fresh air | pulisic

07.

"Ugh, okay. come on, I need to introduce you now or else they'll kill me." Christian sighs, pulling his arms back and parting reluctantly. Nia doesn't mind, her hand meeting Christian's halfway, her cheeks hurting with how much she's smiling when Christian's the one to take the initiative to lace their fingers together, holding his hand tight as she follows him back to the group that's waiting for them. Nia smiles the moment they stop, suddenly feeling a little shy that he kissed Christian in front of his parents. "Hello. I'm Nia."

"This is the friend I met." Christian adds and Ben clicks his tongue teasingly while Mason shakes his head with a knowing smile.

"I didn't know friends kissed each other like that." Christian looks to his side to see Nia completely blushing now, waving his free hand at them in an attempt to shut them up. He chuckles behind his hand, feeling Nia squeeze his hand in warning and then he coughs, looking down at his boots. How cute.

Clearing his throat, Christian turns to his parents, ignoring his friends' teasing from the side. "Anyway, she looked after me while she was travelling."

"I'm sure she did." Ben says with a raised brow. Mason has to hide a laugh and Christian frowns at him, attempting to step on his foot.

"It's really nice to finally meet you, Nia," his mother says, reaching out to take Nia's free hand. Nia nods and squeezes her hand while telling her it was her pleasure. Christian looked just like her.

"Please continue to look after Christian from now on. And come visit soon! We're just about to leave, so definitely make sure you two visit soon, okay Christian?" Christian hums, promising to call them later while letting go of Nia's hand to give his parents a hug.

" At least he's back to normal," Mason says. Turning his attention to the latest addition to the group, he grins at Nia instead. "Anyway, hi! You're Nia, right? I'm Mason!"

One by one his friends-slash-teammates introduce themselves and then they launch into an interrogation, asking Nia all the questions under the sun like they were Christian's parents instead. How old is she, what does she do, does she live here, is she planning to go to uni soon, how did they meet, what did they do, is she joining them for dinner– "Guys, stop, you're going to scare her off."

"You come back with a mystery girl and you're not even going to tell us anything about her?" Ben asks incredulously, his brows raising. Beside him, Mason is nodding, his eyes wide as if he was just about to say the same thing.

"But Chris, we just want to make sure she's a good fit for you."

Christian squints at that, staring his friends down while searching for Nia's hand again, sliding his fingers between hers. At least Christian seemed well looked after in his friend group. "Aren't I old enough to decide that on my own?"

"I mean, you do make questionable decisions sometimes." Mason finally says, pretending to be hurt when Christian uses his free hand to shove at his shoulder.

"You're right, maybe i shouldn't have kissed you then." Christian grumbles, rolling his eyes at the girl, and Nia has to chase after him when he starts walking away to go get changed, telling his friends that they'd catch up with them later and to just message Christian.

She doesn't manage to catch up with Christian before he reaches the dressing room, so she waits outside for the brunet to get changed and then surprises him by pulling him into a quiet corner, her hands on Christian's hips to keep him close while she presses gentle kisses to his neck in apology. "Your friends sound like fun."

"Ugh, you haven't even met half of them yet." Christian frowns, starting to wriggle to escape from Nia's grasp. The younger breathes a nah uh, pushing Christian back so he's leaning against the wall and then their gazes meet.

"So," Nia starts, flicking her fringe out of her face. Christian sighs, reaching up to fix it for her and Nia grins, her fingers curling around Christian's wrist. "How will you introduce me to the rest of your friends?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've only introduced me to your friends and family as just joochan," the girl points out, a laugh bubbling in her throat because Christian is beginning to look flustered when he realises where this is going and Nia thinks he's really, really cute. "Am I just Nia to you?"

Christian licks his lips, looking everywhere and anywhere but at the figure in front of him as he tries to stutter out an answer. "And I don't think friends just randomly kiss each other like that either."

"Okay... Okay," Christian finally says, playing with Nia's shirt. He takes a moment to word his answer, playing with the buttons and then he takes a deep breath, his blush darkening. "I'll introduce you to them as my girlfriend. Is that better?"

Nia doesn't know how much happier she can get today, so she leans in to kiss him one more time, hearing Christian gasp in surprise. She takes her time this time, pressing closer while nibbling on Christin lip to get him to open up, feeling his fingers curl into her shirt. They kiss like they have all the time in the world, only parting when the need for air becomes too great for the both of them and then Christian's pressing his forehead against Nia's, panting like he's just played another 90 minutes.

His eyes are still closed and Nia finds that she likes being the first one to open her eyes. It means she can watch Christian as his eyes open slowly, his gaze lifting to meet her's shyly and then he's breathlessly telling Nia she can't keep surprising him with kisses like that.

"Or what?" Nia challenges, kissing his cheek. "What will you do?"

"Ugh, just..." Christian pulls away, trying to think up of a punishment suitable for his new girlfriend, but it's really hard to think when the girl is stupidly grinning like the cute dumbass she is. "Just stop, okay! you're so annoying, god."

He pushes Nia away so he can walk around her, biting on his bottom lip with a shy smile as he listens to Nia catch up to him. And while he's checking his messages for where his friends are going for dinner, Nia hums.

"You know, you can keep calling me 'God' if you want. I don't mind."

Christian rolls his eyes. "I'll leave you."

"You wouldn't dare."

And then Christian is the one who's grinning when he darts off, swiftly making his way past the people who are left to sort out the last of the equipment, laughing when he hears his girlfriend yell at him from behind.

"Hey, Christian Pulisic!"

Girlfriend.

he likes that word.