"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." ~Theodore Geisel

Chapter Twenty Five

I woke up to someone poking me. Repeatedly.

I groaned and opened my eyes to see Steph, her hair all mussed, staring at me. "Jason. Jason, wake up. I think we're in big trouble."

I sat up immediately, almost hitting my head on a model of a dwarf star. I was in the observatory.

Why was I in the observatory?

Memories of what had happened last night came rushing back to me. I looked at Steph, smiling a little.

Or at least, I started. But then I heard someone—or rather, multiple someones— yelling Steph's name.

Crap.

I was dead. Dead, dead, dead dead dead.

Steph's parents would never let me see her again.

Grandma and Mr. Kazoulis would be disappointed in both of us.

THE WEDDING!

Oh no, crap, no, the wedding. It was today. We had been so busy, we had forgotten all about it.

I looked at Steph. She seemed to be having the same sort of realization. She sent me a panicked glance.

Mr. Kazoulis opened the observatory door and stepped inside. He saw us and called, "It's all right, Margaret. They're in here."

Steph was terrified. She grabbed my hand and sat down close to me. I made sure our hands were hidden and that we didn't look too cozy. We didn't need to get in more trouble than we already were.

And then the yelling started.

Steph's mom was shrieking at us. "How could you? Do you have any idea how worried we've been? Why didn't you call? And Jason—your father's been checking hospital emergency rooms all over Indiana all night long. He thought you'd been in an accident!"

At the same time, Mr. Kazoulis was asking in a rather loud voice, "You really ought to have telephoned. What in the Sam Hill are you two doing here?"

Mrs. Landry sent us—well, mostly me—a scathing look. "I think it's pretty obvious what they were doing in here, Dad."

I thought this was a little rude, seeing as how we were fully clothed and hadn't even gotten close to doing that, but I figured it would have been a bad time to correct her.

"We just fell asleep!" I protested. "Honest. We were talking, and—"

"But why didn't you call?" Steph's mom asked in a strangled-sounding voice. "Do you have any idea how out of our minds with worry we've been?"

"We just forgot," said Steph, with obvious guilt written on her face. I wanted to hug her and make her feel better, but that would only make our situation worse.

"Well, you, young lady," Mrs. Landry said firmly to Steph as she pulled her to her feet—unfortunately causing our hand-holding to break—"are grounded. Maybe that will teach you not to forget to call."

Mr. Kazoulis looked at me with a strange expression. "Your parents are going to be very disappointed in you, son. Your poor grandmother's been up all night, and today is her wedding day!"

Steph gasped. "Oh, Gramps, I'm so sorry. We just didn't check the time!"

"But what were you doing here?" Steph's mom wanted to know.

Steph took a deep breath and got ready to talk, but I cut her off. "We were just looking at the stars," I said, hoping that no one would remember how hard it was raining last night. "And I guess we fell asleep."

Steph's mom blinked, her anger deflating. "The stars? Oh. Well."

Mr. Kazoulis turned to his daughter. "See, Margaret? I told you. They're fine. They were just looking at the stars. And they fell asleep. No harm done." He put his arm around her shoulders. "I told you this observatory was a good idea," he said, looking at me and Steph now. "Give the kids in this town something to do at night, instead of getting into trouble."

Steph and I exchanged glances. The observatory, and the kids who would have been in it, had almost gotten in a lot of trouble last night.

Mrs. Landry shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "God, I wish I could have a drink," she said, staring at her pregnant stomach.

"Well, maybe at the wedding reception, someone'll slip you a glass of champagne," Mr. Kazoulis winked at her.

"Oh, Dad," she said, rolling her eyes. Then she remembered me and Steph. "Well, come on young lady," she glared at Steph, "Get in the car. I'm taking you home."

"Okay," Steph replied, sending a confused look to her grandfather.

He just winked and her, putting his arm around me. "Hey kid," he said. "Ever ride in a Rolls before?" I shook my head, and he led me to his car. "You can have shotgun."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "This…this is a blue 1933 model!"

He grinned. "Sure is. And wait till you see how she drives."

"So, do you mind telling me what you and my granddaughter were doing in the observatory all night?"

We had exhausted more than a few topics as small talk, and Mr. Kazoulis had finally decided to get into the heavy stuff.

I gulped. "We were just looking at the—"

"And don't tell me you were looking at the stars, because it was pouring rain all night."

Crap. "Well, Mr. Kazoulis—I mean, sir—I like your granddaughter. Really like her. Like-like her."

He chuckled. "I know, son. I've known since you were eight. Steph dropped her ice cream at the park and you gave her yours. Eight year olds don't just give up ice cream like that. So, did you finally tell her?"

"I—what—you knew?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes," he answered.

"Yeah, I told her," I muttered.

"And…?" he pressed on, a twinkle in his eye.

"And, she likes me too," I said, not able to stop a smile from appearing on my face.

Hey, if you knew someone was in love with you, you wouldn't be able to stop smiling either.

Mr. Kazoulis grinned, too. "Wonderful!" he said. "But, son," he said in a serious tone, "I don't want either of you losing your heads over this. You are both decent responsible young people, and your grandmother and I don't want any grandchildren for a long time. At least ten years. Do you hear me?"

I nodded, turning bright red. I really didn't want to get the sex talk from Steph's grandpa.

Thankfully, though, he seemed to be done. He pulled into his driveway and parked. "Jason?" he said before I left the car. I looked at him. "I give you kids my blessing. You're a good match."

"Thank you, sir," I said, meaning it.

Then we both went inside. After all, we both had a wedding to attend.

And in less than three hours, I would get to see Steph again.

Steph Landry, my girlfriend.