Free The Eternity that Follows by Diane Marie

trying one.
“I’ll take a beer too.” Joey said, putting down his empty bottle of
beer. He couldn’t believe Gabriella was here, next time him by his
side.
As Anna was making Gabriella’s drink, Joey looked at her
and said,
“I’m glad you came.”
“I bet you are” Gabriella said, and then she winked at him.
Joey smiled at her, and when he did so, Gabriella couldn’t
avoid smiling back. Joey's eyes lit up, and then Gabriella's eyes lit
up too. It was just like the moment they had shared the night at
Mackenzie’s, but Joey wasn’t going to let her turn away. He took
her hand, held it in his open palm, and gave her a sweet kiss.
Gabriella blushed, and naturally graced her fingers through his
hair, not wanting to mess it up. They looked at each other one
more time before Joey grabbed the beer handed to him, and walked
just a few feet away.
Gabriella and Becky recieved their drinks as Charlie
already had his, and then Gabriella walked over to where Joey was
standing. She wanted to grab his hand, but she hardly could
discover the courage to. Instead she, playful bumped his side with
her hip. Joey laughed at Gabriella’s gesture, while his friends he
went over to talk to walked away. Gabriella noticed, Charlie and
Becky hadn’t followed, but rather went to enjoy the party. She was
standing all alone with Joey, and had not a clue what to do.
“Soo?” She said.
“Soo?” Joey replied.
“I don’t know. I just met you. I know nothing about you.”
“There’s not much to know.”
“We’ll then I guess there’s no point in getting to know you.”
“Hey that’s not fair.” Joey said, causing Gabriella to laugh. Joey
realized he was being difficult, and decided to offer her more.
“Well, I’m just an average guy, liking a not so average girl, and
I’m standing her wondering what to do.”
“You got the girl at the party didn’t you?” Gabriella said, knowing
she had put him on the spot. She could tell he was shy, and not one
for small talk. She too wasn't interested in small talk, but she
didn’t want to know everything about him right away either. She
wanted to take the time getting to know him, but the truth was, she
simply wanted to kiss him.
“I guess I did” Joey laughed to himself, but he soon realized he
wasn’t laughing alone. “You have cute giggle.”
“Thank you. Why haven’t I seen you around Mandala before?”
“I haven’t been out to Mandala in awhile. That Josh over there had
just broken up with that Anna and needed a wing man. I felt bad
and couldn’t say no.”
Joey said, while Gabriella adored the way
he spoke his words.
“They don’t look too broken up to me.”
“Yeah they got into some stupid fight. I told him to just apologize
but he was being difficult.”
“Oh I see.”
“Yeah. So what about you? Are you out in Mandala a lot?”
“Yeah I am.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know. I just can’t seem to get my friends to go to any
other town.”
“Maybe you need new friends.”
“You know what? My sister said the same thing just the other
day.” Gabriella said, while Joey let out a light laugh.
“Ah I’m sure there all right”
“I don’t know. I’m not with them now.”
“No, you’re not”
Joey caught onto Gabriella’s subtleness and pulled her body
toward his as he went to kiss her softly on the lips. Gabrielle
responded to his kiss, pressing her lips gently on his for a brief
second then parting her mouth slightly, turning her head toward the
right. Joey leaned his head toward the right as well, and his mouth
naturally opened. Gabriella gently slid her tongue into his mouth
as his did the same. They kissed for a few moments, and then Joey
ended the kiss with a sweet, soft smack on the lips just as Gabriella
lips were closing, pressing back gently for the end of the smack.
When the kiss was finished, they looked into each others eyes, and
felt a close, intimate connection. The kiss they shared was like no
other for either of them. The feelings