Grey Skies, White Lies - Larina | [COMPLETE]

Chapter 12 | "Twenty-Five."

-Lizzy's POV-

Little over two weeks passed, and by now I hadn't tired of Marina's company in the slightest, in fact, I couldn't get enough of it.

The usual, easy routine remained; up, breakfast, musical-duties and store-work for Marina (varying depending on the day of the week), home, drink, dinner, drink, sleep. One thing that wasn't easy though, using all my energy up on trying to suffocate this seemingly ever-growing adoration I had for her.

It was a Friday, the 10th of October to be precise, both of us had not long arrived home from our duties of the day, we had the weekend off (surprisingly) and I planned to take Marina to dinner.

"Let's go out tonight?" I suggested, stood in the doorway of my bedroom, watching her fulfil her OCD needs and tidying the room.

"Where?" Marina asked, standing upright and looking directly at me with a paused smile.

"Just somewhere on the high street, you deserve a break." I explain, peering around at my newly-tidy bedroom.

"Let's go for it, let's go now." She said, rubbing her stomach. "I'm hungry anyway." She added.

"Let me get changed first." I laughed, walking towards my closet and deciding on some grey jeans and a black tee. I had no bother in getting undressed in front of Marina, and she didn't seem to care about undressing in front of me, either.

As I pulled my white t-shirt off and turned to pick up my black one, I felt her eyes on me. I felt them all over me, I swivelled slightly to see if I was right but she darted her eyes elsewhere. "I don't mind, you know." I decided to brave my assumption.

She giggled, somewhat nervously. "Sorry." She whispered, proceeding to search through the clothes she'd brought over from Joey's flat last week, selecting some black jeans and a blue t-shirt.

I had to distract myself as she took her t-shirt off and let her pinafore dress of-the-day fall in a puddle at the bottom of her legs, leaving her in just her underwear. Seeing her like this left me none other than restless. The thoughts that ran through my mind were far-from plausible for a mere girl-crush, this was completely different - a whole 'nother level.

"I love you in jeans." I said, mesmerised by her toned figure as she re-applied her makeup.

She smiled. "You too." She said, selecting a red lipstick to apply. "So, where do you want to eat out?" She asked.

It took all my strength to refrain from making a vulgar joke of this sentence, so I settled on: "How about Chinese?"

"Ooooh yes!" She exclaimed, seemingly impressed by my choice of food.

"Let's just find one on the high-street, a spontaneous adventure part two!" I said, picking up my bag and walking towards the front door of my flat.

"Every day is s spontaneous adventure with-" She began, but cut herself off. "When you're a striving musician." She finished.

I laughed. "Let's go." I said, opening to door and allowing her to pass through under my arm.

When we arrived at the high-street, overwhelmed by choice, we promised ourselves and eachother we'd just eat at the first Chinese restaurant we came across. Real China was the winner.

Entering and being seated took no more than two minutes, being given a window-seat.

We chose our food and selected a bottle of Rosé. 

"You really do look beautiful tonight." Marina said, leaning over the table to whisper in my ear. My knees weak, I managed to respond with an accidentally-slipped whimper and a smile.

"As do you." I replied, sipping on the glass of Rosé in front of me.

"Shall we go for a detour walk home, somewhere nice, quiet?" She asked, leaning her elbows on the table and pressing her chin against her hands.

"Anything you want." I granted.

Our food arrived, we ate and paid the bill by 9pm, plenty of time to take a moonlit walk back home.

We left the restaurant, waking side-by-side up the high street. Marina came closer to me, linking my arm and slowing her pace down. "It's nice, you make me feel safe." She confessed, looking straight ahead as she said it.

I wanted little other than to just kiss her to seal the confession, but I knew that's not what she wanted.

"I've been thinking..." She began, trailing off at the end.

"Thinking what?" I pressed, tightening my arm around hers.

"Of the night I broke up with Joey." She continued, I already felt desperate to know where she was heading with this.

"Oh, how so?" I asked.

"The kiss." She said, confirming my thoughts.

I looked at her as she said it, her piercing brown-eyes meeting mine.

"I had a girlfriend once." She branched off, looking away from me again. "Not long ago, actually." She confessed.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She broke up with me." She affirmed, shaking her head. "I was too scared of what people would think, to give myself to her completely." She added.

I nodded, understandingly. "That's okay." I said, an attempt to assure her.

"It's my birthday today." She stated, as if it was a long-awaited confession.

"Really?" I asked, a sense of guilt suffocating me. "Why didn't you say!?" I added.

"I don't like birthdays much." She said as we approached my flat.

"How old are you?" I asked, trying to prevent myself from coming across as rude.

"Twenty-Five." She answered.