"holy fuck trea." vanessa groaned. "everything hurts. places that don't normally hurt, hurt."
"i had a lot to be mad at you about. i feel better now." he answered
"i'm glad you got it off your chest. or your dick i should say."
"come on, you know you loved it."
"in the moment. not right now."
"you need to run it back?"
"i don't think i physically can." she said, trying to reach for the glass of water on the table. the poor girl could barely move.
"i'm sorry." he apologized.
she sighed, "don't be."
"do you need anything?" he asked, putting his tshirt back on and handing her the one she had on.
"food, food would be nice."
"what do you want?" he said grabbing bryce's keys off the table.
"anything." she said.
"i'll be back in a half an hour. don't move." she didn't plan on it. she wasn't exactly sure if she could.
as he promised, he came back in a half an hour with her favorite in his hands.
"hey," she said as she heard the door shut, still curled up in the same position with a blanket over her. the tv was playing some murder mystery video from youtube.
"i brought you food." he placed a bag on the table by the couch. she smiled as she reached for the chipotle bag.
"thank you." slowly opening it and pulling out her food. he sat down next to her and lifted the blanket to be partially over him.
"feeling any better?" he asked, his voice gentle as he leaned back, letting her rest against him.
she nodded weakly, her eyes fixed on the screen as the video continues playing. the warmth of his body offered some warmth amidst the soreness that seemed to permeate every inch of her.
"was all that really necessary?" she murmured, a hint of playfulness in her voice despite the lingering ache.
he chuckled softly, his fingers gently tracing circles on her arm. "i had to." she rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. he leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
she closed her eyes, savoring the moment of quiet intimacy. the scent of the food filled the air, and her stomach rumbled in response.
she glanced up at him, meeting his eyes. "thank you for being here," she said softly, her voice filled with gratitude.
he smiled, a warmth in his expression that matched the comfort she found in his presence. "don't thank me."
they fell into a comfortable silence, the only sounds in the room the quiet munching of food and the soft murmur of the television. despite the pain, she felt a sense of peace settle over her. he was there. he was still there.
trea's phone rang from his pocket. he carefully pulled it out to answer the call, it was bryce.
hey man.
"hey what's up?"
is everything okay?
he paused and took in the surrounding area. everything was more than okay. everything was so much better than it had been 3 days ago.
"yup."
is she okay?
he looked down at the girl, who was still fixed on the tv.
"yeah, she's good."
she looked up from her comfortable position, meeting his eyes. "who are you talking to?" she gently murmured.
"bryce." he replied, pulling the phone away from his face so bryce couldn't hear.
good, im glad.
"yeah,"
are you guys coming to the party tomorrow?
"what party?"
hannahs? she said she talked to ness about it already.
"does she think she's in college?"
she said she used to do it before she came here.
"whos going?"
"everyone" in the words of hannah.
"ill talk to her,"
its a halloween party, gotta dress up.
"so what are you going as?"
can't say.
"i can't imagine you getting dressed up for something like that."
me neither, but first times for everything.
"ill talk to hannah."
okay, also, hannahs asking if you guys are free tonight.
"depends, how late? uh, we didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
oh? did you now?
"ask hannah what time."
avoiding the question i see..
"bryce harper i swear to god i will book a one way flight to los angeles right now."
fine fine, hannah says 7:30.
"should be okay, we'll see you then."
"what was that about" vanessa asked, lifting her head up slightly.
"first, bryce and hannah want to know if you want to go out later. i said yes but don't feel like you have to. we can stay here."
"sure, where?"
"he didn't say." trea replied. "second, theres a party tomorrow?"
"oh yeah, hannah was texting me earlier. i said we'd go. we're going." she insisted. she gave him one of those vanessa smiles. one meaning she's up to something. one meaning there's no going back. one meaning it's not up to you. they always made trea laugh, he loved them.
"alright then, are you buying us a costume?"
"i wouldn't want to take the honor away from you." she teased. "ill pick them out!"
"okay," he laughed.
⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
"which boots do you like?" vanessa asked, holding up two pairs of boots, each the same style but in different colors.
"whats the difference?" trea asked, scrolling on his phone, already ready to leave.
"one is lighter" she said, the giving them a double take. "i think."
"the ones on the right." he pointed, pausing from his phone.
she gave a little nod and slipped the boots on over her nylon leggings. her sweater covered most of the little black skirt she had on, and the top of her hair was wrapped in ribbon.
"are you ready?" she asked, grabbing her purse.
"ive been ready ness."
"just checking!" she giggled like a little girl, then dragging him out of her bedroom.
"how'd you get all this here?" he asked, noticing the amount of clothes she had.
"cami sent it all through fed ex. i still have more coming."
"of course you do." he opened the door for the two to leave.
"what's that supposed to mean," she snarked back.
"it means you have a lot of things." he replied calmly, not reciprocating her attitude. his hand tangled with hers, ensuring not to let go.
"all necessary things." she argued.
he laughed a little, "i guess."
as they reached the car, trea opened the door for her, as he loved to do. "i still cant believe bryce let you take his car."
"it was for a good cause." he shrugged, getting into the driver's seat. he pulled up the address hannah had sent him.
"where are we going?" vanessa asked, peering at his phone. it was only about 15 minutes away from vanessa's place.
"not sure yet," trea said, turning on his gps.
"look up the address idiot."
"you do it, i'm driving." he argued back, so she did.
after a minute of googling, her expression flattened, her eyes looking as if they could sob at any moment. "what is it?" he asked, quickly glancing at her.
"its a bowling alley." she muttered.
"oh."
"yeah."
"do you still wanna go? we don't have to if you don't want to. i can call hannah, im sure she wouldn't mind-"
"trea, its fine. we'll still go." she insisted. "plus it might be nice to actually have a shot at winning."
the idea of bowling only reminded the pair of one person. mookie, of course. the four of them used to go back in la, all the time. it was their favorite thing. going with other people just wouldn't be the same.
"do you wanna go?" she stopped and asked.
"yeah, i mean its fine." he hesitantly answered.
"are you sure? you're not the one who left."
"ness, its fine. as long as you want to go we'll go."
"you don't want to. do you?"
"i'm not arguing with you about this." he said.
"exactly. so if you don't want to go then let's not go." she snapped.
"ness, i want to go!" he almost yelled at her.
vanessa didn't reply for a bit. "i'm sorry." he added.
"do you miss him?"
"mookie?" he asked. "of course i do."
"i'm sorry you had to leave him. and cody, and freddie, and gavin, and everyone else."
"i was going to leave anyway. i wasn't staying there."
"yeah but i'm sure you didn't plan on leaving this early."
"you didn't either."
"i guess."
as the two pulled into the parking lot, they spotted hannah and bryce getting out of the car, along with two others in the back seat. they recognized the both of them.