Bulletproof

“What the Hell do you mean you don’t have a license?” I exclaimed as he drove effortlessly through traffic, one gloved hand on the steering wheel and the other in my lap, enlaced with my own. He was driving a vehicle worth sixty grand easily. I wasn’t the best at driving, but I was at least legal.
“Never finished school either,” he remarked with a shrug as if we were simply discussing the weather. “It was either that or music, I didn’t have time for both. I tried evening classes for a while, but HIM was my priority.”
“What if we get pulled over?” I questioned nervously, looking at him and instinctually squeezing his hand. His dark hair was barely visible underneath the beanie that he had adorned.
“What if we don’t?” he replied, taking his eyes off the road momentarily to smile at me toothily.
“Goddamnit Ville, you’re as stubborn as Bam,” I retorted, giving up.
“Birds of a feather,” he winked and resumed his attention to the road.
“So where are we going?” I interrogated, looking out the window. We were in the heart of the city now.
“Well tonight is a surprise but this afternoon I thought I could show you some Finnish culture, that is of course, unless you’d like to do something else?” he asked, meeting my gaze for a moment questioningly.
“No that sounds lovely,” I answered. I’d always had dreams of traveling and I loved to learn about other countries.
“We will meet Bam afterwards,” he added, eyes on the road. He was lazily drawing designs into my skin with the pad of his thumb, the material from his fingerless gloves scratching there.
“What’s your family like?” I inquired abruptly, changing the subject.
“Um, well my mum’s some kind of city worker and my dad owns a sex shop. They’re wonderful though and very supportive. My dad’s who introduced me to music actually,” he added as we merged onto a highway smoothly and the car began to accelerate. “What about you?”
“I don’t really know anything about my mom. My dad said she died when I was young. I don’t even know what she looks like. My dad… he wasn’t a nice person,” I said apprehensively. I wasn’t enjoying where this conversation was going but I was used to people’s curiosity although I didn’t really care to talk about my life in Pittsburg.
“He never hit me or anything. But he drank and did a lot of illegal shit. He was more emotionally abusive than anything, never let me go anywhere but school and didn’t let me branch out at all hence, why I’m such an awkward virgin to this day,” I said with a shrug, not making eye contact. It was a painful truth.
“Well I’m sorry about what’s happened but I’m glad you’ve made it here. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re an awkward virgin,” he added and raised our joined hands to kiss mine softly.
“Tell me more about you, I hate talking about myself,” he continued, placing our hands back onto my lap.
“Like what?” I questioned. I didn’t have much to say.
“Anything. Everything. You’re a very reserved person. I find myself wanting to pick your brain constantly,” he admitted with a teasing smile.
“Um, okay. I’ll answer questions if you will deal? I don’t really know what to tell you that I haven’t already during our conversations we’ve had,” I confessed, thinking back with a grin to laying on my bed like a pre-teen with a case of puppy love eagerly talking to Ville on the phone until the wee hours of the morning.
“Deal. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only eat one thing for your duration there, what would it be?” he fired off. I noticed we were leaving the city now.
“Hmm.. that’s a tough one. I don’t really have a favorite food or anything,” I thought on it for a moment before answering. “Pizza maybe? There’s so many kinds of pizza I feel like I could survive on that without getting sick of it.”
He seemed to ponder my answer for a second before flashing me a serious look.
“If we’re going to continue this relationship, I need to tell you something serious.”
“Okay, what’s that?” I was mildly concerned by the sudden gravity the conversation had taken.
“I’ve been having an on again off again addiction to microwaveable pizzas. I’ve been clean for a few months now but honestly I could relapse at any time,” he informed me, keeping a stony expression as he looked me in the eyes.
I busted out laughing.
“That’s your big deep dark secret?” I snickered as his face broke into a wide grin.
“Yep, true story. I don’t understand it myself, but I can’t get enough of those little fuckers,” he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“I mean, to each their own I suppose,” I commented, relief sweeping over me that was all he’d had to say. I had a hard time letting go of the fact he’d said ‘continue this relationship’ too. Were we dating now?
“Favorite animal?” I decided to start off with something easy.
“Um, I don’t really have one. I’m allergic to just about all of them so I tend to avoid animals,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Really? How were you around Jailbait the night we met? Hell, how were you in the house at all with all the cats?”
“A lot of Zyrtec and mouth breathing really. I’ve got to double up on my asthma medication too if I’m going to Bam’s so I don’t go into a full blown asthma attack,” he informed me matter-of-factly.
“Jeez I had no idea you were so breakable,” I replied good-humoredly as we pulled off an exit.
“Rest assured my sweet I can take anything you throw at me,” he replied with a wink before continuing. “We’re here.”

I broke eye contact with him as we stopped. We were on the outskirts of the city in a little old-timey village.

“I’d originally wanted to show you my favorite museum but I tend to get a lot of publicity there so I thought we should start with something a bit quainter,” he said with a half-smile.
“I think that’s a good idea,” I replied embarrassedly. I was an introvert at heart, and while my time at Castle Bam had brought me out of my shell, the idea of being around a bunch of questioning strangers did not appeal to me.
“Wonderful. Let’s go then,” he smiled and turned the car off, hopping out before I could even move and assisting me with my door.
“Such a gentleman,” I replied to his actions, earning myself a kiss on the cheek.
“Only when I need to be,” he murmured in my ear, biting it lightly in a teasing fashion.

Ville and I allowed ourselves to get lost in the tourist attraction, him rattling off different customs and facts as we went. I loved how knowledgeable he was I admitted to myself. He may not have graduated but he was an intelligent and well-versed man in many topics of conversation.
We were mostly alone, he had explained that during the winter months Finnish folk spent most of their time hibernating and drinking, awaiting the warmer portion of the year. I could see why. Ville had checked on his phone and told me it was barely above freezing, the wind cutting through me like a cold knife.

Before we knew it though, it was time to meet up with Bam.

As we made our way back to the car hand in hand, I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot. Was this love?
I decided to myself I didn’t know but I didn’t care. Whatever this was, I wanted it to go on forever.