A frown tugged down at my lips, "There's no way I'm taking that with me," I pointed at the risqué, lacy bra and panties Luna started to place in my already over-stuffed suitcase, the sides spilling with what Luna had pushed in there only seconds before.
She smirked at me, ignoring my request and shoved it in next to my other intimates, the black of the set contrasting with my oddly colored bras and undies. She looked up, grinning. "You're taking it Alice," she cheered. "You're going on a five-day trip to San Francisco. Five days is enough to meet a cute guy and have him take you to bed." Luna winked and picked up a mustard dress and folded it, speaking again but avoiding eye contact, "And if all else fails, you can always fuck Ryder."
"Luna!" I tossed a pair of socks at her, heat creeping up my neck. "I'd never fuck Ryder, he's my best friend, besides I'm not planning on fucking anyone!"
"Is that so?"
The husky, low voice sent shivers down my spine and I recognized it immediately, a small grin plastering my face with a stupid dumb-struck look.
I spun on my heel, facing Eros. He leant against the banister of my door, arms crossed, fingers ringed as usual, the name on his fingers hidden. He smiled a toothless grin back at me, albeit shy and reserved, the boundaries we had crossed ever present in this moment.
"Yes," I said, rather breathlessly.
He uncrossed his arms, veins in his arms flexing and came to stand in front of me, flicking a piece of hair out of my face. "Why would Luna think you're going to fuck someone this trip?" He asked softly.
I rolled my eyes, folding my arms against my chest, "Luna is packing me some lingerie in case I end up getting lucky."
Eros pursed his lips at me, "You're not getting lucky under Ryder and I's watch," he stuck his tongue out, patting my head gently before walking toward Luna and my spilling suitcase.
"What'd you pack?" He asked exasperated, sparing a small smile at Luna before pulling the suitcase to him, closing it and zipping it up, setting it on the floor, ready to go into Ryder's truck.
I turned to face him and Luna, gaze lingering on a flabbergasted Luna who was not used to this side of Eros, who never saw this side of Eros. "I packed a decent amount," I huffed, "besides how'd you get in?"
Eros fucking beamed. "Angelica let me in. I think she's taking a liking to me," he bent, taking a hold of the strap on my luggage and stood, the muscles in his arm flexing.
"Everyone takes a liking to you," I muttered under my breath, hoping naively he wouldn't hear.
Of course, he did.
He frowned. "Anyways it's getting late Alice, I already left a semi-hungry Ryder in the car, I don't think we should keep him waiting."
As if the devil himself heard, a long, loud honk startled the three of us in my room.
Luna cracked a grin and laughed. "I fucking hate that kid. He has no patience whatsoever." She grabbed her purse from my bed. "I guess I'll be heading out now, send me loads of photos and call me when you can!" She crossed my room, giving me a tight hug and Eros a gentle wave, and left, a soft scent of roses staining my room.
I stared after her, overcome suddenly by how happy I was. I had never had a girlfriend over just to help me packâ hell, I'd never had a girlfriend over. It was nice, having a friend who looked out for you and wanted you to live your best life.
"You ready Alice?"
I jumped at how close his voice was, and turned my head, his rough hand brushing mine as he leaned down to laugh at me. "You ready to have the trip of your life Alice Amelie Black?"
â¦
The lights of the street lights shone a painful orange, illuminating the road below terribly, the light melting against the darkness of the street. Up ahead, the light shone stronger, with brilliant white light casting brightness upon the rust colored Golden Gate Bridge. It stood massive before the three of us in the truck, feeling enormously tiny in what seemed typically to be a huge truck. We were silent, the magnificence of it rendering us silent, our eyes trained on the sloping cables and two towers that demanded our attention.
"I can see why you wanted to come here," Ryder filled our silence, his tone reflecting the awe we were all feeling at this moment, driving down the bridge, the pungent sea breeze saturating the car, brushing my hair behind me, and I felt alive.
San motherfuckin' Francisco was #2 on my list.
My mother and father had fallen in love in the city. Before they were married and had me, before my father fell into a pit of depression and indifference to his girls, they were just like us. They were teenagers trying to find their place in the world.
And maybe, I just wanted to see what my parents saw, what they loved. See if I could absorb the beauty my mother saw, walk the steps of her, and somehow maybe become just a bit more like her.
"It is so much more than I had pictured in my head," I breathed after we exited the bridge, turning onto the 280N toward our hotel. "I never realized a city could be this big."
Unexpectedly, it was Eros, not Ryder who laughed. "Alice have you ever traveled out of Monte Verde?" He turned to look at me, his eyes dark and tired with sleep, but focused on me, his smile brightening his dark features.
I moved away from him, his demeanor overpowering me, exciting me in ways I wasn't completely ready for. "No," I answered shortly.
His jaw flexed. "You should travel more Alice," he turned his head to Ryder and regarded him momentarily. "We should all travel more, experience different lifestyles and try and understand other people's lives and what keeps them going. We cannot thrive if we do not experience more than what we already know."
The car filled with a deeper silence as we took in Eros' words, and I fiddled nervously with the ends of my hair. To be fair, I never had the opportunity to travel outside of Monte Verde because of my father, but I never wanted to travel that much. I was just too busy to think that far ahead.
In moments like these, Eros made me realize we had our whole lives ahead of us, this was not the end, it was the beginning.
"Eros?" I asked in a quiet voice.
His head tilted back to look at me in the back seat, my legs sprawled on the middle console, his hand securely holding my ankles, tightening slightly.
"Hm?"
"I'm really happy you got over your stupid thing about us never being friends."
The car filled with laughter, a bubbling, outrageous, loud music-like laughter that made us smile at each other like fucking idiots.
"You were pretty persistent," he teased, squeezing my ankles. "And annoying." He muttered.
"You're annoyingly persistent," Ryder added on, giving me a death glare in the rearview mirror, "need I remind you of the math test I took in January and got a C-? You took it as a personal offense to your tutoring skills and forced me to study the chapter again and retake it!"
I pursed my lips at the memory of long nights with Ryder, reviewing worksheets and drinking an exorbitant amount of coffee. "But what did you get on that retake Ryder?"
He cracked a grin.
"That's not the point." He pulled off the freeway onto a somber street lined with Victorian houses, the street basically dead, the street slightly wet with the rain that must've fallen a few hours ago. His hands gripped the steering wheel lazily as he followed his phone's GPS, turning into the driveway of a yellow, intimate house.
"We're staying here?" Eros asked, sticking his head out the window and craning his neck to look up at the small house.
Ryder rolled his eyes, turning off the car and exiting the car, pulling the door open for me with a smile.
I grabbed his outstretched hand, hopping out of the car and looked up at the two story building. It was cute and quaint, the front porch lined with flower boxes that blossomed with fragrant buds, the bay windows also being adorned with flower boxes.
"It's an Air BnB Eros, we have a room in the house, it's not like I rented out the entire house," Ryder mumbled, pulling bags out from the bed of the truck, handing me my bag and tossing Eros his across the truck.
Ryder led the way, Eros and I following apprehensively up the steps of the porch where Ryder pressed the doorbell. "The couple that lives here is really cute, I think I made friends with them!" He said conversationally as we waited.
My phone buzzed.
I looked down, frowning. I had four friends, and half of them were here right now, who could possibly be texting me?
From: Henry Davidson
i heard you're in sf, i'd love to recommend some places to you if you want :)
And then there was Henry. The boy I almost did things with on my birthday, and the boy I continued to talk to even though I wasn't sure where we stood. I genuinely liked him and all, but he was moving far too quickly for me.
The door opened, ending all my thoughts about texting Henry back while I lifted my head. In front of us stood a middle aged couple that could be any of our parents, except, the situation for care-takers for all three of us were skewed in a way that we never would have normal parents.
We were outrageously fucked up.
"Ryder?" The woman asked skeptically, her husband's eyes looking Eros and I over with a cautiously optimistic smile.
Ryder nodded, "Joan! This is Eros and Alice, my friends I had spoken with you about. We're so honored to be staying here with you!" Ryder pointed respectively to Eros and I and we both lamely waved and smiled at the couple.
Joan smiled brightly at the three of us, "Come on in."
We settled in quickly into a bedroom upstairs after a brief house tour. The room were were staying in was small, but cozy, the bed was pressed up against a blue-painted wall and on the left of it was a simple bay window overlooking the street, a small closet against another wall and across from the bed a bathroom and TV stand.
After getting ready for bed in the en suite and I looked at the bed, pursing my lips, wondering how we were all going to fit on that fucking bed.
Ryder smirked, seeing my reaction to the bed. "You're sleeping in the middle."
My face fell. "Ryder!" I complained, stomping over the edge of the bed, watching as Eros claimed his side and Ryder plopped on the other side.
"You're small!" He responded defensively. "If Eros or I got in the middle we'd kick each other off!"
My phone buzzed again.
From: Henry Davidson
butâ there are places that one day i want to show you myself alice black.
"Who's texting you at this hour?" Eros asked, a hand under his head, stretching up his shirt so I could see his pale stomach. Both boys wore shirts to bed for the sake of me, for they understood how massively uncomfortable I'd be if they weren't. A blush rose in my cheeks remembering the last time I saw Eros shirtless and what had happened that night.
The night we hadn't spoken about.
I swallowed. "Luna," I answered feebly. "She wanted to know if we made it safely."
He nodded, although the down turn of his lips and crease in his forehead clearly showed he didn't believe me at all. He bit his lip, watching me as I typed a sheepish, modestly flirtatious response.
To: Henry Davidson
I'd love for you to show me... one day (:
The inclination I knew Eros had about Henry and I was overwhelming me, and I worried if the developing friendship between us would affect the dynamic I had grown so fond of with Eros.
I desperately didn't want things to change between us.
Climbing into the bed next to Ryder, I felt him grab and spoon me so I faced Eros, his nose pressing lightly against the scalp of my head. His breathing slowed and the grip on my waist weakened.
"Goodnight guys," he mumbled, nodding off quickly to sleep.
This would not be the fate for Eros and I as he turned off the light. In the darkness, I could still see his eyes on me, and mine on his. Under the sheets, his hand reached for mine, and he clasped it tightly. He moved forward, giving me a gentle kiss of the forehead.
It was silent for a moment before he spoke, "I never want there to be secrets between us Alice."
My throat burned. "Me either Eros," I whispered.
His eyes darkened, and he let go of my hand, as though he knew. He knew I lied to him. He knew I was hiding something. I suddenly felt very cold without his touch.
He turned his back on me.
"Goodnight Eros."
â¦
ironically i'm in sf right now as i upload!
me: WHERE IS THT ALICE-RYDER DEVELOPMENT
hello to my lil babies, i struggled w this part mucho, and i'm not sure, and i'm not completely satisfied with it *sigh* if anyone has any criticism, i welcome it w open arms. also grammar errors *shudders* i'm trying to update as much as i can because i'll be gone for around a month and i'm not sure if i'll be able to update!
I LIKE THIS BANNER, DOES ANYONE ELSE???
also there is a part 2 to #2, we ain't done w sf just yet <3
all my love