Love Like Her

Coffee and A Kiss

Song - Everybody's Watching Me (Uh Oh) by The Neighbourhood

My brother and I take our usual spot next to our parents in the front pew at church. Andrew pulls at the tie around his neck and I take a deep breath smoothing my dress out.

Then I see 'her'.

Danielle Madden.

Regardless of the fact she stands on stage with 7 other people singing her heart out every Sunday, my eyes always go to her. No one else. I've only spoken to her a handful of times, each time I do I'm more nervous than the last.

She glances over and gives me a genuine smile which I quickly return, simultaneously feeling my cheeks heat up. I turn away to compose myself.

Pull it together Vi.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to be met face to face with Danielle.

"I-... hi." I stammer out.

She giggles. Fuck that's cute as hell.

"Hi, um so last week I was talking to your mom and she said you worked at a radio station when you weren't at school. Could we maybe get some coffee sometime, maybe I can get some tips on how to do promo work?" She asks, wasting no time at all.

I like that she's blunt.

"Yeah I do and sure. I'm free tomorrow."

"Let's say... 2:00, Micah's?" She negotiates with me.

"Sounds good." I say with a smile.

"Great, it's a date."

My heart beats hard in my chest at hearing those words. I'm sure she doesn't mean it in the way that my brain took it, but I could only imagine that in some parallel universe, things were different.

I sit down next to my brother and catch a glimpse of his phone.

Was that...?

Nope.

He can't be.

~~~~

I don't know if it's because I have a fear of being late or what, but i get to Micah's super early. Like half an hour early.

Fuck.

Do I go in and order just to sit around and wait? Do I wait in my car until she gets here?

I hear a knock on my window and nearly jump out of my skin. I see that it's Danielle and open my door.

"Hey, I have a weird habit of running early... sorry." She says, giggling while running her hand through her hair. It's even cuter than it was yesterday.

"It's cool, I apparently was running early today too." I say with a chuckle.

She turns on her heel to head inside the coffee shop and I follow behind her, subtly checking out her figure. She dresses different during the week than she does on Sunday mornings. It's more relaxed, form fitting... in ALL the right places.

Standing next to her, I hadn't noticed that she's slightly shorter than I am. It's cute. We order our drinks and take a seat.

"So, you work for what kind of radio station?" Danielle asks.

"Alternative. So we play a variety of music, most of it is from independent labels or artists and occasionally we select a few demos we're sent to play on air if we like them." I explain in more detail than I need to.

"Ok... so, you promote the station you work for. How does that work?" She asks, sipping her drink slowly. Oh how I wish I could be the cup touching her lips right now.

I brush the thought off. "On certain days we have contests, we give away a lot of merch that gets our name out there in the community. Occasionally we cover, sponsor, and/or volunteer at events which also gives the surrounding community a sense of pride in the station."

I answered a few more of her questions and then the conversation evolved into a more personal, intimate conversation. We were getting to know one another.

"Do you wanna get out of here?"

"Yes!" I say with a little more enthusiasm than I had intended to.

"I'll drive."

I ended up leaving my car in the parking lot and riding with Danielle onto the parkway, just enjoying spending time with her and taking in the surrounding view. The changing leaves were breezing past and the crisp cool air felt good on my skin.

I go to grab my drink at the same time she does and our fingers brush. My heart leapt in my chest and I know my cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

Moments later we're parked out at an overlook, enjoying the scenery.

"This is one of my favorite spots." Danielle says, breaking the silence.

I've never kissed a girl before, but the tension in this car is unreal. I want to feel her lips on mine. No, I NEED to feel her lips on mine. But part of me screams 'no don't do it'.

Breathe Vi.

I turn towards her and she looks to me. I can't go on without knowing...

I grab her face and kiss her. For a split second she kisses me back and then she shoves me back. Hard enough that my head hits the glass window behind me. I wince in pain and Danielle just sits there for a moment stunned and speechless.

Needless to say the drive back to my car was completely and utterly silent. Church the following Sunday was miserable, and unavoidably awkward. Danielle never acknowledged or looked over at me. Thankfully, she never outed me to anyone.

~~~~

Ever since then I've only dated men.

That is, until I met Billie.

I fucked that up too.

Maybe I need to let her go...

I take a deep breath and sigh heavily as I finish setting up the booth at the showcase. Security comes around and verifies mine and Bone's press pass.

"Alright UV, show's going live in five. You good?" He asks and I give him a small smile and a nod.

I say I'm good, but I'm so far from it. I feel my phone vibrate and I pull it out of my pocket.

Billie 💚
-we need to talk-

a/n: I really want some potato soup...

What kind of soup do you guys like? What kind do you hate?

I lub you bubbies! 💕