A Broken Forever(111)

The final touch to my look was to secure a baseball hat over my head and pull my excessive amounts of hair through the back hole. This wasn't just any random Red Sox hat, it was the same one Stefan put onto my head that first day we met. He had slipped it over my head to help me escape the hallways; after the game I had realized I wanted to hold onto that hat forever. Stefan must have understood that very thing and when he had dropped me off that night, he told me to keep it.

It made the move with me from one home to the next and finally, I was going to put it back on. The hat fit better than it had before and it made me that much more excited for Stefan to arrive. In the middle of looking over my appearance one final time, three short honks came from the front of my building. My feet were instantly racing toward the window and when I looked down I almost stopped breathing. Stefan was just exiting the car but it wasn't the shiny black one I was used to. I flew from the sill; grabbed my phone, money and the tickets, shoving them into my pockets to avoid a purse. Snatched up the keys and ran from the apartment down to the front sidewalk.



       
         
       
        

By the time I got down there Stefan was leaned against the passenger door of a beautiful dark red, Cadillac convertible. It was the exact same style as his first car. I wanted to rush to the car squealing but I wanted to play it as cool as possible.

"Did you seriously honk at me to come down? You know, a real gentleman would come up to the door."

A full-fledged smile revealed those impeccably white teeth, and how dazzling he looked with his entire face lit up.

"You know I'm not a real gentleman. Besides, I know my girl, she's got nothing against a horn honking to get her attention. Especially when I show up with a car like this." His arms extended wide to showcase that flawless shine of his car.

"Is this the same one?" My eyes roved over the curves of the Cadillac. It was as if I was looking at the car for the first time all over again.

"Nope, unfortunately. I sold it, as you know, to get a better car for us with Allie. When I started actually making money for myself that I could spend, this was one of my first purchases. She was real beat up when I found her, I almost sat the guy down to give the guy a good talkin' to."

"Was it an old guy?" I asked, laughing.

"Nah, younger dude. It was his Granddad's or something. He passed away and left it to this kid. For years I guess he kept it and wanted to fix it up but it never happened. He had one condition on me buying the car, and that was when it was finished he wanted to take a ride in it. So his Granddad could be there to see his baby in top shape again."

"Did you ever go back?"

Stefan nodded proudly. "He was the first person I called. We both had a connection to it; he with his Granddad and well, it was my first car and the one we practically lived in."

My cheeks blushed furiously. "Yeah, we kind of did. It was sad to see it go."

"It was, I found a lot of other ones similar to it, but I was very specific. It had to be that 1964 Cadillac Eldorado we had. Color didn't matter as much, I had no problem painting it something I liked better. Anyway, I don't take her out too much, but if we're going old school, I could think of no better car."

"It's perfect," I beamed at him. I stepped up to my side but Stefan still leaned against my door.

"What?" I asked as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"You're wearing my hat."

I bit down on the inside of my cheek to suppress the smile I felt oncoming. "Actually, it's mine."

His hands reached up to grasp the sides. "I believe I know my own hat, Greyson Rose. Besides, I remember putting it on you just like this. You were so cute in it, I had no choice but to give it to you. I'd never look that good in it." 

The smile I had been trying to hold back came out even wider than anticipated. "I think you pulled it off fine."

"I'll bet," he said with a smirk. Moving away from the door he pulled the handle and opened it wide.

"Let's go, pretty girl. We have a game to get to."

He didn't have to tell me twice as I slid onto the bench and watched him walk around the car, and jump over the side into his seat. Flashing me a grin he flipped on the radio and off we rode. It seemed the closer we got to the stadium the closer together we sat on the Caddy bench. Finally, I was close enough that Stefan's arm came down around the seat and held me into his side. We never stopped joking, and we never stopped laughing.

We found a spot near Fenway Park and the bubbling excitement between us was combustible. Our arms locked together at the elbow for the walk and the only time we let go was when we had to walk through one at a time after giving our tickets to the gate keepers. Before we found our seats we maneuvered around the swarms of people to load up with some of our favorite ballpark treats.