The Incredible League of Goth Pizza Haters (RH)

Part 60

---Sylvia---

"Hey," I woke up to a soft voice by my ear and a hand rubbing my back, "Are you awake? Via?"

"I am now." I murmured and rolled over. Ricky was there, eyeing me happily.

"It's Valentine's Day." a few days had passed since the door shaking incident at 2 am.

"It is?" I asked. I knew it was. He'd started packing yesterday.

"Mhm," he kissed the exposed part of my shoulder, then my neck and cheek.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

"You too." Instead of getting each other individual presents we'd just decided to put our money together for one really nice dinner in the more city like part of Scranton. The restaurant we'd made a reservation at was a bit of a drive but it was fancy as hell and I'd never been anywhere more prestigious than Red Lobster. He went downstairs and made food while I laid in bed on my phone for a while. When I did finally come down Balz had already left to go visit Ryan Ashley and Ricky was stationed in the living room.

"So," I said, walking in and sitting down next to him, "What're we doing today? Before dinner."

"Well, we could see a movie? Try some bookstores... We could spend more time here if you want. We're alone, so..." He took a forkful of food into his mouth. The idea of maybe a movie and some bookstores sounded nice. As much as I loved spending time with him in the house, I liked the idea of going out somewhere.

"We could try the new bookstore," I recommended and he nodded.

"Good, I have a few things I wanted to look for there."

An hour or so later we were both dressed and ready. We said goodbye to the cats and got into his car. He turned on some AFI and I let my thoughts wander weightlessly. Neither of us spoke, I think we were just enjoying the comfortable silence. At one point he reached his hand over and grasped mine. Out of habit, my thumb began to trace small circles on his hand.

Pulling into the parking lot of an outlet, he turned off the speakers and spoke for the first time since we got into the car, "You like Stephen King, right?"

"In all honesty, I haven't read a lot of his stuff. I don't think I'm necessarily a huge fan of his writing style, though."

"Woah, really? Are you kidding?"

"Like I said, haven't read a lot of his stuff."

"Well, by the time I get back from tour," he unbuckled his seatbelt, "You'd better have read some of his short stories, at least. I'll lend you some of the ones I already have."

"Okay," We left the car and began walking on the sidewalk that ran alongside all the shops. "There's a Hot Topic here," I mused.

"You want to stop by?"

"Afterwards, yeah. I get a lot of my dresses there and I have some coupons." we entered the bookstore, the overhead bell chiming in our arrival. Ricky drifted straight towards the horror section while I gravitated around and eventually ended up standing beside him. He already had a handful of books in his arms and when he saw me he grinned and handed me them so he could start skimming the others.

"You're getting all of these?"

"Of course not, but there's a selection process." We were there for a good twenty minutes so he could properly decide which three goddamn books he was going to leave with. He got a discount and decided to throw in a fourth. I'd never met anyone who loved to read so much.

I simply settled on a book by an author I'd never heard of because it looked interesting.

We walked out and Hot Topic was only a few stores down. Entering, we were greeted by Marilyn Manson's voice on the speakers and a guy with green hair at the counter. Rows of band merch lined the walls and from just the entrance I could see the leggings and piercings and dresses all waiting for me. God bless.