Can't help falling in love

On one of the last days of school, she managed one year, found her family, and got an amazing boyfriend. Or well, they hadn’t really talked about their labels, but in her mind, she referred to him as her boyfriend, and when people had asked her today where she was going, she had just shrugged and said that her boyfriend was taking her out to look at apartments. Okay, maybe it was childish and a little high school to be this happy and giddy about it, but there was just something about being picked up by Zadkiel that made this day just a little better. Kemuel had just rolled his eyes when he had seen how she flew out the door and ran to the parking lots; even though they had gotten ten minutes earlier off, she could be lucky, and he would already be there, right? Hugging books close to her chest, she quickly caught his smell and ran towards him, only to get nervous at the last minute and stop a few steps in front of him. “Hi”, she whispered, giving him a shy smile as she tugged some of her hair behind her ear; the bangs were new, which she had no idea if he would like or not.
“She has been gushing about you all day”, Kemuel yelled as he passed them, walking with Riley back home.

As always, Zadkiel was on time. Preferably way too early, which was why he had left the car to stand outside of it, leaning against the passenger door, simply minding his own business. He only really looked up when some students seemed to be talking about him, and whenever he sent them a smile, the students started giggling. He suddenly heard quick footsteps, and almost as if he already knew her footsteps, he got up from the leaning position and looked towards her as she came running. Already from this distance, he could se her bangs. His smile got wide, and he was more than ready to pull her into his embrace, when she stopped a few steps in front of him. “Hi,” he replied back and walked closer to her while she tugged her hair away. He let his hand find the same spot where she had tugged her hair to and was about to lean down to give her a small kiss when he suddenly heard his brother, which made him stop and look up. “You sound jealous, Kem,” he said looking towards his little brother though they were heading away. He then looked back at Violet with a wide smile, “It looks good,” he said and let his hand find its way to gently run over the hairs that made her bangs.

Kemuel turned and walked backwards, throwing up his hand and showing the peace sign in the wrong direction. “Yeah, sure, have fun!” he laughed before skipping, so he walked in the right direction again. Even though he could do much worse, he decided today he would let his brother have this one.

Violet had placed a hand against his cheek when he had leaned in for a kiss, it was amazing that she could be so confident when they were alone, but as soon as they were out here, she couldn’t help the awkwardness nor the bashfulness that formed in her chest. “Yeah?” she asked, letting her own hand find the bangs and ruffle them around a little. “Wanted to try something new since it was almost two or four years ago I last got my hair cut”, she said with a small smile, breathing out as she pushed her books back up against her chest. “Ready to go?” she asked, even if she wasn’t quite able to pull her eyes away from his.

Zadkiel noticed how Kemuel flipped him off in the most British way possible. He let him go with that, even though Zadkiel took it a little more to heart than he was supposed to.

He pulled a crooked smile as she ruffled her bangs that had been sitting so nicely just a moment ago, he laughed a little at the ruffled look. It suited her, it truly did. He laughed a little, “Four years, man… My hair would be just as long as yours if I went four years without going to the hairdresser,” replied with a wide smile. He gestured toward the car as she asked if he was ready, “Indeed I am,” he said before he looked back at her. For a second, he wondered whether or not he should, but he ended up taking her hand with a few of his fingers and walked backward toward the passenger seat so he could look at her while walking, and when he reached the door, he opened it for her, holding it until she got in so he could close it for her, get in on the other side and start driving them towards the first apartment. “So, how was school?” he wondered and looked towards her with a wider smile. Warm, caring, and filled with love.

There was something so natural and still very foreign with how they acted around one another—the way he took her hand and guided her to the passenger seat. And even though she could still feel the fear form in her chest, she trusted Zadkiel enough that it wasn’t a problem for her to get in and sit down. It did, however, as it always did to put on the seatbelt, but that too she managed. Besides, she had trained with her father for quite some months now,  and she was starting to feel and see progress in how she saw herself and the world.
“Fine, nothing major”, she shrugged, with was the first indicator that things might not have gone so well. “I have a hard time concentrating, and these exams are starting to get to me”, she told him more truthfully and let out a soft sigh. Her fingers pushed back some of her hair as she ensured that the books she had been holding were safely secure in the bag in front of her. “What about you? How was work?” she asked with a small smile, knowing he still wasn’t sure whether he wanted to keep it or not.

The smile lessened a little, interested in what had been going on. “Darn, sorry to hear that,” he said, only being able to look at her shortly before he had to look at the road again. “If you want, I can try and help?” he offered with a softer smile. And if he couldn’t help, maybe some of his friends or his siblings’ friends would be able to help out. Some of them were quite brilliant after all.
A short laugh left him when she questioned about his work, “Well there was a rookie who challenged me with pushups,” he said with a bright smile, “I guess you can tell that I ended up winning?” he said with a wide toothy smile. Shortly after he packed the smile away, “I’m getting a raise,” he said nodding a little. It made it more difficult for him to actually quit his job, mostly because he did indeed need the money if they were going to get new furniture, and he didn’t like the thought of borrowing money from either of their parents. The other jobs he had been looking at, the dream job included, didn’t have secure pay.

“No, it’s okay; I’m sure things will turn out all right; I’m just getting ahead of myself because I want to do well,” she said with a shy smile, as her hands grabbed around the dress she was wearing fabric, she felt a little awkward in it because she never wore this type of thing, but she had just wanted to look good for Zadkiel.
She laughed when he told her about his day and how he had won in doing push-ups “my hero”, she joked, looking toward him with a giant smile, even though he couldn’t see it as he was looking at the road. Then he told about getting a raise; a soft sigh left her; she knew that he wasn’t happy there, she could see it those days she had slept over, and he needed to get ready. But she hadn’t dared to say anything because she knew it was a personal matter. “What about those other things you wanted to try out instead? Like acting?” she wondered; no one said he could try to get some roles, even though he kept his other job for security.

He glanced shortly towards her as she said that she just wanted to do well, and she was certain that things would turn out all right. It made him pull a little crooked smile, almost proud of what she told him. “No matter what, I know that you’re doing your absolute best,” he said trying to comfort her.
He laughed with her as she joked about how he was a hero when he won in doing pushups. His smile was probably just as big as hers, but he had no chance of comparing them in time.
Her sigh was unable to be overheard. When she mentioned acting, he pulled a slightly greater smile. It simply just hit a comfortable place in his stomach, warming him up and the thought brought him joy – just like the thought of Violet brought him joy. “I haven’t really updated my pictures,” he said and nodded a little, “But I’m trying to figure out if Sera can help a little,” he said with a soft smile, nodding. “Last I was in her room she had like… Screens and lamps and all that,” he said with a small laugh. She had gotten so many things to make her social content great, but he was unsure of how many of those things had been kept now that she had deleted her accounts and gotten new and private ones. “I think when my pictures have been changed, there might be a greater chance for being accepted for a cast,” he laughed a little. He remembered how his cheeks had been quite chubby back when his mother had taken the pictures, or at least he didn't have the same kind of puppy fat as he had back then. Surely, he could just be part of a crowd somewhere, in a bigger movie, but on the other hand, he would rather have a little more focused screen time and get his face out there. It sounded odd, didn’t it?

She hummed thoughtfully when he told her he had been trying to get Sera to help. “We could just find a photographer?” she told him, letting her eyes turn toward his direction and giving him a soft smile, even if he wasn’t able to see it. “Maybe Minerva can help? Like, I know her a little, not talked so much with her, but ehm” she let out a flustered laugh “I’m sure I can like, talk with her or something like that, she is a model, after all, she should have the proper connections I would think” she tried to calm herself down a little, not knowing why she suddenly felt so out of it, maybe it was the thought about her connecting with people that freaked her out, but for Zadkiel she would try, and it did seem like Rose was talking with her, something about Minerva being a half-sister to Neil or something like that.
“So where are we going today?” she asked, looking into her bag where she was sure she had put some of the listings she had found while being bored one day, or she hadn’t been bored, but it had seemed far more interesting than doing her homework.

He glanced towards her as she mentioned they could find a photographer. It was a possibility, and it might make it easier to be constructive about the pictures. He nodded slowly and thoughtfully. A short glance was given to her as she mentioned Minerva. His gaze however found the road as she explained how they could ask Minerva for help. “That sounds amazing,” he responded with a wide smile, “You can just give her my number,” he assured her, “It might be a little easier, hm?” he suggested. He knew how difficult it could be to talk to people who you hadn’t conversed with that much.
“I think it might be a good idea to start in Aston centrum and then go south afterward,” he suggested. After all, centrum was a little closer to the academy, and he wished for their place to motivate her as much as possible. If they lived too far away from the academy, it might be more difficult to go in the morning. “There was something in Ironwood Lane, Sapphire Creek Garden and… Cottage Boulevard, right?” he shortly looked over at her. Cottage Boulevard might be the last place they were going to look at in Astron Centrum since it was on the edge of the south part of Aston. Ironwood should be the first they visited since he believed it was closer to the academy than Sapphire Creek Garden which was almost in the middle of the city. He knew they had looked at different places together and that she had written some of it down, “Can you put on some navigation for the one at Ironwood Lane?” he wondered, even though they didn’t have to hurry, he almost knew the way already.

She found her crumpled note where she had jotted down the different addresses “yes, seems right”, she mumbled, letting her thumb glide over the smudge edges of the letters. “14, Ironwood Lane”, she finally managed to decipher. She chuckled before putting away the paper.
“Yeah, of course”, she nodded as she started to fiddle with the navigation on the car; she had to take a deep breath as it was the third time that it had thought she punched the letter n and changed it to b. Calming breaths—in, out. It didn’t help if she started punching it, but after a while, she finally managed and could lean back in her seat.
Her eyes drifted outside, following the streets they were driving by. She felt nervous—not because they were looking at houses, but because she wanted to talk with him about their relationship. What if he didn’t feel the same as her? Even though it was stupid to think like that, he had never shown her otherwise–sometimes, when it was voiced, you could change your opinion or get scared, which made you end up pulling away. Of course, there could be the fact that she was putting far too much into this—but still, she was so in love with him that it pained her to think he might not feel the same.

He kept driving while she fiddled with the navigation. He occasionally noticed how she had difficulty because some of the letters didn’t agree with her. He couldn’t help but pull a small smile, even though he could hear on her breathing how she got annoyed. Eventually she could sit back down, and he felt how he got more comfortable in the seat. He drove safely and didn’t take stupid twists and turns. He was a very polite driver.
As they drove, he could feel how things seemed to be a little more silent than usual which made him wonder what she had on her mind that she had to ponder so much about. “Mmmm-Violet?” he hummed thoughtfully while checking the rear mirror once before he glanced over at her to see if she looked at him or not. “Everything okay?” he asked her, not being able to look at her for long even if he wished to. Now that they were driving on a lane without many lights, he let his hand reach toward hers, but without taking it, it was just there for her to take.

She hadn’t even noticed how she had let the silence settle between the two of them. To occupied in her own mind to realise that she had been awfully quiet, it wasn’t until he spoke her name that she almost jumped in her seat because she hadn’t been expected it, abruptly being pulled back into the real world. “Yeah?” she asked, not knowing if he had asked her something more than saying her name; it wasn’t until he asked if everything was all right that she understood how quiet she had been. “Oh, well, yeah—no, I don’t know”, she chuckled nervously, feeling how her heart felt like it had moved to her throat and beat almost painfully fast and hard, making it nearly impossible to swallow or even breathe probably.
But even though her mind was at war with itself, she saw how his hand moved to hers, and she didn’t even hesitate to take it, feeling the warmth spread and a smile slowly forming over her lips. “Yeah, I just”, she allowed herself to take a deep breath in, thinking about whether this was a good place to say it; sometimes it was better just to do it, right? Or was it something else she was thinking off? “I love you”, she whispered.

The way she reacted almost made him certain that she had zoned out, completely focused on something else. A million thoughts ran through her mind. She had been pulled out of the train of thoughts and back to reality. When she replied, he shortly looked toward her with a raised brow, nonverbally telling her to elaborate, even though she seemed too occupied to notice.
Her hand found the one he had presented to her. He caressed her hand softly with his thumb. He could almost feel her nervosity as she spoke. He didn’t even interrupt, but simply waited for her to take her time and collect her words. A soft smile spread on his lips as the sweet three words left her. He raised their hands up, with the back of her hand toward him, and kissed it gently, shortly looking toward her while he did so. It wasn’t more than a quarter of a second because he had to look at the road. “I love you too,” he spoke softly against the back of her hand, though his eyes were at the road. When they finally reached a light, he put the car in neutral and pulled the break so he could look over at her properly, turning in his seat. First, when she looked at him, he would repeat the words, “I love you too, Violet,” his voice sounded confident and without hesitation. “Was there something that made you doubt that?” he wondered with a kind smile.