Alyssa shared a smile with him. She then took his hand and led him out of the motel room, looking down the street where the bar and grill was.
"Co on. I don't want to be late," she told him, hurrying him along down the sidewalk toward the small bar and grill.
Modern rock music blared from speakers inside as they neared the entrance. Tacky beach and sports decorations lined the walls, and high wooden tables filled the interior.
"Welco to Davie's! Just two?" a young waitress greeted them.
"We're with them," Alyssa said, pointing to lina and Tyler, who sat a table in the middle of the restaurant. There were only a few other groups of people in the bar and grill.
"Okay!" the waitress chirped.
Alyssa led Elias over to Tyler and lina's table.
"Hi!" she greeted them as she sat across from them.
"Hey," lina replied cheerfully. "I'm so happy we're doing this."
Elias was glad that everyone was trying to have fun and forget about what was going on. However, there was a bit of a somber tone to this double date.
There was a possibility that they would never get to do this again. He didn't want to think like that, but he knew that was a real possibility.
"You'll have to co over to our place for dinner one night," Elias invited them. Even after all of this, he wanted lina to have a place in his life.
She was family after all, and he had mostly gotten over his anger with his parents for keeping such a huge secret from him.
Everything happened for so good reason, and he just had to take advantage of the ti that he could spend with lina now.
"I'm guessing steak and lobster? Sothing fancy, Mr. Businessman?" lina smirked as she raised an eyebrow at him, holding Tyler's hand after the table.
Elias scoffed, sparking laughter around the table. Steak and lobster did sound good right now, but he didn't eat as many fancy dinners as she probably expected he did. He mostly liked to try to cook with Alyssa at ho.
"I was thinking shrimp alfredo. That's a dish we're pretty good at," he said as he smiled at Alyssa. He rembered all the tis that they cooked that dish together.
Then, they would curl up on the couch and watch a movie together, making comnts about how good the dish tasted or what they could do better next ti.
He missed simple monts like that. They felt like they happened so long ago.
"If we don't ss up the sauce," Alyssa replied with a pointed look.
"I overcooked it one ti. One ti," Elias said pointedly, but he couldn't stop his smile from crossing his face. It was his fault, but at least he learned from his mistake.
Even when he ssed up a dish, it was still fun spending ti with her. Those little things just proved to him how in love with her he was. He would always love her like that.
"You guys are good together," lina comnted, looking at them warmly. "You know, I wasn't interested in dating at all, even when Tyler first ca around."
"I wore you down," Tyler chuckled as he nudged her shoulder with his own.
"Sothing like that," lina laughed softly.
"From bodyguard to boyfriend," Alyssa said with an amused smile.
"I knew I was in trouble the mont I saw her," Tyler said, giving lina's hand an affectionate squeeze. "It was hard to do my job when I couldn't take my eyes off her."
Elias was happy for his sister. He was glad that she was happy with Tyler because they were a good match.
Their happiness reminded him of what he shared with Alyssa, which was still sothing unique and special to just them. Their love story was one for the ages, one that he would never forget.
"Hi, folks. I'm Adam. I'll be your server. What can I get you to drink?" a waiter said once he strolled up to their table.
Everyone ordered water and so sort of cocktail to ease their nerves.
They didn't want to drink too much in case they needed to be sharp, but they wanted to relax too. This was a night of relaxation and fun for them. They could ignore everything for one night. Just one.
For two hours, they let go, drinking, eating, and talking about their pasts. They didn't talk about the present or the future.
What they were sure about was their good mories that they wanted to share with each other.
They chatted like old friends, and it was a breath of fresh air for all of them. It was exactly what they needed.
"I can't eat another bite," Alyssa breathed out as she pushed away the plate of tortilla chips and spinach artichoke dip.
She leaned against Elias with a tired smile. "So much better than fast food or motel food."
Elias chuckled and nodded his agreent. Their diet hadn't been all that great lately. It was hard to eat good on the road, and this was the first ti that they actually sat down and ate sowhere.
He wished that they could do it more. He wanted more breaks, but he also wanted to end this.
"Ugh. Don't remind . We'll be back to that tomorrow," he muttered before popping one of the small tortilla chips in his mouth.
"I don't want to leave here. Life on the road is hard," lina sighed as she rested her chin on her hand. "But I didn't know what other plan to put into action."
"It was a good plan. Anything would've been hard," Elias assured her. They all went into this knowing that this would be hard.
It was a sacrifice that they all made, abandoning their lives to save their lives. Hopefully, it all worked out and was worth it in the end.
lina gave him a grateful smile.
"Yeah, you're right. I just hope we're doing the right thing," she replied.
"We are," Elias said, knowing that she was worrying too much. Honestly, it was hard not to worry.
They hardly knew what they were doing. They were just trying to buy themselves ti. "We've made it this far."
lina laughed softly and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. And we've gotten stronger," she added.
"I think this trip was good for you guys. You've really bonded," Alyssa spoke up, smiling between them.
Elias nodded his agreent, feeling sothing warm burn inside of his chest. If he was honest with himself, he didn't think that he and lina would get to this point.
He thought that he would always feel off toward her and wouldn't be able to separate her from what his parents did.
"Guess she isn't so bad," he smirked at lina playfully.
lina rolled her eyes, leaning into Tyler's embrace as he put his arm around her shoulders.
Elias chuckled, feeling that warm sensation gradually spread. This was a good mont. It was one that he would rember for a while.
Through all of the darkness surrounding them, they had finally found a little bit of light. He hoped that they continued to find those monts of light.. They would need them when things beca even darker.
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