Kelsie got off the plane in Vancouver, wearing low-riser jeans, purple sweater with white tank top showing through, and her white pointy-toed heels. She put her hair in a ponytail, with her bangs pinned back. 

She came through gate 10 to see Chris waiting there with a single white rose in his hand; she glanced to the left of him to see that he had brought Brennan with him. She wished that there wasn’t anyone in front of her so that she could run right to him, but she was blocked by an elderly couple. She tried to get by them but there was just no hope. It felt like forever before she was able to get to him.

Chris stood there eagerly awaiting his love, with his brown hair spiked up, and his blue sweater on, that brought out his eyes; something about him that she had always loved.

He had missed her so much over the last couple of months. It hadn’t been easy for him being apart from her, you could ask his friends. At times, he just wanted to stay home and talk to her on the phone instead of doing things that any normal senior students would be doing. He saw her come through those doors and a giant smile came upon his face, she looked more beautiful to him then the last time he had saw her, like a shimmering angel!

Kelsie was finally able to get to him, and when she did, she took the rose into her hand, and jumped up on him, wrapping her legs around his waist. She leaned down and kissed his soft lips, not caring that they were in the middle of an airport. She needed to try to convince herself that she was just as much in love with him as she was before she left.

“I missed you so much,” Kelsie said as she jumped off him, smelling the rose.

“I could tell!” he said hugging her. It was so good to have her in his arms again. He just wished that he didn’t have to say good-bye to her in a few days. He wished that she could stay here with him.

Kelsie turned over to Brennan, and gave him a hug, “I missed you too Brennan,” she said in a joking tone.

“That’s so sweet, I missed you too,” he laughed, she just punch him lightly on the shoulder as she used to regularly do.

“Why don’t we go get your stuff from baggage claim, and then head off to the ferry?” Chris suggested, grabbing Kelsie’s hand.

“Sounds good to me, but you can carry it,” she told him.

“I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I let you carry it,” Chris said, playing around. It felt like they had never lost any time together.

“I’m just bugging; I know I wouldn’t even have to ask.” Looking over at Brennan, “So Brennan aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Yeah, but since my parents are away for a week I came to keep Chris company. He would have gone crazy waiting here all day alone.”

“Yeah that’s true,” knowing how impatient he could get.

“Hey,” Chris sounded offended.

“So what did you guys do today in Vancouver?” curious to know if they had gone last minute shopping for her.

“We went clothes shopping, ate, that’s about it,” Brennan said. He wasn’t about to spill his guts to her, he wanted Chris to be able to surprise her.

“Did you get me a birthday present?” she asked, now sounding like a little kid.

“Well I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” Chris said, giving her that look that he wasn’t about to tell her anything; he wanted it to be a surprise.

“You know I’m not good at waiting,” she begged, giving him the puppy eyes. That usually worked when she wanted something from him before.

“That’s not going to work this time on me,” having a hard time saying no that face of hers. If he could, he would give her the world, if it would make her happy. He just couldn’t give in this time; he wanted everything to be perfect.

“That’s what you always say,” she grinned, knowing that she had always been able to break him.

“No this time I’m determined to keep it a secret,” trying to keep his ground.

As they walked to baggage claim, “You guys make me sick sometimes; it seems like no time has passed by,” Brennan wined as he watched them look so in love. He only wished to have the same someday.

“That’s why we’re perfect for each other. You’re just jealous that you don’t have someone like me,” she joked, putting her arm around his shoulder.

******

Kelsie sat on the couch at Chris’s house, gazing out the window, at the view of the bay, while Chris was in the kitchen with his mom. The night looked so peaceful, not a cloud in the sky. She was glad she was here, but it felt a little different being back after being away for so long. Her mind kept on going to her new life without her boyfriend there everyday; a life that she had turned to someone else and gotten a little too close. Craig came into her brain, just the thought of him right now made her furious, especially after what he pulled last night. She thought he had much more sense, especially after the talk they had after the first kiss.

Chris gazed from the kitchen into the living room where Kelsie sat. He couldn’t figure out why she was in there all by herself. He looked at her face, and saw that she was distant, that she didn’t seem to be here fully. Since they arrived at his house, she didn’t seem herself; she hadn’t talked her head off with his family as she usually did in the past.

Something was bugging her, and he couldn’t figure out what. Had something happeedn to her? He got up from the stool that he was sitting on, went into the living room, and sat beside her, putting his arms around her waist. “Kels, what’s the matter?” he asked with great concern. He hated to see her this way. This was supposed to be a good weekend, one where she would have fun.

Kelsie turned around to face him, leaning on the arm of the couch with her legs crossed right in front of her. “Chris I’m fine, I’m just a little tired from the party my friends threw me last night. We were up pretty late,” she lied, knowing that it would just break his heart if he ever knew. How could she ever live after what she did, after what she had done to someone that means the world to her?

“Okay, why don’t you go to bed and rest? I’ll be in there a little later.” Chris knew she was lying but didn’t feel like arguing with her right now. She would be stubborn about it, and she would only get mad at him for not leaving it alone. He didn’t want to ruin her stay; he’d ask when the time was right.

“Alright, night,” she said leaning in for a goodnight kiss before getting up and heading into Chris’s room.

“Night, I love you.”

Those words were like a comfort to Kelsie, she turned around to face him, “I love you too!”

******

The next morning Kelsie woke up with Chris’s arms around her waist, and his head in the crook of her neck; it put a smile to her face. She felt a little better then she did yesterday, she was more sure that Chris was what she wanted, that this was where she wanted to be, waking up with Chris every morning.

“Good morning,” Chris said kissing the nape of her neck. “How was your sleep?”

“Good, I feel much better,” she said as she rubbed his arm.

“Happy Birthday!”

It put a smile on her face, knowing that she was here, spending it with him. “Thanks,” looking into his eyes, with her hand on his cheek, “being with you makes it an extra special one.”

“So what does the birthday girl want to do today?” giving her a choice, even though he knew exactly what she would say.

Kelsie turned around to face Chris. “How about we visit our friends this afternoon, and then have the whole evening to ourselves,” she said, kissing down his bare chest.

Smiling seductively at her, “Sounds good to me if this is what I can expect,” he joked, rubbing her back.

“Yeah and maybe a little bit more,” she teased, biting on his ear lobe.

Being turned on, but knowing that they had to get up and going, “Stop it; you can’t tease me like that.”

“You know I can,” tugging on it even more.

Wining, “Stop, that’s not nice.”

“No, maybe not for you, but its fun for me,” she laughed, sticking her tongue at him.

Glaring at her, “You’re mean, you know that.”

“I know, but it’s my job,” she laughed.

Chris pushed Kelsie off him, pinned her to the bed, crawled on top of her, and began tickling her, making her laugh uncontrollable. She tried to get away from him, but had no luck.

“Chris, stop it,” she laughed. “That’s not fair.”

“Then you stop teasing me,” he said sternly.

Kelsie puts her hand out for Chris to shake, “Deal.”

Getting up off her, “Now why don’t you go take a shower and get ready, then we can go out.”

“Alright,” she said jumping off the bed, heading to Chris’s bathroom, leaving him sitting on the bed.

******

Kelsie and Chris drove down the highway towards Halfmoon Bay where Brennan lived. Since his parents weren’t home, he invited people to come over to see Kelsie. His place was in the middle of nowhere, in the boonies. There were trees everywhere, and not that many streetlights. It was like living in the woods. How anyone lived out here Kelsie did not know.

When they got there, Danielle and Tyler were sitting on the porch steps talking amongst themselves, at the moment they saw Chris’s car pulling up the driveway they ran to the passenger’s side to greet Kelsie.

“Hey chica, how’s it going?” Danielle said as she gave Kelsie a big hug. Kelsie was so glad to see her again.

“Not bad, how about yourself?”

“Good, Tyler and I are going back out,” she said beaming.

“Since when, I talked to you Wednesday and you said nothing about it.”

“Thursday night, it just kind of happened,” she shrugged.

“Wow! It’s about damn time,” she knew that they were right for each other, and she was glad that they had finally seen it.

Chris came around to the other side of the car where they were all standing, and talking, with a smile on his face. It was nice to see that Kelsie was in better spirits then she was last night. He had hated to see her so down last night, he just wished she had told him what was wrong. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal, as he thought.

“Tyler come and give me a hug,” she said with open arms. It felt so good to see her friends again; she had missed this place so much.

“So how is life in Toronto…wild?” Tyler asked curious to know if it was as he had always heard. He had always wanted to go and explore the city.

“No, but it’s very much different from Sechelt. You have much more to do besides getting yourself into trouble,” she joked. Remembering the many stupid moments, they had all had here.

“Good to have you back; it’s not the same without you,” knowing how true that statement was, Chris wasn’t the same guy when she wasn’t in his life.

“Glad to be back!” she smiled.

“Come on Kelsie lets go inside,” Danielle said grabbing Kelsie’s arm, pulling her away from the boys.

“Yeah, let’s see what Brennan’s up to.” Turning to the boys, “Are you boys coming?”

“Yeah in a minute sweetie,” Chris said.

Walking towards the house, “Kelsie, so tell me how the situation with Craig is going?” She had told her all about it, and she felt for her. She knew it couldn’t be that easy to be away from Chris like that. She knew that she wouldn’t have been as strong as Kelsie has been.

“It’s getting worse,” putting a sour face just thinking about it.

“What do you mean?” she couldn’t really think of how it could get worse, unless she actually did something daft.

“Thursday night they threw me a birthday party, and he wrote me a song, and in it, it said that he’s falling in love with me.”

“I can see what you mean.”

“Later that night I talked to him about it, saying that I told him that the kiss meant nothing. He told me that I was lying, and then he kissed me again. So now I’ve decided that I can no longer be friends with him anymore.”

“Maybe it’s for the best to stay away from him if he’s going to try to break you and Chris up. I mean he must not really care for you if he could go against you wishes.” She knew if she saw him at this moment, that she would give her a piece of her mind, of what she thought of him. She hated to see that he had done this to her good friend.

They both heard the boys getting closer so they stopped talking about it. The last thing Kelsie wanted was to have Chris know about it. She didn’t want to hurt him, or even lose him. If she lost him, she would just die, for it would be too much for her to endure.

As they walked into the living room, Kelsie saw all of her best friends from school sitting in the living room, chatting away. There was a big sign hung up that said Happy Birthday.

“Hey, I’m home!!!” Kelsie said coming in through the living room.

“Happy Birthday,” they all said, greeting her with hugs.

“Aw you guys are so sweet!” astonished that they had done this for her.

“Now why don’t you come in the kitchen, we made you lunch,” Karen said.

Kelsie turned around to Chris, putting her hands around his waist, “You planned this all didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” he smirked. He told her that he had a big surprise waiting for her.

“I can’t believe it, you’re the best,” kissing him on the lips.

“Well I try. Now let’s go enjoy this,” he grabbed her hand, leading her into the kitchen where there was a platter of food.

Kelsie grabbed a Bacardi Silver, “Thank you all for being here so that I can really enjoy my visit.”

“We did it because we love you and really missed you,” Jenny said.

Kelsie sat on Chris’s lap as she talked with her friends, trying to catch up on all that’s happened since she left. They all helped her keep her mind off the events that had unraveled these last few weeks. Making her feel like she never left, as if she still had a place here.

******

Kelsie and Chris sat in the living room around the fireplace drinking hot chocolate. Kelsie was leaning against Chris’s chest, while he played with her hair. They didn’t even need to talk; they just enjoyed being in each other presence. It was exactly what she needed this weekend, especially after she came on this trip real confused about what she was feeling.

“Chris, am I ever going to get my birthday present? I’ve been waiting all day,” she pouted. She was so curious to know what he had got for her, even though she knew he had done more then enough for her today.

“Patient is a virtue,” saying it just to irritate her.

“You know I’m far from that,” making fun of herself, because she knew it was totally true.

“Alright,” he said as he grabbed the present out of his hoody, presenting it right in front of her. It was a little velvet box.

Kelsie heart began to drop, she took the box from his hand and started opened it. She looked at it; it was a silver band with hearts indented all around it. “Aw what’s this for?”

“It’s a promise ring, promising that one day I will exchange it for an engagement ring when we’re ready to take that leap into marriage.”

Leaning back against his chest, “Chris that’s such a sweet gift, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

Putting his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head, “I just wanted to show you how much you mean to me, and that I know we will get married in the future.”

“I’ve always thought that too,” she said, even though she had her doubts along the way.

“Let me put it on,” She turned around to face him, but still sat up against his chest. He took the ring and put it on her ring finger.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” He said, brushing her hair away from her neck, and started to kiss her neck. Kelsie tipping her head a little to allow better access to it, leaning back farther into his chest. He soon went to biting her ear softly causing her to moan. Luckily, his parents had gone out for the night, leaving them to have the house to themselves.

“Why don’t we take this into the bedroom?” Chris suggested, thinking that it probably would be more comfortable.

“Alright.”

Chris picked her up and carried her to his room where he placed her on his bed. He joined her on the bed, lying beside her. She leaned in to kiss him, and started to get rough with her kisses, crushing his lips. She rolled on top of him taking control of the situation; she wanted to prove to herself that this is where she belonged.

“I love you,” Kelsie moaned.

“I love you too,” he said in almost a whisper.

Kelsie pulled off Chris’s shirt and started to kiss down his chest, before going back to his lips. It went on to get even hotter between the two, letting out the sexual frustration that they both had after so many months. The doubts that had been in Kelsie’s head were no more.

******

The next morning was a sad one, a day they both didn’t look forward to. Saying good-bye once again, who knew when the next time they would see each other? They both woke up with big smiles on their faces after what had happened the night before. It had been a night to remember, better then what they remembered.

“Morning,” Kelsie said looking into Chris’s eyes.

“Morning, have a good nights rest?”

“Yes, especially after last night,” she smiled.

“Yeah, I enjoyed myself to,” he laugh. “We better get up, you need to pack, have some breakfast, and then we need to catch the ferry.”

“What time is it?” hoping they would have a little time to just relax before they would have to rush about.

Chris looks at his watch, “10 o’clock.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” a little disappointed.

******

Kelsie and Chris did all they had to do, and rushed to catch the 11:30 ferry. They just made it just in time, and that was a relief because otherwise she might not catch her flight, and then her parents wouldn’t be too impressed about that. With the ferry ride and the Vancouver traffic it took about two hours to get to the airport; just thinking of her going home made Chris depressed, it just like losing her all over again. He really hoped to get into a University in Toronto so that they didn’t have to do this long distant thing much longer.

“Chris thanks for everything you did to make this a special weekend, I only wish it could have been a longer trip, maybe next time,” she smiled slightly.

“Me too, but it’s always worth seeing you even if it’s only for a few seconds.”

Kelsie kissed him, “How am I going to live without you any longer?” she asked as she held onto him, trying not to cry anymore.

“I know what you mean, but lets cross our fingers, and hope I get into a school there.”

“I know.” She held him in her arms hoping not to have to let him go, knowing that she would have to deal with Craig tomorrow. She wasn’t looking forward to that, not one bit. She would do all she could to try to avoid him, make sure that she no longer had to be his partner in Biology.

“I’ll phone you tomorrow, to see how your trip was.”

“Everyone going to Toronto, this is your last call to board the plane,” they both heard them calling.

 “Well I guess I have to go, I love you,” she held him tighter, not wanting to let go. She wanted to savor the moment, make it last forever.

“I love you too,” he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on her lips.

“Bye,” she waved as she went to the gate, then mouthed I love you again before turning to walk through the door.

Tears ran down Chris’s cheeks. All of a sudden, he felt like this was going to be the last time he would ever see her, and it startled him. What could tear them apart? This just made him to start to worry more.