Idiots to Lovers (bxb)

27 | The Not-Very-Relaxing Drive

"Hey! Stay on the road!" I said in agitation as Everett veered onto the pavement yet again.

"But there's a bike on the road!" he exclaimed, twisting the wheel even more towards the pavement.

"It's ten feet away from us."

"Nooo it's like inches away," he argued.

"Everett, you have absolutely no depth perception," I said in disappointment.

"I'm worried I'll hit it!"

"I mean, that's good. You should worry," I conceded.

Everett took my words in earnest and made a beeline for the closest streetlight. I stomped hard on the brakes.

"Oww, that's my foot, Clementine," he groaned.

"Don't drive with both your feet," I snapped.

"But there's two pedals; it's one for each foot." He gesticulated as he spoke.

I snatched his hand and placed it back on the wheel, twisting it back on to the road in one fluid moment. "Get off the pavement."

"But there's no one on the pavement," he argued, "Isn't it better to hit a streetlight or two rather than the people on the road?"

"You could just not hit anything."

The fact that Everett somehow had a learners permit didn't make me feel any less anxious that a cop would stop us. It was a relatively quiet road that learners often practiced on—but the way Everett was practicing felt illegal.

"Just drive on the brake for now, and keep your other foot off the accelerator," I advised, "You can practice switching between the two later."

I made Everett fold his left leg under him and keep his right foot on the brake. I moved my own foot away from it but still kept my leg over the console, close enough to intervene if necessary. The car inched along slowly but surely, and even stayed within the white lines this time.

"You're a really good teacher, Clementine," Everett said after a while, "No one else ever had the idea to make me keep my other leg on the seat."

"Is it helping you?" I steered to the side of the road and parked the car, feeling from his fingers tapping on the wheel that Everett was getting a bit restless.

"Yeah, I've never driven this long without incident before," he enthused. "You know, most of my driving teachers give up within the first half of the lesson, but you still agreed to help me even after the whole garage thing. You're really patient, Clementine, like all the time. That rhymed," he added, "Hey, that too."

Everett grinned and blew a stray black curl off his face. The sun streamed from between the windshield stickers, creating a patchwork of light and shadow upon his golden skin. "Your name rhymes with a lot of things," he mused, "I could write a poem about you."

"Please don't."

Even as I said it, I knew it was too late. The widest beam had already made its way onto Everett's face, stretching from ear to ear. He took a moment to ponder all possible ways to torture me before he opened his mouth and began.

"Clementine, with rosy cheeks,
Whose face turns red at the slightest tease,
Who claims to have huge allergies,
But in truth...
He's just too attracted to me."

"Oh my GOD." I slapped a hand over his mouth, my face burning as crimson as his poem claimed it to be. "That's- that's mortifying."

Everett laughed so hard that I had to pull my hand away, worried that my fingers would get in his mouth. This was, quite possibly, the most embarrassing moment of my life.

"God, you're annoying," I muttered.

"But you don't find me annoying, right?" He blinked up at me innocently, but his teasing smirk gave him away.

"You are annoying." I rolled my eyes. "But somehow, I like being bothered by you."

This only made Everett's smile all the more teasing, unfortunately. Or fortunately, depending on how you look at it.

It was after all...somewhat dazzling.

"Okay, I'm taking you for ice cream." Everett decidedly started up the car again.

"What did I do to deserve ice cream?" I joked.

"Just cause, um...because you're my one and cone-ly?"

I groaned. "Oh no, not again."

"You're waffle-y cute...my cherry-cheeked cherub."

"Horrible. Awful." I sighed. "But I guess I love you un-cone-ditionally."

Everett gasped. "Clementine! You did not just do that."

I shrugged, smiling to myself. "Possibly better than you did."

"Oh, I see how it is." Everett narrowed his eyes, fighting to keep the grin off his face.

I chuckled as he chewed on his lip in concentration, muttering various flavours of ice cream under his breath. "Mint to be? No, not original...I saw that on Pinterest."

"Baby, you saw them all on Pinterest." I twisted a lock of his curly hair around my finger.

Everett started humming the tune to 'Walking on Sunshine,' unconsciously dropping a hand to my thigh. His leg jittered beside mine, bouncing to the beat of the song. The speed of the car fluctuated along with the rhythm as well.

"Are you tapping your foot on the pedal?" I snapped out of my state of relaxation, remembering what we were doing. "And keep both your hands on the wheel! They should be at ten and two."

"Oh right, right. Sorry...I got distracted."

"You need to concentrate on the road," I reprimanded.

"You need to stop touching me then," he countered.

I hurriedly stopped playing with his hair, shifting back into my own seat. I don't remember when exactly I had gravitated towards him. I fear I am getting almost as absent-minded as he is.

We drive in silence for a while until Everett nodded his head towards a large, neon ice cream cone hanging outside a shop with a jaunty red and white awning. "Oh, there it is. You can have any flavour except vanilla."

"Only if you can't have any flavour except vanilla," I joked.

"I'll let you switch with me."

"Deal."