Falling Capricorn (2 page)

“We aren’t in Europe. Dessert doesn’t come first,” Eric stated in a terse tone. She opened her eyes, seeing Joey stare at the fork with furrowed eye brows.

“Why do we need to have three different forks! It seems so excessive!” Joey pouted, grabbing the other remaining fork. He stabbed the salad and shoved it in his mouth, glaring at the utensils. Eric looked like he was ready to stab something alright, but not a salad.

“You’re so cute,” Christen told Joey, breaking the ice before Eric murdered him. Joey looked at her, and then glanced at Eric before blushing out of embarrassment.

“I’m not cute,” he muttered.

“Adorable,” she giggled, as he blushed some more.

“I’m not that either,” he grumbled.

“Handsome?” She tilted her head to the side as she asked.

“Fine, I will allow handsome,” he grinned brightly at her. His cheeks were still red, though she knew he would deny it. Eric looked at her with a chuckle; he knew what she just did there.

The scents were delicious as they continued the meal. The salad was tangy, yet sweet with the honey vinaigrette. She always got a surprise when biting into a tart dried cranberry. The steak was tender, but well done. It melted in their mouths, mixing with the sauce perfectly. The green beans were nice and moist, cooked to perfection.

“Ahh that was delicious, man. Thanks Eric.” Joey rubbed his stomach, leaning back on his arms on the mat.

“Yes, that was very good Eric. Give us a moment before dessert, will you?” Christen asked him nicely, giving him a small wink.

“Oh fine, you guys go ahead and relax your bellies, but I don’t know how long the ice cream will last,” Eric’s voice rang with a certain edginess. Christen went to speak, but Joey sat up with a certain sparkle in his eye.

“Ice cream?Oh man! I’m up for dessert!” Now both sets of eyes were looking at Christen. She leered at Eric; he knew exactly what he did. Her lip twitched at the corner, as she gave a small smile. Sometimes, Eric could get under a person's skin. Once her eyes moved to Joey, she grew weak looking into his begging eyes.

“Very well I guess if you want your dessert now, Joey.” She gave in under his pleading stare. He grinned like crazy, pulling her into his arms. He gave her a long and passionate kiss that made her feel as though time stood still. She kissed with the same passion. Her fingers brushed against his face just barely. After a while, Eric cleared his throat as he opened up the cooler. Joey broke the kiss, rubbing the back of his head.

“Yeah, well, that was very nice.” Joey’s voice cracked like a young teenager;  his face getting bright. Eric laughed in the background at them.

“Having hormone troubles?” Eric said mockingly. Christen glared at Eric before giving Joey a sweet smile. She always thought it was adorable when his voice cracked or he blushed.

“No worries babe. Eric just was born an adult,” Christen chided. Joey snickered at her comment directed in Eric’s direction. They both stuck their tongues at his back like big kids. Eric shook his head, and then pulled off the plastic wrap off each little dish of dessert.

“Oh, hush now children and eat your ice cream,” he sneered, giving Christen her bowl first, and then Joey. Joey sat back down and reached for his forks. Christen burst out laughing when Eric turned around and nearly yelled.

“Do you not understand the difference between a salad fork and a dessert fork!? You have the wrong one!” She couldn’t help but laugh before snatching up some of Joey’s dessert.

“Joey, open your mouth,” Christen said sweetly. Joey looked at her and then held his mouth open wide. She fed him with care, and he hummed from it. “I guess it must be good,” she stated, tilting her head as she watched him.

“Here you try.” Joey grabbed the right fork this time. He placed a hand under her chin, moving her head up just a little before serving the treat to her. The chocolate confection melted in her mouth, tasting like lava cake. The ice cream gave the chocolate a more creamy and sweet taste. The strawberry was also the perfect touch with the combination of melted ice cream and the not too sweet, but not too bitter star fruit.

“Wow Eric, I will admit that I am a little jealous. I wish I could cook like this,” Christen stated after she swallowed it down.

“I can always teach you Christen,” Eric said with a shrug. He was enjoying the compliments, along with his dessert.

“Yeah, teach her man! She totally sucks at cooking. Make her into a true cook!” Joey squealed excitedly. Christen felt sweat roll down her cheek as she rubbed her head. It was true; she wasn’t very good at cooking. She thanked her mother for that.

“No teaching in the world can make me a good cook,” she told them both, chuckling at the thought of becoming an over-night, all-amazing cook.

“No teaching but my teachings,” Eric winked at Christen with confidence. She just rolled her eyes at his comment.

The sunset was a soft orange glow that filled the sky, as pink and peach colored clouds floated on. It was beautiful. As the sun set more, there were red and yellow streaks added to the mix. The sun went from an orange to a deep red, tinging the horizon with a red glow. It was warming, yet gave an eerie look to everyone that sat on the beach; Christen, Joey, and most of all Eric. After they were all finished, the sun set below the line of the earth, leaving only a faint purple glow to the dark blue and black gradient.

Eric had turned on the electric lantern. He was busy putting the food away, as Joey and Christen were staring at the sky, hand in hand. The sky was so big and vast, the tiny dots seeming like accidental white marks on the black canvas. It made Christen feel like they were just a few little stars as well, shining on earth. The crash of the waves on the shore added to Christen's thoughts; they were like tiny grains of sand in the tide.

“This is so peaceful, huh?” Joey asked Christen, running a hand through his short hair. She looked over at him, his face shining with the lantern light. She nodded her head in agreement, turning back around to look at the sky.

“Yeah it is. We never get to do this very often.” She took a deep breath of ocean air into her nose and mouth. It was salty, but oddly calming.

“Well if we did this all the time, it would get boring and lose its effect.” That was true to Christen. She nodded in agreement. They were known for getting bored pretty quickly, so they were always doing new and exciting things. She turned to look at him suddenly as a question popped up in her head.

“Hey, when we get older… do you think we will become boring?” she smiled as she asked the question, figuring she already knew the answer.

“Hell no!We’ll be that old exciting couple that everyone likes visiting. We’ll be that oldsters that young couples look at, and will be like, 'Look at that, young love can last forever.'” He smiled from ear to ear looking at her. He pulled some of her hair back and kissed her forehead. She laughed at his comment. It was exactly what she expected to hear from him. He was always so happy, and in turn, she was always happy. His smile faded though, as he watched her laugh. She noticed, so her laughing disappeared with his smile.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him. He sat up, getting onto his feet. He held a hand out to her, moving his head to show he wanted to walk down the beach. She took his hand, warily.

“Hey man, we are going to go walk down the shore.” Joey called over to Eric who had just finished putting things away.

“Sure, just don’t get lost. Go towards the light if you do.” Joey chuckled at Eric’s comment and nodded his head.

“Shall we?” Joey held out his arm to Christen. She glanced at it, processing what to do. She slowly nodded her head and took his arm. They started down the beach. Soon only the moonlight and stars were the only light showing them where they were going. It was unusually quiet between them on the walk, but sometimes quiet was gorgeous to have. She hugged his arm softly, thinking about their future.

“Hey Joey,” she said quietly. He looked down at her, humming a reply. “Never mind,” she said quickly. She didn’t want to talk about the future with him until she knew why his smile faded before.

“Well then, I’ll talk now, if that’s okay with you,” he stated. She nodded and he started. “You hear that there might be a war starting. They predict it’s going to be world war three unless something's done about it.” He shut his eyes. She swallowed and nodded. They had been saying that in the news lately. There was talk about it all the time at the college, though she wanted to just dismiss it as a rumor, nothing more.

“They have been saying that, haven’t they? I just assumed it was a rumor,” she said in an elegant tone to try and hide the sadness that tugged at her heart. She had a sinking feeling that she knew where this was going.

“Well, I did too, actually. You know how the news makes things a lot more dramatic than they actually are. They love making people depressed and panicked. Well, I guess it’s more serious than we thought, though,” he told her. She winced a bit. She thought, "...please don’t tell me what I think you’re going to tell me," but it turned out to be exactly that. “I am being shipped off in a few days to the war front.” She felt her heart crack.

“Y-you are?” She swallowed down the lump in her throat, shaking off the thought of tears. No way, there was just no way that this loving and compassionate boy was leaving for bloodshed.

“Yes.” She felt a crack again, shutting her eyes tightly. She could not hold back the tears any longer. “Hey now, hey now. Don’t cry, Christen.” Joey's voice was a bit panicked. A few tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks for freedom. “No, no, no. Stop that!” Joey rubbed her cheeks with his sleeves quickly, fighting with the tears. The more he rubbed them away and tried to stop them, the more tears that fell.

“I can’t help it,” she whispered, looking down. The tears now poured out, blurring her vision. Joey pulled her face up to look at him. “So that’s why we had such an awesome beach picnic?” she asked as he wiped away some more of her tears.

“Oh no, we had this planned for months! You can even ask Eric. It was all the best for you, my darling!” Joey never did know how to react to a crying girl. He usually panicked which always seemed to work. But this was only because he was so clueless while fumbling to try making them feel better, it became comical. “This actually was supposed to be for something else!” His eyes seemed to widen as he said it. “Uh, you didn’t hear that did you?” She shook her head no, her tears faltering for a moment.

“Something…else?” she questioned him, sniffling. He laughed nervously, but her eyes were directly on his and they weren't going anywhere else. He sighed, and then finally gave in after a few moments of her silent gaze on him. He seemed a bit hesitant, but eventually spoke.

“Yeah, something else being…” he trailed off, swallowing hard. What was it, she wondered moving a bit closer to him with curiosity written all over her face. He looked her in the eyes and then looked away, swallowing harder. “It’s very selfish of me to do, or even say but…” he trailed off again. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Tell me,” she said with a very fragile tone. He stood up straight; her voice must have broken through and helped him.

“Christen.” He fiddled with something in his pocket, before getting on one knee in front of her. She placed her hands to her mouth, gasping as he spoke. “Will you marry me? Well, when I get back from war, I mean,” he asked her.  It was obvious to tell he was hoping to hear the word yes.

“You ask me like it’s actually a question. Of course I will,” she said, tears crashing onto her hands. He got up, kissing one of the tears before putting the ring on her finger. The ring was shaped as a rose, tiny diamonds filling each petal. In the middle was a beautiful medium-sized gem. Even the band was covered in diamonds. “It’s gorgeous,” she whispered in awe.

“As I said, only the best for you, love. I thought it was cruel to give it to you now before I get shipped out. I tried to make it up to you by getting a ring that compares to your beauty….or at least tries.” He winked at her, she rolled her eyes. It became very hard to cry now, so she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Make it up to me? Make it home alive,” she whispered to him. She felt his tense body grow relaxed as he hugged her right back.

“Of course I will. I got someone like you waiting for me to return. I won't just die on you,” he whispered back to her. She held him tighter.

“Thank you for being here for me, for loving me,” she whispered again, looking at him. He looked down at her, leaning down to bring his mouth to hers. This time there was no Eric to break them apart. The kiss felt like it lasted for hours, sparks rolling through her body from the connection of their lips. She interlocked her fingers with his. Their hands fit perfectly together. It was like the final piece to the puzzle. He was her true love, her soulmate, and no one would ever change that. No one would, not as long as she knew she had Joey. They finally broke the kiss, though by Joey’s face she knew he didn’t want it to end, just as she didn’t.

“I’ll always love you Christen. No matter the distance or what happens,” he told her. She nodded her head. It was what she needed to hear. “Well let’s get back to Eric.”

Once they headed back, Eric looked at the two of them, and then at the ring that sparkled from the little light that hit it. “You did it?” he asked.

“Yes, and she said yes!” Joey yelled, grabbing her by the waist. He picked her up and spun her around. She just laughed in return with Eric.

“Well I am happy to hear it,” he smiled. “You two are perfect together. If you two don’t last, then I don’t know anyone who will.”

“Hell yeah, of course we are perfect for each other. We were both made in the eyes of each other; we radiate together.” Christen rolled her eyes at Joey. Now he was going a little overboard, but she wasn’t going to come up and just say that to him, of course. She wasn’t that crazy.

“Yeah, yeah, well let’s get going shall we? I have a big art gallery to go look at tomorrow and if I’m not mistaken, Christen here, has a big test to study for.” It was a bit creepy that Eric always knew Christen's school life and activities, but she didn’t let that bug her much.