SEVENTEEN | Imagines

Vernon (IV)

Vernon

Your lips were parted in awe as you took in the scene before you

. . .

You had been holed up at home for the past few weeks for a few reasons. The most pressing reason would be your mountain of readings, assignments, and essays you were quite behind in. The stress was really getting to you and the dropping temperature only made it worse.

As you continued to ponder the various components of your final product, you ignore the phone that had been vibrating constantly. You were much too distracted to remember the conversation you shared with Vernon a week ago. Never mind that he had reminded you every day after that.

. . .

You were a frazzled mess, from your head down to your toes. When Vernon saw you, he could immediately tell that you had been running your fingers repeatedly through your hair, mussing it up and making it look a lot worse than it actually was. But your eyes still held the familiar glow that was ever present for him.

He reached for you, taking your tired frame and protecting it with him while his fingers tried to sort out your mussed-up hair. His heart felt sore looking at how stressed out you looked, with dark bruises beneath your eyes.

"You're not holding up," he stated, it was clear that you overwhelmed and/or frustrated by something, and he felt terrible that he couldn't help. "Are you sure I can't help?"

You nodded tiredly against his shoulder, "Thank you love, but I just can't seem to get my work and research to coalesce into a thesis that I can build my paper on. And I really want to, I know the general direction, but..." you end with a sigh.

Vernon was still smoothing your hair down when he chuckled, "I guess this would be a bad time to remind you that you had promised that you would have fun with me today?" Although he felt disappointed that you couldn't spend time with him, he didn't want you to feel worried while you were supposed to have fun.

You pause for a moment before making up your mind, "Nope, I'm tired of staring at my laptop, papers, and work. Take me to have fun today." And the smile you beam at him is so wonderfully adorable that he can't resist kissing you on the cheek.

"Alright then," your good mood is clearly contagious because Vernon's lips were now also lifted in a matching grin, "Go and put on some warm clothes, I'll wait here."

You leave with a giddiness in your chest, the same excitement as when he had first asked you out. As you hurriedly yanked some warmer clothes on (as your pajamas weren't exactly built for the autumn chill) and a brush through your hair, you wonder if you had forgotten something.

But that could wait, you decided as you slipped your hand into Vernon's waiting one. You forgot just how lovely it felt to have his fingers intertwined with yours, and it seemed the weekful of stress was just a dream.

. . .

It was clear you were exhausted, Vernon chuckled as he glanced at your gently slumbering form. Your head was nestled into the seat adorably as he drove the two of you to the destination that he had planned weeks in advance.

His heart felt warm, as it usually was when it concerned you, and he felt happier at this moment than any other. With the gentle crooning of a song on the radio melding into your soft breaths, Vernon drove on with a silly smile on his lips.

. . .

He almost felt bad when he roused you from your slumber, but your aura had already begun to recover from what a week of non-stop work had done to you. Your eyes had begun to glimmer and he could feel the extra bounce in your steps.

"Where are we?" You asked as an afterthought, curious about what your surroundings were. The late fall had transformed the once lush green into vibrant hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns.

Vernon chuckled, wrapping your hand in his, "That's for me to know, and you to... not know." Here he gave you a cheesy wink while you rolled your eyes in repose. However, your retort was cut short when the chilly wind from the morning had picked up once more. You shivered.

You weren't exactly wearing the right clothes for this current weather; your coat was light and did little to block the wind. But thankfully, you hadn't left the car for more than ten seconds, so your boyfriend hurriedly rushed back and dug through the trunk for a coat or something.

In no time at all, you were tucked into one of Vernon's warm sweaters and you couldn't help but to take a little whiff of his comforting scent. A scent that reminded you of chocolate-hued eyes and sweeter-than-chocolate kisses. You had missed it, you realized with sudden clarity, more than you thought it had.

Flooded with warmth and affection for this boy, you squeeze his hand that was still wrapped around yours. He turns to look at you in question, but you only grin wider and bump your shoulder playfully against his.

"What?" Vernon asks, wondering what has gotten you into this mood that was a 180from the one he had picked you up in.

You giggle, heart completely content. "Nothing."

. . .

As the pair of you pick your way through the underbrush of the forest, you praise yourself for having the foresight to wear some functional boots. You wondered where Vernon was dragging you off to, but the dork kept claiming it was a secret. To be honest, you didn't really mind where he was taking you simply because his presence would make many intolerable things tolerable.

Besides, this was fun. You smother a bout of laughter as you watch a branch whip his forehead quite aggressively. (But in all honesty, he fared much better than you.)

. . .

When you finally reached the outcropping, it had already become quite late. The sun had begun to dip behind the horizon and the clouds were painted with all shades of red, yellow, and everything in between.

You stand as close to the edge as possible to take in the sight of the town, lights starting to flicker open as the night encroached into the day. You feel Vernon tug at your arm and you see him sitting, with a place for you waiting in his arms.

"Thank you," you whisper softly into his neck when you tuck yourself into his embrace, "I'm so lucky to have you."

Vernon smiles against your hair and gently places a kiss on the top of your head. "You are more than welcome, and to be honest, I'm the one who's lucky to have you. Where else am I going to find such a hardworking girlfriend?"

"Let's not get into this right now," you shake your head slightly, amusement coloured in your voice. "But really, I feel like you know me better than myself. This was exactly what I needed."

There was a silence as you waited for him to say something, as he seemed to be struggling to actually say it. You had a feeling it had to do with this trip that he had planned so well in advance.

"We've been dating for a while now," Vernon's voice was a little bit choked and nervous, "and so I was wondering if you would think, consider maybe, possibly-"

You gently smooth a hand onto his cheek, trying to calm him down while fighting down the biggest smile that threatened to burst forth, "Deep breath."

You waited as his eyes shut for a moment before refocusing on you with startling intensity, "I would like to make a promise to you. I promise to work hard these coming years, not just for myself, but for you. I can't really picture a future without you, so that's the future I'm going to working towards." A brilliant red bloomed on Vernon's cheeks as he continued, "That's how I feel, I don't expect you to promise me anything-"

You cut him off again, but this time with a kiss that was filled with the indescribable joy that was brimming from your soul. "I promise you that and more, I want my future to be indistinguishable from our future."

As the dusk melted away to reveal night, two figures shared one more lingering kiss before leaving the tiny cliff that would mark the promise they made and kept for the rest of their lives. 

. . . 

a/n hei