It was mostly dark around me when I felt a light tapping on my arm. Upon blinking a couple of times I realized that there was the faintest hint of light coming through the window and the pulled-shut curtains.
It took me a moment to even realize what was going on and who was trying to wake me up, but then I recognized Dan standing in front of my bed, looking expectantly down on me. He put his finger tho his lips and motioned me to be quiet.
"Do you want to go on an adventure with me?" he whispered with a smile on his face, in the faint light I could still make that out.
"How late is it even?" I asked as quietly as possible, rubbing my eyes and feeling around for my phone which I promptly found under my pillow. At least I had remembered to plug it into the charger.
"About for in the morning. The sun is about to go up. I have an idea, will you come?"
Groggily I scrambled to sit up, pushing the hair out of my face.
"Do I get time to get ready?"
"Not longer than fifteen minutes, I need to still get ready too. Come on," he whispered and laughed quietly, holding his hand out for me to help me up.
I took it and let him pull me up, whispering a quick thanks and then grabbed the first fresh clothes I found, while Dan sneaked out of the room. It turned out the jeans were Cassie's but I was sure she didn't mind.
I tip-toed into the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and freshened up a little as quietly as I could. My hair was a mess so I just brushed through it and banished it into a ponytail, my face I only washed, there was no time for anything else. When I thought I looked decent enough for whatever it was that Dan had planned I sneaked back into the bedroom, grabbed my purse, phone and shoes and left the room. Dan was already waiting outside, now wearing fresh clothes and looking less messy than fifteen minutes ago.
"So what are we doing?" I asked as I tried to keep my balance to put my shoes on . I kept my voice low but at least I didn't have to whisper anymore.
"It's a surprise. Come on."
We took the elevator downstairs and said a quiet good morning to the receptionists, then we were out and the cool morning air of Amsterdam hit my face.
"Do the trains even go already?" I asked Dan.
He shook his head. "Not before six. But we have plenty of time before breakfast even starts and anyone realizes we're gone. I thought we'd walk, it takes about an hour from here to the center. What do you say? We could I guess try and get an uber if you'd prefer that."
"No, I think walking is fine," I smiled. "A little bit of light exercise to wake up completely sounds good. And we can watch the sun rise."
A smile spread on Dan's face. "I hoped you would say that. That was exactly what I had in mind."
I smiled back at him and then he walked ahead, taking the steps down to the sidewalk. As we walked I enjoyed the still cool wind blowing over my skin and the view over the Amstel was a very nice thing for so early in the morning. Dan and I chatted about the last days and about how much we loved it here.
"I just feel so free right now. All the pain I felt in the last couple of years feels so far away, as though I left everything behind at home. I didn't even realize what big of a weight that was on my shoulders."
Dan nodded. "I think I understand what you mean. I didn't go through quite as much as you did, but I think I can grasp the concept. My parents divorce was pretty hard and when my mom, Zoey and I left our hometown and were on our way to L.A. it felt very liberating. I like the feeling very much."
"Yes, and it doesn't even feel like burning bridges, right? We know what awaits us back 'home', it's just nice to have some time to ourselves, to figure some things out. I think I did more growing over the past days than I did in months."
Dan laughed. "I mean, I can't really be the judge of that but according to Nate you did a lot of growing in the last year."
I smiled to myself as I looked over the Amstel and several of the house boats lining the river. "That might be true," I admitted. "But I did a lot of that growing because I had to, because I was forced to. It was either growing up or going under. Whatever amount of growing I did here was completely voluntary. I grew because I finally had enough space that didn't just go up but allowed me to fill out my form a bit better I think. Not because people kept pulling on me to grow taller."
Dan only nodded, we didn't say anything else until we arrived outside of the Centraal Station.
"So, what is it now that you have planned?" I asked eagerly. Surely now he would finally tell me.
"Well, the first part is already over. I wanted to watch the sun rise with you," he said with a smile.
"Oh," I said as a warm fuzzy feeling spread in my stomach, one that I had grown accustomed to by now. "That was actually very nice," I agreed with a smile.
"I'm glad you liked it. Anyway, are you hungry?"
"Sure, why not."
"Great, because I know this cafe that's already open and that serves some killer pancakes," he offered, leading the way without waiting for a response from me.
I almost had to run to be able to catch up with him. "How do you know it? How do you know your way around here so well?" I was getting impatient with him.
Dan stopped and turned around to me, looking me in the eyes. "Allie. I've been to Amsterdam multiple times," he said deadpan.
Stunned silence ensued.
"How do you think I would have found my way here? Knew my way around the city? How would I have known about the sex museum?"
"You've been here before?" I asked in disbelief when his words finally caught up with me.
"Yes. Multiple times. My family goes here on vacation every few years."
"And you didn't tell me?" I asked, now laughing.
"Well, you didn't ask! I thought it was clear by how well I knew my way around!" Dan protested, laughing as well.
I was speechless and it must have shown on my face.
"Well actually, we had a bet running about how long it would take you to figure it out by yourself.
"You are cruel, vile, evil people!" I protested unable to stop myself from laughing at it though.
"It was really funny, but I just couldn't take it anymore," he laughed.
_____
They really did serve some killer pancakes. It was probably the biggest stack of pancakes I had ever eaten and there was so much syrup and fresh fruits. I also had an iced fruit tea and it tasted heavenly. I even remembered to take my medication, I was lucky enough to have remembered to pack it into my bag in the first place.
"My treat," Dan insisted when it came to paying.
When we walked out of the cafe it was already past six. The sun was all the way up now and the air was already starting to heat up. We walked through some of the smaller alleys, along the canals and over bridges. Everything seemed so tiny but also very intimate and cute, I loved that aesthetic. There weren't that many people on the streets yet and we had a sense of privacy.
A still closed piercing studio came into view when we crossed a bigger street with some shops. "Damn, I should have really gotten another piercing while we were here," I laughed as we already moved on to a smaller alley.
"Why, didn't you?" Dan asked.
"I don't even know what I'd get. Let's rest for a moment," I suggested, leaning onto the railing that was lining the bridge over the canal we were walking over.
"Well, you could have gotten what I have," Dan said with a grin.
"I already have a nose piercing."
"First of all, I have two nose piercings, but I guess that's besides the point. Second of all, I wasn't talking about those. You don't know what else I have."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have to take off your pants in order to show me?" I asked critically and we startled some ducks in the canal below with our laughter.
Dan shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Here, look," he said and pulled down the collar of his sweater, exposing four little iron balls, two each right under each collarbone.
"Whoa! I exclaimed and took a step towards Dan to get a better look. "Those look super cool, what are those called?"
"Those are dermal anchors. I got them done about a year ago."
"How did I never see them on you?" I asked, looking up at Dan. My heart dropped when I realized how close our faces were and instinctively took a step back.
He shrugged. "I guess I never showed much cleavage," he joked, his fingers still hooked under his collar, pulling it down for me to see.
I returned me eyes to his piercings. "How much did they hurt?"
"A bit. It really depends on your pain threshold."
"Do they take long to heal?"
"Not really, but that depends on how well your piercings heal generally."
I nodded and took another step backwards, Dan let go of his color so it snapped back into place.
"Well, I think I have enough shocks for my parents already, if I want to get another piercing done I might just do it at home and like, legally. I turn 18 this months so I might just wait," I laughed and we resumed walking. "Did you have anything else planned?"
Dan smiled to himself. "Nothing I could really plan ahead..." he mumbled but I heard it. "Not really, no. Do you want to do anything else?" he added, now louder.
I shrugged. "I think it's just nice to be here with you and finally we won't be interrupted by our friends."
We walked on and on, the streets got busier but we kept to the small canal streets. At one point I stopped Dan again. We were now in a very narrow alley, just a passage to get to the next alley between two houses.
"Wait, sorry. I just... need to get another look at your piercings, they've been spooking around my head," I laughed and Dan let me hook my fingers under his collar while he leaned his back against the wall.
"Go on then," he said with a laugh, enduring the procedure.
I took another look at them, inspecting them closely and how the skin had healed around them. They really did look cool and even more so because they were on Dan. When I lifted my head I noticed that Dan was looking at my face. Somewhat out of shock I shifted my weight and ended up stumbling forward, my body leaned onto his now.
"Oh, uh, whoops," I said apologetically. My fingers were no longer hooked under his collar, my hands rested on his chest to keep me from falling further and I felt his heart hammer under my fingertips.
Dan's hands had gone up to my waist to steady me. He laughed now.
With a blush I turned my face away.
"Hey," he said softly and gently touched my cheek to turn my face back to him. "I would, uh, like to kiss you if that would be alright," he confessed, suddenly shy, his hand returned to my waist.
I smiled. "Do it, coward."
The next thing I knew, our lips were on top of each other and that he tasted sweet, like the maple syrup we had eaten with our pancakes. I closed my eyes and took in the tingling sensation that ran through my entire body. My fingers dug a little into his chest, I faintly noticed how soft the fabric of his sweater was, while his hands grasped my waist a little firmer now. Inside of my chest, my heart was doing somersaults, under my fingertips I felt his heart do the same.
When we separated I didn't open my eyes yet, but instead leaned my forehead against his chest. "Well... what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam, right?" I joked and finally managed to open my eyes.
Dan laughed and used one of his hands to pull my face up again, he put his lips on mine again and it was just as good as the first time, even better.
A hunger spread inside me, or maybe I had felt it for a long time and it was finally being satisfied. Hungrily I kissed him back, unwilling to let this moment end. Lack of oxygen got in the way though. Stupid oxygen.
"I mean," he said when we had caught our breaths. "I would like to not leave this in Amsterdam, and it seems like you don't want to either," he said smiling.
"Okay, maybe you convinced me. But do that one more time, just so I can be one hundred percent sure."
Gladly he kissed me once again, I wrapped my arms around his neck now to be able to pull our bodies closer together. After a while I pulled away from him completely, smiling.
"Do you think if I shock my parents with us first, then they'll take the rest easier?" I joked.
A genuine laugh came from Dan, one that clearly took him off guard. "Worth a shot. Just go 'hey so this is my boyfriend, oh by the way I'm also bisexual and would you look at that I also have tattoos now',"
"Sounds like one hell of a plan," I laughed and then extended my hand for him to take. We walked back to Centraal Station hand in hand and he only let go of my my hand when we walked through the ticket barriers, after that his warm hand was back in mine.
When we got to the hotel the teachers were already down in the lounge, breakfast seemed to have just started.
"Oh, good morning, were you already out?" Mr Jackson asked when he spotted us walking in.
"Yeah, we watched the sun rise, it was really beautiful," I answered him and couldn't stop smiling. I clearly noticed all four teachers looking at our hands that were still intertwined.
"I can imagine. Well get ready, we're leaving at ten."