Author's Note: Okay, so just as a warning...one-shots aren't really what I'm good at, but I figured I'd try it out, see how it goes. This story takes place over a series of months or so, and hopefully it doesn't seem too rushed. Either way, Knox is in it, so that's always good :)
Dedicated to the lovely and talented DeadPoet0712, because her love for Knoxy is unwavering.
EDIT 9/7/10: Finally got around to fixing this once the asterisks were deleted by FF...
Disclaimer: Kate is mine...and she isn't even significant to the storyline, although I wish I was her. Ha!
Knox Overstreet had been going steady with Chris Noel for a year now. The flame of his heated passion for her had burned strong, until he got her, that is. But for the majority of the time he spent with Chris, Knox felt as if his burning passion was actually more like dull embers dying out than a full on flame. It was like he had settled down, or at least that's what he thought settling down with someone felt like. Certainly his parents were settled, never showing any signs of affection for one another.
And Knox sometimes felt like Chris and he were like that. Chris would make him lunches, even though his school provided all meals; sometimes Chris would do Knox's laundry, just because. There had been an horrible incident with that once, in which Chris had accidentally thrown his red Welton sweatshirt in with all of his whites; it took months for that slight shade of pink to wash out of his socks and shirts and underwear. The two of them attended church together, like good citizens should, and they would go to dinner and a movie, every Friday night, which really put a dent in Knox's wallet, even with the help of the job he had secretly acquired at the local Soda Shoppe.
It was at the end of one of those Friday dinner-movie combo nights while he and Chris strolled through the park that Knox first saw her.
The moon was shining down upon her, allowing an ethereal glow to radiate from her fair skin and shining chestnut hair. The rays cast from the moon were indeed so bright that they allowed for her to bury her nose in a book and just sit on a bench and read. When she tilted her head ever-so-slightly to gaze at another page, flecks of red danced quickly through that smooth crown of hair that Knox felt the need to run his fingers through. He wanted to take her attention from the book and aim it at himself. Who read in the park at this time of night anyway? And what was she reading? Poetry perhaps? Knox wanted, no needed, to know.
"Knox?" Chris asked in her airy voice, interrupting his train of though.
"Hmm?" he hummed at her in reply, trying to get his eyes to focus anywhere but on that girl.
"What's going on with you? You haven't listened to a word I've said," she accused with a smile.
Knox grinned down at her and replied as honestly as he felt need be. "Oh, I'm just admiring the Beauty of the night." Chris missed the fact that the beauty Knox was referring to sat only twenty or so feet away from them.
"Oh, Knox," she cooed, "You have such a way with words! Why did you ever stop writing me poetry?"
Knox shrugged, taking one last glance at the girl seated on the bench before they rounded the corner and she was pushed from view.
"Hi."
Knox turned away from the malt machine in order to face the counter that the voice had floated from. When he saw just who it was that was sitting on a stool before him his eyes widened and a grin immediately graced his face. "H-hi," he choked out, leaning on the cash register in what he imagined to be a seductive fashion.
The girl smiled at his obvious nervous stutter. "Aren't you one of the Welton boys?" she asked curiously, resting her head in her hands.
Coughing in order to clear his throat, Knox stood a little straighter and nodded affirmatively. "Yep, I'm one of…those."
The girl grinned awkwardly, "Then what are you doing here?"
Knox glanced around him, a befuddled look upon his face. "Working?"
"Well, yeah," she shrugged, "I just thought you Welton boys didn't need to work."
"I don't...need to work," Knox informed the young woman before him, scratching the back of his head as he anxiously glanced around. It wasn't a busy day, and there were few customers, let alone other employees around. Knox just couldn't believe his luck. Here she was. The girl. And in the daytime he could see how gorgeous her eyes were. They were like two emeralds glowing with life and Knox thought he could stare into them for as long as he lived. Then he realized that she had absolutely no idea who he was, besides for the fact that he was 'one of the Welton boys'. "My name's Knox."
With a smile, the girl extended her hand for a shake. "I'm April."
April. That was Knox's favorite month.
"I thought you said we were going to this thing in order to get away from girls," Knox grumbled, strolling beside Charlie at, of all things, a carnival.
Charlie smirked. "Yes, but see, when I said 'girls' I meant 'Chris'. The girls I'm about to hook us up with are not 'Chris' and therefore we don't have to get away from them. Carpe diem, Knoxious; carpe diem."
There was an awkward silence between them, the same silence that always showed up whenever anyone mentioned something from their junior year at Welton. Knox was just glad that he only had one more month left of high school and he'd be out of that hellhole. Charlie, who had been shipped to Balincrest for the remainder of his high school life, was already out on summer vacation and itching to meet up with his old friends.
"Look, Charlie," Knox began to complain, about to remind his overzealous friend that he already had a girl and couldn't be seen gallivanting around at a carnival with some chick.
However, Charlie interrupted him. "Ah, there they are! Hey girls," Charlie called out. He grabbed Knox by the arm and forcefully dragged him towards a cotton candy vendor, where two young ladies stood, waiting for either their cotton candy or for the boys, Knox couldn't quite tell for sure.
At Charlie's yell they both turned around, and Knox felt as if the wind had been squeezed out of him. How on earth did Charlie know April? And what luck was it that it had been Knox to accompany Charlie to the carnival instead of, say, Todd? Because Todd always won over the ladies with his 'adorable' shyness, whatever that meant.
So smitten by the very sight of April, Knox had missed out on introductions; not that that mattered, considering he was already acquainted with April, and the way Charlie and the other girl were glued together at the mouth, Knox figured he wouldn't be talking to that one anytime soon.
"Fancy meeting you here Welton Boy," April grinned, falling into step behind Charlie and what's-her-name.
Knox plodded after the small group, trotting alongside April and trying to blush, just to see how that would effect April, since it seemed to get Todd loads of girls. "Fancy meeting you here…April," he said, unable to come up with some sort of witty name for her. Not that calling him 'Welton Boy' was particularly witty, but at least it showed that she remembered him, and not just vice versa. Or rather, she had remembered that he went to Welton. Or maybe she just knew that Charlie used to go to Welton and just assumed he went to Welton as well. Why couldn't girls just be a little less confusing?
April raised an eyebrow at his lame response and laughed lightly. "So," she began to converse, "Where do you want to go first? I have a feeling Kate and Charlie will somehow manage to ride around in the Tunnel of Love the entire time, so it's pretty much just you and me entertaining ourselves."
Knox couldn't take his eyes off of her mouth. It was so pink and soft looking and pink and…he just couldn't even formulate full thoughts about it before his brain would whiz off in another direction about another part of her that was so mesmerizing.
"Knox?" April waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Yoo-hoo!"
Knox blinked, this time naturally blushing, "Sorry, I was, uh, distracted."
April gave him a curious stare. "Oookay."
"But I say we go to the Midway," he blurted out, wanting to show April just how masculine he was. He was most definitely going to win her the biggest stuffed animal in the entire carnival.
April's brilliant smile danced across her face. "Sounds like a plan."
Two hours later, Knox was nearly out of money, Charlie wouldn't stop laughing at how pathetic he was at throwing a ball, Kate was off 'powdering her face', and April was holding a very large teddy bear. The teddy bear in question belonged to Kate, because after she and Charlie had come across Knox and April, Charlie had won the stuffed animal in three tries. Knox, however, had lost count of how many times he had tried to knock down that stupid pyramid of bottles. He could literally hear them mocking him and his lack of Midway game skills.
"Knox," April tried to suppress a chuckle, and glanced over to see Charlie smirking, "It's really okay; I don't need another teddy bear. Besides, it's the thought that counts right?"
"No," Knox growled, staring down the offending bottle pyramid. "Now it's personal." That bottle pyramid was going down even if he had to climb over the booth's barrier and throw it on the floor.
"Knoxious," Charlie barked, "C'mon, we're gonna have to leave soon, and I'm sure that April will want to actually do something besides watch you make a fool of yourself."
"Fine," Knox surrendered, throwing his hands up in frustration. He glared at the bottles, stacked there so nice and solid. In a sudden burst of fury, Knox chucked the last ball he had paid for, missing the glass by a fraction of an inch. "Seriously?" He couldn't fathom how he had missed those stupid bottles for the gazillionth time.
April looped her arm in his and led him away. She smiled up at him. "If it helps," she offered, "I still find you very manly."
That made up for being such a poor athlete.
"I applied for a job here," April informed him the next time she came into the Soda Shoppe.
Knox looked at her as if she were insane. "Why on Earth would you want to work here?" he asked, confused beyond belief. The Soda Shoppe wasn't the worst place to work, but it wasn't exactly an easy job either. Machines were always breaking, and something was always spilled, and Knox knew all of the waitressing positions were taken up.
April shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? I could use the extra dough, and I enjoyed hanging around with you at the carnival, and I figure with you here it'll be fun."
"Well," Knox jokingly boasted with a smug grin upon his face, "I am the King of Fun."
April stood up and waved her hand around dramatically, acquiring a ridiculous British accent, "And I am the Queen."
Knox was giddy. They were royalty together.
"Why do we always get such late shifts?" Knox wondered aloud, resting against the counter. He glanced sideways at April, who was looking equally bored. No one went to a Soda Shoppe at nine at night on a Tuesday evening when school was still in session.
She and Knox were dressed in matching work uniforms, complete with funky hats and annoying nametags that had a habit of falling off and launching themselves into the shake maker.
April shrugged, making a face at him, "I guess we're just lucky like that."
Knox definitely felt lucky getting to work with April so often and usually with only a few other coworkers present. They were slowly getting to know each other, and the more they got to know each other, the better friends they became, and the better friends they became, the harder and harder Knox fell for her.
April was late for work. Which was unusual for her. April was never late. And now Knox was getting anxious and fidgety and he had already served two customers shakes with his nametag buried in them. Where was she? She would have called if she wasn't able to make it, Knox was sure of that.
The back entrance, mandatory for the employees to use, banged open, and a rather disgruntled looking April marched into the Soda Shoppe, thrusting her coat and bag into a cubby and harshly jabbing her nametag into place on her uniform. Her hat was crooked when she appeared behind the counter next to Knox.
"Boys are so stupid," April huffed, blinking away what looked to be tears.
Knox raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"
"Well," April sighed, turning to face Knox full on, "You think a guy is interested in you, and then BAM. You find out he's already in a relationship with some other girl."
Knox gulped. Out of everything they had shared with each other, Knox had kept Chris a secret, leaving her out of conversation all together. Was it possible that April was talking about him?
April's lip quivered for about a split second before she hissed, "I really thought this was a good guy, Knox." And she buried her face into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
There was nothing he could do but console her for now. He could bring up Chris some other time. Maybe.
"I know about Chris," April nonchalantly whispered to Knox as they each hurried to make malts for an impatient and annoying table of adolescent teenagers.
"Oh," Knox breathed, not knowing what to say.
April grinned at him. "Cool it Knox; I'm not mad, I just don't understand why you wouldn't tell me. That's all. I thought we were friends."
"We are friends," Knox stated loudly enough to awkwardly silence the Soda Shoppe. April snorted at the embarrassment Knox was showing on his readable face. "Well we are."
April nodded thoughtfully. "Is it because of that time I freaked out about that one boy leading me on and then dropping the bomb? Because I didn't mean you at all Knox. I love you; you're awesome. I just want you to be comfortable telling me things. Ya know? I trust you, and I want you to know you can trust me."
She said she loved him. Knox was on Cloud 9. Even if it was in a platonic fashion.
"How do you like to be wooed?"
April cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow high. "Excuse me?"
Knox and April were strolling down the sidewalk after one of their late night shifts had ended, as always, because Knox insisted he walk April home and make sure she arrived safely.
"How do you like to be…wooed?" he repeated, curious as to what it was exactly that women wanted.
April blinked. "I don't know. I guess I've never been…wooed."
"That's a surprise," Knox mused, "I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
April stopped walking and Knox, realizing the filter that should have stopped that thought dead in its tracks before it reached his vocal chords had shut down, felt like he was about to vomit. Had he really just said that?
"Is it bad that I want to kiss you?" April asked, completely serious. "Because you have a girlfriend and stuff."
Knox coughed, thrown off completely by the twist his simple question had caused. "It's probably bad."
They had reached April's front door. She sighed, not meeting Knox's eyes. "I guess I'll see you at work then," she said.
"I don't care that it's bad," Knox blurted.
April stood very still, waiting for what Knox was going to do next. Instead he bolted. He ran as fast as his clumsy legs would take him, falling down only twice in between her house and his, and locked himself in the bathroom.
He was such an idiot.
"You have to break it off," Charlie advised, swinging his legs out of the tree he had climbed in the backyard at Knox's house.
Pitts, who was lolling around on a lawn chair like the rest of the boys, was gulping down spiked lemonade they had made when Knox's parents weren't paying attention and nodded. "I agree."
"You're drunk," Knox accused, not enjoying the turn the conversation had taken.
"I think you should end it, too," Todd whispered, not meeting Knox's eyes.
Before Knox could jump to his own defense about whether or not he was going to dump Chris, Meeks spoke, the voice of reason. "Whatever you do Knox is up to you. We have no say in your personal affairs, except for that, as your friends, we like to chime in when we can." Knox sighed, knowing Meeks was right. "And so, as your friend," Meeks continued, "I would like you to evaluate exactly why you have clung to Chris for so long if you felt so little for her. Is it possible that you, maybe, want to hold onto something from…before?"
Each boy understood Meeks' words completely, and all five of them lowered their eyes.
Could it be that the only reason Knox still went out with Chris was so that he could hold on to something from the time when Neil was still around? God knows he wanted Neil back, and if the only way he could feel like Neil was around was by keeping Chris, then maybe that was why Knox had kept his floundering relationship from dying.
"Charlie told me you broke it off with Chris," April quietly brought up.
Once again, they were standing awkwardly at April's doorstep.
"Yeah, well," Knox raked his fingers through his hair, looking off in the distance. "Like you said to me once, it's the thought that counts, and it turns out I was thinking a lot more about you than about Chris."
The edges of April's mouth quirked up. "I think you have finally learned how to woo a woman, Knox."
Knox grinned. "I only want to ever woo you."
April smirked, and answered him with a kiss.
Author's Note: I would have to say, April is much better suited for Knox than Chris :P