Destined to Explode

I’m ready for half past seven, dressed in a casual skirt and top with a leather jacket pulled over the top, opting to wear small heels rather than the flat shoes my feet had gotten used to now I was working from home.
Alex had given me literally no indication to where we were going, or what we were doing, and I didn’t even know if packing an overnight bag was going to be necessary, seeing as I normally ended up back at Alex’s house whenever I went anywhere with him.

It’s just before quarter too when there’s a knock at the door, the familiar three taps followed by another sharp two, the same knock I’d been hearing since I was 14 and instead of going to welcome him in, I yell at him to let him know I’m in the kitchen.

“Someone looks nice.” I can practically hear the smirk in his voice while I carry on finishing my email to Mark, “Overdressed for what I have planned, but hey.”

“Overdressed?” I question still typing out about figures and statistics that Vinny had given me about average merch sales, “We’re not doing anything athletic are we?”

He winks at me as I turn around, tongue held between his teeth as he resists smiling, “I’ll let that slide.” He laughs as I flip him off, “I thought we’d just order in, watch a couple of films, nothing to formal. It’s not like we need to get to know each other.”

“My Mom’s gonna be home within the hour so…” I feel like I’m fifteen again and Alex and Jack have snuck over even though I’m grounded or something

“We’re obviously going back to mine. Rian’s out and my entertainment system is of a far better quality than yours, no offence.”

“Do you want me to change?”

“It’s up to you.” He’s suddenly distracted with flicking through pictures on my laptop, “You’ll need some clothes for tomorrow either way.”

“So confident I’m staying the night?”

“You’ll be getting a cab home if you don’t.”

“So charming.”

“Don’t you know it.” He turns back around to smile at me, “No really, go get some sweats, we’ll relax tonight and then we’ll do something tomorrow before we’re thrown into the stress of being stuck in a bus together all the time.”

-----

“The Chinese place won’t deliver because apparently it’s snowing to bad. If we want the decent stuff we’ll have to go collect.” Alex sighs as he hangs up the phone, putting it back in it’s cradle, awaiting my verdict as he leans over the back of the couch where I’ve reclined.

“But all the roads are clear.” I groan, swinging my legs around so I can stand up, “This better be some good chow mien.”

“I wouldn’t be so insistent to go if it wasn’t.” He smiles, leaning forward to press his lips to mine as I shrug my leather jacket back over the hoody I‘d changed into earlier, smiling gently when he winks as we separate, “Promise.”

Alex holds my hand tightly in his own as he drives through the suburbs, his Range Rover managing to handle the small snow fall as we head for the main town, my feet resting on Alex’s dashboard despite his protests of making his car dirty, but hey, he should have moved my seat back further so my legs weren’t squished as much as they had been.
The Chinese that Alex pulls up outside looks pretty fancy - too fancy to do takeout,- but the fact Alex had let me leave his house in my sweats lets me know that it wasn’t an unusual occurrence for him to roll up looking less than presentable.

We bundled in from the cold, Alex’s hand snug back in mine, but pulled into the warmth of his jacket pocket as we wait in the small line of other people here to collect orders, the refusal to deliver obviously not deterring other regular customers either.
We’re only stood around a few minutes before we’re at the front of the small line, Alex reeling off a ton of food to the guy stood behind the counter, who tells us they’ll only be a few minutes with our order so to stick around in the lobby area and they’d call us over when it was ready.
Alex and I chat quietly as we watch people mill in and out of the busy establishment, either just finishing their meals or hoping to start before it gets to late. We’re gazing into the main restaurant when I feel Alex straighten slightly from behind me where he’d been stooped to talk into my ear and I smile when I notice a teenage girl approaching, clutching a napkin and pen in her hand, smiling at us both as I feel Alex nod her over.

“Gimme’ a minute?” He whispers and I turn to grin at him, kissing the underside of his jaw as I pull our hands from my pockets, untwining our fingers as I scoot out of his hold.

“I’ll go see how long our food’s gonna be.”

I watch from the other side of the lobby as Alex interacts with his fan, signing the napkin with a laugh, chatting with ease with the girl at least 4 year his junior, happily taking the phone from her when she can’t get them both in the frame of the camera, and even going as far as talking to someone on the other end of the device, and even I can hear the excited squeal that causes Alex to pull it away from his ear and chortle.
He only spends a few more minutes with the girl, who is being gestured back over to her dinner by her parents but he doesn’t let her leave with an extra long hug and a thank you back as she scuttles back over , talking a mile a minute about the chance meeting.

----

“Tonight has genuinely been quite lovely.” I sigh as I lean back into Alex’s chest, rolling my eyes up to see him staring back down a smile placed gently across his lips before he puckers them to kiss my forehead.

“Sorry it’s not been more fancy and elegant.”

“That hardly matches us does it? We’re definitely more takeout and cheap wine kind of people.”

“We’re a extremely classy pair.” He jokes, clinking the side of his wine glass against my can of Coors light before he takes another lengthy sip, “You’re not cold right?”

I shake my head, despite the fact we’re sat out in his back yard, sharing a lawn chair, my back resting against his chest as his legs stretch out beside me, sandwiching me in-between them as he bends them at the knees, my own pulled to my chest to keep me just that little bit warmer.
It was an unbelievably familiar position to be sat in.

“What are we doing tomorrow?” I mumble after a few more moments in silence, tilting my head up so I can see his face, smiling at the soft fingers than link with mine.

“I’m thinking sleep in, lunch date, little adventure around Baltimore and then I’ll drop you home like a gentleman.”

“Little adventure?” I scrunch my nose up, “What little adventure?”

“Well,” He starts, grinning at me, “You’ve been back over a month and we’ve only been to Attman’s. I’m thinking we go check out some of the old haunts, see if our graffiti has survived. I might even take us to that car park where we-.”

“Hey! We pinky swore that, that never happened!” I scoff, pushing at his chest as I get up, shaking my head at his smirk, “Lex, stop laughing. That was a moment of weakness.”

“You must have had a lot of moments of weakness back in the day then.”