“Close your eyes, doll. I got something to show you.” His voice, filled with mirth and warmth, called from behind me. I giggled at the feel of his cool fingers over my face, obeying and shutting my eyes. I was slightly nervous about whatever Envy wanted to show me. His surprises were usually only fun for him.
But I ignored my worries and let him lead me by the hand out of our crappy apartment and all the way down the stairs into the driveway. It was a slow process because I was so scared that I’d misstep on the stairs and tumble to my doom, though Envy held me firm and prevented any mishaps. Once we were in the parking lot, I tilted my head in confusion and intrigue as he led me even further. We rounded the back of the apartment complex and that was when the suspense had gotten to me, “What are you going to show me?” I tried to open my eyes to peek only for him to cover my face with his hand again. I flinched at the sudden movement and let out a squeak.
“No peeking!” he tutted, removing his hand once he was sure my eyes were closed again. Come on, Fer-bear! Have some patience!” He nudged a fist against my forehead, which drew a closed-eye eye roll from me. Now we were back on our winding voyage through the parking lot. It didn't last too much longer, thankfully.
“You can open your eyes now!” Envy yelled, causing me to jump at his sudden volume. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, tucking me into his side a little as I slowly peeled my eyes open. I don't know why I was expecting something gross, like road kill or something. Envy was the love of my life, which is why I’m not afraid to admit he has his flaws - at least not to his face - and he has a lot. One of which is his obsession with morbid things. I can't count the number of times he’s sent me images of straight-up gore just to get a rise out of me. Either that or he’ll leave dead squirrels and rabbits in random parts of the house for some ungodly reason - probably because he thinks me freaking out is funny.
So yeah, I was expecting to find a decomposing raccoon or something but what I saw instead was something whimsical, beautiful - I could hardly find the words to describe my love for the thing in front of me. “Oh, Envy w-how did you.. Is this ours?” I could barely form a sentence, tears were already welling up in my eyes.
“Duh, crybaby. I wouldn't show it to you if it wasn't.” He rubbed my back and kissed a tear that was falling down my cheek. At that, it felt like a dam was broken because I suddenly was a sobbing mess.
Right in front of us was a little bus, it was a forest green colour with cream accents throughout. A bright golden light poured through the tinted windows and I could slightly make out a fully refurbished interior. I didn't care how the inside looked, the fact was that this was my dream come true.
When me and Envy were teens, not many years ago, I always blabbered on to him about how I wanted to live in a minibus and travel the world. As I grew up I realised that something like that wasn’t in the cards for someone like me so I simply pushed those dreams off to the side to focus on reality. I never even thought Envy listened to me when I told him that - his head was usually off in the clouds in high school - but he listened and he remembered and now the reality of my dream is staring right at me.
“Well I didn't do all this for you to cry in my arms,” He mused, nudging me towards the bus, “Though I’m not complaining.” I stumbled slightly, like a newborn fawn, before I all but sprinted to the door and pulled it open, stepping into what I had always dreamed of.
I entered the cab area, which was themed like a rustic dark cottage, with deep greens, wood, and pops of red and coral throughout. I ‘oohed and ‘ahhed at the intricacy throughout `what little of the van I was seeing. On the rearview mirror hung a silver chain with the letters E and F formatted together. I grinned, turning the charm over in my hand and watching it reflect the street lights.
Behind the two chairs was a sliding door which led to a really small bathroom, a shower to the left and a compost toilet to the left. I was in awe at the fact that Envy had done this all himself. I didn't know he knew how to woodwork and craft. After the bathroom was the last room of the bus, which was the living area. It held a tiny kitchen, a small sofa, and a bed nook. The foresty theme carried on throughout, however, the bed nook had more pink tones. There were faux vines lining the roof, intertwined with fairy lights which cast a golden glow on everything.
I stepped back into Envy, gasping slightly. “Sorry... This is just.. How did you do this?” I looked up at him, feeling him grab my shoulders.
“It was a lot of work, took like 4 years to build, 2 to save up for the bus.” He smiled down at me, planting a wet kiss on my forehead. I protested lightly but leaned into him, laughing.
“No wonder we were always behind on rent!” I lightly punched his shoulder, turning to face him. “How much of our money went into this?” I asked seriously, now that I had seen how wondrous the bus was, the logical part of my brain woke up again. If he was preparing this ever since we graduated high school, how much of the money went into the bus? We had to sacrifice a lot of stuff to not get evicted from our apartment, from what I knew, we were barely making enough money to pay rent. I had to sell my easel, which was a gift from a friend, just to stay in our apartment. Does that mean that could've been prevented if Envy hadn't put money into the bus? He was the one in charge of the money between us anyways, I was bad with numbers.
“I made sure we were housed and didn't starve, Fer-bear!” He defended, leaning against the kitchen counter behind him.
“No! Don’t Fer-bear me, this is serious!” I pointed at him, my eyes narrowed.
He held up his hands in a mock surrender, his eyes wide comically. “Ok, Ferrow. No nicknames.” I rolled my eyes, a smile on my face no matter how much I tried to fight it. That made Envy grin mischievously.
“We almost got evicted every other month, Envy! This is serious, this isn't some big j-” While I was ranting, I didn't take in the narrowing of Envy’s eyes or how his grin widened sinfully. One second I was ranting at him and the next I was tackled to the sofa, a hand supporting my head while the other tickled my stomach. I let out a shriek of surprise followed by shrill laughter, “Stop! Ha, this isn't f- funny!” I wiggled, trying to get out of his grasp but he was bigger than me. His hands were tickling me all over, filling the bus with our giggling.
“Live a little, doll!” He cheered, picking me up again and all but chucking me onto the bed behind the sofa. I let out another scream, feeling my body ragdoll onto the bed. Envy was like a big child, he randomly got in the mood to rough house with me. It was cute and fun, but it was a little alarming how easily he was able to toss me around and catch up to me.
“No!” I kicked my feet at him, trying to protect myself from the sudden tickle barrage. He encroached on me like a predator, eying me mockingly.
“No?” He mocked, gripping one of my feet in his hand and dragging me over to him. I gasped before struggling as hard as I could suddenly.
“NO! NOO! NOT MY FEET!” I all but screamed, wildly flailing, trying to fall out of his grip. He merely laughed at me before tickling the sole of my foot, causing me to writhe in laughter.
When he bored of tickling my sensitive feet, he flopped me onto my back and pulled my shirt up to reveal my belly button, blowing a raspberry on my stomach. “Gross!” I was a giggly mess now, it was hindered a little by how winded I was.
“You know you love me,” He teased, doing it again before laying his head against my stomach. I let out a slight grunt at the sudden weight on my stomach but didn't protest. The laughter and excitement faded into a chill silence. I idly twirled a lock of his black hair in one hand while I clutched my chest with the other. The little tussle we just had took a lot out of me. My lungs were always quite weak, so much so that I carried around an inhaler for moments of mass exertion. Though I didn't bring it with me to see the surprise so I had to resort to breathing exercises.
“So what happens now?” I found myself asking, my voice a little hoarse from the roughhousing we had just done. Envy hummed, lifting his head up slightly. He was falling asleep.
“Huh?”
“What - When are we gonna move into the bus full time? I-If we are.. And stuff..” I trialled off, clenching my eyes shut. We were still renting the apartment, all of our stuff was in there. We couldnt just dip out and disappear into the wilderness… Right?
“Of course, we’re moving into the bus, doll.” He rubbed his eye, trying to prevent himself from falling asleep right there. “T’morrow we pack our shit and kiss the apartment life g’bye, k?” He slurred a little, I guess the excitement tired him too.
I nodded, I couldnt find the words to respond. As I stared at Envy’s face, I began zoning out. This was it. My dream was coming true. Me and Envy were about to embark on a journey and see what life had to offer. MY dream.. This bus was my dream and Envy was willing to buy it, build it, and surprise me with it. He’s willing to give up a stable life and humour my wish to go rogue and travel. We’re young! He should be doing much more in life. Like building a career, going to college - hell who am I kidding, Envy isn't the type to do any of that.
I sighed, my mind getting foggier as I felt sleep creeping up.
Chapter 2.