Red

30

I felt a wave of relief wash over me when he told me he was single. I don't even know why I cared so much. Van was five years older than me, and I didn't even like him like that. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?" I ask, making the smirk return to his face and the heat return to my face.

"Is this an interrogation?" Van chuckles. He was clearly amused with my interest in his personal life.

I shake my head. "Sorry," I say, feeling sheepish.

"Don't apologize. I'm just messing around with you," Van says. "Lift your head up for me some more. I don't like it when you're hiding." He pats the side of my head, encouraging me to look up.

I shake my head and wrap my arms around my legs tighter, trying to prepare myself for Van's persistence to get me to do what he says. I completely know that he will get what he wants from me, he always does.

"Tris," he drags out my name in a deep voice while twirling the ends of my hair between his pointer and middle finger. I move my eyes up to his, still keeping the rest of my face covered, and when his eyes meet mine, he raises his eyebrows. "Why are you hiding, darlin?"

"I don't know," I mumble.

"You're feeling shy?" He asks me, a small smirk forming on his mouth.

I nod my head. I wanted to look away from Van's eyes, but I couldn't.

"And what did I say about being shy?" He leans a little closer to me and then answers his own question. "I said you have no reason to be shy around me. I'm never going to stop looking after you, no matter what you say or do."

I stay there, not moving. If I hadn't asked any questions, I wouldn't be in this situation right now.

"Tris, do not make this harder on yourself. You don't want me to have to punish you for not listening, right?" Van says. He was still teasing me, but I could tell there was seriousness in his voice, too.

I nod my head. I just had to wait until my cheeks weren't so hot before I move my arms away.

Van waits a moment, probably expecting me to do as he says. But I couldn't, not just yet. "I'm not asking you again," Van says, his voice losing all sense of teasing and lightheartedness that previously was there. He places his hand on my waist under my shirt, holding me tightly.

"If you can't follow simple rules like these, how am I supposed to allow you more freedom? I know that's what you want, but right now, you're not showing that's what you deserve," Van explains to me. His finger traces circles lightly over my skin, sending a shiver up my spine.

I finally stop hiding. Van was right. I needed to show him that I was good, that I was obedient to him, if I wanted to gain his trust and more freedom. I move my arm to my side and move my legs down to the floor. My eyes busily scan the floor of the plane for anything to focus on, anything except Van.

"Good girl," he praises me. "Now, you get your answer. Yes, I did have a girlfriend. We broke up a while ago."

I nod my head, not feeling up to asking him any more questions, though I still had a thousand. Like, how long was their relationship? What did she look like? How old was she?

"I can see that you're upset, love," Van tells me as he shifts closer to me. "Thats never my goal. I never want to upset you."

"I'm not upset," I shake my head as I mumble in a clearly upset voice.

Van smirks. "Mhm," he hums and leans over, kissing my forehead. "Right," he winks at me as he pulls away.

I don't look at him. "Tris," he says my name, pausing to wait for the response that I don't give him. "Alright, listen to me. I know your upset. Let's not deny that."

He lifts me up by the waist and sets me down on his lap. My legs were on either side of him and his hands rest on my upper thighs.

"Why do I act the way I act?" Van asks me the question that he's told me the answer to a million times.

"Because you want to protect me," I whisper, feeling dumb for getting made because he was caring for me.

"That's right," Van says. "Please don't be mad at me for that. I know it may not be the perfect way to deal with things, but I'm trying to figure it out." His voice was softer again.

Van moved a hand under my bum and the other on my back for support as he stood up. "Let's go outside. See what Bondy is up to. And Sam and Alex," he suggests before putting me down.

I nod my head and start to turn around, but Van grabs my shoulder before I finish. He turns me back today him and I look up to his eyes which were staring right into my own.

"Tris," he breathes. His hand moves to the side of my head, resting just below my ear with my hair covering his hand. His other hand held my lower back firmly, as if he let go I would slip away.

I watch Van's eyes as the drift around my face, stopping on my lips, making me blush and him smirk, his usual reaction to my blush. "Everything you do, you know? Everything you do, you've got me wrapped around your finger," he tells me, not moving his eyes from my trembling lips.

Van leans in and kisses me, but not on the lips, where his gaze was fixed for so long, where I secretly wanted him to kiss me. Just my forehead. His lips remain pressed to my skin for a while, until he finally pulls away. 

My hands were held in fists and Van grabs them, one in each hand. He seems to automatically know when I was doing it. I didn't know how. Half the time, I wasn't even aware I was doing it.

"Let's head out, darling," Van tells me. He lets go of one hand, but keeps holding the other as we leave the plane.