Althea

|𝟯𝟮| 𝗟𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗲

We've been driving for so fucking long that Althea has to keep squeezing my hand every few minutes so I don't doze off.

After a few minutes of more driving, we're finally back in town. Everyone is asleep except for Gio who's on her phone.

"You know, I'm very thankful for you Tater Tot," Althea said out of the blue. 

When I looked over at her she was already looking at me with a thoughtful expression, her eyes trying hard not to close as she covered her mouth gently, yawning.

I smiled, which I've been doing a lot of recently. I have no idea what's wrong with me but at least I know why I'm smiling. Because of her.

"Oh yeah? Why?" I furrow my eyebrows at her, glancing back at the road.

"Because..." she trails off, looking out the window for a moment, still fiddling with the rings on my fingers.

"I can't explain it. But I think that's a good thing because I've read somewhere when you like someone very much or, in my case, like them and is very thankful for them, you just can't put it into words. I just wanted to let you know that I'm very thankful for you," she shrugged but I could see the blush on her cheeks as she bit her lip, looking down at my hand.

I nodded slowly, thinking about her words for a moment. What they made me feel. Her words are so simple but whenever she even speaks, or does something. Whenever I look at her, I get this feeling in my chest and I have no idea what it is.

It scares the shit out of me to think that what I have with Althea, whatever I have with her, could be something more.

I tighten the one hand I have on the wheel as I stare ahead of me at the street, the sun slowly beginning to go down.

Then I turn my head to look at her side profile. Her pointed little nose and the small dimple in her left cheek that pops out as she bites her lip gently. The blush covering her cheeks and her naturally wavy hair, still damp from the lake.

"I'm very thankful for you to...just because." I mumble, clearing my throat, now feeling a tad bit uncomfortable at expressing my feelings to her.

But it's all worth it when I look over and see her smiling at me, her eyes kind of slightly wide and her dimples on full display.

"When we get home, can I do your hair again? It looks so fudgin pretty when it's curly," she says, looking up at my hair thoughtfully.

Then she quickly meets my eyes, hers wide and a blush covering her cheeks. "Not that your natural floppy hair isn't pretty or that I like your curly hair more. Not that I don't like when your hair is curly, of course..." she trails off when I raise my eyebrow.

I shrug, giving her a cool expression. "You can do my hair if you want." I say.

But deep inside I'm smiling like a bitch. She blushed. Because of me. She smiled. Because of me. And, she said when we get home. What did she mean by that? She didn't say when we get to my house she said when we get home.