Decode , Kimi Antonelli

Chapter Twenty eight, Better than nothing.

┆ ⤿ 💌 ⌗ xxviii. decode

The car was stuffy, nearly suffocating or at least for Melina it was. Sitting on the left window seat she was crammed to the door as Jak took up the middle seat and separated her from Kimi. The tension in the car was palpable as they drove through the suburbs and into the vast countryside.

Leaning her head on the windowsill, Melina watched the trees fly by. She wished she was one of them, away from all her issues and simply swaying in the wind with no cares. But of course, she couldn't be a tree. Instead, she was stuck in the car using all her might to not look at him.

In between the two, sat Jak, his hands in his lap as he tried to stay still. Sitting in between the two was absolute torture, so much so he'd rather choose a guillotine over being in the middle of whatever Kimi and Melina had going on.

Leaning forward, Jak clears his throat, "uhm, wanna turn the music up or something?"

Ollie reaches for the dial, but he's stopped by Nadias hand, "no. I have a headache right now."

Pursing his lips, the American sits back against the seat in defeat. "Lina, will you switch seats with me?" He turns to the girl with a small pout, pleading with his eyes.

Looking at Jak, then to Kimi, the girl rolls her eyes. "I'd rather die."

At this, Kimi's head snaps toward the girl. "Quit being a baby and switch him seats."

Melina's jaw tightens. "Oh, he speaks! Hallelujah."

A wave of annoyance flashes across Kimi's face as he narrows his eyes, "don't act like this."

Nadia shares a look with Ollie, rubbing her temples in frustration. The girl turns around and hushes the two bickering teens. Her face stern like a mother's as she closes her eyes impatiently. "I will hit both of you so fucking hard. Jak, stay in your spot. There's only forty minutes left, you'll live. Melina, my dear sweet angel, please put your headphones on and watch TikTok or something." She pauses before turning to Kimi, "and you, I don't want to hear a word from you till we get to the orchard."

A grin spreads across Melina's face as she reaches for her purse, "okay, mother."

Turning around with a huff, Nadia leans her head back against the seat's headrest. Ollie, ever the supportive boyfriend, moved his hand and pats the girls thigh reassuringly.

    The rest of the car ride goes without much talking. The Orchard came into view and the group parked, climbed out, and made their way to the entrance.

    The wooden structure had red bold lettering in rusted metal, "Enoch's Apple Orchard." Cute, very.. rustic chique.

    Paying was easy, Ollie did it so the rest of them went on ahead. He caught up eventually and they ventured further in. Jak picked one of the ripe apples, biting into it before Melina reached over to swat it from his hands.

   Before the curly haired boy could retaliate, Melina grimaced. "Do you know how disgusting and dirty these apples are? There is a very high probability that there was a worm in that."

   Jak was stunned into silence. Nadia laughed for a moment and shook her head. And Kimi, well, his lip twitched.

    They carried on, putting some into the tote bag Nadia had brought before Melina pulled out her small camera to snap pictures.

    It was easy, no arguments. Kimi and Melina stayed far away from each other for the sake of their friends. But, peace only lasts for so long.

    "Kimi, get a picture of us!" Nadia clapped her hands together, fixing her dark locks and moving in front of a tree full of perfectly red apples aligning it.

    The shorter of the two friends blinked. "He's not touching my camera. Did we forget when he dropped my last one in the literal fucking ocean?"

    "It was waterproof."

    "Still dropped it!?"

    "Yeah, and I went in and got it."

    "Shut up!"

    Ollie rubbed his temples like they were causing him genuine distress. He yanked the camera out of Melina's grip, motioned for her to stand beside Nadia, and put the camera up to his eye.

    Melina shot Kimi one, last nasty look and did as instructed.

    The sun was setting over the mountain line by the time the group walked back to the car. It was slightly chilly out now, a much needed relief from the blazing sun that was trying to kill them earlier.

    Dirt piled onto Melina's shoes as they walked. She watched the particles of dust dispand around her, not paying attention to her surroundings when her forehead thumped into a solid back—sending a throb straight to the girls skull.

    A low, aching sound escaped Kimi's throat as he whipped around to face her. Instead of lashing out like she'd expected, his eyebrows just furrowed, a line creasing between them.

    "Did that hurt for you as bad as it did for me?"

    Melina stilled. He sounded.. not amused, but not directly annoyed. She cautiously answered. "A little, yeah."

    Days of hard ice between the two melted when the corners of Kimi's lips twitched. "Good."

    "Asshole." She grumbled, but there was no bite to it.

    Nothing else was said as they moved forward. Melina kept her eyes ahead, and Kimi moved a few feet to the side the avoid any further altercations.

   Nadia looked at Ollie, who's arm was wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her to his side. "Weirdos." He murmured into her hair, placing a kiss there.

    "I could think of a few other ways to describe them." She chuckled shortly, not saying anything else as her boyfriend took out his keys and unlocked his car.

    And Melina, she didn't argue when Jak took the window seat. She simply made herself as comfortable as one could in the middle seat and leaned her head back, letting her eyes clothes with a long exhale.

    There was little progress between them. She hadn't forgotten why they were snippy with each other, though a weight in her chest seemed to ease. They didn't need to talk about it now.

    Seventeen years of friendship made for an easy reason to lay off, if not for each other, for the sake of those around them.

    With that, Melina found herself dozing off into a much needed nap. And when her head lulled to the side, brushing against the firm shoulder that belonged to said friend, he hadn't tensed up.

    Kimi let the unconscious girl find comfort on his shoulder, not caring for how she would react when she woke up. Because something—no matter how small—was better than nothing. So, he shifted into his seat to accommodate her position, and willed his heartbeat to slow.

Notes ! (1.2k words)

haiii :P silly me for taking 8 months off.. guys my life has been nothing short of chaotic! but, i randomly got inspo to write for this so!! here it is. i know it's short and all, but something is better than nothing (winks cuz reference) it's not preread! half of it is in fact 8 month old writing so.. sorry.

ALSO! layout change bc i got lazy and i dont feel like doing graphics soz xx

hello vee. enny. welcome home.