It was quite weird for Dylan; he was thinking about what had just happened – and Ellie was...normal. It was like nothing changed. It only made him even more confused, because he couldn't determine whether that was a good thing or not. When he had thought about this before, her reaction was supposed to be something else. He didn't exactly know what, but something else, for sure.

"So, um..." Dylan started awkwardly, "I know this is really weird and everything, for us both, but like...are we...what are we now?" Fuck, he thought, my tongue is faster than my mind. "I mean, we don't have to be anything really. Maybe that would be the best, considering you're from Canada, and I don't know you so well, and it would probably be bad, but I like you, and...Jesus."

He felt blood rushing into his face, and literally heard his heartbeat in his ears. He was looking into Ellie's blue eyes, trying hard not to chicken out. Actually, he knew there was no real way out of here.

The blonde smiled and chuckled. "I like you too, assbutt." Don't smile, don't smile, don't smile. "But you're right, something like a long distance relationship would totally suck. I mean, if we actually wanted this to work." Don't show you're hurt, don't show you're hurt, don't show you're hurt. "And...you're an awesome guy and everything, but...I'm not really in love with you. I like you, a lot, that's true, but love is something I think I'm not capable of feeling yet."

A huge weight fell of his chest – he was such an idiot. Seeing Ellie being the awkward one felt wrong, she was shifting her weight uncomfortably and avoided looking at him, and all because – oh, he knew! – she thought she liked him less than he liked her. That was probably true, though, but it wasn't because of what she thought it was.

God, he was so complicating.

"Yeah, about that," Dylan chuckled awkwardly, "I didn't really mean...I mean, I'm not really in love with you either. Oh my god, that sounds awful. What I'm trying to say is that I wasn't thinking about what I said. I like you hell of a lot, but I think I'm not capable of loving either. So yeah. Huh."

Finally, Ellie smiled sheepishly. "So we're good?" asked she.

"Better than good," he replied, smiling.

They spent the next twenty minutes or so talking, and everything felt much better now they knew they liked each other. It was as if nothing had changed, they'd just relaxed a bit. He didn't have to make himself forget about his feelings for her, let alone push them into the back of his mind – like he used to. It finally felt okay.

"So...you're leaving tomorrow," Dylan stated. In the past twenty minutes they hadn't mentioned it, and he felt it needed to be said.

"Yeah."

"Gonna be fun, going back home," said he, looking at the trees. They were sitting on the floor beside each other, and he thanked God he didn't have to look at her.

"I guess," Ellie said, "but I really like it here. This is LA, and that's something really, really special. Besides...you're here."

He looked at her and gave her a small smile, on what she smiled back. She was sad, he saw it. "I know. But all your friends are there. Your family – all ten thousand siblings."

They laughed, and she shook her head. "Pain in the ass, that's what's back there." She sighed, looking at him. "But you know, I want to stay here. It's so beautiful and wonderful...and I could get some auditions done."

I wish I could help you, Dylan thought as sadness flashed over Ellie's face. He knew it was her dream, her life goal. Ironically, he was an actor who couldn't help someone who wanted to become an actor themselves. But what could he do, anyway? Even if he does get her some auditions, it wouldn't work – she couldn't live here, and even if she could she couldn't pay the bills.

"Come back in three years and the world will be ours," he said and winked at her, making her smile.

"Ours?" she asked.

"Ours."

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "Is this some kind of a The Fault in Our Stars reference?"

"No, it's the fault in our countries reference," he replied, dead-serious, "but that's kind of the same. It's just not about Hazel Grace and Augusts Waters, it's about Ellie and Dylan."

"Oh come on, we're not that dramatic," she laughed, shaking her head.

"Well..." He shrugged, casually putting his arm around her shoulders. "We're two aspiring actors. I'd say we could be very dramatic if we wanted to."

The next few minutes it was all perfect, until Dylan realized they still haven't talked about their situation and the fact she was practically about to leave. It had all gotten ten times more complicated when they realized they had only fifteen minutes left, because Ellie had to go on another tour.

"Okay, so I know this is out of blue, but I really want to know something," Dylan said and looked at her. He couldn't stop thinking about how sad she looked since he mentioned that she had to go home tomorrow, and he couldn't help to feel more or less the same way.

"Go ahead," she said with a smile, but he could see the distance in her eyes. She was thinking about sad things – in those two days he'd met her much better that in the past thirty days or so.

"I want to know if you'd like to be in a relationship with me."

Her face was priceless, he couldn't deny that – it went from a smile to absolute shock in less than a millisecond. But he couldn't decide whether that was a good or a bad thing.

"Well, um, that's awkward," she started, looking away; he understood her. "I mean, I like you a lot and everything, but I don't really think it would work. Would I want that if I lived closer? Yeah, probably. But right now...it feels wrong. And that sucks, because you're definitely one of the best guys I've ever met."

Frankly, he was sad – for a moment. She had a valid reason to say no, and he couldn't forget that her answer was actually yes. But it was the matter of the circumstances, which neither of them could change. And he had to agree with her, because it could never actually work. He'd never heard of a long distance relationship that had actually worked.

Or at least, that's what he was telling himself.

"Sorry, assbutt."

He looked at her and hugged her, smiling. She actually thought her answer made him sad – well, it wasn't as if he was sad, anyway. "Don't worry, it's okay. I was thinking the same thing. But it's nice to know that, under different circumstances, your answer would've been yes."

"Yeah, it's nice to think what could've happened," she agreed. "But for now, I have to tell you this all was really cute and awesome, this entire thing. Oh, and – was it supposed to be a date? Is it a date?"

Dylan shrugged; he didn't really think about that much. "I don't know, do you it to be a date?"

"How can you not know whether this is a date or not?"

"Well, when I was planning this, I was just thinking about what needs to be done and stuff like that. I completely forgot about the...date part," he honestly said, grinning widely at her. She was trying to be mad, but her lips were trying to curl into a smile.

The blonde leaned forward, mere inch from his face. "Liar," she whispered, then started laughing.

He shook his head, still grinning. "So we're saying it's a date. It's officially a date. You're my date for tonight."

It made her feel really good to make her grin even wider. "And I've officially been on my first date!" she cheered, before looking back at him. "Though, it wasn't much of a successful date. In the end, you didn't get the girl, did you?"

Dylan rolled his eyes; she was seriously one weird person. "Are you saying it still can change?" he teased and winked at her.

"Oh, no," she chuckled, "your chance's dead. Now get your ass up, assbutt, because I gotta go."

"Fine, fine," he muttered as he got up, wiping the grass off his ass – that rhymed. "So, I feel like I should let you know...this has been filmed."

The shock on her face was priceless – again. "What?"

"I wanted to capture the moment I tell you how I feel, so I've filmed the entire date," he replied awkwardly.

Luckily, the blonde only smiled. "Oh. That's cute."

"Great we cleared that out." He sighed in relief, tucking hands into pockets. "Now we should get you back to your mommy, who still doesn't know who your mystery friend is. Am I right?"

They finally walked out of their place, and found themselves in the park. Ellie was chuckling all the way. "Yeah, I should probably tell her. I don't know, I just don't really want her to know. It's weird, I'm telling you."

"I'd say I know what it feels like, but I don't. Everyone knows about you," he told her, shrugging. "I'm just one of those people who can't keep something a secret for long, especially not something – or someone – they really like." He noticed she was awkwardly smiling, so he added, "Like FIFA. Everybody loves FIFA."

She genuinely laughed, and the rest of the walk was alright. He was glad they'd finally cleared out their situation, and happy because she liked him back, and that enough to be in a relationship with him – of course, under better circumstances.

Well fuck you too, circumstances.

When they'd finally said goodbye and he'd left her in front of the hotel door, he couldn't stop thinking how weird – but on a good way – it would be to call Ellie his girlfriend – "This is my girlfriend Ellie.", and how close he was to it being reality.