Read My Lips

Chapter Seven

Christina and Dean walked among the stands, side by side, arms brushing against each other, hands never interlocking as they looked about. A stand caught Christina's eyes and she found herself walking towards it, leaving Dean who didn't notice her absence. At the stand was a table with six bottles stacked on top of each other. Three on the bottom, two in the middle and one at the top. There were four groups of three baseballs on the table closest to Christina. The man operating the game smiled.
"Hi," he greeted. Christina looked about the stand seeing huge and fluffy pandas, teddy bears, unicorns, and monkeys. She wanted one so bad, but she couldn't throw a ball to save her life. It's times like this where she wished she would've taken her brother's offer at helping her with sports. Fingers snapped in her face. "Miss," the man said. Christina gave him an apologetic smile. "Wanna play?" he asked making her pout. She shook her head.
"I'll play," Dean said, walking up behind her. He tapped her shoulder and she turned to him smiling. "I'm gonna play for you," Dean told her pointing to the game.
"$5," the man said and Dean gave him the money. He gripped a baseball tightly in his hand and threw it with so much force that one of the bottles hit the poor man in the head. Christina cringed before a giggle escaped her lips. Dean turned to her and grinned widely. This is the first time he's heard her make a sound and her laugh was so adorable. Christina covered her mouth, embarrassed. She though her giggle probably sounded weird. Once the game man recuperated he picked up the six bottles that Dean had knocked down with ease.
"What prize would you like?" he asked, gesturing to the oversized stuffed animals. Christina looked up and pointed to one of the pandas. The man retrieved the panda and gave it to Christina. She nodded a thank you in Dean's direction, hugging the panda to her chest. It was bigger than her. "Would you like to play again, sir?" the man asked his voice cracking a little from fear. He didn't want to take another bottle to the head which was sure to happen if Dean threw again. Dean laughed before patting the man on the shoulder and shaking his head. The man closed his eyes in relief. "Enjoy the carnival." They set off again with a new member. Dean couldn't help but chuckle as Christina wrapped her arms around the panda's neck and hugged it tightly. She looked like a little kid. Christina looked around and spotted a pie stand. She looked up at Dean and smiled. Him being a wrestler meant he strayed away from sweets, but it wouldn't hurt if he made an exception this one time. She grabbed his hand and let him over. They were greeted by an old lady who looked to be in her 50s with a kind face and periwinkle blue eyes. "Hello," she greeted, "What would you like?" Dean didn't really think it was a good idea to be there. He remembered when his grandmother used to bake the most delicious pies, but she was not who she claimed to be:

"Grandma," Dean whined. It was Thanksgiving and 8 year old Dean was messing with a sweet potato pie that was cooling on the rack by the stovetop. "When can we eat that?" he asked pointing to the pie. His grandma chuckled and shook her head. "This one's special and it's for grandpa," she said the last part in a evil way, but Dean was so hungry that he didn't bother to notice his grandma's tone. "Why does grandpa get a whole pie?" he whined. His grandma shook her head and ushered him out of the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in a minute," his grandma assured.

After dinner Dean's grandma cleared her throat and looked at her husband. "Gerald," she said sweetly, "would you follow me into the kitchen." Dean's grandfather rolled his eyes and reluctantly got up. "I think something's up," he whispered into Dean's ear once his grandma disappeared into the kitchen. "Why do you say that?" Dean asked. "If you just came from an argument with your woman and all of a sudden she's nice to you means that something bad is gonna happen." His grandpa shook his head. "Pray for me." He disappeared into the kitchen as well. Nosy Dean walked up to the kitchen door and pressed his ear against it. "What do you want?" his grandpa asked. "I made a pie for you," his grandma replied politely. "I want you to taste it, I added something special and I wanted to know if it tasted right." There was silence for a few moments. "How come you didn't taste it?" his grandpa questioned suspiciously. "I wanted you to be the first." Dean heard one of the draws being opened and he suspected a fork being taken out. "Am I supposed to taste bitter almonds?" his grandpa asked with a full mouth. "Yep," his grandma answered excitedly and next thing you know there's a thud that makes Dean jump out of his skin. "Shame," his grandma muttered, "Stubbornness can get you into trouble Gerald." Dean heard footsteps approach the door and he wasn't fast enough to get up off the floor. "Dean Ambrose what do you think you're doing young man?" his grandma asked with one of her hands on her hips. Dean was at a lost for words. He peeked around his grandma into the kitchen. He could only see his grandpa's feet while the rest of him was being covered by the island in the middle of the kitchen. "What happened to Grandpa?" Dean asked. His grandma smiled and placed both of her hands on either of his shoulders. "Something that should've happened a long time ago."

Dean shivered as he came back to the present time. Christina was staring hard at the menu. Ever since that day Dean refused to let a piece of pie touch his lips. As he took a closer look at the elderly lady she looked a little like his grandma. She had a kind face, but his grandma's eyes were an emerald green. Christina tapped Dean on the chest and pointed to the pumpkin pie before looking up at him, her eyes pleading. Dean shut his eyes and sighed. He ordered a piece of the pumpkin pie and they sat down on a nearby bench. Christina cut off a piece and lifted it up to Dean's mouth. He leaned back a little making Christina frown. He gave her a sheepish smile before slowly eating the piece. He sighed in relief that it didn't taste like bitter almonds and Christina giggled a little. She guessed that Dean was relieved because the piece of pie didn't dramatically make him fat from one bite. Wrestlers are so serious about their body, a little too serious. They finished eating and threw their trash away. Christina picked up the panda from the bench and they continued walking. She pointed to the big tent, curious as to what was inside. The inside of the tent was even bigger than what it looked like from the outside. It was actually a type of clothing store. There were sweaters representing the Thanksgiving colors, boots in all fabrics and colors. Christina spotted an orange see through scarf and gave Dean the panda, wrapping it around her neck. She turned to him as if asking how she looked. Dean thought she looked beautiful in anything she wore and gave her a smile.

About an hour later, Dean walked out of the tent with Christina, who was holding her panda, propped up on his shoulder. He decided to draw her away from the commotion of the main area and walked out to the cornfields. "Corn Maze," the white sign read pointing to the entrance. Dean set Christina down and presented the maze to her. It looked intimidating up close. She felt as if she would get lost forever with no one being able to find her. She started to back up into Dean, shaking her head. He turned her around and looked dead into her eyes. "It's okay," he assured, "I'll be right next to you, okay?" She nodded and wrapped one of her arms around his, walking into the entrance of the maze.