Away We Go

Chapter 10

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated ey? Heh don't be mad at me... pls

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The soft wind was blowing against my face as I sped down the highway. I drummed my fingers onto the steering wheel to the beat of the song I was idly humming. I had gotten so used to looking at the navy blue sky that I've decided it could be one of the most beautiful colours I had ever seen. It felt weird; to look at something you've seen your entire life but to find it growing more beautiful each passing day. But then again, that's how I've always felt about Riley so I guess it wasn't all that weird.

I glanced at the passenger's seat to see her sleeping soundly with her legs close to her chest. She had taken her shoes off so I could see her socks. I smiled when I recognised who gave them to her. Yes, that's right, yours truly.

I had given them to her a year ago, on Valentine's Day. Riley was never the girl who would admit that she enjoyed cliché, romantic, cutesy bullshit. She would always protest when I offered to give her flowers or heart-shaped candy so when the day finally arrived, I decided to give her socks, just to see how she would react. I had it wrapped and everything, making it look grand when I presented it to her. You should've seen her face. Despite all her pseudo hatred towards the whole shebang, her eyes lit up like the 4th of July. She smiled and blushed and peppered my face with tiny kisses. I laughed when she hugged the box tightly against her chest.

"Milo, you shouldn't have" she had said.

"Of course I should've" I replied and she grinned.

She tore off the wrapper and shrieked a little before opening the box. Her smile faltered when she saw the contents but just for a second.

"Oh wow, um, socks! It's so... cute. I love it" she said, trying not to sound sad. I laughed whole-heartedly before I realized she looked a bit hurt.

"Oh, come on Riley, you hate it"

"No, I mean... I told you, I hate all that cliché stuff. Bears and chocolates, ha, who needs em? This... this here is something practical, useful. I love it" she insisted but she sounded a tad angry. I could only smile before pulling her close and kissing her on the top of her head.

"Well that's too bad, cos I got you something else too" I whispered and she snapped her head to look at me.

I brought her to the parking lot, holding her right hand as her left was clutching onto the plain socks I had given her. We walked towards her car and when she finally saw it, she literally dropped her socks and turned to look at me.

I knew it was a bit much and Scooter was laughing at me while I was doing it but I didn't care. Riley deserved everything and I would try my best to give her exactly that.

I had hung pictures of us and cut-out paper hearts on her car. They were attached to a jump rope so she could take it off and maybe hang them in her room if she'd like. She got closer to examine the photos. There were so many of them, the jump rope was practically wrapped around her car like a massive snake about to devour its prey. Some of them were Polaroids and some were printed out. I had written a message at the bottom of each picture along with the date it was taken. She read and admired all of them before turning around and running towards me. She jumped on me and I hugged her tight.

"It's kinda unmasculine" I said, a bit insecure especially after I had cut out a dozen red and pink hearts the night before. She laughed and shook her head. I put her down and she cupped my face in her tiny hands.

"It's kinda wonderful" she replied before kissing me softly on the lips.

"I love you, Milo" and she continued to hug me. I buried my face in her hair and I remembered feeling so much love for her that it felt like it was spilling out of me, litres and litres of it and the only person I wanted to give it to, was the amazing, pretentious, beautiful, annoying, absolutely insane girl that I was holding tightly in my arms.