Chapter Four
Two days can go by painfully slow when you're anticipating something. By the time Friday night rolled around he was so nervous he was thinking of calling it off. Justin and the guys must have known he might be having second thoughts, because just before he was about to call Michelle they showed up at his door.
"You better not have been thinking what we think you were thinking..." Joey said as they walked in.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Chris said innocently.
"So what are you guys doing here?"
"Just visiting," Lance said.
"Just visiting my ass..." Chris said, rolling his eyes.
"Okay, so we're here to make sure you don't screw this up," Joey said, sitting down next to Chris.
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Well we know you. You were about to call it off, I know you were."
Chris sighed.
"I just don't know if I'm ready..."
"Chris, six months is more than enough time," Jc cut in.
"I guess so."
"Trust us, you'll feel better once it happens. Now go get ready." Jc said, pushing him towards the stairs.
Chris sighed again and went upstairs to get ready.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Michelle was talking to one of her friends on speakerphone while she was drying her hair.
"So he really asked you out? Oh my god you are so lucky."
"Yeah. But there's something about him. He seems... scared," Michelle said.
"That doesn't sound like him... From what I've heard he's pretty confident."
"Yeah, I heard that, too. But I mean, he only made eye contact with me a few times, and when he brought me home from Joey's party the other night he shied away."
"Do you think something happened to him?"
"I don't know, Maybe. I just hope I can get him to be more comfortable. It's almost painful to watch..."
"I'm sure whatever's wrong you'll help him through it. You're good at that."
"If you say so..." Michelle shrugged.
"I'll be right back, I have to run to my room and get my outfit."
"Okay, I'll hold," her friend said, then started singing to herself.
Michelle smiled and headed to her room, pulling on her outfit and going back into the room.
"Okay, I'm back," Michelle said, doing some more touch-ups to her hair, and then starting to put on a little bit of make-up.
"So when will he be there?"
"In like, five minutes, actually."
"Alright, well I'll let you go, then. Have fun."
"I will."
"Oh, and Michelle?"
"Yeah?"
"You have to tell me all about it."
Michelle laughed and assured her friend she'd tell her what happened, then hung up. Just as she hung up she heard a knock at the door. She checked herself out one more time, then turned out her light and went downstairs.
She opened the door, and was caught off guard by how good Chris looked. He was more sexy than she had thought a few days ago. She could tell he was feeling a little more confident, so she figured that must be it.
"Hello Chris," she greeted. Chris looked her in the eye and flashed her a smile.
"Hello, Michelle," he said, handing her a single red rose.
She smiled and took the rose, inviting him to step inside. Chris stepped through the door and looked around. From where he stood he could see part of her livingroom to the left, the stairs straight ahead, and part of the kitchen to the right. He smiled at how simple, yet beautiful it looked.
"So... do you want to stay here, or go somewhere?" Michelle asked as she came back into view.
"We can just stay here, if that's okay," Chris answered.
"We can stay here," she nodded, motioning for his coat.
He took it off and handed it to her, and watched as she put it in a closet.
"Want something to drink?" she asked as she turned around.
"Sure. Whatcha got?"
"Water, juice, a variety of sodas..."
"Mountain Dew?"
"Naturally," she smiled, walking to the kitchen and grabbing them both a can.
She handed one to Chris, then walked with him into the livingroom, sitting down on the couch.
Michelle and Chris talked for hours about many different subjects including friends, family, past jobs, and current jobs. They were having a great time getting to know each other, and Chris didn't even realize it at first when they started to talk about past relationships. When he did realize it, he looked around for a way out of it.
"Hey, I think I better get going... it's almost two thirty," Michelle turned and looked at the clock.
"Oh wow, it is..." she said, with a slight sad tone in her voice.
They both stood up and stretched, then walked to the front door. Michelle grabbed his coat from the closet and handed it to him, watching him put it on.
"I had a great time Michelle. I haven't had this much fun with a girl in a long time..." Chris trailed off, a tint of sadness in his eyes.
Michelle saw it and wondered again what could have happened to him.
"I had a great time too, Chris. We'll have to do this again sometime."
"Oh definitely," Chris said with a smile.
They stood quiet for only a moment, before Chris took her hand and leaned in, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Michelle had to brace herself to keep from falling down. Even though it was just on the cheek, it felt so soft and loving.
Chris pulled back slowly and squeezed her hand gently before letting it go.
"Goodnight," he said softly, opening the door and letting himself out.
"Goodnight..." Michelle said quietly.
Chris walked down the walkway to his car and got in, driving himself home. The whole way thinking about the things they had talked about. He hadn't felt a connection like this with anyone before. He felt like he could truly trust Michelle with everything, but there was still that slight twinge of fear that tinted everything.
As he pulled up his driveway he noticed that his bandmate's cars were still along the side, and the lights in his house were still on. Chris shook his head as he parked and turned off his car, heading inside. As he walked inside he was greeted by his four eager friends.
"You were gone a long time..." Joey said.
"How'd it go?" Lance asked.
"And did you kiss her?" Justin added to Lance's question.
Chris put his jacket away as he listened to the questions, and when he turned back to look at them he couldn't hide his smile.
"It went great," Chris said, sitting down at the kitchen table, the guys sitting down as well.
"We stayed at her house, and we talked so much... Talked about a lot of things. Not everything... but a lot of things. And I did kiss her, but it was on the cheek." he said, looking at Justin for the last part.
"So you think maybe..." Jc said.
Chris nodded.
"Yeah."
"Now if you don't mind," Chris said, standing up. "I'm going to bed."
"Mind if we bunk here for the rest of the night?" Lance asked.
"Of course not. Goodnight guys," Chris said as he headed up to his room, got ready, and crawled into bed, his mind filled with thoughts of Michelle.
| Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine |
