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“Wherever you want, tell me what you want to eat, and we’ll get it.”
“No, I mean where are you heading right now?” I ask, confusion coating my question.
“Oh, I was gonna take you back to mine, but we’ll get food first,” he says as if it was that obvious.
Crow’s hand reaches for my jaw with his eyes still on the road, and he squeezes.
“I can hear your teeth from here, woman. Stop it.” I always do it when I am nervous or stressed or frustrated. My teeth start grinding, my jaw clenching, and he always knows whether he is looking or not, and he always holds my jaw tight as if it will solve the problem. It doesn’t solve the bigger problem that is plaguing me, but it does immediately stop my teeth from chattering.
“You’re an idiot,” I say with a tight laugh.
“Yeah well, you’ll be ugly and old with no teeth if you carry on that way, and we can’t have that, can we?”
“You cheeky bastard!” I say, feeling a full belly laugh emptying its way from my mouth.
The guilt I feel for experiencing happiness as life escapes me haunts my mind. Crow and I spoke for hours upon hours last night and although logically, I know that I'm allowed to feel happiness, I also know that it will be a while before the happiness isn’t plagued by guilt and sorrow.
“I’m trying to help you out here, Charl.” He chuckles. “Do you want to be old, ugly, and lonely?”
“Oh, so I’ll be lonely now too?” I ask. “And where might you be whilst I’m busy being a toothless old granny?”
His face lights up as he tells me, “I’ll be out doing your shopping because you’ll be too embarrassed to go anywhere in case you laugh too hard and your falsies fall out.”
This is why Crow is and will always will be my best friend, no matter what else he is to me too.
“Oh, shut it. You're a prick," I tell him as I shove his arm just enough.
“Don’t touch the jewels, love, don’t touch the jewels,” he says as he pulls away in mock pain.
“I’ll be shovelling your damn jewels up your bleedin’ arse if you carry on this way,” I tell him with a glare. Not as though he sees it as he’s too busy driving.
He pulls up outside of one of the most beautiful houses I’ve ever seen in what feels like seconds.
It’s small and quaint, a cottage really, not a house. The walls are made of stone, different shapes and colours ranging the outside of the house, with vines and flowers flowing from the ground right to the tip of the tiles and slightly off kilter roof.
The garden is brimming with life and as I open the door to get out and look around, I notice a swing identical to the one I have at home painted in the most striking sunset orange that I’ve ever seen. It’s my favourite colour, and I have a feeling Crow is well aware of that.
I turn to face him and find that he’s watching me, waiting for my reaction.
“Is this place yours?” I ask in wonder.
“Something like that. I wanted to be in the city for such a long time, but I realised not so long ago that this was so much more beautiful,” he tells me sombrely.
“It’s incredible, Crow.”
“You were the inspiration. You went on and on about your dream home often enough that you made your dream mine, and this is the result of that, so really, I’ve got you to thank.”
I smile up at him, and rush over to the swing before plopping my bottom onto the cold surface.
Crow chuckles as he wanders over and takes a seat beside me.
"This is a home for all of us. I mean, I originally got it for you and me, but I've even added a shooting range for Liam." Hearing his words, his uncertainty about whether that will now happen crushes me.
I snuggle up to him, placing my arms around his back and his chest as he places his head on mine and whispers the words that he knows I love most in the world.
“Do you want some hash browns for dinner?” he asks.
“I’m not sure hash browns work for dinner. I’ll put something together. Lead the way,” I tell him as I elongate my arms in front of me.
