inmyspell (inmyspell) wrote in supernextdoor, @ 2011-12-09 13:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | 09.22.11, landon, landon and veronika, veronika |
I just want to keep you safe
Who: Veronika and Landon
What: Sleepwalking
When: Tuesday Night
Where: Random places, then Landon’s
Warnings: None
Veronika blinked as she opened her eyes to the sounds of cars passing on a road nearby, and the lights of the lamps in a parking lot. A frown crossed her lips as she took in her surroundings, the fact that she was curled up near a shopping cart outside of a supermarket that seemed to be closed for the night. And she didn’t even know how far from home she was at the moment. Pulling her cellphone out of the pocket of her pajamas, she first thought about calling her brother, and was in the middle of dialing the number before she stopped herself. Sighing, she started over and instead dialed Landon’s number. Wrapping her arm around her legs, she tried to keep herself a little warmer while she listened to the phone ring, hoping that he’d pick up and not completely freak out that she was calling so late.
Landon had been sleeping for a little while when the phone rang on the side table. He opened one eye and stared at the ringing device for a moment before he managed to pull himself out of his sleep and reach over to unplug his cell from the charger and look at the caller ID. Seeing that it was Veronika had him nervous and worried and answering the phone immediately. "Nikki, what's wrong?" he asked, obviously having just woken up by the way his voice sounded groggy and half asleep. "Are you alright?"
A little sigh sounded from her when he picked up the phone, more than a little relieved at just hearing his voice. “I would have called Pasha, but he’s working. I .. I kind of need to be picked up.” she admitted, already glancing around a little more to try and see where exactly she was. “I’m sorry, I know it’s late and it sounds like I just woke you up. I don’t even know how long I’ve been here.. which is I think a supermarket. I dunno, the sign says it’s Maplewood Plaza?” she rambled out.
He was already getting out of his bed about halfway through her explanation. Pinning his phone between his shoulder and his face, he scrubbed his hands over his face and listened to her read the sign. "I know where that's at." he told her. "I'll be there in like ten minutes." he promised her, not that he was about to get off the phone with her until he got there. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked her as he fumbled through his drawers for a pair of pants to pull on.
She tried to focus on listening to him move around on his end of the phone conversation, that way she could pay attention to something else rather than the fact that she was in a strange place. Or worry on the fact that supermarkets tended to be busy and she could have crossed streets while sleeping. “I’m alright, just a bit cold. I must have forgotten to lock up the house. I’m sorry, I know you probably have to get up early for work and everything.” she spoke, before worrying on her lip a little bit. It was one thing when she’d have to call Pasha to come and help her, this was different because she felt bad for bringing Landon into something that he wasn’t used to with her.
"No apologizing." he told her. "I have the day off tomorrow anyway since I've been working so many hours lately." he explained as he put her on speaker long enough to pull a shirt on. It took a moment to grab his shoes and get socks and the shoes put on and then grab a jacket, mostly for Veronika because she was probably freezing and he was sure it was supposed to rain today. Hopefully there was a break in the stormy weather that had been going on. "I'm on my way." he told her as he headed down the stairs to grab his keys and wallet. "Just stay on the phone with me so I know you're alright til I get there." he murmured. "Do you want me to bring you home or would you rather me bring you back here, baby?"
“Alright,” she answered to her staying on the phone. She’d rather not have to hang it up anyway, even if she was at least in a well lit place this time. A little smile formed on her lips at being called baby, even if this wasn’t exactly the situation she’d want to be in at the moment. “Which ever you’d prefer, I wouldn’t mind going back to your place though, if you don’t mind having to take me back home in the morning to get ready for work.” she told him. She moved a little bit so she could rub at her arm a little bit, to try and keep just a bit warmer. “At least I’m already dressed for bed.” she added in, trying to make light of the situation.
"I don't mind taking you to your house in the morning." he assured her as he headed out the door and got into his car to head towards the supermarket. "Besides, you'll worry yourself too much if I take you home." he murmured, knowing her all too well. She'd go home and lay in bed until time for work and then she'd really be having a rough day the following day. He didn't want that.
She nodded, even though he couldn’t see it, “You’re right, I probably would worry too much if you took me home. I wouldn’t want to end up in another place, harder to find.” she let out, at least thankful this time she hadn’t ended up in someones yard again. If that had happened, she would have had to bother Pasha, instead of Landon, as she would have been easier to find by her brother. “I don’t get what it is about you though, I don’t even really toss and turn in the bed when you’re in it with me.” she told him.
"Guess you'll have to sleep over more often then won't you, lovely?" he asked her, a little smile on his lips at the thought of her doing just that. "I'm glad I can help you get a little rest." he went on. He wished he could magically snap his fingers and cure her of her sleep walking, but he knew that would be impossible. Maybe she was just stressing herself out, which had him wondering if she was doing too much work at school. "Have you been busy lately?" he asked her. "Maybe that's why you're sleepwalking again."
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she teased, but at least she was smiling more now because of the idea of it. There was just something about Landon that made her want to smile more than she normally did already. She was thrown a little when he asked if she’d been busy lately, which she had, but she didn’t think anymore than usual. “Sort of, I guess. I’m in the process of setting up a production for the kids at school, but nothing major is happening with it until the end of the week. And I’ve been trying to put in more hours at the soup kitchen, because its starting to get cold and I feel badly that it might be the only warm meals that the people will get.” she told Landon, which maybe he had a point, she had been putting more on her plate lately.
"I would like that." he told her, putting her on speaker again so he could drive without having his hand to the phone. "But I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't be complaining if you spent more time with me, now would you?" he asked her. He listened to her talk about the things she'd been doing lately and he let out a little sigh. "Nikki, darlin', you've got more than enough on your plate and it's really no wonder you're sleep walking. You've got teaching, doing all your lesson plans, not to mention if you have a bad day, plus soup kitchen duties, cleaning house and doing chores like that, cooking for yourself and your brother, and now you've got a production on top of all that and that doesn't even mention any time you spend with me." he pointed out. Shaking his head, he drew in a breath. "You're spreading yourself pretty thin, honey."
“No, I wouldn’t be complaining.” she admitted, though the smile that had been on her lips faltered just a little bit when she heard him sigh. And then even more when she listened to him. “I have help though Landon, it isn’t like I’m at the soup kitchen by myself, or going to be doing this production all alone either. At least one of the other teachers is going to help. And you don’t add any stress, if anything quite the opposite, you help with it.” she told him with a little sigh of her own. “I know, but I can’t just not do something. Plus, it’ll bring some kids together that wouldn’t ever normally meet, cause it’s kind of going to be for all elementary aged kids in the community. I know, I know that’s like even more work, but it just didn’t seem right to do something for Thanksgiving, and not include all of them.”
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't help out or do the things you're doing, I just think that you need to give yourself some time to do nothing at all every once in a while." he explained with a little sigh. he pushed his hand through his hair and tried to think of something to help her with her load of work and such, but he wasn't sure how to help really. "I'm about to be pulling up at the store." he told her.
“I don’t know how to just do nothing though.” she told him, which was pretty honest. She usually preferred to keep herself busy. She got up though when he said he was going to be pulling up to the store, wrapping an arm around herself to try and keep warm now that she wasn’t all mostly curled up. “I’m right up front, can’t miss me, the only one here.” she told him, “I know you said no apologies, but I really am sorry Landon.”
Pulling into the parking lot, Landon moved his car close to her and put it in park. Getting out, he turned his phone off and moved around the car to wrap the girl in his arms. "You don't have to be sorry. I'm just glad you're alright." he told her, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Here..." he said, releasing her and taking off his jacket, slipping it onto her shoulders. "You're going to freeze out here, let's get going."
Now that felt good, the immediate feeling when his arms were around her when he finished pulling up. Wrapping her own arms around him for a moment, just wanting to feel close to him. Even if the moment ended too soon, she pulled the jacket on a little more tightly. “Thank you, guess I’m just feeling a little guilty. Pasha is used to this, you’re not.” she told him as she leaned to press a kiss to his cheek before moving to get into the car. “Please tell me that I at least didn’t manage to go all the way across town this time?” she asked, before worrying on her lower lip a little.
"Well I need to get used to it if you've got to deal with it." he told her. "Because I plan on being in your life for a very long time." He'd be damned if he didn't help her when she needed him the most. "You're not all the way across town." he assured her. "Maybe ten minutes from your place." he explained. It wasn't far at all really though it was by foot, but he kept that to himself. Once she was settled in the car, he headed around to climb into the driver's seat. "You're safe now."
And when he went and said things like that, the being in her life for a long time, she couldn’t help but smile some. And her cheeks even flushed up a little, “Well maybe this time wasn’t as bad at the last time then.” she murmured, glancing out the window of the car, but turning to look at him when he told her that she was safe now. A little smile forming on her lips again. “You’re going to have me wanting to spend more time with you than I normally do in order to keep being safe.”
He smiled at the girl and once he was buckled in and had pulled out of the parking lot, he reached over and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "Well you're always welcome at my place." he assured her. "Even if it's just when you're brother is working late or whatever and you're at home alone at night. I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe, you know that."
She smiled a little more, her heart practically skipping a few beats because of his words. “I might have to take you up on that, we’ll see how it goes. It might get really .. bothersome having to drive back in the mornings to get ready for work.” she told him, giving his hand a little squeeze.
"Well then you'll just have to get ready at my place and I'll take you straight to work." he told her with a little smile as he squeezed her hand. He wouldn't mind if she was over more often, if anything he'd quite enjoy it.
She glanced over at him, raising a brow a little, “You know that would mean I’d have to keep some clothes over at your place then, if you wouldn’t mind?” she told him, not sure if he would actually mind or not. Some guys tended to get a little awkward when there was that whole idea being tossed out.
"I wouldn't mind." he told her, shaking his head. "There's plenty of room in the closet and I could shift things in my dresser to give you a couple of drawers." It wasn't really that big a deal to him, honestly. If it meant he got to spend more time with Veronika and got to curl up beside her every night, he'd have cleaned out the whole damn dresser for her.
“Alright, well, maybe next time I stay over I’ll bring a few changes of clothes.” she offered, flashing him a little bit of a smile. Then she was using her free hand to pull the jacket a little tighter around herself, just to feel a bit warmer.
"Sounds like a plan to me." he told her, finally pulling onto the road where his house was. "Almost there." he told her. "Then we can get you inside and get you warmed up before you catch a cold."
She looked out the window for a moment, noticing that they were close, as she hadn’t been paying much attention at all to the drive over. “That sounds like a plan too. The last thing I need is to catch a cold right now, too much going on. I’ll probably be hard to get a hold of on Thursday and Friday.” she told him, before glancing over to him again. “Unless you’d like to come and keep me company?”
"I could do that." he told her. "I have work, but I'll be off by three or four." he told her. "Maybe earlier if I get all my stuff done before then." Pulling into his driveway, he put the car in park and turned it off before climbing out of the car and walking around to her side to help her out of the car. "Come on, darlin'. Let's get you in the house."
“Well, it doesn’t start until around that time, because I factored in that the parents have to work and everything.” she told him before she let him help her get out of the car, giving a smile and leaning up to give him a soft kiss. “Thanks for coming to my rescue and everything.”
"Well then I'll be sure to come." he smiled. "And you're welcome." he murmured, leaning down for one more kiss before taking her hand again and leading her into the house. It was much warmer inside than it was outside and once the doors were locked up again, he took her to his bedroom.
She followed him, while wrapping the jacket around her a little more, trying not to comment on how the jacket smelled like him. She moved to go sit on the edge of the bed, and worried on her lower lip for a moment before glancing to him. “So, bed? Or are you all awake now?” she asked him, while she moved a little bit to take the jacket off, as it was a bit warmer in the house.
"I'm awake if you want to stay up for a little bit." he told her. "But if you need your sleep, I can get back to sleepy pretty easily." he assured her, unbuttoning his shirt so he could get back into his sleep attire of just boxers. "Want something to drink, love?"
“I don’t mind, we can stay up for a little while if you’d like. I’m kind of too cold to sleep at the moment, and it usually takes me a little while to get back to sleep.” she told him with a little shrug. Then she nodded, “Do you have anything warm?”
"I can make us some hot chocolate." he suggested, tossing his shirt in the hamper and then taking off his shoes and socks. "I can also turn the heat up a little, you're probably frozen all the way down to the core."
“Hot chocolate sounds really good.” she answered, a smile growing on her lips. “And I’m starting to thaw out.” she spoke with a laugh, but getting up and putting the jacket on the edge of the bed. “I’ll help with the hot chocolate.”
"Well then hot chocolate it is." he murmured, leading the girl back down to the kitchen where he put on a pot of water to boil. "I'm glad you called me." he told her as he got a couple cups down from the cabinet. "Means a lot that you trust me enough to come get you in the middle of the night.”
She followed him to the kitchen, and watched him as he put on the pot to boil some water. “I’m glad I called you too, and why wouldn’t I trust you? You haven’t given me reason not to.” she pointed out while she moved to lean against the counter next to him. “Though, I think I’m going to have to start wearing warmer pajamas just in case, or I’ll freeze if it happens when it starts to snow.”
"Well I know I haven't given you a reason not to, I don't know, I guess since it's so early in our relationship I just was surprised that you would call me for something like this. I know that you usually phone your brother." he explained as he poured the little dust packets into each of the mugs he'd retrieved from the cabinet. "Yes, I think you should definitely start wearing warmer pajamas." he told her. "That or just move in with me so I know you're safe." he smiled.
“Yea, I usually phone Pasha for this, but he’s so busy with work, I didn’t want to bother him. I feel bad enough that I tend to bother him with it anyway.” she told him with a little bit of a shrug. Then she looked at him a little dumbfounded. “If you think my trusting you enough to call you instead of my brother is a bit too early in our relationship, that is .. you’re kidding, right?” she ended up nearly stammering out, before blushing quite a bit and biting down on her lower lip.
"I don't know." he told her. He bit his lower lip and shrugged a bit. "I mean it was just a suggestion, not like you really have to do it or anything. I just... I don't know. I worry about you when you're not here." he told her.
She watched him as he bit down on his lip, and then moved over to him so she could wrap her arms around his waist to give him a hug. “It’s nice that you worry, I wish that I didn’t give you reasons to worry though. How about we just keep it at sleepovers for now and work our way to moving in? I don’t want things to go too fast I guess.”
He nodded a little at her words but felt a bit like he'd pushed too far and was already messing things up without even meaning to. "Sorry." he told her, letting his own arms wind around her body. Letting out a little sigh, he tipped his head to rest it against the top of hers.
She shook her head a little, “No reason to be sorry Landon. I guess I’m a little scared of the idea of moving in with anyone. It’s been me and Pasha for so long.” she told him, before giving him a little squeeze in the hug. “You caught me off guard with the suggestion, so let me think on it for a little while?”
Landon let his fingers move up to slide through Veronika's hair and shook his head a little. "It's fine." he promised her. "I know we haven't been together very long and I didn't mean to jump into it, I just... I don't know." he sighed. "I just want to know that you're safe and I'd rather you be here than alone at your place. If you want you can just sleep over on days that Pasha has to work nights." he offered. Compromise.
“I’d end up being here more than at home really. Pasha works a lot.” she told him, before closing her eyes at feeling his fingers running through her hair. That felt really good. “And no, it’s alright, the whole wanting to jump into things. I guess, as I said, it just caught me off guard. Would you mind if I talked with Pash about all this? I mean, I already will stay on nights he works, if you don’t mind about that really. But I guess, I just want to make sure he’d be okay with it.”
"Totally." he told her, nodding a little, giving her a little smile. "No rush." he assured her, pressing a little kiss to her forehead as he pulled back to get their hot chocolate. "I'm not going anywhere any time soon." he reminded her. "So we've got all the time in the world."