by Terry Towers
Laughing, she placed the card back in the envelope and looked back down at the dress. Where was he planning on taking her? It wasn’t even prom season, maybe it was some sort of formal dance?
****
Gabriella gave herself one final look in the mirror. She had to admit, the dress had a certain fun appeal to it. Certainly not her first choice since it was so outdated, but he was a guy and she had to give him credit for trying. She also had to give him credit for whatever it was he had planned on such short notice. The whole thing was baffling and she was eager to see what he had planned.
At a couple minutes to eight, Gabriella snatched up the matching clutch that had come with the dress, purple and sequined, and made her way downstairs. She was just exiting the building when an older model stretch limo pulled up to the curb. It looked severely out of place in the neighbourhood and a number of people outside on the sidewalk stopped to get a peek at the occupant of the vehicle. Being that it was prom season and the way she was dressed, they must have assumed it was just another prom-goer because their interest passed quickly.
The limo pulled up in front of her building and the tall, lanky blonde-haired male limo driver immediately got out and made his way to the back passenger side door. "Miss King?"
Laughing, Gabriella nodded. "That's me."
Opening the door, he stepped back and motioned for her to enter. "Your date is waiting for you."
With a wide grin on her face she stepped up to the car and peered in. Sure enough Anthony was sitting in the back seat, looking as hot as ever, wearing a black tuxedo with a purple tie and cummerbund to match her dress. He grinned back at her and motioned for her to get in and sit beside him.
"Please don't tell me we're crashing a prom, Anthony," she teased, sliding in, the car door closing behind her.
He gave her a wink. "Not exactly." Grabbing a small white box beside him, he opened it up and pulled out a wrist corsage, with purple flowers that also matched her dress. "May I have your left wrist?"
"Certainly, Sir." Still laughing, Gabriella felt like she was reliving her prom night, the way it should have happened. This time, however, she was with a man who could set her body ablaze with a single look rather than someone she was forced to go with because no one else would take “Crabby Gabby.” She extended her wrist to him and he slid the pretty arrangement of flowers onto her wrist.
With the corsage on her wrist he took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze as the limo started moving. "I felt bad over the crummy prom you had and my role in it so I thought I should make it up to you." His eyes wandered the length of her, pausing at her cleavage, straining against the low-dipping satin bodice, before meeting her eyes. "You look very beautiful, Gabby."
Gabriella was glowing at his compliment. She could actually feel her body growing warm under his gaze and at the sound of his words. Excitement rushed through her. She was tempted to try and force the information on exactly what he planned from him, but part of the fun seemed to be not knowing. "But how did you arrange this all so quickly?" she asked, looking through the window and noticing they were heading toward Manhattan.
He huffed and jerked a thumb in the direction of his chest. "Marine. We get things done."
"Gee, I forgot. What was I thinking?" Gabriella rolled her eyes at him, but was still impressed despite herself.
His grin faded and his expression suddenly turned serious. Taking her hands in his, he raised them to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Look Gabby, I'm really sorry if I caused you grief when we were younger..."
Gabriella began to open her mouth to protest and tell him it was fine, it was no different than any other sibling rivalry, but before she could he silenced her with a quick kiss.
"I joined the Marines because I had no idea what I wanted to do and it seemed like a good place to figure that out. And Dad… well, you know, he pretty much made the decision for me. And honestly, after prom night all I knew was that I wanted as far away from home as possible before I did something stupid and attempted to start something with you. It just happened that the Corps agreed with me. And for the record Gabriella, you're only twenty-three, don't feel bad about not knowing what you want in life."
Gabriella was shocked. That was about as close to an apology as she'd ever gotten from him over anything. Not that she really needed it. She already knew he wasn't quite the jerk he'd allowed her to believe all these years. But for the first time since graduating high school she felt okay with not knowing her direction in life yet.
She was about to express her gratitude for his little pep talk when the limo began to slow and the mystery of where they were going was solved. They were in front of a tall, historic theatre and dozens of limos lined the sidewalk unloading passengers. People ranging from their age to those in their fifties and sixties were strolling down the sidewalk dressed in prom dresses and tuxedos and entering the theatre for the prom revival interactive play.
She was so excited she actually squealed. She'd never been to one of these types of shows before. Basically it was a simulated prom, but actors dressed as other prom-goers, all sporting different characters who would mingle with the guests. Apparently it was an amazingly fun experience.
"How did you get tickets!" She threw herself into Anthony's arms, showering him with a string of quick kisses over his face and neck.
Anthony chuckled and returned her hug, as their limo came to a complete stop and one of the ushers stepped up to the back door and opened it for them.
"Welcome to the prom of Brine Falls High, class of 1989" the usher announced, offering his hand to Gabriella and helping her out of the car.
Gabriella knew she must have been grinning like an idiot, but didn't care. This was easily one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her. She looked over her shoulder at her handsome date as he exited the car to stand at her side and offered her his arm.
"Are you ready to have the prom of a lifetime, Gabby?"
She nodded and he led her down the red carpet and into the theatre. The slate was completely clean with them now. She had a gorgeous man on her arm and was about to have the prom she should have had years ago. She couldn't imagine it getting any better.
Chapter 5
The room that was set aside for the dance was decorated in the "school" colours of red and white. The lights were dimmed and various colored lights were flashing onto the hardwood newly waxed dance floor. It was a stereotypical prom set-up. Balloons were everywhere. A banquet table was filled with punch and snacks. At one end of the room there was a stage where the host for the evening would occasionally jump up and make an announcement or say something inspirational to the crowd.
Gabriella wanted to dance but the one thing Anthony wasn't good at was dancing. His idea of dancing was the two-step. Considering the amount of people on the dance floor, tearing it up – even those bordering on being seniors – there was no way he was going to humiliate himself with his lame-assed dance moves. But there was no way he was going to disappoint Gabriella either.
His solution: alcohol. And lots of it.
By the sixth beer he was finally feeling up to dancing, without giving a flying shit as to how his moves looked to anyone else. When Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" started to play, he announced to Gabriella that this was his “jam” and grabbing her hand, he pulled her onto the center of the dance floor.
"We really don't need to dance, Tony."
"No, no babe. I got this."
"Oh, good lord." Gabriella half-groaned and half-snickered at his newfound enthusiasm.
He was vaguely aware of Gabriella laughing and a good chunk of their “graduating class” staring and snickering at him as he did his best impression of the Michael Jackson pelvis thrust and then the crotch grabber while whooping. When it came time for the anti-gravity move, Anthony realized despite his slightly drunken state that he was in over his head with that one, and knew it would only end badly if he tried.
With more alcohol and more dancing the time seemed t
o fly by and the end of the night fast approached.
"Can I have the attention of the graduating class." The music was immediately turned off and the crowd of a couple hundred people all focused their attention on the prom host, a short, stout redheaded man who had announced himself to be Principal Flannigan.
When everyone was looking at him and the chatter had quieted down he continued. "It's time to announce your prom king and prom queen."
Looking down at Gabriella, Anthony gave her arm a nudge. When she looked up at him he gave her a wink. "We got this, babe."
Laughing, she shook her head and rolled her eyes at him, before turning her attention back to Principal Flannigan.
Despite being captain of the football team and highly popular in high school, he had never really given a shit about those things. And the whole prom king and queen thing he really hadn't given a rat’s ass about. His date Ashley Vaughn had given a shit about it, however, and when he refused to allow her to nominate them for the king and queen she'd gotten her revenge by making out with his best buddy during the prom. So really, his high school prom hadn't ended up much better than Gabriella's. Just no one ever knew that part of things.
The host pulled Tony from his trip down memory lane.
"And this year's prom king and queen is..." Principal Flannigan made a big show of pulling the "secret results" from the envelope. "Mr. and Mrs. Anthony King."
Because of the way it was announced “Mr. and Mrs.” it took him a moment to realize that it had in fact been them selected.
"Mr. and Mrs.?" Gabriella looked up at him and raised a questioning brow.
Anthony shrugged. "Must be because of our last names. How many people take their sister to prom? Er, fake prom."
Gabriella fell silent for a moment and then laughed. He loved seeing her laugh. He rarely saw her laugh while they were teenagers, and practically never because of him. All he'd ever managed to do was hurt her and make her angry. While her angry look was sexy, he'd take her laughter and eyes looking up at him with affection any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Her face immediately mellowed and she touched his cheek with her fingertips. "Thank you, Tony."
The sweetness in her voice tugged at his heart. She'd grown into such an amazing and beautiful woman while he'd been away. He was grateful she was willing to let the past be in the past so they could move on – together? He hoped.
"Come on, Mrs. King. Let's get you that crown." Grabbing her hand he tugged her along behind him as they made their way to the stage.
****
"Well it's about time you got up, slugger," Gabriella teased when she noticed Anthony stirring on her well-worn cream-coloured sofa. This was the first night that he hadn’t had the nightmares. She knew he’d been nightmare-free because she’d spent most of the night in the armchair across from him in case he needed her. The previous evening the sofa was as far as she could get him. After they received their crowns for being the prom king and queen the partying really started. Anthony partied much harder than her.
Anthony groaned as he sat up and his grey eyes glanced up at her standing over him with a cup of coffee and a couple of aspirin in her hands. "Thanks." He accepted the pills, tossed them into his mouth and chased them down with the steaming coffee. "I can't believe I got drunk on you, Gabby. It was supposed to be your perfect prom." Reclining back onto the sofa, he shook his head, and his eyes pleaded with her to forgive him.
"Nothing to apologize for, Tony." Sitting down on the sofa beside him, she curled her bare feet up under her and cuddled up to him, wrapping her arms around his torso. "We were prom royalty, who could ask for more than that?"
Her smile seemed to lighten his mood and he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "A date who doesn't get wasted and make a fool of himself on the dance floor?"
Grinning, Gabriella thought back to his dancing that got more and more erratic as the night went on. "Now why would I have cared how badly you danced? It was my husband all the people were pointing and laughing at. I just got the sympathy stares."
Anthony laughed and then grimaced, his hand going to the large bump on his forehead. "How did I get that?" He touched it again. "Shit, ouch."
Gabriella attempted to stop her giggling, but it was a futile effort. "Well, I tried to stop you, but you were determined that the king of the prom be able to do the Michael Jackson anti-gravity move for his loyal subjects.”
His frown deepened. ''I'm assuming I failed?"
"It was funny watching you try, babe." She kissed him lightly on the neck and gave him a reassuring squeeze, hoping to help soothe his bruised ego. "You do realize that Michael used to have special shoes that would hook into the floor so he wouldn't fall over when he leaned forward, right?"
A smile formed on his lips. "I must have forgotten that part."
"Hmmm. My brother the hero forgot something? Craziness!" She was teasing, but his body tensed against hers and upon looking up into his disturbed expression she immediately wished she could take the words back. "What's the matter, Tony?"
"I'm no hero, Gabby," he admitted, averting his gaze.
Not liking his darkened expression, she repositioned herself onto his lap. Placing her hands on his face, she forced his eyes to meet hers. The laughter and teasing were gone, replaced with a vacant, haunting look as though he were remembering something heinous. "Talk to me Tony," she whispered, not wanting to press him, but hoping and needing to help.
He seemed to snap back to her at the sound of her voice. "I was a sniper, Gabby. I've killed so many people and I don’t even know why exactly. I mean, I know why. But…” his voice trailed off and he took on that distant expression again. “I was told to do it and so I did. I’ve seen my closest friends die. Did things... Enemy or not, I never imagined I’d be capable of taking another person’s was, but I have. Many times." He tried to slip her from his lap, but she refused to budge; instead she slipped her hands around his neck and held tight to him. “I thought I could deal with the guilt. I’d been trained. I thought I could cope with what needed to be done, but Gabby, you can’t ever be prepared for taking another person’s life. Not really. Regardless of who or what they are.”
"You are a hero to me, Tony," she whispered.
Anthony hesitated for a moment, as if trying to decide if he deserved the affection she was offering him, but relented, snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her tighter to him. Too tight, almost painfully tight, but she didn't say a word, only held him. “Thank you,” he whispered into her hair.
“We’ll get through this.” Gabriella had no idea what was going through his mind, but she needed him to know that no matter what, she was there for him. She had no idea how long went by before he finally released her and she was able to breathe normally again, but his somber mood had lightened – slightly.
"I need to show you something." Looking down at himself, he then realized that he was naked and his dick was at half-mast, as if waiting for the go-ahead to turn into a full erection. Upon realizing that her eyes had followed his to his dick he flushed. "Well, not that..." He gave her a wink. "Yet... Where are my pants?"
A stirring began between her legs at the promise of what may be to come. "Draped over the kitchen chair." She nodded her chin toward the entryway to the kitchen.
"How did I get naked anyhow?" he asked, standing and raising an inquisitive brow at her.
Gabriella chewed at her lower lip and shrugged. "You wanted to have sex, so you got naked, assured me you could perform despite the massive amount of alcohol you'd consumed and then passed out."
Anthony raked a hand through his short unruly locks. "Seriously?" She nodded. "Fuck. I'm sorry, Gabriella."
"You've done worse to me over the years." She meant it to be a flippant comment, but his frown deepened. He seemed to be in such an up and down mood this morning. Hangover? Perhaps; she hoped that was all it was.
"I want to show you something. Give me a sec." He turned and Gabriella admired the tight, hard muscle
of his ass and broad shoulders from behind as he walked away from her. Her stomach did a flip flop and her pussy began the uncomfortable ache from needing him.
What she assumed to be a few seconds’ task ended up taking over five minutes, as she waited impatiently for him to return with whatever it was he wanted to show her. Did he decide to start breakfast? She sniffed the air for any telltale signs of breakfast cooking. None. Finally he came strolling back into the living room and sat back down next to her.
He opened his brown leather wallet with an eagle embossed on it, and rummaged through the contents. "Most men usually take with them a memento from home. A way of reminding them what they're fighting for and giving them hope of what they’re going to come back to."
Gabriella grinned, and pretended to peek over his shoulder and into the wallet. "Let me guess, a picture of Ashley Vaughn in there?" she teased, giving his shoulder a playful nudge.
Giving her the dimpled grin that made her pulse race he shook his head. "Nah." Grabbing onto a picture, he pulled it out and handed it to her.
Gabriella's mouth dropped as she peered upon the photo. She was truly shocked. "Wow. Anthony... This is me?" She looked down at the photo of her that Anthony had taken on a family camping trip, when she was seventeen – him eighteen. She was reclined against a tree and looking out onto the lake, not realizing he was even there taking the picture. Neither one of them had wanted to go but their parents had insisted. It was the one weekend in their entire time living together as siblings that they'd gotten along.
"Do you remember that weekend?"
Gabriella felt tears welling up in her eyes. She sniffed and batted them away with the back of her hand. "Yeah. It was fun." She raised her eyes to meet his. "But why me? Why carry this with you?'' The pieces were beginning to fall into place for her, but she wanted to hear it from him. She needed to.