《The Light You Give》17.
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It's you by Ali Gate blasts from the jeep's speakers. Seth and I's voice harmonise jokingly to the song as we grin, driving along the side roads to the seven eleven.
Seth swings the jeep effortlessly in to the parking lot and we finish the song before Seth turn's the key's in the ignition turning off the radio in the process. I jump out of the car and Seth and I make our way laughing across the parking lot towards the door.
"Call your mom and see if she needs anything else while we're here." I say looking around the store as we enter through the automatic doors.
"Okay." Seth says pulling out his phone and dialling Trina's mobile. I start down an isle casually.
"Hey mom. We're at the seven eleven. Need anything for home?" He asks in to the phone. grabbing a basket from behind him and in a few large strides catching up to me.
"Ok send me the list." He replies after a few seconds, lifting up his hat and running a hand through his hair, before putting the hat back on his head.
"Ok love you. Bye." He says before he hangs up and shoves his phone deep in to his pocket.
"She's sending a list. Let's go grab the canned tomatoes and a slushy. We can work from there." He suggests. With a half nod I follow him down the canned vege isle and we find canned tomato's. I grab two cans off the shelf and put them in to the shopping basket Seth grabbed before we heads towards the slushies.
"This would be a cute place for a photo shoot." I say sizing up the neon signs. Thinking of something I'd seen on pinterest.
"I reckon. I can take some photos of you if you want." Seth offers raising his eyebrows at me.
"Ooo yes please." I say with a grin. "I just want to dutch my hair first." I say pulling out my bun and running my fingers through it.
"I'll do it." Seth offers.
"Mr Brad Mondo is back in action." I say parting my hair and running my fingers through it with one final stroke, getting out the few nots that had accumulated over the time in it's bun.
Seth tugs my hair into two quite good dutch braids and I take a video of him over my shoulder, chuckling at his concentrated expression. Saving it to my snap memories.
Once he's done. I look in the curved robbery mirror. It looks pretty damn good.
"I am an incredible teacher and you are an incredible student." I start. "Ok how do I look. Photo shoot ready?" I ask him fixing my top. Flattening my jeans out. Retying my laces.
"Always." He says with a grin pulling out his phone gesturing for me to pose.
I set myself in front of the slushies machines, leaning over and pouring a slushie while Seth clicks the camera.
I put a lid on it but it splashes slightly and I laugh at myself. I sit down on the floor and take a sip and keep trying different poses while Seth clicks away on his phone.
Why we used his phone instead of mine I don't know.
"That about good?" I ask him taking a deep slurp of the slushie.
"Every picture is perfect." Seth says scrolling through his eyebrows raised.
"Doubt it." I say rolling my eyes as he passes me his phone and makes himself a slushie.
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I scroll through the photos and theres some really good ones. Seth knows how to take photos I'll give him credit.
"I'm airdropping these to myself." I say letting Seth know as I press airdrop.
Seth nods and takes his phone back. Hearing a ding meaning the list from Trina probably came through.
"Ok she just needs like five things." Seth says before reading the list aloud.
"Easy." I say starting down the isle towards the milk. I add the milk to the basket Seth is holding before he reminds me of the next item.
We go around grabbing the items before grabbing some chocolate. Having the old caramello, white chocolate argument. Seth eventually caves for white chocolate.
"I can't believe you chose white chocolate." Seth says shaking his head as we place the items on the counter for the cashier to ring up.
"It's better than caramello." I say rolling my eyes at him handing him his wallet out of the bottom of the basket.
"How many times do we have to have this argument. Caramello is clearly the better one." Seth says rolling his eyes and taking the wallet.
"You better listen to your wife there son." An older looking man says from behind us from next to his wife. Their hair greyed, eyes crinkled and soft.
"Oh we're not together." I say with a polite smile.
"Really? You remind me of my wife and I when we were young. I saw you young man braiding her hair and the way you two argue. Just like a married couple." The man says shock apparent on his face.
"Ahh thank you. How long have you two been together?" Seth asks as the cashier rings up our items.
"56 years." The wife says looking lovingly towards her husband.
I want someone to look at me like that.
"What's the secret?" I ask them with an adoring smile.
"Well a relationship isn't always 50% of effort. Sometimes you have to give 80% when the other person is only able to give 20%. It all adds up in the end. If you both love each other, nothing else matters. Build your lives around your love." The man says still staring at his wife lovingly.
"That is incredible advice." I say, my heart was truly touched.
"Any day lovelies." The couple says being called to the next checkout.
The cashier gives us our total. $13.23. As Seth is paying she asks.
"Are you too really not together?" She asks. She's about middle aged, wrinkles only just beginning to show around her eyes and forehead. She was thin looking, yet delicate.
"No." I say with a polite smile.
"You should be." The cashier says with a small nod. Seth gives me a small smile and I respond with one of my own.
"Everyone keeps saying." I say taking the bags which Seth immediately takes out of my hands. I shake my head at him as he gives me a look as if to say 'let me carry them'.
"Have a wonderful day. And you." I call out as we make our way towards the exit waving at the cashier and the older couple.
"You too." The woman replies giving us a quick wave before she turns to her next customer.
"Thank you lovelies." The wife replies and the man gives Seth a small nod towards me.
"Well that was eventful." I say with a chuckle as we enter the carpark.
"Mmm." Is all Seth says his jaw tight, like when he's lost in thought, not the tight his jaw goes when he's angry.
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I stay quiet on the drive home. So does Seth. I watch him as he drives. Focusing on the road. One arm on the steering wheel. The other hand resting on the gear box even though he has an automatic.
We pull in to the Nixon's driveway. And I climb out of the car, grabbing the bags of shopping out of the car, Seth takes a few from me and heads inside.
By the time we're back in side he's back to his talkative self. The silent, thoughtful him disappearing without a trace.
As Seth starts making the meatballs. I peel up the apples and chop them. Before adding them to a pot of water, butter and brown sugar. I make the crumb and sit down on the barstool seat while the apples stew for half an hour.
I hear a sniff from Seth and I look up. He's standing as far away from the onions as possible as he blinks rapidly.
"Aww is Seth crying?" I ask him with a small pout. He looks up and mockingly wipes away nonexistent tears off his cheeks.
I roll my eyes at him and shake my head, returning back to my phone. I scroll through the photos Seth took and pick a few of my favourites. Before I have to narrow them down again. Which is extremely hard.
I edit them slightly, adding some depth and colour, before showing them to Seth.
"Should I post it?" I ask showing him the three slides. Seth eyes them up. And nods for me to swipe through while he rolls meatballs.
"Absolutely yes." He says with a smile before he plonks a meatball down on a tray and starts on the next one.
"What should I caption it." I wonder aloud scrolling through my instagram, seeing my past captions.
"The advice the old couple gave us. Or you could say Seth the sexiest man alive took these photos. Or peep the braids by Seth." Seth suggests with a grin.
"I'll do the advice actually. A relationship isn't always 50/50. Some days your person will struggle. You suck it up and pick up that 80/20 because they need you. That's the secret." I type aloud.
"You worded it way better than they did." Seth says. I roll my eyes at him and shake my head, looking at the post again swiping through the three photos I had chosen. Checking for any small mishaps.
"Should I post?" I ask again my finger hovering over the share button.
"Can you tag me?" Seth asks with a hopeful smile.
"You using me for clout?" I ask him fake suspiciously.
"Me? Never." Seth says with a smirk, chuckling at my absurd accusation.
"Your such a loser." I say typing in his tag anyway.
"Ok done, I tagged you. You better comment." I say with a roll of my eyes. "Or I'll comment for you." I say noticing his messy hands, I reach over and grab his phone. Flicking it on to see that the photo I set as his wallpaper is still there.
"You haven't changed this?" I asked him holding it up. Seth peers and it and shakes his head looking down at the meatballs he's rolling. Staying quiet. Which I immediately brush off.
He's concentrating.
I unlock his phone easily, shocker his password is his birthday, and go on to instagram.
I go to recently tagged and like the photo.
I comment. I go back on to my own phone and reply to his comments.
Yes I am that much of a loser.
I leave the rest of them. I scroll through the other comments that are popping up already and respond to a few of them. I leave the ones of the thirsty guys because well no thank you. But I reply to Carlos's comment.
Last I quickly check the likes and it's already at 234 likes. Which for a couple minutes ago was rather decent for my account. With my 28k followers. Flexing real quick.
I click my phone off and turn my attention back to Seth who is still rolling meatballs. Each sphere satisfyingly equal to the next.
We finish making the spread and pack it up in airtight containers. And put it all in a picnic basket. Seth grabs a picnic mat and we make our way, on foot, to my spot.
I offer to take the basket but Seth refuses, taking the basket and placing the blanket on top of it. So he still has one hand free. One hand, that I almost want to hold.
***
"This is incredible. Aren't we the best chefs." I say flopping back onto the mat, the sticks underneath the mat pressing in to my back slightly, my head propped against a jumper, my stomach bulging. I wriggle slightly so I'm more comfortable before settling down. Looking up at the clouds.
"We really are. Our future kids will be fat." Seth says with a chuckle lying down beside me, not close enough for us to be touching, but close enough.
Our, as in separately our own each. Not together.
Right?
"Not if you get them to join a sports team." I say looking up at the clouds thoughtfully spotting a few shapes and watching them morph in to other things.
"That's true. Child prodigy's in the making." Seth says with a smile pointing out a cloud that looks exactly like a dice.
"If I ever have kids. I will never, ever turn out like my mother. I can promise that to the world. Hopefully I'll turn out like your mom, she's the best." I say turning my head and giving him a small smile.
"Your going to be an incredible mother one day." Seth says from besides me looking at me carefully. His eyes burning in to mine passionately, sending waves of warmth flooding over me.
"So have you seen the graduation trip chat?" I ask him, closing my eyes, turning my head back towards the sky and placing my hands on my stomach carefully, one folded over the other. Like I'm dead.
I'm alive. But I'm dead.
"Yeah. Me and the boys are coming. I think a few of them have already paid the money in to the account. I need to get on to that." Seth says thoughtfully.
The trip was coming up fast and Callie had been planning long and hard. She had found two bach's down the road from each other on the beach. We all just had to chip in to pay for the rent and for food. It was mainly our general friends, most of the senior group who's houses we partied at over the course of our highschool years.
It was going to be like one massive hurrah. The final party of parties.
After we had finished, chatting, laughing and eating we began to make our way towards the house. I was in desperate need of the bathroom. And it was getting sort of late, the sun beginning to turn a late afternoon yellow.
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