"We shouldn't be doing this."
"Shut up."
"You told me we'd go out on an adventure, this is nowhere near an adventu-"
"Would you just be quiet and follow my lead?"
They were both inside a grocery store, hiding on the farthest aisle possible. Arabella told him that she was hungry and wanted some snacks but he just recently found out that she didn't bring any money. No money at all. Even him.
"I am not going to steal!" Dave whisper-yells, but still follows her anyway.
"You say it like it's really a bad thing, think of it as borrowing, only you're not returning it." She chuckles, getting herself a pack of gummy worms and dark kit kats. "You might as well get what you want too."
"Aren't we going to get caught?" He asks, but he still follows her as they wind through several aisles.
"No, Dave. We won't."
He was unsure of what to do now, but he thinks that this is a one-time thing. Nothing bad could happen right?
"Now when I say run, you run as fast as you can to the exit and get inside the car. Easy easy." Arabella commands, looking for anyone who looked suspicious of them. And much to his surprise, no one was even around.
As they stalked towards the entrance, Arabella suddenly chuckles. And when he turns to her with a look of confusion, she points to something across the store, and then he finds himself laughing too.
Because right at the cashier, the only employee present was fast asleep on a chair, with his mouth hanging open.
They leave the grocery store with no worries, with Arabella carrying a bunch of snacks in her arms and Dave holding bottles of drinks. They continue to laugh as they enter the car.
"Well, that was easy."
"Told you so," she says proudly, opening her pack of gummy bears. "Where to next?"
It all happened in a blur, all in one night, they managed to get free coffee on the local cafe, sneak into an old museum even though it was closed, and played at the park like seven year old kids. Simple things at simple places, but for Dave it seemed like moments he collected like treasure.
"It was nice." Dave manages to say after a long silence. They were both in his car, which was parked on an empty road. They just sat there and watched, whilst listening to the soft tunes coming from the radio. He admired the scene before him, which was quiet and empty, in a good way. He watched the stars dancing with the different shades of light present on the different structures of buildings.
"I'm glad you appreciate this," Arabella replies lightly, bits of drowsiness evident on her face. "It's not much, but it's nice having to do something I've always wanted to do with someone I like hanging out with."
"Oh so you like hanging around me?" He suddenly seems confident, maybe it was from all the chocolate he has eaten, making him a bit too hyper and comfortable with himself.
"Don't flatter yourself too much." She laughs, and he could see the glow from outside shining on her face like a spotlight. Her strawberry lips, which he now knew what tastes like and feels like on his own, seemed more attracting and he craved the feeling of them back on his skin.
Arabella now looks at him, and it kills him because he doesn't know what she's thinking and what goes on inside her mind. But she was staring at him like he was something important, like he was a pill that would cure her illness. Like he was a cup and she was coffee and she needed her so she could be useful. But there was something else, she seemed unsure and sad and fighting herself against something that goes on her head and he wants it to stop.
"Dave," She whispers softly.
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to screw things up," Her voice wavers slightly, and it's the first time he's heard and seen her like this.
"You don't have to, Arabella." He assures.
"Yeah, but-" She exhales, trying to recreate her words to explain what she's feeling. "I just don't want to think of anything right now. I just want to do what feels right in this moment and forget for a while."
"Arabella-"
She then kisses him, and he knocks over on his seat for a while due to the force but it was then replaced by the softness and tastiness of her strawberry lips. His hands land on her neck to pull her closer. He could taste gummy bears and sprite and all things sweet, it was breathtaking, Arabella was breathtaking and amazing and beautiful and-
"Say my name again," She whispers on his lips in between their kisses.
"Arabella, Arabella, Arabella." Dave states with no hesitation, "I would say it a thousand times if you'd ask."
She shakes her head and pulls away, but their faces were still inches apart and she was playing with his hair on the back of his neck and it all seemed surreal. "I really love it when you say my name."
"I really love you."
