Born To Die | Vanessa Afton

16

One thing you had realised when Vanessa had pulled up to her house was that you had never seen the inside. Sure, she had stopped a few times during both of your shifts to grab something but she always told you to stay in the car, but when she stopped by yours, she used to come with you. The car ride was silent on the way there but you had realised that Vanessa had become increasingly nervous.

Her hand tapped almost impatiently on and surface it touched, she hadn't even built up the courage to look at you as she pulled into the driveway. You realised how suspicious she has been recently, and not even just tonight, previously as well, there were blatant lies, odd behaviour but not once did you bring it up to her. You would class her as a good friend even though you were infatuated with her at this point. Vanessa looked at you for a brief moment.

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly. At first you didn't process her question, it seemed to go right over your head since you didn't even look at her when she asked. Slowly, a hand came to settle on your thigh. Vanessa hadn't meant it to be romantic, no matter how much you would want it to be. That brought you out of your thoughts as your face flushed with realisation. Realising what she had done, she pulled away once you had looked at her. "Sorry." She whispered and cleared her throat, getting out of the car.

It was a few seconds before you followed her to the door. Walking in, the first thing that you realised was that her house was very bland. You didn't think it was necessarily unappealing but it was simple, nothing on the walls, hardly any decorations, it was almost odd, as if she was ready to leave if anything happened. You wouldn't blame her if that was the reason, it wasn't the best here, even worse with the rumours surrounding Freddy's that have drove many people as far away as possible.

"Still shaken up?" She asked, taking her jacket off and throwing it across a chair. You shrugged, you didn't know what to feel. You were worried at the very least, you were scared for your life and everyone's around you. Especially Mike, who works at Freddy's most nights and has a little sister. If he's next... You don't want to think of what would happen. 

"Tired." You admitted, not answering the question directly. Vanessa plastered a smile on her face, one that was meant to be comforting, but you could tell that it was forced, everything about her body language told you something wasn't right. But that must be anxiety of what you had just seen merely hours ago, right?

"Me too. Do you want anything to eat, or drink...?" Vanessa asked, opening a few cupboards to see if she had anything.

"Just some water please." You said, not wanting to ask for anything else after she was letting you stay at her house. With hesitation to ask again, wanting to make sure you weren't hungry, she  finally nodded, grabbing you a glass of water before giving it to you. Taking small sips, you watched as she took a drink for herself. You noticed that she was still very nervous but you didn't push, maybe she was just better at concealing how she was feeling about that situation than you.

"If you want to... take the bed, that's fine. It gets really cold in here in the morning." Vanessa admitted, your eyebrows furrowed at her. She owns this house, she should be able to sleep in her own bed, plus, you didn't want to intrude her space too much. 

"It's fine." You start, placing the empty glass down on her kitchen counter. "This is your house, I'll be fine on the couch." 

"Seriously, it's freezing in here. I need to get it looked at." Vanessa said, a small sigh escaping her mouth as she looked at you. She was partly lying, she just wanted to make sure that you were warm and comfortable. It didn't get that cold in the front room and kitchen. "If you want to, we could share but I'm entirely fine with staying here." As she asked that, you heart rate increased, but you remained calm, well, tried to.

"Okay. Let's just... stay on our own sides." You replied, trying not to sound too excited about sleeping in the same bed as someone you were starting to develop some kind of high school crush on. Vanessa nodded, a small, now genuine, smile settling on her face. It was shocking to you that you thought that you would hate her, that she would be some kind of horrible bratty police officer that somehow does everything right, you were so wrong about that, she was one of the nicest people that you have met. 

As promised, you stayed on the other side of the bed to her, facing the wall and nervous to move. Honestly, you wanted to move closer to her, you wanted to be nearer to you. It had been about half an hour before you began to drift off to sleep peacefully and more relaxed than usual, hearing another person that you cared for there.