24 #2
The high school kid behind the counter slowly lifts his eyes from Valentina, not even hiding that he was staring at her.
And for some reason, that makes me not want to punch him right now.
She’s probably the prettiest girl he’s seen all day, maybe even his entire life, so I’ll let him look for just a second.
“One Twix also,” I tell him, and Val starts bouncing next to me.
“Wait, I was right?!” She says giddily, still bouncing.
I smile down at my girl as happiness fills her eyes.
I don’t know why, but the shine seems rare.
Like this brightness doesn’t get unleashed often.
And that twists something inside of me that I can’t explain.
But I push it aside for now because I don’t want to take this feeling away from her. “You were right, Love.”
She grabs her gummy worms from the counter and points at me. “You owe me one of those, mister.”
I quickly pay and catch up to her, intertwining our hands as we head to the correct theater, where we are met with an empty room.
“One of two things is happening here,” I say as I lead Val up the stairs. “Either this movie has been out for a long time, and everyone’s already seen it.”
She tugs on my hand gently. “Or?”
“Or it’s absolute shit.”
“Wonderful.”
We find a seat right in the middle of the theater. The best seats and no one can tell me otherwise. As soon as we sit down, Val turns to me patiently.
“Okay. I know.” I open my candy and lift the two bars to her. She pulls one out and proudly takes a bite of it, acting like she won the grand prize in a contest. I almost want to give her the other half of my candy just so that smile stays on her face.
“What’s the title of this movie anyway?” she asks, taking another, calmer bite.
I dig the tickets out of my pocket and read, “Fun and Happy People.” Fuck me. I slowly look at Val. “This movie is going to be terrible, isn’t it?”
“It honestly might be the worst movie we’ve ever seen.”
I raise my Twix bar between us. “To shitty movies.”
She taps her bar against mine. “And, to next time, at least looking at the titles before picking one,” she adds with a raise of her brow.
I roll my eyes but nod. “Good point.”
The previews continue to roll as Val opens her bag of terrible candy. I wait for her to actually eat one, but she doesn’t. Now I’m wondering if she’s just messing with me.
She slowly turns to look at me. “Can I help you?”
I glance at her candy. “Give me one of those.”
She scoffs, “No way. You complained.”
I push my bottom lip out, and her eyes fall to it. She pulls her own bottom lip between her teeth like her mind subconsciously wants to bite mine.
Do it. Please just do it.
Fuck, her mind is so much more ready than she thinks she is. But I can’t push her. So I stay on track with my original plan. Act innocent. Though god knows I haven’t been that in years.
“Please,” I say with the softest voice I can manage. Her eyes snap back to mine. “Please, Love.” I push my lip out further, and this time, when she bites her own, it’s to stop a smile from coming through. “Pretty please.”
The softest giggle comes out as she shakes her head. “Oh my god, fine.”
She tips the bag toward me, and my smile spreads on my face. “Thanks, Love.”
She rolls her eyes as I reach into the bag and pull out a gummy worm. I stare at it, realizing I didn’t think this through. I don’t really want to eat this. But she loves them. And I’ll do anything for her.
I take a deep breath and bite off half of it, letting the other half sit in my hand. I don’t even know how to chew this thing; it just feels wrong in my mouth, and the sour flavor is definitely not my thing.
I look back at my beautiful girl, and she raises her eyebrows at me, waiting.
“Is this a joke?”
She frowns. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t actually eat these, do you?” She rolls her eyes and reaches into the bag to pull out another monstrosity. Calmly, she puts the whole thing in her mouth and eats it. “And you enjoyed that?”
She rolls her eyes at me again, a little more dramatically, and takes the other half of the gummy worm still in my hand, popping it into her mouth.
I shake my head at her in disbelief. “You are something else, Valentina Demarco.”
“Thank you,” she says as she shoves another sour candy into her mouth.
The lights suddenly go low, reminding me that we are in a theater. I could have just sat here watching Val eat her disgusting candy for the next two hours rather than whatever this movie is going to be.
I lean closer to her. “You can hold my hand if you need to,” I whisper, even though it’s only the two of us in here.
She whispers back, “Yes, because fun and happy people are terrifying.” She bites off another gummy worm with a smile.
I lean back in my seat as the movie starts, giving it a solid minute before I glance at Val. She’s watching the movie like she’s invested already, but I couldn’t care less. I sigh deeply and look around the theater.
I don’t remember the last time I was in here. Or in a theater in general. It’s been years, I’m sure. Actually, what was the last movie I watched?
Val rests her arm gently on the armrest between us. I look at her, but she doesn’t look at me. Then a smile starts to lift on her lips as she flips her hand over. I slip my hand into hers and lean towards her.
“You scared, Love?”
Her chest rises once on a deep breath. “Shh. I’m watching a terrible movie.”
I slip my hand from hers and turn more toward her, bringing my other hand around to trace over her skin. I can’t really imagine her getting a tattoo, but I pretend to draw one on her anyway.
Invisible little flowers decorate her arm. I could see her getting a quote, maybe. I try to think of one, but she pulls her arm away from me before I can.
I lift my head as she sinks further into the chair, covering her eyes from whatever is on the screen. I thought this movie was supposed to be fun and happy?
I look at the screen and watch as a few clowns discuss a birthday party.
Oh my god. She’s afraid of clowns. Fuck, I should have looked into the movies ahead of time and asked her. I look at Val quickly, her hands pressing tighter to her eyes.
My hand comes up, covering her eyes, too, just so no images can get through. Val slowly lowers her hands to check the screen, but she freezes when she sees my hand in front of her face. Her big eyes swing to mine.
“Do you want to know when it’s gone, or do you want to leave completely?” I ask gently.
She just stares at me—like she can’t understand what is happening. “Does it look like it’s almost gone?”
I already know the answer, but I check anyway. “There’s about three more.”
“Jesus.” She presses her hands back over her eyes, sinking so far into the chair she might slip right through just to get away.
I have to get her out of here.
I stand up in front of her and pull her stiff hands from her eyes.
She blinks and looks up at me. I don’t say anything, just tug her hands gently so she stands with me.
On her feet, she grips my hands tighter, like the clowns can get her now that she’s standing.
And I don’t care if they’re not real; they're not getting my girl.
I shuffle her down the row to keep her blocked from the screen. When we reach the steps, I pull her behind me. “Just look down, okay?”
She nods and immediately turns her eyes to the floor.
I grip her hand tighter and guide her down the steps.
After she comes off the last step, I pull her around the corner, and she falls in step with me, grabbing my arm to keep me close.
Once out in the bright hallway, she lets out a breath of relief, and I feel my lungs inflate as well.
Slowly, I reach for her arm, hoping not to spook her. When she looks up at me, relief in her eyes, I pull her into my chest. Tilting her chin up with one hand, I slip my other into her hair, keeping all her attention on me.
“Are you okay?”
She stares at me like I’m not real. “You didn’t make fun of me.”
I frown. “Why would I make fun of you?” Those words hurt to say, because I never would. “You were scared.”
“Because I was scared of clowns,” she emphasizes. “Non-Stephen King IT, clowns.”
I shake my head, my thumb gently stroking her cheek. “It doesn’t matter. You were scared. I’m not going to make fun of you for something you’re afraid of.”
The faintest glint of tears glistens in her eyes, but she reaches for me and pulls me close before I can see them fall.
“Thank you,” she whispers. I rub her back in reply, and she relaxes more into my touch.
“Are you okay?” I ask again.
She sniffles and pulls back, shrugging. “I mean, I’ll probably have nightmares from it, but I’m fine.”
Unwanted memories of the last nightmare I had flash in my mind. How I couldn’t get to her. Her screams. I need to think of something to say. Something that doesn’t relate to that night.
And then it hits me. I smirk and pull her closer to my chest. “Want me to stay the night? Fight off all the clowns that try to come and scare you?”
There’s a hint of fear in her eyes, and I realize I shouldn’t have brought that up. That comes later in the relationship. So much later.
Luckily, she smiles up at me and shakes her head. “Not tonight. But if you take me to another clown movie, you might have to.”
“The next one starts in five minutes.”
“Ha ha,” she says dryly.
I smile and press a kiss to her forehead. “Well, that was a bust.”
She shrugs. “You’ll just have to make up for it with dinner.”
“Well, the dinner might not be the best, but the view is great.”
She raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that so?”
I nod, pulling her with me towards the exit. “Come on, Love.”