𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 (Walker Scobell)

Ceilings

After unlocking the door, letting Walker in, and then locking the door behind me, I threw myself into my bed and wrapped myself in the blanket my dad made me pack. "Hey!" Walker started, smiling with a tiny gleam in his eye. "No fair!" I chuckled.

"Come on. You can lie down next to me." And that he did, making sure he didn't move me before hesitating to give me his hand. He ended up offering it to me, and I ended up taking it, looking up at my ceiling.

"Those are pretty," he started. "Just like you." I rolled my eyes, pretending that I was cringing at the comment, but in reality, I was trying to hide my blushing. "You still haven't packed them up though?" he asked, talking about the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. I shook my head. "Why not?"

"I want to wait until tomorrow. I can't sleep without them," I admitted. He smiled at me and looked away. "What?" I asked, making him turn towards me.

"Nothing," he said. "Just thinking."

"What about?" I asked, before realizing I might've been too pushy. "Only if you want to tell me, you know?"

"How do we go from having to deny dating rumors for your safety to dating either way?" he said, and I laughed. "Seriously! You could still technically get harassed."

"Fuck them. I've learned that I don't need to listen to them. Plus, if we do end up hard launching, I'm going to see a lot of switching up." Walker's face relaxed as he stared at my ceiling again. He let my hand go, and I took that as a chance to get comfortable in my burrito.

"Hey, when did you find out you did like me?" Walker asked, turning back to look at me and breaking the silence. I tried thinking and remembered what moment solidified it. I smiled before replying.

"The paper rings. That was the goofiest yet one of the most heartfelt things someone's ever done for me." He smiled. "What about you?"

"If I'm being completely honest? Probably since I met you." My eyes widened as I realized Mo was right. "But you didn't seem interested when Mo asked me out, so I dated her to get over you."

"Damn, both of yall fucked up for what yall did," I laughed.

"What do you mean?" Walker asked as panic sort of spread over his face.

"Mo dated you to get over her girl crush, as you know. She told me you dated her out of pity, but in reality, you were also trying to get over your girl crush," I explained, chuckling at the naivety of this entire situation.

After a while of deep conversations, Walker finally cuddled up against me to get ready to sleep. I lent him half of my blanket and slowly fell asleep, holding his hand.

~~

I woke up to the sound of whispers, giggles, and camera shutters. Groggily, I wiped my eyes to see Mo and Bella snapping photos of us. Walker had his arm around my waist, and his face was buried in my back. I yawned, moving slightly, but after I realized what they were doing, I got up, scaring poor Walker in the process. "You bitches!" I yelled. I launched myself towards Mo's phone, but failed, instead just stumbling. "Can we quit the bullying? It's only 8 am."

"Yeah whatever," Bella said. "We're leaving in an hour and a half, and I know one of you takes over an hour just to look cute."

"Are you saying she doesn't look cute all the time?" Walker said, defending me. I grinned, going over to the bathroom to brush my teeth as the three bickered. After I walked out, it was just me and Bella.

"They went to Mo's trailer since Walker doesn't have a toothbrush here," Bella said, sitting on the edge of my bed. "So. He spent the night here?" I roll my eyes as I walk over to my cupboard to eat the last bit of my cereal. "You know your dad wanted me to tell him everything about you."

"Well," I started, swallowing some cereal. "This can be our little secret." Bella chuckled and walked over, wrapping me in a hug. "Okay, enough touching for the day. I have a long flight ahead of me."

"Oh, you don't know?" Bella said after unraveling their hug. "Your dad upgraded the flight. You get to ride in business. So you won't have to worry about people."

"Oh, fuck yeah," I say, throwing the empty cereal box away. "Now let me get ready. As you said, it takes me an hour to get ready." Bella scoffed, walked out, and I started my routine. Shower then my hair. The hair alone took me 20 minutes. Then my makeup. Since I didn't need to impress anyone, I just put mascara and lip gloss on. Surprisingly, 45 minutes later, I was ready to go. I walked over to Mo's where my bags were and walked in. Walker was ready to go, backpack and suitcases at his side. I grabbed mine, and Mo walked out of her room with hers.

"Oh God, it's time," Mo said, frowning. I faked wiping away a tear. Walker grabbed us both and grouped us into a hug.

"We have a group chat. We'll see each other at the premiere," Walker reminded us. "I couldn't have asked for better friends."

"Group selfie?" I asked, pulling out my phone. We posed and made our way over to Bella's car.

"Shotgun!" Mo called as we finished putting our bags in the trunk. I shrugged, knowing it would mean I could sit in the back with Walker. We settled in, driving away from our homes for the past couple of months. I looked over to Walker, who took my free hand and wrapped his arm around me. I lay against his chest as we passed trees, approaching the arcade where me and Brady had taken after that dinner. I took a deep breath, knowing this time tomorrow I would be back home. Or maybe home was here.

In Walker's arms.