SWIM // MITCHEL CAVE

27- vinyl

Jaz's POV

"OK well what about this?" I ask.

Clinton just stares at me unimpressed with his eyebrows raised and I already knew it was a no.

"Do you even know your boyfriend at all?" He asks.

"Yes he's just hard to buy for!" I say defending myself.

We were currently at the mall, just Clinton and I which was slightly strange because this was the first time we'd hung out just the two of us. Clinton wanted help buying something for Cat and in return was helping me shop for Mitchel which I was evidently struggling in.

We had left while Mitchel went to the beach with Taylor and so we were able to go without him acting suspicious.

"How is he hard to buy for?" Clinton asks.

"Because everything he wants he buys himself" I sigh.

It was true; everything Mitchel had pointed out to me that he liked, he ended up buying himself anyway. We passed shops and still nothing was jumping out at me. I had never had to buy for a boyfriend before and so I didn't know where to start. Should I buy clothes? Cologne? Something else?

"Why don't you just buy him black jeans, you can't go wrong with that" Clinton suggests.

"Because jeans are boring" I reply bluntly.

We traipse round a few more shops before deciding to stop at the food court for some lunch. So far all I had managed to buy him was a nice leather belt with roses stitched onto it and his favourite aftershave that Clinton helped with.

We decide to just get Subway as it has the shortest queue and also meant Clinton could eat something as every other food place wasn't vegan friendly. He decides on a salad bowl while I got a chicken sub.

It was nice to just be around Clinton, despite his shyness he was actually very funny. He could be sassy like Christian but in a more sarcastic way which I don't normally see. I had helped him buy things for Cat who compared to Mitchel was very easy and loved anything sparkly and pretty. Clinton had told me they still weren't boyfriend/girlfriend yet as he was too nervous to ask, I could agree that Cat could be intimidating. They were an unspoken item.

"Do you like Australia then?" He asks.

"Yeah it's a lot different than I thought It'd be" I reply.

"Yeah?" He hums "How so?"

"Well so far I've not seen any scary bugs, nobody has said G'day to me and I have seen no shrimp on barbies" I joke.

"Sorry to disappoint" He laughs "But the bug thing will definitely come up, especially spiders"

I shiver in response, I hated bugs and especially spiders but if I encountered any I knew I could just get Mitchel to dispose of it. Hopefully he would be okay with bugs and I deduct he probably is if he grew up around so many here.

We finish our food before going back to shopping. Clinton gets the rest of Cat's while I struggle to find one last thing for Mitchel and I had to make it good.

I see a cool looking music shop and decide to go in. Clinton immediately makes his way over to all the instruments playing around with them like a little kid while I'm drawn to the vinyls. I noticed in Mitchel's room he had quite a modest collection of records so I flick through the racks of vinyls to see if there would be one he'd like.

I laugh at Clinton as he almost drops a saxophone he picks up, the shop owner gives him a dirty glare and he flashes a sorry looking cheesy grin that was pretty adorable.

There were so many records I wasn't sure if I would find one, I didn't really know what he did or didn't have already. They had everything from rap to country, I wasn't sure what the best genre would be. I figure something with an r&b or alternative feel.

I go over to another rail and my eyes are drawn to a certain vinyl that has swirls of purples and oranges on the cover. It looked beautiful. I didn't recognise the band but it just had something that intrigued me. I pick it up and walk over to Clinton who was still messing around with the instruments despite the workers obvious distaste.

"Hey Clinton do you think Mitchel will like this?" I ask holding it up.

His eyes look at it and then his jaw drops looking at me with an unreadable emotion.

"Is that a no?" I ask feeling deflated.

"Oh my god" He whispers slowly.

He gently takes it from me and slowly traces his fingers over the cover and across the letters I didn't recognise.

"I can't believe you found one" He breathes in awe.

"What is it?" I ask confused.

"It's one of Mitchel's favourite bands, this was his favourite album and they only ever released 10 on vinyl and he tried for years to get one and he never could" He explains still looking down at it.

"And then you just manage to find it not even realising it's significance" He adds.

"That's so weird" I say "I was just drawn to it"

We both look down at this vinyl as if it's the most expensive diamond in the world which I guess in a way it is if you think about it's rarity and the fact I managed to find it.

"He's gonna love it" Clinton beams "That I can assure you"

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Ok so this is super short but I just got the worst headache so enjoy I guess lmao 🤧

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