Imaginary Notes part 14

"Your birthday will be soon." Vanz said suddenly as the pair walked together toward the small studio in her house to take some of the collections of CDs to bring to the school. The long stretch of silence wasn't what bothered her, but the thought that somehow she was the cause of it. It was those thoughts that made her bring up a birthday that was still several months away.
Sebastian laughed and looked over at the petite man with a grin. "Yeah, in how many days?"
At the embarrassed smile he received, Sebastian reached over to grasp Vanz's hand. He knew by experience that if he let go, nervous hair-pulling and smoothing the wrinkles in clothes would follow.
"Fifty-two, fifty-one if we don't count today," Vanz answered, only taking a second to work the math in his head. "Then we'll be the same age."
That caused another laugh from Sebastian; Vanz's unusual take on everyone's ages in relation to herself never failed to amuse.
"For five months."
"The two-hundred and twenty-seven days I'm older doesn't count."
"I see. Isn't next year a leap year?" He asked as he took a sideways step to bump into the shorter man on purpose.
Vanz giggled and gave Sebastian's arm a light shove. "We'll have one-hundred and thirty-nine days we're the same age instead of one-hundred and thirty-eight."
"Doesn't that mean that you'll be an extra day older?"
"That day won't count either."
Sebastian scratched the back of his head with his free hand as he mulled the concept over. "But if we're not the same age and you're not older than me, what does that make me for two-hundred and twenty-eight days?"
Vanz didn't even pause to think the question over before she answered. "Older."
"Older?"
"Older," Vanz nodded twice and waited to see if she was going to be laughed at or if Sebastian would agree.
Sebastian nodded once in agreement, realizing that when he looked at it Vanz's way, that sort of logic made sense. "Does that rule count now?"
"Always." She smiled and held open the door to the studio for Sebastian.
"Ah, so that's how you get away with it," Sebastian walked backwards into the studio full of every CD albums exist in the world and pulled Vanz through the door after him.
"It's stupid, isn't it?" She asked with a self-conscious laugh and anxious pull of her coat sleeves once both of her hands were free.
"It's not stupid," Sebastian smiled and placed a hand on Vanz's shoulder. "It's you and only you. I love it."
As much as the statement colored Vanz's cheeks, the pleased smile she gave Sebastian before she looked away spoke more than words.
"I'm gonna go get some Korean albums. You can search around for anything you like, just take it anyway," Vanz half-yelled.
"Yeah," Sebastian replied shortly.
Sebastian seemed to leave her alone after that, but he was tall enough that Vanz could see the top of his head as he wandered through the aisles. He had a gravely serious expression on his face as he pulled CDs from the racks, even grabbing music from genres Vanz was sure the other teen didn't care to listen to. It was strange and something Sebastian wouldn't do.
Vanz stayed put, more content to spend the entire time in the studio sampling the Korean CDs. She only looked down to pick a different CD to sample through, when she looked up again Sebastian was nowhere to be seen. Before she could grab her cell phone and complain about being left alone, a pale hand reached over his head to scan a CD.
She turned around to ask what her friend was doing, but Sebastian merely grinned and gestured for Vanz to put the headphones back on. "Look at the display."
Sebastian waited until Vanz's attention was back to the screen to scan the next CD. She waited long enough for each song title to scroll through the display once before he scanned the next one. Vanz was about to complain about not getting a chance to hear more than a few seconds of the songs when another title flashed on the screen. And another.
Then it was more than clear.
'When I Fall in Love'
'With You'
'It's You'
'Miracle'
'Perfection'
'My Love, My Kiss, My Heart'
'My All is in You'
'No Other'
'Be My Girl'
'My Only Girl'
'All My Heart'
'Need Your Love'
'Every time'
Of all of the possible reactions to his confession, the last thing Sebastian expected was Vanz to nod and remove the headphones from her ears.
"Wait here," she said, dropping the headphones on top of the CDs piled in Sebastian's hands. Most of the racks lining the aisles were taller than Vanz, so it was difficult to see what she was up to. When she returned, the girl had a shy smile and three CDs in hand.
'Stupid'
'I Love You'
'I've Been Waiting for You'
Sebastian nodded and silently went to put the CDs away. Vanz followed close behind, watching Sebastian cautiously.
"What if I never confessed?" Sebastian asked after the last CD was put back in its proper place.
Vanz exhaled slowly and giggled nervously. "Doesn't matter, you did," she answered.
"So, are we dating now?" Sebastian couldn't help but grin at the surreal turn of events. Then again, he was with Vanz. It was bound to happen.
"Are you asking me out?" Vanz queried instead of answering directly, and then laughing with embarrassment clearly seen on her face.
"Yes, I am," Sebastian snickered and hooked an arm over Vanz's shoulders.
Vanz pretended to mull it over as they made their way to the bus. "Okay, we're dating."
"Technically," Sebastian canted his head to look at Vanz. "We've been dating." He pulled another CD out and shows the title to her.
'You're Mine'.
And they both laughed.
Little, meaningless thing.
It was not meaningless, after all.

The bus was noisy with tease when Vanz and Sebastian walked into the bus hand in hand.
People quickly congratulate them both. Lizzy was extremely proud of herself, James and Grimsby looking at them in amazement and Reo just keep staring.
The way back home was not that awkward. Just a few lame jokes, and everyone was asleep pretty fast.
Sebastian and Vanz sat the very back of the bus, sharing the earphone and listening to their song.
"'It Has To Be You'," Sebastian smiled as he patted her head, rewarded by cute giggles from his beautiful lover.
"You're cute, flower boy," Vanz said.
"Handsome," Sebastian corrected.
Vanz giggled. "Owh, the song ended. Let's just change the song into something cute, okay?"
“Okay."
"What song do you want?"
"Whatever you want, babe.”
She froze and quirked an eyebrow at him. “What did you just call me?”
He grinned, winking at her. “I called you babe. Don’t you like it? I think now that you’re my girlfriend--again--I think I can call you ‘baby’, ‘babe’, all that other stuff. You know how couples do that right?”
Vanz only stared before a light blush colored her cheeks and she averted her gaze, turning her head away and huddling closer. “Call me that again.”
Sebastian chuckled, leaning down and pressing his lips against her ear, and whispering, “Baby….”
If he and others that sat near enough not mistaken, from what they heard, it was if Vanz giggled.
“Again.”
“My babe,” he parted his lips, nibbling at her ear.
“Again.”
Sebastian chuckled. “I love you my baby, Vanz…”
Vanz burst into sweet giggles, wiggling in his arms and gently trying to push him away. After her giggles subsided and a bit of an awkward silence settled in Vanz spoke up. "I love you too,” Vanz gave him her heart-melting smile.
“Now then, what song we’re going to play?”
Vanz took her i-Pod and seemed busy looking for something in the track list. Then soon, the song begin.
“Ah, this...”
“’Imaginary Notes’,” she smiled, looking at him. “You played it beautifully—and cutely, if you don’t mind me complementing it that way—and I thought that recording it wouldn’t hurt.”
“And you put your voice into it too?” he smirked when he heard her voice started decorating the music.
Vanz pouted. “It won’t be fun only hearing your music only, so I kinda like, well, filling in... Beside it is my song, I wrote it for us, so it’s my decision to fill it with my voice or not.” Then soon, she gaped at the smiling Sebastian.
“So you’re thinking of us when you wrote it?” He smirked.
She blushed and nuzzled her head against his neck. “No, that’s not...”
“Just admit it, Vanz... You love me,” he smiled and spread his legs, wrapping arms around her waist and tugging her back until she willingly sat snuggly between his legs—or rather, on his lap.
“I hate you,” Vanz pouted.
The playful boy giggled. “Love you too, baby...”
That night, it snowed for the first time in half a year, streets slick with melting snow and the newly loosened sheen of six months' worth of oil residue. The bus took the same route back from Knoxville just like what they'd taken every time.
Unexpectedly, that night, the driver lost control and drove into a tree.