The Beautiful Monster

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.

"Come 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.

"Welcome to Davie's! Just two?" a young waitress greeted them.

"We're with them," Alyssa said, pointing to Melina 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 Melina's table.

"Hi!" she greeted them as she sat across from them.

"Hey," Melina 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 come over to our place for dinner one night," Elias invited them. Even after all of this, he wanted Melina 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 some good reason, and he just had to take advantage of the time that he could spend with Melina now.

"I'm guessing steak and lobster? Something fancy, Mr. Businessman?" Melina 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 home.

"I was thinking shrimp alfredo. That's a dish we're pretty good at," he said as he smiled at Alyssa. He remembered all the times that they cooked that dish together.

Then, they would curl up on the couch and watch a movie together, making comments about how good the dish tasted or what they could do better next time.

He missed simple moments like that. They felt like they happened so long ago.

"If we don't mess up the sauce," Alyssa replied with a pointed look.

"I overcooked it one time. One time," 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 messed up a dish, it was still fun spending time 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," Melina commented, looking at them warmly. "You know, I wasn't interested in dating at all, even when Tyler first came around."

"I wore you down," Tyler chuckled as he nudged her shoulder with his own.

"Something like that," Melina laughed softly.

"From bodyguard to boyfriend," Alyssa said with an amused smile.

"I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw her," Tyler said, giving Melina'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 something 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 some 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 memories 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 agreement. Their diet hadn't been all that great lately. It was hard to eat good on the road, and this was the first time that they actually sat down and ate somewhere.

He wished that they could do it more. He wanted more breaks, but he also wanted to end this.

"Ugh. Don't remind me. 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," Melina 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.

Melina 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 time. "We've made it this far."

Melina 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 agreement, feeling something warm burn inside of his chest. If he was honest with himself, he didn't think that he and Melina 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 Melina playfully.

Melina 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 moment. It was one that he would remember 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 moments of light.. They would need them when things became even darker.

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