FEAR ▷ Denis Stoff

nine

It was around half past one when we got back to Grandma's house. Everyone was asleep and it was storming even harder than before. Kassidy said goodnight and went to her room. Denis and I sat in the kitchen talking for a little bit.

"You should just stay here for the night.
I don't want you to get caught in the storm." I looked at him.

"Inviting me to stay the night, eh? Score." He shuffled around.

I laughed quietly and led him to my room.

"I have to go change." I informed him, grabbing a hoodie and some leggings from my bag.

He nodded and sat on the bed. I walked into the bathroom and changed. My hair looked terrible and I had some bags under my eyes. All I wanted to do was go to sleep at this point.

Denis was laying on the bed when I walked back into the room after brushing my teeth and washing my face off. I shut off the light and climbed in next to him. We adjusted ourselves until I was laying slightly on him with his arm around my waist.

I listened to the rain fall against the roof until I slowly drifted to sleep.

***

After having a dream that I had turned into a dog, I woke up. During the night, Denis must've pushed me off the bed. I was laying on my side and he was stretched out on the bed. His hand was hanging over the edge.

I shook my head a little and stood up. After putting my hair into a braid, I headed downstairs and was greeted by my father. He gave me a look that I couldn't decipher what it was.

"Kassidy said that man slept over. Did he?" He asked.

"Denis?" He nodded, "Yeah he did."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's just because it was storming out and I didn't want him to get caught in it. Nothing happened. We just slept." I continued.

My father nodded after a while and left me standing there. I laughed a little before grabbing some coffee and sitting down at the table.

Denis came down ten minutes after the encounter with my father. He took a seat next to me.

"That was probably one of the best nights of sleep I've had." He smiled, looking at me.

"You pushed me off the bed, so I assumed it was." I laughed.

"I did? Oh shit. I'm sorry shorty." Denis apologized.

"Don't sweat it. I just broke my ankle. Other than that, I'm fine." I joked.

"I'll break mine for you then." He announced.

We both started laughing.

"No but really, it was a great sleep and I'm glad that you were next to me through the majority of it."

"Stop." I groaned.

"Stop what?"

"You're making me even more sad that I have to leave in a couple days. I don't want to leave you."

A silence fell upon us. I think Denis had forgotten that I lived in America. He turned and pulled me onto his lap. I rested my head on his shoulder as he started playing with my fingers. The only noise throughout the house was the TV playing in the other room.

"I'm gonna miss you." He finally said, his voice almost silent.

"I'm gonna miss you too." I sighed.

"We can't be sad, right then? We have to make this a great two days."

I nodded and stood up.

"What're we doing today?" I asked.

"Let's go fuck around with the guys." He smiled and grabbed his keys that were laying on the counter.

***

Denis and I arrived at their hotel around noon and Ben was already hammered. Ciara was asleep and everyone was just very hyper.

After about ten minutes of being there, Ben had fallen asleep in the bathroom whilst on the toliet. We didn't really know what to do. The guys wanted to tie his hands and feet together and throw him in the hallway, but Brandi and I stopped them. Ciara was still sleeping and no one wanted to wake her up.

Denis and I decided against fucking with the guys because of the situation with Ben. Eventually he woke up and he went right back to sleep as soon as he laid down on the bed. It was quite an eventful day.

***

The following day was my last day here. Denis had dragged me back to his apartment.

"What's on the agenda today?" I asked him.

We had been sitting on the couch in silence.

"Movie day. I thought it was something perfect to end your trip." He smiled sadly.

I started to tear up knowing that later tonight, I had to catch a flight back to America. Away from Ukraine. Away from Denis.

"Don't cry, darling. I tour there a lot and I can always visit." Denis cupped my cheek in his fairly large hand.

"Let's watch some movies." I sniffled and smiled at him.

That's exactly what we did for twelve straight hours. I may have had fallen asleep for a couple hours, but Denis didn't seem to mind. I had gotten the call I was dreading minutes earlier. It was my mother telling me that I had to be at the airport in twenty minutes. Luckily, it was just about that time away from his apartments.

"When I come tour there, we're gonna have an eventful day. Alright, baby?" Denis squeezed my hand as we walked out of the apartments.

My cheeks burned at the name.

"I'm holding you to this." I smiled.

"You'd better."

We got into the car and he pulled out. The ride was silent. We just held hands and listened to the radio on low volume. It ended all too soon and before I knew it, the car had stopped and I knew it was going to be some of the last couple minutes I would get to spend with Denis.

We both got out of the car and he walked me to the gate where the flight would be announced any minute.

Almost on cue, it was called. Denis looked down at me with a slightly painful expression on his face. I threw my arms around his waist and he held me against his chest.

"I'm going to miss you so much." I mumbled in his shirt.

"I'm gonna miss you too, shorty. Remember what I said though. Alright? I'll be hugging you again before you know it."

I tore myself away from him and gave him one last look. I turned to leave, but Denis grabbed my arm and spun me back around.

"Fuck it." He mumbled and pressed his lips against mine.

I let my tears fall as he pulled away. He seemed to be crying as well.

"See you later, shorty." Denis patted my head.

"Back to you, Hansel." I nodded and walked to my flight.