"Do you really have to go?" Tommy yawned exhaustion clear in his words as he rubbed his tired eyes. I had grown undoubtedly fonder of him, he was like a bundle of sunshine; talking my ear off about nothing and everything. I listened patiently, not disrupting him even when he struggled with some words while giving my input where it was required.

"Yes, but I'll come visit you soon" at Holden response a smile immediately dusted over his chapped lips.

"And Savannah too? She's my new friend, see?" he pointed to the wall beside his bed where he had insisted we stick the both of our 'art'. A stick figure dressed in a blob of grey; representing my top, with my name written bellow it stood beside the superhero character I had sketched for him.

"If she wants to" large hazel eyes stared into mine, passing me a pleading expression that immediately melted my heart. I smiled at Tommy while nodding my heard, emitting a large smile from him.

"Thanks for coming man" Knox's said as Holden and him hugged, patting each other briefly on the back "it was nice to meet you Savannah" he respectfully stretched his large hand towards mine, giving it a light squeeze.

Holden and I made our way back to his truck after Tommy's reluctant bid of goodbye, the soft humming of the radio washing over the tranquil silence as I watched the beautiful display of colours cast by the setting sun.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Holden asked momentarily looking my way before focusing back on the road, as if only just registering my hunger my stomach grumbled incredibly loud without warning. I dug myself further into the leather seat in embarrassment as he let out a deep chuckle, my stomach further clenching.

My face remained facing outside the window, letting the light wind cool my incredibly heated skin. I could still barely even look Holden in the eye even when we parked in front of a rustic looking dinner, I hadn't gotten over my embarrassment yet.

Practically jumping off the truck, I tried vainly to compose myself; drugging in deep breaths before exhaling. We met at the front of the car, Holden lazily dropping an arm around my shoulder like it was something casual. It wasn't, every time he touched me it was like all my senses came alive, it wasn't healthy but I don't think I want it to stop.

The smell of greasy food hit me as I stepped past the threshold, my eyes quickly flying across the room. The dainty diner had a homey feel to it, its chipped walls doing nothing to deter it customers. The friendly looking waitresses filtered around, passing warm smiles to all the customers who were cheerfully chomping down on the mouthwatering food on their tables.

"It might not look like much but trust me it has the best burgers" Holden said beside me as he drugged me along with him to a secluded booth all the way across the room. One of the overly joyous waitresses immediately approached us once we sat down, handing us the menus. Taking Holden's advice I ordered a burger and a glass of milkshake while he opted for a diet coke with his burger

"Holden...why did you want me to meet Tommy?" I murmured as we waited on our orders. It was a question that had been bugging me since we left the hospital, I had practically been itching to know.

"Well he thinks his an artist and you actually are...I guess I just thought it would make him happy to have someone to bond with over drawing" a sad look settled in his grey eyes at the mention of the spirited child as his sharp jaw clenched incredibly.

"H- how did you meet him?" I knew I was treading on dangerous ground but I was too curious.

"My mother" the muscles on his jaw jumped as he grinned his teeth harder, his desolate eyes burning holes into the table. Like clock work my eyes snapped to his left hand settling on the immaculately designed black ink on his thumb, his mothers name.

The air had noticeably thickened with undeniable tension, so when our food arrived I couldn't be more thankful at the source of distraction. I watched in amusement as Holden disassembled his burger, a disgusted look washing over his face as he picked up the two sliced tomatoes in his burger, placing them in a napkin further way from his plate before wiping his fingers.

I tried to hide my chuckle behind my hand, but it was impossible when he further added ketchup onto his fries, defying the whole logic of removing the tomatoes in the first place. His head immediately snapped to me at the small noise, a taint of pink dusting over his high cheek bones.

"What? I don't like them" he shrugged looking at the discarded slices in disgust once again.

"But you put ketchup on your fries" I tried to justify, laughter still swimming in my eyes.

"Yeah but ketchup isn't raw, who the fuck even likes raw tomatoes?" The outrage in his voice further increased my amusement as I hid my smile behind the glass of vanilla milkshake, my shoulders silently shaking. I wanted to say majority of American but wisely chose to keep it to myself.

"Why are you in collage?" It was pure word vomit, I couldn't swallow the words back no mater how much I wanted to "I- I mean, I saw all the football articles around campus about you. You could have gotten signed two years ago" I was trying to save my sinking ship but only succeeding in drowning it further. I had come across an article from two years ago about him refusing to get signed when I was in the library earlier in the week, it had spiked my interest and my curiosity seemed to have a mind of its own.

Ugh! I must probably sound like I'm stalking him

"I wanted to prove that I could" he surprised me by responding, encouraging my next question.

"Prove it to whom?" His steel eyes drilled into my inquisitive ones a hollow sadness reflecting from them as he tightened his fist around the soda can.

"My father. Why are you in collage?" He redirected the question to me, possibly wanting to evade my prodding questions, I would too. I didn't really have a motive towards joining the university, to me it was just another step in someone's life. I suppose I could say I was also doing it for Blake, he had always dreamt of leaving for college and exploring outside the walls of our small family.

"I guess because it was the obvious next step" I answered truthfully.

"Did you want to though?" No one had ever really stopped to ask what I wanted, everyone else assumed I was too damaged to make my own decisions and hearing the question from Holden had me at loss for words. I had never thought about it in depth, if it was something I wanted or I had just settled for.

"I don't know" was my response once I drew yet another blank at the question. Holden nodded in somewhat understanding, biting back into his burger as silence shadowed our table once again.

We finished our food in silence, it wasn't tense or awkward but rather peaceful, I liked it a lot. Holden was right the burgers were one of the best I had ever eaten and coupled with the tall glass of milkshake I was extremely full and practically begging for my bed. The same waitress cleared our table handing Holden the bill which he adamantly refused to let me chip in for.

I watched the bright stars dusted over the navy sky overhead as Holden drove through the busy road, back to campus. I thought back to Tommy, the Six year old I had met today, the image of his ailing body flashing in my head. His excited nature lifting a subconscious smile onto my tired face, I hope to see him again.

Barely conscious of my surrounding, I hadn't noticed we had arrived outside my dorm building until the engine of the truck was shut and the vibration under my seat seized. I watched Holden descend the truck walking towards my door before helping me down.

"I'll walk you to the entrance" he mumbled while still latching on to my hand.

It was an extremely short walk but I enjoyed the feel of his rough palm over mine. We stood at the entrance none of us making a move to leave, my heart jumped to my chest as Holden wrapped an arm around my waist drowning me closer to him.

There was no hesitation this time when his lips descended on mine, the action had jolts of immense pleasure running up and down my spine. My hands flew to his sturdy jaw on their own accord, forcing the kiss to deepen as he swept his warm longue across my bottom lip. He tasted like mint and sweet cinnamon, my mind clouding over from the combination as I lost myself completely into the kiss, forgetting where we were.

"Goodnight" he whispered against my lips, ending the kiss much sooner than I'd hoped. I let him go reluctantly while murmuring a low 'goodnight' still trying to climb down of my high.

I quickly turned around not wanting him to see just how flustered he could make me, practically sprinting to my room. Sighing at the sight of the familiar door, I dug into my pocket for my keys opening the door to a beaming Avery, perched on her bed obvious mischief swimming in her eyes.

"So how was the date?"