The Fear of Falling

Chapter Twenty Nine

We both rushed to change, promising to take only a moment.

I had been waiting for less than a minute when he reappeared and stepped into the dim hallway light. It was apparent that I wasn’t the only one who refused to dress up.

His face and hands matched his pale paint-splattered jeans. I rolled my eyes and ignored how my stomach flipped at the sight of him.

“Ready for the movie?”

“That depends. Did you get the tickets?”

Gavin rolled his eyes, triggering another bout of butterflies. “Yes, Ms. Sykes.”

I smiled, happy to be with him again. “Then we should get going.”

A late-night movie wasn’t usually my idea of fun, but for Gavin, I felt compelled to try new things.

He laughed and shook his head before passing me and opening the front door. He held it open, leaning on it with a smirk. “After you, beautiful.”

****

The seedy city theater must have, at one time, been a pinnacle of new technology.

I scanned the walls full of old movie posters as we walked in. Some of them I saw in Florida with my parents and others with Hunter.

Gavin led the charge to the concession stand, unbothered by the popcorn-covered carpet from the nineties.

I followed on his heels, all too eager to escape my bedroom, even if the tradeoff was a nearly abandoned movie theater.

The stoned teenager behind the counter frowned when he saw us. After all, no one worked the night shift to deal with people.

Gavin ignored the kid’s expression and ordered three packs of skittles “-and whatever else she wants.”

Their attention turned to me. Shit. I hadn’t considered a snack other than the one standing beside me. “Just an Icee, please.”

“Flavor?”

“Cherry.”

Gavin scrunched his nose.

The teenager left us to gather skittles from the back because apparently, they hadn’t restocked the front. “What?” I asked as soon as we were alone.

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

“That is not your nothing face.”

“Oh,” he purred, “so you’ve been paying attention to my face.”

A strained noise fell out of my mouth. How am I supposed to get out of this now?

Gavin laughed, the green flecks of paint complementing his peachy lips that I so badly wanted to kiss until neither of us could breathe.

He winked, “Don’t hurt yourself, Megs.”

“Thanks,” I gave him a tight smile, “I won’t.”

He whistled just as the kid returned with skittles and my icee. “That’ll be fourteen ninety-seven.”

I reached for my purse, but Gavin waved me off. I frowned. “You got the tickets. It’s only fair that I buy the snacks.”