Open Your Arms

Chapter 23

August 26, 2003

"What time is everyone coming over at?" I shout to Ville from our bedroom. 

"Ten minutes tops," He replies, walking into the bedroom and wiping his hands together. "I just grabbed the pizza. It is good to go." He wraps his arms around my waist and hugs me from behind, pulling me close to him. "We did it, Larissa."

I sigh and throw my head backwards against his chest. He leans his head down onto my collarbone and just rests there. He's not making any advances, but just simply enjoying himself. 

We did do it. We finally bought our own apartment, after multiple months. Ville wasn't able to put his name under it because he is not an official resident in the United States, but we didn't find that out until a while later, so the process to buy the actual apartment got delayed. We ended up just deciding that he would give me some money to help pay for the rent, but I'm probably not going to use it. What I do sometimes is I'll sneak some back into his banking account or I'll keep it as a savings. 

The apartment is further away from Bam and my parents and Jenn because we wanted to have our own privacy. If we lived closer to them, then we knew for a fact that they would just be visiting us constantly. It feels like we're on our own little world and no one can come and wreck it. 

Living with Ville and just us on our own feels magical. We are able to do everything together. We go shopping together, we listen to music together, we clean together, we bathe together, etc. Ville actually prefers bathing over showers, which is surprising because most men like to shower more than bathing, but I'm not complaining. 

Our baths usually consist of us having deep conversation while other times it's very intimate. Ville is such an intelligent person, so it's easy for us to talk about something deep and bounce ideas off of each other and keep the conversation going. I've never been able to do that with anyone before. 

Tonight we're having my parents and Jenn and Bam come over for a dinner to see the apartment. When I first brought up to my parents that we were going to be moving thirty minutes away from them, my mother threatened to not pay for the apartment. I thought that was absurd, but my dad talked some sense into her and reasoned with her. Now, they're all happy for Ville and I and how we're taking the next step. 

A knock on the door echoes throughout the air. Ville lifts his head off of my collarbone and gently squeezes my arms. I spin around and we walk towards the front door together, then open it up to find Bam and Jenn standing in the doorway. I'm surprised that they arrived first and not my parents.

We all greet each other and Jenn sets down the wine onto the table. I know that that's for her and I because Ville does not really drink wine. It's not that he has a problem with it, but he prefers beer, so Bam brought a case for them. 

I'm not a huge fan on how much Ville drinks and smokes, but then I have to remind myself that he is a rockstar and that's what they do. He's not an alcoholic of any sort, so it's still okay. 

"Show me around!" Jenn squeals in my ear. 

I guide her throughout the apartment, showing her Ville's and my bedroom, the guest bedroom, the bathroom, and the living room/kitchen that are connected to each other. It's fairly big for a two-bedroom apartment, considering how much open space there is. We got lucky. 

"I hate how far away you guys live," Jenn tells me as we walk back into the kitchen with Bam and Ville. "I feel like I don't get to see you at all anymore."