Open Up My Eager Eyes

Chapter 28

"Kellin.." His soft and careful voice was the only thing that I was focusing on although I felt his hand lightly grasping on my shoulder, attempting to shake the sleep away from my exhausted frame.

"Five more minutes." I muttered with a slight groan and yanked his arm towards my chest, hugging it and at the same time, stopping him from sabotaging my peaceful nap.

"You have to get up, I have to show you something." He said as a cute little chuckle escaped from his mouth. I was a curious guy so of course, I begrudgingly opened my eyes, rubbing the sleep away from them and letting go of Vic's warm arm. I stretched my slightly sore muscles and tried to puzzle out as to where we were. Obviously, we were still in his car but the scenery outside was definitely different compared from the place that we were in just a few hours ago.

Right in front of us was most probably the prettiest place that I had ever witnessed in my entire life. I unconsciously unbuckled myself from the stiff seat as my fingers searched for the car's door handle, fumbling on it and letting myself step out from the vehicle. I then realized that I was no longer wearing my sneakers when my feet was met with the warm sand, my eyes squinting from the dark-orange rays of the slowly setting sun. I closed my eyes as I took in the pleasing smell of the ocean water and letting nothing but the calming waves waddle in and out my ears.

"Welcome to Del Mar." Vic announced as he appeared beside me, a proud and nostalgic smile playing across his lips. "You want something to drink?" He asked as he stepped back and seeing as he sat on his car's hood, a colorful blanket sprawled above it and a basket resting in front of him. He patted the space beside him, silently telling me to join the little picnic that he somehow managed to set up.

"You're so cliché." I teased, making him laugh mostly to himself.

"You love it, though." He shot back and handed me a can of soda which I gladly took, muttering a small 'thanks' as I let the fizz break through its freezing lid.

"How far away are we from home?" I asked, not dragging my gaze away from the ball of light that was taking its time to dip itself far below the ocean's waves.

"Far enough for you to not worry about that stupid place." He simply said with a calm tone. I just nodded to myself. I shouldn't have asked that question because almost immediately, my mind was swimming through the drama that unveiled back in that stale apartment.

 No words were spoken between the two of us for we were too engrossed with the calming display in front of us. It was a chilly kind of day so the sun's rays wasn't that bothersome since the dancing air was doing a great job in balancing the temperature.

"Thank you." I sincerely said, finally grasping away my own attention from the breath-taking sight and shifting them to Vic's face. The sunlight was doing a perfect role in hitting just the right amount of rays against Vic's delicately sculpted face. I stared at him in pure awe and admiration. Truly, I didn't deserved his kindness. It was all too much but really, I wasn't complaining. For all the things that went wrong with my life, I was so glad that he was there to catch me whenever I needed someone to show up and wait for my scrutinizing fall. He's so patient with me and it seemed so surreal. How could he possible put all of his focus to me when he could effortlessly get anyone that he ever so much desired? I've seen the way that people looked at him- men and women. He's that person that the guys wanted to be and the girls wanted to be with. It's still a mystery as to why he chose to be stuck with a guy like me.

"For what?" He finally broke from his own trance, his fingertips finding their way to my slightly cold fingers. The simple touch made my stomach churn and ache in the weirdest way possible. It was no longer in the sick stage of hurting, no. It just felt as if little insects were actually crawling up to my guts, doing whatever it was that they did in my stomach.

"For everything. I mean, you've done so much- too much, actually and I think I don't deserve it, you know. You could've spent your time doing whatever it is that you usually do but still, you choose to put me over anything else and just- thank you." I sighed contentedly, not realizing that I held on to my breath longer than I originally intended. He smiled with his shoulders shrugging. Not uttering a single word, he let out a deep sigh, completely intertwining our fingers together as if making an entirely neat pattern of crisscross that no one else but us could appreciate. I held on to his hand tightly, scooting closer, feeling his warmth transfer to my own lanky and pale arm as he planted a tender kiss on my temple. I snuggled closer to him, my head resting to his shoulder as he brought our hands to his lap, his thumb drawing patterns to my thumb.

 I was so lost in the moment and my mind was wandering at his touch. I put so much appreciation to his free hand that was drawing invisible signs and figures at the back of the palm of my hand that he was holding and to my outmost shock, I tensed up a little as he started writing those words with his index finger.

'I lov-'

But he hindered himself from finishing the sole word that made my mind go crazy. He made random vertical and horizontal lines, somewhat deleting the letters that he was composing as he lightly snickered to himself and shook his head.

'I like you'

He decided to correct himself and I heard him release a breath as he rested his back to his car's windshield. Steady breaths, shy smiles and deep sighs. No words were needed to be given back and forth for it was obvious that they weren't needed. Contentment. That was the sole thing that we were both silently grateful for.

—

Both Vic and I's peaceful solace was, unfortunately, put into hold as the sun finally drifted off and hid its mesmerizingly bright orb, switching places with the moon's dull but consoling glow. I didn't really know what got in to me but somehow, I've convinced myself to go and make a stop-over to the apartment before heading to this new flat that Vic told me about while we were minding our own business in the enthralling beach. As much as I really wanted to spend the night with Vic in that calming place, there's just this nagging voice in my head, convincing me to just go back to that dilapidated place and maybe just get every single thing that belongs to me. I mean, I was fully aware that I purposely left some clothes there for the sake of my backpack's well-being. But really, there's this certain something at the back of my head, telling me that it's better if I would just get the whole 'moving on' process over and done with.

With slight hesitation and worry, I've managed to convince Vic to drive me back so that I could officially end things with Sam and start a new life, perhaps.

"You want me to come with?" Vic asked, his voice clear with concern.

"Yeah, actually." I sheepishly said as the car stopped in the building's parking lot. We silently went to the now dull-looking building. 'This would be the last time.' I mentally told myself as we soon reached the floor of the apartment.

I was shakily fumbling with my keys, trying to jab in the proper key that would open the door of the apartment.

"Hey hey, calm down. I'm here, okay?" His soothing voice was enough to pull me right back down to my sanity as I nodded, still not able to formulate my own words. And as if on instinct, he planted a soft kiss on my forehead, calming me down in an instant. I reached for his hand, taking a huge breath and went on with it, turning the spine-chilling cold door knob.

"Kellin, what in the world is this absurdity?" Her words were cold and stern enough to paralyze my entire body, leaving both Vic and I in a stunned state.