Another High School Romance

fourteen

"Welcome in guys, table for two?" A cheery teenage girl chirped from behind the counter when we walked in.

"Yes please, is table thirteen available?" Travis asked her, and I smiled to myself.

"Sure is, you sound like you've been here before." She nodded, taking two menus and leading us down to the last booth by the window. 

"A few times." Travis nodded.

"Well I'll be over in a few to see if you're ready to order." The girl placed the menus down on the table, and Travis thanked her.

"Table thirteen?" I asked as I slid into one side of the booth. 

"We always sat here, every time we came." Travis explained, sitting down next to me instead of across from me like I'd expected him to, but I smiled, delighted. 

"Thirteen is my lucky number." I whispered.

"No kidding!" Travis chuckled, putting an arm casually around my shoulders. I nodded, unable to stop smiling. 

The waitress came back a few minutes later and Travis ordered. When she turned to me, I just asked for the same thing as him and left it at that. He obviously knew what was good. 

"Great, those will be out for you soon." She said cheerily, tapping her pencil against the pad she was holding before walking off to put the order in.

"So." I murmured as Travis turned to me. "Your parents are divorced as well huh?"

"Yeah, but they're still really good friends." He shrugged. "What about yours?"

"We haven't seen my Dad in years, not since I was sixteen." I sighed. "He's...got his own problems. I think. He doesn't reach out, neither does my brother, not really." Travis squeezed my shoulder sympathetically and I shook my head. "It's okay, that's just how it is."

"That still sucks though, it's your family."

"Family isn't always blood, I have enough." I murmured. "I'm happy." Travis' gaze sunk into mine and he leaned in slightly. "You make me happy." I whispered nervously, not used to being so upfront but wanting him to know. 

Travis kissed me softly, pulling back far too soon for my liking. He chuckled at my disappointed sigh, leaning back down for a long, lingering kiss that made my head spin.

"Better?" He murmured when he finally pulled back and I nodded, smiling up at him. God, he really made me feel like a teenager swept off her feet. He had me so smitten. "Also, my Mom really wants to meet you." I blinked at him and he blushed a little. "I might have talked about you with her a lot recently. She's really eager to meet the woman who had me reaching for my phone every two minutes in the middle of dinner."

"Well." I smiled. "My Mom wants to meet the man who put the joy back in my voice." 

"I did, did I?" Travis asked, and I nodded. His eyes softened, one hand lifting to cup my cheek. "Now that I have you, I can't stop wanting to kiss you."

"Travis, you can kiss me whenever you want." I told him, and the sentence was barely past my lips before his mouth pressed against mine. Maybe we were just the cringey couple in the corner who couldn't keep their hands off each other, but this was our first night, our first proper date, our beginning. It was perfect.

A few minutes later as we whispered quietly over the short distance between us, the waitress came over with two chocolate milkshakes. I laughed as she sat them down in front of us, delighted at the big, tall glasses topped with swirls of cream. They were so classic. 

"Wow." I smiled. "I see why little Travis loved this place so much."

"Big Travis loves this place too." Travis nudged me and I couldn't help but laugh again. "Try it, see if you get why I brought you here."