Status: New and Active!
Nobody's Hero
VII. || Her Own Personal Night Sky
Being back in her childhood bedroom with Andy was extremely weird and nostalgic. They both felt like they were sixteen years old again and weren't sure how they felt about it.
"Do you remember the last time we were in this exact spot?" Phoenix asked Andy that night as they lay side-by-side in her full-sized bed that Andy's long legs had always hung dramatically off the end of. They were just laying there quietly, gazing up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that they'd plastered all over the ceiling as kids in the shapes of actual constellations. She'd always hated the fact that they lived enough in the city that she usually couldn't see the stars, so they'd made a night sky especially for her.
Andy thought for a long time before answering her question, and then nodded. "Yeah. It was the night before we moved to L.A.. We were seventeen," he said, and she nodded. They'd both moved out of the parents' houses earlier than most do. For him, it was because he needed to be in L.A. for his band that was already well on its way to taking off big at the time. For her, it was because she needed Andy mostly. There were plenty of other reasons too, of course, but mostly she only chose L.A. because she knew she'd have Andy there. They'd even shared an apartment for a long time after moving.
"You kept insisting you weren't scared to go, even though we were both shitting ourselves," Phoenix reminded him and he let out a big laugh.
"I wasn't shitting myself," he said, and she gave him a sideways look.
"Almost ten years later and still pretending to be much tougher than you are," she joked, elbowing him gently in the side.
"Fine. I was shitting myself," he said, propping himself up on an elbow so that he could look at her better. "Happy?" he asked, smiling a giant goofy smile.
"Very. Thank you," she told him, propping herself up too so that they were face-to-face.
"Belle," he said, over-pronouncing the nickname like it tasted different than it ever had before on his tongue. She looked at him, studying his eyes and wondering why the hell he was looking at her like he was. "I love you," he said finally, catching her off-guard. She didn't know exactly what she'd been expecting him to say, but it definitely wasn't that.
"I love you, too. You know that," she said, and he shook his head like she wasn't catching on to what he was saying.
"No, Phoenix. I love you. Like, really love you," he said again, giving her a more intense look than she thought she'd ever seen. She turned his words over in her brain for a minute before answering, and he was sure she was about to kick him out of the bed. But, when she really thought about it, they'd kind of both always known they loved each other as more than best friends. So many people over the years had asked both of them why they weren't together; most of the time they functioned like an old married couple because they essentially were. And on top of that, it wasn't like they hadn't gotten drunk and gotten frisky with each other tons of times, because they had whenever neither of them were in relationships. When she really thought about it, she didn't really have a good reason as to why they weren't together. Hell, if they both would have just stopped being stubborn idiots years ago, they wouldn't even be in the situation they were currently in at all.
He watched her expectantly, and she could see that he was nervous. She kind of liked the idea of torturing him and leaving him hanging, but after a minute she couldn't anymore. Instead of saying anything, she leaned into him and their lips connected. His kiss was surprised at first, but then as he wrapped his arms around her and held onto her tightly, he got more and more confident. When they pulled apart a few moments later, he was smiling bigger than she'd ever seen him smile.
"I love you too, you big dumb idiot," she whispered, kissing the corners of his mouth, wishing she could find a way to keep that smile on his face forever.
"I can't believe that's taken us sixteen years," he said, flopping onto his back and motioning for her to cuddle in to him.
"I think we've always known it was the destination," Phoenix said, and she felt him nod beside her.
"What idiots," he said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head.
"Yep," she responded, pushing herself further into his grasp.
"Do you remember the last time we were in this exact spot?" Phoenix asked Andy that night as they lay side-by-side in her full-sized bed that Andy's long legs had always hung dramatically off the end of. They were just laying there quietly, gazing up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that they'd plastered all over the ceiling as kids in the shapes of actual constellations. She'd always hated the fact that they lived enough in the city that she usually couldn't see the stars, so they'd made a night sky especially for her.
Andy thought for a long time before answering her question, and then nodded. "Yeah. It was the night before we moved to L.A.. We were seventeen," he said, and she nodded. They'd both moved out of the parents' houses earlier than most do. For him, it was because he needed to be in L.A. for his band that was already well on its way to taking off big at the time. For her, it was because she needed Andy mostly. There were plenty of other reasons too, of course, but mostly she only chose L.A. because she knew she'd have Andy there. They'd even shared an apartment for a long time after moving.
"You kept insisting you weren't scared to go, even though we were both shitting ourselves," Phoenix reminded him and he let out a big laugh.
"I wasn't shitting myself," he said, and she gave him a sideways look.
"Almost ten years later and still pretending to be much tougher than you are," she joked, elbowing him gently in the side.
"Fine. I was shitting myself," he said, propping himself up on an elbow so that he could look at her better. "Happy?" he asked, smiling a giant goofy smile.
"Very. Thank you," she told him, propping herself up too so that they were face-to-face.
"Belle," he said, over-pronouncing the nickname like it tasted different than it ever had before on his tongue. She looked at him, studying his eyes and wondering why the hell he was looking at her like he was. "I love you," he said finally, catching her off-guard. She didn't know exactly what she'd been expecting him to say, but it definitely wasn't that.
"I love you, too. You know that," she said, and he shook his head like she wasn't catching on to what he was saying.
"No, Phoenix. I love you. Like, really love you," he said again, giving her a more intense look than she thought she'd ever seen. She turned his words over in her brain for a minute before answering, and he was sure she was about to kick him out of the bed. But, when she really thought about it, they'd kind of both always known they loved each other as more than best friends. So many people over the years had asked both of them why they weren't together; most of the time they functioned like an old married couple because they essentially were. And on top of that, it wasn't like they hadn't gotten drunk and gotten frisky with each other tons of times, because they had whenever neither of them were in relationships. When she really thought about it, she didn't really have a good reason as to why they weren't together. Hell, if they both would have just stopped being stubborn idiots years ago, they wouldn't even be in the situation they were currently in at all.
He watched her expectantly, and she could see that he was nervous. She kind of liked the idea of torturing him and leaving him hanging, but after a minute she couldn't anymore. Instead of saying anything, she leaned into him and their lips connected. His kiss was surprised at first, but then as he wrapped his arms around her and held onto her tightly, he got more and more confident. When they pulled apart a few moments later, he was smiling bigger than she'd ever seen him smile.
"I love you too, you big dumb idiot," she whispered, kissing the corners of his mouth, wishing she could find a way to keep that smile on his face forever.
"I can't believe that's taken us sixteen years," he said, flopping onto his back and motioning for her to cuddle in to him.
"I think we've always known it was the destination," Phoenix said, and she felt him nod beside her.
"What idiots," he said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head.
"Yep," she responded, pushing herself further into his grasp.