Terminal

Date

Date
I don't like that word. A date is a time of month not a thing you do with someone you're interested in. By the rules,with Josh. But by my rules, we were just out for coffee. We were sitting in one of the booths in the corner talking right where we left off when we were at the bar. "Do you mind me asking, what's that bruise from?" he points to my upper arm. "Oh, that's from you hugging me" I giggle like a little girl. "Oh I'm so sorry!" He apologizes sincerely. "I didn't know I hugged you that tight" He reaches across the table to take my hand. "No I like your hugs, I just bruise easily" I reassure him, giving his hand a squeeze. "Are you sure?" He asks again. "Positive" I send a smile his way. His lips perk up into a smile and he flips our hands over so he's holding mine. "You know what?" he says "What?" I stare at his brown eyes. I watch as they twinkle while he talks and I can't help but smile. "I don't remember you being that short last night" I roll my eyes, unable to stop smiling. "I had heels on" I answer before sipping at my hot chocolate. "Well honestly, I like you better without heels. Short is cute" I feel my face heat up and I use my hands to cover my cheeks. "You're adorable when you blush" He says, causing me to blush harder. "Stop" I plead with a smile plastered to my face. "It's the truth. You have the most beautiful eyes. And your lips, God, I can't stop staring at your lips" I watch as he pulls his bottom lip between his teeth as he pauses. "And your personality, it's perfect. You're just perfect in every way" I pull my hand out of his and rub it on my jeans. "Believe me, I'm not perfect. I'm nowhere near perfect actually" I lick my lips nervously. I don't want him to find out about my cancer because he might not want to see me again. It's a big thing to wrap your head around and it might scare him away. I don't want that to happen. I really like him and I've only known him not even two full days, but they feel like months. "Olivia?" he touches my arm gently. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something. What were you saying?" He chuckles a bit before answering. "It's fine. I was just wondering if you would want to go to dinner tomorrow night. Wherever you would like, anywhere" I smile at him across the table. He has such a childish face which makes him adorable. And the way his eyes squint when he smiles is even better. "I would love that. And I don't want to choose, you decide" I leave it up to him because I get nervous when I have to choose. "Do you like Italian?" He suggests. "I love Italian" "Okay, Italian it is" I shake my head "Only if you like Italian" He reaches for my hand again. "I like Italian. And if I didn't, I would like it for you" I roll my eyes and blush, yet again. I feel like a child when I'm with him and I love it.

After dinner the next night
"Would you like to go anywhere else?" he offers "I love listening to the ocean waves but I hate the beach" I say as we walk hand in hand back to Josh's truck. "I have a solution to that" He walks me to the passenger side and helps me in. He walks quickly to the drivers' side and climbs in. He starts his car and starts driving down the road. "Where are we going?" I ask quietly. Josh's hand was resting on the center console and I decided to grab it, wanting to feel closer to him. He gives my hand a gentle squeeze. I look over at him and see a smile playing on his lips. "Where are you taking me?" I ask again, smiling. "I'm making your dreams come true" He looks over at me briefly, giving me a small smile. I look down at my lap and smile. I watch as the buildings fly by. "You're fucking gorgeous" Josh's raspy voice breaks the silence. I didn't know what to say so I just squeezed his hand. "You don't like compliments do you?" He assumes. "It's not that I don't like them, believe me, I do. It's just there's always this voice saying the opposite of what you say. And I don't believe compliments all the time. Yeah, I appreciate them I just don't always believe them." "Well you have every right to believe them. And if you let me stick around, I will make sure you beat that voice in your head. I can promise you that" he moves his hand to my thigh. Such an innocent move, yet my stomach filled with butterflies. I rest my hand on top of his. "Stop" I whisper. "Stop what?" he asks, looking over at me. "Stop making me fall for you" I mumble, staring straight ahead. I glance over at him and see the biggest smile on his face yet.

"I can't believe you drove all this way just for me" Josh drove over a half an hour to take me to the beach to listen to the waves. He opened his tailgate and we were lying in the bed of his truck. "You even carried me back here so I didn't get sandy, and you hate sand" I point out. "You hate it too. And there isn't anything I won't do for you" I roll my eyes and turn on my side to face him. My hip was digging into the cold hard bed of the truck but I didn't care. "You're such a dork" I poke his nose and he scrunches his face in the most adorable way possible. "If I'm a dork, can I at least be your dork?" I feel the butterflies rise in my stomach. "Of course" A few minutes of silence pass before I ask a question. "When you said you could help me beat the voice in my head, what did you mean?" He licks his lips before answering. "Well my best friend Tyler has these voices that always say he's not good enough. And I've learned how to help with it. And like I said, if you keep me around, I promise I will do everything in my power to help you" He cups my face before kissing the tip of my nose. When he pulls away, his cheeks are rosy red. "What are you doing tomorrow?"