my bra and panties. We hadn’t had sex yet, but I’m pretty convinced that tonight it will happen. I did, however, lose my pants in a very heated make out session at the beginning of the night.