Sacrifice
The mall was busier than Sean remembered it ever being. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't been there in years. His mom did all his shopping, or forced him to try on things she'd bought home. People– no– crowds were things he usually shied away from. But for Lucy, he would do anything.
"Sean, will you hold my hand?"
Except that.
PDA's were one of the social conformities he didn't understand. Holding hands in public was, in his eyes, considered PDA. "No." A little gruff, he thought, but he shouldn't have to elaborate. Lucy knew his side on public hand holding.
"Whatever." Lucy skipped ahead of him a little way, not really skipped, but sped up. As if she wasn't really with him. Which hurt Sean a little as he trailed behind her two steps. He'd taken her to the mall because she'd wanted to go. And he'd been willing to go to the stupid place because all he wanted to do was be with her. He'd wanted to show the world the girl he was in love with. Which was a tad bit contradictory to his previously stated feelings on public displays of affection. He just didn't want to be shown ofe like he was the latest trend, which is how he viewed other couple's hand holding.
"Lucy," he hissed, "Come back."
"Hold my hand," she taunted, walking gaily into Victoria's Secret.
Stopping just one step short of the entrance, he sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair before following his girlfriend inside. When he caught up to her she was rifling through the drawers of underwear beneath the displays.
"So glad you could make it," Lucy quipped without looking up.
"Your dad will kill me when he sees you walk in with that bag."
"Exactly."
"I won't be blackmailed into this, Luce."
"Didn't say you were." She held up a pink pair with little flowers on it, and Sean felt his mouth start to water.
He quieted any inappropriate thoughts in his head, trying to focus on the problem at hand. "Then what are you doing?"
"What everyone does at the mall, stupid. Shopping." Like it was a no brainer. And he was back to being ignored while she waltzed around the plush store.
"Right. I'll be outside."
Slowly, as if waiting for Lucy to follow, he left the store and found a bench to waste his time at. Hand holding was a rite of passage. It was the declaration to the world that he was in love with this girl, and he was willing to make any sacrifice for her. Even if it meant sucking it up and doing something he wouldn't normally do. His friends might call him whipped later, but he would kick their asses.
True, he was a man of few words, and it was no lie that he didn't always know what to say so he said it bluntly. It wasn't always the best, but there was no room for sugar coated words in his vocabulary.
Which was why, when Lucy emerged from the lingerie store and sat next to him, he simply held out his hand for her to take and said the three most simple words his mind could think of.