Sweetener | Judd Birch

6 | 24/7

JUDD'S HAND GRIPPED onto my wrist as we dashed across the lawn towards Lee's white Ute. "Lee's a dumbass, he forgot to lock the car door after picking me up. Oh and I took his keys." He explains, holding up a silver key chain attached with a few keys proudly.
A mischievous smirk plasters his lips, my smile grows at his cheekiness. He lets go of my wrist.

"Wow Judd, you're so wild." I chirp, flashing a grin. I felt a surge of excitement when around Judd, curious as to where we were heading.

"Get in the car before Lee sees." Judd hushed, walking over to the drivers side, I briskly climbed onto the passenger seat.

~~~

"JUDD YOU DICKHEAD!" Lee wails, flailing his arms about as Judd drives out of the drive way. A giggle rips from my throat upon Judd's reaction, he stuck his arm out and flipped the middle finger towards Lee. "Fuck off, cunt."

It was Judd's wild idea to leave the party/gatho and head somewhere else, he didn't have his car with him at the moment because he was suppose to be staying over at Lee's-- instead he stole Lee's car, taking me with him to an unknown destination.

"Oh my goodness Judd! Lee is so pissed!" I say breathlessly, in between laughs.

A deep chuckle escaped from his lips. "He'll be fine. Lee knows how fucked up I can be."

"So where are we going now?"

"There's this diner that opens 24/7. " He explains, eyes glued onto the road and hands gripped onto the stirring wheel. I nod, looking in front of me, the deary neighbourhood engulfed over us while we drove by into the night. We both fell into an comfortable silence, simple enjoying each other's presence.

Lee's car felt foreign, the longer I sat in it and I felt the urge to switch on the radio but was unsure how. I remembered how Judd hated driving in silence but he seemed calm, instead I pulled down the window of the car, the cold night air bit my face and harsh wind blew my hair.

The simplicity of this moment gave my stomach a sudden muted thrill, Judd driving and the way his features looked at peaceful, different from his usual stoic facial expression and the pure thought of how I was going to spend the rest of my night with him made me feel at ease. I hope he felt the same way as well.

~~~

The golden bell rang above our heads as we stepped inside. "So what are we ordering?" I asked, my eyes skittering across the dainty diner, it was neon and retro with only a few lone souls dining in. There was a waitress with cherry red hair eased into a bun, wiping down a table.

"We could share a bowl of fries and if you want, a milkshake, it's really good here." He explains, gesturing over to a booth at the back. "Let's sit over there."

I follow him suit, "Oh, I didn't bring any money. I only have my phone with me."

"It's fine. I'll pay." He says, sliding into a seat and I sat opposite of him. I've come to a realisation at how sweet Judd had become, sure he had his aggressive moments but overall he has been nicer towards me.

"Thanks Judd and the fries does sound nice."

The waiter stops by at our booth, a notepad in hand. "How may I help you?" She asks politely with a cheerful smile but the dark circles underneath her eyes didn't mask her facade very well, I could tell how tired she must've been.

Judd glances down at the menu, "A bowl of steak-cut fries and two milkshakes." He says.

The cherry-red-haired waiter pauses to write down the order before glancing up back at us again. "What flavour?"

"Vanilla for me." Judd says, the waiter averts her gaze towards me.

"(Favourite flavour) please. Thank you."

"No problem, coming right up." She says before sauntering away. I picked up and fiddled with a packet of sugar.

"I don't know anything about you." Judd says, after a while. I place down the satchet of sugar.
"You've been coming over to our place since the start of high school and yet, I know nothing about you."

"What's there to know? Are you going to ask me what I like and stuff?"

"No idiot, " he says playfully. "Small talk is for losers, I want to really get to know you--" The raven haired takes a breath, rewording the question. "What are you afraid of? What's one thing you won't ever admit to anyone? What keeps you up all night?" He finishes, laying back causally.

I straighten my posture, slightly curious as to why Judd wanted to get to know me but nevertheless I was delighted. "Honestly, there's a lot but it's hard to put it into words. . ."
"Boys." I chirp, plastering a cheeky grin. "They keep me up all night."

Judd snorts, glancing away at my insignificant response. I assumed he wanted me to open up to him, I never thought Judd would be interested in talking about feelings. Let alone mine.

"What about you, Judd?" I wonder on what keeps him up all night.

He looks my way, making brief eye contact "I think yo-", he pauses and averts his gaze,
"-never mind, talking about feelings is so lame."

I frown slightly at his remark, realising at how boys don't often communicate on how they feel and usually bottle up their emotions, purely because they don't want to disrupt their masculinity. Boys deserve to talk about their feelings too.

In that moment the waitress came over, armed with our food in hand and my mouth practically waters in sight.

She carefully places the bowl of fries, drinks & bill down before quickly saying an, 'enjoy!'

I take a sip out of my beverage, the sweetness melts onto my tongue. We later then fell into a long conversation, all laced with light flirting.

~~~

"That was nice. Thanks." I softy say, looking up at him. In return, he fixes himself a small smile. It made my stomach do flips as I inhaled sharply, the cool night air bites my skin, I shivered. "Let's get in the car." He murmurs, hands deep into his pocket while we made our way towards the car.

Inside the car made no difference in temperature, it was equally as cold as it was outside. I briskly checked the time, it was two in the morning and I still felt wide awake. I glanced over at Judd and saw the dark circles under his eyes as he sat at the drivers seat, running his fingers through his dark hair, the blue tips of his locks looked as if it was fading in colour under the moonlight.

Judd looks my way, he knew I was staring but instead of responding with his usual mean remarks, he looks back. A blush dusts my cheeks as we held eye contact.

"Should I drop you off or you want to head back to my place?" He says.

I inhaled sharply, my heart racing as our faces grew closer towards each other. This moment felt all too familiar and I couldn't figure out why. My thoughts were cut off when his lips met mine, I never knew how addictive his kiss was. (--and I never knew how much regret I would feel afterwards.)

~~~
[A/n; Soo ty for reading once again and I've also realised at how much car scenes there are? Yikeessss. ]

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