The Road That Leads to Us

by Micalea Smeltzer

  “Please, enlighten us,” Liam chuckled.

  Ollie snapped his fingers together, pausing for dramatic effect. “He needs to get laid!”

  Liam rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for a relationship.”

  “I’m not talking about a relationship,” Ollie explained. “All I’m saying is you need a sweaty roll in the hay. That’ll put you in a better mood. Mark my words.” Ollie nodded at this. “All that stored up sperm is going to your head and it’s hazardous to your health.”

  Liam reached up and adjusted the backwards baseball cap on his head. “Remind me, how did I ever become friends with you?”

  Ollie opened his mouth to explain and Liam held up a hand.

  “It was a rhetorical question, Ollie.”

  Ollie sagged at this. “You don’t want them to hear our love story? That’s tragic. My heart is breaking.”

  “I’m sure it is.” Liam stretched out his legs.

  Liam turned to me then with an apologetic smile. “For what it’s worth I’m glad you guys are here.”

  Dean snorted beside me.

  “Shocking, I know,” Liam laughed. To me, he added, “I’ll work on my attitude. Promise.”

  “Liam, you are who you are. Just loosen up a bit. I’ve missed you and I know you didn’t expect us to show up at your house, and were surprised by the fact that we were a couple, but I want to have fun while we’re here. Okay?”

  Growing up, Liam had been my partner in crime. He was the one that when I said I wanted to climb the tallest tree in the yard, he climbed it first to make sure I wouldn’t hurt myself. It’d been a year since we saw each other, and while a lot could change in a year, I didn’t want to lose my relationship with him. He was my unofficial big brother. I didn’t want us to drift apart because we lived so far away.

  He ruffled my hair and I swatted his hand away.

  “Fun? I can do that.”

  ***

  Jeremiah stopped the boat and dropped anchor.

  “We’re swimming with sharks here?” Dean’s voice spiked in fear.

  Liam busted out laughing and I couldn’t help but smile. I thought that might be the first time I’d heard him laugh since we arrived.

  “That’s the idea,” he told Dean.

  “In the ocean?” Dean gulped, looking down into the dark water.

  “That is where they live.”

  Dean paled and looked like he was about to be sick.

  “You’ll be okay, dude. They wouldn’t want to eat you,” Jeremiah said. “They’ll go for Ollie and his luscious blond locks first.”

  “Hey!” Ollie cried, reaching up to rub his hand over his blond hair. “No they won’t! They’d rather have you, Dreaded-Wonder! You whip your hair back and forth and it’ll look like a fucking fish flailing about.”

  The guys continued to bicker back and forth about who the sharks would be most likely to make a snack out of.

  All the while Dean got paler and paler, until I was sure I could see the faint lines of his veins through his skin.

  “I can’t do this,” his voice was shaky.

  I reached for one of his hands, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Yes, you can. This is an experience you don’t want to miss out on.”

  Overhearing our conversation, Jeremiah said, “We might not even encounter any sharks. You can never predict it. You’re more likely to see some fish. That’s about it.”

  “But we’re in deep water,” Dean mumbled like we didn’t know. “I feel like you’re lying to me,” he continued, pointing an accusing finger at Jeremiah.

  Jeremiah merely chuckled.

  “Please, Dean,” I begged. “For me?”

  I hated that he was truly terrified, but I also knew he’d regret it if he didn’t do it.

  He glanced back at the water and squared his shoulders. “We better do this before I lose my nerve.”

  Jeremiah bustled around the boat, grabbing gear—goggles, snorkels, and flippers.

  We shucked off our life jackets and put on the other items.

  Dean still hadn’t regained his color, but I knew he’d be okay.

  Most of the time the fear of what was to come was far scarier than the aftermath.

  “I’ll go first,” Liam said, jumping into the water.

  Dean inhaled a breath, looking on like he was afraid Liam wasn’t going to resurface, but he did only seconds later.

  Next Ollie and Talia jumped in together.

  “You better go before you lose your nerve,” Jeremiah told him, dipping his head towards the ocean.

  Dean began to chant softly under his breath.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him curiously.

  He glanced at me. “Saying a prayer to all the gods I know. Particularly Poseidon.”

  I snorted. Only Dean.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he jumped in the water.

  I half expected him to scream the moment the water touched his skin, but he kept it together.

  I dove in only seconds later.

  The water was colder than I expected. Not freezing, certainly, but not warm either.

  A splash beside me signaled that Jeremiah had joined us in the water.

  “You okay?” I asked Dean.

  He waved his arms to keep afloat and looked around and around, like he expected a Great White to emerge from the depths to eat him.

  If only we’d be so lucky as to see one of those majestic beasts up-close.

  The others swam away, but I stayed close to Dean. I didn’t want to leave him alone. I waited patiently while he got up the nerve to swim around.

  Once he did I stayed by his side, actually taking his hand at one point to remind him I was there and he wasn’t alone in the middle of the ocean.

  I looked down in the water, but it was so murky it was hard to see anything, which was disappointing.

  “This isn’t so bad,” Dean replied when he lifted his head from the water. His hair was now wet and curled on the ends as it stuck to his forehead, coupled with the goofy goggles, I found him endearingly adorable.

  “See!” I smiled, swimming around.

  I was disappointed that we couldn’t see much and soon we all grew too cold to stay in the water.

  Climbing back in the boat Dean tossed me a towel before grabbing one to dry himself off with.

  “You lucked out,” I told him.

  “The gods heard me.” He winked.

  Shivering, I wrapped the towel around my body. Dean stepped forward, enveloping me in his arms. His warmth was welcomed. He brushed away the stringy wet hairs stuck to my forehead and bent to kiss me. I reveled in the feel of his lips. I felt like I hadn’t been properly touched by him in months, when in reality it had only been hours.

  Jeremiah had packed a cooler full of drinks and sandwiches—and even a bag of Cheetos, which he tossed at Ollie.

  Ollie’s hand shot up and grabbed the bright orange bag before it could fly overboard into the ocean.

  Liam strode up to the cooler, running his fingers through his dark wet hair.

  While Dean and I were bundled up in the towels, the others acted as if they weren’t cold at all, and that was probably true since they were used to the icy water.

  I smiled happily when Liam grabbed a bottle of Dr. Pepper and drank that instead of a beer. He didn’t make a big show about it either, to try to prove a point, so that told me it was an unconscious decision.

  “Liam said you guys would want Orange Crush.” Jeremiah pulled out two bottles and tossed them our way, each of us catching one.

  I couldn’t believe Liam had remembered that Dean and I drank Orange Crush.

  “Thanks.” I nodded to both guys.

  Jeremiah squatted again, rifling through the cooler. “I’ve got turkey and ham sandwiches, which do you guys want?” He asked us first.

  “Turkey,” we replied simultaneously and then broke out into laughter.

  Jeremiah handed us the sandwiches before passing out more to the others.
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br />   Dean and I sat on the floor of the boat and covered our legs with dry towels.

  I shivered and he draped an arm over my shoulders.

  I unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. “This is good,” I told Jeremiah. “Thanks for this.”

  “Anytime.” He dipped his head in acknowledgment.

  “So how do all of you know each other?” I questioned, pointing to the three guys.

  Jeremiah was the first to answer. “From surfing. When you’re out there sitting in the water for hours on end waiting for the perfect wave to come along it’s impossible not to get to know each other.”

  I nodded my head in understanding. It made perfect sense.

  “Liam said you’re his cousin,” he looked at me, “but he didn’t say much about you.” He nodded at Dean.

  Beside me Dean snorted and shook his head. “I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you about me, but we grew up together.”

  Liam lifted his head in response. “His dad is the cousin of the guitar player in my dad’s band. Since all of us grew up in the same town it was impossible not to know each other.”

  “Wow.” Jeremiah whistled at this information. “So you guys grew up as basically an extended family?”

  “Yeah.” Liam nodded, taking another bite of his sandwich.

  “And let me guess,” Jeremiah grinned, “now you’re pissed because they’re a couple.”

  Liam grumbled under his breath and finally muttered loud enough for us to hear, “It’s weird.”

  “Why’s it weird?” I laughed, glancing up at Dean.

  Feeling the weight of my eyes, he smiled down at me. His hair was drying, the ends curling above his clear green eyes. He hadn’t shaved in a few days and I had to admit I liked the unkempt look on him.

  Liam shrugged. “You guys have always been friends. I remember being jealous of that growing up,” he shrugged, “yeah, we’re close Willow, but we’re family. I’ve never had a friend like you guys have in each other. So it’s weird to realize you’re a couple now with like kissing and stuff.”

  “And by stuff you mean sex?” I added, raising a brow.

  “Don’t say it!” Liam cried, slapping his hands over his ears. “I don’t want to think about you guys doing it with anybody, let alone each other!”

  “Oh, Liam.” I shook my head, trying to hide my smile.

  I found his reaction ridiculous, considering I knew Liam was no angel. Going to the same high school had put me right in the midst of all the gossip and chatter about Liam. I was pretty sure he’d slept with the majority of the girls in our graduating class based on the things I heard. But, high school, like the media, was full of lies. You couldn’t believe everything you heard, and if you did then you were stupid.

  “So, what do you guys do?” Jeremiah asked. “Are you in school? Working?”

  “I’m a mechanic,” Dean replied, polishing off his sandwich and crumbling the wrapper in his hand.

  “I was in college…well, I mean, I still am technically…but I don’t want to go back.”

  Liam looked up at this, his pale blue eyes full of worry. “What? This is the first I’m hearing about this. Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I guess for the same reason you haven’t called me.” My voice was soft. I wasn’t angry at Liam for his distance, I understood. “It’s hard when you’re on two different coasts. I guess you feel like the other person is too far away to understand what’s going on.”

  Liam frowned at this and shook his head. “Fuck, I’ve made a mess of things, haven’t I?”

  I nodded reluctantly.

  When Liam up and moved all the way to the west coast he didn’t just abandon me, he left all of us. Mascen, having grown up with two sisters, always looked up to Liam as a big brother much the way I had. Not to mention our friends and the kids of our dads other band members had always been our extended family.

  But when Liam left it was like he wanted to pretend none of us existed and I couldn’t understand it.

  Liam covered his face with his hands and let out a loud groan.

  When his hands fell into his lap, he asked me, “So, what are you going to do if you drop out?”

  I winced.

  The words drop out sounded so harsh.

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly, drawing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. I rested my chin on my knees and frowned.

  Beside me, Dean rubbed soothing circles on my back. He knew I was upset and how hard it was for me to admit I couldn’t do this.

  I’d always been a go-getter. Once I set my mind to something, whatever it was, I always followed through. This was, essentially, the first time I’d ever given up on something and it was a hard pill for me to swallow.

  “You’ve gotta figure it out,” Liam said with a sad smile.

  “I know.” The words came out harsher than I intended, but it wasn’t like he was telling me something I didn’t already know.

  Liam’s smile dipped further and he stared down at his sandwich like it held all the answers in the world.

  “It’ll be okay, Will.” He reached over and bumped his hand against my knee. I wasn’t sure if the gesture was supposed to be comforting or what, but it did nothing to alleviate the tightening in my chest.

  Dean’s lips pressed against the side of my forehead. “I’m here for you,” he whispered so low there was no chance anyone else on the boat heard.

  I inhaled those words like they were my last breath.

  Dean was my rock, and right now I needed him more than I ever had before.

  Dean

  It was after one in the afternoon when we arrived back at Liam’s house. He promptly left, muttering that he needed to get groceries and run a few errands. I was glad for the reprieve from his presence. I liked Liam, I did, but he was difficult to be around for long periods of time.

  He hadn’t been gone thirty minutes when it started to rain.

  Willow stood in front of the glass backdoor, watching the water slide against it. Her hair was wet from her shower and she was dressed in a pair of pale blue cotton shorts and a John Handley High School sweatshirt she’d borrowed from Liam since neither of us had packed anything warm. She wore a pair of thin ankle socks on her feet and stood there forlornly. I was suddenly reminded of how young she truly was.

  Willow was a force to be reckoned with, which made it all the easier to forget that she was still just a kid in many ways.

  She didn’t hear me approach and jumped when my arms wound around her.

  When she realized it was me she relaxed into my touch. She leaned her head back against my chest so she could look up at me.

  “What am I going to do?” She croaked.

  I could see the overwhelming fear in her eyes, which in turn scared me.

  I’d never seen Willow afraid.

  Ever.

  It wasn’t an emotion I wanted to see on her.

  “Talk to me,” I whispered, rubbing my hands over her covered arms.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she confessed, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

  “That’s okay.” I pressed my lips to her forehead and she breathed out a happy sigh. Her eyes fluttered closed at the gesture, her lashes sweeping against her cheeks.

  I held her close. Letting her know I was here, and I still would be when she was ready to talk whether that was now, an hour from now, weeks, or even months.

  She inhaled a shaky breath before speaking. “I’m not worried about disappointing my parents. I know they’ll understand. They just want me to be happy.”

  When she grew quiet once more I prompted her with, “Then what’s the problem?”

  She turned in my arms to face me, and her hands grasped at my sides like she needed me to hold her up.

  I was her pillar.

  Her strength.

  Her unwavering source of stability.

  She looked up at me with wide blue eyes—eyes that showed so much, the map of her dreams, hopes, and fears.
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  “I’m terrified of disappointing myself.” Her straight white teeth seesawed across her full bottom lip.

  I reached down and plucked her lip from the confines of her teeth.

  “That’ll never happen,” I told her honestly, smoothing my hands through her blonde hair.

  “You sound so sure,” she whispered skeptically.

  “Because I am. Willow,” I began, “you’ve always known what you wanted, and for once you don’t and I know it seems scary, but that’s life. You don’t always know the next step. Sometimes you’ll stumble and fall, but guess what?” I brushed my lips against her ear and she shivered. “You will always get back up. This is simply the first stumble. You have some scrapes, maybe a bruise, but it’s not life-threatening. This was the wrong path for you, and now you get to choose a new one. Some people aren’t that lucky. Count your blessings.”

  She stared up at me, her eyes wide and understanding. “Thank you, Yoda.”

  I laughed, shaking my head. “Oh, Willow, why do you always have to go and ruin the moment?”

  She smiled up at me—a genuine smile that showed all of her teeth. “It’s a talent.” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. Growing serious, she said, “Thank you for talking about it with me. I feel better now.”

  “Good.” I bent my head and kissed the end of her nose.

  She let out a happy sigh at the gesture and I cracked a half-smile.

  I brushed my fingers over her cheek and she leaned into my touch.

  “You’ve got this, Willow. If there’s anyone that can kick the ass of this thing called life it’s you. You’re brilliant. Never forget that.”

  She grinned up at me, all sadness gone from her eyes. “You sound like you’re signing a yearbook.”

  I groaned and lifted my arms in the air like I was addressing a crowd. “She does it again folks!”

  Her cheery laugh filled the air and I had to grab her, and pull her towards me, where I lowered to press my lips against hers. Her laughter died, swallowed by my mouth, and she let out a soft moan. Her fingers grasped at the fabric and she stood on her tiptoes, pressing into me. My hands slid to her waist, my fingers curling under the edge of the sweatshirt and over the soft skin of her bare stomach. Her breath caught as my hands slid a fraction higher.