He's Giving Me a Reason, an Emblem3 Fan Fic (Sequel to Riptide)

Chapter 43

"So I've been thinking."

"What about?" I asked, turning to face Wes.

"You leave for school in two weeks." He stated. A wave of sadness suddenly crashed over me. As if I needed a reminder that I was leaving.

"Thanks for reminding me." I groaned sadly, wrapping myself into his arms. He returned my hug, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"And since the live shows don't start until the end of September, I was thinking I could go with you." My body froze and I immediately pulled away in shock. Did I just hear that right?

"Are you serious!?" I squealed excitedly. He was trying not to look to excited, but I saw him biting back a huge grin.

"Yep, I'm serious!" I squealed and jumped on him.

"Yay this is amazing!" I squeezed him tightly again. "Wait, where are you going to stay?" I asked.

"Well I was hoping your dorm room was available." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at me. I thumped him on the arm but couldn't help the slight blush that was creeping up onto my cheeks. "Just kidding. I've got a buddy out there who's letting me crash. He invited Keaton and Drew too. While you're in class we can get a bunch of recording done at a local studio or something." He smiled. Wow, they really had this whole thing planned out.

"This is amazing!" I kissed him on the cheek. "But enough about college. We have to get to the mall before they close." I tugged on his hand. Adrianna and Owen's birthday was tomorrow, and Wesley and I still haven't gotten them a gift yet. Buying presents last minute was kind of my specialty.

On the way to the mall I kept thinking: do Wesley and I buy presents together and give each of them a joint gift? Or do we each get them their own presents? The only people that I knew who gave joint presents were married couples. So do we give a joint gift? Or would that be putting to much stress on our relationship? Gosh, Avery. You need to stop over thinking this. It's just a present.

"We're here." Wes nudged me with his elbow as he pulled into the mall parking lot. I hopped out of the car and pulled down the legs of my high-waisted shorts. I heard the car beep, signifying that it was now locked. I was about to walk away when i realized my purse was still inside.

"Ahh! Wait!" I said jogging over to the car. I tugged sheepishly at the handle until Wes unlocked the door. I slung my bag over my shoulder and quickly walked to rejoin Wesley. He laughed and slung his arm around my shoulders as we walked through the lot together.

* * * * *

"How about this?" Wes held up an awkward looking scarf. I chuckled and took the scarf from him, placing it back on the shelf.

"How about no." I laughed.

"Ugh, I'm so bad at this." Wes groaned, rifling through more thing on a rack. He had no trouble finding Owen's present- a limited edition copy of Blink-182's album, Enema of the State and a Seahawks jersey. But with Adrianna's gift he was having a little trouble.

"It's not that bad. Girls are pretty easy to shop for. You were awesome at getting me presents for my birthday." I tried to reassure him.

"I know how to shop for you

because you're my girlfriend." He hip bumped me. I responded by nudging him in the side.

"Okay, I'll help you then. I'm a girl, what do I like?" I asked, referring to the store. Wes repsonded by lifting up his shirt revealing his abs, and wiggling his tongue at me. I laughed and hit him on the arm. "Besides that." I grinned.

"Uh you like skating, you like to surf, you like clothes..."

"Okay good. Adrianna likes skating. And I happen to know she needs to get some new trucks for her board." I hinted. Wesley's face lit up. Skateboarding. Now that was something he could handle. We roamed around the mall for about another hour or so. I picked out a necklace for Adrianna and also a gift for Owen. I was pretty satisfied with the gift I managed to get for Owen. I remembered this time last year when i had absolutely no idea what to get him and ended up presenting him some new socks and a spray bottle of Axe.

This year I knew him a lot better. Instead of some random tube socks, I got him this super awesome book about the Foo Fighters and then tickets to see One Republic in Central Park. I got him two and was secretly hoping that he would take me.

"All right, you ready to go?" Wes bounded over to me after he got off the check out line.

"Yep. All ready." I grinned back,clutching my own shopping bags to my chest. We were walking back through the mall when we were stopped by some guy.

"Wesley, hey!" The guy waved. Wes and I slowed to a stop.

"Hey there. Sorry, do I know you?" Wes cocked his head to the side.

"Oh, no. Sorry, I'm Matt. I saw you on the X Factor commercial." Matt said.

"It's nice to meet you." Wesley's smile was so wide as he stuck out his hand for the boy to shake.

"You too. I checked out your band on YouTube bro, you guys are incredible." Matt smiled. I looked over my shoulder to see my boyfriend smiling giddily. Matt turned to me next. "Matt Tobias. And you are?"

"Avery Brayden. Nice to meet you." I chuckled and shook his hand.

"So are you guys...?" He looked between us. My mouth fell open, I didn't know what to say. This was the first time that Wes and I were caught together in public. I had no idea what to say. Wes looked at me.

"Uhh no. We're not dating. We're just really good friends." Wes gave Matt a tight lipped smile.

"Oh okay, cool." Matt said. He looked back at Wes. "Can I bother you for a photo? I just know you guys are going to be huge." He asked.

"Sure." Wes' smile seemed strained again. Matt handed me his phone.

"Do you mind?" He asked.

"Not at all." I smiled sadly. I waited for the two boys to get together and I snapped the photo.

:( Awww Wes had to tell E3's first fan that he and Avery weren't together :'(

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