Red

Chapter Five

"What'd she say?" Veronica asks, seeming to notice my sudden change in demeanor. I shake my head, knowing that if I speak, I'll make it worse. "What is it?"

"Later," I manage.

"Oh, ok," she says. "Sure. Are you ok to stay here, or do you want to go home?" I say nothing. "Do you want to stay?" I take in a deep breath, nodding. She hesitates a moment, but then she takes my hand for the second time this morning, squeezing it for a second before dropping it again. It doesn't calm me all that much, but it's nice that she's trying. I put my phone back into my pocket, walking with her towards Macy's.

As we walk through the doors, I control my breathing, attempting to calm down. Veronica takes notice as I close my eyes and breathe deeply for a moment before opening them again and continuing forward into the store. A sales woman approaches us almost immediately, a huge smile on her face. Great.

"Is there anything I can help you ladies with today?" she asks.

Veronica looks to me, so I answer the woman. "No, we're fine," I say.

"Alright, well just let me know if there's anything I can help you find," she says, giving a nod and walking away towards another woman walking through the door.

I make my way towards one of the sale's racks, seeing a red, plaid skirt hanging from one of the hangers. I take it off of the rack, holding it up to my waist. It looks like the right size to me, but I turn to Veronica for confirmation. "This looks like it would fit, right?" I ask her.

"Yeah, it looks great," she replies.

"I'm going to go try it on," I say. I start to walk towards the dressing room, and when I turn back to look at her, she's standing awkwardly near the sales rack. "Are you coming or what, Sawyer?" I ask. She walks forward towards me, and we walk into the fitting room together.

I push one of the stalls open, walking inside and locking the door. Veronica must have sat down in one of the chairs outside of the stalls. I take off the skirt I'm currently wearing, putting the new one on. I look into the mirror, smoothing out the skirt. It looks fine, but I want a second opinion. I open the door, and Veronica looks up. "What do you think?" I ask.

"It's pretty," she says with a smile.

"Good," I say. "I'm getting it, then." I close the stall door again, ready to change back into my old skirt. I open the door again, however, and Veronica looks back up. "Thank you," I say. "For everything. Talking to me and bringing me here and buying me those goddamn sunglasses..."

"Sure," she says, smiling again.

"I mean it," I tell her. "You're a fucking amazing person." She looks surprised.

"Thanks," she manages.

"I don't typically give out compliments. Savor this moment," I tell her. Then, I close the door again, changing my clothes.

***

Veronica POV:

Chandler drove me home after the mall. My plan is to pretend to be sick so that when my parents get home, I have an excuse for being there. That won't be for a few hours, though. Now, we stand on my front porch. I'm surprised she offered to walk me to the door. "Thanks for driving me home," I say to her.

"Thanks for skipping with me," she replies. "We should do it again sometime."

"We'll see how this time goes," I say with a light laugh. "I'm still sort of terrified that someone will catch us."

"You'll be fine," she tells me. I nod.

"I hope so," I say.

We sit in silence for a few moments, and then she turns to me. She's staring at me rather intently. "What?" I ask, feeling slightly nervous. She seems to be making a decision. "Chandler-"

"Do me a favor and shut up for just a second," she says. She leans in, and before I know what's happening, her lips are pressed against mine. I let her kiss me, too stunned to kiss back much. She pulls away after a few seconds, and I stare at her.

"I... um..." I begin, trying to form coherent sentences.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sawyer," she says, and then she walks back down the driveway towards her car. She gets in, and in seconds, she's gone. What the hell just happened?

***

A/N: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it took sort of long for that first kiss to happen, but I swear I'm going to speed things up in the next chapter. There will be a time skip soon (probably like a two-week skip), so I'm sorry if you don't like those. I swear it has a purpose, though. Vote if you liked it, comment anyway. Again, I love feedback.

Thanks for reading!

-LittleMissBlitz