It's finally here guh!!!
I'm dedicating this chapter to Annie, because of her kind words on the last post. Thank you, I don't think you know how much your words mean to me. So, thank you thank you!
Enjoy reading! Song at the top is a cover of Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood. I recommend to listen to it at the last scene/car scene/ Sam scene.
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It's too cold for you here,
And now,
So let me hold both your hands,
In the holes of my sweater.
~The Neighbourhood, Sweater Weather
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I was walking through the halls, clutching my books to my chest as I did so. I'd been thinking about Alex a lot lately. He was constantly invading my thoughts even when I was sleeping he would pop up in my dreams more often than not.
The only issue was that I didn't know how much of my dreams were real and what parts were just made up. It got me thinking about my childhood a lot. All of my dreams were pretty different. Kindergarten. My house. A playground. And the hospital again. Those images were constant visitors at night.
My concentration was slim these days, because my thoughts were permanently occupied by Alex. That was probably also the reason why I walked past the door leading to the cafeteria. I only noticed it when my name was called.
"Liz!" Instantly, my head jerked up to look around. My gaze locked onto Drake's as he strolled through the halls like he owned the place. I shook my head mentally. Ryan had rubbed off on him.
I shifted uncomfortably as several pairs of eyes drew their attention towards us. "Yes?" I asked him once he reached me.
He had a boyish grin plastered on his face as his blue eyes swiped over the books in my arms curiously. "You going somewhere?"
"Er, the cafeteria.." I trailed off, because he should know this, I was going to meet them there.
Instead of answering me he gripped both of my elbows and stirred me into the direction of the double doors I just went passed. I should really pay more attention, I thought. I suppressed the urge to face-palm myself instead I smiled up at him in thanks. "Is everything okay? You seem kinda out of it lately."
I shook my head as we entered the room. "No, nothing."
He eyed my hands again. "Why did you bring your books?"
I shook my head. Why did I bring them? I asked myself. "I guess, I was just lost in thoughts and forgot to put them back in my locker." I shrugged.
I frowned when we got closer to our table. Sophie was sitting with us. Don't get me wrong it wasn't like I disliked Ryan's sister, but I was confused. Normally she would sit with her friends not us. She jumped up when she saw me approaching, a grin on her face. "Liz," she greeted me and pulled me into a hug.
"Sophie," I hugged her back. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you," she said once we pulled away. "Come sit down." I couldn't even open my mouth let alone answer before she grabbed my wrist and pulled me down next to her. Well, I guess I didn't have much say in this.
"Okay," I mumbled skeptically. "So, what's up?" I asked carefully. Why had she been looking for me? The way the guys were looking at us made me suspicious not to mention anxious.
"Wait!" Liam exclaimed. All of us turned to look at him in question as he fished his phone out of his pocket. "Gotta capture this moment," he explained. Ryan and Jeremy both busted out laughing at the same time. However the moment was short lived as both of them noticed this. They eyed one another awkwardly, wary of each other's reaction.
"This is going to be good," Jack whispered not so subtly to Tony, who nodded in agreement.
I frowned. What was happening? "Should I be scared?"
Sophie laughed. "No, don't worry." She patted my hand in reassurance. To say that I wasn't reassured in the slightest was the understatement of the year."So, I don't know if you've heard, but I'm a member of the committee hosting the homecoming this year."
I eyed her suspiciously. "So...?"
"Well, you know that a Homecoming Queen and King will be crowned like always." No. "And well I was wondering who would win this year and," NO. "I decided to nominate you as Homecoming Queen this year." NO!
I froze. Gaping at her, I blinked. Then all of my facial muscles turned into a frown. "What?!" Her smile fell at my reaction. "Why would you do that?" She stared at me wide eyed. "Sophie, I wasn't planning on even going to our Homecoming dance this year. And now you tell me that I'm nominated Queen?!" My head fell into my hands as I groaned. "This is a nightmare."
"Told you," I heard Ryan whisper to his cousin before a reassuring hand landed on my shoulder.
"Shit," Sophie muttered. "But Liz nothing is decided yet."
I looked up in hope, barely noticing that the hand on my shoulder belonged to Ryan. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that I did help circulate the petition and that you did reach the designated amount of signatures, but I haven't had the chance to hand it in yet." Thank God. "So, if you really don't-" she cut herself off as I threw myself into her arms, hugging her tightly.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." I pulled back and kissed her cheek. "I love you. Literally, you saved my life." Okay, so maybe my reaction was a little bit exaggerated, but I couldn't help it. All the tension in my body and all the horrible thoughts of worries that had occupied my mind the moment she'd informed me of the current situation flowed so quickly out of my system that it left me dizzy.
"Erm...thanks?" she said baffled.
"No, thank you." I sighed and let myself fall back in my chair, the anxiety slowly easing away. This could have seriously ended disastrous. "Wait a sec. I should actually be angry at you for even doing it in the first place without asking me. What made you think I would agree?"
She bit her lip, seemingly ashamed. Her eyes landed briefly on Ryan before answering, "Well, I don't know. I thought that you would make a good Queen. You have so many good character traits. And a Queen should be an example of the school's best and brightest and well you fit right into that category."
I was a nobody at our school. Well, maybe not a nobody anymore, but an attention seeker. And running for Queen would be a disaster. It would just strengthen their accusations. I was briefly wondering who would sign such a petition, but I didn't know how many signatures were needed so it was of no use. Maybe my friends and a few of their friends were all that was needed.
"It's the truth though," Logan butted in. I gaped at him. Excuse me?!
"Yeah, I think you would make a great Queen," Jere agreed then added. "Though, of course, you already are one to me, Elizabeth." He winked at me. I ignored him too stunned to even form words.
"Yaas! Why not?" Liam exclaimed excitedly. Were they freaking serious?!
"And you would find your Prince Charming." Drake wiggled his eyebrows suggestively making me roll my eyes.
"And you could beat that bitch Tanya." I didn't bother to correct Jack this time and tell him that her name was indeed Thalia, I was way too shocked to even move a muscle.
"So, then it's decided," Tony said and clapped before standing up, making me frown as cold fear crawled up my body. What now? He raised his fist and chanted in the booming voice of his', "Liz for Queen! Liz for Queen!" My eyes widened. What the fuck?! No freaking way! Ryan noticing my panicked state reached out and pulled Tony down in his seat.
"Are you crazy?!" I hissed at him, pulling out of my frozen state. He'd drawn the attention of half the cafeteria to us.
"Liz, relax," Ryan tried to reassure me, placing a hand on my thigh. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.
When I opened my eyes again the fear was replaced with anger. "I want to hear nothing about this nonsense anymore. Understood?"
"But Liz-"
"Nothing!" I snapped. It was silent as I looked around our small group, holding each of their gazes as I went from one to another.
They showed resistance, not backing down, before one of them nodded and the others followed hesitantly.
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The day went by quicker than normal, but at the same time not fast enough. Okay so I might have been a little giddy, because I'll hang out with Sam later tonight, but whatever. Last period had ended minutes ago and I was on the way to my locker as I bumped into Ryan. "Hey," I greeted softly as I reached him, my shoulder slightly brushing against his' as we walked down the hall.
"Bee, what's up? How are you doing?" An image of Alex briefly entered my mind before it was gone again.
"Good, yeah." I nodded my head enthusiastically, giving him a small smile. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you," I admitted as we turned a corner.
He gave a small nod. "About?"
I took a deep breath, wincing internally at the topic I was about to address. "Jeremy." I watched him closely as to not miss his reaction which was probably the reason I ran straight into someone. I yelped as my butt met the floor. I heard a "Ouch!" from the other person as the pain registered in my brain. Shit, my ass hurt!
"Bee, you okay?" Ryan asked, reaching out and helping me up again.
"Yeah, everything's fine," I replied as I reached down to pick my bag off the floor before brushing invisible dust off my jeans.
"Watch where you are going, got it?" Ryan sneered at the kid I just collided with.
I glared at him and punched his shoulder. "Ryan!" I hissed. Did he have to be so rude?! I didn't wait to see his reaction instead I turned to the kid on the ground. My heart clenched in my chest as I crouched down to help gatter his things.
The déjá vu hit me hard as I picked up one of his books. "God, I'm so sorry. He didn't mean it like that. I'm really sorry." I looked up for the first time and realized who he was. Immediately, a smile tugged at my lips. "Chris!" The chances of us ending up in the same situation twice...
"Oh, er," Chris looked up too, baffled. "H-hey Liz."
"Long time no see. How are you doing?" I asked once he had all of his stuff and we stood again.
He averted his gaze, his voice quiet as always. "G-good. You?"
I gave him a small, reassuring smile as he peeked up at me through his lashes. "Yeah, I'm good." Next to me Ryan cleared his throat. Right, Ryan was still there. Had I ever introduced them? Unable to remember, I just made them acquainted (again?) without thinking about it too much. "Chris, you know my friend Ryan right?"
His gaze briefly jumped to Ryan before he flinched and took a step away from him. I frowned. "Yeah," he murmured, his voice was so quiet I could barely hear him. "How could I forget?" He seemed truly frightened. But why? What was he so scared of? Of Ryan? I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, but he beat me to it.
"L-look, L-liz it was nice to see you a-a-again, but I h-have to go." And before I could say goodbye he was walking past me. What had happened between the two? Confused and also a little bit suspicious I turned to Ryan with a raised brow, lips pressed into a thin line, hands on my hips.
"What?" he asked with a crease between his eyebrows when all I do is look at him expectantly.
"What happened between the two of you?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" I asked, remaining in my position in front of him.
"Yes."
"It looked like he was scared of you."
His lips parted slightly and his gaze slipped from mine off to the side. He cursed under his breath as I waited patiently for him to tell me what had happened. Suddenly his face took on an ashamed pink tint as he rubbed the back of his neck, he wasn't looking at me as he finally revealed, "Okay, well, I might have threatened him."
Come again? I gaped at him, my mouth hanging open. "You did what?!" My outburst attracted curious eyes of passersby, Ryan noticing this grabbed my upper arm and walked me back until my back hit the wall.
My breath got locked in my throat at our close proximity. A shudder went through me as the heat emanating from him burned through my clothes and seeped through my skin until all the warmth gathered in my heart.
I didn't miss the change in his eyes as he gazed down at me and all of a sudden he felt too close and his heat was overwhelming as it enveloped me in a tight hug. I looked away, the electricity sizzling through the air getting too intense and I wasn't willing to share this moment with half of the school.
Until all of a sudden we were alone and I could breathe again, the blush fading from my face as my body cooled down again. The tension in my stance loosened and I fell back into the wall. "So," I cleared my throat, my voice sounding croaky even to my own ears. "Why did you threaten Chris?" My gaze stayed on his chest as I spoke to him, I couldn't risk to lock gazes with his green eyes again.
He gave a small sigh. "Because I was angry," he said softly. I waited for him to go on and explain himself. "It was the day the video was put in circulation." I swallowed at his words and he clenched his hands into fists. "And I wanted to punish someone for the things that were done to you."
My breath got locked in my throat once again as his breath skimmed my cheek. "I wanted to make someone responsable for Jensen's actions and I saw that Chris was with you on the bus when it'd happened. I knew that Chris didn't do anything to you, but he also didn't do anything to help you. Jensen wasn't in sight so Chris seemed like the next best thing."
I let out a slow albeit somewhat shaky breath before I answered, my eyes slowly traveling from his chest to his face, "You are not karma though. You don't get to justify. And also, it wasn't his fault, I kept him from helping me, because I thought he would get into more trouble with Jensen."
My gaze stayed on his jaw as he moved closer to me. "I know," he said softly. A shiver ran down my spine after his fingers gently traced the side of my neck. "He told me that's why I didn't go through with it."
I closed my eyes, my mind feeling hazy and warm as though I just drank alcohol. "Thank you," I said in a breathy voice, not really knowing why I thanked him. It just felt like the right thing to do. For thinking things through before acting on his instincts and not being blinded by his anger.
"Bee." His gentle voice sent a shiver through me that I couldn't hold back. Goosebumps were breaking out over the skin of my neck where his fingertips brushed against me. Without opening my eyes I knew that our faces were closer than before, I could feel his breath on my skin, his eyes brushing over my face and I could feel his warmth getting stronger by the second.
And then, suddenly, his forehead touched mine and I let out a small breath I had been holding in. "I was so angry at myself for the things that happened to you and I was hurt because you didn't ask me to take you to school." My lips parted slightly, his sincerity caught me by surprise. His hands brushed against both of mine, only lightly at first before changing to gentle strokes. And then he was holding my hands in a loose but secure way, tight enough for shock waves to run up my arms and to gather in my heart.
His breath fanned my left cheek before it was close to my ear, the side of his face pressing against mine as he uttered five words that meant more to me than he could possibly know. "I'm sorry I wasn't there." I let out a shaky breath as I felt the full impact of his words. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me."
I pressed my eyes tightly shut.
When I needed him... I had needed someone, I had desperately needed someone last December, but nobody came.
I had been alone.
I'd been left to fight for myself. And I had no idea if I'd won the fight or not.
But nobody ever apologized for it. Nobody ever expressed to me how they were sorry about not being there. His apology pierced my heart, but in a good way, in a good kind of pain that was somehow relieving.
A tear escaped my eye and trailed down my cheek in a way that was freeing as he held me captive in this intimate embrace. "I promise you that from now on I will always be there when you need me. I won't let you down." And by the way he was holding me, tight without actually doing so, I believed him.
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"Hey Bee, Edwards said you wanted to talk-" Ryan cut himself off as he came to a stop in the doorway. A sneer covered his face as his gaze locked onto Winston's. "What is he doing here?" His voice melted into a condescending tone. The latter was sitting in the chair next to me, arms crossed over his chest, not exactly psyched to see the QB either. They were team members and behaved like arch enemies. I doubted that I could have a serious conversation with the two of them. I stood up and walked over to him. The coach had kindly offered me his office for talks like these which I was beyond grateful for.
"How about you come in? I need to have a word with both of you."
His eyes narrowed, then switched from mine over my shoulder to Winston and back to mine again. Slowly, very slowly, he nodded. I indicated my head to the empty seat next to Winston, the one I had abandoned a minute ago. Grudgingly, he walked farther into the room, shoes slapping against the floor as I turned around to close the door.
There was one seat left, but that was the coach's seat behind the desk and I wasn't going to sit there. Because it would feel like a separation from them like I was something better than them and that wasn't true in the slightest. I was just me.
So, instead I had turned the chairs around so that they were facing each other.
"Basically both of you should know why you are here," I said, pacing next to them. That way, although I was standing and remained in a higher position as them, they were facing each other and I wasn't staring them down but kept moving, which gave them the feeling of privacy and hopefully I conveyed them a touch of comfortability.
They didn't answer and I debated whether to repeat myself. They were far too busy staring each other down than to listen to me. I snapped my fingers after one full minute of silence passed. Their gazes snapped to mine. I cleared my throat before speaking. "Winston, did you talk to your girlfriend about the matter?"
"Yes."
"And?" I asked with a raised brow.
"You were right." His head turned back to Ryan. "He only does it when I'm in sight."
Ryan stared at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Winston opened his mouth to answer, but, knowing that this convo wouldn't go well I didn't give him the chance to word his thoughts. "A few days ago, Winston and I had a little chat. And well, he told me that you and him have your... differences."
He shrugged. "So?"
"So, do you know what dispute we're talking about?"
Another shrug. "Not really."
Winston, whom I hadn't paid much attention to until now, stood so quickly his chair screeched against the floor before clattering to the ground. Alarm bells started ringing in my head as I stared at his clenched fists, jaw ticking. Oh no. "We are talking about you, hitting on my girlfriend, asshole!" Okay, Winston was the jealous type, noted.
Immediately, I came to stand in between them before Winston could do something he wouldn't regret. "Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down," I said, my hands outstretched toward him, willing him to back off. Meanwhile I sensed that Ryan was getting to his feet as well. Winston was hesitating to settle back down, but my attempt to calm him down was completely thrown out the window when Ryan opened his mouth behind me.
"Yeah, Winny. Calm down, you afraid of a little competition?" Fuck.
"You son of a bitch!" Winston tried to lunge at him, but I was still standing in between them, not letting him past me.
"Hey!" I pushed at his chest. "Back off!" His face was red, his chest heaving as he took a step back. "Out." I pointed in the direction of the door. Grudgingly, but without complaining he exited the room after shooting Ryan one last death glare. He needed to cool down, before continuing this convo. Besides, maybe talking to Ryan about this topic in private was the best bet in solving the problem.
When we were alone I let out a sigh and ran my hands over my features. I was so exhausted. This job was getting to my head. Handling a whole football team could be compared to taming a bunch of wild animals. "Hey, you okay?"
I spun around and came face to face with Ryan. My mouth was slightly agape as I stared at him, my mind occupied with finding an answer to his question. Was I okay? I wasn't so sure.
Instead of answering him I plopped into the empty chair that once belonged to Winston. "Ryan, why?"
He sat down as well. "Why what?"
"Why are you flirting with his girlfriend?"
He smirked a little, amusement shining in his eyes. "Is someone jealous?"
I scoffed. "Really? That's what you think is going on?"
He shrugged. "I don't know what's going on. The only thing I know is that you're jelly."
I rolled my eyes at him, his childish behavior annoying the hell out of me. "I'm not jealous."
"Oh, but I think-"
"Ryan, I'm serious!" I snapped. He shut his mouth fairly quickly. "I'm not jealous, I don't care what you do with other girls." Something in me was protesting, but I pushed the feeling deep deep down again. "But I do care about what you do with the girlfriends of your team mates."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
I gave him a look that said 'come on cut the bullshit'. "Oh, give me a break. I know what you do. You flirt with girls in front of their boyfriends and these boyfriends happen to be on your team. The only thing I don't understand is why you'd do that."
He shrugged. "To make them angry."
"Oh, that I know, believe me. I got enough guys on my case because of this shit. But why?"
Another shrug. "It's funny."
I crossed my arms over my chest. That was it? Was he for real?! Bullshit, I wouldn't accept his answer. There had to be more behind it than he let on or that could be seen in his actions. I stared at him intently, trying to figure him out. He had his guard up. His stance was rigid, cold, distant. He was closed off and wouldn't let me in. Another thought popped into my mind as I studied him. "Have you talked to Jeremy?"He nodded stiffly. "Any progress?"
"Yes, we talked like civil human beings."
I nodded. Well, at least something was going in the right direction. I had a feeling though that when I'd ask him further about their conversation he would withdraw. I didn't want to cross any lines and make him uncomfortable. I was positive the outcome of further questioning him would take this conversation downhill and I wouldn't risk that. I needed to calm him down, needed him to feel absolutely comfortable before continuing this conversation otherwise his mood could take a 180.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees before entwining my hands together in a loose grip. "What's your favorite color?" Let's start this simple why don't we?
He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, arms crossed over his chest. "What?"
"What's your favorite color?"
Slowly, his eyes roamed over my face, his features taking on a softer touch. Leisurely, he leaned forward as well, mirroring my actions. Positioned this way we were about a foot apart, our clasped hands the closest body parts to each other. He smiled a little when he answered, "What's yours?"
"Why can't you tell me first?"
He shrugged, a cute smile adorning his face. "If you want me to answer you have to go first."
I rolled my eyes, though couldn't help but smile at his childish behavior. "Fine," I gave in. "Blue." If somebody would have asked me that question ten years ago I would have said pink, because I had been obsessed with the color when I'd been a kid. Really girly, I know. He nodded. "What's yours?"
Once again his eyes traveled over my face calmly. I felt utterly vulnerable under his close scrutiny and the urge to look away from him only got stronger the longer he was assessing me. It felt like a minute had passed before he finally spoke. "Brown." His voice was gentle, his eyes softly brushing over my gaze before going their merry way again and were off to my lips when I opened my mouth to speak.
"Brown?"
He gave a small nod. "But not just any brown." He smiled a little. "A beautiful shiny brown color mixed together with shades of green."
I furrowed my brows. "You mean hazel?"
He gave a small shake of his head before his eyes were on mine again. "Not quite. The color you...You wouldn't see the green if you didn't look closely. You have to pay attention in order to see beyond the brown." He switched from looking into my left eye, to my right and back again. His stare was so intense, it felt so intimate that it scared me. "It's not as easy to catch the green as it is to see the brown that is right in front of you.
"You must be willing to see beyond the color that is right before your eyes to see the real treasure that is there. It might be deeply hidden... but the green is still there, giving the color a wonderfully strange golden touch. But in order to even catch a glimpse of it you have to really want to. You need to be dead set on the idea to find it."
"Sounds beautiful," I said quietly.
"Yes." His gaze was set on mine as he agreed. "It's unbelievably beautiful." The smile he had on his face was so bright the dimly lit room we were in got a little lighter. The calm serenity that emanated from him reached my heart and warmed my body.
And although I didn't like the feeling that his smile was causing me at least I seemed to have achieved what started this conversation in the first place, he was relaxed. He seemed comfortable enough to start this convo. Still, I had to be careful.
"Ryan," I started, my voice soft.
He hummed, eyes still on me.
"You can trust me, you know?"
"I know. I do trust you."
"Okay, so whenever you want to talk about your problem with Jeremy or the ones you have with other team mates, you should always know that you can confide in me. And you should know that I'm not just saying this, because I'm the 'Dispute Settlement Body' of this team or whatever. I'm saying this, because you are my friend and you should trust me. I-"
"Do you?"
"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes, of course I do," I said without hesitation.
"Good. So, I trust you'll tell me if something is wrong. Will you tell me if it is?"
"Will you?" I asked instead, slightly getting defensive. Why did he asked me this? He seemed to be convinced of the idea that something was wrong with me. And I didn't like being questioned like this in the slightest. He might had somewhat good intentions in doing so, but that's not why we were here.
Thinking about it this way his intentions probably were the reason I was getting defensive. He shouldn't be concerned about me, I thought. That was the last thing I wanted to achieve with this friendship. Just adding another name to the list of people that I needed to lie to, because otherwise they'd be worried about me for no good reason.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not an answer."
"If you want me to answer you have to go first." I threw his own words back at him, a smug look plastered on my face.
One corner of his mouth lifted, amusement briefly flashing over the green in his eyes. "Well, then I guess we won't find out any time soon."
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"Well, so much for going on a walk," I drawled while watching the raindrops racing down the windowpane. I pulled my sweater closer to my body in search of warmth. If I placed my hands against the glass of the window I was sure it would come back frozen. Rain was beautiful, I just didn't like the cold that came with it most of the time.
Next to me, Sam groaned. "Shit, I'm sorry, Liz."
"Don't worry about it," I reassured him. I started shaking slightly when a cold shiver ran down my spine. Damn, why did it have to be so freezing? Oh, that's right because the heater of his car was broken. I leaned my head back against the headrest of my seat when my eyes started to droop. Gosh, I was exhausted. It had been around eight when Sam picked me up at home.
He'd wanted to take me on a nice stroll at a special park that was between both of our towns. However, 15 minutes into driving it started raining. And I don't mean light drizzle either, no, the phrase it rained cats and dogs was a joke compared to the Niagara Falls that were coming down on us.
Not long ago, I'd suggested to stop and wait it out.
And here we were sitting in his truck parked off to the side, freezing our asses off. He turned to me, eyes taking me in, well I couldn't see him properly, because it was pretty dark outside, but I could make out his silhouette and the glistening of his eyes. Besides, I could feel his stare. "Are you cold?"
"Yeah, a little bit."
"Hold up." He reached out and opened the glove department, his arm dangerously close to my body. His warmth was providing me with comfort although it only lasted for a split second before he pulled away again. "Here," he said before a warm, thick blanket was dropped in my lap.
I smiled a little. "Thank-"
"And here," he said before shrugging out of his jacket and, gesturing me to lean forward, placed it over my shoulders.
I couldn't stop the grin on my face from spreading. "Thank you."
He took the blanket from me and commanded gently, "Move over."
I swallowed, not knowing what he was up to, but unbuckled my seat belt nonetheless. Carefully, I slid into the place next to him. Nervousness crawled up my spine and wrapped itself around my hands, causing them to shake some more. Anxiety bubbled up in the pit of my stomach and sneaked its way into my heart, my heartbeat speeding up a notch.
"Here." Delicately, he wrapped the blanket around my form. A small, inaudible breath of relieve escaped my lips. I desperately willed my heart to slow down. I did not have a right to feel nervous, nothing was happening and still my heart was in overdrive. I pushed the urge to place my hand over my heart to miraculously slow it down back down, because it would do nothing to calm me, plus it would seem weird and Sam would probably ask me if something was wrong.
Which it kinda was and kinda wasn't.
He shifted and in doing so closed the space between us. Sitting like this our thighs were pressed together. "Who could have thought that the weather would change this drastically."
"Is that the reason why you aren't wearing a jacket?"
"I am now," I answered smugly.
He laughed. "Yes, you are indeed. I bet this was your plan all along."
"Hey, nobody told you to be a gentleman, so I hate to break it to you, but you are not getting it back any time soon. I'm keeping it."
"Is that so?" he asked amused, his breath hitting my cheek. There was laughter in his voice.
"Indeed, it is, sir."
Silently, we stared at each other in the darkness before bursting out laughing. "No, but seriously do you want it back?"
"Nah, just leave it."
"So, is this going to be a thing?"
"What?"
"You lending me your jacket."
He laughed a little, his body shaking against mine. "Maybe." I wouldn't be complaining if it was. Suddenly the air around him turned serious, his laughter fading away. "I just wanted to apologize again. Next time I'm going to check out the weather forecast."
I smiled up at him although he couldn't see me in the dark. "It's okay." And staring out the windshield, eyeing the rain I said, "I think it's letting up a bit." And just as the words had left my mouth a bolt of lightning cut through the dark night.
I jumped at the sudden shift of mother nature. Well, seemed like she didn't like me one bit today. Maybe this was a sign. Maybe something horrible would have happened if we'd actually driven to the park. Maybe I would have embarrassed myself in front of Sam. Or maybe and that was at least just as horrible as the first assumption we'd have run into a serial killer.
You never know.
"Hey, are you okay?" A roar of thunder followed his question, making me jump again and causing my heart beat to pick up even more. "Liz? Hey, you good?"
I cleared my throat. "Y-Yeah. I'm just.." A girl who has a really high startle response.
"It's okay," he said gently, his voice soothing my beating heart. "Give me your hand." He rested his hand palm up on my thigh, silently urging me on to move my hand. I hesitated for a second before I placed my hand into his. A sharp intake of breath made me look over at him. "You're still cold."
Another bolt of lightning sliced through the air and for a second his features were illuminated so I could see the frown on his face. Low blood pressure, I thought with a mental shrug. Silently, he moved our hands into the pocket of his hoodie. A smile tugged at my lips at the heartwarming gesture.
I'd spent a lot of time with Sam already and every time we were together I felt... different. Lighter, carefree, happy. And now it dawned on me that the word I'd been searching for was cared.
In his presence I felt cared for.
And I knew that my friends also cared about me, but that was different. With Sam I felt every minute we spent together truly cared for. Even in some small petty situation like this one he took care of me. Just because my hands were cold he went out of his way to make me feel better. Whereas my friends mostly just did when something horribly bad was going on.
It was a different kind of save that I felt around Sam. A form of safety that wrapped itself around my heart and wouldn't let go again until I too was convinced that with him I was indeed save and cared for.
He laced his fingers through mine, the heat of his body enveloping me as I leaned against him. Somehow this gesture felt so intimate it left me breathless.
"Are you scared of storms?" His hands were rough, the hands of a football player, though strangely comforting.
"No," I answered, my voice small and kind of breathy. And I wasn't. Out of all the things that I was scared of, thunderstorms weren't on the schedule. "You?"
His voice turned quiet too as though not to anger the weather any further. "I used to be when I was a kid."
"How did you overcome your fear?" I asked, seriously enthralled by his answer.
He turned his head in my direction, his eyes finding mine when light illuminated the sky for a split moment. "I grew up and realized that there were worse things in life than thunderstorms. Things that could be changed, but nobody actually cared enough for to do so." Even in the darkness his eyes still held mine, causing a shudder to run through my body.
I guess he mistook it as a sign that I was cold, because in the next second his warm, firm hand landed on my cheek. I shuddered slightly at the contact, surprised of the shift in temperature. My heart was thumping against my ribcage as he moved closer to me. "Liz," he said, voice breathy, his breath lightly fanning my cheek. "I really enjoy talking to you and just spending time with you in general. So, would you like to go out with me again?"
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Hey guys
So I know it's extremely late, but this chappy is my Christmas present for you guys. I'm very sorry I couldn't get out sooner, but my life was just upside down the last month and then my birthday came around and Christmas and then I wasn't feeling well and *sighs* Yeah. Sorry for rambling.
But you have to cut me some slack it's a long chapter. The longest I wrote in a while.
Soooooo, how did you like it? What do you think?
The guys enthusiasm for Sophie's idea of Liz running for Homecoming Queen? The little moment with Ryan? And the scene with an irritating Ryan? And lastly the scene with Sam.
Guys I seriously do not have a shipname for Sam and Liz yet so if something comes to mind let me know.
Please vote/comment?
Hugs and kisses
Kathy