Beautiful Boy

valentine's day

amara haven

I woke up and felt tired again immediately.

I had been up for most of the night tossing and turning. My mind was a neverending whirlwind.

David called the night before to say what had happened with Rick and Lillian.

They were still figuring out the case, and Rick and Lillian were in custody while they healed.

"Oh, morning."

I turned to see Nic come into the bedroom.

"Why do you get up so early?" I asked.

"Why do you sleep in so late?" He countered.

I rolled my eyes.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said.

"Don't remind me," I muttered.

He handed me a cup and a little brown bag that held a pastry, then sat down on the couch with his own.

I noticed that Michael was sleeping on the pillow next to me and I stroked his hair.

He stretched out his legs when he felt my hand, waking up.

I sipped the warm liquid and the flavour burst of chai hit my tongue.

"Ooo chai," I sang, savouring the warm flavour.

He chuckled, "So, what do you want to do today?"

I shrugged, "I didn't have a plan to do anything."

He winced sarcastically, "But it's Valentine's Day."

"I'm nineteen, single, living in Los Angeles with my best friend in his Mum's guest house. I don't think that Valentine's Day has much significance to me," I teased.

He laughed, "Valentine's Day doesn't have to be about a boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Wasn't it created to honour some martyr or something?" I wondered.

"I think so," he replied, "It's just about love and romance now."

"My point exactly," I said.

"Not what I meant, you aren't my girlfriend or my sister but I love you," he rolled his eyes.

"Platonic soulmates," I joked. He looked down at his lap.

"Anyways," he spoke.

"Mhm," I motioned for him to continue.

"I don't know. We could explore some more of LA," he suggested.

"Sure," I agreed, "But I work tonight from six till closing."

"They're making you work on Valentine's Day?" He asked.

"Hey, it's a popular café in a nice location, people are going to want to go on their Vday dates there," I replied.

He shrugged, "I guess."

We finished breakfast, discussing symbolism in a Dostoyevsky novel, and then he went to shower while I got dressed.

Once I'd put on my grey wide-leg jeans and a Nirvana t-shirt from Nic's dresser, I sat down to put on my Converse.

He came out of the bathroom wearing his jeans and socks, scrunching his hair with a towel.

I acted as though my laces were suddenly difficult to tie, simply because I didn't want to stare.

I should've been used to it by then, we were living together, but my attraction to him wasn't lessening anytime soon.

After he put a shirt on, I looked up.

"So, I was thinking that we should go to Hollywood for the day," he said.

"Like downtown Hollywood? Where the Walk of Fame is?" I asked.

He nodded.

"That sounds fun," I agreed.

I contained my excitement, not wanting to appear childish. I'd always wanted to see Hollywood Boulevard.

I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, do my hair and put on mascara.

As I was brushing my eyelashes with the makeup, Nic came in and leaned against the door, watching in the mirror.

"Want s-"

"Don't," he muttered.

I chuckled, "Remember when I put eyeliner on you? When I was fourteen?"

"Oh, yeah," he said as if the memory flooded back to him, "I looked fine as hell with that shit."

I burst into laughter, "Whatever you say, Nicky."

"Didn't we agree that you weren't gonna call me that?" He asked.

I returned to applying the mascara, "No. You agreed to it."

Suddenly I felt my hair fall out of the claw clip it was in, tumbling down to my shoulders.

Nic was holding the clip in his hand, "Keep it down."

I rolled my eyes, "Why?"

He shrugged.

I went to grab the clip from his hand but he pulled it away.

"Give it back!" I exclaimed.

He held it above my head to taunt me.

I reached up, trying to grab it and he held it higher each time.

Eventually, I gave up and grabbed a different clip from the drawer under the counter.

I clipped my hair back up, letting the ends fall over the clip like a ponytail without the tie.

He rolled his eyes, "Hurry up."

"You're the most impatient person I know," I said, closing the tube of mascara.

"You love me for it," he unclipped my hair once again and ran out of the bathroom.

"Nicolas!" I yelled, chasing after him.

Eventually, I got the clip back and we made our way to his Mazda.

~

It felt oddly warm in Los Angeles for it to be the middle of winter, but I wasn't complaining.

Nic and I explored downtown Hollywood for hours before my shift started.

He insisted on studying for some of his University classes in the café while I was working.

While I was serving customers and making drinks, I couldn't help but let my eyes wander over to him every few seconds.

Watching the way his curls covered his eyes, he'd brush them away only for them to bounce back.

The way he focused on the material he was studying.

The way he typed on his laptop, correcting mistakes every few seconds.

"Amara, please try to keep up, there's ten times the normal amount of customers on a Saturday evening," one of my coworkers said, snapping me from my trance.

"Right, sorry," I muttered.

Even though I'd returned my mind to the present job I was working, I was still flitting my eyes towards him.

At one point, I looked at him and he looked up, making me panic and move my eyes back to the coffee I was making.

I thought it was sweet that he insisted on staying in the café while I was working.

It simply added another reason to the long list of why he was my favourite person.

I prayed that I was his too.