Ian still couldn't believe he agreed to do this. What in the world was he thinking?
That was just the problem, Ian lamented. He hadn't been thinking. When he had told Amy he'd be coming to her place today, his only concern had been making her happy.
Which was a totally foreign concept to Ian. Usually, his only concern was for himself. So what was happening to him?
And coming to Attleboro instead of going to that dinner party… If Natalie knew what he was planning, she would have called him crazy, then proceeded to absolutely forbid him to go. Good thing Ian had taken out the private jet and instructed the pilot to take him to America early in the morning, before Natalie even woke up.
Of course, she would know something was fishy the minute she realized Ian was no longer in the Kabra mansion.
Oh well, Ian would deal with Natalie when he got back. He just hoped to God that all this trouble coming to Attleboro would be worth it.
Ian closed his eyes and lay back into the plush leather seat of his jet. All this worrying was keeping Ian from the one thing that really mattered - his beauty sleep.
Ian exhaled and tried to fall asleep, reminding himself: This was all for Amy, this was all for Amy, this was all for Amy...
Ian was now standing on the doorstep of the Cahill mansion, starting to get impatient. He rang the doorbell once more before he heard Amy's lovely voice coming from inside.
"Hold on, I'm coming!" Amy said, but she sounded tired. If Ian had to guess, he'd say that living with Dan was not easy for anyone, and it probably wore Amy out quite a bit.
After a few more moments, the door was opened, and Ian saw Amy for the first time in a while.
She was just as beautiful as Ian had remembered her, despite the fact that she was dressed casually.
She had on a white T-shirt with an American flag decal on it, jean shorts, and jeweled sandals. Her coppery hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and a nervous smile made her look even cuter, if that was possible.
"H-hi Ian," Amy greeted, shifting from one foot to the other. "You're...early."
"Yes, well, I apologize," Ian said. Now, how could he make it up to her? Compliments always worked… "But I have to say, you look simply lovely today. Very, er, patriotic, I suppose."
"Th-thank you Ian," Amy stuttered, blushing. "You look nice today too."
Ian imagined that Amy was feeling embarrassed, and he wished that he could assure her that her behavior was actually quite endearing.
But, he didn't want to risk making her feel more uncomfortable, so Ian decided to change the subject. "So when do the festivities start around here? I came all the way from England to come to this party," Ian said. And to see you, Amy, he added in his head.
"It's not a party, Ian. It's a picnic." Amy pulled out her phone to check the time. "And its starts in about an hour. So until then, I guess you could just chill inside…"
"Alright," Ian agreed. "Perhaps you could give me a tour of the mansion? I'd love to see what you've done with the old hag's - I mean, your grandmother's place."
Amy didn't seem to notice Ian's slight slip up in words, but Ian mentally face palmed. He'd only been here for ten minutes or so; he didn't need Amy hating him already.
"Of course," Amy said. "Follow me, then."
Amy turned and walked inside, closing the door after Ian. Ian looked around at the entryway of the mansion. To his surprise, it looked very much the same as it did when he had come here for Grace's funeral.
That was one thing that Ian thought he would never understand about Amy Cahill. Despite the fact that she was rich now, she still insisted on living plainly. It was actually quite impressive, though.
Ian had always thought that the more lavishly one lived, the happier one would be. But here was Amy, living like any normal teenager would (minus the fact that she lived in a mansion). Still, she seemed to be so content - much happier than anyone Ian knew back home.
It was very perplexing.
"And this way is the main living area…" Amy continued with her tour, but Ian was too lost in thought to pay much attention.
What did snap Ian out of his thoughts was an all too familiar - and annoying - voice shout, "You brought the Cobra into our house?! Amy, what's wrong with you lately?"
There was Dan, relaxing on the sofa and staring wide-eyed at Ian.
Ian was about to say something to the little twerp, but Amy beat him to it. "Dan, Ian is our guest today, and he's coming to the picnic with us as well. So quit being disrespectful or I'll take away all your nerf guns for a month, and I mean it!"
"I've got a better deal," Dan said, hopping off the couch. "How 'bout I be nice to your icky boyfriend, and you buy me fireworks for tonight, m'kay?"
"No!" Amy shouted. "Well, maybe… Dan, just leave Ian alone, please?"
"I'm not promising anything until I get fireworks," Dan said, standing his ground, but he walked away all the same.
"I'm so sorry about Dan," Amy apologized as soon as her brother was out of earshot.
"Hm? Oh, it's alright," Ian said, still only half listening to her. What he was most focused on was pondering why Amy couldn't talk to him as confidently as she talked to Dan. Ian knew Amy wasn't the type of person that was good around strangers, but every time he was around, her stuttering was even worse. Not that it was a bad thing. Ian thought she was so much cuter when she was flustered.
But still, Ian would have done anything just to make Amy more comfortable around him.
At least she was becoming more confident, Ian thought. As Amy showed Ian all around the mansion, her eyes lit up while she talked, and there was pride in her voice as she pointed out all of the pieces that bad beloved to her grandmother.
Ian was enjoying her enthusiasm so much that he was disappointed when Amy announced that it was time to leave for the picnic.
"Dan!" Amy called to her brother from the front door. "Let's go! It's time for lunch!"
In no time at all, Dan was racing into the entryway, one shoe still untied.
"Lunch?" Dan said excitedly. "I've been waiting for this ever since breakfast!"
Ian rolled his eyes at Dan's behavior. He could be such a kid at times, so unlike Natalie, who acted much older than her age. But Ian had to admit, it was actually refreshing for a change to be around people so different than those he usually interacted with.
As soon as Dan had finished tying his shoe, the three set off walking towards the park a few minutes away from the Cahill mansion. When they reached the entrance, Ian could see all the people either lining up at the buffet tables to get lunch, or spreading out homemade lunches on picnic blankets that they had brought.
Since they hadn't brought anything, Amy, Ian, and Dan got into the buffet line to get lunch.
Ian was a bit disappointed when he saw the selection of food. It mostly consisted of hotdogs, hamburgers, fruit salad, soda, and potato chips. No imported water, no caviar, not even something so simple as steak!
But Ian decided not to say anything. After all, he was only trying to make Amy happy.
So he loaded up his plate with a few "all-American favorites", then followed Amy to find a place to sit.
"What about there?" Amy asked, pointing to a shady spot under a big oak tree.
"I just wanna sit down so we can eat!" Dan whined.
"Then it's unanimous," Ian concluded, and they all sat down.
Amy and Dan both chowed down immediately after taking a seat; however, Ian had to resist the urge to spit out his food when he first tasted it. How could anyone enjoy this type of food? If this was good food in America, Ian hated to see what cheap food was like.
But, of course, Ian couldn't disappoint Amy, so he choked down the food the best he could, then waited for Amy and Dan to finish.
"I'll be back later," Dan said suddenly, standing up. "I'm sure that you two would appreciate some time alone."
"Don't get into any trouble, Dan," Amy warned. "I'm really not in the mood to explain to the authorities why my brother was acting like an idiot and got caught."
"You worry too much," Dan simply said.
"Oh, and no fireworks!" Amy yelled after her brother, but he was already running away, out of earshot.
Amy sighed and shook her head.
"So, what do we do now?" Ian asked, trying to regain Amy's attention.
"Well, nothing much, except wait for the fireworks, I guess," Amy answered.
Well, this could at least be some fun, Ian thought. As long as Dan didn't get anywhere near the explosives...
Finally, after endless hours of waiting, it was dark enough for the fireworks show to commence. Ian had to admit, this was the first aspect of the whole celebration that he was impressed with.
On the other end of the field, all the fireworks had been set up. A control panel stood off to the side, ready to shoot off the fireworks, all with the push of the button. From watching the technicians, Ian had also learned that there were joysticks on the panel controlling the angle of the fireworks, so they could all be ensured to fire perfectly.
Ian was feeling pretty contented, but he could tell that Amy was on edge. Dan still hadn't returned, and Ian knew what she was thinking, taking into consideration Dan and his obsession with fireworks.
Unfortunately, all of Amy's worst fears came true when she and Ian saw Dan pop up behind the control panel, minutes before the display was about to begin.
"Dan!" Amy shouted, looking both surprised and angry at the same time. "What do you think you're doing?"
Ian watched as Amy got up and ran towards Dan, who was about to push the main launch button.
Luckily, Amy grabbed Dan just before he pressed the button. Unluckily, Amy didn't notice when her arm bumped the control joystick, causing one of the fireworks to angle directly towards the decorated archway at the entrance of the park.
Well, at least one of the technicians would notice the mistake and fix it, Ian thought to himself, thinking that all disaster had been avoided.
He quickly changed his mind when he saw Dan press the main launch button anyway as Amy was dragging him away.
Hundreds of fireworks launched into the air, causing a dazzling display above the onlookers' heads.
However, one firework shot directly over the heads of the people and collided with the archway, sending off showers of sparks and effectively causing the entire archway to combust.
That threw the entire park into a panic, and it was not long before the firemen arrived on the scene to put out the flames.
By the time that the authorities had gotten everything under control, most people had run away, leaving only Amy, Dan, Ian, and a handful of others.
Ian could hear Amy screaming at Dan even from where he was, and he had no desire to listen to that tirade. But, he supposed that this was the end of their night together, and Ian wanted to give Amy a proper goodbye.
As soon as Amy saw Ian walking over, she stopped yelling. Dan saw this as a chance to escape the wrath of his sister, and made a mad dash back towards the mansion.
Amy didn't seem to notice; she was too busy staring at the ground.
"This was probably the worst night of your life, wasn't it?" Amy said softly, still not looking at him.
"Well, it definitely was up there on the list of 'worst nights ever'," Ian replied.
Then, he watched in dismay as silent tears slipped down Amy's face.
"I'm so sorry," she choked out.
"But it's okay, I promise," Ian assured her. Not knowing what else to do, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
Once Amy calmed down, Ian pulled away to look at her in those beautiful, jade green eyes.
"Amy, it doesn't matter that this party was basically a disaster," Ian started. "I spent the night with you, and that's all that matters to me, really. Actually, it's the only reason I came in the first place."
"R-really?" Amy said, clearly dumbfounded. "But why me? I'm just ordinary…"
"There is nothing ordinary about you, Love," Ian said. The he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
Amy blushed, oh so cutely, and looked away.
"Shall I walk you home before I leave, then?" Ian asked, holding out his hand.
"You shall." Amy smiled. Then she took his hand, and they set off together back towards the mansion.
Back at the Cahill mansion, an hour later…
"And if I ever see you messing around with anything explosive ever again, I swear -"
"Jeez, Amy! I get the point! It was an accident, seriously! I didn't even mean to catch anything on fire this time!"
"Don't test me, Daniel Cahill! I will not hesitate to lock you in your room next Fourth of July!"
"Ok, ok! I promise to be more careful next year! Maybe…"
"Dan!"
And here's the second part, so so sorry for the longish wait! I hope you all enjoyed, and happy Independence Day! (Even though it's basically over... XD)
Thank you so much to all those who reviewed and followed/favorited, you all really made my day :D