11/28 by uliaj06

twenty-five

When he finally pulls me off the ground and I'm standing, the song ends.

The next song plays a slower song, the complete opposite of the last one.

I'm thankful because if he wants me to dance with him, it better be slow since that's the only pace I can go.

*

"Still want to dance, Ms. Lane?" He holds a hand out, a whisper of his smile from the last song still on his lips.

"Will you go slow?" I question.

"It's a slow song." He says knowingly. "I'll support you if you really are that tired." He reassures me when he sees my hesitation.

I slowly take his hand, walking closer to him. His hand was cold, firm, steady. I place my other hand on his shoulder.

"I think you're forgetting I still don't know how to dance this way." The event was months ago, I forgot.

"How about we try a different position?" He brings my hand that was joined with his up to his shoulder, and places his hand gently on my waist, pulling me closer.

"Is this a different dance?"

"No, it's just a more relaxed version." He tells me. "Just look down and watch."

We started to move in a steady rhythm, moving a lot slower, swaying more like it. It was gentle, careful yet thoughtless.

"What if I just... fall asleep?" I move my hands farther forward so I can connect both of my hands together.

"I'll leave you on the road so a car can run over you." He fakes a friendly tone.

"How nice of you." I tease. "Aren't you tired?" My eyelids are so heavy it feels like if I close them for more than a second, I'll fall asleep.

"Mhm." He hums.

"Can you drive without falling asleep on the wheel?" I don't want to get into an accident.

"I'm sure I can handle it, Ro." He assured me. "I'm not that tired."

I nod. The way we talked was light, we were both tired and the scenery was empty and dark. It was peaceful.

"This reminds me of the notebook." I tell him. "When they danced in the middle of an empty road."

"I remember that movie. Wasn't that good."

"I loved it personally." I made the bold move of resting my head on his shoulder, close to the crook of his neck. I could smell his cologne.

It smelled good. I love the smell of his cologne, not too strong, pleasant. I close my eyes.

I could feel him stiffen when I did so. I don't think he's used to this.

"A little too close, Ro." He taunts.

"I'm tired." I murmur. "It's just me."

I really was. I'm like a grandma. I get sleepy easily, fall asleep early whenever I can, and take lots of naps.

He relaxes a little, his uncomfortable state seeming to disperse every second, getting used to my position.

I can feel his hand, even through the thickness of my jacket I have on, awkwardly frozen at my waist, almost like he didn't know what to do. His hand lingered there, unsure of how to act.

He started to move a hand, slowly rubbing up and down my back, testing if this was the right thing to do.

I smile faintly and the soft gesture, finding it cute that he doesn't know how to react to this. It felt like he was nervous, awkwardly rubbing my back to help me find some sort of comfort, but he was getting there. I patiently waited for him to figure out what he was doing, experimenting with what to do and what not to do.

He grew more confident with the boundaries and rubbed my back more steadily, even ran his hand over the back of my head for a moment before continuing to stroke my back.

I found it sweet, since he knew I was tired.

The little acts of vulnerability, slowly giving in to each other.

"You aren't so bad," I say almost in a whisper. I open my eyes so I wouldn't fall asleep, staring ahead at the empty road and trees.

"What?"

"You told me back at the rooftop, on our day, to spend a day with you to prove you aren't all that bad. You aren't." I remind him. "I think I'd consider you a friend now."

"I don't want to be your friend." I feel his neck vibrate as he speaks.

"What?" I thought that was the whole point he wanted to spend a day with me. "Why?"

"Because then how am I supposed to take you to dinner?" He says in a daze, a small grin playing on his lips.

He's referring to what he said on the beach, when we were fake flirting with each other. When I said I don't go out with friends.

"Nice one." I say lightly. "But I prefer comfortably hanging out. I hate dinner dates."

"Why?"

"Because it's awkward and weird. I hate first dates." I inform him. "But how's your day been?"

"Well, me and that one girl I was telling you about-"

"Rowan?" We go back to acting oblivious.

"Mhm. She almost got us killed." He says lazily.

"How?" I act sympathetically.

"Well, there was an incoming car and she decided, instead of getting out of its way like a normal person, to continue laying down on the road. So we laid there together while the car drove past us."

"Well was it fun?"

"Surprisingly. We should do it in front of a train next time." He teased.

"I think she'd like that very much." I nod. "But how was your overall day with this... mystery woman?"

"Different." He responds. "I've done things I've never done before."

"Like what?" I say comfortably still resting my head on his shoulder, his cologne taking over my whole sense of scent.

"I don't usually stop and waste my time on things. Like we went to the beach, and she kept stopping and looking at these shitty things being sold. I had to stop every time with her." He murmurs.

"I'm glad she's teaching you a thing called patience." I mutter.

I feel him scoff, shaking his head. We're still dancing, slowly and barely, but it's still something.

"You know what you should get me?" I say tiredly.

"What?"

"Popcorn." Oh my god, I'm so tired.

"What?" He asks again.

"I really, really love popcorn. Even though it's bad for you, the microwaveable kind, Aelin doesn't like it when I eat those so she makes me my own from those popping machines." Rowan, what the fuck are you saying?! "Me and Cay eat them anyways because they're really good."

"So you want popcorn?" He's trying not to laugh, I can tell.

"Yes. The microwaveable ones. It'll give you a good start to our friendship thing." I don't even know why I'm saying this right now. "You should know, I stress eat."

"I already know." He tells me.

Of course he knows. I did it even when I knew him.

"That's good." I swear I'm asleep right now. "Popcorn." I gently pat the back of his head twice for fuck knows why.

"I'll get you some." He laughs lightly.

"This has been the longest day I've ever had." I tell him.

"Me too." He whispers.

"But we've finally reached the end." I say tiredly.

A part of me wasn't ready to let go of him and end this. I cling onto him just slightly closer, liking how we were. It feels vulnerable, almost like we're hugging. We're both out of our comfort zones doing this, I'd never do this and I'm sure he wouldn't either, but we both are anyways.

I wasn't ready for this day to end, to let go, because I knew as soon as the song was over, as soon as we go back to his car, we're going back to reality.

This is the first time in a while that I felt truly free. Boundless. Like there was no limits.

"Y'know what you should also get me?" I say out of nowhere.

"What now?"

"Frosted Flakes. The cereal. It's my favorite cereal." I inform him. "And almond milk. I think I'm running out."

"I'll just buy all your groceries for you." He tells me playfully.

"That'll be great." I can't tell if he's joking or not.

A few more seconds pass of silence, and just like that, the song ends, marking the end of our moment. Our day.

"I hope you didn't fall asleep on me." I hear him say, looking down at me with my head on his shoulder.

"Y'know, this could all be a dream." I suggest, lifting my head up to meet his eyes.

He squeezes my waist with his thumb and pointer finger.

"Ow!" I automatically say even though it barely hurt.

"You aren't dreaming." He states. "Cmon." He unravels his arms from my waist, grabbing my wrists and removing my own hands from his neck.

He doesn't let go of one of my wrists however, he's holding it and using it to pull me along with him to his car.

He was closer to holding my hand than my wrist actually, his thumb and pointer finger were the only fingers on my wrists, the other three were at the side of my hand, my palm.

"Holding hands now?" I tease as we walk towards his car.

"Yeah, and what about it?" He challenges.

I stay quiet, not having a comeback. I look down at our hands connected, it was the same hands our matching snake rings were on.

We eventually get back to his car, the seats were cold from being out in the open, and I put my seatbelt on, closing the car door.

The radio played another unknown song, one that I didn't care for this time, and watched the empty road in front of us.

I realized now, rewinding to what I just experienced, that I completed my little challenge I made for myself in the beginning.

To make him genuinely laugh and smile.

I did it. And I'm proud of myself for making it happen.

And just like that, everything somehow changed.

***

And... that's the end of their day!!

I promise not all of their days are this long HAHA

Also book update: I rly wanted to make this story kinda different from the other novelhd.com stories, yk trying to eliminate most of the novelhd.com cliches.

Especially the "love at first sight" ones. This one actually made sense because they've known each other literally since childhood so they know each other.

I'm hoping that I'm doing good with making this story a little different. I wanted to show that not all girls in stories are "perfect" and this ray of sunshine. They aren't all good and innocent. I'm trying to make this relatable and real because I wanted to make a story where it's an escape but also realistic. And sometimes a therapy session because we all kinda need it :)