Chapter Twenty

Iclutch the bag of food in my hands, slightly regretting this decision. I thought it would be a good idea. I mean Archer deserves to have a great birthday, but now I'm worried about spending time with him and his family. It just feels really personal.

I take a deep breath and shake my head, trying to clear it. It's fine. It'll all be fine. It's just a birthday. I quickly grab my phone and tap out a text to Willow.

Hey, you should go to this party for Archer, too. I think it'll be fun!

I quickly hit send and stare at the three dots indicating she's typing.

Nice try. It'll be great. You'll see!

Dang. I lock my phone and slip it in my pocket. I'm not sure why I thought that that would work on her. She knows better.

I take another deep breath and muster up the courage to gently knock on the door. Before I can even lower my hand all the way, the door flies open to reveal Juliet bouncing up and down.

"Alison! You're here!" Juliet screams. "See, Arch, I told you she would come!"

She grabs my hand and pulls me into the room. I look around as Juliet keeps rattling off about me coming and how excited she is.

There are a bunch of different colored balloons blown up and thrown all around the floor. There are midnight blue streamers hanging from every spot in the room that a steamer could possibly hang from. Across the sliding glass door in the back of the room is a banner that says Happy Birthday, Archer! with little guitars and microphones printed around the words.

"This place looks awesome, Juliet. Did you do all of this?" I ask, smiling at her.

A proud grin grows across her face as she nods. "Yup! All of this was my idea and my work. I'm a mastermind!"

Archer's dad clears his throat behind us. Juliet quickly glances to him.

"Well, I mean, my dad helped hang the stuff that was too high to reach, but I carefully told him where to place everything and made him fix it until it looked perfect," Juliet adds.

"Thanks for the credit," Archer's dad says as he lets out a laugh.

"Here, Alison, let me help you." Archer finally acknowledges me as he takes the bags from my arms. "This smells amazing. What is it?" Archer asks as he tries to peek into the bag.

"It's steak from a local restaurant. I've heard they have the best steak around. Apparently, it's a must have," I answer, setting his gift on the desk.

"Steak is my favorite," Archer says, his eyes gleaming.

"I know," I answer matter of fact, meeting his gaze.

"And how would you know that?"

"Oh, just a little birdie." I look over at Juliet who instantly starts laughing.

"Really?" Archer turns towards Juliet. "This little birdie sure seems to have a big mouth."

"Tweet, tweet," Juliet says as she starts flapping her arms like wings.

Archer sets the food down, then turns towards Juliet. He scoops her up into his arms and starts tickling her.

"Stop! Stop! No fair. I can't make a counterattack. STOP!" Juliet screams.

I can't help but smile as I watch their interaction. They're so cute together. You can tell that Archer absolutely adores Juliet and that he would do anything for her. My stomach does a small somersault which I try to convince myself is just from being hungry.

Archer tosses Juliet onto the bed and grabs the bag of food I brought. "I think it's time to eat now. I'm starving."

"Oh ya, torturing someone can really work up an appetite," Juliet hisses as she crawls off the bed.

We all laugh as we start to dig into the food.

"I guess we wore her out," Archer whispers as he leans towards me.

I look down at my lap which Juliet is currently using as a pillow. Sure enough, her eyes are closed and her breathing has slowed.

"Here, I'll take her," Archer's dad says as he slowly lifts her from my lap and carries her to one of the beds.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Archer whispers.

I nod my head. We both stand up from the couch and make our way to the door. Right before we exit, I quickly turn back towards Archer's dad.

"Thank you for having me today," I whisper. "I had a blast."

"You're always welcome here, Alison. In fact, I think Juliet is going to regularly insist on it." He smiles at me.

"I'm okay with that," I say as I nod and turn back towards the door.

Archer puts his hand on my lower back and guides me out and down the hall. We start to aimlessly walk, enjoying the quiet.

I'm thankful that it's late and the hotel has quieted down. I love my fans, but I miss the times when I get to feel like my old self, too. The times when I don't have to worry about running into anyone or be aware of everything I do and say.

"Thanks for coming," Archer finally says, breaking the silence.

"Oh, of course! Like I said, we just had to celebrate your birthday. Plus, I owe you for the pizza night." I shyly smile at him.

We both get quiet again. Talking to Archer usually isn't hard. Our conversations tend to flow, but tonight feels different. The air feels heavier than normal.

"Listen, Archer, I just wanted to apologize," I start.

His eyes are questioning, urging me to continue. He remains quiet as I take a few seconds to really put my thoughts together.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I've treated you. Especially when we first met."

"There's no need to apologize," Archer says, but I quickly cut him off.

"Just let me get this out, okay?"

Archer nods, so I continue.

"I have my reasons for feeling how I felt at the time. I still stand by those feelings. They were valid. But I didn't need to take it out on you the way that I did. I judged you right out of the gate and refused to look at it any other way. I was determined to ruin all of this for you before you could ruin it for me and that wasn't right. I should've given you a chance first. So for that, I'm sorry," I finish and then look at him, waiting for a response.

He takes a second before he answers. "Well, I appreciate the apology, but it's really not necessary. Like you said, you were valid in your feelings and I think anyone, including myself, would've reacted in a similar way. I'm just glad we're in a good place now though," Archer says. "We are in a good place now, right?"

I let out a small chuckle. "I mean, how can we not be after you brought me pizza and chicken fingers with ranch? The way to a girl's heart is through her stomach you know." I nervously swallow realizing what I just said. "Not that . . . um, I mean . . ."

Archer laughs, but his face has turned a slight shade of red. "I know what you were trying to say."

We walk a little more without saying anything. It's that comfortable silence now, not heavy like it was before. The silence that you don't feel very often. The one that's not awkward at all and there's no feeling of having to fill the air. Just quiet. It's just one person being in someone else's company and being content with it.

As we're walking my hand bumps against Archer's. I feel him turn his palm towards me as he starts to wrap his fingers around mine. My fingers start to curl around his, but then I quickly pull my hand away and grab my phone from my pocket, tapping the screen.

"Oh wow, it's late! I should get going," I stutter out.

Archer's face drops. "Okay . . . um . . . well, let me walk you out."