My Tumblr Fics

Favorite Sweater - Ruel

Like every other year during the Christmas season, I found myself in my room, going through my closet to find stuff that I don't wear anymore or that doesn't fit.

It was almost like a tradition, bringing all the clothes that I didn't need anymore to different thrift stores around town and get some money out of it.

I stuffed the pile of sweatpants, hoodies, and t-shirts inside a plastic bag, and made my way downstairs.

"Ruel, you're going to sell the clothes?" My mum asked me.

"Yeah, I was leaving now," I said as I bent down and kissed her cheek, before leaving the house.

"Be safe!" Was the last thing I heard from her before I closed the door and made my way to the car.

I divided the clothes into three piles for three different stores, not noticing my favorite Acne sweater in the last pile.

I left the clothes in the shops, took the money without paying attention and made my way back home to spend time with my family.

——

Weeks passed, and I spent so much time trying to find the Acne sweater I lost. I searched in every closet in my house, looked through all the places clothes could be stacked inside my house and even on the tour bus, thinking I might have lost it there while being on tour.

I lost all hopes, so I moved on.

A while later I was walking around town on my own, my usual bucket hat on top of my head as I listened to some music.

It was the day before Christmas Eve and there were stockings everywhere. There were kids running around with candy canes in their hands and parents screaming at them to be careful.

I closed my eyes and sniffled the air around me, the faint faint smell of cinnamon making the whole atmosphere better.

And then I saw her.

She had my sweater. My Acne sweater. There was the red tomato soup stain on the left sleeve that wouldn't go away, and there was the little black spot I unintentionally made with a marker. It was MY sweater.

It was lazily hanging around her shoulders, being too big for her small frame, and it reached the middle of her thigh.

Without even thinking, I made my way towards her and her friend, just wanting to have my sweater back.

"Hey, sorry to be such a bother but that's my sweatshirt," I say as I stopped her, a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't think so, hun. I found this at a thrift store, so basically now this is mine," she said, flashing a sarcastic smile, starting to walk away.

"I can pay you back! How much did they make you pay? 50? 100? 150?" I asked her, running to stay beside her.

"I'm sorry, uhm..."

"Ruel,"

"I'm sorry Ruel, but I've been searching for a nice sweatshirt for so long," she said, a hand resting on my shoulder.

"Please? It was a present from my sisters and it was a mistake. It shouldn't have been in the pile for the thrift store..." I ask one last time.

"Okay, let's make a deal. I'll give you the sweater back if you bring me out on a date at the rides fair this Friday, and make me have a good time," she said, a smile on her lips as she took my phone out of my hands and added her number.

"Nice. I'll see you on Friday. Bye, Ruel," she walked away, leaving me with my mouth wide open.

Well, she's a feisty one.

——

We texted through the week, her name was Y/N. We had very similar personalities, and I found myself slowly falling for her. What was happening to me?

Friday night, I met her in front of the fair. She was wearing the sweater and some leggings under it, a small backpack was hanging on her shoulders.

"So, which ride do you want to go first?" I hesitantly asked her.

"I don't like rides. I like coming here for the atmosphere. You know, I like the chilly air and all the lights coming from the stands, I like the smell of cotton candy and pretzels, I like to see cute couples. I just love it here..." She said softly as we walked through the fair, the dim lights illuminating her pretty face.

"I don't like rides either," I said as I looked in front of me.

"So you basically came here for nothing," she chuckled out.

"Nah, you seem pretty nice and also, I love that sweater," I said, a smirk on my lips.

"Why that?" She asked.

"My sisters bought it for my birthday, and I got really attached to it," I chuckled, realizing how stupid I must have sounded.

"My brother had a hoodie like this, it was the same color and it reminded me of him. He died in a car accident when I was fifteen," she said calmly as she looked in front of us.

"I-I'm really sorry to hear that," I whispered, taking her hand in mine, looking at her in the eyes.

"It's okay, it's been a long time since that. I and my family all moved over... So, I'm really craving some cotton candy right now," she said, trying to lighten up the mood, as she stopped in front of a cotton candy snack.

"One cotton candy for me," she said to the girl behind the counter.

"I'll get a pretzel," I said.

A couple of minutes later, I paid for our snacks as we kept walking.

"Ruel is such a strange name. I like it tho," she said as she sat down at a bench.

"My dad was born in The Netherlands, it's from there," I said, eating my last bite of the pretzel.

"That's cool," she said, looking at the stars.

"Yeah"

After a while, she looked at me again, resting her hand on top of mine.

"I had fun," she said as she started to take the sweatshirt off.

"So, here you go, this is yours," she handed me the light brown sweater, hugging her small frame in her arms because of the chilly air.

"No, you can keep it," I said, making her shocked. "It reminds you of your brother, and if you don't cover up, you're probably gonna die here because of a cold," I said, helping her to put the sweater on again.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, Y/N. It's fine," I told her as we started walking back to the parking lot.

"Thank you so much, I had fun," she said as we reached her small car.

"We should meet up again," I told her as I looked down at her, the moonlight lighting up her face.

"Yeah," she said. "Bye, Ruel," she whispered, standing on her tiptoes and kissing my cheek softly.

"Bye, Y/N," I said when she got inside the car, a small smile on both of our faces.

And that was the start of something new, something sweet, something amazing, something that would forever be in my life.

Dec 8, 2019