outside

chapter 24

Turning off the shower was a hard task, as I didn't want the constant stream of hot water pouring over my tensed back to end, but it eventually had to. I frowned as I wrapped the towel around myself. The air in the hallway instantly gave me goosebumps and my teeth began to chatter as I tip toed down the hall to my room.

"D'ya want to go to the seaside? I'm not trying to say that everybody wants to go..." Van was singing The Kooks softly on my bed, my black acoustic guitar tucked tightly under his arm. The ends of his wet hair were hitting the nape of his neck, beads of water trickling down into his black sweater. His legs were tucked under him like a three-year-old and his eyes were shut tightly as he sang out the words. I smiled to myself, not wanting the moment to ever end.

If only I could walk in on this every day.

But for now, I just silently listened from the doorway, too encapsulated by his voice to interrupt him.

"Bravo, bravo!" I clapped once he was finished, surprising him a little bit.

"Oh, I didn't know you were out of the bath," he said, standing up immediately and placing my guitar back onto its stand in the corner, "Sorry, I was just messing around."

"Don't apologize, it was beautiful," I smiled, tiptoeing to my dresser to grab some clothes, holding the towel tightly against myself to ensure that nothing would slip.

"S-sorry I'll just wait out here," he stuttered nervously, racing out of my room. I chuckled a little, confused as to why he was acting like this. Nevertheless, I shook it off and slipped on a pair of black jeans and a thin, white sweater. I reached to my nightstand to grab my pendant, but it wasn't there. I panicked, frantically searching my desk, dresser, and the floor for it. I was swiping things onto the floor and making a lot of noise, but I didn't care, I had to find it.

"Kat? Everything alright?" Van asked, tapping against my door.

"I can't find it! It's not here!" I screeched.

"Shh, shh what's missing, love?" Van rushed to my side, trying to stop me from destroying my room entirely.

"My necklace! It's not here!" I cried.

"Wait, this one?" Van asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the silver chain. I gasped.

"Where was it?"

"Well, at the hospital they had to take it off of you, for safety reasons I guess, and they let me hold onto it. Lovely thing, it is. Here, let me put it on ya," he crawled behind me on the floor and moved my long hair over my shoulder, reaching in front of me to wrap it around my neck. I could feel his warm hands on my neck as he fumbled with the clasp, sending shivers down my spine for some reason. It was amazing what his touch did to me. It scared me a little, even.

"Thanks," I breathed in sharply as his hands went to my shoulders, rubbing them with his hands that were much larger than mine.

"No problem," he whispered. I can't remember how long we sat like that on the floor, it felt like hours when it was more like merely seconds, until he finally got up.

"D'ya want to go get something to eat? I'm starving!" He asked, offering a hand to pull me up.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I said, brushing out my wet hair.

"Did ya know I could do plaits?" He asked, standing behind me in my mirror.

"Plaits...?" I asked, confused.

"Braids, whatever," he chuckled.

"Can you now?" I asked, raising my eyebrows a bit in disbelief.

"Yes, is that a challenge?" He asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," I shrugged, although my smirk was giving me away.

"Fine, you'll see."

•••

"Uhh, I guess I'll have the chicken tacos. Or the beef? I dunno, which ones are better, Kat?" Van asked as we ordered our food. We had gone to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Amigos, and I couldn't have been happier.

"He'll have two chicken and two beef," I ordered for him, twisting Van's fishtail braid in my hair.

"Gracias," the waitress said as she took our menus and walked away.

"How often do you come here?" Van asked.

"Let's just say...a lot," I responded, chuckling a little because I came here twice a week at the very least.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it," he chuckled, "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess. I don't know. I still can't really remember what happened," I shrugged.

"Well, I came back to check on you and you had passed out and your phone was lying next to you. Was it something that you had seen on your phone, maybe?" He questioned. Then, it all came flooding back.

The twirling in the mirror, the text from him. All the memories, all the pain, everything came flooding back.

Before I knew it, Van leaned across the table and brushed away a tear that had rolled down my cheek, his big, warm hands clasping mine.

"Oi, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, love. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I was only trying to help," his voice was dripping with concern. It made me want to open up to him, to tell him everything that had gone on. I wanted to trust Van, I really did. His strong hands and worried eyes pulled at all of my heartstrings and made me want to pour out all of my secrets to him, but deep down I knew he would leave, and I would be left with no one again. In fact, I was right, because he was leaving tomorrow. Yet still, the crystal blue eyes got me and I let him in a little bit.

"I-I had just gotten a text that made me upset, something from my past that I really would not like to open up about again. It just...brought back bad memories and I guess I couldn't handle it." I answered cautiously, not wanting to say anything about Adam basically stalking me.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. Don't want you to be upset for the rest of the day, yanno?"

"Yeah...it's alright, Van. I'm just glad someone cares." I whispered, trying to collect myself.

"Of course, love. I'll always be here to care." He said, placing his chapped lips to my hand for a quick moment, making my heart race in my chest. I gave him a soft smile and gave a silent thanks as our food finally arrived.

•••

"So, whaddya wanna do love? We still have the whole day ahead of us," Van asked as we walked along the sidewalk, our hands intertwined. I wasn't quite sure what it meant for us, but my heart was beating too fast and the happiness spreading inside me was too great for me to care to ask, so I just went along with it.

"I'm not sure," I shrugged.

"Well, what are the highlights of this city? Your favorite place? Anything."

"Umm, well, I really like this one record shop, but we've already been to one, so that's out. Oh! There's the zoo!" I squealed. I hadn't been to the zoo in ages, and I absolutely adored it. I used to work there as a teenager, and it was probably the best job I had ever had.

"To the zoo we go, then!" Van chuckled, pulling me along to the car.

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MERRY (late) CHRISTMAS MY LOVES (: hope you enjoy this cutesy little filler chapter. there will probably be a couple of these within the next week or so bc A LOT of drama is about to go down soon, so be prepared hahaha

love you all and hope you have a great day ((: