Would You ↪ Bradley Simpson

twenty-three ↪ that time you let me in

Bradley let out a soft chuckle. "For how long have you been planning this?"

I smiled at him. I got pretty lucky, that's the truth. I knew my dad well, I knew how he'd never travel without a warm blanket in the car, so I used it to my advantage. As the hopeless romantic girl I am, my Google history was full of cute night date ideas and, yes, one of my favourites was a picnic in the car's trunk with pretty lights and whatnot. On my way to Brad's flat, I'd made sure I brought with me some snacks, drinks, and of course ice cream. "You like it?" I unsurely asked, my confidence shuttering when his eyes attentively bored into mine.

"How could I not like this?" he said back, not breaking eye contact for a moment.

My heart fluttered inside my chest, I had never felt more alive before. Being able to feel every single feeling and the effect he seemed to have on me was both scary and refreshing. I had never seen such a leak of colours in anybody's eyes before as I saw it in Bradley's. A warm wave crushed in my chest and I couldn't stop myself from falling for the boy over and over. The more time passed, the more Brad's face contorted at my lack of response. He bit his lip and smiled a little. "So what is it that you got planned here?"

I felt the urge to look away but his eyes were like magnets to my own, a new level of weakness, so my gaze helplessly shot back up. "I-, um, we could-"

Again, my voice came out way lower than I intended to. Perhaps, this one time I subconsciously wanted to speak low. It's like I didn't want the world to see how I felt about him yet, definitely didn't want to confess my undying love to his face yet, but I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

"C'mon, peach, you're killing me here" Bradley mocked impatiently.

The sound of my heart throbbing against my rib cage made it way harder for me to breathe right and have a serious conversation with the impatient boy in front of me. Screw it. "I want to be honest with you, I have no clue. I just kind of...want to be here with you"

Bradley's features relaxed in a matter of seconds, accompanied by a cute gentle grin that made its way on his pretty face as soon as he took a few steps closer, his body now only a few inches away from my own. "You're in luck, darling. That's just what I had in mind" he shook his head with a chuckle and excitedly jumped in the trunk, making sure it wouldn't close on us or lock us inside.

The night looked more starry than usual, there certainly was something magical about it. Perhaps it was the boy's presence, or simply the fact that my world was coming back together, piece after piece, looking way more colourful than I could remember. Sure, the soft music Bradley played from his phone made it all a thousand times better. I lay my back on the feather pillow next to Brad's, my eyes glued on the dark sky still. It was when the boy to my left leaned a little closer that I looked up at him curiously. His eyes glossed as he locked his gaze on my own, a small smile appeared when the next song started playing.

"Funny" he tilted his head to the side and grinned widely.

I was genuinely confused. "Mmh? What is?"

"This is my favourite song" Brad's voice lowered as he slowly leaned on me. "It's funny how, out of all songs, my favourite song is playing now that I'm...with my favourite person"

My heart stopped, or maybe it was beating too fast. He must've seen it in my eyes because he instantly smiled and pressed his soft lips on my own. That kiss was different from any other we had before, I wondered how many different feelings his kisses could make me feel. Every kiss felt special in its own way, each made me feel weak to my knees. My confidence flew to the sky in a matter of seconds, it did feel like I had known the boy forever. I abruptly pulled away from the kiss and knitted my eyebrows together.

"What's wrong?" Brad's voice drastically softened as if he was genuinely concerned.

"You're not going to pull a Starstruck on me, are you?"

He snorted. "What?"

"You know...Starstruck?" I went on with my nonsense. "Wait, you do know, right? Oh, boy, please say yes"

"I do. What I meant is...that's why you stopped the kiss?" he tried hard not to laugh at me, his eyes deceiving him completely.

"Yeah, sorry, got caught up in thoughts, don't mind me" I rambled, again. At that point, Bradley couldn't help but burst out laughing, giving me a full view of his cute little dimples.

"I like this side of you" he smiled. "You're funny"

.

That long-gone peace of mind was coming back at me like a full-speed train and, let me tell you, it felt so very heartwarming. My eyes landed on my phone, the numbers 05:38 displaying on the screen. Had it really been four whole hours of us chilling in that trunk?! Brad's right arm coiled around my waist as he sleepily rolled over closer to my body. His face rested in the crook of my neck, his warm breaths sending tingles on my skin, and, honestly, I wished I could've stayed in that moment forever.

"You're cold?" the boy's muffled voice spoke directly in my ear.

I closed my eyes and smiled like a creep at how happy I genuinely felt. "A little bit"

"It's okay, I got you"

We lay there until the sun was up, for the only reason that it beamed directly on our faces. Bradley got up with a groan and jumped off the trunk, stretching his legs when his feet touched the ground. I snuggled up into the warm blanket a little bit more, not wanting to go back to a really boring life without Bradley. "C'mon, lazy, we have to go" he chuckled, threatening to close the trunk's door with me still in it.

"Do we now?" I whined but got up anyway. I had completely forgotten how my dad was in town. He had traveled for hours just to see me and I had sprinted out of the flat after the first two minutes of him being there.

Brad seemed to notice every little detail of how my expression would change when deep in thought. "What now?"

"Hey, did I mention that my dad surprised me last night by bursting into my flat and I legit just asked him for this car's keys and spent the night with you instead?"

"Wait, what?"