Phantom // Tom -Iceman- Kazansky

Chapter 9

I sighed in frustration and closed the refrigerator. It was empty. Hugh must've forgotten that it was his turn to buy food for the week. With tired steps I sat down by the table and put my head in my hands. And I had been stupid enough to give him the car, so either I had to walk 2 miles to the store or the closest diner. Another sigh escaped me as I thought of the long walk. Today was already an exhausting day.

There was no point in skipping dinner, I would just wake up in the middle of the night starving.

I stood up and grabbed my leather jacket. Heading towards the door I turned off the lights and opened the door. The slightly chilly air hit me and I already considered just going back inside. But I had to eat, so here we go. I began walking down the street, my hand gripping my wallet inside my jacket pocket. It was very dark outside and I hoped that I wouldn't come across some drunk or something. I kept on walking in the almost silent evening, the sound of my boots hitting the ground echoing across the street. Other than that I heard crickets and music playing from a house further down.

I crossed the street, keeping a close eye on my environment in case I wasn't alone. The sound of a car coming towards me filled my ears. As it came closer it slowed down. Increasing my speed I hoped that it would just drive past me. I watched the blue car in the corner of my eye and to my dread it stopped right next to me. The window rolled down. My gaze was trained in front of me, my eyes wide as I repeated in my head; 'Act like it's not there, act like it's not there, act-'

"Hey, where're you going?"

I breathed out in relief and turned towards the blue car. The street lights illuminated half of Iceman's face, the other half was cast in shadows as he leaned out the rolled down window. "I realized that I didn't have any food at home. And Hugh has the car because he was meeting Hollywood and Wolfman somewhere. So I'm headed to the store or something." I explained.

"Hop in, I'll give you a ride." Ice said and opened the passenger door from the inside.

"You really don't have to, I can walk, it's fine." I said even though I didn't have the energy to walk. He only scoffed and mentioned for me to get in. Pressing my lips together I sat down on the leather seat and closed the door behind me. "Thanks."

"No problem." Ice grinned at me before turning back to the road and accelerating. We were silent for a while in the dark car, Guns N' Roses playing on the radio. I was fidgeting with the steel rings on my fingers, feeling slightly nervous over the fact that I was alone with Ice in such a small space. His gaze was trained on the road and I found myself glancing at him from time to time. A few minutes later he pulled in on a parking lot and I looked around in confusion. There was one store nearby, and this certainly wasn't it.

"This isn't the store...?" I trailed off dumbfoundedly and looked over at Ice.

"I know, but a lot of drunks hang out there at this time." He answered and opened the door, stepping out. "Come on, I'm paying."

I was at a loss of words as he closed the door and started walking towards the little diner. Finally getting a grip on myself I opened the door and exited the car, jogging to catch up with him. He was already at the door and opened it for me, grinning at my flustered figure.

"Thank you. You didn't have to." I thanked him and hoped that my cheeks weren't red as tomatoes.

"No problem." he answered with his infamous smirk. We stepped inside the sharply lit diner and the door closed behind him. Ice's hand found the small of my back and led me towards one of the tables. We sat down opposite each other and I took off my leather jacket. The waiter then came over and asked if we were ready to order. After quickly scanning the menu I ordered a hamburger and a milkshake. Once he left we began chatting about everyday life and stuff like that. I was glad that Ice didn't bring up the Maverick-incident yesterday and soon our hamburgers came. We talked and joked while eating and I had a great time, much better than being alone at home. It surprised me a bit how carefree and casual Ice was, I'd always peg him for being serious and closed off.

We shared different stories and life experiences. He told me the story about how he met Ron -Slider- and some of their adventures together. Turns out that they were troublemakers alongside someone called Cougar back in flight school.

Ice asked me the story behind my callsign and I explained my special flying technic Ghost flight and that hide and seek had always been my game. We used to play it in elementary school and no one could beat me at it. I could be hiding for hours without the other kids finding me. It was Dino who gave me the name actually, he always joked that I flew like a ghost and suddenly I was Phantom.

The dinner neared its end and Ice asked to pay when the waiter passed. I quickly took out my wallet, ready to pay for my meal. But not quick enough, Ice already had his wallet out. And that's how the waiter found us when he came with the receipt, arguing about who's going to pay.

"Just let me pay for my meal." I said, not wanting him to pay for me.

"Nonsense, I already said I would pay and I'm a man of my word." he scoffed and the waiter looked completely lost where he stood, not knowing who's money he would take.

"Split it?" I stubbornly asked as my last resort.

Ice only shook his head and before I could stop him he handed over money to the waiter. I opened my mouth to say something when Ice cut me off. "Before you say 'I'm not some kind of damsel in distress', I know that you're not, but I dragged you here, so let me pay. End of discussion." His famous smirk once again took over his features and I smiled gratefully. I was glad that he remembered and respected that I didn't like being a damsel in distress.

We stood up and left the diner, my leather jacket in my hands. I slipped on my jacket before sitting down in the passenger seat and closed the door behind me. Meanwhile Ice drove me home we discussed music and found out that we had pretty similar taste in music. He stopped the car outside my house and followed me up to the door.

"Well, thank you for tonight. I really enjoyed it." I smiled up at him and he gave me a genuine smile in return.

"Me too." he answered. Gathering courage I leaned up and pressed a small kiss to his cheek. He looked a bit shocked at me and I hoped that I didn't take it too far. With a goodnight I disappeared into my house, feeling like a teenage girl who just went on a date with her crush. Leaning back at the closed door I let out a very cheesy, dreamy sigh.

"You got some explaining to do." Hugh's stern voice came from the bottom of the stairs.