songs for the chapter:
crazy beautiful - andy grammer
if i'm james dean, you're audrey hepburn (acoustic) - sleeping with sirens
riptide - vance joy
a teenager in love - dion and the belmonts
stand by me - ben e. king
We arrived at the hotel Dean had told be about at around three, traffic slowing us down slightly. We checked in, and took our suitcase up to our room. Once we were settled, we went online to try to find a place to eat dinner. I was sprawled out on one of the beds in the room, and he was seated on one of the two chairs on either side of a small glass table in the room. We searched in silence.
"Here, this looks good," Dean gave me his phone, the menu for a cafe called 'The Grand' on the small screen.
"You think so?"
"Do you?"
I laughed, giving him back his phone. "Sure, babe."
He looked shocked for a moment, but then he smiled, and stood up, moving to stand directly in front of me. He knelt down, resting his chin on the bed.
"What?" I chortled when he didn't say anything.
"I take it back," he said, still smiling.
"Take what back?" I cocked my head slightly, confused.
"I don't think I'm in love with you," he pressed a quick kiss to my lips before putting his chin back on the bed. "I am in love with you."
I kissed him again. "I love you, too."
He smiled, standing up. I sat up, resting on my knees. "Come on," he said, offering me his hand.
"Where are we going?"
He shrugged as we linked our fingers together. "I don't know."
--
"In here," I said, going into a store. Dean followed behind me, letting me drag him inside.
The second hand store we had entered was bigger than most of the other stores in the small town. Dean and I had left the hotel, walking aimlessly, and going into any store we had an interest in. We didn't buy anything, but we talked to the people who lived in the town as we browsed the stores. The people in the town were kind enough to make me want to stay permanently.
"Look at all these books," I breathed, immediately finding my way to the wall entirely covered by books. Numerous book shelves took up the wall, making the wall itself invisible. The book shelves were completely full, books of all sizes occupying the shelves. I dropped Dean's hand as I approached the wall, awestruck by all the books in front of me. I ran my fingers across the lesser worn spines in front of me.
"Is that a good book?" Dean asked from behind me, wrapping his arms around me.
I nodded. "I'm surprised it's already in a second hand store, to be honest."
'All The Bright Places' had only been out about a year, yet there on the shelf was a copy of the book.
"Hello!" a friendly voice pulled me from my fascination with the wall of books.
"Hi," Dean and I said at the same time. He removed his arms from around my waist, allowing us to walk towards the woman who had emerged from the back of the store. She looked no older than fifty, her blonde hair falling just below her shoulders.
