60 || existential bubblegum pop

56 7 5
                                    

| CHAPTER SIXTY
| existential bubblegum pop

| CHAPTER SIXTY| existential bubblegum pop

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ɴᴏʟᴀɴ ᴍᴜʟʟᴇɴ

My heartbeat sped as he opened the door, pushing some of his now golden curls behind his ear with his bandaged fingers. He'd told me how he wanted to get rid of the faded color, but I honestly expected him to dye it back to brown.

It wasn't just his hair that had undergone a transformation. He wouldn't typically wear a pair of black utility pants with a yellow distressed sweater layered over white, but today he did. He also wouldn't typically accessorize, but today he did.

And god did he look radiant. His skin was no longer pale and ghostly, his eyes were shining again, and although he still appeared smaller than he did when we first met, he looked stronger than he had just two weeks ago.

"My sister styled me today," he said as my eyes came back up to meet his. "Did she do an okay job? I told her not to dress me like her sixteen year old friends but I'm not sure she listened. And it was a pain to get those sleeves over my arm so I won't be changing again."

"You look fucking gorgeous," I said. A corner of his mouth moved up.

"You too," he said, stretching out his arm so he could hug me, and with his arm still around me, he closed the door behind us and walked us towards my car.

I couldn't contain my smile. I knew that this date meant I was unable to see him for at least another month, but it was okay, because I knew that once I came back, this was what I would be returning to.

"Where to?" I asked him as I opened the passenger side door for him.

"I'll send you the address."

•••

He took us to a dark alleyway with men dressed in black protecting the perimeter of the building. And once he got us in their parking garage holding up two passes I wasn't allowed to see, I had to ask him where the fuck we are.

The place was next to empty, save for a few suspicion looking vans and two large busses. And he feared I was the serial killer for taking him on a picnic in the woods...

"Follow me," he said with a grin, holding out his hand. "And don't worry, these people can't say anything. They sign NDAs," Oakley whispered in my ear. I knew it was meant to be reassuring, but it only reinforced the idea that my boyfriend was possibly going to sign me up for some top-secret government experiment.

He led us to a large metal door, this one also protected by a security guard, until Oakley showed him the passes. Once inside, we were met with a large, endless staircase. It was dark except for the white LED strips on each step which ensured we wouldn't trip in the darkness.

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