To be honest, he hated a lot of things...Especially if they were traditional in any way...Especially if they were traditional 'couple' things. Couple-y photos, Valentine's Day, date-nights, whatever, none of that mattered to him.
They had only been dating for a few weeks.
Having just started college, she decided that it was the time to do things that she'd never done before. She was presented with the opportunity to go to Europe. And she took it.
Her excitement for her up-coming trip was dampened when his reaction was apathetic rather than mirrored excitement. She didn't let it bother her though. She figured, "I finally have a boyfriend, not a boy friend, and I'm going to Europe soon. What's there to the bummed about?"
What's that they say about hindsight?
They were hanging out her in her childhood bedroom late one night. He had told his parents he was going to a friend's house - a friend that wasn't her, of course. She never actually met his parents. Still being in high school and dating a girl that was a freshman in college, was looked down on in his home.
They were innocently curled up together on her twin bed. Laying down, facing each other, they were idly holding hands, talking, and laughing. Most of the time they spent together they were just enjoying each other's company. Suddenly she rolled onto her back and reached over to her nightstand and came back holding a disposable camera.
He immediately cringed at the sight of the camera and the question in the cheesy grin she gave him.
"No," he said.
"Oh come on," she pleaded with a grin, "I'm going to be leaving the country for a month and I don't have any pictures of us together."
"No," he said again. Though he was just as, if not more, stubborn than she was, she knew by his tone, that she would eventually win this argument. Besides, at that time in their relationship, he found it difficult to deny her much of anything. And she knew it.
"Please?" she said, staring up at him with big blue doe eyes.
"No," he repeated. He looked away for a moment, but came back and looked back at her again. He was trying really hard to stand his ground.
"Please?" she repeated, drawing the word out and adding a playful pout, "For me?"
He sighed and rolled his eyes, "You're just lucky you're so adorable," he mumbled.
In response, she smiled wide with mocking triumph and ignored the flush she knew was apparent on her face from the rare compliment she'd received.
They simultaneously repositioned as she raised her right hand, holding the camera directly above them. She was on her back and he on his side, his head against hers, their hands intertwined between their bodies.
With a click and a blinding flash the photo was taken.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked as she turned her head towards him grinning.
"It was awful," he said, smirking, "I don't know if I'll ever recover..."
She laughed, "I think you'll be OK..."
He chuckled, shaking his head then leaned forward, kissing her forehead as her eyes closed.
In the back of her mind she knew he was going to leave her for someone else and eventually he did. Though separating was difficult then and they have not spoken even once since, she still has that grainy, ill-lit photo that was taken years ago. Occasionally she comes across it in a stack of photos from that time and smiles as she recounts that evening.
Even though he hated having his photo taken, there was a point in time when he would do something just for her, that he wouldn't do for anyone else. That is what she thinks about when she thinks about That Boy.
~Jennanigans
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