Dea Shattered

⎈Chapter 23: Set sail

The car ride had been slow and nerve-racking, luckily I wasn't alone. Kodhe had offered to drive me and I took full advantage, spewing questions left and right.

"Wait, why is knowing my parent's favorite ice cream so important again?" Kodhe chuckled, stretching his fingers out on the steering wheel.

"I-I don't know if it comes up though I want to be prepared." I tapped my fingers against the car's side door, watching the trees pass by us as we drove on. We had to be close to the beach house, it had been nearly an hour since we left.

Kodhe let out a sigh and shook his head, "I'm pretty sure that ice cream will not be on my parent's number one subject to talk about list." He gave me a goofy smile before turning back to the road, "It's vanilla though."

"They both like vanilla?" I raised my eyebrows, "that's like the blandest flavor out there!"

"I know they are psychopaths! Like obviously superman is the way to go," Kodhe laughed. I stared at him shocked, who in their right mind liked superman.

"I think I'm dating a psychopath too," I added quietly. Kodhe gasped and sent a quick surprised glance at me, the car swerving. "Ninety people die in a car accident a day, I don't feel like being one of them!" I gripped the seat, as Kodhe regained his spot on the road.

It was silent for a second, then Kodhe burst out laughing. I stared at him in disbelief but I couldn't help the laughter that started to erupt in me as well.

"How do you know how many people die in car accidents off the top of your head? Also Why?" He blurted out in between laughs. I covered my face in my hands but the laughs spilled out even harder now.

"I don't know," I gasped in breaths. It took us a few minutes to regain composure and to quiet down finally. The car ride continued on without any more swerves of death, and I found myself wishing it lasted longer. We were able to have one of those conversations that never ended, with no awkward pauses or tense moments. Just words flowing like a river back in forth no matter what the topic was.

Like everything though, things end eventually. Kodhe turned off the engine and stared at the small yellow beach house. It was a petite house, with flowers in the wide windows. It also had a small dock that went over the shore. Tied up to that dock was a platoon boat.

"We're here!" Kodhe leaned back in his chair before hopping out of the car, I unbuckled myself in clumsy motions. I shouldn't be so nervous, I basically already have met his parents.

"Oh god," I chuckled nervously, finally unlatching myself from the seat.

"Why 'oh god'?" Kodhe looked at me with a small smile spread across his face. He had already opened my car door and was offering his hand to me, I grabbed it and blushed.

"Just nervous." I brushed back a strand of my hair and grabbed my bag before heading to the door.

"Well don't be, my parents already like you!" I look down and smile. Kodhe always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. He raised his hand and knocked on the white door that had painted swirls around the doorknob, I examined the smooth strokes that had created the swirls, reminding me of the easel that Kodhe had got me. I haven't even touched the paints or easel yet. They have just sat in the corner of the living room haunting me throughout the day.

The door creaked open and revealed a familiar face I had met during the facetime, Charlie's face brightened up and he scooped his son into a hug. Kodhe laughed and returned the hug gripping his father tightly. All while I just stood there silently watching, and freaking out on the inside.

Charlie and Kodhe released each other finally and he turned to face me, his smile growing even more. Before I could even say hello he grabbed me and pulled me in for a tight hug, I stood shocked for a second before my senses kicked in. I hesitantly hugged him back, he pulled away and clapped Kodhe on the shoulder.

"It's great to see you both, and face to face! Please come in, Lizzie is making some lemonade inside." I exchanged a glance with Kodhe but he just grinned at me. We followed Charlie into the house, and I was hit with a clean but empty type of smell.

Looking around the living room I examined the clean house, it clearly wasn't used often. The windows let in rays of sunlight and I see the ocean glimmering through the back windows.

"Charlie is that Kodhe and his beautiful girlfriend?" Lizzie peaked her head around the corner and spotted us, her face flushing. "Oh, it is! Welcome to our home, please make yourself comfortable." She motioned towards a small white couch, we exchanged the usual small-talk, and I headed over to sit down with Kodhe.

"So how was your drive?" Charlie asked sitting in a chair adjacent to us, Kodhe answered quickly.

"It went great, I'm sure Dea can tell you I am an excellent driver." He looked over at me and sent me a quick wink. I hid my smile behind my hand and nodded along pleasantly.

"Oh yeah, he never swerves. Always keeping his eyes on the road too," I raised an eyebrow at him. Charlie simply sat there watching the inside joke pass between us, giving us a confused smile.

"Sorry that took so long," Lizzie came rushing into the living room holding four glasses of lemonade. I took mine and gave her a quick thank you, still trying to ignore my nerves. "Now, have you told Dea about the boat ride already?"

Charlie chuckled lightly and shook his head, which caused Lizzie to give him an irritated huff. Sitting on the couch I slunk back a little, I did know about the boat ride but didn't feel like it would be best to hop into the stare off they were having. 

"Well we have a platoon, and are planning to go out on it later. Is that all good with you dear?" Lizzie glanced over at me and gave me a charming smile.

"Oh no, I'm perfectly fine with water," I said trying to give my most reassuring smile. Lizzie nodded and stood up abruptly.

"We can continue this conversation on the boat, I'm already antsy enough!" Lizzie rushed outside with Charlie following quickly after her.

"Sorry, they really love that boat, got it a year or two ago. It took them three years to save up and buy it." Kodhe chuckled and linked arms with me. He then gave me a reassuring nod and lead me outside.

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Published: May 25, 2020, 6:40 PM

Words: 1205

We would like to apologize for the inconsistent updates, you could say the quarantine had gotten to us a little bit. We hope everyone is doing fine, and we plan to go back to our usual update schedule- RiSaWa