A Hotter Touch, A Better F... Than Any Girl You'll Ever Meet

Chapter 17

When we re-entered the bus I realized I was shaking with cold. My teeth were practically chattering and my cold, wet clothes stuck to my body. "I have to go change," I muttered to Brendon, who in turn gave me a nod and let my hand go before turning to Pete, probably to sort out the fact that he wasn't leaving after all.

I more or less ran into the bunkroom, stripped out of my clothes and hurriedly threw them in Brendon's bunk, which wasn't exactly being used anymore. Then I found some random clothes from my bag and put them on, making sure to zip the hoodie all the way up and keep the hood up to, at the very least, create an illusion of warmth.

I grabbed a towel out of Brendon's bag and went back out into the lounge, handing it to him.

He quickly gave me a grateful smile and started trying to get dry.

I liked the atmosphere that was in the bus by then. The tension was gone, replaced by relief. Nobody was really expecting anything of me anymore.

I spotted my cigarettes on the table and smiled slightly, suddenly remembering the pledge I'd made myself a while earlier. I picked them up off the table and tossed them at Spencer. "I owed you around half a pack, right?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Quitting?"

I nodded.

He still looked confused.

"Now seems like a good time," I explained vaguely, shrugging my shoulders.

Now everybody's attention was more or less on me. Not my favorite thing.

I sighed. I always had to explain myself, didn't I? "I promised myself that once I got the mess that I liked to call a mind sorted out, I'd quit smoking. There you have it."

I felt a hand grip mine and squeeze lightly before I looked up to meet Brendon's gaze.

His smile was happy and supportive and I found myself smiling back without even remembering having decided to smile. His happiness was simply contagious.

Who am I kidding? I was over the roof myself.

Matt was the first one to catch on and I saw a smile run over his face as well. "I'm guessing congratulations are in order?" he asked, apparently holding back a little laugh as if he'd known all along that this was going to happen. Then again, he was Matt. He probably had.

I felt myself flush at that comment, though.

"Ehrm, nothing's official," Brendon muttered from next to me and as I looked back at him I realized that once again there was a hint of red to his cheeks.

I also realized that I was the one who should be making it official. I'd already put Brendon through so much more shit than he deserved and by asking him out or whatever I'd be making up for a bit of it by showing that this really was what I wanted. I felt my blush deepen. Then I cleared my throat lightly. "I really didn't want to do this in front of people," I muttered, looking down at my shoes slightly. I felt like a fucking grade-schooler! "Butwillyoubemyboyfriend?"

He laughed at the way I was fumbling around with my words, but thankfully didn't ask me to repeat myself. Instead he leaned in a bit and pressed a peck against my lips before resting his forehead against mine. "Yes," he whispered.

I felt my lips tuck into another involuntary smile and never in my life had I felt that fucking dorky.

And then I heard Pete giggling behind us. Giggling! Thanks Pete, I don’t think I was feeling awkward enough already either…! Gah!

My blush deepened even more although I honestly hadn't thought that would be possible.

Brendon chuckled a bit as he pulled me into a hug, making me hide my face in his neck.