Wherever You Are

Chapter 11-

*Tobins POV*

I don't know what it was about this woman, but I was addicted. She always melted my heart when I looked at her. We had the kind of relationship that people fawned over on T.V, except to date, we didn't have a villain in our story. I could look at her for hours, endlessly, even right now, she was driving in silence, her eyes fastened on the road. Her jawline was reflected in the dimming lighting, her curly hair seemed to sit on her shoulders so comfortably. 

We weren't really supposed to go out in public like this, it was a little frustrating, a little sad. We did try and go out, usually quiet places with few customers, and we always sat at opposite ends of the table far out of reach of each other. I just wish I could sit beside her, or even just reach across to hold her hand. I wondered what quiet place she had picked tonight, at least here people would just assume that we were teammates having dinner, not romantically involved or anything.

She had brought up meeting her dad soon, the thought was a little daunting, I hadn't expected her to ask so soon, but in retrospect it had been a little while since we started dating and it was probably time. It did however leave me with a tough decision, I wasn't I suppose 'out' to my family as such, I'm sure they all kind of knew, but I hadn't actually had a conversation with them about it. Or well, Christen. I felt a little guilty about it, Christen was so open and I barely had the courage to say a single word. 

She had told me that she wasn't bothered if I wanted to wait longer until she met my family, which was a relief but at the same time, I needed the added pressure to make myself have the awkward conversation. I had half thought about just bringing her home one day and telling them she was my girlfriend, but I didn't want to risk an awkward situation with Chris there.

The car began to slow as we finally hit the tow centre, the city lights were glowing brightly above us, people were spilling all over the sidewalks, it was going to be a busy night. I wondered what her plan was, where could we possibly hide here? I looked back at her, curiosity eating me from the inside out, she must have felt my eyes burning into the side of her head because she glanced over in my direction momentarily before mumbling "What is it, Tobs?"

I deliberated for a second, "Where are we going?" I finally asked, I wasn't the most patient person in the world and I had an active imagination, so if I didn't know I'd just keep making up scenarios in my head. I could tell that she was deciding if she'd ruin the surprise and tell me or make me wait.

Fortunately she knew me well and had decided to tell me, "Just a little further, I promise," she replied, reaching one hand out to me so she could hold my hand. She didn't really answer my question but it was enough, I watched the city move passed us as we continued to drive, the lights all blurred together in flashes, until I felt the cars momentum slow, and then stop. "Wait here for a little bit okay," Christen told me while jumping out of the car.

My curiosity had reached another height, where was she going? I watched he walk away into a store, that didn't really have much labelling on it so I had no idea what it was. I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever until she reappeared with a red cloth bag. She opened up the door and climbed back in, oh it smelt good. "What do you have?" I asked, trying to peak into the bag.

"Dinner, here," she replied, placing the bag on my lap, it was warm, and a little heavier than I had expected. "It's hard going out places and not being able to sit with you properly, so we're having dinner at the park," She elaborated, swinging the car out of park and heading back onto the road. 

I loved the idea, I loved being around her and I hated hiding us, but people were so crazy, they'd stalk us around and comment all over social media, so it was best to keep as quiet as possible. We eventually arrived at a lit park, there was a walkway lined with little street lamps, it was quite a nice little area. I followed Christen from the car and out into the grassy park, the air was nice, not too hot but not too cold either.

Christen found a little flat piece of grass and chucked down a blanket that she had retrieved from the boot of the car. She sat on the ground and motioned me to join her, I didn't object to her request, I sat beside her and handed her the bag. She opened it and placed it's contents on the mat, "I got Thai take out cause I knew you were craving it," she said, I liked how thoughtful the gesture was, she always remembered the littlest of things.

We ate mostly in silence, not because we had nothing to say, it was just nice to appreciate someone's company. After we finished Christen laid down on her back to look at the stars shining in the sky, I joined her, using her chest as a pillow and looking up toward the sky as well. I wondered what it was like up there, was it full of life and light? Or just dark and endless?

The more I stared the more I wondered, it was surreal, I was momentarily jealous of all the astronauts who got to experience it in its entirety. "Tobin?" Christen finally asked, her chest had begin to rise and fall a little quicker.

I flipped around so I could face her, "Yeah babe?" I returned, lifting a hand up to run my hand through her hair. 

"I love you," She responded, grabbing the hand that was in her hair and interlacing our fingers.

"I know, I love you too," I told her, shifting myself up so I could kiss her gently. I moved away and fell back into her chest. She held me tight as we stayed silent in the darkness for little longer.