Archer dumped a bag of coffee beans into the grinder and slammed the lid shut, then chucked the packaging on the floor. Of course he did this all with one exagerated frown on his face. He normally looked as if he were about to be thrown in front of a firing squad, but this was just ridiculous.
"You're being a baby, Archer."
He directed his furious glare on me as he plugged in the grinder.
"Shut up."
"What?" I said innocently. "I'm just stating the obvious."
"Obvious, my ass," he muttered, rolling his eyes.
He flipped on the grinder then, luckily for him, as I was about to start another round of protesting .
I honestly could not see what the big deal about this was. I knew Archer wasn't a fan of a lot of things, yet even I had no idea that he was so firmly against this. This was approaching a new level of ludicrous, even for him.
"Please?" I said once Archer switched off the grinder and dumped the freshly ground coffee beans into a new Mama Rosa's packaging.
"No."
"Please?"
"For the love of God - no!"
"Jesus, Archer, you really are a baby," I exclaimed, slipping off the counter. "It's just the prom. It's not like we're going to meet the damn pope or something."
"Yeah, you're right," Archer agreed sarcastically. "The fact that you're talking about prom means nothing at all."
The bells over the shop door jingled as a customer strolled in, forcing me to keep quiet while Archer fixed up the man's drink and bagged him a blueberry muffin.
I was on him as soon as the man strolled out into the early spring heat.
"This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things, Archer!" I told him. "We'll never get this chance again!"
"All the more reason to avoid it," Archer said coolly.
I understood "once-in-a-lifetime" chances more than most. Ever since I had very nearly lost my life two Decembers ago, I became startlingly aware that you couldn't just idly sit by and watch your life fly past you. That wasn't really a life at all.
Archer didn't know about the deal I had made with Death to save his life - and I secretly hoped that he never would - but I knew that he knew the importance of certain things, things you just couldn't ignore. Whether you liked it or not, these things were just expected of you.
Yes, we were only talking about prom here, but prom was the quintessential high school experience, wasn't it?
I had agreed with Archer last year that we could forgo prom, since I still hadn't completely bounced back from my near fatal car accident a few months before.
But now I was perfectly healthy and more than a little annoyed that Archer was so dead set on not going to prom.
That was the problem about being with someone so hardheaded. Suggest something new and they immediately shot down the idea without even hearing it through.
I'd known for a long time that I was more or less in love with Archer Morales (it wasn't as if I had told him that) but this? This kind of made me want to smack him.
"You know what I don't understand?" Archer said, looking at me. "Why you even want to go to prom in the first place."
"We're a couple, aren't we?" I said.
His lips gave a small twitch, fighting back another frown.
"You know we are."
"Well, couples go to prom! That's what they do!"
"You don't even like dancing."
"I like you," I said, jabbing a finger in his chest. "We haven't had a proper date in a while, and I've always thought that...well, I..."
Archer stared at me curiously when I abruptly stopped speaking. "You always thought...what?"
I was embarrassed to tell him that I'd always thought dressing up in a fancy dress and getting all dolled up, looking pretty, having one nice night to remember from high school, sounded fun.
If I hadn't started dating Archer I probably would have gone to prom with Taelor and another group of girls, but I was dating Archer. It wasn't wrong to want that with him, was it?
"Okay, don't laugh, but I thought dressing up and looking fancy, you know, having a nice night out, sounded like fun," I said in a rush before I could chicken out.
Archer stared at me in astonishment.
I stared back only because I couldn't force myself to look away as my cheeks burned bright red.
"So, let me get this straight," he said slowly. "You're saying you're going to put on a dress and do your hair and wear makeup all for the prom?"
"Um..." I bit my lip. "That is the general idea, isn't it?"
I mean, who showed up at prom wearing jeans and a t-shirt?
Archer probably would, a voice snickered in my mind. If he even agrees to go to prom.
For some reason Archer then stared down at my shoes and grinned. An eye-crinkling, lip curling grin that only rarely ever graced his face.
There was nothing wrong with my shoes. I loved my white Pumas. They were good jogging shoes for Gym.
"Why are you looking at my shoes like that?" I asked nervously.
"Are you going to wear high heels?"
"Am I - what?"
Archer's grin widened as he looked back up at me. "Are you going to wear high heels?"
"I would assume so, yes," I said confusedly. "I wouldn't wear my sneakers, if that's what you're worried about."
A contemplative look came over his face for a moment as he stared down at my shoes again.
"I'd really like to see you in high heels."
I was completely and utterly baffled. Archer...wanted to see me in high heels?
The entire time I'd known him, Archer had never shown any interest in what I wore, if ever. Actually, one time he had jokingly said, "The less, the better," after we'd...well, yeah. You get the idea.
Yet now he was interested in what shoes I was going to wear? That part I didn't understand so much.
"So...if I wear high heels, does this mean we're going to prom?" I asked slowly, excitedly.
Archer let out one disgusted scoff, rolling his eyes and then muttered, "Fuck me, we'll go to the stupid prom."
Please tell me he's not joking.
"Really?" I said eagerly. "We're going to prom?"
"Christ. Don't make me say it again."
"Ack! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I grabbed his face in my hands and smacked a kiss on his lips. "Thank you!"
He laughed, amused at my enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah, don't get too excited about it."
"How can I not be? This is prom!"
"Um, I'm sorry, did I miss something?" Regina, Archer's mother, appeared in the kitchen doorway, confused look on her face. "What happened?"
"Archer's taking me to prom!" I said happily, kissing him again. "Prom! Can you believe it?"
Regina laughed loudly. "My son is taking you to prom? Has the earth stopped spinning?"
"No, I've just decided to not be an asshole for once," Archer said, completely serious.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't be a downer, Archer. It's going to be a fantastic night. You had fun at your senior prom, didn't you, Regina?"
Regina could normally always be counted on to knock sense into her thickheaded son. She was one of the few people Archer ever actually listened to.
"Well..." Regina's cheeks turned a vibrant shade of pink and she suddenly looked very embarrassed. "I was thirty-six weeks pregnant at my senior prom, so I didn't exactly do much, per say."
Oh. Well, that would do it.
"But you two will have a good time anyways," she assured us quickly. "Just forget about everyone else and it won't be a problem."
"That's exactly what I've been planning on," I said, giving Archer a pointed smile. "You just have to go with the flow sometimes."
~
"You got your boyfriend to ask you to prom?" Taelor let out a low whistle, giving me an admiring look. "I'm impressed, girl."
I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to flush. "Well, not necessarily. I kind of had to make a deal with him."
Taelor's eyebrows shot up her forehead and she started snickering like crazy. "A deal, you say?"
"Not that kind of deal!" I hissed, making a sushing motion with my hand. "I just...have to pick the most outlandish pair of heels to wear."
Taelor now looked confused. "Why?"
If only I knew the answer to that myself.
"I have no idea," I admitted. "Archer's just...well, you know. Being Archer."
"Weird." Taelor shrugged, going back to flipping through the different dresses on the rack in American Apparel. "Almost as weird as you and Archer going to prom."
I frowned, confusion taking over. "What are you talking about?"
Taelor shrugged again, looking like she was thinking about smiling as she glanced back at me. "Well, you know...I mean, Archer is Archer, and..."
"And...what?" I hinted when Taelor didn't say anything.
"I don't think people are used to you dating him just yet," she said after a moment.
I found that a little hard to believe.
We'd gotten weird stares and were the source of whispered mutterings whenever we managed to sneak kisses in the hallway between classes, but I would've thought people had gotten over that by now. We'd been together for almost two years, and besides - the senior class had even voted us "cutest couple" for the yearbook favorites, much to Archer's annoyance.
Who honestly gave a crap if Archer and I went to prom?
"Our relationship is none of their business," I said to Taelor. "So the point is moot. Let's just focus on finding a dress, okay?"
Taelor threw her hands in the air in a surrending gesture, now giggling. "Fine, fine. Whatever you say."
In the end, it took several hours and about three different department stores before I finally found the perfect dress. It was the dress.
We were in Forever 21, in the new release section, and the dress was squeezed between a vibrant orange skirt and a white blouse covered with anchors. I snatched the dress off the rack without checking the size and booked it for the dressing rooms.
"Hadley, where are you going?" Taelor called after me in alarm.
I was too excited to answer. I had to try the dress on. Who cared about the price if it was the dress?
I slipped off my jeans and t-shirt and pulled on the soft sheath of lacy fabric. I almost let out a shout of glee. It fit just like a glove. God clearly wanted me to find the perfect prom dress.
I was hardly able to believe I was actually looking at myself when I stared at my reflection in the mirror tacked to the wall.
The dress was a deep red color and fell to just above my knees, cinched at the waist with black lace and across the neckline. It was different, something you would expect to find at Forever 21, but it really was spectacular. There was no doubt in my mind that I had found the perfect dress.
"Hadley?" Taelor rapped on the dressing room door, sounding anxious. "You okay? You kinda freaked me out, just running off like that."
I took a deep, confident breath and opened the door.
Taelor's eyes widened as she examined me up and down. I waited nervously for her answer, gnawing on my lip.
"It's perfect." She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. "I don't think Archer will be able to keep his eyes off you. Or his hands."
And just like that, the moment was ruined.
"Jesus, Taelor!"
I slammed the door in her face. Okay. At the very least, I had found the perfect dress. Now all that was left was to find a pair of heels and convince Archer that this wasn't going to be the terrible night like he thought it was going to be.
~
The night of May 8th was brisk for early spring, biting at my skin as I stepped out of the cab. I had decided to forgo a coat, thinking that it would be warm enough to not need one. Clearly, I was wrong.
I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering, whether from the cold or nerves, I wasn't sure.
I was absolutely in love with the dress I had bought from Forever 21, and I definitely had to give Taelor props for the magnificent job she had done with my hair and makeup, but I still felt awkward. Very, very awkward. I could count on one hand the number of times I had worn a dress, and I wasn't so sure I completely pulled the look off.
And the high heels were another thing.
They were death traps, the heels themselves a few inches, black, with straps around the ankles and jewels set down the front straps. The shoes were beautiful, I could admit that. I just doubted I would be able to walk even a few feet while wearing them.
Archer better be in love with these damn heels, I grumbled silently to myself as I cautiously walked up to Mama Rosa's. The heavy crimson drapes had been drawn over the front windows, but bright light was peeking out through the cracks, so somebody was in there.
I gave myself a moment to get my head in the game, then raised a hand to knock on the door.
The door swung open a minute later and Victoria, Archer's grandmother, was staring out at me shrewdly, eyes narrowed behind her glasses. I knew Victoria approved of me as her grandson's girlfriend, but I still could never be sure that she necessarily liked me all that much.
"Hello?" I said hesitantly as the silence stretched on.
When I was beginning to wonder if she was going to make me stand out here all night long, Victoria finally gave a short nod and moved aside to let me pass through. "Hadley."
And that was it when it came to acknowledgement from Victoria Incitti. In that woman's eyes, though, that was like saying I love you.
"Hadley!" Regina had suddenly appeared behind the front counter from the kitchen and was staring at me with wide eyes. "You look beautiful, caro. The dress is gorgeous."
"Thank you," I said, smiling, as she came round the front counter to give me a hug. "My friend Taelor did most of the work, though."
Not kidding. Taelor had spent a good three hours with me in front of the mirror in her bathroom, using a massive amount of hairspray to do up my hair in an impressive twist of curls, along with jewel encrusted clips keeping stray pieces of hair in place. I normally didn't wear that much makeup, but Taelor had also corrected this. She'd made my dull brown eyes look vibrant with a smoky eyeshadow and eyeliner and a lot of mascara.
As much as it had been an unpleasant experience, I was thankful. Taelor had done a good job, and for the first time in a long time, I felt...pretty.
"Well, regardless," Regina said, smiling, squeezing my shoulders. "You look like a million."
"Thank you," I said again.
"Where's your son, Regina?" Victoria barked, heading for the kitchen. "He's going to be late, if he's taking Hadley out for dinner."
"Wait, what?" I was abruptly confused. "Archer's taking me out to dinner?"
That was a surprise. I had thought we were just going to prom.
"Archer's just upstairs, getting the girls into bed," Regina said, shooting her mother a dirty look. "I swear, he's the only one that can get them to sleep anymore."
We made small talk about prom and how I thought tonight was going to go while I grabbed a leftover mini cinnamon roll from the pastry case and nibbled on it.
It had been a couple minutes and I'd finished my cinnamon roll when I heard footsteps behind me and then Archer was saying, "I swear to God, Ma, you're going to have to start drugging those girls if you want them to ever go to sleep. It's getting ridiculous, I don't know if I - "
I turned to look at him, wondering why he'd suddenly stopped talking. He was staring at me with a blank expression on his face, almost as if he wasn't quite sure just what he was looking at.
"What?" My hands flew to my face. "Do I have cinnamon roll on my face or something?"
"That, Hadley," Regina said, putting an arm around my shoulder, smiling, "is what the word dumbstruck looks like."
Archer seemed to snap out of whatever daze he'd been in to scowl at his mother, and then he took a step forward, laced his fingers through mine to pull me forward.
I felt myself squirm underneath his gaze as his eyes traveled me up and down, then settled on my shoes. The breahtaking grin was back. "Well done."
"Knew you'd like them," I said, pulling a grin of my own.
He laughed, chucking me under the chin, and seemed not to care that his mother and grandmother were in the room, because he kissed me then.
When he pulled away, I finally saw what he was wearing, and I had to admit I was impressed. He was wearing slacks and a black button down shirt. He looked really very handsome, rather dashing. His dark hair had gotten longer over the past few months, curling at his neck, which made me want to run my fingers through it more than I already did.
"You look very handsome," I said with a small laugh. "And you did this for me?"
"Well, not just you," Archer admitted, shrugging. "I only dressed up so nice because my dear mother over there would've beaten me if I hadn't."
Regina snapped at Archer in Italian, something that made Victoria scoff and Archer laugh.
"Come on, you two." Regina snapped her fingers and pointed to the fire grate. "Pictures. Now."
Right. I should've been expecting that.
It took a good fifteen minutes before Archer and I were actually able to leave after posing for a hundred different photos. Regina claimed that she needed to document this momentous occasion in our lives, but I had a sneaking suspicion that she might've just done it because she thought the way Archer was squirming uncomfortably was funny. He liked fiddling with cameras and taking pictures - he'd done my senior photos randomly one day in Central Park - but he didn't like being in the photos themselves.
"Sweet relief." Archer threw back his head and groaned once we were outside in the chill night air. "I thought we'd never get out of there."
"Yeah, well, you survived it," I said, linking my arm through his. "Now tell me - what's this about you taking me to dinner?"
He stared down at me with a shocked expression. "Who told you about that?"
"Your grandmother."
He rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath in Italian, probably some sort of obscenity, like usual.
"Let's just go, okay?" Archer said. "Prom's already started and I'm ravenous."
"It's a bit late for a sit-down dinner, though, isn't it?" I said, frowning, as we walked along down the sidewalk. "It's already half past eight."
I would've expected we would flag down a taxi already, make our way to JFK, yet we were just walking down the street.
He cut his eyes down to me with a smirk. "Who said I was taking you out for a sit-down dinner? That's really not my style, sweetheart."
"What are you - oh."
Of course Archer would never take me to a nice restaurant for dinner, like most typical boyfriends would for their girlfriends on prom night. Because Archer wasn't your typical boyfriend.
He was only here, still alive today, because I had changed fate saving his life. Of course it was only natural that he not be typical.
"A hot dog stand? Really?" I gave Archer an incredulous look, trying to hide back a smile. "This is where you're taking me on prom night? This is your idea of dinner?"
"What? You like hot dogs."
He was right. No point in denying it.
"You're right," I agreed. "So go ahead and order me a damn hot dog."
"There's my demanding woman again. Thought I'd lost you there for a second."
Archer bought us two hot dogs with the works and passed a bunch of napkins to me. I was thankful for this, as there was no way in hell I was ever going to spill anything on this dress.
After we got our hot dogs, we walked a little ways down the sidewalk and took seats on the far edge of a brick windowsill on an old office space that was for rent.
So far this wasn't turning out to be your typical prom night out, but I thought it was somehow fitting. People thought we were weird couple, apparently - it was only fair that we act the part, right?
One of the nice things about being with Archer was that we rarely ever felt the need to fill the silence with conversation. We could spend an entire afternoon together, walking through Central Park and not say a word, because for us, the silence already said everything we needed to know.
It might have been a little cliche, sure, but I wasn't about to question it. It was something I was thankful for, because neither of us were all that skilled in expressing our feelings to one another.
"Pretty good hot dog," I said once I'd finished and wiped my hands clean. "Now what?"
"Now, I oblige your ridiculous request," Archer said, chucking the dirty napkins into a nearby trashcan, "and take you to prom."
I grinned in spite of the rather annoyed expression on his face.
"C'mon, Archer, I think you really might enjoy this," I said, standing, taking his hand in mine.
Positivity was key.
He didn't say anything, but followed along after me as I started leading us down the sidewalk again. We were a good distance away from JFK, but we could make it a few more blocks before my feet started killing me because of my damn shoes.
"Hadley."
I stopped walking, glanced back over my shoulder at Archer. "What?"
I nearly tripped over my feet as he tugged me back towards him. He pulled me up to him, wrapping his arms around my waist, leaning down until his mouth was at my ear. My stomach started doing somersaults almost immediately; Archer was rarely affectionate like this, once in a blue moon.
"I forgot to tell you."
"Forgot to tell me what?" I said, trying not to focus on how hard my heart was pounding. "I don't..."
"Forgot to tell you how beautiful you look tonight."
"Oh."
I didn't know what to say. What was I supposed to say to that?
Oh, thank you, you look really beautiful, too?
Didn't really work for a guy, I thought.
"Come on." Archer stepped away from me, laced his fingers through mine. "We've got prom to get to."
I let out an excited giggle, my heart beat finally returning to normal.
"Dare I say you're actually looking forward to this?" I said conspiritorially as we walked along.
He rolled his eyes, sighing, but managed to spare me a crooked grin. "Spending the night with you? Maybe."
And I ended up being right. Prom was fantastic.
_______________________________________________
Little bit different, this one, but I did enjoy enjoy writing it! Hadley and Archer are definitely not a normal couple, but I figured they deserved something as simple and nice as prom. (: