Meet the Wests {On Hold}

Winding Down

Andre trekked up the stairway lined with cute family photos. For such an eccentric family, their home was warm and inviting. He knocked on the bathroom door softly once he reached it, only to receive no answer.

"Jade," he urged gently, "baby, come on out. I wanna talk to you." He paused and waited.

"Please? I brought coffee." Still nothing.

"And your favorite pair of scissors." He smiled a little even though Jade somehow made the click of the unlocking door sound reluctant. She stepped out slowly, and her boyfriend's smile faded when he saw her red, wet eyes. She faintly gasped when he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tight.

"I thought you'd leave me," Jade whispered.

"I told you I didn't blame you," he reminded her. The anxiety she had been feeling since the tragic family meeting had been eating her alive. Now she felt as though she could spend the rest of her life in his arms. Still, she probably would not admit it.

"I brought you some clothes from your mom's house," the musician flirted. "Go get changed. There's somewhere I wanna bring you." The goth girl smiled bashfully at her boyfriend as she moved some of her hair from behind her ear.

"I didn't shower yet," she admitted.

"I don't think Tori would mind you using hers. She's probably hiding behind the plant outside her house if you wanna ask." Jade's face twisted in confusion and Andre simply shrugged as a response.

***

"Where are you taking me," Andre's boo chirped. Her vision was almost immediately engulfed by her man's baby soft hands as soon as they emerged from his car.

"You'll see," he chuckled. Jade grew more curious with each step they took. When Andre finally unveiled her eyes she sucked in her breath. Before her stood a lush willow tree forest that framed a sparkling blue pond. If the disagreeable teen had chosen the location of the surprise date, she likely would not have went with this covert spot. Nonetheless, she could not deny its beauty. 

"Where are we?" she breathed. She clasped her beau's arms as they wrapped around her waist from the back.

"You know I'm actually not sure," Andre admitted, scratching the back of head and showcasing a crooked smiled. Jade furrowed her brows but returned his grin.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Andre plopped down against a tree and gestured for her to join him.

"I found this place a few years ago," He held her a tad tighter before he spoke, "not too long after my mom died. "I ran away from home after fighting with my dad for like the hundredth time. Eventually ended up here. I've wrote some of my best lyrics sitting right here against this tree, including when I fell in love with you the first time."

Jade nuzzled him. "That almost sounds like something a fanfiction writer would make up."

"You know I thought the same thing," Andre agreed. "But hey, it works for me." He gazed down at the girl in his arms and pecked her forehead. The sunlight turned her parts of her cocoa brown hair golden, and he wanted to kiss her the way he knew the breeze was. Except that  was not quite what he brought her here for, not solely anyway.

"So, how're you feeling," the lyricist spoke slowly while caressing Jade's arm. She looked up at him, still smiling but caught off guard.

"I feel fine now. More than fine. Why?"

"Tori told me how messed up you were feeling-"

"Only 'cause I thought I'd lose you," warmth spread over Andre's chest from where Jade placed her hand.

"Right, but. What are you gonna do now? Are you ever gonna go back home?" Andre gulped when his girlfriend's expression darkened. He couldn't help but remember the girl who poured coffee on Tori's head on her first day of school. The girl that he, along with pretty much everyone else at Hollywood Arts, had been afraid of. Then she turned away from him.

"I'm never going back there," her voice was dangerously low. 

"I meant back to your mom's house," Andre spoke as if he was treading treacherous water. 

"That's the exact place I was talking about," she crossed her arms and pouted. Andre forced himself not to smile. Sometimes he found her so cute when she was angry, but now definitely was not an appropriate time for him to point that out. He pursed his lips and waited for her to continue.

"My mom may have been nice to you, but after you left she told me she didn't support our relationship either. Something about it causing 'unnecessary difficulties,'" she used exasperated air quotes for angry emphasis. Andre had raised a brow when she was finished, but he wasn't quite surprised at this point. Disappointed but not surprised. He hugged her once more and she leaned into his embrace.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Not your fault," she sighed. They weren't sure how long they sat there, for they drifted into a peaceful slumber, consoled in each other's arms. In a way, Andre achieve what he brought the girl he loved here for.