Next flight out to Utah, I was sky bound. I arrived late, or well I guess early, 4am and I had profusely told Ross I could get a cab but he had insisted. So here I sat at the pick up/drop off zone waiting to see what he had described to me as a death trap on wheels, and sure enough I could hear his car coming around the corner. He pulled up beside me where I had stood on the curb and hurried to get out of his car.
"Hey." He breathed out wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug, I blinked in shock, and before I know it I'm gasping for air and shaking in his arms, desperately trying to keep it together. "Let's get out of here." He said quietly and all I could bring myself to do is nod.
The drive was quiet, and there was hardly any traffic, everything here just looks quaint in comparison to New York. But it gave off the same feel as Indiana, it felt homey and compact.
"So, how was your flight?" He broke the silence and I sighed.
"It actually went by pretty fast, I was asleep for most of it, haven't been sleeping well..." I looked out towards the window, to observe Ross' new life, we were cruising slowly down a cul-de-sac and he pulled into a cobblestone driveway. My brows pulled together in confusion as I saw the house we had stopped in front of.
It wasn't big, but it wasn't what you'd expect an almost second year college student to have. It was a Cape Cod styled house, complete with a white picket fence, if I didn't know any better I would've expected tiny Ross' greeting us by the gate.
This is a domestic dream house.
And suddenly I saw a flicker of a vision, it was me sitting on the front porch, and Ross beside me as he watered the grass, hand in hand, both laughing as two little black haired hazel eyed children frolicked in the sprinkles.
I put a hand on Ross' car to steady myself as I got out, and I shut my eyes tightly trying to forget the image that had graced me.
I have never once thought of my future in the sense of marriage, and all the things that come with it, so what the hell is up with my brains sudden urge to show me these things?
Ross took my bags for me as we went inside, and I was greeted with warmth and the smell of baked goods.
"You bought a house?" I finally asked. As I followed Ross though a hallway leading to an almost barren bedroom, besides the bed that looked untouched.
"Yeah, well my parents, they bought it for my birthday, I just pay for utilities." He shrugged placing my suitcases on the bed, before stepping back. "Would you like a tour?"
"Sure." My words weren't connected to my brain, I was just overstimulated with all these new things. I followed Ross out of the room, and he pointed to all of the doors in the hallway pointing out the guest bathroom, his bed room, and his office. The only thing my brain was really processing was the amount of brown he had in his house that just added to the cozy feeling, and towards the end of the tour I found it hard to keep my eyes open, but when Ross offered me something to drink I found a second wind.
So here we sat at his darling little breakfast bar, indulging in what might be the best wine I have ever tasted.
"So you're talking to your parents?"
"Uh, yeah, they actually reached out to me about half a year ago, it was awkward." He laughed, the sound making my stomach flip. "Well, it was actually my sister who told them to reach out to me." Ross nodded his head as I raised my brow. He hardly talked about his siblings, and now that I think about it, I didn't know one thing about them.
"Anything else new?" I lowered my lashes as I swirled my wine around in the glass. "Any lucky ladies?"
Ross smiled warmly at me before shaking his head. "No, my dating life is rather sad."
"What happened to that girl who read my book?" I asked curiously.
"Every girl that I've met has read your book, that's the problem." He sighed, and I found myself trying to hide my laughter. "What?"
"Sorry, I just, I'm kinda happy." I shrugged. "I'm sad and all that you haven't found someone who makes you happy, but I'm just happy that I don't have to share you with anyone while I'm here." I admitted, looking down at my glass, as I'm sure my face was as red as my wine.
"You spoke too soon." Ross chuckled and I looked up in confusion at the sight of a Siamese cat perched on top of his refrigerator. "I'm sorry to say that my heart belongs to Dilbert here."
"You named your cat Dilbert?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, cause he likes pickles." He brought the cat down from the fridge and placed him on the counter where he sashayed towards me to smell me.
"Well, I'm willing to share if Dilbert is."
•••
I went to bed last night after finishing my glass of wine, and as I woke this morning I almost forgot where I was.
He's the same. My heart swooned, thinking about how many times I had made him laugh, or how many times we would both just forget to speak and just stare at each other.
"Steady, Caspian, this isn't forever." I reminded myself, trying to reign in all of my day dreams about Ross before finally getting out of bed.
The sound of an acoustic guitar greeted me as I stepped into Ross' living room, and there he sat on his worn out sofa, no shirt, and sweat pants on. Like nothing was wrong with the world, he looked up at me and smiled. "Did I wake you?" He rasped and I shook my head.
"No but I'm glad you still play." I sat on another couch, pulling my legs up with me being slightly surprised as Dilbert came up and settled by my feet. "You still write songs?"
Ross waved his hand in a so/so gesture before looking up at me cautiously. "Do you still write?"
I looked down at my hands and shook my head. "I can't, I've gone and spent every creative bone in this body, and all I'm good for now is signing my autograph." I snorted.
"We should probably talk about everything, you know, so you can get on your way to getting better." Ross was treading lightly, but I wasn't afraid to talk to him, how could I? I trust him with my life.
"I passed out on national television, and children everywhere with their stupid smartphones have made me into a meme." I began, and Ross looked at me in confusion.
"That's what is bothering you about this?"
"No, no," I waved my arms frantically. "What bothers me is that those little shits are able to find the humor in this while I'm still struggling to fall asleep at night, because each time I close my eyes, it's like I'm there again, in his car, or even worse, in that damn shed that we burned to the ground. And I'm just being reminded that he's out there, and for some sadistic reason he's set on making me know it."
"Do... do you think he's going to hurt you again?" He asked softly, and I felt a shiver run down my spine.
"I hope not, but legally he can't be within ten miles of me, because Mama Vi helped me get a restraining order against him. But I just needed to get the heck out of there, everything just went wrong so fast, and I think it's best if I just lay low for a bit."
"You think anyone would recognize you here?" He put his guitar up on a stand by a his small fire place, the noise of it hitting its stand startled Dilbert and he darted off the couch and out of the room.
"You tell me, I mean your the one who said that most of the girls you're trying to take an arrow in the knee for have read my book, I guess I should just try my best to remain unseen."
Ross rolled his eyes at my marriage comment. "I still haven't read it myself yet." He looked down at the sun spots on his coffee table.
"It started in September, that's when I first saw him." I recited quietly and Ross' head snapped over to me.
"It's been so long." He was struggling to speak. "I can't bring myself to read it, because once I finally read all of your thoughts and your true feelings..." he shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat.
"I don't think I could bring myself to let you go again."
••••••
Early update :)
I guess now that Rospian is reunited I've gotten more inspiration.
Just curious, I have a couple of questions
1. Do you remember any quotes from this book/moments that really stuck with you?
2. Do you remember adding my story to your library? Did it look intriguing?
3. Which character do you think your most alike?
My answers :)
1. A quote that really sticks with me, was "the world has always just consisted of black and white for me." Because it was something that I always just said inside my head to myself, I've never really told anyone how I felt and such, but I'm really glad I was able to fuse it with my story, because I think when a writer puts bits and pieces of their self within the story, it just makes it more worthwhile to read.
2. The most successful book cover I had ever had was one with Ross on it, I think I jumped up 4K reads just from adding him to the cover, I've been trying to do it again but I haven't found the perfect image yet
3. Obviously I'm most like Caspian, because I've modeled her after me but I'm also like Piper, Caspian is the person I'm trying to be, and Piper is me now, I'm trying to be more ballsy and daring and care free, like Caspian, but I always just end up conforming to whatever pleases the people around me, like Piper.
Thanks so much for reading, please vote, follow and comment! Means the world.
-Aliah