your pov:
me and my best friend colson were never patriotic. he was actually an anarchist, i'm pretty sure. but fourth of july was an excuse to blow stupid shit up, so of course, we "celebrated".
colson had invited me to hang out with him and his daughter at their house. swim in their pool, light some sparklers, blow off fireworks and eat burgers.
i shut the car door and casie came bounding out followed by her father.
"hey (y/n)!" casie smiled hugging me gently.
"hey cas"
"ooh! you brought your homemade apple pie! (y/n) i swear you are the love of my life" i felt a small blush tint my cheeks as he pulled me in for a hug.
i giggled, "col, let me go or you'll smush it!"
he let go but pulled me through the house to his backyard.
the grill was running and there was a table of chips and drinks. casie had already jumped in the pool while her father went to put on burgers.
i put the apple pie down and went to join casie.
"cannonball!" i screamed, bounding into the pool.
"alright girls! food is ready! come on let's go" colson called to us as he took the meal off the grill, and adding them to a plates with fries.
"just one second, dad!" i taunted, "we're finishing this round of marco polo"
finally, i snatched casies foot and we got out. i grabbed a towel and tossed her one before joining colson.
"never call me dad again" colson scolded me lightheartedly.
"yeah i'd never call you dad anyway i prefer daddy" i joked.
colson choked on his beer and casie made a face.
after we had finished our meals i spoke up,"i'm gonna go put the pie in the oven for a bit too warm it up, why don't you two get sparklers and we can light them while we watch the sunset"
the pie was warming up and i stood leaning on the sliding door. i was watching him light the sparklers and telling her to be careful with them.
she just rolled her eyes and waved it around watching it burn. i made my way over and grabbed one.
"light it for me?"
"of course, m'lady" he laughed.
i laughed with him and then leaned my head on his shoulder. he wrapped his arm around me, "it's beautiful, isn't it?"
"yeah, it really is. i always love sunsets"
"hey dad?" casie interrupted us.
we quickly separated and casie asked if she could go to a friends to see fireworks at a high school a few towns over.
it's not like colson and i were secretly dating or anything. if we were dating it wouldn't be a secret. we were only friends though. i had never thought i had romantic feelings for him but if he had wanted to date in theory i wouldn't be opposed to it.
"sure, let's eat some apple pie and i'll drive you over there. i have a surprise for (y/n) anyway" he winked at her and she smiled.
"oh?" i said aloud but colson was already inside.
he came back out and cut three pieces and handed them out.
"casie, after you finish go get dressed or whatever you need to do and i can drive you. (y/n), you do the same, you have your drawer you can shower do whatever you need to freshen up and we can go"
"last person to finish the pie loses!" casie declared and began shoveling pie into her mouth.
col was already halfway done and so when i almost choked to death on the crust, i was destine to lose.
"(y/n) lost!" casie taunted, standing up to go in the house.
"oh yeah?" i replied, standing up too.
i quickly scooped up the 11 year old and ran her into the house while she laughed. i put her down outside her bedroom and went to her fathers.
there was a small drawer of my clothes in his dresser and some of my toiletries in his bathroom. they were usually for impromptu sleepovers that casie (or colson) begged me for or when my best friend made a huge mess all over me.
i grabbed a pair of my jean shorts but there weren't any shirts in there.
"fuck" i muttered and just decided to take one of cols.
i took the clothes to the bathroom, grabbed a towel and took a quick shower. i gave my hair a rough blow dry and put it out of my face in a bun. i put on the shorts and the shirt, but the shirt was huge so i cropped it by tying a knot in it a little bit under my boobs.
i took out my makeup bag and applied mascara and lipgloss before going back outside.
"is cas ready?"
"she'll be down in a minute" colson said and i went to go sit with him.
he asked me about his shirt and i told him that all mine were missing. his daughter came down and we all got into the car.
once she was gone, he kept driving.
"where are we going?" i begged.
"surprise" he replied, taking my hand into his.
the gesture wasn't too surprising, our friendship had always been affectionate. he'd never done this before and it was nice. i gave it a gentle squeeze.
after about 30 minutes i recognized where we were.
"you took me to see the venice beach fireworks!" i laughed.
"yeah, i thought we could watch them and then hang out on the beach" he seemed to be asking more than anything.
"that sounds awesome, i love it!"
colson parked the car and opened the sunroof, "you can stand through there to watch them"
i quickly did, and then he turned up the radio.
he opened the windows before hopping out the car himself and getting on the hood, leaning his back on the windshield.
"of course your playing your own music" i rolled my eyes jokingly as split a pill blasted.
"the best kind of music" he replied.
instead of verbally agreeing i began singing along and dancing.
"look! they're starting!" i pointed at the sky as a loud boom went off.
after about 15 minutes i looked down at kells. he wasn't even looking at the fireworks but just staring at me.
"your missing it! look! those ones are my favorite, the weeping willow kind i mean" i told him.
"they are very pretty" he turned his head away from me and looked up at the sky.
i stopped leaning on my hands so i could play with his hair, not looking down at him again.
after another 20 minutes the show ended and colson bought me funnel cake and then to walk down on the sand.
i felt the salty waves crash over my feet. in one hand was my funnel cake and in the other was colsons.
he leaned down and took a bite from my food and i nudged him with my shoulder.
"we've been friends so long you'd think you'd know not to fuck with my food by now" i joked.
"well i'm the one who bought it for you" he feigned offense.
"yeah, trying to fatten me up" i shot back.
"well, in seriousness, it's because your so great with me and with casie and just great in general and i wanted to let you know that i appreciate you and that i love you"
i stopped walking and turned to face him, looking into his blue eyes.
"aww, that's really sweet col. i love you too"
he let go of my hand.
"no, (y/n). i love you. love love you. i'm like, totally in love with you" the ferris wheel lights illuminated his tinted cheeks as he looked down at the ground.
"colson"
he didn't look at me.
"colson look at me"
he slowly brought his gaze up to meet my eyes.
"colson baker, would you like to go on a date with me?"
he took my hand back in his, twirling me around in the sand before pulling me into tight hug.
"your getting powdered sugar all over us" my words were muffled by his chest that was crushing my funnel cake.
he just chuckled and kissed the top of my head, "(y/n l/n), i would be honored to go on a date with you"
july 25 2021
word count: 1414 words