𝐚.𝐤. more than a woman to me
❝ i cried ❞
in which valerie goes
to a party and wants
nothing more than to leave
#5 in awsten
[awsten knight x female oc]
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CHAPTER FIVE: 73 QUESTIONS WITH VALERIE | VOGUE
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THE FIRST THING AWSTEN DID when he got to his car, was open the trunk. And there, right where he knew it was: a zip-up sweatshirt.
He pulled it on and handed it over to Valerie. "Here," he said. "Suit jacket's soaked, this'll keep you warm."
"What about you? Your shirt is wet too."
He shrugged. "It'll dry. Now c'mon, you gotta give me the directions to this gas station you wanna go to."
They climbed back into Awsten's car, and he turned the radio down before the car was even turned on. "If we're gonna spend the whole night together, I'm afraid we're gonna have to do a little more small talk," he warned.
She let her head fall back, just as before. "That's stupid. No small talk, tell me your deepest darkest secret."
"No way," he laughed. "I'm still not confident you aren't a murderer."
"You got it mixed up, you're the murderer, I'm the unsure victim."
"Sorry." The corners of his mouth turned up as he asked, "How about...you tell me...how...." He couldn't think of anything. "Tell me about your dream man."
"Is this your way of flirting with me?" she joked, a grin on her face. But it must've pushed some sort of button, because she felt the car slightly swerve for half a second.
"It's either this or I ask what kind of music you like, you choose."
"You already asked me that," she laughed.
"Well, it's either this or I ask what kind of music you like again, you choose."
"Fine, fine...." Her dream man...how could she describe her dream man...? "Well, if he isn't Harry Styles—"
"Valerie."
"Okay, I'll be serious this time. Uh....He'd have to be...nice? I don't know, this is a weird question, I don't really think about what I look for in a man. What do you look for in a girl?"
He bit his lip. "Well, I play music, so I think I'd probably want to date a girl who likes my music. Dating a musician is awful, it's the whole 'tortured artist' thing...I don't think I could date a girl who plays music, two of us in a relationship would be...not good."
Lucky for Awsten, Valerie couldn't play an instrument to save her life. So she said that. "I can't play anything. Always wanted to learn, but I just suck at everything."
"Now I'm starting to think you're flirting with me."
"Awsten."
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be giving me directions?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You just gotta drive straight, you'll know it when you see it, it's the only one over here."
Silence fell over the car again. Valerie looked over at Awsten as he drove. If he felt her eyes on him, he didn't say anything, just kept looking straight ahead. There was no reason for him to look over at her, he was driving after all, but letting her admire him made Valerie feel as if maybe he did feel something between them.
She'd been going back and forth about it all night. He'd given her his jacket, — twice — he'd listened to her music, he'd let all her jokes slide, he danced with her at a party for Christ's sake.
She looked down at her hands, at her nail polish and how it was starting to chip. But only for a few moments, then she looked back over at him. At his side profile; How the light came through the driver's side window and defined every curve of his nose, and his lips, and his chin.
She looked at his eyelashes, how the light came through those too. And how he raked his bottom lip through his teeth while he focussed on the wrong. How he was just so...perfect.
Maybe she was in a rom-com, maybe this was a dream, maybe she was in a coma, she wasn't sure. All she knew is that she was crazy if she was going to go through the whole night without kissing Awsten whatever his last name was at least once.
"So," he began, startling her a bit, "I have to know for this night to continue, are you a Pepsi or a Coke person?"
"Neither."
"Neither?" His eyes went wide and he nearly crashed the car.
"Yeah, I don't really like soda."
"Oh, god, please don't tell me you're one of those Monster energy drink girls. That shit is poison, it's so bad for you."
"No, no, don't worry, I can't stand that stuff — my roommate loves it though."
"Well, then I hope your roommate knows that I'm never going to kiss him. Ever. My lips will never touch the lips of a Monster energy drinker."
"I'll be sure to tell him that." She bit at the skin on the inside of her lip and laced her fingers together. "I like iced tea."
"That's just as bad for you as soda," he laughed. "There's so much fuckin' sugar in them!"
"Okay, and they're good," she grinned.
"Not for you."
"I never said they were!" Both of their grins grew wider. "You're really fucking difficult, did you know that?"
"Yeah, I get that a lot...I think you like it."
"Something like that." She did, he was fun. "Gas station should be coming up any minute now."
She paused, continuing with the skin on her lip. "What you said before...about my 'dream guy,' I think...I don't know...I think that would just be someone...who...who can give me goosebumps. Every day. If you get goosebumps, that's how you know it's good."
He looked over at her for a second, and then back to the road. "Oh yeah? Who was the last person to give you goosebumps?" That was a dumb question, why did he ask that? They weren't that close yet.
