Chapter 39: A Picnic To Remember

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The park was almost empty at this hour, just an old couple sitting on a bench, feeding seeds to birds and a middle-aged man taking a stroll left.

The trees’ green-colored leaves were turning orange and some brown before falling and covering the walkways and grasses. It was almost difficult to even see them, only dried orange leaves forming a carpet above them. And maybe because it was evening and the sky was also colored in orange, but it all seemed so beautiful.

Or maybe it was because my object of attraction was standing in the middle of it all, standing tall and confident with his left hand in his pocket and his right holding a blue rose between his fingers.

I hesitantly came down from the car, my eyes fixed on him, and the scenery before me. A picnic blanket was laid on the floor beside him, a picnic basket placed on it, an insulated cooler, some flatwares, and a bouquet of blue roses. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, taking it all in before glancing back at him.

Was this all for me? Was this why I had rarely seen him at school? But what about Jenny? I had seen him grab her hand and walk away with her.

He had a nervous smile on his face even though he seemed confident as he watched me from afar, beckoning me to come closer with his eyes.

“Yo, Adams! Thanks for the card. Now, I’m gonna go get myself some meat with it.” Alex yelled from her car, waving a credit card at him. Now I understood where she got the money to pay for this dress and makeover.

He sent a small smile at her before snapping his eyes back to me.

“My work here is done, gotta go. Oh, and here.” She threw the tiny box I wrapped for Ryan’s birthday at me, and I quickly caught it. “You might need that.” She suggested before revving up the engine while I stared at her in disbelief, holding the tiny box. I thought I had left that at home after we went home from school.

“What? Don’t look at me like that.” She shrugged. “Not to worry, I’ll inform your parents you’re on a date.” She winked at me before driving off.

I slowly turned back to Ryan, whose eyes were now roaming around my figure, taking in my outfit. I took one step at a time towards him, trying to seem composed, but his eyes were making it difficult as they roamed my bare legs. I could feel goosebumps forming on my thighs and legs at how intense his gaze was before they snapped back to my eyes.

“What’s all this?” I asked blankly, trying not to show any emotions as I gripped the box tightly in my hand. I was still mad about all that Jenny stuff, but secretly throwing a party in my head because of what I was seeing.

He was quiet for some time, just gazing at me, and I, him. The wind blew around us, making the trees dance, and some strands of my hair fluttered about my face too. He quickly reached out to pull them behind my ear, still gazing intently at me, making my cheeks tinge pink. Why did he have to be so darn cute?

He had on a pair of grey track pants and a black shirt with black and white trainers on his feet. His dark hair in a side fringe almost covering his eyes, and his left hand adorning a wristwatch retracted back into his pocket while the other still held the blue rose up to me.

I reached for it plucking it off his finger, remembering the day he asked me to be his girlfriend. He had used a tulip then, and I had thought it sweet then since it meant true love.

“I tried looking for flowers that would match your eyes, but found none. So I had to settle for dying white roses. They still, however, aren’t as beautiful or bright as your eyes.” He whispered between us, his eyes never leaving mine.

His compliment was making me blush the more as I diverted my eyes to my feet, trying to hide my red cheeks. I forgot how good he could be with words. I only started to see that side of him after we started dating.

“Will you go on this date with me, Samantha?” He asked, gesturing to the picnic he had laid out. Well, I couldn’t say no, so I nodded. He smiled and took my hand, leading me to the blanket and helping me sit. Then he took out some votive candles, lit them, and placed them at different corners. It was already darker than when I came here, and the street lamps came on.

He went to take out a red wine bottle from the cooler and poured it into two different glasses before handing one over to me. I placed the rose into the bouquet and my gift beside me before reaching for it. I watched him take a seat too and faced forward as I sipped from my wine. We both were silent for a while, me watching him as he stared far away.

“I’m sorry if I ever made you feel any less important than you’re to me.” His eyes snapped to me as he spoke, and the candles made his brown eyes shone more.

“I could never pick anyone else because I don’t even have a choice. No one can make my heart beat faster than you do. It hurts that you would even think so.” He stared at me with heavy-lidded eyes in disappointment, which irked me.

“Well...you weren’t making it easier by always spending time with her or letting her tag along all the damn time!” I burst out in anger. He made it sound as if I was the wrong one here when I wasn’t. I had the right to do what I did because I was his girlfriend.

“I know that. And I’m sorry for being so blind and not notice she was faking it all. Alex told me about your locker incident and how she used to threaten you. Why didn’t you tell me all this before?” He stared accusingly at me.

“Would you have believed me?” I cocked an eyebrow at him. He hesitated before answering.

“Maybe.” He shrugged while I rolled my eyes at him. “I would have at least known you weren’t lying. You only had to trust me.” We both were silent once again before I broke it.

“And...what about Jenny? Where did you both go to today?” I fidgeted with my glass, dreading the answer. He didn’t say anything for a while, only following my actions with his penetrating gaze.

“I did what you asked me to.” He answered, making me stare at him, confused. “I told her goodbye.” He announced.

“Oh,” was all I could say. I want to be happy, but for some reason, I wasn’t

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” He asked when I didn’t say anything else.

“I don’t know. Is it what you want?” I threw the question back at him, waiting for his reaction. I still had this insecurity that he still loved her.

He reached for my free hand, caressing my knuckles with his thumb before heaving out a sigh.

“I’m not gonna lie, Sam, I’m not exactly excited cutting Jenny off from being my friend. We had been together for so long, and I hadn’t wanted to lose that friendship with her.” He placed a kiss on my palm and breathed in my scent before humming against it. But my heart was thumping rapidly in my chest at what he was about to say next.

“I should have seen past her lies. To her, I was just a game she didn’t want to lose. But she made a terrible mistake by attacking you, and I doubt I could ever forgive her for that.” He said in a dangerously low tone that even made me shiver as his eyes darkened. But then a vulnerable look over took his face as he continued talking.

“I love you, Sam, and when you told me goodbye yesterday...I..” I didn’t let him finish as a smile made it’s way to my lips, and couldn’t help myself but reach for a kiss on his lips. I held my glass tight and sprung up to do what I had been wishing for, startling him. I never told him goodbye, and I didn't exactly like the fact that he thought so.

His lips were soft as I remembered, and they moved in sync with mine as he recovered from his shock. I placed my glass down carefully, not breaking our lips apart as I moved closer to him until I was straddling him. I sighed in content into the kiss as he held me closer, flicked his tongue across my lips before sucking it in and nipping on it.

I wrapped my arm around his neck as he deepened the kiss and swirled his tongue with mine. He tasted a tad bit of wine, and of course, chocolate. I could get addicted to this...addicted to his kiss, to his taste, to his scent...to him.

We broke apart for air, our breaths coming out in pants as we placed our foreheads together, staring into each other’s eyes.

“I love you too, Ryan. And as long as you’re here with me, I’m never going anywhere.” I confessed as his eyes searched through my eyes, seeing how sincere they were.

“No more Jenny?” I asked for confirmation.

“No more Jenny.” He shook his head before going for my lips again, but this time only placed a peck on it before going to my jaw...chin..earlobe, nipping on it and eliciting a moan from me, and then to my neck, sucking and nipping as I sighed in content.

"Only you... just you." He kept on murmuring between kisses.

I don’t know how long we sat like that, making out in the middle of the park and the street lamps illuminating it all.

I should be scared that we were alone in the park at that kind of hour and no one else around, but with Ryan, I felt safe and.

After our makeout session, we decided to eat, though I wasn’t so hungry as my stomach was filled with so much excitement. I had felt like hell throughout the day, walking like a zombie and hurting everywhere, but now I was here with the only person that could make all my pain and worries fly away, and I was content.

“Dance with me,” Ryan stood and stretched his arm out to me while I was busy munching on my sandwich. I stared at his hand in confusion with an eyebrow cocked upward.

“But there’s no music.” I pointed out but still took his hand anyway and kept my sandwich away.

“Not a problem for me.” He twirled me into his arms, making me giggle out loud as he held me close with a smirk on his lips. My hands wrapped around his neck and his around my waist as we slowly moved in sync together.

“This is stupid.” I voiced out with a grin on my lips before burying my head in his chest. We did this for a while before I decided we should head back home. Mum would be overly worried by now, and I won’t be surprised she had left tons of messages on my phone. I had left my phone on silent since arriving here, not wanting to be disturbed.

“We should go.” I had said.

“Wait. First, show me what you got in that tiny box.” I had almost forgotten about it and that today was his birthday. I quickly reached for it before he did, staring at it in embarrassment. Maybe this wasn’t the best gift to give him.

“Oh, this is nothing. I’ll get you something else.” I kept it behind me and out of his sight.

“What? No way. I want my gift.” He reached for it, but I didn’t release it and jumped away. “Samantha.” He more like growled this time, showing his displeasure.

“Fine.” I hesitantly released it to him, and he quickly snatched away before tearing off the wrapper. Excitement filled his eyes like a kid on Christmas, about to unwrap his gift. He opened the box with a grin on his face as he looked at what was in.

Slowly, he took out the locket, staring between me and it in curiosity before sliding it open. The grin on his face, however, died down as he stared at what was in it.

When Jane had said I should get him something that meant a lot to him, I had thought about our pinky swear when we were little. If he was so angry I broke it, then maybe it had meant a lot to him. So I had shaped out a photograph of when we were little and in this park, then placed it on the left side of the locket. Then on the right, I had written, “Never will I break a promise. Yours, Sam.”

At that time, I was in a hurry because I had to re-write my homework and bake his brownies, so I had written the first thing that popped to my mind. But now I was rethinking it. His face had a blank expression on as he kept staring at the locket while I shuffled nervously on my feet.

“Well...?” I asked when I couldn’t take the silence anymore. “You don’t like it?”

He stared back at me before a teasing smirk appeared on his face, and he unexpectedly reached to hug me.

“I love it.” He placed a peck on my forehead. “And I’ll cherish it forever. Just promise to never think about leaving me.” He added, the smirk falling off replaced with a serious look.

I stood on my tippy toes and wrapped my arm around his neck.

“I promise. Happy birthday, Ryan,” I whispered against his lips before kissing him.

On the way back home, we were mostly silent, and I relished in the moment. I had my boyfriend back, beside me, holding my hand while steering the wheel with the other. Life couldn’t be any better.

“See you tomorrow, cupcake.” He kissed me one last time on my lips as he had parked in my parents’ driveway.

“No, wait. I want you to come in.” I pleaded before leading him inside.

My parents were on the couch, watching their favorite show as usual when they notice us.

“Samantha Alice Kendall. Do you know how worried we were?” My mum voiced out as she stood from the couch, and walked over to us. I stared between her, dad, and the TV before cocking an eyebrow at her. Yeah, she was so worried, she needed to watch her favorite show to calm her down. She had a guilty expression on but quickly took her stand again.

“I’m sorry about that. But there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” I said while taking Ryan’s hand in mine. I felt guilty for shutting her off since yesterday when all she had been was worried about me.

“But we know Ryan.” My dad stood behind mum as they stared at us in confusion.

“Yes, you do. But not as my boyfriend.” I hadn’t yet introduced him to then as my boyfriend, although dad already knew. “Mum, Dad, meet my boyfriend, Ryan,” I announced, stunning them both. Well, mum mostly.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Kendall.” Ryan waved at them while we both stood beside, holding hands each other with me blushing beet red.

Dad was the first to react by going over to Ryan and shaking his hand while patting his back. Mum went over to hug him before they both led him to the couch, with big smiles in their faces.

This was perfect.

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