When I Wake Up: Sequel To SET INTO MOTION

Chapter 2

Chapter 2
     "Are you almost donnee?!" I whined at the boys who were still carrying in the remainder of the equipment.
     "And you might live with her one day," Lenny rolled his eyes at Lex. Let's just say I may or may not have been bugging them since about ten minutes after the purposal of a breakfast date.
     "And as annoying and whiny as she may get, I can't wait," he smiled at me fakely. Gee, Lex, nice. "But, yes, Brint, we're almost done. Just have a couple guitars and another amp but then we're done. Ready to go?"
     I smiled brightly and nodded, ready to get more alone time with him.

Alex's POV

     "Eeeeh!" Brint squealed from the passenger seat. She was staring out the window like a five year old, "IHOP!" I smiled a little to myself. Damn, she was cute. I parked Lenny's car, which he generously offered up for us to take.

     Once we got inside, we both went a little quiet. It wasn't even the peaceful kind of quiet we often endured; it was just awkward. I looked down at the menu even though I didn't need to. Anything to avoid even more awkward eye contact. We'd gotten back together the day before, and we talked a little- but we didn't really go in depth about anything. We were at the loss of our boy. Neither of us wanted to be the one to bring it up. "What are you getting?" I gave a weak smile.
     "Umm... I want the Bacon and Egg platter with hashbrowns and extra bacon with a coffee... Oh, and can we get mozzarella sticks?" She giggled sweetly. Awkwardness: over.
     "Definitely." This girl could eat... and I mean, more than me sometimes. I loved it. She wasn't afraid to eat a whole plate of ribs right in front of me or even an entire crowd. She didn't give a shit how people would think about her and she definetly wasn't no calorie counting chick. She replied with a plain smile and looked down, back at the menu even though she knew her order, her smile falling away. "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout, princess?" I took her hand under the table.
     "The same thing I've been thinking about for almost a week," she looked up with nearly no emotion, bringing a heavy cloud over the table.
     I sighed, partially in relief that I didn't have to be the one to bring it up, but partially through my nerves. "Hey..." I whispered and she looked away. "Brint, stop blaming yourself; I can see it in your eyes. No ones blaming you but yourself and you need to knock it off... It's not healthy for you."
     Her hand was quivering in mine. "If you were me, you'd blame it on yourself too..."
     I looked away for a minute at a middle aged couple with a little girl. "Look," I whispered to her and she turned to match my stare. "See that family over there?"
     Brintley quickly looked back at me and wiped her eye. "Yeah?"
     "Well, that's gonna be us one day. Together with a kid of our own... but right now isn't the time, and you know that as well as I do. We just got back together... We're not married yet... You're on tour... This is no time for a baby," I said, holding her hand, softly rubbing my thumb over the top of it.
     "Yeah..."
     "But what I don't understand is why you did that to yourself in the first-"
     "Hello, and welcome to IHOP."