system of a down | jonathan daviss

xviii. at last .

chapter eighteen . . . at last .
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real life!

"VAL! You wanna go out today?" Jonathan asked as he entered the kitchen where Avalon was pouring a glass of apple juice.

She placed her glass down on the counter, "Yeah, sure. I just gotta get ready." As she left she heard JD mumble something but it was incoherent. She brushed it off and wandered up the hall to her temporary bedroom.

The first thing she did was toss everything out of her suitcases which she had yet to unpack. Good outfit, Good outfit, Good outfit was all her brain could think as she held clothes up to her body in the full-body mirror and tossed them aside seconds later. She couldn't remember the last time she cared about what she looked like in front of a guy. Of course, she didn't think JD would judge her, but she didn't wanna look like crap in front of him.

"I sound like a teenage girl." She mumbled to herself.

After an embarrassing amount of time, she had finally chosen an outfit, at least a decent enough one. She fixed up her hair and brushed her teeth, put on some makeup, and lastly, her shoes she was ready to go. She walked out of her room and paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and a shaky sigh, she sauntered into the living room where JD was sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone.

"I'm ready to go." Avalon adjusted her bag on her shoulder and pulled down her top.

JD looked up from his phone, his expression turning into a slight smile as he stood up, "You look beautiful."

No matter how many times he complimented her or displayed flirtatious behavior, Avalon would never get used to the rush in her cheeks and the busy swirling in her stomach, "Thank you. You clean up nice."

"Thanks." He responded, grabbing his keys from the little dish on the console table besides the door. He opened the door and stepped aside letting Avalon through first and he stepped out after. As they reached the car he unlocked it and quickly opened the passenger-side door for her.

"Where do you wanna go?" JD asked as they both settled into the car. Avalon plugged the auxiliary cord into her phone and the car, scrolling through Spotify to choose a song.

"I don't know, you chose. It'll be a surprise." She smiled, turning on Good Days by SZA, you can never go wrong with it.

"I have somewhere in mind." He put the car in reverse and back out of the driveway, his arm around the back of Avalon's chair as he looked over his shoulder to the street behind them.

He didn't move his arm the entire ride. Avalon was freaking out.

The entire ride was spent talking mindlessly about life, it was never awkward small talk between the two which is one of the many things she loved about hanging out with him. Not to mention their music taste was eerily similar so she could play whatever song and she wouldn't have to worry about him not liking it. Except for ABBA. JD did not like ABBA.

"Here we are." He grinned, pulling the car into a parking spot just outside of a little walking trail where people had their dogs and kids strolling along beside them through the paths.