chapter twenty five

lydia swallowed a lump in her throat, never taking her eyes off of the weapon. her eyes starting watering from fear, and she found herself unable to think. she felt like she was suffocating almost, as she had never seen something so dangerous be so close to her before.

"w- why do you have that?" she whimpered with tears in her eyes.

beamer took notice to how scared she was extremely quickly, and immediately he felt regretful of his decision to bring it out in the first place.

"no no no baby, don't cry," he began.

"i'm not going to use it, i only have it for our protection. i would never use it unless it was necessary. see, look. all gone." he finished, flicking on the safety lock and shoving it inside of the glove compartment.

she calmed down a bit, but she was still shaken. she didn't know what to think of beamer anymore. she waved goodbye to the comfort she had felt around him, along with the excitement of going into the store. even though he claimed he wouldn't use it, she was still petrified that he would even think to bring it out and use it as a threat to scare her.

without any other words being exchanged, beamer got out of the vehicle and walked to lydias side. as he opened her door he took her small hand and lead her out of the sedan, lydia had almost forgotten about her fear when she was met with the outside. it's not like beamers house didn't have windows, and it's not like he ever said that she couldn't go outside. she had just never been in the area that beamer had placed them in, and she always loved seeing new surroundings.

the two walked hand in hand into the small grocery store, and lydia had taken notice to the tense atmosphere that surrounded beamer. she didn't know why he seemed this way, and it was almost as if he was afraid of something. when she took the opportunity to glance up at him, he held his jaw in a tight clench as he looked around at all the adults in the store. and once she noticed his head stop at a certain angle with an extremely threatening stare, she turned her head in the same direction.

a large group of men around their mid twenty's had their eyes on lydia as she looked over to them. beamer slightly squeezed her hand tighter, and she turned back to face him. she had never seen such a threatening glare on his face before and it slowly started to startle her. she had only seen this sort of expression when he was upset with her, so she knew nothing good would come out of the situation if they had kept staring at the two of them. she understood that it was probably frustrating to see a group of people staring at you and your friend, but she didn't understand why he was acting so extreme.

"don't speak to them." he said, looking into her eyes.

lydia didn't respond, instead she turned the two into the opposite direction of the store where she then began walking rather quickly. to calm beamer down she softly ran her thumb against his hand along with a sweet smile. this made beamer smile, as he had never had someone care for his emotions so much before. lydia was everything he ever wanted, and she was making it harder for herself by caring so much about him. he knew he wouldn't ever let her go.

"can we get oranges, please?" she politely asked him, batting her eyelashes in the process.

"anything you want, little lydia." he softly spoke, lightly picking up her hand placing a gentle kiss on it in a joking manner.

she loved when he was like this towards her. she would do anything to keep it this way forever, but she knew that things were usually temporary with the boy. she was okay with this, though. raya had been too soft with her while she was growing up, and she thought that maybe she could use the rough directions that beamer brought to her sometimes.

the two spent their grocery trip joking amongst one another, smiling and laughing quietly to each other. they were both happy and content when things were like this. lydia promised herself to listen to what he says so that he's sweet to her, and beamer promised to himself to be gentle with his little. they were both learning one another, and the two were silently very grateful for this. lydias worries of beamer hurting her were out the door, and beamers worries of lydia leaving him were slim to none. he grew comforted by having her by his side now, and he hoped nothing less than the same for her.

-

"where does the pancake batter go, beam?" she asked as she unloaded the groceries that were placed onto the kitchen counter.

"second cabinet on the left, baby." he sweetly cooed, preparing the ingredients for dinner amongst the two.

the ride home was relaxing, comforting almost. he held her hand the entire time, and she delivered him soft squeezes every once in awhile to let him know that she was there. she hummed quietly to herself on the drive, which beamer absolutely adored. he now recognized that she does this whenever she is comfortable or relaxed, and he vowed to himself that he would do anything to keep her this way. he loved the way her soft voice travelled quietly through the air when she did so.

within every small moment that he spent with her, he found something more that he enjoyed and cherished. and he didn't know this, but she felt the same about him. she took notice to the small things with beamer as well. the way his thumb tapped on the steering wheel when he was deep in thought, alongside the way that his jaw unclenched whenever it was just the two of them together.

"i want to help," she began pouting as she turned her attention to him beginning to chop the ingredients.

"not with the preparation, little. too many sharp things." he replied, sending a glance in her direction.

"why don't you go get changed into your pajamas and i will call for you when it's time to cook, hm?" he sub-offered, placing the sharp knife onto the cutting tray and fixing himself in her direction. she nodded with a content expression in response.

"my good girl." he hummed, placing a kiss onto her forehead before sending her off into the bedroom. she blushed to herself, hiding her face in the process.

once in the room she placed herself onto the bed with a sigh. she enjoyed spending time with him, yes, but she was also very comforted by the thought of going home. her attachment to her mother was strong, and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep in her own comfortable space with her stuffed animals. she had a favorite one, actually. snuffles was gifted to her by raya when she was very young, and lydia had grown very attached to him. to say she missed him was an understatement.

she shook her head at the thoughts taking place in her head. she's acting too childish, again. all she wanted to do was grow up, maybe even be like beamer. have her own space, be able to make her own decisions. with beamer she almost had this, though. he treated her like something she wasn't. mature. as much as she absolutely hated to admit it, she was extremely immature. childlike, almost. this thought almost made her angry at her mom for treating her like a child her entire life.

"little, im ready for you!" beamer called out from the kitchen.

the sound of his voice brought her out of her deep thinking that she was partaking in, and she jumped up from the bed. had she really been sitting there for that long? gathering another matching set that was packed in her suitcase, she began to change and soon enough she was making her way into the kitchen. beamer was awaiting her arrival as he stood over the kitchen counter with the chopped ingredients in front of him, waiting for her as he promised.

"hair up, baby." he stated, softly taking two ponytails off the counter where lydia had previously left them.

he stood over her and gently began running his hands through her hair. he placed two pigtails in her long hair, giving a content hum when he realized he had done it correctly. he used to do it for his mother when he was a child, so he was pleased to know that he still possessed the skill. the small gesture made lydia smile up at him, causing a slight blush to creep on his face as she turned around to face the stove. everything she did he found himself replaying in his mind constantly. he was infatuated with her.

the two spent the evening sharing little comments and giggles as they took the time to prepare the meal for one another. they were content, and that alone made the atmosphere in the small house more giddy and playful than ever. this house had never seen such happy memories, but between the two, that was all that was being created. it was refreshing for beamer to feel so much serotonin in one day, especially caused by another person. he knew he had his person.

after he set the table for the two, lydia began to dish both of their plates with a smile. this was comfortable. it felt right. the two shared the same thoughts silently amongst themselves. the dinner was absolutely amazing, and beamer couldn't help but wonder if lydia was beginning to come to terms with how things were going to be from now on. he knew it was a big change for her, but with each hour that passed he began to feel that she was growing accustomed to the situation in front of her. but surely enough, lydia cut the hopeful thoughts short.

"do i get to go home tonight, beamer?"

lydia stfu u ruin everything >:( CAN U PLS LET THERE BE A HAPPY DAY WITHOUT UR SHENANIGANS !!! i hate u

also hi longer chapter 2day because i haven't updated in awhile :p