"Oh my god, I'm so full." I leaned back in my chair, patting my swollen stomach.
After an eventful day at Legoland and the aquarium, we had all decided to go out for one last dinner together. We were at some fancy Italian restaurant on Main St. that had a name too posh for me to pronounce and waiters too stuck up for my liking.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Italian food, but not this way. This was too polished. I liked the kind that my grandpa used to make, the kind that he didn't have to try so hard on yet it came out perfect every time. Memories of the steaming, homemade mountain of spaghetti and meatballs flooded my mind. He always served it on his best plates that somehow were still chipped, and I always ate it at his tiny kitchen table in my Little Mermaid pajamas because I practically lived in those when I was younger. After I ate, he used to make me judge the meal every time on taste. It always scored a ten.
Now, I just sat in my much-too-comfy chair wearing my much-too-small heels and readjusted my flowing, extremely uncomfortable black blouse. Maddie had insisted that I wore something nice considering the conditions of the restaurant and I refused to wear a dress two nights in a row, so black blouse it was. Of course, not without my skinny jeans. I couldn't live without those things.
"Oi, me as well. That had to be the best lasagna I've ever eaten in my life, though." Van groaned next to me. I laughed at him as he hung his head down and rubbed his belly as if he were pregnant.
"You have a food baby." I giggled, poking his overly-stuffed torso. He cackled, throwing his head back in laughter. The sound was music to my ears.
"What shall I name it?" He asked, rubbing the imaginary child in his stomach lovingly.
"Well, what do you want to name your kids?" I asked, actually quite curious as to what his answer would be, or if he had even thought about it at all. He brought his hand up to his chin and rubbed it, seeming to be deep in thought.
"I've always loved the name Violet for a girl." He finally said.
"That's beautiful." I stated. He was so thoughtful and it honestly made my heart swell with so much adoration for him. I had tried to stay away from him as best as I could today but it didn't end up working out, I craved his company. It was my last day with him, can you blame me?
Although, I'm slightly glad I did distance myself because Bob and I have were able to talk more and I learned a lot more about him, I do think we've become great friends.
"Violet it is, then!" He cheered, patting his stomach lightly. I laughed and he stared at me as I did so.
"What?" I asked, my laughing coming to an end as I looked down at my lap.
"N-Nothing." He said awkwardly. The conversation died off and I turned to Bob who began to tell me a story about how he snapped eight drumsticks in one set.
"Ready to go, lads?" Benji asked from the top of the massive table that seated all seven of us. A chorus of "yeah"'s broke out and we all stood up, grabbing our jackets before heading out of the restaurant. I instantly breathed a sigh of relief as we exited.
"What?" Van asked me.
"That place was much too fancy for me, I felt like I had to be too pristine and perfect in there. It's nice to have finally left." I laughed, to which Van nodded and agreed.
"I've never been into that sort of thing, I'm all about being as real and hardworking as possible and I feel as if everyone in there was too fake. Not my thing." Van crinkled his nose, which was quite cute if you asked me.
•••
I nearly fell into a hole as we walked down the jagged city streets, my high heels slipping into all of the cracks in the sidewalk. I absolutely hated them.
"Woah, you okay there, love?" Van asked, grabbing my arm so I didn't fall.
"Yeah, I'm just terrible at walking in heels." I chuckled, stopping abruptly to take them off. Van raised his eyebrows at me and gave me a look as I continued down the streets barefooted.
"What?" I asked.
"You can't walk down the streets like that!" He hollered.
"Why not? It beats walking in these shoes!" I fought back, holding the death traps up in emphasis.
"You're going to cut your feet. Oi, jump on!" Van crouched down in front of me, his arms swung behind him, ready to catch me.
"Are you seriously offering me a piggy back ride?" I laughed.
"Dead serious, now get on." He insisted. I sighed and hopped on his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and clasping my hands together on his chest. His arms slid under my thighs and I instantly blushed at the contact. My skin burned everywhere that he had touched. I'm not really sure why, though, since I was wearing jeans and he didn't even touch my bare skin.
"Are you sure about this? I'm not exactly light..." I questioned. He guffawed.
"Are you bloody serious? It's like carrying my five year old cousin on my back!"
"Hey, love birds! Wait up, would ya?" Benji hollered from behind us, interrupting our squabbling. Van stopped walking and turned around to wait for the rest of them.
"We've got about an hour left before we have to leave. Do yous want to go to a pub or somethin'?" Bondy asked, his right arm snaked around Maddie's tiny waist. My heart dropped at his words. An hour. One single hour before I wouldn't see Van or the lads ever again, probably. They'd forget all about me by the time the rest of the two month tour was up.
"What if we go somewhere else? I'm getting tired of pubs, ya see." Larry offered. I snapped out of my solemn daze and glanced around the streets, trying to find something to do. My eyes landed upon a gelato shop across the street and I instantly became excited.
"Can we go get gelato?" I asked, squealing a bit. Gelato was freakin' delicious.
"What's that?" Van asked me. I gasped.
"Oh my gosh, you don't know what gelato is?" I questioned. How could he not know?
"Nope, never heard of it." He shrugged.
"We have to go get some now. It's one of the best things ever, my grandpa used to make it homemade." My grandpa was quite the chef, if you couldn't tell.
"If that's what you want then, love." Van replied, running across the street.
"Van!" I squealed as he picked up speed, afraid he was going to drop me. I tightened my grip around him while he laughed as he ran, setting me down once we reached the other side.
"I wouldn't let you fall, Kat. Ever." He said, staring into my eyes. I felt as if he meant something different but I was too shy to speak up and ask, so instead I looked down at the ground and blushed. The others eventually caught up, being smart enough to go find a crosswalk before crossing the busy street, and we walked into the gelato shop together. Instantly all of the different scents of sugary cream filled my nose and I inhaled deeply.
"God, I love that smell." I said as I walked over to the counter, staring at all of the different flavors.
"This looks exactly like ice cream." Van snorted next to me, clearly not impressed with what he saw.
"Don't be quick to judge, it's so much better, trust me." I explained, finally settling on a flavor. I ordered the raspberry-chocolate swirl and paid for myself, saving an open booth for everyone in the back of the shop. Van was the first one to sit down with me and he gave me an apprehensive look as he scooped a spoonful of his chocolate gelato, letting it hover in front of his mouth.
"What are you, five? Just try it." I laughed, taking another bite of my own treat. He slowly inched the spoon towards his mouth and eventually he had the courage to take a bite, his eyes becoming wide.
"That's fooking amazing!" He mumbled through his full mouth. I giggled at the sight, he definitely was five.
"See? I told you." I smiled.
•••
Before I knew it, it was time for the lads to leave and go on to the next city, Maddie accompanying them. I grabbed my duffel bag from the tour bus and gathered all my belongings together. I hugged Benji and Larry goodbye, telling them how much I'd miss them. I threatened Bondy, informing him that if he hurt Maddie then I'd hurt him, giving him a light squeeze on the way out. I gave Bob a huge hug, telling him that I'd miss him dearly and that he needed to call me sometime as I put my number into his phone. Maddie had offered to walk me to my car and she did just that, our short trek silent in the chilly nighttime air. I popped open the trunk to my small car and plopped my duffel bag on the ground. It wasn't exactly light.
Maddie abruptly enveloped me in a hug, and I sighed, feeling comforted in my best friend's arms as I buried my face into her hair.
"Are you gonna be okay?" She asked, pulling away after a bit.
"Mads, it's three weeks, I think I can manage." I chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I don't know if I can. Three weeks alone with five man-children? God, save my soul." She exclaimed, causing me to burst into fits of laughter at how true her statement really was.
"Man, I'm gonna miss you." She sniffed after we had calmed down.
"I'm gonna miss you too." I said sadly, pulling her in for one last hug and reminding her to call me before she walked back to the tour bus. I bent down to lift my duffel bag and when I stood back up I was startled, a pair of crystal blue eyes that I don't think I would ever forget stared back at me.
"Jesus, you scared me." I gasped, clutching a hand to my chest. Van chuckled and took the duffel from my hands, effortlessly raising it into my trunk singlehandedly.
"What the heck, how'd you do that?" I asked.
"Playing your guitar like a maniac onstage for 6 years does somethin' to ya." He laughed, flexing his right arm. I rolled my eyes and shut my trunk with a slam.
"I have somethin' for ya." He said, pulling a thin square out from behind his back. It was wrapped up in newspapers.
"Sorry, I would've wrapped it up all nice for ya but there really wasn't any wrapping paper on the tour bus so this was the next best thing." He said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. I raised an eyebrow out of confusion as I proceeded to rip apart the newspaper, revealing a vinyl copy of 'The Ride'. I flipped it over in my hands, admiring it. Bob, Benji, Bondy, and even Larry's signatures were etched in the corner on the back of it. I squealed and practically jumped into Van's arms.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I repeated in his ear, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck as I stood on my tiptoes. He breathily chuckled into my right ear and I pulled away.
Nice going, Kate. That was embarrassing.
I brought my hand to my sides, tightly gripping the album in one hand. I looked down at my feet out of force of habit, but Van put his hand under my chin and lifted it so that my eyes met his.
"I'm going to miss you." He finally said after awhile.
What is happening right now?
"I-I'm going to miss you too." I stuttered, my stomach tying itself in nervous knots as he stared at me. I hated when people stared for so long, I began to feel self conscious and awkward. Nevertheless, this boy was staring right into my soul.
He began to lean in, our lips becoming closer and closer together.
Did I want this to happen?
Did I want to kiss Van?
Hell, of course I did. But was it the right thing to do? No. It'd only make me even more upset about leaving him and I couldn't go through that. I didn't want to be left confused and heartbroken by a boy who wouldn't even remember me in two months.
I placed my hand on his chest. He stopped, pulling away quickly. A hurt expression crossed his face and it physically pained me to do this.
"Van, I-I can't." I whispered, my heart aching.
"I fooking knew it." He mumbled. I wanted to ask him what he meant but instead he gave me a quick hug and a "see you around, Kat." before rushing back towards the tour bus.
A single tear slipped down my cheek as he slammed the door shut, but that was all that I'd allow before I got into my car. I clicked my seatbelt on and set my purse next to me in the passenger seat. A couple more tears rolled down my cheeks as the tour bus pulled away from the curb. I sat the vinyl on my lap and inspected it more, wiping my tears on my sleeve so that I wouldn't get them on it. I ran my hands over the smooth cover and pulled the sleeve out, noticing a small note and what appeared to be a phone number written on the back.
"Anything you need, at anytime at all, I want you to phone me.
Xx, Van."
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o sHIT WADDUP
this chapter gave me feels woo :' ) I hope you enjoyed!
also go follow my cover account on instagram @catb.covers bc I just covered "emily" thanks !!
have a lovely day xx