What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (39 page)

             
Alex
was
quiet for a minute. “I know how much you love your
family.
You
consider Derek and Lexi family even when they aren’t. You
are one of the strongest
people
I know and every time I look at
you,
I’m amazed at how you take care of those
girls, putting
them first in
everything,
even if it means
you’re
making yourself
unhappy
. I want to make you happy. I want to help make the girls
happy.
I want to have the chance to know more
about
you and for you to prove that the assumptions
I’ve
made are true.”

             
“
Alex,
it isn’t that easy or simple. Look at the assumptions we both made already. I was pretty sure you were the type of guy who could sing a song for me and turn around
and walk into the next room looking to screw a
groupie.
You
believed I slept with Derek last night.
We clearly don’t know each other or each
other’s
character.” I looked right at
him, but
he didn’t say anything, because he knew I was right.  We assumed
the worst in each other without even questioning the fact there could be another possibility to the situation. “Even if we tried
this,
and you get to know the girls, you still live in California,
and
I’m in Michigan. Traveling back and forth isn’t easy and your career keeps you on the road or in a studio. You can’t be the type of guy I need when I’m in a relationship.”

             
“Tell
me,
what is the type of guy you
need?
”
He slid
his plate away and I
noticed
he
hadn’t
eaten anything either.

             
“Someone who is the
re
for
me
and
a guy who will let me cry
when life gets too hard. An equal who wants to split all responsibilities 50/50, takes care of the girls when I am sick or
holds them even after they puke. Someone who loves me for me and not the person
they want me to be. A partner
;
that is the type of guy I want.”

             
Alex
stood up,
walked
over to my chair and
knelt
in front of me. “Abby, how will you find him if you don’t open up or give him a chance? Let me have the chance to fail before you completely close me out. I need you in my life,
because
I’m
miserable without you in it.
Obviously,
we need to get to know each other better so, let’s hang out and date. I told the guys I was done
,
so
I have lots of time to be the guy you need. L
et me take you out and
have the
chance to really meet the girls.”
I
wanted
him to be the guy, but there
were
so many things in the way.

             
“You can’t leave the band, not for me or because of last night.”

             
“No, I almost lost
you,
because they thought
it was funny to push some girl
on
me, so
if they can’t respect me or how I feel about
you,
then I don’t want to be apart of it anymore.”

             
“I’ll make you a deal. You talk to the guys and
I’ll
give you a chance.
They’ve
been your family for a large part of your life and you can’t leave things with them like this. After you talk to them,
you’ll
get your chance. We’ll forget about the past and have a fresh start.”
I knew there was a huge possibility of getting hurt again, but I kne
w
that
I
couldn’t
possibly
be as
miserable,
knowing we tried and
failed, than
just closing him out
. I
needed him in my life and if I didn’t take
the risk,
I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life.

             
Alex leaned in and kissed me softly and quickly on the lips. “I don’t want to forget everything from the past.” I
grabbed
him,
kissed
him
and immediately my body started to feel the tingling
effects
from the kiss. I wanted him and I needed him more then I ever wanted to admit to
anyone or myself
. As we were kissing, Der
ek and Sam walked into the room.
Alex
and I
pulled
away and
looked
at each other. We
hadn’t
worked everything out, but we
had
a place to start.

             
“Thank god, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen if we came back and you two had
n’t worked things out.” Sam threw her bag on
the couch.

             
“Alex has a phone call or two to make first and then
we’ll
see what happens.” I smile
d at
him,
hoping we could
do this
relationship and he could
fix things with the guys.

             
“Yeah, this coming from the woman not talking to her own mother, but I’ll call the guys and talk thin
gs out. I promise.” Alex stood now and wa
s l
eaning against the table. I stoo
d and
started
walking towards the hallway to the rooms.

             
“
I am talking to my mother and
Lexi again. I managed to fix both relationships last
night,
while I was avoiding all of you.
Now,
I am going to change and
pack,
because I have museums to get
to
. This is my favorite place to be.” I disappeared into my room and I heard Alex asking Derek what happened with Lexi and
me,
and why we had been fighting. I heard Derek tell him it was a long story and as I
said, we
had places to get
to,
so there was no time for the details.

             
When I came
out,
everyone was in the living room area waiting on me.
There was still so much to sort through in regards to Alex and
me
. I wasn’t sure what was going to ha
ppen and where we
would
go from here, but time would
tell.
I needed to give us
that
time to sort it all out.

             
“I talked to the guys. We cancelled the ne
xt
show.
We’re
taking a
break for a
few
days
and
then
I’m
meeting up
with them
in Vegas.
We’ll
have
about ten days left of
the
tour from there. Sam and I are
going to intrude
on the day you and Derek are having.
I’ve
never visited any of the museums here in our
nation’s
capital and
I
feel it is un-Am
erican of me to do that.” I had a huge smile on my face. I was so happy
that
I
could
spend time with Alex in my favorite
place
.

             
“I want to te
ll her the
rest,
” Sam interrupted
. “
We’ll
be driving back to Pittsburgh with you guys. Derek said you were taking the girls to the zoo tomorrow and
we’re
tagging along.
I’ve
never been to a zoo in my life.” Sam had a big smile on her face.

             
“You’ve never been to the zoo ever?” I was
shocked, because
that is something all kids usually
visit;
at least
that is what
I thought. It was something that I had just taken for granted.

             
“
Never, so I’m
excited to go with kids who will let me experience it through
their eyes. Then
I can be excited and won’t feel
embarrassed
.” I walk
ed
over to Sam and hug
ged
her.

             
“I still get excited every time the penguins dive in front of me behind the glass, so don’t feel embarrassed. I’m so happy
you’re
coming with us. When did you guys decide al
l this?” I wasn’t gone that long and a lot had been planned already
.

             
Derek wa
s the first to speak. “Well, Sam and I figured you guys would work things
out,
and since Alex was f
ighting with his band
mates,
we
thought
Sam and Alex
would have some down time.
Sam and I figured you needed as much time together as possible. Alex is staying with me at my place and I thought you could let Sam bunk with you at David’s parents if you don’t mind asking them.”

             
“I’m sure they won’t
care.
I’ll call them once we get moving, but since this is your first time in
DC,
we are changing things up a bit. We have the changing of the guard to see,
because
everyone
should
see
that. Then
we’re
hitting the mall, mainly the
memorials,
because it gives you a sense of remembrance and appreciation for the
military.
Then, we’re off to
the Library of Congress, because I want to go there.
”
I look
ed
over at
Derek.
“Do you
mind
? I know you got tickets to a few of the museums, but I just thought
…
” I trailed
off,
hoping I
hadn’t
hurt his feeling
s.

             
Derek walked o
ver to me and grabbed my
bag,
throwing
his
arm around me. “No, I
’
m just glad
we’re
spending time together. I could hang out in here watching movies all day.
You’re
the one that loves all this history crap.”

             
I shove
d
him away, “It’s not crap!”

             
“
Okay
,
let’s
go.
I’m so excited.” Sam wa
s jumping up and down and clapping
her hands,
looking
like a little kid.

             
“Do you think traffic will be bad?
I only ask
because if we take the Metro,
we’ll
be harassed by people and we won’t be able to do anything
you’ve
planned.” Alex sounded
a bit
annoyed as he was
talking
. At
times,
I
forgot
who he was to the public eye, because he wa
s just Alex to me.

             
“I have that all
set, so
don’t
worry.
I’m not missing anything
the next couple of days.” Sam wa
s standing at the door holding it open. We all file
d out as Derek carried
both of o
ur bags down with him. Once we we
re down in the
lobby, Derek asked
the lady at the counter where to put them
. She took them and carried
them into a room behind the counter.