Disclaimer: All characters, etc., belong to their owners...yep...just wrote this story here.
Final chapter. Hope you've enjoyed it. I should update tomorrow night or Monday night with a new story that begins a new trilogy. Same characters as the last one. They're just much older now.
Chapter 7
Josh and Mindy went off in a corner to talk things over while Drake began pacing the walkway in front of the chapel. He thought back to why he had been upset with Josh before, he'd never been in love. Really, it was true that he'd never been in love with a girl, but it wasn't like he'd never felt passion for something.
Drake stuck his hands in his pockets and found a couple of pieces of paper. They were the phone numbers of the two girls he'd met while looking for Josh. He frowned. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. He tossed them in the nearest trash can. No more mistakes.
He sat down on a bench while Josh and Mindy continued to talk things through. Maybe he should take some relationships more slowly. Josh did have a point. He'd never felt what it was like to be in love with a girl. Maybe he was just looking for someone that gave him the same thrill as his music. Whatever the case, he wasn't going to completely change, but maybe at least take things more slowly now and see if anything further could develop in a relationship than what had in the past.
Mindy and Josh finally made their way toward Drake, and he stood up to hear what they had to say. Josh took a deep breath before he finally spoke.
"You're right. We didn't completely think this through. We're not going to do it."
"Good," Drake replied. "Well, good that you've figured it out."
"I'm just scared that I'll be alone."
"Josh, you're not going to be alone. We've been over this. Don't worry about it. You're going to be somewhere where nobody knows anyone. You're not going to be alone."
"You're right," Josh responded. "We just realize that we do have things to think over first. Maybe this is in the future, but it might be too soon right now."
"I'm going to go inside and tell them this is off," said Mindy.
"Okay," Josh said. He watched her walk away, and then turned back to look at Drake. "Look, man, I'm sorry if I offended you in my letter. It's just that, you've never had a girlfriend for more than a month."
"I know. Don't worry about it, okay?"
"Thanks for coming out here. You're the best you know that?"
"Yes."
"I'm going to go see how things are going with Mindy."
Drake watched Josh walk into the chapel before turning back to the bench where he had just been sitting. He noticed a girl there now, and she didn't look happy.
"Is something the matter?" he asked, walking toward her.
"Oh, no, I'm sitting out here, alone, crying my eyes out because it's the happiest day of my life. Of course something's the matter."
"Can I ask what happened?" Drake had a feeling he better be careful here. It wasn't easy to deal with an upset woman.
"My jackass of a fiancé just left me out here. He said he didn't want to get married now. It was too soon. Yeah, right. I know he met some girl the other night."
"He just left you?"
"Well, I told him to leave me."
"Good call, that one," Drake remarked.
"What about you? You're probably here to get married yourself."
"Actually, no. I came to stop my brother."
"And how did that work?"
"He's not marrying the girl."
"Is no one supposed to get married today? Man. I give up. Love sucks."
"I wouldn't know. I've never been in love."
The girl raised an eyebrow.
"You expect me to believe you've never had a girlfriend?" she asked.
"Oh, no, I've had girlfriends. I just wasn't in love with any of them."
"I see."
"Where are you from anyway? How are you going to get home?"
"I'm from San Diego."
Drake almost hit the ground.
"San Diego?"
"Yeah. Is there a problem with that?"
"No. I'm from there too."
"Oh."
"I can give you a ride back if you want."
"Ha. You men are all the same. Let me guess what's supposed to happen the first night on the road."
"Why would you think that? I'm just trying to be nice."
"Yeah, right."
"You've got to learn to be more trusting."
"My boyfriend just left me."
"You told him to leave you here."
"I..." Now she was at a loss for words. She really had no choice. She had no other way to get home. Her expression changed, and her voice softened. "Thank you."
Drake could only stare at her. Was that how some of the girls he dated felt when he went out with someone else the next week? Now he felt guilty for doing that.
Josh finally walked back over to Drake.
"Hey, we're ready to go if you are."
"Yeah," Drake responded. "Uh, what do you want to tell Mom and Dad about this?"
"I'll figure something out on the way home," Josh replied. "You going to be okay driving home by yourself?"
"Yeah, well, I'm helping someone home, so I won't be by myself."
Josh glanced past Drake at the girl sitting on the bench.
"Drake..."
"It's fine, Josh."
Josh drove home quietly with the radio on while Mindy sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window before opening a book.
He couldn't believe what he'd tried to do. It did seem pretty crazy now. Drake was right. As usual, Josh had overreacted to something. But maybe he had been right to overreact. All that mattered now was that he remember that his friends and family would always be there for him.
Josh sighed and quickly glanced over at Mindy before bringing his eyes back to the road. He really didn't want to lose her, but they had the summer. He decided to do this right and propose with a ring at the end of the summer. Their family would be much more accepting of that, and if they realized they probably wouldn't get married until after college, be more accepting still.
Yes, that was what Josh would do. He was going to do things right this time. There would be no mistakes.