"Are you going to the sky lantern thing tonight?"
Adam took a mouthful of salad as he let Courtney answer.
"Probably. Want to come with me?"
He looks at her with amusement and took his time chewing, followed by a sip of lemonade. "I might go with Becky, I'm talking to her after lunch."
Courtney perked a brow up and now knew why he was acting a little different. He had just gotten back into town the day before and had asked to meet her for lunch today. "So you called me over to tell me we can't bang anymore."
"Pretty much." Adam smiled at her and shrugged. "She doesn't know it was you who I slept with so I think we can still be friends."
She laughs at how he expects Becky to understand the situation. "I enjoyed our times together but like I promised you, I knew how to handle myself. You're still a friend who I would bang if you asked for it."
Adam grins, "If we ever want a threesome, I'll ask you to join."
They shared a small laugh. Courtney eyes him and reaches for a piece of lettuce. "You think she'll take you back though? You've really been out of it lately." She licks the dressing off her fingers.
"I hope so. I'm obviously doing a cleanse of my system and focus more on school and finding a job."
"Maybe you should just forget about the job until a few months. You even told me you weren't sure if you were staying in Canada or Florida." Courtney suggested. "Even though, I do see you staying here."
He shrugged, "Wherever she is, I want to be."
"Adam." She started, as she got more concerned. "You need to put yourself as the same level of importance as her. This is why you guys broke up, she wanted to hear your opinion and you wouldn't give one."
Sighing, he looked away from her gaze. She was right. He would agree to everything she wanted and not fight a battle until the very end where he had basically given up. "Maybe you're right, but we have to see. I'm not even sure where her and I will stand if we get together. She'll probably want to take it slow, which I wouldn't mind."
Soon enough, lunch was done and he was taking her back to her place.
"You sure you don't wanna join me?" Courtney teased as they stood outside his car. "I had fun with you, not going to lie."
He felt her hands on him and he smiled. There was always chemistry between them and he knew that hooking up with her was a twice in a lifetime opportunity. "I had fun with you too, but twice was enough."
"Totally understandable." Courtney ran her hands along his waist until they rested in his back pockets. "I'll miss your cute ass."
::
Adam's palms were sweaty, which would only occur when he was really nervous. Meeting up with Becky had him on the edge all day and he finally felt as if a weight would come off his shoulders once he spoke to her.
Holding flowers in his hand, he rang the doorbell. He exhaled as he waited and looked at Becky with a smile once she answered the door, "Hi."
"Hi." Becky couldn't help the grin on her face as she spotted the flowers in his hand. "Are these for my mother?"
He laughed and she gleefully took them once he handed them to her. "Come in. No ones home."
She had precisely asked for him to come around this time because there was no chance her parents would want to see him. She was surprised she even wanted to see him and welcomed him so easily after learning he hooked up with various girls during the break.
But once she saw him outside her door, she melted. It had been a month of not seeing him, and it bothered her because of all the distance they dealt with for two years. They promised each other they wouldn't let themselves pass by without communication for too long.
"You got a haircut?" Becky questioned him as they got to the back patio. She was usually the one to cut his hair. "It looks nice."
"Thanks." Adam grinned and sat down at the glass table outside and watched as she sat angled towards him. "I just want to say I appreciate that you're willing to talk to me."
She propped her elbow on the table and watched him, as he wouldn't meet her gaze, as if he was embarrassed for what he did to her. "I know you told me to do whatever I wanted but I still feel bad."
"I know, Adam. We just need to move on and figure out where to go from here." This is where she was always stumped. She wanted to be with him but get hesitant, as if she wanted for him to win her heart back. He was already trying, as he had proved with the flowers and cleaning out his system. "What do you want?"
"You... I want us, again." Adam tapped at his knee and he finally met her gaze. "If we're engaged or not, I just want to have you again. In any form, as friends, friends with benefits, girlfriend, or fiancée."
Becky sighed and moved around in her seat, "I don't know what I want. You confuse me... One day you're the sweetest man that treats me like royalty then the other you don't even want to see me. I know part of it could be the stress from the wedding and everything I put on you but outside factors shouldn't impact us."
His eyes wandered as he read her body language. She was tense and closed off, as she seemed to want to be far from him as possible, yet she sat so close to him that he could move his foot and it would touch hers. "But they do Becky. We have to work as a team to deal with the outside stuff and once we're married-if we do get married, we have to deal with housing, family, kids, jobs, cars and everything else."
"Adam, I know but it shouldn't impact the way we treat each other. Just because you want to have a motorcycle and I want to have a Vespa doesn't mean we're going to ignore each other and that you can push me away. We have to compromise."
"But you weren't compromising for the wedding. You forced me to agree with July or else you would be pissed off about it and not marry me. Admit it." Adam sounded more disappointed than anything. She was trying to solve a problem but it only pinpointed the hypocrisy she always shown. "I'm tired of having to agree with you and everything you say and act a certain manner when you don't."
Becky pursed her lips. She knew that was always a problem of hers as Adam had pointed it out several times before, "I'll work on it. I always try to work on it... But right now there's no wedding to worry about. I shouldn't even be engaged at this point."
"I agree."
The breakup and his actions of sleeping with other woman proved he couldn't even control himself. It showed Becky how easily he could give up his commitment to her, so it hurt to trust him.
"But I want to be with you, Adam." He looked at her and couldn't help but smile a little at her honesty. "I just need to trust you again."
"And you can. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do."
Becky sighed in relief when he said that, "Well first off, you need to make sure your..." She points to his crotch, "is clean and safe?"
Adam chuckled and nodded. At least this gave hope that they would be intimate once more.
They were on campus as the Sky Lantern event had started a few hours ago. They had planned to arrive when it first started but got held back as they spoke for hours at her place. Catching up on everything they have missed in the past month.
"I really hope no one approaches us." As much as he loved being around his friends, he wanted alone time with her. Their friends would ask so many questions when in reality he didn't have it in him today to explain why they broke up to just get back together.
"They'll give us our privacy." Becky smiled at him as they stood in line to get their own sky lanterns. The line seemed to be moving slowly as the ones in charge had to help set up every lantern being handed out.
She reached for his hand, having their first form of physical contact for a while. They agreed to take it slow and Adam would just follow her lead, as he wasn't one to take it slow. He happily took her hand and intertwined their fingers. It felt like a welcome into the relationship.
Eventually, they received their lantern and miraculously hadn't been bothered by anyone. "Come on, follow me." Adam grabbed her hand and led them far that they could see the giant clash of lights in the night sky.
"Why are we here?" Becky looked at him bewildered and he just smiled with a shrug.
"We'll let it go at the same time?" Adam suggested as they each held a side of the lantern. Becky agreed and they slowly lifted it up before watching it go into the sky.
As it slowly eased up into the air, Becky realized why he had moved them away from the crowd. It was their lantern that would wander to its own place. Their old problems were leaving with the lantern and wandering on its own.
They watched until it was only a spectacle in the sky.
