it&#x27;s no surprise you haven&#x27;t seen me

Food Heals All Wounds || Layla&Dawson

“Probably. It doesn’t ever end. They have that new version though that only lasts like twenty minutes. Maybe you should get your brothers that one. They wouldn’t have to fight anymore.” He laughed. Dawson always felt bad that Layla didn’t have her brothers around. From the way she spoke about them, he could tell they were extremely close siblings, and since he knew what her mother was like, he was sure it wasn’t easy for her leaving them home with her. “Yeah, I don’t mind. We’ll start out in like a completely empty field and then you’ll have nothing to worry about.” He nodded, knowing that would be the safest option for them. “Thor’s Posse? That’s perfect. We can get him a leather vest that says that on the back too.” He smirked, shaking his head. “You’re in a biker gang now, Layla. You can’t possibly be uncool now.” When their lips met, Dawson felt chills down his entire body. When she kissed him back, he couldn’t help but smile against her lips softly as he pulled away. “Wow.” He agreed, nodding a little. “You’re definitely not a bad kisser.” He smiled.

“Do they really? Is it timed or something? That’s so smart. They should have thought of that a long time ago. I bet there’s a lot of people who aren’t friends anymore because of that game. I’m gonna buy it and mail it to them, even if they don’t play it anymore.” She laughed with him and shook her head. Of course, she did miss her brothers; she missed hanging out with them and always being able to be there to make sure they were doing their homework and actually going to school. She knew moving away was the best for her, though, and she needed to remember that. “Oh, okay. That makes me feel a lot better. I don’t know what I cuold hit outside of town.” She laughed. “Yes. I mean, he practically runs the whole show, doesn’t he? We have to do this now, I’ve already pictured it in my head.” She kept giggling. “Oh, I think I can pull it off.” Layla touched her lips, and then her cheek, laughing slightly. “I, um, can’t feel my face very much.” She kept laughing to herself, wondering why she was reacting so weird. “Are you supposed to get butterflies like that?”

I guess. I might just leave the apartment complex for a bit, go stay with my mom. You sure you want to be my friend? I’m trouble.

Well good, there isn’t a better person you could go be with. I’m absolutely sure! Like I said before, everyone deserves a fresh start, and that means new friends. Everyone gave me a chance when I came here, there’s no reason I can’t give you one.

I do need a friend. I have none.

I can be your friend, that’s no problem at all. I just don’t think you should leave already; you just got here!

No, you did help. Thank you for being so nice to me.

You’re very welcome, but.. Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do? Maybe you just need a friend!

I don’t know, I just need to leave. I shouldn’t have come in the first place. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.

Please don’t be so hard on yourself.. I’m sorry I can’t help.

I don’t know. I think I’m just going to take off for a bit.

Where are you going? Are you going to be okay?

Food Heals All Wounds || Layla&Dawson

“You can beat certain games. I don’t think Monopoly is one of those games though. Nobody wins, you just lose friends and family by the end of it.” He shook his head, laughing even more. He never had siblings of his own to play board games with, and his parents certainly wouldn’t sit down and play them with him, but he still had played a few different ones whether it was in elementary school or with friends, and he knew very well how long Monopoly could go. “Yeah, of course. You’ll probably end up having to learn at some point. I might as well be the one to teach you.” Dawson offered, figuring they could just find a big field or somewhere empty, that way he wouldn’t have to be too incredibly concerned about her wrecking his car at first. Then they could go out on a road once she was a little more confident. “You’ll have to be there with me. We’ll have to get you some more leather so you fit in with all of us. Thor too.” He nodded. “Oh yeah, that fits me perfectly.” Dawson sat himself up and scooted a little bit closer to her. He was surprised that she actually wanted to go through with this, but he had to admit, he was kind of excited. “Okay, just relax. I think as a girl you get a free pass, because guys are just fucking thrilled a girl is kissing them in the first place.” He laughed, looking at her for a moment as he pressed his hand to her cheek. “Just close your eyes, and do what kind of feels natural.” He shrugged, not really sure how else to explain it as he pressed his lips gently to hers.

“I don’t think so, either. I think that anyone who says they’ve one before is a liar and they probably ended it on a technicality or something like that.” She started laughing the more she thought about it. She remembered how many arguments her brothers would try to start over every single game, and how she’d just sit back and watch, laugh, and then end up having to break it up after a while--only to have them want to start a new game again. “I can’t believe you want to, oh god. I’m all for it, I just don’t want to wreck your car or anything, I’d feel so bad. Are you sure?” She gave him a guilty looking face, even though she hadn’t even done anything to his car just yet. “Can we even get our own little gang patches? We need to think of a cool name for our gang. Like Thor’s posse, or something..” She laughed at her own joke and shook her head, covering her mouth. “I promise I’m not trying to be too lame.” She kept laughing, not being able to stop. When he put his hand to her cheek, she felt chills go down her spine, but she didn’t budge. “That’s good to know. That makes me feel a lot better.” She laughed at his advce, slowly leaning in when he did, feeling her heart pound against her chest--she wasn’t entirely sure why she was getting so worked up, but she was. She kissed him back sweetly, trying not to move her lips too much, but also trying to stay in sync with him. After a few seconds, her hand was on his chest and she slowly pulled away. “Oh-- Wow. Wow.” She laughed, her neck and face heating up. “Wow.”

Food Heals All Wounds || Layla&Dawson

“Then the panda game will be perfect for you because the pandas are always in distress no matter what. The babboons just don’t stop.” He shook his head as if he was truly upset by it, then ended up laughing once again just because the more he sat there and explained the purpose of video games, he realized how silly they all sounded. “I can teach you to drive if you want. So you know how to do it, just in case. And buses usually have creepy people on them at certain hours, you don’t always wanna ride those.” He shook his head, knowing Layla didn’t often go out that late in the middle of the night, but he figured just in case. “They’ll probably be like 80 year old couples, but that’s okay. Old people are tons of fun.” He laughed again, just shaking his head at the ridiculous image he had in his head of all of them riding on the bike together. “Do I get an emoji next to it? Is there a sauce emoji?” Dawson didn’t want to seem too forward with his response, but he didn’t really know how to explain kissing, with out actually doing it. “I don’t know. We can try it, and if it’s weird, we can stop.” He shrugged, smiling a bit.

“Those poor pandas. Does the game never really end? Does any game end? I’ve never finished a game of Monopoly once in my entire life and I think it’s because my brothers aren’t very good at losing.” Layla laughed a bit at the memory; when it was just the three of them, they did everything to keep busy. They’d finish their chores, then Layla would try and find some game to keep them occupied, and it often ended up being a silly bored game. “Really? Dawson, you’re gonna end up teaching me more in the few weeks we’ve known each other than anyone else has in my entire life. Oh dear, I know. Trust me, I know.” She laughed again, but she couldn’t help but smile at the fact he always seemed so willing to help her out, no matter what it was with. “They are. They can take you places and tell you a million stories just in that one spot, you’ll never be bored.” She nodded enthusiastically, “Of course you do. I think I’ll put that dancing lady in the red dress. That seems pretty saucy to me.” Layla hadn’t really thought too far into her question before she asked it, but his method seemed to make sense. She really couldn’t think of how one could explain how to kiss without actually demonstrating. She scrunched up her nose before smiling a bit. “Okay, okay. Okay. I think we’ll be fine. I’m nervous, though, I’m afraid I’ll be really bad.” She laughed a bit, her face bright red at this point. She scooted closer to him, waiting instruction.

Food Heals All Wounds || Layla&Dawson

“I have an Xbox. The Panda one is a phone game though. So whenever you feel like saving all the baby pandas you can.” He grinned, just amused by the conversation as a whole. He wasn’t obsessed with video games like some guys were, he didn’t spend weeks at a time doing nothing but playing them, but he did have a few games in particular he liked. So he figured it was just another thing he and Layla could do together if they ever didn’t feel like just eating and talking like they usually did. “You never know. It comes in handy. Did nobody ever teach your to drive? But that’s true, you might live forever since you walk every where.” He nodded. “It might bring down the cool factor a little bit to not only have a side car, but a prissy fucking dog sitting in it, but I’ll just have to deal with it.” He laughed along with her. “Is that my new nickname?” He asked with a smirk, getting quiet he watched the movie with Layla, keeping his gaze on the screen until he heard her talk again. “Yeah?” He nodded, raising his eyebrows when he realized what she was asking. “I could show you..” He said hesitantly, not sure if Layla would even want to share her first kiss with him, but he figured she seemed comfortable enough around him, he might as well offer.

“Oh, perfect, I’ll download that later, then. The only games I have on my phone are the trivia ones because people always want to challenge and then they stop playing and I’m all by myself.” She laughed a bit at the fact, remembering how many apps went in and out of popularity in the blink of an eye in her last year of high school. Layla was more than excited to try new things, even if it was something as simple as playing a video game for the first time or trying a food she’d never had before. She just wanted to explore what everyone else did. “Hopefully I’ll never need it, oh god. Um- No, no one did. My dad always had the car for work so I just walked everywhere with my mom and took the bus when we needed to go farther. Maybe that’s the real secret to life.” She laughed, “No, no, it’ll up your cool factor. I bet you’ll make so many new biker friends who also bring their dogs on rides. That’s a whole new world for you to explore!” She kept laughing and nodded at his question. “Yes it is. That’s your new contact name in my phone.” Layla felt weird asking him what she was asking him, but she knew she’d never get a real answer unless she was asking someone she trusted. Her eyebrows rose and she looked over at him again, “You could? That-- That wouldn’t be weird, or anything?” She asked, turning towards him more.

That’s the thing, though. I am a bad person. I tried making things better and they just got worse.

The fact you even tried to make things right just shows you’re a good person, I promise. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you hope, but it can lead to something even better.

Not me. Definitely not me.

Oh, but that’s not true. You’re not a bad person, Lucy. I don’t know what happened, but I promise you can get through it. It always gets better.

I just should have never come here.

Oh, no no no, don’t say that. Why would you say that? Everyone deserves a fresh start.

Food Heals All Wounds || Layla&Dawson

“I have no idea. But I’ll look into it for you. They have that Panda game where you have to save the babies for the Mom Panda from the baboons. Not that I play that because I’m too badass, but I know it’s out there.” He laughed. Dawson looked forward to any chance he got to spend time with Layla. Even if they always just seemed to sit around together and eat, he had fun every single time the hung out. “You walk a lot though, you’d probably burn it all off getting to class and back. Once you start driving though, then you might have to look into healthier rewards. Good.” Dawson smiled when he noticed the grin on her face, trying his best to hide one of his own, but he knew it was no use around her. “I’ll get one. I care about staying alive too much to ride around with out one. Yeah? That’s awesome. We’ll get a side car for Thor, it’ll be great.” He joked. “It makes me feel saucy. Because it rhymes.” He glanced over at her, scooting himself a little bit closer while he watched the movie on the screen. “That’s okay though. When you wake up you can just eat some more.”