Chapter 30:

Beckinsile's Point of View

"Mom, Ed got a record deal..." I say as my mom brings me a mug of tea Saturday morning.

"That's amazing, sweetheart..." She still looks tired from her and dad's business trip.

"Yeah but that means he's not coming to school anymore." I look down sadly at my mug.

"I'm sorry, Becky..." My mom puts her hand on my cheek and kisses my forehead.

"I know; I should get him a gift..." I say as I take a sip of tea.

"That's a good idea, sweetheart." My mom smiles as Gabe and Nate come into the kitchen.

"I'm going to go get dressed and call Oliver...We can go shopping..." I stand up and walk towards the stairs.

"I pity your boyfriend," Gabe smirks.

"Isn't it too early for this?" I groan.

"It's never too early to annoy you..." Gabe grabs a mug and fills it up with coffee.

I stick my tongue out at him and then go up to my room. I dial Oliver's number and press the phone to my ear with my shoulder while I pick out an outfit.

"Hey, sweetheart..." Oliver says after a few rings.

"Hey; we need to get Ed a gift..." I say as I slip into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt; my lazy Saturday outfit.

"Okay, I'll pick you up in ten."

"Thanks, what should we get him?" I mutter as I run the mascara wand through my lashes.

"We'll figure that out later but I need to go get ready now..."

"Okay, I love you..."

"Love you too, Babe..." Oliver hangs up and I finish getting ready.

~~~~~

"What should we get him?" I ask as I slide into Oliver's car.

"I have no idea," Oliver chuckles.

"We could get him some custom guitar picks..." I say with ample uncertainty.

"Sounds cool; I'll take you to Rickie's in the city..."

"Great," I say and lean back in my seat.

~~~~~

"Rickie," Oliver says the minute we get in the door of guitar shop titled Triple R G S.

Rickie, a balding man dressed in a Bruce Springsteen t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, has a smile on his face the minute he sees Oliver.

"Olly," The man pulls Oliver into a hug and claps him on the back. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well, my friend got a record deal and I need to get him a gift." Oliver leans up against the counter and waits for Rickie's response.

"Is it this friend?" Rickie says and points in my general direction.

"No," Oliver says with an eye roll.

"Is she a sore spot for you, Oliver?" Rickie smirks and walks behind the counter. "Did you turn him down?" He smirks turning towards me.

I laugh a little and walk towards the counter.

"Like Brussel sprouts," I can feel the smile playing on my lips.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Beckinsile." Oliver rolls his eyes again and grabs my hand.

"Oh, I see how it is..." Rickie winks. "Now, what do you want to get for this friend of yours?"

"What would you recommend?" I ask in a polite tone.

"He has a guitar I'm guessing," Rickie's expression begs for conformation.

"He has six," I say with a little laugh.

"I'm guessing another one is out of the question?" Rickie looks over the brim of his wire-rimmed glasses.

"Yeah," My voice wanders as I look at the guitars hung on the back wall.

"Beautiful aren't they?" Rickie's tone is full of pride.

"What do you think would be a good gift?" Oliver asks.

"We've got leather bound books for song writing and custom guitar picks personalized to your liking." Rickie taps his fingers on the glass counter top.

"We'll get a songbook and a set of custom guitar picks." I say and slide the credit my mom let me borrow across the counter.

"Decisive; I like it. What kinds of designs? They come in sets of three, so you need to pick three designs." Rickie slides a book of designs across the counter to me.

Oliver and I look through and settle on three pretty fast.

"The wolf, The Rolling Stones logo and then one with his initials which are ES," Rickie nods as soon as I'm done and goes to a machine behind the counter where I'm guessing the guitar picks are made.

~~~~~

Rickie's done and has sent us on our way within ten minutes. I slide back into shotgun as Oliver backs out of the parking lot.

"What shall we do now, love?" Oliver says with a smirk.

"I don't know; I'm kind of hungry..." My voice trails off as Oliver comes to a red light.

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Oliver puts his foot down on the gas the minute the light turns green.

"Are you taking me to another fabulous restaurant?" I ask with a little laugh.

"It's not as good as Paradox but it'll be good; you just have to trust me, Becks."

"I do, Olly Pop..." I sigh a little and lean back in my seat.

In a few minutes his car pulls up in front of a 50s style diner. He grabs my hand and we walk in together.

"Oliver," An older lady with bright red hair and a kind wrinkled face walks towards us the minute we enter the small establishment.

"Loretta," Oliver calls back and pulls her into a hug.

"Who's this little sweetheart?" Loretta shoots a kind smile my way.

"That's Beckinsile, my girlfriend." Oliver grins.

"Hi, I'm Loretta..." The lady holds her hand out for me to shake. "So sweet; table for two?"

"That'll work," Oliver smiles and follows Loretta to a back booth.

We take our seats and Loretta hands us our menus.

"May I take your drink orders?" She asks and pulls out her order pad.

"Two chocolate milkshakes..." Oliver states immediately.

"No surprise there," Loretta sighs and walks off to the kitchen.

"You won't regret the chocolate milkshake; it's the best one you'll ever have."

"I don't think I have a choice, Olly pop." I tap his nose and then look over the menu.

"Well, you're not wrong there..." Oliver's menu is already closed; I'm pretty sure he's known what he wanted since the minute we sat down.

"You have such a wild social life; it seems like everywhere we go you know somebody..." I smirk and wait for an explanation.

"Yeah, the owner of a guitar store and a waitress that worked with my mom; I'm real popular...Have you not noticed that they're all at least thirty years older than me?" Oliver chuckles a little as Loretta comes back with our milkshakes.

"Here you all go...Are you ready to order?"

"Yeah; I'll get chicken nuggets, please."

"I think I should've given him the kids menu..." Loretta rolls her eyes and waits for my order.

"I'll get a BLT..." I smile and close my menu.

"Great, I'll bring your food out as soon as possible." Loretta collects our menus and disappears into the kitchen.

"So, who was a better kisser; me or Kyle?" Oliver smirks and sips on his milkshake.

"Not funny; I really felt bad about it..." I pout and Oliver grabs my hand from across the table.

"Answer the question, Becks..." Oliver has an amused smile playing on his lips.

"You because I wanted to and...you don't force me into it." I smile at Oliver.

"He forced you? Oh gosh, I need to teach this punk a lesson..." Oliver cracks his knuckles.

"Please never do that again," I laugh a little.

"I don't want anyone to take you away from me and if some guy's messing with you than it's my job to protect you ..." Oliver has a sincere look in his eyes.

"You're so cute," I tap his nose again and take a sip of my milkshake. "You're right; this is the best milkshake I've ever had." I gush and go in for another sip.

"Aren't I always right?"

"Don't go getting a big head, Marshall..." I warn as Loretta comes back balancing a tray with our food on it.

"BLT for the mature lady and chicken nuggets for the man-child..." Loretta gives us our food and then asks if we need anything else.

"We're good; thank you." Oliver smiles as Loretta goes to another table.

I sink my teeth into the sandwich and close my eyes to savor it.

"How is it that wherever you take me always has the best food?" I laugh and steal a fry from Oliver.

"Hey, you have your own..." Oliver scrunches his eyebrows and pouts.

"Loretta wasn't wrong about the man-child thing..." I laugh and Oliver joins in.

"No, but I'm serious about the fry thing; get your own..." Oliver takes one off my plate and pops it in his mouth.

We finish our meal quickly and soon enough Oliver is asking for the check.

"Let me pay for part of it..." I plead.

"No, when you're out with me you don't have to pay..." Oliver sets a credit card down on the receipt tray and waits for Loretta to come back for it.

"Thank you," I smile sincerely.

"No problem, sweetheart." Oliver rubs his thumb across the back of my hand.

~~~~~

"Thanks so much for lunch and for taking me shopping," I kiss Oliver on the cheek and he catches me around the waist.

He smirks and places his lips gently on mine. We're still sitting in his car, thankfully out of view of my parents. I tangle my fingers in his hair and he pulls me as close as possible.

"I love you," Oliver says in a whisper.

"I know; I love you too..." I smile and lean my forehead against his. "I better go; I'll text you later." I let go of him slowly and grab my bags. I walk up to the front door with a new spring in my step and a smile pinching my cheeks.

I search for my key and struggle to open the door. As soon as I do, I wave to Oliver and he speeds off. My smile widens as I close the door behind me and toss my keys onto the side table. I walk out to the living room and call Oliver, Ed and Fiona, leaving them a message to come by my house tomorrow around three.

I then slip my phone into my back pocket and walk back into the kitchen looking for inspiration as to what to do for Ed tomorrow. I grab my mom's recipe book and flip through until I find a chocolate cake recipe worthy of Ed's goodbye.

I locate all the ingredients and begin by pre-heating the oven. Then I combine the butter and sugar before getting to work on the dry ingredients.

~~~~~

After an hour of tedious labor, I have a perfectly frosted chocolate cake ready for Ed's goodbye tomorrow. I let out a deep breath and then begin to clean up the flour dusted kitchen. As soon as everything's in the dishwasher, I put the cake in the refrigerator and then retire to the living room for some much need binge-watching.

~~~~~

It's Sunday afternoon and my friends are just now arriving. I've wrapped Ed's gift and have the cake set out in the kitchen. I pull Ed into a hug the minute he walks through the door and I can feel the tears already starting to begin; I'm such a wimp. Ed chuckles a little as we let go.

"This is a party, Becks; no tears, not until the end..." Ed smirks and I find myself laughing a little. "There's that smile; we need to see more of that..."

"You're such a dope," I ruffle his hair as we all walk towards the kitchen.

"Don't insult the guy that's leaving," Ed chides.

"You better watch it, Sheeran." I say and nod to Fiona to cover his eyes.

"Fi, get your grubby paws off my beautiful eyes..." Ed fights to get her hands off him but she's got an iron grip.

"Not a chance, Ed-weirdo."

"Surprise," We all shout and Ed's eyes light up the minute he sees the cake and the gift.

"Thank you guys," Ed pulls us into a group hug.

"You're welcome; who wants some cake?" I ask as we release each other.

"Me," They all chrous simultaneously like kids at a birthday party.

I cut the cake and pass everyone a slice.

"On three; one...two...three..." I say and we all dig in.

The only sound in the room is soft chewing from everyone enjoying their cake.

"Becks, this cake is amazing..." Ed gushes as he finishes his slice.

"Thanks; you need to open your gift now..." I squeal and thrust the package at him.

"Okay, okay..." He says and begins to unwrap the gift.

A smile spreads across his face as he pulls out the songbook and the bag with the guitar picks.

"These are awesome..." Ed dumps out the guitar picks and looks over them.

"I'm glad you like them," I smile and pull him into a hug.

"What should we do now?" Fiona pipes in.

"Binge-watch..." Ed and I say at the same time and then high five.

~~~~~

Its eight o'clock at night and everyone has left except Ed. He's still seated on my couch as he's been doing since we met. We're watching crime dramas just like the old times and the fact that he's not going to school anymore hasn't affected us in the slightest.

"Another one?" I ask.

"Go for it..." Ed says and throws the blanket over the two of us.

"We should order pizza first," I say and pull out my phone.

"Always thinking ahead," Ed smirks as I dial the pizza company's number.

"We need a large cheese pizza," I say to the person on the other end of the phone conversation.

The person takes my credit card number and then tells me when my pizza will arrive.

Twenty minutes later the delivery guy hands us a large cheese pizza. We don't even bother with plates and just eat the pizza out of the box while watching crime dramas.

~~~~~

"I'm going to miss you so much," I wrap Ed in a hug before he even has a chance to open the front door.

"I know; I'm going to miss you too..." Ed holds me close and whispers in a low voice. "I'll be back before you know it...we can binge-watch crime dramas and pig out on junk food." I laugh a little as Ed continues to hug me.

"It's a plan," I can feel the tears sparkling in my eyes as he lets me go.

"Don't cry, Becks; I swear I won't forget about you...You're my best friend and no distance could ever change that." Ed's holding me at arm's length and giving me a small smile.

"Same here," I laugh and dry my tears. "I'll see you soon, Ed..." I hug him once more before letting him walk towards his car.

"Soon," he says before slipping into his car.

"Soon," I whisper back and watch him drive off.