FicWad

(Next day :D )

When the bell rang happiness resurfaced. I had come to hate school. People continued to stare. Some people actually came up and asked me about my life with Brendon. It was the most awkward thing ever and I didn't know what to tell them so I simply walked off. That had given birth to the rumor of me being a huge bitch. In reality I just didn't want to answer strangers' personal questions.

Did that really make me a terrible person? Oh well. Another day of school was over. Graduation was quickly coming, just not quickly enough. Talk of college had woken me from my whirlwind romance and forced me to think realistically. What were my college plans? I talked to the school adviser who informed me of the applications I had turned in and the places I had been accepted.

Now that was on my mind as I started to make my way out of the school to look for Brendon. I wasn't sure how we would handle the distance but I didn't want to ignore my future completely just to be with him. No matter what college I chose I was destined to be distanced from Brendon since he had places to go and spread his music.

This was all temporarily wiped from my mind as I found Brendon's car parked out front. People were staring at him in shock and desire. I could hear some of the things girls were saying, had they no shame?

He smiled at me though, ignoring everyone else. It made me forget them all as I stared at him. What did they matter? All they had were words while we shared something so much stronger than their gossip.

As I got in the car I realized he had a lot of junk food in bags in the back along with drinks. "What's this for?" I asked, throwing my bag in back with the munchies.

"We are going to meet my parents." He said, smiling at me as he started driving, "Roooadddd trrriiippp." He sang out.

"Thanks for the heads up." I said, laughing at him. "And we need all of this junk food for a short drive?" I asked, two hours wasn't that far.

Brendon nodded, "I need all of this junk food just to make it out of town. We might have to stop again."

I rolled my eyes, "I don't think so. We are not stopping at a billion gas stations so that you can get your candy fix. I have school tomorrow, you know? I can't be on a road trip forever just because you need sugar."

"About that..." Brendon started in a tone that told me I probably wasn't going to school tomorrow. "They wanted to know if we could stay the night. Just so that they can get to spend a little more time with you."

"With me? You're their child." I replied, "But fine. I guess I have no choice but to stay. I'm not going to refuse an offer from them the first time we meet."

Brendon smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that. And you're the one dating their child." He said, using my term for him in a way that suggested 'child' insulted him.

"We have to stop by the apartment first!" I said suddenly, not wanting to show up looking like crap with no necessary instruments for staying over.

"I packed us an overnight bag." Brendon replied, not seeing the problem.

"Did you remember pajamas plus clothing for tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yep." Brendon said as he continued driving.

"Toothbrushes? Toothpaste? Deodorant? Everything?" I asked, trying to find something he might have overlooked.

"I have everything." Brendon said, sounding amused.

"Brendon I look like shit. I have to go back so that I can get ready." I complained.

That made Brendon laugh, "You look beautiful, as always." He stated.

"Your parents won't think so." I complained, frowning. What if his parents really didn't like me?

Brendon rolled his eyes but kept facing towards the road as he started speeding slightly, "They will both love you and you look fine. Stop being a baby." He said, in a teasing tone.

I groaned and slumped against the passenger seat, "Fine, whatever." I grumbled.

"Are you mad at me now?" Brendon asked, amused.

"Mad? No. Annoyed? Yes." I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Do you really want me to turn around?" Brendon asked with a softer tone.

"No." I said after a pause. "It's fine. I'm just nervous."

"Don't be. They'll love you." Brendon said, squeezing my leg reassuringly.

"And if they don't?" I asked, nervously.

"They will." Brendon said, sounding confident. "But in the off chance that they don't... That doesn't really matter because I love you."

Heart melting statement. "I love you too Brendon." I replied, smiling.

Brendon went silent for a moment as the shock of what I'd said sunk in, "You what?" He asked. I hadn't actually told him I loved him before just now. Not in a real serious I really do love you sort of way.

"I love you." I repeated.

"Wow." Brendon whispered.

"Actually you're supposed to say 'I love you too' but 'Wow' works I guess." I said, nervously.

He had said it previously but in an offhand sort of way and it gave me the perfect opening to tell him how I felt but now I sort of wanted to hear it back to ease my worries. I was a little bit lacking in the confidence department.

"I do." Brendon said quickly, "I do love you too Kacy." He replied, sounding amazed still. "I was just caught off guard to hear you say it." He admitted.

"Well, this is weird." I replied. "I kind of envisioned being in a situation in which I could run from you when I first admitted my love for you. I guess I kind of messed that up."

"Why would you need to run from me?" Brendon asked, confused.

"To avoid awkward conversation afterwards?" I asked/stated, feeling slightly silly for telling him my feelings.

Brendon laughed, "I like our awkward moments. Plus I wouldn't let you just drop something like that and run." He said, smiling at me.

"What candy did you get?" I asked, changing the subject as I pulled one of the bags filled with junk food up to my lap.

"Pretty much any kind of candy that looked good." Brendon replied, "Can you grab me something sour?"

"Sure." I said, pulling out some sour gummy worms. "Here. These are yummy." I said, placing the worms on his lap after opening them.

"Thanks." He said, shoving a few in his mouth.

I ended up settling on a bag of jolly ranchers. I took out all the red ones then stuffed the others back in the bag and threw it in to the back of Brendon's car.

"So when do you leave to start touring?" I asked, messing with the jolly rancher wrapper.

"We leave on the 14th of next month." Brendon replied, "We have all the places we are hitting mapped out. I'll show you when we get home. Jon and Spencer have it all on paper."

"What's it like?" I asked, curious.

"Well we have the bus thankfully which we didn't when we started out so it's a lot easier and glamorous than it used to be. We will pretty much travel from place to place in the bus setting up shows then moving on. The weirdest part is living in a bus together, we will have to spend some more time with the guys so that you feel comfortable around them before we leave." Brendon said, sounding excited. "We get to stop, greet fans, rock out and then keep going. You'll love it."

"Sounds like it will be a fun experience." I replied, thinking about it. It would be fun to see different places and watch the boys play. "How long will we be gone?"

"It will be a relatively short tour since we won't be going international this time. We will be gone for about seven months." Brendon stated, sounding cheery about it. Seven months would feel like forever.

"Wow." I replied, surprised. "I don't know why but I kind of expected it to be shorter. That seems like a long time."

"I'll keep you occupied. It won't seem long at all." Brendon said, winking at me before turning back to the road.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." I stated, feeling nervous about bringing the subject up because I wasn't certain what my plan was just yet.

"What's up?" Brendon asked, curiosity edging it's way in to his tone that he attempted to keep light.

"I need to start thinking more seriously about college." I replied, popping another cherry jolly rancher in to my mouth.

"Do you want to go?" Brendon asked, staring intensely at the road.

"Well, yeah. I just don't know where yet. I want to make something of myself though. That's something I've already decided." I responded.

"Being my girlfriend isn't 'something'?" Brendon asked, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Being your girlfriend isn't a career. These are two completely different topics." I said, but I could tell he was upset. Why though? Wasn't it good that I wanted to better myself?

"Not really." Brendon replied. "How can you be with me if you're too busy at school?"

"Do you have any idea how selfish you sound?" I asked, disgust evident in my tone.

"Whatever." Brendon muttered, sounding just as upset as I felt.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence from that point. I didn't have much to tell him past what I had already said. He was being selfish. He didn't seem to want to talk to me either though. What a lovely way for us to be when going to meet his parents.