~You just want attention, I knew from the start~
Dom texts me back, his reply as long as mine.
'I just said I slept over at your place. It's not my fault they took it the wrong way. And wait, you have feelings for me? I thought you wanted to just be friends.' There is a shrugging boy emoji at the end.
I shake my head and call him.
"I guess you got my text." Dom says quietly when he answers.
"You lied to my friends." I snap. "Any feelings I might have had for you have diminished."
"I didn't lie. I literally told them I slept over." Dom sighs. "Look, Ally, I get that you're mad. You have some right to be. But you can't just say shit and then tell me you have feelings for me."
"I'll make this easy on you, Dom. I don't have feelings for you. I'm going to Texas for my birthday, and I'll be gone for five days." I sigh.
"Are you coming back?" He asks quietly.
"Of course. I have my dream job; I'm not leaving because of something you said." I roll my eyes.
"When do you leave?"
"I leave two days before my birthday. I really need a break." I sigh. "I have to go. Goodbye, Dom." I hang up before he can answer.
"You're a heartbreaker, Ally Murphy." Scott laughs.
The next two weeks fly by. I don't talk to Dom at all, except for the times he sends me a cute animal video with the words 'don't you wish you had one of these' to which I only reply with laughing emojis.
The day I leave to fly home, David drives me to the airport. I thank him and get out, shuffling into the airport.
The entire flight home, I think of Dom. I hate the way I left things with him, but I can't get attached.
My dad picks me up from the airport, my stepmom and youngest stepbrother with him.
I throw my arms around them when I see them.
"I missed you guys!" I exclaim.
"We have a surprise." My dad steps to the side to reveal Gaven, in from New York.
I scream and throw my arms around him. "You're fucking here!" I exclaim.
He squeezes me tight before pulling away. "Bitch, you better give me all the juicy details."
That night, my stepbrother and I curl up on my bed at my dad's place.
"So you and Dom? How's that?" Gav asks.
"Fucking terrible." I sigh. "He lied to Scotty and Toddy about me. I really thought I liked him. He's such a jerk."
I hand my phone to Gav and show him pictures of me and Dom.
"Look. I found this one the other day." The picture is from the night Dom slept over. I'm asleep, but my head is still on Dom's shoulder. He's smiling and his head is resting on mine. We look really cute.
Gav echoes my thoughts, saying, "You guys look really cute."
"I know." I pout.
"Look, Al, he cares about you, right? You care about him, right?" I nod. "So just make up."
"I can't make up with him!" I exclaim. "My pride is at stake."
"Don't be stubborn." Gav laughs.
"I'm not stubborn! I can't reach out to him first." I shake my head. "That would prove that I'm weak. I'm not."
"It would prove that you're an adult who wants to resolve things."
I groan. He's right. "Fine! I'll text him."
I text Dom, asking if we can hang out and talk when I get back to LA. I also add that I'm sorry for the things I said, and that the words I said at the party are still true.
To my surprise, he doesn't answer. I still don't receive an answer by the time I go to sleep four hours later.
When I wake up, my dad surprises me with tickets to go to a Hayley Kiyoko concert, one of my favorite artists. The concert is tonight, and we'll stay in the big city for my birthday tomorrow where we'll go celebrate.
There are only two tickets; one for me and one for Gav. My youngest stepbrother, Clayton, is staying with his grandmother since he's not old enough to go party with us. Gav isn't either (he's only nineteen) but he can still go with us.
We head to Dallas, where the concert will be. We arrive at a hotel and I change clothes. I was wearing my clickbait sweatshirt with a pair of jeans. I now wear a black skirt with fishnet tights, my Louboutins, and a black crop top. I wear a denim jacket over the top. I fix my makeup so it's dark and vampy and pin my hair up so I won't get too sweaty.
Gav wears a black and gray flannel over dark jeans and Chelsea boots. We look super cute.
We make my dad and stepmom take lots of pictures of us before we head to the venue.
The concert is amazing. While we sing and dance in the crowd, my mind wanders. I'd like to go to a concert with Dom. I'm upset that he still hasn't responded to my text from last night. When the concert is over, Gav and I walk back to our hotel, which is across the street from the venue.
"How was the concert?" My stepmom, Cathy, asks.
"It was so much fun!" I exclaim. "Gav and I bought matching T-shirts."
I slip off my heels and hug my dad tightly. "Thank you so much for the tickets."
"They, um, actually weren't from me." Dad scratches behind his hair.
"Who would they be from?" I roll my eyes.
"Um, your boss." Dad says.
"David Dobrik? David Dobrik bought me tickets to see Hayley Kiyoko for my birthday?" I exclaim.
"Yeah. He thought since you aren't in LA, that you should still celebrate like you were. Also, he wants you to promote Seat Geek since they got the tickets." Dad shrugs.
I text David in all caps. 'No fucking way those tickets were from you! David, you really shouldn't have!'
'It's for a brand deal. Just mention them in anything you post about the concert. Trust me.' There's a winking-face emoji at the end and I laugh.
"I can't believe David did this." I shake my head.
"He did something else too." Cathy smiles. "You have a visitor."
I spin around as the door to mine and Gav's bedroom opens. "Hi, Ally."
It's Dom. Dom is here. In my hotel room.
I stare at him for a moment. "What -- How are you here?" I exclaim.
"I got on a plane and came here. I actually just landed an hour ago." Dom runs a hand through his hair.
"There's no way this is real." I shake my head as he comes closer to me.
"It's real." Gav pushes me. "Go get him."
Dom closes the gap between us and he wraps me in his arms. "I realize that I acted like a dumbass, but I came to a realization." He says, looking down at me.
"What's that?" I reply, my eyes wide.
"I don't want to be just friends with you." He says, and he kisses me.
I pull away and stare at him. "There's no way this is real," I repeat before I kiss him again.
"Ok, that's enough." Dad coughs.
I pull away and blush. "Dom, you're really here! Where are you staying?"
"I had to get a room on a different floor, but I will be back tomorrow to take you and your stepbrother to breakfast." Dom brushes a hand across my cheek.
"How the hell did you get here?" I shake my head.
"David." He smirks.
"That cheeky little bastard." I scoff. Of course, it was David.
"I'll see you in the morning." Dom brushes a kiss on my cheek before he leaves the room.
"Did you all know?" I turn to my family.
Gav steps forward, proudly. "I knew. Well, actually, your friends Scotty and Toddy sent me a DM on Instagram and told me about David's plan to send you tickets. But then David himself sent me the DM about Dom coming. Originally, he was supposed to show up to go to the concert, but his plane was delayed so we had to improvise."
"How did you keep this a secret?" I exclaim.
"It wasn't hard." Dad shrugs. "We just had to keep the details as minimal as possible. We are going out to party tomorrow, but we got you and Dominic tickets to a show at the House of Blues at eight pm."
I begin to cry tears of happiness. How the hell did they do this?
"Don't cry." Cathy hugs me.
"I'm happy." I sob. "I can't believe you guys did this. I can't believe Dom is really here."
As I lay down to sleep, Gav smiles widely. "Hey, Ally, I have something to show you."
He shows me a picture that he took earlier. It's of me and Dom when we kissed. It's a beautiful picture, and it brings me to tears.
"Dude, fucking send that to me." I smile, crying softly.
When I receive the photo, I send it to Dom and set it as my homescreen and lockscreen on my phone.
'Go to sleep, Ally. The sooner you do, the sooner I'll see you,' is all he responds with.
I laugh and turn off the lights. Gav and I talk until midnight when he jumps on my bed and whisper-yells 'happy birthday' in my ear. I laugh and push him off me.
My phone dings with an Instagram notification. Dom posted a photo of me. Well, of us. The day I got my bomb tattoo. It's him, kneeling next to my leg right after Romeo tattooed it. He's giving the camera two thumbs-up as I laugh. The caption reads, 'Happy birthday to this girl. I don't know what I'd do without her. Ps follow her, she's the bomb'
I smile and turn off my phone. I fall asleep with the biggest smile on my face. Who knew Dom was such a sweetheart.