28 Chapter 28

One of the most annoying things about going back to school was that my mom would call me every day to check in on me. It was like she was afraid I was going to go off the deep end again. Which, once I thought about it, was a rational thing to worry about, but still. I felt fine. I just wanted her to believe me that I felt fine.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine ," I reiterated for the thousandth time, cradling my cell phone between my ear and my shoulder as I sat down on my bed to pull my socks on.

"And you've been taking the medicine the doctor gave you?" she asked, in a very motherly tone. I rolled my eyes and gave a menacing glance to the prescription bottles on my nightstand.

"Yes," I groaned. "Mom, I promise you, I'm doing well. In fact, I'm doing great because I'm in the middle of getting ready for my date."

"A date? With who?" she asked, which sort of rubbed me the wrong way. How could she forget about someone as unforgettable as Vic?

"With Vic? My boyfriend?" I said, adding a light hearted chuckle so she wouldn't think I was being rude or something. I wanted to avoid the lectures where I could.

"Oh, right, I forgot you guys were still dating," she said, apologizing for the mistake. I rolled my eyes anyway. "How is he?"

"He's good, everything's close to back to normal now, so . . . yeah, he's great. We're back together and everything," I told her, smiling as I moved on to tying my shoes, which proved to be a little more difficult than multi-tasking with the socks. "Anyway, I really gotta go, mom."

"Right, right, well, have a good time, Kellin. I love you," she said, putting emphasis on the last part. At one point while in the hospital she cried about how she thought I was going to die without her being able to tell me she loved me one last time. It still kind of hurt. I told her I loved her too and she finally hung up

the phone. I let out a frustrated sigh as I set the phone down and I could hear Justin's chuckle from his side of the room.

"Your mom's a helicopter now, huh?" Justin asked. I sighed.

"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged, finally standing up and sliding my phone into my pocket. I turned to the mirror we had in our room to make sure I looked all right. I was wearing jeans with a yellow sweater and a bright blue jacket. My hair was still messy, but at least I tried to brush it.

"You look great, Kells," Justin said, distracting me from myself-inspection. I turned to him and smiled, his comment actually meaning a lot to me.

"Thanks, Justin," I told him.

"I mean, it's not like Vic's going to see you anyway," he chuckled, teasing me as I continued to stare into the mirror. I gave him an amused look and he just shook his head.

"Yeah, well . . . ," I said. "It's the thought that counts."

He laughed again, and I picked up my wallet and stuff before saying I Was heading out. "See ya, man," he said. And with that I was off.

--

"Try the baked ravioli, you know . . . if you like ravioli. It's literally the best I've ever had," Vic said, excitedly as I flipped through the menu. I glanced across the table as he held up the menu the waitress mistakenly gave him, pretending to read it. I chuckled and he set it down, showing that he was just trying to get a laugh out of me.

"Would you believe that I actually love ravioli?" I smiled. I felt like most people would hate having their boyfriend make order suggestions all the time, but from Vic I absolutely loved to hear his opinion. Any chance to witness that flash of genuine excitement on his face was a chance I would take.

"You know, I had a feeling that you would," he laughed, still fidgeting with the menu.

The waitress came by and smiled, and Vic picked up the menu again.

"Can I get something started for you guys?" the waitress asked. Vic cleared his throat and held up the menu dramatically. He had it upside down, too, which probably wasn't his intention, but it made it even funnier.

"Um, Sir?" The waitress said, like she wasn't sure how to approach the situation. She still hadn't caught on to the fact that Vic couldn't see anything. I guess it was really hard to tell if you weren't paying attention.

"I can't read this menu," Vic declared.

"Sir, it's upside-down," she said, cautiously.

"Oh!" Vic said, dramatically, as he flipped it over. He held it in front of him again, his gaze going through the menu altogether. "Yeah I still can't read it, I think I'm blind."

"Oh, um," the waitress said, getting flustered. I decided it was time to swoop in and amend the situation because she looked like she just didn't know what to say or do.

"He's just messing with you," I offered, and she still looked confused. "He's blind, and he's a smart ass." "Oh," she said, still looking unsure of the situation. "I think we have a braille menu somewhere, I could

get that for you-"

"No, no, don't worry about it, I'll have the shrimp scampi, and my date will have the baked ravioli," he said, smiling brightly in her direction. She grinned and wrote down the order before walking away.

Vic turned back to me, casually, like he didn't just purposely freak out our waitress.

"So tell me more about the painting you're working on," he insisted.

"No way, it's a surprise," I chuckled. I was going in a completely new direction with this piece and I was really excited about it. It was something that even Vic would appreciate. It was something that he could appreciate.

"Aww, come on," he whined playfully.

"Nope, you'll have to wait and see," I said, making myself cringe. Yikes.

"Oh I will? Well, that might be a problem," he chuckled. I laughed along with him, thankful that we could laugh about these things in a harmless way. I mean, I was working on it, but it was crazy to learn how vision-centered language actually is. I never realized that before I met Vic.

"You know what I mean," I insisted.

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, stretching his hand out across the table to find mine. "I can't wait."

"Neither can I," I told him, giving his hand an affectionate squeeze.

---

Dinner, as always, was absolutely amazing. The baked ravioli was just as good as he said it would be. And after we were done, we walked the long way back to my dorm so we could unwind.

Once we were back in my room, we cuddled up in my bed, which was something I had really missed. Just the comforting feeling of knowing I had someone to cuddle up to. I could lie in his arms all day, feeling perfectly safe and content. Justin wasn't home, so we had the room to ourselves for a while. I lay on my side, facing him as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I love this," I sighed, snuggling closer against him. "You're so warm."

"And you're soft," he breathed, kissing my forehead lightly. He reached up to find my hairline before gently running his fingers through my hair. "And beautiful."

"So are you," I told him, stretching forward to kiss his lips. He let me kiss him, then pulled back a moment. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm just . . . You just let me compliment you," he said, smiling. I took a deep breath before smiling and reaching up to hold the side of his face. He was right. Pre-breakdown Kellin would have pushed away from such a compliment.

"It's because I trust you. I know you wouldn't lie to me," I whispered.

"I would never," he confirmed, before moving forward and attacking my lips with his. I inhaled deeply and held onto him, letting him ravish me with kisses. I moved my lips against his, unable to get enough of his warm, sweet lips. He brought my bottom lip between his teeth, lightly grazing the skin as his tongue slipped through. I gasped, holding onto him tighter.

A few seconds later he moved so that he was on top of me, continuing to kiss me as hard as he could. I felt innumerable fireworks exploding within my chest as I draped my arms around his neck.

"Kellin, I love you," Vic told me, breaking from the kiss momentarily. His voice was breathy and slightly labored.

"I love you, too, Vic," I breathed, looking up at him and surveying his beautiful face. It was so soft and round and just- absolutely perfect. "You're absolutely amazing."

"I know," he laughed. I laughed too, rolling my eyes as he came back down to connect his lips with mine.

I let myself smiling into the kiss, just so happy with everything going on. It was so good to feel happy again.

Vic rolled again so that we were back on our sides and cuddling again. This time, Vic pulled the covers over us so that we were a little warmer. I could have easily spent the entire night like this.

Vic was about to go in for another kiss when he stopped.

"Door," he whispered. I sat right up and seconds later, Justin was busting into the room. My face felt flushed, because I was trying to pretend like I wasn't just getting turned on making out with my boyfriend.

Justin's eyes were wide and he was breathing heavy like he'd just ran all the way up here. I gave him a curious look before he caught his breath enough to speak.

"Guys, you've got to see this, there are like, fifteen cop cars outside the Alpha Sigma Sigma house."

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