Would You ↪ Bradley Simpson

twenty-two ↪ that time I almost ran her over

During the entire FaceTime call with my dad and Nat, I kept on zoning out. The conversation consisted of their long and detailed questions followed by my dry answers, mostly either yes or no, and my distracted hums. My dad was going on about how hard it is to find one's soulmate when the notification sound went off and a text popped up on my screen. "please tell me Brad is with you"

I abruptly sat up straight, opened the chat alarmed, and quickly texted back. "he's not, why?"

My dad's voice sounded muffled, even lower than the sound of my heart throbbing inside my chest. The only other thing that got my attention was his voice cheering "Surprise!" as the doorbell chimed. Wait- what?! I blinked more times than it was necessary and went for the door, Nat and my dad standing behind it with the biggest grins.

"What, no hug for your favourite person in the whole world?" my dad faked a pout.

My head was spinning but I tried to act cool and hugged both of them. They eyed me suspiciously when I basically ran towards the coffee table when another notification went off, another text from James.

"He won't answer our calls. Taylor just tweeted something about him, he doesn't ever react well to that. just checking if he was with you"

I looked up from my phone and stared at my dad, trying to come up with something — anything — I could've done to help my new friends. Ah, wait. I got it. "Hey Dad, you got a car with you?"

My dad's hazel eyes scanned my face in confusion at my unusual behaviour. Natasha, on the other hand, eyed me curiously with a side smirk. "Yes, why?"

"Good good" I hurriedly collected my items and shoved a fleece jacket on my jumper — well, Brad's actually, but you know that. "Drop the keys please?"

"What is going on here?" my dad questioned. "Where are you going at one in the morning?"

I shot my eyes up and blankly stared at him. He did have a point. The last time I saw him I was still the girl who was most likely to snuggle up in bed all night. I hadn't realized how much my friends were helping me shape into my own person until my dad, the only one who had known me all my life, pointed out.

"Looks like some important business," Natasha remarked with a smirk.

"So, um, don't wait up for me" I stuttered as I swiftly grabbed the keys from my dad's hand, lazily holding up as he kept staring at me blankly. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could and recognized the rental car as soon as I stepped out of the building. I slid in and took a deep breath, trying to calm down at least a little bit. I then fastened my seatbelt and started the vehicle while I sent out another text to James. — "drop Brad's address please"

.

I shakily tightened the grip around the sterling wheel as I pulled in a few houses back. I thoughtfully and deeply about whether to call him first or just plain knock on his door. What if he was asleep? I wish I thought about that scenario before my numerous little trips down the street. I picked up my phone from the passenger seat and opened my chat with Brad. I bit my lip so hard I felt actual pain when I pressed call and hopefully waited for him to pick up. It felt like hours before his voice finally played in my ear.

"Hello" he sighed exhausted, his tone low. I immediately felt bad.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" I squeezed my eyes shut in embarrassment, all ready to hang up if things got too awkward for me to handle.

 There was a brief silence. "Thank goodness it's you, hey"

"Hey, um, are you like...busy?"

  Brad's muffled chuckle lit up my mood instantly. "Why would I be busy at one thirty in the morning?"

A sudden rush of confidence washed over me when I remembered about our kiss exchanges. "Get your butt down here, I'm taking you somewhere"

"Wait" he blew a breath directly on the mic. "You're here?"

"I'd say you come and check?"

The line abruptly went off, which I expected to anyway. It wasn't too long later that I spotted Bradley walking out of his house. The boy looked so fine in that black tight jeans and oversized denim jacket. He ran his hand through his curls and curiously glanced around, visibly confused, his phone tight in both his hands. I soon started the car and pulled the R lever, moving backwards in his direction. I stopped and rolled the window down, kneeling forward so he could hear me.

"Hey-yo pretty boy" I snorted at his confused expression.

Brad's face lit up, a big grin making its way on his lips when he spotted me. He opened the passenger door and slid in with a chuckle. — "Well now this is an upgrade"

"You like it? I stole it" I said very seriously.

"Nice" he didn't seem to buy it one bit, or genuinely didn't mind even if I did actually steal the car. "So what's up, cheeky? Why are you creeping around my house this late at night?"

I helplessly smiled and shook my head. I pressed my foot on the gas and pulled into the main street. "Ah, wait, did I have to think of a reason?"

"Not at all" Brad playfully followed along. "Bang on my door anytime, I guess"

The two of us simultaneously burst out laughing, enjoying each other's presence already. It was crazy how little it took for him to light up my mood and, apparently, the feeling was mutual. I was so very keen on Bradley that — for a brief moment — I forgot I was driving. I almost ran over the two girls drunkly crossing the road in front of us in tight short tube dresses and high heels.

"Ah, shit. Stop that" I panted as I looked up at Brad. "You're distracting"

I didn't notice how revealing my statement sounded until I saw a smug smirk planted on Brad's lips. "Mmh, why is that exactly?"

My cheeks tinted red and I felt the urge to look ahead, avoiding his stare for as long as possible. "Shut up"

Hopefully, the left turn I took was the right one. It was my first time driving on my own there and I really didn't want to make a fool out of myself, certainly not in front of Brad. I stopped the vehicle in the middle of an empty car park next to the nature reserve he seemed to be rambling about the majority of his time. I parked the car in a way so the back was facing said nature space, Bradley looked over at me curiously. "Not to break it to you but.. you parked us the wrong way" he grinned.

 I rolled my eyes but smiled at him. "I feel so underrated right now"

I unfastened my seat belt, swung the car door open, and got off, closing it shut behind me. I waited for Brad to get the hint but it was taking him too long so I walked over to his side and knocked on the window. "Get off, weirdo"

Bradley blankly stared at me, not sure if taken aback by the not-too-sweet pet name I had just called him or by the fact that we were going to stay out of the warmth of the car. He shrugged and did what asked, following me to the back.

"Open the trunk?" I enthusiastically spoke, excited for his reaction.