Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ren

Finals. I hate them, well, everyone does. I glance at the clock and I have five minutes left before finals are over. I go through my exam once more, making sure I didn't make any mistake. But I think I'm good.

The bell rings and the professor waits by the door to collect our test papers. I sling my bag over my shoulder before heading out and handing my paper to the professor. I find Adam waiting outside.

"Adam?"

His eyes widen and he approaches me. "Hey Ren," he waves.

"What are you doing here?"

"Austin's taking you out tonight, but I have to drive you there." He says nonchalantly.

I raise an eyebrow. "Why can't he bring me himself?"

"He's with his family at this moment and he'll be taking long so he'll see you at the date."

I nod. Adam and I walk back to my dorm. I check the time and it's a quarter pass five. Adam watches a movie while he talks to Alanna over the phone.

"Where is she anyway?" I ask him.

He pulls the phone away from his ear. "She's shopping with Megan."

"Again?" I laugh.

He rolls his eyes. "Tell me about it."

He goes back to talking to Alanna and I disappeared in the bathroom. I take a quick shower before putting on my bra and underwear and a robe. I dry my hair before curling them and finishing it off with hairspray. I get out of the bathroom and find Adam gone.

I check my phone and he left me a message.

Going to have to give you the room to get ready. Call when you're ready.

I smile and sit down on my desk chair. I start doing my makeup. I decide to go simple with my makeup. After doing my makeup, I put on my dress and text Adam. I grab a purse and shove my wallet, keys and other necessities inside.

I hear a knock on the door and I turn all of the lights off before answering it. We take Adam's car and he drives us to my destination. We've been driving for almost half an hour and I'm starting to worry.

Adam touches the GPS for the fifth time. "Adam, you sure you know where we're going?" I ask worryingly.

He chuckles. "If I knew where we were going, Ren, I wouldn't use the GPS."

"Where are we going?"

"Barca Galleggiante."

I furrow my brows. "The Barca-what?"

"A floating restaurant."

My jaw drops. A floating restaurant. I have never in my entire life heard of anything like that. My foot starts to tap impatiently. I can't wait to see it!

"How far is it?" I ask.

Adam slows down and glances at the GPS. "Five more kilometers."

I groan impatiently. I lean my head against the cold window letting the coolness make me sleep and slowly drift to sleep. I feel poking. Someone is poking me.

I blink my eyes open and find that we have come to a stop. Adam is poking my face nonstop. I groan, sitting properly. "Are we here?" I ask him, my voice is deeper and raspy than usual.

"I've been trying to wake you for seven minutes." He laughs.

I take my seatbelt off and reapply my makeup. I fix my hair and turn to Adam. "Is he in there?"

He shrugs. "I don't know."

I nod. "Thank you for driving me all the way here." I smile at him.

He smiles back. "It's really not a problem, Ren."

I get out of the car and Adam calls out. "Have a great night!" he says right before I closed the door. I turn my attention to the Barca Galleggiante and it's beautiful. The restaurant is white and for the outdoor tables, white umbrellas shelter over them.

I enter the restaurant and a lady behind a computer smiles at me. "Do you have a reservation?" she asks me.

I nod. "Lancer?"

"Mr. Austin Lancer," she nods and steps away from her station. "Follow me Miss Harper."

I'm surprise at the thought of the lady knowing my name, but then again, Austin must've told her to expect me. She leads me across the other end of the restaurant, then outside. There isn't anyone else outside and it looked like tables were stowed away...except one.

The lady stops walking and gestures me to go ahead. I look in front of me and find Austin leaning against the railing and staring into the water. He hears us and turns around. I smile at how handsome he looks.

"Hi," he smiles.

I stare down at my feet and my hair falls over my face as I blush. He walks towards me and tucks that strand of hair behind my ear. "You look beautiful," he says softly.

I run my hands down my dress. "What, this old thing?" I laugh lightly.

He pulls out a seat for me and I sit. A waiter comes in and serves us a bottle of champagne before asking Austin when to start serving the food.

"Perhaps in ten minutes," he gives him a small smile and the waiter nods before leaving us alone again.

I turn to look at the water. "It's beautiful here," I tell him. "How'd you find this place?"

"My family used to go here," he says.

"Used to?" I take a sip from the champagne and wow...it's delightful.

"We all got busy," he shrugs.

"So what are we celebrating?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Who said we were celebrating?"

I look around. "We're in a beautiful floating restaurant. We must be celebrating something."

He chuckles and takes a sip from his champagne. "Or maybe I just want to take my beautiful girlfriend out after all the stress she had from the finals."

I stare at him in awe. How did I get so lucky? Watching him now, I'm surprised at how much he has changed. He studies quite well now, he doesn't fool around with other girls and he has grown up so much.

I raise my glass up. "To us," I say.

He smiles, raising his glass up. "To us." We clink our glasses before drinking it.

If Austin and I haven't been roommates in the first place, I couldn't imagine him as the romantic type. I'd say he was more of the one-night-stand kind of guy.

The waiter comes back outside and serves us our food. It looks so delicious I couldn't help but start eating. After eating a two course meal, I feel five months pregnant of a food baby.

During desert, my stomach starts to feel upsetting. I clutch my stomach. I feel the food rising from my stomach and I quickly get up from my seat and inside the restaurant then in the girls' bathroom.

I go inside a cubicle, kneeling in front of toilet, puking my entire dinner. What a disappointment. What was in my food? The only thing that'd make me this sick is...nuts. Crap. The scallops had nuts.

Suddenly, the bathroom door bursts open and Austin finds me in front of the toilet still puking. He quickly rushes to my side and holds my hair up, rubbing circles on my back. My eyes start to water.

Once the vomiting stopped, I grab some toilet paper and wipe my mouth. With my free hand, I push Austin away. "Go away. It's disgusting here," I tell him.

He shakes his head. "I don't care. Are you feeling better?"

I shake my head. "My stomach still hurts."

"What was it?"

"The nuts in the scallops."

He sighs, running his hand through his hair. He helps me up and walks me to the sink. I wash my mouth and my hands. I look at myself in the mirror. I look horrible. I open my purse, looking for some wipes when Austin pulls out pocket wipes. I laugh lightly at the thought of Austin bring pocket wipes.

He rips the pack and pulls out the wipes. He wipes the run-down mascara until my face is clear once more. He throws the wipe away and rubs my cheek with his thumb.

"I'm sorry..." he says.

I furrow my brows in confusion. Realizing what he means, I take his hand in mine. "Austin, it isn't your fault-"

"I should have asked what you were allergic to," he cuts me off.

"Austin."

"Come on," he says, heading out. "We need to buy medicine."

I trail right behind him. I glance at our table. "We need to pay," I tell him.

"I paid before heading to you," he says firmly. We exit the restaurant and find his car waiting outside. He opens the door for me and closes it once I'm in. He goes around the car and gets inside the driver's seat. He starts the car and drives to the closest pharmacy.

He buys the medicine and hands it to me. "A chewable?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"It was all they had."

I shrug, taking two. A few minutes of driving, Austin glances at me. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Thank you."

He shakes his head, "It was my fault..."

"It wasn't your fault, Austin. I never told you about my allergies." I tell him.

He sighs, "Still. I should've asked."

I reach over and grab his hand, intertwining it with mine. "Why don't we stop by the cliff?" I ask.

"It's getting late," he shakes his head.

I check the time. "It's only ten o' clock."

He keeps quiet. I sigh, "What's on your mind?"

"Just drop it, Ren."

"Geez, what's your problem? We were having such a great night." I roll my eyes and turn my attention at the road.

"That's the problem! We were having such a great night until I ruined it." He says exasperated.

"And it can still be a great night," I tell him.

"You almost died."

I laugh, "You are over-reacting! I was vomiting, not dying." I stare at him and he still doesn't look convince. I lean over and kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you for worrying about me, but there really isn't anything to worry about. I'm fine now, okay?"

He doesn't say anything for a moment but then he nods. A few minutes later we pull over at the cliff. I smile and turn to him. He turns off the car and turns to me.

"You did say you wanted to stop by," he says, smiling.

He gets out of the car and I do the same. We meet in front of the car and he holds my hand. We walk together to the edge and watch the stars. He moves behind me and wraps his protective arms around me. I rest my head on his chest and hold his arms. I pin point every constellation and watch the busy cars go back and forth, lights turning on and off in each building.

"The formal's tomorrow night," I proclaim.

"Oh shit." He mutters.

I look over my shoulder and up at him. "Austin..."

His eyes widen. "Don't worry about it. I've got my tux, the limo is ready and it's all good." He quickly says.

I narrow my eyes at him before turning back at the view. "Alright. I trust you."

Around eleven, we head back to the campus. We both walk to the dorm, hand-in-hand. I take a quick shower and change into short shorts and one of Austin's tee shirt. I walk out of the bathroom, drying my hair.

Austin in on his bed in his boxers and a plain black shirt. He turns to me and smirks. "I like you in my clothes. You should wear them more often," he says.

I climb into his bed, "They're comfy. I think I'll keep them."

He chuckles and I lay my head under his head. "You're not going to take a shower?" I ask.

"Do I stink?" he asks.

I take a whiff and shake my head. "You still smell surprisingly good."

He grins. "Then I won't be taking a shower tonight. I'm tired anyways."

"Now, get some sleep. You need your beauty sleep for tomorrow night." He wraps an arm around me and I close my eyes.

"And you don't?"

"Please. I'm a Greek god," he scoffs.

I laugh, "And where'd you hear that?"

"From you," he glances at me. "When you were talking in your sleep."

I blink my eyes open. Oh gosh. I bury my head on his neck. He laughs at my reaction. He kisses my forehead. "Good night, princess."