My Love

Carry On

TRIGGER WARNING- there is sensitive content in this chapter involving assault and injuries. I am pretty vivid with my writing so please take caution reading it.
Side note: Danny's order in this chapter is actually what he told me he would get in a live stream. I just got hired at Starbucks- a few days after I wrote this chapter- and I told him on one of his Twitch streams and asked what he would order. Then I came back and edited this because I thought it would be cool to have his actual order instead of some random shit.

The next morning, I decided I was going to go on a walk. The temperature was supposed to be about 80 degrees fahrenheit, so I put on a sports bra, a cut off tshirt, and some sweatpants. I also wore my favorite sneakers brand, Puma. I threw my hair into a ponytail- but I made sure it would hold, grabbed my Iphone, airpods, and keys, and went out the door.

It was 10AM, so it was still cool enough to jog if I wanted to. But walking was nice and peaceful... And it meant I could listen to my music longer.
Before going down the alleyway, I looked back at Arny's apartment. There was no signs of him being awake. Last night was so unexpected, I didn't think I'd ever have the guts to initiate a first kiss, I thought, biting by bottom lip.
I take off down the alley, putting my music on. I walk past all of the locally owned shops in town, and across the train tracks. The place we lived in was rural, but also not. We had arcades, movie theatres, and a giant mall. But there was also farm stores, rail roads, and country markets. Best of both worlds, you could say. I went towards the sakura park. I felt like seeing the sweet blossoms on and around the cherry trees. I of course took some photos, mostly close up ones of the flowers. I put them into an album onto my computer every time I catch good ones.
The song changed to 'Wannabe' by Spice Girls, and I immediately skipped it and removed it from all the playlists. That was the song Ryen and I played all the time when we would drive to the mall every Tuesday. It was a song our mothers really liked, and we listened to it as kids with them, too. I just couldn't listen to it right now, and maybe not ever again.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, holding back the tears. I didn't stop walking though, and I ran straight into someone, and they almost knocked me on my ass.
" Hey why aren't you walking on the other side of the side walk-!? Arny?" My tone changed entirely when I saw my neighboorhood crush standing in front of me.
" I'm so sorry, Tae. Are you hurt?" He grabbed my shoulders, and inspected me. I shrugged him off. " Yeah, I'm fine. I just wasn't paying attention, sorry. What are you doing?" I asked. We threw his hands into the air. " Well same as you, just walking and running into people," he winked.
Any bad thoughts I had before were now gone. My mood was lifted as soon as I saw his pretty face. It was like magic.
" Do you want to walk home with me, make an afternoon smoothie and watch some Netflix before you go to work?" I looked at him and pretended to consider his offer. Obviously, I thought. But I said, " Ohhhh, I dunno... you'd probably want to watch anime and I'm not too into that stuff..." I regretted it as soon as I said it. It felt rude and I saw a flash of something negative cross his face. But he hid it well.
" No! We don't have to watch anime. We could watch American cartoons or live-action shows," he offered. " Yeah, lets go," I smiled, then apologized, " I'm sorry if that came out rude. Well I know it did, but I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." I hung my head and he stopped, grabbing my arm to stop me with him. He lifted my chin up with his hand. Holy shit, this is intimidating, I thought, heart beating rapidly. " It's okay. We don't all like the same things. Don't worry about it, love." There he goes, calling me love again... except this time he didn't apologize for it. I hid a smile of victory. I was truly thankful he came into my life at this particular moment, and knowing that he was growing to adore me and vice versa- was comforting to say the least. I had someone to turn to- at least I would when we grew closer.
When we got inside, he turned on the TV and tossed me the remote. " Pick something. What kind of smoothie do you want?" He headed towards the kitchen and pulled out his brand new blender that Pete and Danny had gotten for him a few days prior.
" I like strawberries. If you have those I will do that and blueberries... I assume you just have a mixed berry frozen pack of fruit right?" He smiled and held up the exact package I was talking about. I clicked through the different possibilites, and came across 'Arcane.' I knew it was based off of a video game, and I liked the character Jinx. I turned around.
" Hey what about this show?" He had just finished pouring the smoothies into plastic cups. I walked over and looked at the screen. " Oh the show based off of League of Legends? I took you more for a more realistic show." He sat down on his bean bag, sipping his fruit concoction. I furrowed my brows, thinking.
" Oh shit! How about Supernatural? I've wanted to watch it, but not on my own. Would you watch all of the seasons with me?" I challenged. He sat up, folding his hand. He had these giant silver rings on his fingers. It was hot, honestly.
" Alright. But after it's over, we should watch an anime. Deal?" I nodded, searched for the show, and started it. I set the remote next to him, and sat on the other bean bag that was available. We watched the show the entire time before I had to go to work. The theme song for the show was apparently a song by Kansas called 'Carry On  my Wayward Son.' It was pretty catchy. I might add it to my playlist later, I thought.