If You Ever

3

"Isn't Julian gonna be mad that, I don't know, you ditched your party?" Kaycee asked, buckling in her seatbelt.

"He doesn't care." Sean shrugged, connecting his Spotify via bluetooth. "Our friendship isn't really, like, restrictive...I guess? We live our own lives, and stuff, but ultimately we're roommates and best friends so I guess we both know that...we'll be okay."

"Yeah." Kaycee murmured, almost enviously. "Bailey and I have been inseparable since we were, like, four. So we pretty much share a whole life together and...I guess that's where the whole possessiveness kinda thing comes in."

"I mean...you do know you're eighteen now? You can't just, like, live life based off of other people." He smiled, as he backed the car out of the parking lot. "You've gotta find and carve your own path, now."

"I mean, it's not that we live life based off of each other." Kaycee replied, a little defensively.

"Did you guys go to school together?"

"Yes."

"Do you dance together?"

"Yeah. Well, I mean, sometimes?"

"And are your parents really close?"

"Well, yeah, but that's just because-",

"And now you guys live together?"

"Okay, Sean." Kaycee punched his shoulder lightly. "I think you've made your point."

"Being with someone, like, 24/7 can be super toxic." He shrugged, as he steered straight. "I used to be really close to my parents but...I don't know. It felt like we were driving each other crazy because they wanted to, like, be involved in everything I did but I wanted some independence...I guess? And that's when we decided that me moving out was probably for the best. And it worked out really, really well. We have a much...healthier, if you will, relationship."

"Are you always this...I don't know, philosophical?" Kaycee giggled.

"Yep." He smirked. "That's me."

"Wow." Kaycee breathed. "I've never, ever done anything like this before."

"You've never gone...to get ice cream?" Sean raised an eyebrow, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Not with an absolute stranger!" Kaycee added.

"Hey, if you think about it, we would've pretty much been stuck together either way at the party considering we had no one to talk to."

"Yes but, that's different." Kaycee retorted.

"How so?"

"Because if you tried to kill me then...you know, there'd be witnesses." Kaycee joked, a smile playing on her lips. "If you tried to kill me now...I'm pretty much screwed considering we're in your car."

"So should I wait till we get to the ice cream shop?" Sean continued. "You know, cause there'll be witnesses."

"How about no?" Kaycee laughed.

Sean chuckled in response, increasing the volume of the music. Truth be told, this was completely new to him as well, because he didn't normally go out to get ice cream with strange girls.

"Are you with someone?" He asked, breaking the silence.

Kaycee whipped her head to look at him, blood rushing up to her face as she nervously began to fidget with her fingers.