don't trust english boys › wilbur soot

chapter 5 - wilbur

It had been around a month since I joined Gracie's stream for the first time. Time had passed by really fast, which was weird. Gracie had quit her job and applied to university, and she was, as of now, a full-time streamer. I was proud of her. She did that without me. Sure, I gave her some publicity, but people wouldn't stick around if she wasn't entertaining. 

I was going out with her today. We were going to a restaurant close to my flat. It's my favourite. I'm not sure if it was a date or not, we hadn't really discussed that. I'd be fine with either. 

I picked up my phone and texted Gracie.

WilburSoot
you awake yet? :)

gracie
ye :) but still sleepy. excited for later today though! it'll be fun.

WilburSoot
that's actually what i wanted to ask about. what are you going to wear? i have no idea what to wear.

gracie
aw, you look good in everything, will. i'm probably just wearing a dress.

WilburSoot
alright, see you at 6 :)

gracie
yeah see you <3

A dress? I had to step it up. I looked in my cupboard. My style, in general, was more formal than casual. A suit would definitely be way too dressed up. I looked around some more, and decided on the outfit I wore when some of my friends and I sneaked into this fancy bar some months back. 

My phone started going off - James was calling me.

"Hello!" I said, still sleepy.
"Hello, mate. Got any plans today?"
"I do, James. I'm going out with Gracie."
"Oh, like a date?" He said teasingly.
"I actually don't know, we're going to that fancy one close to my flat."
"I see, well, do you like her?" His voice was serious.

I had spoken of Gracie to James before, but it had been a while. 

"I don't know, I think I do? I'm just really confused. How did you figure out that you liked Aria?"
"I don't really remember, Will. I guess it was how she made me feel, you know? How does she make you feel?"

I stopped to think for a while. It's not that I didn't know, because I did. I just didn't know how to express myself. 

"Well, every time I'm around her, it just feels like my problems disappear. Like nothing else matters in life than the fact that we're with each other, you know?"
"You got your answer then."
"You're right, James. Thanks a lot, mate."
"Of course, and have fun tonight, you two."

-

I was stood in front of the restaurant. I had shown up early. I had a tendency to show up late, but I didn't want to do that today. I was fidgeting with my phone. I was nervous. Why was I so nervous? We were just going out to eat. We had done this multiple times before. I guess it just felt different since we were going to a restaurant.

"Hey, Will!"
A shorter figure approached me and pulled in for a hug. 
"Hey, Gracie!" I hugged her tighter. 

She pulled away from the hug and I got to properly look at her. She was wearing a dark red coloured dress that hugged around her curves. She looked amazing. 
"You look amazing," I said.
"Thank you, Will, you look amazing too," she pulled in for another hug. 
"Should we go in?"

-

The evening consisted of good, but expensive food, a lot of conversation, and alcohol. Not enough to get us wasted, but we were definitely both pretty drunk at the end of the night. I had learned a lot of new things about Gracie, like for example that she got into singing because of her mum. After we finished eating, we decided to go around London and just discover the city. It had been one of the best nights in forever. I didn't want it to end.

"I've had fun tonight."
We were sat down at a bench on a pier. 
"Me too, it's been really nice, Will," she said drunkenly. 

She looked at me. I looked at her. Her eyes were slightly dilated because of all the alcohol. Her makeup was a little runny after running around all night. She still looked amazing. 

"I used to come here all the time before," I looked out at the river. 
"Oh really? Why?" She rested her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her.
"It was my quiet place, I'd sit here and play the guitar. The sound of every Londoner laughing drunkenly never bothered me. Once, this guy joined me actually, it was really nice."
"It sounds lovely, we should to that one day."
"What? Come here and play the guitar?"
"Yes, dummy," she laughed. 
"I love singing with you."

I looked at her again. 

"You know that I really appreciate you, right?"
I kept my eye contact with her.
"What do you mean, Will?"
"What I mean is that I appreciate the fact that I met you, the fact that we're sat here together, the fact that you're here with me."
"I know, Will. You know I do too."
"I find it so fascinating that I didn't know you two months ago, it feels like I've known you for such a long time. I know that I'm rambling, I'll stop."
"Continue."

She looked deeply into my eyes. It's almost like she stared right through my soul. The distant sound of an indie love song playing from a bar close to here became even more distant. I almost felt high. Like time stopped, or at least passed by slower than before. I studied her face. Her smile, her eyes. Hell, even her cute, little freckles. 

"I said, con-"

Her lips on mine interrupted what she was about to say. I grabbed her face and smiled into the kiss. I felt like a little child who was visiting a theme park for the first time in its life. It felt magical. I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't know what it'd feel like. I had at least greatly underestimated it. 

I pulled away from the kiss. She was smiling. Good, at least I hadn't fucked up. 

"You have no idea how much I've been wanting for you to do that."
"What if I do it again? "I said teasingly. 
"Well, what if I do it first?"

She pulled in for another kiss. This time it lasted for a shorter amount of time, but I didn't mind.  I looked down at my phone. It was already 1 AM. 

"Do you want to go to my place?" I blurted out.
"Because it's closer, I mean." She chuckled.
"Sure, Will. I don't want to go home anyway."

-

We made our way to my flat. Sometimes, living in central London wasn't that bad anyway. 

"Here, you can borrow this."
I gave her one of my jumpers. 
"Los Campesinos!, cool."
She went into the bathroom to go get changed. 

I started taking off my clothes to get into my joggers for bed. I hope she didn't mind the whole no-shirt thing. 

I knocked on the bathroom door.
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah, sure."

I opened the door to see her standing there in my jumper. It stopped right at her knees. 
"The jumper looks great on you," I said and gave her a quick peck. 
She hadn't said anything about me being shirtless yet, so I assumed she didn't mind. 
"Nice shirt, by the way," she touched my arm and walked out of the bathroom, chuckling afterwards.

I brushed my teeth and went back to my bedroom, but Gracie wasn't there.
"Gracie?"
"Yeah?"

I followed her voice into the living room and saw her laying on the sofa. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She said.
"Did you really think I was going to let you sleep on the sofa?"
"I mean, maybe?"

I grabbed her up from the sofa, bridal style, and laid her down on my bed.
"Well, you're wrong," I said and booped her nose. 

I got into the bed after her and turned around so that my face was facing hers. 
"Thank you for tonight, Will," she said sleepily.

She laid in the crook of my neck, my arm wrapped around her waist. 

"The pleasure is all mine."
I rubbed her head.
"Dummy."
"Good night, Gracie."
"Good night, Will."