Alette

17: row my woes

S E V E N T E E N

♡♡♡

Alette's POV

"Reecie, which one do you think he would like more?" I questioned, staring at the hundreds of toys on the aisles. When I didn't get an answer, I turned around to see him standing there, looking at all the toys, and seeming very out of his element.

I giggled at his frazzled state, and his eyes flitted over to look at me.

"He likes...trucks," Aresius said lowly, "And...puzzles."

I nodded, and reached forwards to grab a dump truck and a puzzle of an excavator. I looked at Aresius to see if he approved of my choices, and he nodded his head once. I beamed, and he grabbed the two toys from me, and we started walking to the cash register. His hand swung by his side, and it looked lonely, so of course I grabbed it.

He came to an abrupt stop, which made me think he was going to let go, but instead he exhaled slowly and intertwined our fingers.

I blushed of course.

We walked side-by-side, my shoulder brushing his bicep, till we reached the cash register.

The older woman working quickly scanned the two items, as well as a yellow gift bag with little boats on it that I had chosen to put the gift in.

"$37.64," she said.

Aresius immediately moved to pay, but I slid in front of him and paid with my card before he could. Quicklt grabbing the bags and the receipt, I thanked the woman and we both walked out of the store.

"Why did you do that Alette?" I looked over at him and gave him my best strict face.

It didn't work.

"Because it's my present to him silly, so of course I had to pay for it," I said matter of factly.

He didn't look too happy about it.

We got into the car and he started driving to our destination.

While I had met Dr. Hughes before, I was nervous about meeting his family. I was only going to Aresius because he seemed slightly unnerved about the whole ordeal. But I was nervous.

I tapped my foot and fidgeted with my hands, trying not to think of the worst-case scenario.

What if I ruined this poor kid's birthday party? I would never forgive myself.

As if he noticed my heightened anxiety, Aresius placed his hand securely on my thigh, stopping me foot from tapping.

"You're fine Alette."

Well now I definitely wasn't fine.

His hand on my leg made my stomach do flips and I couldn't describe how I felt; it wasn't a feeling I was familiar with.

I turned red, trying to keep my thoughts clean.

A sharp turn of the car made me gasp and shut my eyes, while his hand on my thigh gripped harder, his fingers slightly digging into my skin.

My fear only lasted for a second or two because we were back to driving normally.

"Alette, you're okay?" he asked, his voice seemed uncertain.

"I-I'm okay Reece," I whispered.

I didn't have a chance to linger on my fear because his tight grip on my thigh made me feel as fuzzy everywhere. The heat from his hand emanated all across my body, and I couldn't think of anything else.