Happy Holidays loves! Hope you all are doing wonderful.
So, my birthday's Sunday, and I'm in a giddy mood. So I'm giving you all this little chapter as a gift :)
Keeping with my weird obsession with song title chapters, this one is from The Fray. I absolutely LOVE this song.
Oh, yeah. I think everyone's gonna enjoy this one. So tell me what you think : )
Special thanks to, anon1 & January Blu : )
Ch. 22: Say When
Punk's POV
"Shelly, what the hell happened? Is she okay?" I asked as I made my way into the hospital's waiting room. "She's fine. Physically. But she's out of it. They took her to psych." Her tear stricken face just made me feel worse.
"What happened in there? Did he touch her?" I could barely contain the sadness that was building inside me, but the anger just oozed out of me. Just the thought of that sick bastard looking at Skylar pisses me off. He better be glad he's dead, cause I would've most definitely killed him this time.
"I don't know. She won't say anything. That's partly why they took her to psych. She was mumbling something. I couldn't make out what it was, though." She sighed.
"How'd he get into her house? She couldn't have let him in voluntarily. Fuck. I should've known something wasn't right when she didn't text me back." Now I'm pacing, frustration and anger rolling off of me in droves.
"Calm down, Punk. Don't start blaming yourself for this." She tried to console me, but it didn't work. I just continued pacing.
"Remember the day she told us she was moving back? When I followed her in the bathroom, she told me he had called her. She told me that the dreams were back. And I fucking helped her move closer to him. Fuck." As I ranted, Shelly looked on. Confusedly trying to figure out what I was talking about.
"What dreams? What's the deal with her and her uncle, Phil?" She asked. "Bullshit, Shelly. Just bullshit. I can't talk about it right now." It's not my place to tell Shelly about Sky's trauma. Even though I kinda feel like a dick for leaving her in the dark.
"Oh. I think I know what's going on, now. You wanna go see her?" She asked. "Yeah. I mean, I know she's alright. But I really need to see her. For my own sanity." She gave me a soft smile. "I understand. Psych ward's this way." She led me away from the emergency room's waiting area.
"Did you call Luis? You know he tends to go all raging bull when it involves Sky." She asked as we walked past sickly people and empty rooms. Fuck, I hate hospitals. Makes me feel helpless. "Yeah. I called him. He should be on his way." I called Luis right after I got off of the phone with Sky's dad earlier. He was three hours in on a five hour tattoo and couldn't leave.
"There's Mr. B right there." She pointed over to another waiting area as we made our way into the psychiatric ward. This is weird as hell. I mean, I always call Skylar a psychopath. But I say it jokingly. And now she's really in psychiatric care. My head is whirling, man.
"Hey Phil. Good to see you, son." Mr. B weakly smiled at me, holding his hand out for me to shake. "It's been a while, Mr. B." I smiled back, weakly gripping his hand like I was back in high school again. This is the first time I've seen him in years.
"Yeah. Wish it was on better circumstances, but…" His smile faded. "Yeah. Sorry for your loss." And that's true. I'm sorry Mr. Burton lost his brother. I'm not sorry that that coward killed himself. He's lucky. Cause I would've done worse than shoot him.
Mr. Burton just nodded. I know this whole situation just messes him up. "She didn't tell me what he did to her. I sent him to pick her up a few years ago. I told him where she lived yesterday." He was looking through me, now. Guilt and grief engulfing him. I gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
"Sorry to interrupt. But did she say anything to you, Mr. Burton?" Shelly intervened, snapping Mr. B out of his sadness and saving me from an awkward crying situation. "Oh, Shelly. No. She keeps mumbling something." Shelly's hopeful facial expression quickly faded away. "Phil, can you try and talk to her?" Mr. B gave me a pleading look. I nodded.
Shelly gave me the room number and I quickly made my way to her room. I knocked a few times, but of course she didn't say anything. I waited a few seconds and let myself in. Relief washed over me when I saw her. She did look perfectly fine, physically. Then I realized that she was sitting cross-legged in the bed and staring blankly at the wall in front of her.
"Hey, Sky?" I softly said. She didn't budge. "Sky, it's me Phil." Well, I think that got her attention. She started that mumbling thing they Shelly and Mr. B was talking about. That gave me an incentive to walk over to the bed and take a seat beside her.
"Sky, what are you trying to say?" I asked. She started her mumbling again. So I decided to talk. "I'm so sorry, Sky. I had a feeling that something was wrong when you didn't text me back, but I didn't check." Shit. Now I'm tearing up.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds to compose myself. "Anyway. Little Rocco misses you. He's with Diego now and I don't think he likes him too well." I chuckled. She was still staring at the damn wall. I wondered if Shelly or Mr. B tried to get her to look at them.
"Sky, you're gonna snap out of this. You hear me? This is ridiculous. I feel like I'm talking to myself." I rubbed little circles on her back, trying to get some kind of reaction out of her. But I got nothing. Ugh.
"Alright then. I'm gonna make you look at me." I climbed all the way into her bed and sat cross-legged in front of her. Her eyes were glazed over. It looked like she really wasn't there. Just staring right through me. But I'm stubborn. She's gonna snap out of it.
"You're scared. You're traumatized. I get that, but this is not cool, Sky. Those people think that you've gone crazy." She continued to stare through me. I sighed. "Skylar, come on. I love you too much to let you loose it." Still nothing.
"If you let those people declare you mental, Terry will win. He will have beaten you. And you're stronger than that." When I said that, she rolled her empty eyes at me. That let me know that I was doing something right.
"You quit drinking, smoking, and taking pills cold turkey. You trained and got yourself into the WWE, girl. You're strong. You're a fighter. And you can't let this fuck you up." This time, she sighed loudly. Good sign.
"Oh. You're getting tired of me, huh? Too bad. I'm not shutting up until you talk to me." And then she smiled at me. It was a tiny smile, but a smile nonetheless. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see her smile in my life.
"So I'm amusing you, now. Is that it?" Her smile grew wider. The flutters in my stomach grew more intense. I grabbed one of her hands and intertwined it with mine.
"Sky, I know you think I'm gonna randomly fall out of love with you or something, but that'll never happen. You're freaking delirious and you still manage to give me butterflies, girl. I know you're scared, but I'm telling you, you don't have to be." I gave her hand a soft peck before I rested it back on her lap.
This time she whispered something to me. "What? What'd you say, Sky?" I asked, leaning in closer to her. She quickly grabbed my hand and squeezed. "Tell him I'm not scared anymore." She whispered, still looking through me. "I'll tell him." I smiled at her.
She frowned at me. The glazed look in her eyes fading quickly. After blinking a few times, she started to frantically look around the room. "What the hell? Where am I?" Her voice was hoarse. "Sky, you're in the psych ward of Mid-City." I softly spoke, bringing her attention back to me.
"Phil? You're really here?" She let go of my hand and started to caress my face with both of hers. "I'm here. Are you back? Are you Sky?" I asked hesitantly, refusing to get my hopes up too soon. "Who else would I be, silly?" She smiled at me, still caressing my face.
"Do you know why you're here?" I asked, still hesitant. "Terry pointed a gun at me but ended up killing himself in front of me." She murmured, emotionless. Apparently she doesn't remember the events after he shot himself. Whatever, at least she's lucid. "I'm so sorry, Sky." I want so much to just hold her in my arms and rock her back and forth.
"Oh, stop. I should be thanking you." She smiled. "Why?" I'm confused, now. "When I was staring down the barrel of his gun, the only thing I could think about was you. I wasn't scared of him. I wasn't scared of that gun in my face. I wasn't scared of anything anymore. I'm not scared, Phil." She started to laugh.
And I'm dumbfounded. "That's…good?" I said it as a question, cause I don't know what's going on. "He pulled a gun on me. And he shot himself in the head." She continued laughing. "Uh, yeah. Funny." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"He fucking splattered his brains all over my kitchen." She was in hysterics now. And now I have the urge to call the nurse or something. "Sky. That's not funny." I said to her. She dropped her hands from my face, still hysterically laughing.
"Brains, Phil. I stepped in his brain." After she hoarsely mumbled that, her hysterical laughter turned into a heart wrenching cry. That was unexpected. "What did I do to him…to…to make him…want to ….traumatize me like that, Phil?" She sobbed. Her face was the reddest I've ever seen.
"Come here." I couldn't give her an answer, so I held my arms out to her. She got into my lap and I wrapped my arms around her. Her head buried into my neck, I began to rock her back and forth, letting her cry it out.
After about an hour or so, her crying started to dwindle down to soft sobbing. About twenty minutes later, she was silent. I had to look down at her to make sure she wasn't sleep. She wasn't.
"Hey." She muttered. I smiled down at her. "Hi there." She raised her head up and situated herself so that she could look at my face.
"I bet you think I'm fucking batshit now." She chuckled, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I thought you were batshit before all this." I gave her a smirk. "Thank you for staying with me." She gave me a shaky smile.
"Why are you thanking me?" I asked. "Because you didn't have to be my shoulder to cry on." She sniffled. "Come on, Sky. Of course I had to. What kind of friend would I be if I left you?" I squeezed her tighter as emphasis. "A real shitty one." She teased. "Exactly."
"So, did they get him out of my kitchen?" She asked, shaking her head as if she's trying to get those images out of her head. "Yeah. I think so." I'm glad that she's seemingly back to normal, but I don't want to trigger another crying fit. That took a lot out of me. I hate feeling helpless, especially when it comes to helping her.
"I don't think I like greystones anymore, Phil." She sighed. "Me neither." I agreed. "Oh shit. How many people know about this? Does Laurinaitis know about this? They're gonna give me time off if they know. Fuck." I knew that that would come up at some point. "They don't. Your mom's PR managed to clean shit up. Although you are gonna have to give a statement to the police." I gave her a soft smile.
"Shit. I hope they don't think that I killed that sick fuck." Her body grew stiff in my arms as she spoke. "No. They don't. Coroner declared it a suicide. And apparently he left a suicide note." I scoffed at that. "So he planned this shit. He wanted me to see him do it. That sick, sick fucking bastard." She shook her head.
"I'm so sorry for that, Sky." I apologized for the fiftieth time. I know I have nothing to apologize for, but I don't have any consoling words for her. And that makes me feel useless. "Stop apologizing. If anything, I should be apologizing to you for putting you through more of my bullshit." I sighed when she said that. She just doesn't get it.
I cupped her face and pulled it closer to mine. "Skylar, how many times do I have to tell you that your bullshit is my bullshit? I welcome your dysfunction." To further prove my point, I gave her a soft peck on her lips. I know it was probably wrong to do, but whatever. I acted on impulse.
"You're still waiting on me, right?" She asked. Those big green eyes full of life again. A complete contrast from how they were two hours ago. "Yep. Just say the word, Sky. And I'm yours." I gave her a goofy grin.
She was about to respond when the room door opened. It was the nurse. "Perfect fucking timing." I mumbled to myself.
"No. This is good. The quicker I pass the psych evaluation, the faster I'll be out of here. Now go. Tell Shelly and everyone else that I'm fine." She gave me a quick peck on the lips before she got off of my lap and out of the bed to stretch her limbs.
"Ah, Miss Burton. You gave us quite a scare. It's nice to see you up and moving around." The nurse was overtly chipper, and Sky gave me a look letting me know that she's not a fan of her. I just shook my head.
"Yep. I'm lucid. And I'm gonna stay that way. So, can you go get the doctor so I can get the hell out of here?" She gave the nurse a fake smile.
Yeah. She's back. Only Sky would snap at someone trying to help her. "Be good, so you can get out of here, Sky." I winked at her as I opened the door to leave. As I walked out, I heard the nurse speak. "You and he must be close. Is he your brother?" I had to stay to hear Sky's response to that.
"Yes. Cause I totally kiss all my relatives on the lips. He's my man, if you must know. Now please, no more small talk. Just do what you have to do to get me the hell out of here."
And after hearing that, I walked away from her room with a shit eating grin.
Sky's POV
"B-O-O-T-S. 13 points. There, I'm so beating you."
I'm free! Well, I'm out of the hospital, cause I've been deemed mentally stable. Even though there's a big time gap I can't remember. I have no clue what happened from the time after I called the police and my dad until Phil was sitting in front of me at the hospital. So basically the whole time I was in my little loony state. Dr. Stanley said that I may or may not remember. But whatever.
After talking to the cops, I got discharged. Thankfully, my mom's PR, Alisa, managed to keep this whole situation out of the public's eye. And also out of my job's eyes. Barbie doesn't even know about this. Which is good, cause it was hard enough explaining my issues with my uncle to Shelly.
Speaking of her, she had to head out to Orlando. So she couldn't babysit me like she wanted to. Instead, she got Luis and Jug to do it for her. Jug's somewhere with Phil, though. So it's just me and Luis at my dad's house. Yup. My childhood home. Cause I do not want to go back to that damn Greystone. We're playing Scrabble.
"Alright. S-E-X. 17 points. Who's winning now?" He grinned as he added his e and x to the end of boots. Damn that double letter square.
"You're so perverted, Lu." I rolled my eyes at him. "Sex doesn't just mean copulation. Who's perverted now, little miss 'I want Karate Kid's dick'?" He laughed.
"Oh, okay. I got you, Luis." I grinned as I added an 'a' in front and a 'ual' to his sex. "That was alright." He smiled. "So, who's important enough for you to spend one of your off days inking them up? Outside of your own shop, no less." I asked, wondering about the person he was tatting up while I was having a psychotic break yesterday.
"J's ass. He's been wanting a pirate skull tat for months. So I figured, since I'm already here, why not?" The J he's referring to is none other than Jug. I swear, he has too many nicknames. "Oh. Well how much of my temporary psychosis did you witness?" I asked with a smirk.
"None of it, thankfully. Your ass is crazy enough normally. You had your dad scared as fuck, though." He chuckled.
"Don't remind me of him. He harassed the hell out of me this morning. I literally had to shove him out of the door." I scoffed. My dad's concerned shtick is terrible.
"He's just worried about you. He did just lose his little brother, and found out how much of a sick fuck he was toward you. Cut him some slack, mami." Lu flashed that sweet smile at me. I rolled my eyes, pretending to be unaffected by it, but failing miserably.
"So, what are your friends doing?" I grinned, getting straight to what I want to know. "I knew you were gonna ask that. I was just waiting on it."
"Uh huh. Just gimme info." I poked him in the arm a few times. "I have no clue, kid." He sighed. "Come on, I know you know something. You two are best buds now." I gave him a cheesy grin.
"I wish ya'll would just fuck already. Just take a whole day off and bone. Then maybe you two would quit pestering me about each other." He rolled his eyes at me.
"He asks you about me?" That made my heart flutter. "Forget that I said that. Hey, lets play with your little Chucky dolls. Did Shelly pack any of them for you?" He asked with a grin, knowing that the talk of Chucky would temporarily distract me from hounding him with Punky questions.
And then I remembered that I didn't unpack my box of dolls. They were in the back of my closet. "Fuck. We're gonna have to go back to the house. Those dreams I told you about, they're back. I need those damn dolls." So, I have nightmares. And I sleep with dolls. I know it's childish, but whatever. They help. I don't know why, cause I'm not really superstitious.
"You sure you wanna do that?" He asked, concern spreading all over his face. I sighed. "No. But I couldn't go to sleep last night. Shelly told me that someone had cleaned up the, uh, mess. Come on, I'm fine. Promise." I gave him a soft smile. Yeah, it's a lie. But I'm gonna have to suck it up and come back home sometime. Might as well be now.
Walking up the steps to my house was fairly easy. So was opening the door, walking through the foyer and into the den, then up the stairs past the bathroom and into my room. It also helped that Luis was right behind me, but whatever.
As soon as I got into my room, I instantly went to pick up the little black box that was sitting on the edge of the bed. It had been thrown there during that little situation between Punky and I the day of my party. Yeah. I didn't touch it for a few days.
I opened the box and smiled at the adorably thoughtful lightning bolt and star pendant. I took it out of the box and put it on.
"Your room looks like someone threw up a neon rainbow in here." Luis scoffed after looking around my room. "Shut up, Lu. Not everyone wants to live in monotone." I rolled my eyes, putting the black box down, walked over to the closet door and stepped into my walk-in closet.
The box was right where I'd left it. Next to my favorite pair of Chuck's, so I'd remember to unpack it soon. Not soon enough, I guess. "You got enough shit in here?" Luis said from behind me.
I scoffed. He really doesn't need to follow me around like I'm a fragile little puppy or something. "I'm a girl, Lu. And my mom has her own fashion line. This is empty compared to what I had before I gave it to charity." I grinned, giddily opening my box and grabbing my Glen doll out.
"Oh, hello baby." I squealed, wrapping him in my arms and hugging him tight. So, I'm a little kooky. Lots of people find it charming. Oh, you don't? Fuck you.
"Aww, look at my weird little miela." Luis grinned at me, leaning into the doorframe. "Shut up, Lu." I had stopped with my cuddling and started rambling through my the rest of the stuff in my box. What I found was quite amusing.
A few old sketches I did when I was bored. A picture I took with Gwen Stefani. A notebook with little limericks and haikus that I had written. Ugh, poetry is not my thing. Then I came across an old photo album. I was giddy, thinking that it was one of the many photo albums I had filled up with candids of PJ, Shelly, and I. But I was pleasantly surprised to find the smiling face of my fifteen year old dad when I opened the book.
He was an adorable teen. So much more carefree, too. His blonde hair cascaded down his forehead in little ringlets. The next picture was of my mom as a teen. She was quirky, even back then. The next pic made me smile, too. It was dad again. Probably about nine or ten. As I silently cooed over how adorable my dad was, I noticed that he wasn't the only one in the photo.
Sitting next to my dad, staring up at the camera innocently was the three or four year old version of my uncle Terry. When I realized that it was him, I started to choke on the air and this closet became too hot for me to be in it. I also got the painful urge to down that whole bottle of disgusting Jack Daniels hidden in the back of one of my kitchen cabinets.
The next thing I remembered was running past Luis and out of my room, down the stairs and into the kitchen. Oh shit, I'm in the kitchen.
Images flash inside my head as I stand in front of my counter, Jack Daniels and a shot glass in front of me. Images of red and pink, splattered all over my face and clothes, my walls and the floor. A complete contrast from what it is now. Clean, shiny, and spotless.
I close my eyes and try to force those grim visuals out of my mind. Just willing them away isn't helping and the bottle of Jack is just calling my name. It looks so pretty and inviting and calming just sitting there. "Sky, there you are. What are you doing?" Luis asked, making his way into the kitchen. I didn't answer him. I kept my stare on the whiskey.
"I thought you were doing the sober thing now? Can't blame you though." He continued, not really noticing my weird stare off with the bottle. "Pour me a shot, while you're at it." He was still looking at me. When I didn't respond, I'm guessing he finally noticed that I was being all weird and unresponsive again.
"Awww, shit. I knew we shouldn't have come here. Sky, come on. Snap out of it." He snapped his fingers a few times. If my memory hadn't chosen to come back at that moment, I would've rolled my eyes and cussed him out for snapping at me. But it did. And I remembered everything. Everything that happened at the hospital. Including my dad sobbing and Shelly cracking jokes when I was out of it.
But mostly, I remember him coaxing me out of my delirium in a way that only he can. "You're strong, girl. You're a fighter." He said to me. And as I look down at this bottle of Jack Daniels, I don't have the urge to chug it anymore. "Help yourself, Lu." I smiled at him, relief washing over his face when I spoke.
I quickly made my way out of the kitchen and into my den. Taking my phone out, I scrolled down my contacts until I found his number.
"Hey guuuuuuurl." He answered, sounding excited that I'd called. I couldn't camouflage my childish giggle at that.
"Hey boyyyy." I replied after I had stopped my kiddie giggling. "You alright? What's up?" He asked, concern engulfing his playful voice. "I'm fine. You were kinda on my mind and I got the urge to annoyingly poke you numerous times." Yup. That's my way of subtly asking to see him.
"You wanna poke me, annoyingly?" He asked, sounding highly amused. He knows that I want to see him. He wants me to ask. If I didn't love him so much that'd piss me off. "Yes. Yes I do." I replied, sweetly.
"So, what am I supposed to do about your weird poking sensations?" He continued his teasing. I could just feel the smirk on his face. "Phiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil." I moaned. It wasn't a sexual moan, cause he'd have to be the one making me do that. It was a moan that would normally get him to cave.
"Skyyyyyyyyy." He moaned back, obviously catching on to my trick and turning it on me. Great. My stomach is fluttering and I'm feeling like a teenager again. "You're gonna make me ask, huh?" I groaned. He chuckled. "Aww, you know me so well." Teasing, yet again. Ugh.
"Okay, fine. Where are you? I wanna see you." I said it as a want, but in all honesty, it's a need. "Jug's place. Come on." I should've known that one. But nevertheless, I'm excited.
"Cool. I'll see you in a bit." I couldn't help the enormous grin on my face when Luis came out of the kitchen asking if I was alright. "Get Glen and that picture on my nightstand. Meet me in the car, we're going to Jug's." I was already halfway to the front door when I finished speaking.
Punk's POV
"So, what's got you so happy?" Jug asked as he took a seat beside me on his couch. "She's on her way over, man." I couldn't hide my excitement.
"You two are so corny." Jug scoffed. "And you're the one to talk, Mr. Martinez." I laughed at him. "I'm not Mr. Martinez, but I damn sure love that girl." He beamed at the thought of her. I'm the best matchmaker in the world, man.
About thirty minutes later, I got a text from Sky telling me to come outside. I jolted up, startling Jug out of his lazy TV watching stupor. "Be back, bro." I mumbled to him as I practically sprinted my way to the front door.
The cool air slapped me in the face as I made my way out of the door and over to the driveway where Luis's car was parked. He got out first, greeting me with the bro hug and heading to Jug's front door.
And now I'm staring at the passenger's door eagerly. Damn Luis and his tinted windows, I can't see a damn thing. Since she obviously was taking her precious time, I casually walked over to my own car, which was right beside Luis's. I coolly leaned against the side of my car, facing her door.
That got her to crack the door open. Tantalizingly slow, she eased one of her legs out of the door, and then the other, and finally she slid the rest of her body up and out of the car. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it.
She slowly gave me a once over, sizing me up as if I'm her prey. I can't really talk, cause I'm doing the same to her.
I started at her feet. She's wearing a pair of tan fuzzy boots, as if it's freezing. A pair of form fitting blue jeans hug her legs. Couldn't tell what kind of shirt she had on, on account of her red and black graphic hoodie. A little higher, I noticed a yellow lightning bolt surrounded by red stars twinkling on her chest. That made me smile.
When my eyes got to her face, I almost lost my cool guy façade. She's bare faced. No makeup, whatsoever. Big green eyes, shining. A complete contrast to the dull pupils she was sporting the past few months. And her pouty lips, naturally pink and adorable.
Her blonde bangs have grown out, and her brunette locks are cascading down her back. A few strands gently blowing in her face because of the wind. No wonder they wanted her to be a model. This girl is just gorgeous. I'm pretty sure I'd buy just about anything she'd advertise.
"Hey." She softly spoke. Damn. Keeping my cool guy façade is harder than I thought. "Hey, Danny." I gave her a soft smile as I folded my arms over my chest.
"I went back to my house today." She started. My blood started to boil, cause Luis was supposed to keep her away from the damn house, at least for a week or two. "Chill, dude. I wanted to go." She gave me a grin, knowing that I was thinking of ways to kick Lu's head in.
"You alright?" I asked, calming at the sight of her smiling face. "I found a picture of him from when he was little and it freaked me out. And you know my thought process." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Vodka." I nodded, solemnly. I hope this conversation isn't going the way I think it is.
"Yeah. But when I went into the kitchen, there wasn't any vodka. There was only Jack Daniels." She closed her eyes and turned her head away from me. If she's trying to tell me that she had a little slip up, I'm cool with it. Instead of scolding her, I just want to hug her.
"Sky. It's okay, really." I tried to reassure her. With all that she's been through the past few days, taking a drink is one of the most normal things I'd expect her to do. "Yup. It's okay. It's okay cause while I stared that damn bottle down, my memory came back." She looked up at me with a big grin.
And now I'm confused. I mean, I know she's yet to remember how she got to the hospital and whatnot, but the significance of remembering that is what baffles me. "Oh. Okay." I replied, giving her a wary smile. She rolled her eyes at me again.
"I remember what you said, Phil. At the hospital. I remember it all." Her grin was huge.
And now it's my turn to close my eyes and turn my head away from her gaze. I started to rub the back of my neck. Nervous habit.
"I didn't drink it, PJ." I turned my head to face her and opened my eyes to find her directly in front of me.
"I didn't drink it cause someone reminded me of how strong I was. He told me I was a fighter. And then I got the strange urge to poke said person." She giggled, and that made me giddy. "Annoyingly, right?" I teased.
"Of course." Her little giggle grew into a full blown laugh as she started her poke assault. Whenever she pokes me, I start laughing, cause I'm a big goof. And then I start poking her.
After our poke-off, we were right back where we were. Me, arms folded across my chest, and her, so close to me that I can smell the sweet cherry scent she emanates. "I didn't really come over her to poke you, dude." Her cheeks were turning an adorable shade of pink.
"Oh, for real?" I tried, but failed to hide my grin.
"I love you. So much so that it hurts, sometimes. It's 40° and I'm freaking warm. You make me warm, Phil. I'm not scared of us anymore. Um, I guess I'm asking do you still want me?" She looked up at me expectantly.
"Hell yes. Just tell me that you want me." I know that she does, but I just have to hear it come out of her mouth before I get my hopes up.
She gently ran the back of her hand down my cheek. "I want you." She smiled sweetly.
And with that, my cool guy façade was broken. I unfolded my arms, wrapped them around her, and pulled her into my chest. I think I twirled her around fifty times. By the time I let her down, she was swaying from left to right, and I swear there were three of her standing in front of me.
When my vision finally became clear, she was still swaying. I grabbed hold of her waist and pulled her into my chest again, steadying her. She just giggled. "You're a goofball." I smirked at her. "I feel free. I have every right to be a goofball, Punkin." Ah, Punkin. I forgot how much I enjoyed her calling me that.
"I like it when you're a goofball." I gave the tip of her nose a quick peck. "You're mine, right?" She asked, still giggling. "I'm your man, Sky." I gave her a peck on the lips this time.
"And I'm yours?" She smirked, wrapping her arms around my neck. "You most definitely are, girl." I didn't even try to hide my grin this time. "Holy shit, Batman. I think I'm speechless." She started to laugh again. "Actions speak louder than words, anyway." I raised an eyebrow at her.
She caught my suggestion and the smirk was back. Then she leaned in and put her lips to mine.
And now I know what she means. It's 40°, and I'm warm. Completely at ease.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And don't worry, this isn't the end of the story. Sky's always got some type of storm brewing :) Don't forget to tell me what you think, peeps!