Beginner's Luck ▪︎ Dixie D'amelio/You

21. perfect

Dixie had been in my arms for a while. I moved my head to check if she was asleep, but she had her eyes open, still glassy although the tears had stopped, her hands clung onto my shirt.

"Do you want me to get you something to ea..."

"No! No... just hold me." She interrupted me, holding me tighter.

"C'mon, Dix, Charli's worried." I said, stroking her face tenderly.

"I know she is, but she's used to me not wanting to talk about my feelings." Dixie replied.

"But I'm not, look at me." I asked, she sat up to face me, her eyes red and swollen almost broke my heart, she looked too fragile.

"(Y/N), please, I don't want to talk about it." Dixie said in a low tone, looking defeated. I sighed.

"Fine, you don't have to, but you're getting up." I retorted, starting to get up, forcing the girl over me to do the same.

I didn't even let her say anything else, I grabbed her hand and puller her out of bed.

"Put on your shoes." I ordered as I put on my own shoes.

"Where are we going?" She asked, not looking very excited.

"Can you follow directions?" I asked back, Dixie raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Ok, get your car keys, let go." I said, grabbing her by the hand and going down the stairs.

We left her house followed by Charli's confused looks. I hoped my plan could cheer Dixie up, it was one of the best places I'd found since I came to America, and I hoped she'd feel like that too.

"Seriously, where are we going?" She spoke up after following my directions quietly for a couple minutes.

"Relax, we're almost there." I responded, paying attention to the streets she drove on.

"Here, park here." I ordered.

"Animal shelter?" Dixie raised an eyebrow, I chuckled as she parked the car, looking suspicious.

"C'mon, you can thank me later." I replied, opening the car door and waiting for her.

When we got into the small building, we signed some papers and I led her into a room where I knew she'd melt.

"Oh my God." I heard Dixie say, realizing the amount of cats and kittens that ran around the room.

"They're too cute, right?" I chuckled, kneeling down to pet one of the cats. She smiled and did the same, starting to laugh as the cats ran towards her.

"I came here when I first got to America, I wanted to adopt but I don't know if I'll stay here forever. Odds are I'll be gone by the end of the year." I explained, picking up a cat and stroking it's fur.

"She's so cute!" Dixie said, stroking the cat's head, our fingers touched slightly.

"Mozzarella? I almost stayed here for her." I responded. Mozzarella was a small kitten, her fur almost completely grey, her paws were white, along with a small spot on her chin.

"You'd stay here?" Dixie turned to me.

"Why? A couple months of me kicking your ass on soccer isn't enough?" I teased, she rolled her eyes and laughed.

"There it is! You're happy again." I smiled, Dixie looked down and I noticed her cheeks turning red. I had noticed how easy that happened, even though she was always so smooth and didn't let much out, but her cheeks always showed me a bit more of how she felt, I liked it.

"I'm sorry I cried on your shirt." She spoke up.

"It's alright, I liked being there with you, I just wished you'd be a bit happier." I explained.

"I am now." She smiled, stroking Mozzarella's fur, she'd almost fallen asleep on my lap.

"I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sorry either way." I spoke up.

"It's just... my ex said some things to me." Dixie told me, I nodded.

"She's still bothering you?" I asked.

"I don't really care about her anymore, but some of the stuff she said was too real, like she meant it." The girl by my side responded.

"What stuff?" I questioned.

"She said I'm selfish and made our relationship even more toxic, and I don't know, maybe I am too centered on myself and..." I interrupted her by grabbing a kitten tenderly and placing it on her arms, making her chuckle.

"Stop it. What you're doing right now is important, you're asking how you can be an even better person, no one who's a bad person does that." I told her.

"But what if I can't change it?" She sighed.

"You can, trust me." I winked, making her take a deep breath and smile at me. We looked at each other for a couple seconds, enjoying our gazes.

"I think she likes us." I muttered, motioning my head towards Mozzarella.

"I want to take her home so bad." Dixie pouted, I smiled.

"Maybe you should." I responded.

"My parents would kill me." She shook her head.

We played with the cats for a while, her laugh became each time more frequent, and when her smile became permanent on her face, I agreed to leave.

"I'll come back for you, Mozzarella." Dixie reached for the small cat, running a hand through her grey fur. I smiled and grabbed her hand, she looked surprised at first, but squeezed my hand and walked away alongside me.

As she took me home, I looked out the window and contemplated how happy I felt. For the first time, things felt in place, I felt relaxed as Dixie put her hand on my thigh softly at each red light, almost unconsciously. For the first time, I was exactly there, living that moment.

Dixie insisted on taking me to my door. When we finally reached it, I turned to look at her, I just knew she felt as light as me, there were no words left to say, all that needed to be said laid on our gazes.

"Thank you for today, (Y/N), it was almost perfect." She spoke up, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Almost?" I questioned.

"I was kinda hoping you'd kiss me goodnight." She explained, making me laugh.

"I hope you feel better, Dixie." I smiled, cupping her face and kissing her lips softly.

"You have no idea." She said against my lips, stroking my hair.

I sighed and looked at her, enjoying the feel of her body close to me, the heat created by our contact, her hazel eyes watching me intensely. Her eyes were still swollen, but the way she looked at me made me feel warm, my lips crooked into a smile quickly as we looked at each other.

"You're beautiful." I found myself saying.

"You're cheesy." She teased, making me roll my eyes.

"Don't get used to it." I responded, letting her go and turning to go inside my apartment. Suddenly, I felt a hand pull me back and lips colliding against mine. I relaxed on her arms and held onto her waist.

"You have no idea how beautiful you are." Dixie whispered against my lips, turning away and leaving me in the hallway, watching her leave as my heart went back to normal pace.

Everything felt perfect at that moment. I just hoped it'd last this time.