It's Friday night, and I'm panicking.
What do I wear? Where is he taking me? How long is it going to take? Is this a date? What if he forgets? What do I do? Should I-
I'm interrupted by Lulu, jumping into my lap. She curls up, and I sigh. I pet her, and soon she falls asleep.
Great. Now I can't move.
Suddenly, a text.
From: Thomas Brodie Sangster
Hey, tomorrow wear something comfortable and warm. Trust me, it's gonna get a bit cold. See you tomorrow! xx
At least I know what to wear.
I look at the clock. 8:40 P.M.
If Lulu doesn't wake up soon, I'll have to wake her up. I wait ten minutes, and when she doesn't wake up, I gently take her off my lap. Lulu mews in protest, but I say, "I have to go shower for tomorrow. Sorry."
While I'm in the shower, I think. Colorado is mostly cold all the time. He should know that by now. So why would he tell me to dress warm? Where is he taking me?
I finish with my shower, dry off, put my pajamas on, comb my hair, then go into my room. I always let my hair air dry, it's just easier that way.
I open my closet door. And I sigh. I take my statement from earlier back. I still don't know what to wear. Something comfortable and warm. Well, that doesn't rule much out, seeing that I have no fancy clothes, four short sleeve t-shirts, two pairs of shorts... You get the drift.
I first look for pants. Jeans are obviously out of the question, which doesn't leave me with much. I decide to go back to pants later. I look for a shirt, and instantly my eyes land on a pale purple, almost gray really, shirt that was very comfortable and would definitely keep me warm. Plus, I think I look pretty nice in it.
Shirt taken care of, I turn back to pants. It takes me about fifteen minutes, but then I finally decide on a pair of soft black pants. Not fancy, but hey, it's the best I can do. After I try the outfit out, I find my snow boots, put them on. Then my coat, then my hat, then my gloves. I look okay, I guess.
It's not like it's a date or anything.
That night, I can barely sleep.
******
It's 9:27 A.M. Do I wait outside for him? Will he text me when he's here? Will he come up to my apartment and get me?
A knock on my door. I look throught the peephole, and I see Thomas. I take a deep breath, then open the door. He grins at me.
"You look warm." He says.
"Actually, it's kinda hot in here with these on." I say in an embarrassed voice.
"You'll be thankful for the warmth later. Come on."
When I step outside and see a motorcycle and that Thomas is walking straight towards it, my eyes widen, and I stop. He gets on, puts a helmet on, then gestures for me to come closer. He puts on a pair of leather gloves. I just stare.
"Come on Kylie! It'll be fun. Don't worry, I won't go too fast." I can't tell if he's joking or not.
I walk over to him. "A motorcycle? I didn't-"
"Are you scared? Don't worry, I've been riding this for a few years now, I've got it all figured out. Now come on, put the helmet on."
Without a word, I put the helmet on, then sit behind him. I grab on to the sides of the motorcycle, and jump when he turns it on. He chuckles, then says something, but the motor is too loud. He takes off, and when I almost fall off, I quickly wrap my arms around his middle. And I feel embarrassed. But he's so warm, and it's so cold, and he smells so good...
He yells, "You okay?"
I just nod. Even though he can't see me. To be honest, I was terrified. I was too scared to speak. So I close my eyes, lay my head against his back, and let him drive.
When he stops, I open my eyes and see he's at a traffic light. In the distance, I see the mountains looming.
I yell, "Where are you taking me?"
"It's a surprise!" He yells.
"I've already had enough surprises for a day now, thank you very much." I murmur. He doesn't hear me.
After a while, I get used to it. So I open my eyes while he is driving, and watch the scenery. I'm surprised that now we are really close to the mountains. And then I realize what he was going to do.
"Isn't this a bit dangerous?" I yell.
"A little. But, do you trust me?" Did I trust him?
"Yes." I yell. And I did.
"Then trust me, you'll be alright. I promise." And we start to go up the mountain roads.
It's beautiful. The snow, the trees, everything. And it was also cold. But as long as I stayed close to Thomas, everything was alright. Everything was perfect.
It felt like I was flying. I hadn't felt this happy in a long time. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. And I didn't want to.
As we got higher up the mountain, the colder it got. I cuddled up as close as I could to Thomas, getting all the warmth I could. I felt one of his glove covered hands gently start to play with my fingers. My first thought was, You dumbass! Keep both hands on the handlebars, you're gonna get us killed! But then, I remember he told me to trust him. So I did. But it only seemed like a few seconds when he put his hand back on the handlebar. I sigh.
After a few moments, he parks on the side of the road. When we get off, he brings his motorcycle behind a tree. I just stay where I am and look around. Everything was covered in white. It's a wonder we didn't wreck. But I forgot all about that as Thomas walks up to me, taking his helmet off. His hair was a little wet in places, due to sweat, but that just made him even more sexy. After a while of us just staring at each other, he walked up to me, reached towards my neck. I flinch back.
Unlike the other bruises, the ones on my neck had faded away. But the memories didn't. The memories never would.
Thomas's eyes look a little sad for a moment, or maybe it's just my imagination. He says, "I just wanted to help you take your helmet off." His voice is soft. I take it off myself. I hand it to him, and he puts both of the helmets on the motorcycle.
He comes back with a bag full of... something. "Follow me." He says.
I do. He slows down, so that now I'm walking beside him. "How are you feeling? Do you feel sick?"
"No. I felt like I was flying." He looks at me and grins.
"That's awesome. I'm glad you liked it. Did you like cuddling up against me too?" He says, teasingly.
I blush. "Well, I mean, it was cold and you were warm..." I trail off.
He stops, whispers in my ear, "Because I liked it when you cuddled up against me. You helped warm me up too."
My blush turns even bigger. My whole face is hot. Thomas continues walking until he stops in a clearing.
"This is good, let's go sit on those fallen tree logs." So we do.
Thomas takes the stuff out of the bag. It's food. My stomach growls.
"I had a feeling that we would both be hungry by the time we got up here. I guess I was right." He hands me a sub sandwich with turkey, cheese, and tomato. That's weird, how did he know I liked this combination, and that I wouldn't eat anything else on my sandwiches? It didn't matter. As I took a bite, it was delicious. "Where did you buy these?" I ask him.
He grins. "Actually, I made them myself."
"Nu-uh." I say.
"Yes-huh. I did. I'm glad you like them."
"I love them. Thanks for making them." Then I realize that all he did was put the meat, cheese, and tomato on bread. But that didn't matter.
After we were done eating, we look at each other for a bit. Then, absentmindedly, Thomas reaches for my hand. I let him take it, and I let him take my glove off. Then, just like he had done on the motorcycle, he starts to play with my fingers.
I watch as his fingers trace over and under mine, our fingers seemingly dancing together.
"Your skin is so soft..." He whispers. I close my eyes. I had never felt the way I was feeling right now.
I feel his lips against my fingertips. I open my eyes, and watch as he kisses each of them, then kisses my palm, my wrist. He times his soft kisses with my pulse. My heart was beating quickly. He does the same thing to my other hand. He murmurs something, but I can't hear it. I bask in the way he was making me feel.
"Nobody will ever love you. You're a dumbass and ugly as hell. I don't even know why-"
I pull my hands away from him, tears coming to my eyes.
No. No! Get out of my head!
"Kylie? Are you okay? I'm sorry, was I making you uncomfortable? Dammit, I-"
"No, no. I'm sorry. I just... I'm sorry." I stand up and start walking away. Thomas follows me.
"Kylie, hey. I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable or bad or anything. I-"
"No. It's not your fault. I just had a thought... A memory... You didn't do anything." I say, not looking at him.
You ruined it. You ruined everything. Stay away from me, you were supposed to be gone!
"Kylie, does this have to do with your bruises and burns?" He asks softly.
I just nod, tears coming to my eyes yet again. "I'm sorry." I whisper.
"Kylie. Kylie, please look at me." I look at him.
"Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything. Who ever hurt you did. Listen. Please." He says as I turn my head away. "Hey. It's alright. You're alright. I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise you. I swear. You can trust me."
"I do trust you. Just..."
"Not enough yet. It's alright. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He hugs me, and I hug him back, crying into his shoulder. He whispers comforting things in my ear, and I feel much better already.
"Do you want me to take you home?" He asks.
"No, not yet. Unless you want to?"
"I don't want you to leave yet. Stay." He says.
I smile and nod. We walk around the mountains for a while, listening to the birds chirp. As if my hand has a mind of its own, it finds his hand. For a moment, we both hesitate, but soon, we hold hands.
You can't get me.
As we continue to explore, we find animals. Snow owls, snow hares, even a mountain lion.
"I guess I should get you home now. It's going to start getting dark soon." He says, and I can hear the reluctance in his voice.
I sigh. "Alright."
We walk back to his bike and we get on. I put my helmet on, and him his. Hesitantly, I wrap my arms around his middle again.
"It's okay." He whispers to me. And for now, it is.
When we get back to my apartment, he walks me up to my room. At my door, we stop.
We look at each other. "How are you feeling?" He asks.
"I feel okay." Silence. Then, I hug him. "Thank you Thomas. Thank you. I had such a great time."
He hugs me back. "I'm glad. That makes me really happy. I had a great time too." He pulls away. "Are you going to be alright tonight?"
I nod.
He says, "Good. I hope you have sweet dreams Kylie. Good night." Then, he whispers in my ear, "I can't wait to see you again."