River

"River! Hurry up!" I heard Alani yell from our room as I fixed my hair in the bathroom mirror.

"You can't rush me!" I yelled back. I knew without seeing her that she was rolling her eyes. I didn't understand why she was getting impatient. The only reason I was running late is because she took up the bathroom for an hour, getting ready. Now it was finally my turn, and she was getting antsy.

"We're gonna be late!" She called.

"Calm down," I said, walking out of the bathroom in my button-down shirt and slacks.

"Aw, what a handsome young boy you are," Alani teased.

"Ew. You sound like my mom. Stop it."

"We need to get going," She said, grabbing my hand and walking toward the door. I followed her as we traveled to the rehearsal dinner.

When we got there, we saw that there were a few tables dressed in tablecloths and flowers. It wasn't that big of a venue because not all of Faith and Lola's friends could travel to Hawaii, but it still looked good.

Alani's mom waved us over to the family table. I took my seat in between Landon and Alani.

"River!" Landon exclaimed.

"Hey, buddy. How've you been?"

"Good! I've loved my first vacation so far!" He squealed.

"Have you been in the ocean yet?"

"Duh."

"Okay, okay. Just asking," I laughed, holding up my hands.

After talking to Landon a bit more, the food was finally served. As I ate my food, I overheard Alani talking to her parents, who were sitting next to her at our round table.

"I'm so glad that you're expanding your experiences," Her mom said.

"Agreed," Said her dad.

"Yep," Alani said, turning her head and catching me eavesdropping on their conversation.

"It's all thanks to River," She said, grabbing my hand.

"We cannot thank you enough, River. We have been trying to get Alani to come out of her little bubble for years now."

"No thanks are necessary," I said.

"And I'm so glad that you two finally realized," Alani's mom said, pointing toward us.

"Realized what?" Alani asked right before I was about to ask the same thing.

"That you were in love with each other," Her mom said as Alani spit out her drink and let go of my hand.

"What?" Alani exclaimed.

"It's so obvious."

"Mom, we've only known each other a month."

"Love has no time requirement."

"Mom," Alani warned.

"It's okay," I jumped in. I was a little confused, though. Why did Alani's mom think we were in love? Is that how we acted around each other?

"Pretty soon, it'll be your wedding that we're planning," Her dad teased.

"Dad," Alani warned again.

"I know, I know. I'm getting ahead of myself," Alani's dad said.

I felt bad. When Alani and I inevitably "broke up," her parents were going to be crushed.

I didn't like the thought of "breaking up" with Alani. I didn't like the idea of another guy touching her the way I did or the idea of someone else spending all their time with her. I knew that Alani and I wouldn't work due to my commitment issues. If I ever got bored with her, it would crush her, and there was no way I was going to let that happen, so I had to suck it up.

When the rehearsal dinner was over, we said goodbye to everyone and headed back to our room.

"I call the bathroom first," I said as we stepped inside.

"Ugh," Alani groaned.

"Snooze ya lose."

"Don't ever say that again," She said as I walked into the bathroom. A few minutes later, I came out in my boxers, ready for bed. Alani went in as I got under our bed covers. When she came out a few minutes later, without all the makeup and in a large t-shirt, I thought she looked even more beautiful than before. As she climbed under the covers, I reached over and turned off the light, encompassing us in darkness with the only light sources being from the hallway and window.

As we both lay there, I started to get confused. Did we cuddle? Did we have sex? Did we ignore each other? Our agreement rules were very vague, and I didn't know what I should be doing. Ultimately, I decided to ask.

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Alani answered.

"Cuddle?" I suggested.

"Yeah," She said with the biggest smile on her face.

She snuggled up to me and lay on my chest before I wrapped an arm around her. Then we fell into a peaceful sleep.

I woke up freezing with Alani on the other side of the bed, hogging all of the covers. Grabbing the covers and yanking them back to my side, I heard a yelp.

"River!" Alani whined.

"You're hogging," I explained.

"Now, you're hogging."

"Deal with it," I laughed as we both pulled on the blanket.

"There is a solution to this problem," Alani said, getting closer to my side.

"Yeah?" I said before Alani crashed into me and laughed.

"What time is it," She said after a minute of drawing circles on my stomach.

"10:00."

"Should we get up?"

"I think we can stay here a little longer," I said.

"Get up, get up, get up!" I heard someone banging on our door.

"That must be Landon. I promised him we'd hang out with him before the wedding."

"Ugh, okay," I said, pulling the covers off and getting up. I told Landon I would be there in a minute, pulled on my bathing suit, got ready for the day, and then walked to the door to find a grinning Landon waiting for play-time.

"Are you ready yet?" Landon asked, impatient.

"I'm ready. Alani isn't."

"Of course, she isn't," Landon rolled his eyes.

"Come on in," I said, inviting Landon into our room.

"Where are your parents?" I asked Landon.

"In their room, sleeping. I came and found you guys on my own."

"Do they know that you left?"

"No, why?" He said before I sent a text to Alani's parents telling them that Landon was with us.

"Are you ready for some fun?" I asked as Alani walked out wearing her bathing suit and a sundress.

"I'm ready!" Landon yelled.

"Well, let's go!" Alani said before we headed out for another fun day.