I woke up before my alarm could even go off. I sit up and realize it'll be 2 hours before I had to pick up Evie. Sander agreed to drop me to the parking lot to pick up Evie's car and drive my truck back home for me. He didn't seem to have any objections simply because it meant he could use my truck for the day. I head into the shower to wash off last night's events and prepare for whatever today will bring. After my shower, I threw on a few outfits that I thought would impress Evie. I finally settled on some grey sweats and a black t shirt with my black snapback to match. I figured since we'd be staying in today, there wouldn't be a need to wear a tux. Which I did try on in case I had to turn on the charm factor but decided against it. I raced down the steps, informing my parents that i'd be out today helping Evie and my plan for Sander to take my truck for the day.
"You better tell Sander to keep your truck in the condition you gave it to him in!" dad said.
"It's nice of you sweetie to help out with the Holloways. They've been through so much, poor Evie" mom adds with a small smile.
After refusing mom's protests to take some snacks for my day at the Holloway's, I head out of the house to go to Sander's. Before I start my truck, I recheck the playlist I made on Spotify. I click 'Macho Man' and all the songs we listened to seem to be accounted for. I smile at the thought of Evie's little performance of "You and Me" by Lifehouse and pressed play. I made my way to Sander's house and it's a good thing I knew better than to depend on the guy to be awake early on a Saturday.
I knock on the door and i'm greeted by Sander's little sister, Bella. She motioned me to carry her and I obliged. Bella was about 8 years old but loved to be babied when I came around. She was the little sister I shared with Sander.
"DAVY, DAVY, DAVY I missed you! What are you doing here? Are you staying over for the day? Please stay, you're nicer than Sander" Bella pleads while giving me countless of little snuggles.
"Oh hey David, it's so nice to see you. Sander's still asleep if you're looking for him" Sander's mom, Greta greets me.
"Good morning Mrs. Diaz, I thought so. I came to pick him up if that's okay. He's taking my truck for the day" I said. Mrs. Diaz scoffs before giving me a hesistant nod. I take Bella upstairs with me to wake her brother up.
"Okay Bell's now whose my favorite girl?" I ask as I put her down.
"ME! ME! ME!" she says while gleaming at me and jumping up and down.
"Yes! Now can my favorite girl go in there and jump on her brother for me to wake him up?"
"OKAY DAVY" Bella yells before she runs to her brother's bed and lays a smack down on his back.
"What the-" Sander says before realizing i'm standing in his doorway and Bella is still seated on his back.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up big brother. David is here, wake up" Bella giggles as she bounces up his back. Sander snarls at me and proceeds to lift himself up, dropping Bella on the side of the bed.
"Who put you up to this Bells?"he asks while looking at her. Bella points to me and I raise my hand in defense.
"We had a deal now get your ass up and let's go" I say before hastily walking out to wait for him downstairs.
After about 30 minutes, we leave to go pick up Evie's car at school. We pull up next to the green Land Rover and I grab her keys she left on the seat. I instruct Sander to meet me at my house at around 6 to head to practice. Also informing him numerous times not to be reckless, we part ways and I decide to order some food from Double D's for breakfast for Evie and I. I ordered two orders of chocolate pancakes, a side of bacon and eggs as well as two hot coffees.
I pick up the food and head to the hospital. Before I can make my way in, I see Evie sitting outside waiting on the bench near the hospital entrance. "My dad signed the release papers last night and I thought of staying all morning in my room, i'd save you the time and wait down here instead" she tells me before getting up.
"It's no trouble at all you know. I was kind of hoping you'd be asleep again and i'd hold your hand" I wink at her.
"So you can continue your little confession, Romeo" she smirks back at me. Instead of protesting and telling her it was a spur of the moment situation, I decide against it and lead her to her car. After situating her in the car, I hook my phone up to her aux wire and play the playlist I made for her before I fell asleep last night. "Oh Darling" by Plug In Stereo fills the car and I start singing the first line.
"You seem quite nice for a girl with good looks and i'm the type of fella to make you feel better when your life gets shook so," I sang offkey while looking at her. I see her blushing so I continue,"give it a chance, according to your plans I bet i'm not number one on your list to kiss but please understand" and the songs riff begins to play. Evie shifts uncomfortably and looks away before looking back and taking the female part away, "oh you seem quite shy but you're oh so cute and i'm the kinda girl who would like to be yours if you ask me to so just take a chance, try to hold my hand, I swear i'll never let go just to let me know if you'd be my man" she belts out, less offkey than I was. She took the bait I planted for her and I smirked at her before saying, "it took you long enough to ask me Holloway." She shakes her head and continues to grin at me. After singing the chorus together, we stop singing and let the song play out as we sat in silence. A few more songs play through and Evie raises her eyebrow at me after the 5th song.
"Did you steal my playlist while I was unconscious David or did you finally realize good music on your own?" she asks with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"No but I know a certain someone may ride in a car with me someday so I wanted to be prepared" I replied back.
"Oh a shame, the girl you like must have good taste in music," she teases.
"Nah I just think she likes sappy romance music but then again, she's not a romantic"
"I am so a romantic! I watched every Nicholas Sparks movies and read every book. No one knows love more than I do!" She protests with her arms folded across her chest.
"Says the girl who won't give love a try" motioning a finger between us. Evie rolls her eyes at me and looks to stare out her window. Her house came into view. A white house with chocolate brown trimmings. A sycamore tree cascading out of the back yard, covering most of the back of the house. The front porch you can tell was just freshly painted matching the trimming and outside had two white patio chairs and a small rounded coffee table by the door.
"I'll grab your stuff and bring it in okay. I'll meet you inside" I say back to her.
"No, it's fine. I can take down a purse and a backpack David, my arms aren't broken" she shoots back at me.
"But Evi-" I was cut off with her reaching behind her seat and grabbing her bag. When her dad said she was stubborn, he wasn't kidding. I run over to open her door before she can protest and help her out of the passenger seat. She fumbles in her purse to find her house keys. I've never exactly been inside her house but i've drove past it picking up Ava a few times. I walked inside the foreign doorway and Evie led to me the kitchen. She informed me she was going to take a shower while I set up the table for breakfast. I run back to my truck to grab the food as well as the coffees and head back in.
Not knowing where the plates are, I search the cabinets and cupboards before finding the dishes placed up on the top cabinet near the sink. I set up two plate settings and transfer the food onto a bigger plate. After I was done, Evie comes down the stairs to greet me. She changed her outfit into grey sweats and a black shirt with her hair in a bun. A smirk plays on my lips when I realized we're matching.
"So I make a playlist for you and you decide to color code with me today" I say to her cheekily.
"I didn't even think of that," as she eyes me up and down then looking down at her outfit. "I mean I wanted to be comfortable too since we're staying in so this is as good as it gets!"gesturing to her appearance.
"Hey, i'm not arguing. I already agreed to be your man in the car so if this is your way to proclaim we're going to be a cheesy couple and wear the same outfits, i'm not protesting" I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
"You're impossible you know that. It was a song" she states while rolling her eyes at me. We bantered back and forth for a while before beginning to eat.
"These chocolate chip pancakes are scrumptios" she groans taking another bite.
"I'm glad you like them. Nothing beats Double D's food no matter what time of day it is" I respond back.
"You know for competitive athlete, you sure do eat a lot of foods bad for you. It's a wonder how you maintain your physique" she adds in. I flex my right bicep for her to see and catch her gawking at the veins protruding from the muscle.
"It's nice that you're impressed but you shouldn't leave your mouth open, flies will try to go in" I say back trying to contain my laugh.
We finished eating breakfast and I decided to clear up and throw the trash while Evie did the dishes.
We settle into the living room and decide to watch Hulu. After arguing between Veronica Mars and Brooklyn Nine Nine, we somehow ended up watching Naruto Shippuden. It turns out Evie was just into anime as I was which made me mentally add to the list of why I was infatuated with this girl.
"I watch this mostly because I find Sasuke hot" she blurts out.
"No way, Sakura is where it's at" I argue back.
"Well i'm not into girls David so..."
"Would've been kinda hot if you were" I said in a fit of laughter. Evie takes this as her opportunity to smack me with a throw pillow as the credits start to roll. She lifts the pillow to smack me another time when I catch her arm. Our eyes lock for a moment and I lean my head in toward her. I can't help but stare at her lips. I advance in and land a peck on her lips. She looks at me and then proceeds to pull me into a full on kiss.
We begin to makeout and I feel her hands running through my hair. I grab her on my lap to straddle me and I begin to intensify the kiss. We pull away to catch some air after about 10 minutes.
"So much for just watching Naruto" I say to break the silence.
Evie is still seated on me and continues to catch her breathe. She climbs off my lap and lands beside me on the couch.
"That was uhh..." she trails on while wiping her lips. Those lips. I could be stuck on those all day and not care for breathing I thought to myself. Not trying to push my luck, I turn to face her.
"So I never got the chance to actually finish my speech in the hospital and I see that it's better late than never right?" I ask her. She hesitates before giving me a nod to continue.
"So... i'm pretty sure I have made myself clear that i'm into you and I want a shot to be with you. After all those years of rejection, I don't want to miss my chance at seeing what could happen between us. I don't want to leave this town knowing i'm leaving you behind and giving up when I know I could've tried harder. Is it too soon to say that I think i'm madly in love with you Evie Holloway and if you'll have me, i'd like to take you out on a date?" I plead hoping this wouldn't be another rejection.
"No" she says effortlessly. The words leave her mouth before she even had time to think. She then grabs my hands in hers and turns to face me.
"David, I have thought about this so many times. Believe me when I say that I want to be with you, I truly do. You're the whole package deal. You're a model student, you're a top athlete, you're the nicest down to Earth guy that i've ever come across. Those deep blue eyes and your brown curls that sit ontop of your perfectly chiseled face drives me crazy everytime I see you in the halls. Walking past you knowing that you want me too breaks my heart . I have a lot going on and as you can see, a health condition that isn't exactly stable. You can do better than me David and you know it. I'm broken but you aren't and you don't deserve to be caught up in my mess."She says with defeat and tears swelling in her eyes. I reach in to hug her and hold her. She grabs onto my shirt and continues to bawl. This goes on for 10 minutes as I rub her back and soothe her to calm her down. She finally stops crying and moves her head away from my chest and sits up again. She looks me in the eye and says, "I think it would be better if you just go. I appreciate all the things you did for me last night and today but I think it's time for you to go."
Without protesting, I get off the couch and look at her one last time. We have went from kissing to her convincing me to leave and walk away. This girl in front of me whose had me in her grasps since 13 years old. The girl who stole my heart and has never given it back. The girl who I love to steal kisses from. The girl who has broken my heart too many times to count asking me to move on when nothing even was able to start. I close my eyes to remember this moment. The moment I decided I am done chasing Evie Holloway.