A Blossoming Love? (Part 2/4)

I woke up after dreaming about Laura yet again, I just couldn't get her out of my mind. If I was seeing her in my head all the time, why was it so hard for me to talk to her? My phone pinged and Laura messaged me on Tramble. It said: "hey are u free today" I could feel my heartbeat, I messaged her back "Yes, I am" and waited for a response. She's a rather quick texter because not even after I messaged her, my phone went off twice. She asked me if I could meet her around the West Sahara area in Las Vegas and if I wanted to get something to eat. Which, I quickly answered back that I would and got ready as quick as I could. Laura told me to meet her there in an hour!

[1 Hour Later...]

I stood in front of a wall and waited for Laura. Where was she at? Did she not see me or something? I looked at my phone but saw nothing from her or anyone else.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Laura called out.

I looked up from my phone and nearly lost my breath! She looked amazing! She was wearing a sun dress with a blue flower pattern. Laura also had on blue lipstick, which accented her cherry red eyes. I was speechless, what was I gonna say?

"You alright, Alyx?" She giggled.

"H-Huh?! Yeah! I'm doing fine!" I quickly answered.

"Well, come on! I'm starving!" Laura smiled.

[15 Minutes Later...]

We arrived at Carson Kitchen, we got sat down in a booth and we ordered our food. After that, Laura asked me something.

"So, what did you tell me yesterday? About your brother?" She asked.

"That? Well, my family has this tradition where we celebrate our half birthdays alongside our actual ones. I know it sounds weird but I guess I can't complain. Every year since I was little, my brother would take me to this firework show, which happens to be today. But... He hasn't been home in a while; he left a year or two ago and didn't tell me why. My parents told me he went to study abroad in Japan, but I don't really know if that's true or not." I explained.

"Oh, right. Is that why you also told me that you might not be in the best of moods today?" She wondered.

I nodded and rubbed the back of my neck, "Yeah, I did. Sorry if I don't seem as positive as usual."

"It's no big deal, I understand completely." She reassured.

I really wanted to just come out with my feelings to her, but wouldn't that make this extremely awkward? She just thinks of you as a friend, nothing more, nothing less. Our food arrived and holy hell... It smelled fantastic!

[15 Minutes Later...]

Once we finished eating and left a tip, we left Carson Kitchen and walked around Las Vegas.

"Ooo... Look at that, it's Ms. Laura Whitson! You're looking cute today, who's this?" A guy complimented.

It took me a minute to recognize who it was. It was Aaron Delacruz; he wasn't exactly a great person. If I remember right, he was Laura's ex, I think?

"H-He's... He's my boyfriend!" Laura quickly replied.

"Oh? You're over me already, baby? That's surprising." He remarked.

I nodded, "Not really if we're gonna be honest."

"Well, well, well. You've got quite the smart mouth here, I like it. At least you didn't pick some wimp like Angelo or that one guy Jackson, I think his name was?" Aaron responded.

He walked next to me, smiled, patted me on the back and walked away. I'm glad I kept my cool that time, "He's my boyfriend!" I nearly lost it after she said that! We kept walking, I'm pretty sure she just wanted to avoid any sort of awkward questioning, and I was 100% for that as well. I put my hands in my pockets and took a deep breath in and out.

"You wanna go watch a movie? I've heard that there's some pretty good ones out right now." Laura asked.

So, now my brain is going in one hundred different directions at once. Joshua just had to give me a talk before this whole thing, right?

"O-Oh, y-yeah! Sure!" I stuttered.

Laura and I walked over to a movie theater that was nearby, I wasn't sure what movie we were seeing, but hopefully it was good!

[3 Hours Later...]

That movie definitely was something else, that's for sure. It's the first time I've ever seen a romance film and I'm pretty sure it'd be the last.

"Wow, that was incredible! I've always wanted to watch that movie!" Laura exclaimed.

I nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I never thought I'd actually enjoy something like that."

But then again, I was with her, so maybe that's why. Laura looked down at her watch and then pulled something out of her purse. It looked like a blindfold?

"Here, put this on and come with me." Laura told me.

"Okay...?" I muttered.

I wrapped it around my eyes and Laura grabbed my wrist. She took me to whatever destination we were heading to. After about maybe 20 or so minutes of walking, we sat down on some grass, she untied the blindfold and I opened my eyes.

"Where exactly are we? You didn't bring me out here to kill me, did you?" I joked.

"No, no! You'll see in a minute!" She laughed.

I looked over to the city and watched. What exactly was she doing?

*THIRD PERSON*

Within minutes fireworks lit up the sky! Alyx's eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

(I.R.P.: Listen to Marioverehrer's cover of "Mizuhara's Theme")

"I know it's not much, but I couldn't get tickets for-" Laura stopped.

Alyx's eyes and face lit up with the lights from the fireworks. His lip began to quiver as tears began to roll down his face. Laura looked over and softly smiled at him. Alyx used his sleeve to try and wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Th-Thank you... Thank you so much, Laura!" He cried.

Laura placed her hand on Alyx's, which surprised him, and he looked over at her.

"After everything you've told me, it almost felt like I needed to do something. That's why I wanted to see a movie with you, just to waste time to get to this point, I didn't even know if it would've worked. But I did it. A person has two reasons for doing something: a good reason and the real reason." Laura replied.

Now, to her surprise, Alyx hugged her.

"You have no idea how much this means to me, Laura." He quietly sniffled.

Laura laid her head on his shoulder and hugged him back. Memories flooded Alyx's mind of his brother Kariya. They continued to watch the fireworks, now closer than before, both emotionally and mentally. Alyx's mind and heart were set, Laura was the girl he truly loved.

[4 Hours Later...]

*LEONIDUS' P.O.V.*

My phone vibrating woke me up from my sleep. I grabbed it and answered it.

"Hello...?" I sleepily answered.

"Hey... I didn't wake you up, did I? Also, is your room that dark?" Laura asked.

I looked at my phone and saw her face, "O-Oh, sorry! I didn't think you were facetiming me."

"It's alright, I'm assuming I woke you up?" She giggled.

"Yeah, but it's fine, it's Sunday tomorrow anyway. I'm gonna assume that you can't sleep?" I responded.

She shifted in her bed and laid on her side like I was before she spoke.

"Not really, I've been having a hard time sleeping lately, I'm not sure why." Laura told me.

"I mean, I could run all the way over to you, I need the exercise." I laughed.

"That'd be nice." She smiled.

That sort of answered my question, I guess? I was going to ask her if she liked anyone but this just kind of proved it. I stretched and yawned.

"If you don't mind, I can stay up with you until you fall asleep." I offered.

She started blushing, "Y-You would?"

I nodded and we then started talking for the next couple of hours. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, the same went with me.

[The Next Morning...]

I woke up and saw that my phone was off. She must've been up already. I turned on my phone and saw quite a bit of texts from people on all of my social medias.

"Do I really want to look through them?" I sighed.

I opened up Tramble and looked through my messages, almost all of them were from the girls at my school. Literally, ALL of the messages on each of my social medias were from the girls at my school. I got up from my bed and decided to get ready for the day.

[35 Minutes Later...]

After I got ready, I took my usual walk around Reno. It was a relatively quiet town, which to me, it honestly suited me. My phone vibrated and I looked to see what it was. Sheyenne was calling me for some reason.

"Well, this is a first, what's up?" I answered.

"Are you seeing all the shit that's going down right now? Laura's page is just blowing up!" Sheyenne replied.

"What? What's going on? Did something happen?" I asked.

"Well, it's just a bunch of hate and shit. Things like 'He doesn't love you', 'He won't care about you', just some dumb things." Sheyenne told me.

I didn't know what to say. Did she have a boyfriend that those girls were obsessing over?

"I'll check it out, thanks Shey!" I smiled.

We hung up and I went onto her Tramble page. Every single post was littered with nothing but cruel words and malice. It seemed like it carried over to their pages as well, some of them posted clearly photoshopped pictures of her doing ungodly things, what's wrong with these people?! I texted Laura, but I didn't address the situation, I asked her how she was doing. My mind was already set, I'm heading to her house.

[1 Hour Later]

Thank God my Gear Two makes me fast as hell! I got to her house much quicker than what any of the trains could do. I looked at her house and each of the windows.

"Alright, now which one is it...?" I muttered.

If Annie or my Father actually taught me how to fly, this would be a lot easier than it is now. I closed my eyes and searched for her Heat Energy, there it was, it was a room on the second floor to the right. I jumped up to her window and hung onto the edge. I managed to open it up and look inside. Laura had her knees buried in her face; I could tell she's been crying for quite some time now. I climbed in through her window, I figured that she would've noticed me, but she had earphones in. I walked over to her bed and sat down.

She looked up and her dreary eyes slightly widened. I smiled at her and she fell into me, not saying a word. I sat there and held her, she didn't make a sound, but I could tell that tears were flowing. I heard her doorknob turn quickly but the door was locked.

"Laura, honey, is everything alright?" Her Mother asked.

Laura looked up at me, wondering what exactly I was going to do, I had really only one option. I used an Overdrive Whip to unlock the door. Her Mother walked in and, to be expected, surprised to see me.

"W-Who...? Wait a minute, I recognize that face, Alyx! What a pleasant surprise, how's your mother and father?" She asked.

"Hey, Mrs. Whitson! They're doing alright but... There's something we need to talk about." I responded.

I told her about the whole situation that was going on, plus I told her about the whole alleyway incident, if she hadn't been told already. She made sure to call the principal tomorrow morning, she even set over 20 reminders telling her to do it!

"Mom, can I stay home tomorrow?" Laura asked.

"Of course, sweetheart, I don't want you to be thrown into an uncomfortable situation." Her Mother cooed.

I got up from her bed and returned to the window, "Alyx, dear, just use the door."

"Oh, right, sorry! Force of habit!" I laughed.

I left the room and her mother followed me out. Right before I left, her mother stopped me.

"Hey, you have no idea how much Laura appreciates you. I honestly haven't heard a single bad thing from her about you." She told me.

I felt myself start to blush, "S-She talks about me?"

"Of course! Does it surprise you? Laura's expressed so many things about you, Alyx. For a moment, I thought you two were dating for a brief time there! Ever since she bumped into you at school, her life's been so much better!" Her mother continued.

I felt myself choke up, I really meant that much to her? I squeezed my thumb in my pocket to prevent myself from tearing up.

"Thank you for telling me... Mrs. Whitson." I replied.

I left her house and started my trip back home. I reflected on everything that her mother told me. With everything that I know now, I think it's safe to say that she feels the same way. In the middle of my thoughts, my phone vibrated, I looked down and Amanda Vibraine was calling me.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, are you coming to that party or what?" She laughed.

"Party? What party are you talking about?" I asked.

"You didn't see? Tif's hosting a party tonight, everyone is gonna be there! Maybe not that one girl, but who cares, it'll be fun!" Amanda replied.

I stood there and didn't say anything, so she was in on it too, huh?

"I would, but I've got some family things to attend to, sorry." I told her.

Before she could try and convince me, I hung up on her. How could they be so nonchalant about how utterly mean they were being to her? I just couldn't wrap my head around what any of them were thinking. Not only was it some of the girls, some of the boys were doing it as well. I wasn't sure what to do about any of this. Hopefully her mom can get something figured out, but here I am, still thinking about the things I could've done or said.