𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 ✔️

Chapter 33

We put on a movie and he asked me if I wanted anything, but I said no in case Aero was taking me to a restaurant.

After the movie ended, Reid made me go into his backyard and watch him play basketball by himself. I sat on one of the chairs outside and watched him throw the ball into the net repeatedly.

He dribbled the ball and then held it in his hands. Before he threw it he yelled, "Money!"

He threw it and it missed, so I slapped my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. He turned around and pointed at me, "Don't even start, Hailey."

"I didn't say anything!"

"I know exactly what you were gonna say," he said, walking over and grabbing the ball off of the grass.

I laughed slightly before feeling a warm hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Aero, who was looking down at me with a smile. He asked, "Are you ready?"

I turned back around and watched Reid miss again and answered, "Yea. I'm ready."

We waved bye to Reid and got into Aeros car, the sun seeming exceptionally bright today. I wore a white dress and crossed my legs in my seat, a low noise coming from Aero. I turned and looked at him with lowered eyebrows, "What?"

"Pull your fucking dress down before I get as hard as a rock."

My cheeks grew hot and I pulled it down, not realizing it had risen up. He reached for my hand and held it in his as we drove along the road. I knew he wasn't going to tell me where we were going, so I didn't bother asking. 

He asked me, "Reid back together with Bruno?"

"No. Bruno said he needed more time to think about it," I shrugged. "You and Reid should do something together soon."

"Maybe after this month, I got a lot of shit to do before it ends. Including this date, which I hope you like because I missed your fucking face so much," he said before quickly leaning across and placing a kiss against my cheek, which made me giggle. And once he heard that, he did it repeatedly, making me laugh even harder. I had to push him off me. 

He smiled as he went back to focusing on the road and I said, "I was only at Reids for a few hours."

"Not being around you for a few hours feels like days," he complained. 

We were no longer driving in the city and were in an area with more nature. Grass and trees filled the land beside the road and I smiled seeing a bunny run through a bush. I turned and asked him, "How far out of New York are we going?"

"We aren't leaving New York, just going to a more beautiful part of it," he told me. 

I rolled the windows down since the air was warm and let the wind blow my hair. We drove for another 30 minutes before arriving at something that looked like a meadow. He looked at me, "Close your eyes."

I smiled before closing my eyes and I heard him get out of his side of the car, walking over to mine and lifting me out of the seat. I promised him that I wasn't peaking but he kept his hands covering my eyes anyways as we walked. I could tell we were walking on grass by the sound of our steps and he stopped walking. He told me, "Okay. You can open them."

I opened my eyes and saw a picnic set up in a field of lilacs. A white blanket was set up with lots of food and a bottle of wine. A huge smile formed on my face and I watched him walk a few steps and take a seat. As I sat down I told him, "Aero! This is so amazing. Where did you find a place like this?"

He shrugged, "I asked around."

He must've searched for hours, if not days for this place.

I crossed my legs as I sat across from him, looking at the view around us. The flowers were my favourite shade of purple and the grass was a warm green. It was slightly windy, causing the trees to ruffle. I said to myself, "I love life so much."

"Isn't life beautiful?" Aero quoted the words I said to him the day we went swimming.

I smiled at him, "I have always loved and appreciated life. I'm not religious, so to me all there is in this world is life and death. You are born, you live your life, and you die. Nothing happens after death, it's just like a long sleep. That's why I appreciate life so much, because you only have one shot at it. You live each day one time and one time only. Thousands of people die unexpectedly every single day, so I appreciate every breath I take. Because one day, it could be you."

He listened to every word I said attentively. It felt good to say what I felt out loud. That's why I've always treated people with kindness whenever I can. 

The air blew his hair slightly but a single strand still dangled down onto his forehead. The brightness of the sun made his already light eyes seem even lighter. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip before replying, "You are changing me so much, Hailey Romano."

"How?" my eyebrows lowered. What about me could change someone? 

He poured two glasses of wine and held one of them out for me to take. He took one sip before saying, "I viewed life very differently before I met you. I found no beauty in it, didn't appreciate it, didn't have anything to look forward to. But now that I have you, I see the world differently than how I did before. I see the beauty outside of just art, but in nature and experiences and people. You are the most beautiful girl I've ever laid my eyes upon, and every time I get to do something like this with you, I appreciate my time on this earth more and more."

My heart warmed at his words but he held a strawberry out for me to eat, so I ate it instead of responding. After eating some fruit and a sandwich I took another sip of the wine, Aero pouring my glass to be full again after.

His eyes never looked away from me as I took another sip, causing me to laugh slightly. I asked him, "What?"

"I'm so incredibly in love with you," He said quietly. 

He leaned forward and kissed me, my hands going to his cheeks as he did so. He kissed me until we no longer had any air in our lungs, our breathing heavy after pulling away. He asked me, "Are you done eating?"

My stomach was full, so I nodded my head. He stood up and my eyebrows knitted together as I said, "We don't have to leave just yet, I'd love to just sit here for a while."

"Did you really think this was all I had planned for you?" he asked me with a smile, staring down at me since I was still sitting.

I looked around, trying to see what else he was talking about. He shook his head, "It's not here, it's somewhere else. I promise we can come back here as often as you want."

I helped him clean up our picnic and put our stuff in the trunk of his car. It was in the early stages of the sunset, the sun bright orange. He started driving again, and I gave him an excited look. He noticed this, a smile forming on his face and his hand reaching for mine.

We continued to drive for about 20 minutes before Aero pulled into a parking lot that was made of dirt and surrounded by trees. I didn't recognize where we were, but I got out of the car with him anyway. He cocked his head towards the trees and said, "It's behind there."

I walked with him over to where he had been gesturing to, my heart warming at what I was seeing.

He said while smiling, "This day is far from over, Hailey Romano."

Word Count: 2046