Bailey

Its officially Christmas break and I wanted to take Reggie on our first date. So around the middle of November I completely healed and up until now I have been working with Jonnie and Sam to create the perfect first date for us. For two days I booked us a little cabin to spend time together. 

And to be honest I am freaking out. 

It would be officially my first time alone with a girl for a long amount of time. Jonnie and Sam have been prepping me for a while now so i think i might be okay. 

Might is the key word here. 

At this point have dating Reggie for 3 months now and Jonnie keeps asking us have we done it yet. Which made me realize how dumb he is because I have been recovering this whole time. 

Everything has died down since the shooting at the swim meet and since Victor has been sentenced along with her brother she has been more relaxed that before, which honestly is a huge relief for the both of us. 

But the big question is what is next? What is the next step for us? We are both graduating and neither us know what we want. I am going into this hoping that we both have a clearer issue about what we want in our relationship. 

And I  am terrified because I want this to work. 

Currently Reggie is staying with Sam. I head over there to pick her up. I get the house and knock on the door. Sam opens it with a huge smile on her face. 

"Bailey! Come in Reggie is packing up the last of her things!" I step into the house and wait in the family room. 

"You have a nice house considering its on Riverside." I say to her. 

"Thanks! My parents are actually trying to renovate it." Reggie comes down in a heavy jacket and two bags. 

"Ready!" She says excitingly. She goes down the stairs and drops her bags on the floor and gives me a big hug. 

She puckers her lips for a kiss. I kiss her back. 

"Lets have some fun!" I grab her bags and head to the car. 

"Call me when you get there! I want to make sure you guys get there safely." Sam yells from the house. 

Reggie waves at her and gets in the car. 

We start driving. 

"So where are we going... I heard you, Sam, and Jonnie planned something great for me!" Reggie says excitedly. 

" You will see!" I say as we get on the interstate. After an hour of driving we go and get some dinner at a diner. We sit in a booth and order some food. 

"Tell me something i don't know about you." Reggie says to me. 

"What you don't know about me?" 

"Yes.."

" I really hate my dad." She sips her tea. 

"Why? I want to hear you perspective of your dad. I've heard everyone's else's thoughts but I haven't heard yours." 

"I respected my father he was my idol someone i wanted to be when i grow up. He was very extroverted well loved and respected in society. i was shy since day 1 and i always wished i was him. Around the age of 6 he started the whole riverside separation of citizens. My mother fought him constantly about it but he wouldn't budge and ultimately she even gave up. We would get hate mail and death threats from Riversiders. We even had bricks thrown through our windows."

"Thats terrible. Im sure you were scared, you were so young." 

"It really fucked me up. Then a year later my mom took me to stay at my Aunt's place to get away from all the craziness. During that year she  takes me out in the town to treat me just because I was having a hard time in school and we found my father's dead body hanging on street lamp barely recognizable."

"Jesus.." She says in shock. 

"I still have that picture in my head." I say to her. Our food comes out. "Ever since then to 15 I had recurring nightmares." 

"Do you still get from time to time?" I sigh heavily as i drink my coffee. 

"I have since I got out the hospital, but...in addition to what happened at the swim meet." 

"What happens when you get these nightmares?"

"I wake up in sweats, i struggle to breath, and i feel the areas where I got stabbed." She looks teary eyed. "Don't cry, I'm okay." 

"Whose crying? Im not... Someone put some damn onions in my eggs." I smile as I see her trying to not cry. 

"You have been through more shit than i have and yet you still cry for me."

"I don't like it when good people go through shit and i happen to be more sensitive because its you." 

" I think you are just that compassionate it has nothing to do with me." She doesn't say anything and takes her fork and pulls out one of my fries and eats it. 

"Speechless I see.. I am shocked." 

"You talking a whole lot, yourself." She says while chewing. 

"What was your impression of me when we first met?" I ask her. 

"I thought you were an asshole." She says bluntly. "Glad i was wrong." 

"You really thought i was an asshole?" 

"You didn't talk to me or Sam i really thought you hated us. Not to mention when i talked to you alone you were backing away from me. I thought my breath stank or something." 

I start chuckling. "Im glad you find this funny." She says sarcastically. "But to be honest you intrigued me. When i saw how you worked with the kids... and they way you smiled and interacted with them... It made me.. I dunno... Kind of Jealous in a way.."

"Your Joking.." She shakes her head with a smile on her face. 

"I wanted you to  interact with me in that way. At the time I was annoyed because i thought it was kind of too faced of you to do that, but after interacting with you more. I started to understand what you were about and now I actually really like that side of you. It makes me feel proud because you only show that side to people you truly care about." 

I don't say anything as I eat some of my fries... "Looks who is being shy now... Your ears are like tomatoes Bebe (Bay-Bay)." 

"I think i am so shocked you understand me so well." 

"I may be loud and obnoxious but I am not dumb." She says as she sips her tea again. 

"I never thought you were dumb. Some people just don't care to take the time to understand someone like me so i thank you for seeing something in me worth sticking around for. "

"What did you think of me vs how you think of me now?" I sigh heavily. 

"Where do I begin?" She throws a biscuit at me. I laugh and eat it. " I honestly was terrified of you." 

She starts laughing, "Terrified!? Damn! Wait what were you thinking when I was all in your face during that hiking trip?"

"I was questioning your lack of boundaries." She sips on her tea. 

"I usually don't that." she says 

"Your demeanor was a lot for me at the time." 

"Now you can't get enough of me.." She says flirtatiously.  I drink some water. Her mouth drops. 

"I am kidding!" She squints at me. "I am kidding." I say in a more serious tone. 

"Mhmmm." she sips her tea. 

"But I started seeing more of your redeemable qualities." she laughs softly. 

"Such as?" 

"You are spontaneous in the best way possible, You are caring, brave, you are protective to those close to you, and..."

"Okay you can stop there." she says nervously. "Its embarrassing." She admits. 

We finish our food. I grab Reggie's hand as we head back to the car. 

"Where are we going now?" She asks. 

"To our second location. You are going to be surprised."