Lars and Sadie

Chapter Fourteen

Sadies POV

Staring back at myself on the laptop screen, I'm waiting for my other friends from college to join the zoom call. I've been meaning to call them and catch up, and I finally had the time to talk to them all. I was a little nervous, to say the least. Then, the first person joins. I smile at her, and her smile shines back at me. "Sadie!" She says, her short bob bouncing as she jolts at my name. I see from the window behind her that the sun is setting. But the suns already gone in BeachCity.

Time zones are weird.

"Hey Chrissy," I say, and another person joins. "Hey, Jason." He practically grabs his screen and shakes it.

"Sadie! Where have you been??"
"Literally Sadie, you think since you moved back to your old stomping grounds you can just forget about us?" Chrissy jokes, and I chuckle softly.
"I literally could never forget about you guys." Jason scratches his beard, the sound making me squirm. Then, the last person joins. Ash gives a simple wave, distracted by something on their phone.

"So, give us all the deets." Chrissy says, leaning back in her chair. "Did you see the guy?" I scratch the back of my neck. These were the first people who offered me friendship when I moved to college, they knew literally everything about me and my life. "Lars was his name, right?" I nod.
"Uh...a lot of things have happened." They ooh, teasing me a bit. "But, we're staying friends."
"That's a bad idea Sadie," Ash says, looking up from their phone. "He's literally your ex. You can never be friends with an ex."
"They're right," Jason says, "Do you guys remember when I tried to be friends with Anthony again?"
"God don't remind me," Chrissy says, rubbing her eyes. "That whole week is engraved in my brain."
"But...you did tell him you'd just strictly be friends, right?" I'm unable to hide my guilt from them, and they all groan when I stare off, avoiding the question.

"I mean, friends kiss...that's normal." Chrissy raises an eyebrow, making me groan. "Ok, fine. I can't help it. You guys don't know who he is, or the connection we have!"
"Do you need a reminder on what happened the last time you guys broke up?" Ash puts their phone down now, fully attentive to the conversation. 
"Things are different, guys. I don't know how to explain it." I rest my chin on my hand, thinking about Lars. Then, Jason gasps.

"Oh my god. You're in love him." My face instantly becomes hot. Chrissy chimes in.
"You are! You're literally blushing!" Suddenly, I hear the front door bell going off. My mom stops above me, heading to open the door. 
"So what if I do love him again? Would that be a bad thing? He's told me he's changed, and I've seen proof of it! I believe him," My door opens, and I hear footsteps coming down. At first, I expect them to be my mom, but I see it's Jenny. I look at her, shocked she's here. "Jenny, what are you doing here?"

"Wait, Jenny Jenny??" Chrissy asks, knowing how shocked I am. 
"Sorry, Sadie, am I interrupting?" I glance at my screen, then back at her.

"No, it's okay," I turn to the screen. "I'll call you guys back later, okay? Love you guys." Then, I leave the call. Closing my laptop, I give my full attention to Jenny. "What are you doing here, Jenny?" She stands there, awkwardly, and I truly have no clue why she just had to come over and see me.
"I just...wanted to talk, see how you were holding up, being back in town."
"I'm fine." I know she's been trying to be my friend ever since I got back, but I just can't stop imagining her being that teenager who tried stealing my boyfriend from me. My hand tingles, remembering the time I punched her.
"Has Lars talked to you about anything?" I look at her, and nod.

"He mentioned how Ronaldo was worried about us getting back together. But he doesn't have to worry, we're just staying friends for right now." Then, my phone buzzes, and I check to see that it's Lars. He's asking if I wanted to come over to the Big Donut for his lunch.
"We're just worried about you, is all, if you do get back with Lars." I send a text to him, saying I'll be on my way right now. Standing, I grab my coat that's laying on the other side of my bed.
"Look, I know you're just trying to pity me; being my friend cause I'm friends with your boyfriend. But you don't have to. I'm fine." I go to pass her, but she gently touches my shoulder.

"I'm not pitying you, Sadie. I swear." Looking at her, her expression doesn't change.

Maybe she's telling me the truth.

I let out a breath, "Then I really do appreciate your concern, Jenny. But Lars and I are fine. We're just friends." And with that, I head up the stairs, heading to the Big Donut. However, the whole time I'm walking over there, I can't stop thinking about touching his face, kissing his lips, and whispering loving words in his ears.

Lars POV

My hand is in throbbing pain from underneath the bandage I put on, but I push through the pain. Then, the microwave beeps, telling me the microwaveable pasta is ready. I take it out, setting it on the table. Then, I plug in the crappy old fake candle. Once it's plugged, it emits a small glow.

This is so sad.

Then, I hear the ding go off, and walk out to the front. I see it's Sadie, and my heart pounds at the sight of her. A dumb smile develops on my face. "Hey," She smiles back at me.
"Hey," While staring in to her eyes, I totally forgot I had a whole thing set up for her in the back.
"Come in the back, I have food waiting for us." While she heads to the back, I go to the front, turning the sign to close, and locking the door. Then I go to the back, seeing her admiring the 'romantic' set up. She chuckles.
"Haven't you done something like this before?" I shrug,
"Probably." She sits at one end, peeling open the protective layer of the pasta. She inhales, sighing at the saucy smell. She begins to put some on the plate I left for her on her side of the table. Once she's done, I do the same with mine. We begin eating, for some reason, without speaking a word. But it wasn't a weird silence, but a good co-existing silence.

This is really nice.

As I continue eating, Sadie points at my bandaged hand. "What happened to your hand?" I eat a little slower, trying to figure out an excuse.
"Uh..." I swallow, "I got angry at a video game, and punched a whole in my wall." She gives me a concerned look, but I shake it off. "But it's okay, it barely hurts." Then she nods, dropping the subject. As we continue eating, my heart keeps wanting to say something, but I just don't know when it's the right time.

Any time is the right time.

I look at her, and she glances at me, and that's when I knew, it was time. I take one last bite of my pasta, finishing it off. Looking at her, I clear my throat. "Sadie," I say, "Can I talk to you about something?" She nods, also finishing her food. "I...can't be your friend." At first, it looks like my words hurt her, but then she realizes what I'm getting at. "Ever since you got back, I look at you..." I look at her, "And I see my whole future in your eyes." My good hand slides across the table, and I grasp her hand. "When your near me, my hands get sweaty, my heart beat goes fast. I want to hold you, kiss you; I just can't just be friends." Sadie gets up, without saying a word. Taking a few steps towards me, she then sits on the table. She holds my hand a little tighter, and I look up in to her eyes.

"Sadie, will you be my girlfriend?" She doesn't say anything, which worries me a bit. I wonder if I might've messed up, but before I can say some sort of excuse, she leans down and kisses me. I kiss her back, and then she pulls away. A smile comes across her face, and she nods happily.
"Yes, of course I'll be your girlfriend." My body stands, cupping her face in my hands, our lips coming back together. The kiss becomes deeper, our tongues mixing the sauce together in our mouths. Then my hands move down to her hips, pulling her to my hips. Once more, my hands move, this time, down to the table for support. I accidentally press my hands too hard down on the table, and I pull away from the kiss, wincing in pain. "Okay, no," Sadie says, grabbing my hand, sending shocks of pain through my arm. She unravels the bandages I put on, and gasps loudly. My hand has become swollen and nearly purple. "Holy shit Lars. This is so bad. You need to go to the ER, like right now."

"But, I can't. Someone needs to be here for the night shift. The big boss is gonna kill me if I leave." 
"I'll do it, I'll stay."
"But you don't work here."
"Well, then considered me hired." She hops off the table, going to the box of new employee aprons. She puts it on, without hesitation. "Go, please, you really should get that checked." I nod, taking my apron off, and hanging it up. Grabbing my car keys, I look at her one last time. She's putting her hair up, a hair-tie hanging in her mouth as her hands are busy. I can't help but be in awe of her. 
"Thank you," I say, "I love you." I say, and she turns, looking at me, with that good old shimmer in her eyes. Sadie takes the tie out of her mouth, putting it in her hair.
"I love you too," And with that, I leave with yet another stupid grin on my face.

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