oh, anna [-hs]

sweet thing

a/n Hey friends! Thanks for 5k reads that's INSANE. There are so many of you wow. I hope you liked the last chapter! (I know I did lol).

30.

We sit there for a long time. He lets me borrow some clothes and throws my damp stuff in the dryer. We sit on that couch until the sun is peeking up faintly from the horizon, the rainclouds blown away by some ocean wind. I silently play with his hair, he rests his head on my shoulder, his eyes closed, his arms folded across his chest.

"So what now." I finally mumble. He shifts a little, but maintains his general position.

"I don't know, it's like before except now we kiss."

I chuckle. "I more meant, what now now. Like, do we want to go get breakfast?"

He laughs as well, tilting his head up to stare at me. "Well, normally I'd go for a run right about now."

I scrunch my face up.

"But we don't have to do that," he backpedals.

"I'll go on a walk with you," I offer. He nods and stands up, turning and holding his hand out to me. I grin and take it, letting him pull me up off the couch.

We slide our shoes on, mine are still pretty damp from a few hours ago. I pull my drying hair up and back into a bun. He reaches for my hand again, holding it gently, letting our arms sway between us as we head out the door.

The way he's holding my hand now, it feels so different from the way he held it in LA. In the Lyft on the way to Miley's party, he held it with fear, gripping it like it would dissipate between his fingers. Now he feels more comfortable.

I don't know how I feel about all of this.

Actually, no, that's a lie. I know how I feel right now. I feel really good. I feel like all the tension has left my body. I feel content, comfortable, safe, free. What I don't know is how I'm going to feel tomorrow, or even in a couple of hours.

Knowing who I am, I might not be too happy with present Quinn. I might regret this. But I am unpredictable, even to my own mind occasionally. Maybe it'll be different. Maybe I'll surprise myself.

We step out onto the street. The new buds stemming from the trees have fallen off from the rain and now scatter the ground. Despite this, there's something refreshing about the atmosphere. The smell of loam and soil rises up from the planters that line the sidewalk. The city has been cleaned. I feel a slight spring in my step. He turns and smiles at me.

"What?" I laugh. He shrugs and looks back.

"This is a nice moment is all."

There's barely anyone out at six in the morning on a Saturday. And the people that are leave us alone. Our fingers loosely interwoven, they bounce around at our sides. I sigh. "Yeah, I think so."

We walk in blissful silence for a moment, and then he sharply inhales like he's about to say something. I immediately sense his nerves.

"I have a song," he starts softly. I turn and squint at him. "That's finished."

"Yeah?"

"Remember the day you came to the studio with me in L.A. and we worked on that one? The one you helped with."

I scoff and roll my eyes.

"No you did, you were really helpful. Anyway, we finished it." He looks down at the sidewalk and sniffs from the cold.