Chandler POV:
I pick up a pair of bright red sunglasses from off of one of the displays, putting them on. I peer into the tiny mirror set up on the table. They look good. I turn to Veronica. "What do you think?" I ask.
"Well, they match everything else you own," she says with a laugh.
"I didn't know it was a crime to like the color red, Sawyer," I reply defensively, taking off the sunglasses and putting them back.
"I was just kidding," she replies. "Come on, they were cute. You should buy them."
"Clearly I own enough red things," I tease.
"If you won't buy them, I'm buying them for you." She reaches over and picks them up off of the display.
"You don't have to do that," I say. "It's fine. I've got three pairs at home."
"No, it's ok," she says, smiling slightly. "I want to."
"I'm not letting you buy me a pair of sunglasses," I tell her with a bit more forcefulness to my voice. I expect this to make her as nervous as it makes other people, but she just smirks.
"It wasn't exactly your choice," she tells me, taking a step forward in line as the person in front of her moves. It seems as though there's no changing her mind at this point, so I sigh in defeat, standing beside her. As we wait, I notice a pair of the same sunglasses in blue, and I pick them up. She seems to take notice. "What? No. You aren't getting me a pair."
"It wasn't exactly your choice," I say, mocking her. "You like blue, don't you?
"It's my favorite color," she says.
"Well, there you have it, then," I reply.
She seems to give in, and I smile, satisfied.
***
Just moments later, we're walking out of the store with our respective pairs of sunglasses in little H&M bags. As we walk out into the mall, Veronica looks over at me. "Where do you want to go now?" she asks.
I think about the skirt I threw away and push back the sick feeling it gives me. "I need some new clothes," I say.
"There's a Macy's in the mall somewhere," Veronica says. "Is that...?"
"That's fine," I reply. "Let's go."
I start walking ahead of her, and she follows behind. As we're walking, my phone vibrates in my blazer pocket. I take it out, checking the text.
Duke: fleming is asking where you are
Shit. I type back a quick response.
Me: tell her i'm sick then
"Everything ok?" Veronica asks.
"It's Duke," I tell her, watching the bubbles on the screen that let me know that she's about to type a response. "Fleming's looking for me. I had English first."
"Damn," Veronica replies. "I hope Mr. Johnson isn't wondering why I'm not in math, because if I get caught-"
"Hey, calm down," I tell her. "It's fine. Duke's going to tell Fleming that we're sick. It's ok." My phone buzzes again, and I look down at the text on the screen.
Duke: what, did ram fuck you too hard last night?
I feel myself shut down. That fucking bitch. My mouth gets dry, and my throat closes up. I'm not going to have a panic attack in the middle of the mall. I can't. Especially not while I'm with Veronica. She'll just worry, and she's had to deal with too much of my bullshit in the past twenty-four hours to deal with any more.
"What'd she say?" Veronica asks, seeming to notice my sudden change in demeanor. I shake my head, knowing that if I speak, I'll make it worse. "What is it?"
"Later," I manage.
"Oh, ok," she says. "Sure. Are you ok to stay here, or do you want to go home?" I say nothing. "Do you want to stay?" I take in a deep breath, nodding. She hesitates a moment, but then she takes my hand for the second time this morning, squeezing it for a second before dropping it again. It doesn't calm me all that much, but it's nice that she's trying. I put my phone back into my pocket, walking with her towards Macy's.
As we walk through the doors, I control my breathing, attempting to calm down. Veronica takes notice as I close my eyes and breathe deeply for a moment before opening them again and continuing forward into the store. A sales woman approaches us almost immediately, a huge smile on her face. Great.
"Is there anything I can help you ladies with today?" she asks.
Veronica looks to me, so I answer the woman. "No, we're fine," I say.
"Alright, well just let me know if there's anything I can help you find," she says, giving a nod and walking away towards another woman walking through the door.
I make my way towards one of the sale's racks, seeing a red, plaid skirt hanging from one of the hangers. I take it off of the rack, holding it up to my waist. It looks like the right size to me, but I turn to Veronica for confirmation. "This looks like it would fit, right?" I ask her.
"Yeah, it looks great," she replies.
"I'm going to go try it on," I say. I start to walk towards the dressing room, and when I turn back to look at her, she's standing awkwardly near the sales rack. "Are you coming or what, Sawyer?" I ask. She walks forward towards me, and we walk into the fitting room together.
I push one of the stalls open, walking inside and locking the door. Veronica must have sat down in one of the chairs outside of the stalls. I take off the skirt I'm currently wearing, putting the new one on. I look into the mirror, smoothing out the skirt. It looks fine, but I want a second opinion. I open the door, and Veronica looks up. "What do you think?" I ask.
"It's pretty," she says with a smile.
"Good," I say. "I'm getting it, then." I close the stall door again, ready to change back into my old skirt. I open the door again, however, and Veronica looks back up. "Thank you," I say. "For everything. Talking to me and bringing me here and buying me those goddamn sunglasses..."
"Sure," she says, smiling again.
"I mean it," I tell her. "You're a fucking amazing person." She looks surprised.
"Thanks," she manages.
"I don't typically give out compliments. Savor this moment," I tell her. Then, I close the door again, changing my clothes.
***
Veronica POV:
Chandler drove me home after the mall. My plan is to pretend to be sick so that when my parents get home, I have an excuse for being there. That won't be for a few hours, though. Now, we stand on my front porch. I'm surprised she offered to walk me to the door. "Thanks for driving me home," I say to her.
"Thanks for skipping with me," she replies. "We should do it again sometime."
"We'll see how this time goes," I say with a light laugh. "I'm still sort of terrified that someone will catch us."
"You'll be fine," she tells me. I nod.
"I hope so," I say.
We sit in silence for a few moments, and then she turns to me. She's staring at me rather intently. "What?" I ask, feeling slightly nervous. She seems to be making a decision. "Chandler-"
"Do me a favor and shut up for just a second," she says. She leans in, and before I know what's happening, her lips are pressed against mine. I let her kiss me, too stunned to kiss back much. She pulls away after a few seconds, and I stare at her.
"I... um..." I begin, trying to form coherent sentences.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Sawyer," she says, and then she walks back down the driveway towards her car. She gets in, and in seconds, she's gone. What the hell just happened?
***
A/N: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it took sort of long for that first kiss to happen, but I swear I'm going to speed things up in the next chapter. There will be a time skip soon (probably like a two-week skip), so I'm sorry if you don't like those. I swear it has a purpose, though. Vote if you liked it, comment anyway. Again, I love feedback.
Thanks for reading!
-LittleMissBlitz