^^Patio

"Dude, flip the f**k already!"

"I'm trying!"

"You're burning it!"

"Let me do it on my own!"

"And let you starve us to death! Not happening!"

I chucked as I watched David, Louis, and Jordan struggling to flip the patty on the grill and they kept breaking it. It was Wednesday dusk, and we were having a barbeque party on the outdoor patio of the beach house.

We visited the town in the morning and spent our whole day touring it. We also went for groceries shopping and purchased meat, drinks, snacks, and other ingredients for the barbeque.

Nate was inside with Madeleine, Chloe, and Brittany making desserts. Ben, Toby, and Andrew were setting the lights for the night. The remaining boys were cooking meat... More like in a war to flip the patty while Tiana and I were setting the table.

I glanced at the ocean and see the sun dawning. It looked like the sea was swallowing the light and the view was-

"Beautiful isn't it?" I turned to see Tiana looking at the sun too, with a sweet smile on her face.

"Yeah..." I returned her smile.

"It feels good to be here." She said, placing the plates on the table. "Peaceful, with no worry about the world or life." I nodded my head in agreement. "Wish I could stay here forever."

"Me too," I murmured, arranging the spoons and knives.

"I'm keeping." She said out of the blue. My head whirled towards her in a snap, and I felt my neck crack.

"What?" I gaped at her.

"I'm keeping it." She repeated, looking down at her stomach. "And not because you said so or whatever..." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Because I want it."

"I'm glad to know." I beamed.

"I just..." she sighed, rubbing her stomach. "It made me think... My family can take care of a baby and my mama always wanted to be a grandmother... Well, not this early." She chuckled.

"Did you tell your parents?"

"No..." She shook her head. "Not yet. I'm still thinking of how to drop the boom on them and I'm not worried about myself. I'm nervous about Pop and what he'll do to David."

"I'm sure it won't be something he doesn't deserve," I said nonchalantly.

"Why do you hate him so much?" She asked, tilting her head.

"I don't hate him. I... Don't like him." She blinked at me as I shrugged.

"I know he acts all horrible and macho man but he's not a bad guy." She glimpsed at him.

I followed her gaze and saw Jordan, David, and Louis fighting with each other. David doesn't look like he could do you any harm and is a type of goofy, but what he did with Tiana was not good, either.

I opened and closed my mouth, debating if I should tell her instead she spoke first.

"I'll go help them." With that, she walked away towards the struggling guys.

They beamed when they saw Tiana and asked her to assist with it. Tiana took the spatula and showed them how to do it. I turned around and continued when decorating the table. When I was almost done, I heard an irritating voice from behind.

"What did you tell her?"

"I didn't tell her anything, David," I answered without looking at him.

"Don't lie." He growled, standing next to me. "I saw you two talking."

"Not everything in this world is about you." I gave him a blank look.

"Then why is she acting weird since we came here? She doesn't want to share the room with me nor let me kiss her or touch her-"

"Spare me the detail." I gagged, cutting me off. "And maybe she got her senses."

"If I hear a single word from your mouth-"

"Then what will you do?" I asked, standing face to face with him.

"I have already warned you." He narrowed his eyes, but I saw a flash of panic in his eyes.

"You should worry about yourself." I plastered a fake smile on my face. "I am not a fortune teller, but I can feel your future is not in your favor."

"What?" He scowled, but I ignored him and walk toward Tiana and the others to help them cook.

~•~ • ~•~ • ~•~

"That was delicious!" Ben beamed, leaning his back on the chair and everyone agreed with him.

"It sure was." Andrew grinned.

"Especially the dessert." Toby plopped the spoon full of cake that Nate made in his mouth.

"The meat was a minor burn." Jordan gave a sheepish smile. "But it was tasteful."

"I'm full!" Louis patted his tummy.

"But you hardly ate anything." Chloe pouted, looking at his plate.

"I'll finish it for him," Madeleine smirked, picking a shashlik from his plate.

"Stop it Maddie, or else you'll explode." Brittany scowled.

After spending three days with them, I came to know that Brittany is the mama bear of the group and Nate is the daddy who knows how to cook.

"Don't worry, my darling. I can handle it." Madeleine said with a mouth full, making Brittany gag.

"I think I ate too much," Nate grumbled, getting up from the table. "I'm going for a walk."

"And I'm sleepy." Tiana yawned.

"Me too." David gave her a puppy look, which she ignored.

"Who is going to do the dishes?" Toby pointed out, and everyone looked at each other.

That was the beginning of the war. Everyone pointed at each other to do the remaining chores, and no one was actually ready to do it. In the end, we played rock, paper scissors and whoever lost will do the work.

Here I was, standing in the kitchen, washing the dishes. Yup, you assumed it right. I lost, but guess who I was against?

Brittany.

She effortlessly won from me, then grinned and strode to her room. As for the others, Chloe lost from Tiana and David from Madeleine, so they were sweeping the floor. Jordan lost from Nate and his task was to clean the kitchen counter and the mess Nate created while baking.

"Here you go." Ben placed the dishes on the counter. "I can't believe I lost from Louis." He grumbled. He had to wrap the dining table and bring all the dishes inside.

"Luck was on his side tonight." I giggled and took the plates from him.

"These were the last ones. I'm going to bed now." He sighed in relief and then whispered. "Toby is waiting for me." He winked at me, and my eyes widened.

Chuckling, he walked away, and I shook my head, walking towards the sink, then placed the dishes next to Andrew, who was also lost from Toby and was assigned to wash the dishes with me.

I had a feeling he lost on purpose.

All I did was avoid him since yesterday because whenever he was around I kept feeling shy and remembering his bare body- I shook my head again to keep the image out of my head.

I mean, the guy is standing next to me!

He didn't say a word to me and I also kept my mouth shut. He washed the dishes with soap, then passed them to me and I'd rinse them. I cast a glimpse at him and saw him slowly do the dishes. I was not sure if he was being slow intentionally or if he wasn't used to it.

"I'm done cleaning," Jordan announced, stretching his limbs and throwing the rag away.

"Good," Andrew uttered his first words after being quiet all this time. "See you in the morning!"

"Good night," Jordan smirked, darting his eyes between us, then walked away.

"Finally." Andrew glanced at me and pointed at the door from where Jordan walked away. "He's slow. I was about the sleep waiting for him to go."

He was waiting for him to leave?

"Yeah..." I trailed off, adjusting my glasses.

"Now that we are alone." He said, passing me the plate. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"I-"

"And don't say you weren't because you were."

"I was..."

"Am I making you nervous?" He asked, and my eyes bugged out at his right guess. "Or uncomfortable? Because you know I like you and I want you to enjoy, but if I'm making you feel uneasy, then let me know I'll be as far away as I could-"

"No!" My voice came out panicked. "I-I mean no, you are not making it uncomfortable."

"Then what's the reason? Tell me, did I do something wrong?" I looked into his blue eyes and saw concern in them.

Could he be any sweeter?

"You did nothing wrong, Andrew," I answered, averting my gaze from him to the plate in my hand. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

"You don't have to be sorry. I know I can be pushy sometimes and all I want to do is to make you like me..." I opened my mouth but stopped when he continued ranting. "But I know you're also thinking that I'm a player and I'll break your heart. I don't care about girls' feelings and want to get in their pants, but that's not who I am. I mean, that is me. But I won't do this with you. I really like you Lillian and in case you think I'm not capable of doing that, then let me tell you, this is not my first time."

I blinked my eyes as I watched him saying all that in one breath and tried to process it.

"Not... Your first time?" My brows raised in question, and his eyes widened in panic.

"No... What I mean was... I like you now but that was before... Like way before when I was in junior high and there was this girl..." He trailed off, rubbing the nape of his neck with his soapy hand.

I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. This was the first time I saw the oh-so-confident Andrew Pierce nervous and he looked so cute.

"You liked a girl?" I asked, and couldn't hide the amusement in my voice. "Who was she?" I passed him a napkin.

"She was a..." He trailed off and darted his eyes down as he cleaned his neck.

"You don't have to tell me-"

"Her name was Claire." He said, cutting me off. "I met her in my junior high."

"Oh..." He turned and continued washing the dished as he told me the story.

"I was fourteen, and I thought I was in love. I liked her, and she liked me too... Well, that's what I thought. But turned out she used to make fun of me with everyone saying I was a clingy stupid guy and blah blah blah..." He groaned, then glanced at me. "To keep it short, her feelings weren't true."

I gulped and looked into his sad blue eyes. I've never liked a guy before and had my heart broken, but from the look on his face, I could tell it hurt a lot.

"Want to know something stupid?" Andrew let out a forced chuckle.

"What?"

"Even though I knew all that, I was still willing to give a chance, but she told me I was crazy and she would never be with a guy like me." He scoffed. "And then she moved to another city."

"Wow... Um, that's a... Sad."

"But I'm over it now." He grinned at me and darted his eyes to the side, then whispered. "Please don't tell anyone that I told you that."

Another secret?!

"Let me guess. You have told no one about this and now you want me to keep it a secret." I couldn't help but groan.

"No..." He frowned. "My parents and all of my friends know this. I'm saying not to tell them because it'll remind them of my miserable past and they'll make fun of me again." He pouted.

"Oh..." I internally slapped myself for assuming that he wanted me to keep it a secret.

But what can I say? That's what I have been doing since I met the Clichés, keeping secrets, and I thought he was also doing that.

"Everyone knows about this?" I asked, referring to the Clichés.

"Yes." He bobbed his head.

"Why?" My question came out a little weird.

"What do you mean, why?" He frowned. "They are my friends and I trust them. I know they'll tease me about it for the rest of my life, but they also helped me when I was feeling broken and lonely..." He continued telling me how great his friends are and it made me wonder.

Why the rest of the Clichés are not like Andrew?

He believes in his friends and trusts them enough to share his secrets, so why don't they do that? I'm not saying they should tell everyone, but at least the people they consider close to them.

And I thought Andrew was shallow.

~•~ • ~•~ • ~•~

"... And they are the reason I got over her quickly." I finished telling Lillian about my embarrassing past and when I was done, I looked at her.

Staring at the plate in her hands, she rinsed the dish, but her mind was somewhere else. I called her name, and she hummed absently.

Did I bore her with my story?

"Hey, Lillian?" I nudged her shoulder with mine, and she blinked, her eyes getting back here. "Where are you?"

"I'm here." She mumbled, closing the tap. We were done with the dishes now.

"You zoned out. Was my story that boring?" I chuckled.

"No, it's not that." She dried her hands, getting a little panic. "I was thinking."

"About?" I asked, taking the apron off.

"I uh..." She darted her eyes everywhere, but me and adjusted her glasses. "Is the offer still valid?"

"Offer?" My brows snapped in confusion.

"You know..." She cleared her throat and glimpsed at me. "The date one."

My breath ceased as I stood there blinking my eyes at her and my brain explode.

Did she...

Did she just?!

Keep your calm dude. Don't look stupid.

"I..." I took a deep breath. "Sorry, it expired on the fourteenth of February."

"Oh..." Her shoulders slumped in disappointment and I pressed my lips to hide my smile.

F**k she's cute!

"But..." I stepped closer to her. "I can re-validate it."

"You can?" She finally looked straight into my eyes with her hopeful green ones.

"Yup." I leaned down and level my face with hers. "But I have to ask a serious question."

"What?" She tilted her head.

"Are you willing to answer it honestly?" I asked in a serious tone, and without hesitation, she said.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" I asked again.

"Are you scaring me?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

"No... I'm making sure you know what you're getting yourself into-"

"I know and I'm done being frightened of it." She said confidently, making my heart skip a beat. "I want to give it a chance."

"Good." I placed my hands on either side of the counter, trapping her in the middle. "If you answer it correctly, the date will be re-validated."

"Shoot." I was glad when she didn't struggle to move out and felt comfortable.

"Why do you want to date me now? Because the last time I remember, you said no."

"Because you are a player and I didn't want to get in the middle of it..."

"Now you want to," I asked, leaning my face so our noses almost touched.

"Yes... because..." She gulped and darted her eyes between mine.

"Because..." I urged her to continue keeping my gaze towards her eyes even though I wanted to look at her lip when she parted her lips and her breath touched mine as whispered.

"I like you." I paused and my mind went blank.

She... She likes me!

"You like me?" My lips spread into a huge grin when I said the words out loud.

She nodded her head, and I took a step back.

"Did I answer correctly?" She asked innocently, waiting for me to answer.

"F**k yeah. You won yourself a date for tomorrow." I exclaimed, and her brows shot up.

"Tomorrow?"

"Of course." I grinned. "Do you think I'll say after spring break?" She nodded, and I shook my head. "I'm not giving you any time to change your mind."

"I won't change it." She rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Lillian Smith." I looked at her seriously. "Will you go out on a date with me tomorrow?"

"Yes. I'd love to." She murmured as her cheeks turned pink, and I fist-bumped into the air.

"Finally!"

"Where will we go?" She asked, and I assured her.

"That's for me to worry."

"Alright then..." She walked away. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." I grinned. She returned and walked out of the kitchen.

I waited for a minute for her to leave and then began panicking.

The f**k where am I going to take her?

I told her she didn't need to worry about it but I have planned nothing! I wasn't even sure that this will happen!

It's time to call a meeting.

I strode towards my room and burst inside to see Nate on the bed texting on his phone. It was his turn to sleep on the bed.

"What?" Nate looked from his screen towards me.

"Emergency meeting," I uttered our code word. "Now." His eyes widened, and he got up from the bed. "I'll go get Ben."

"I'll get the others." He said and jogged upstairs.

I got to the room on the other side of the floor and knocked on the door, careful not to make up the girls upstairs. There was no answer, and I knocked a little louder again.

"What?!" Ben yanked the door open and frowned when he saw me. "The f**k Drew. Can't you leave me alone?" He rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Emergency meeting," I said, and he halted.

"What?"

"In my room," I said, and he nodded.

He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. I peeked inside to see Toby sleeping.

Good, he won't be disturbing me.

"Who died?" I heard Louis's voice as he walked downstairs.

"Where is the body?" Jordan asked, and I scoffed as all of us got inside my room.

"Don't tell me Brittany finally killed someone." David snorted, closing the door behind him.

They all began assuming who killed who, and I paced in the middle of the room thinking how to tell them, but when I couldn't get the idea, I said straightforwardly.

"Lillian agreed to go out on a date with me."

There was a pin drop silence, then everyone rushed towards me.

"What?!"

"Why?!"

"How?!"

"Liar!"

"Shut up!" I screamed, and they went quiet and I told them the entire story. "Now I don't know where to take her." I groaned, pacing the room.

"You can take her to the movies," Jordan suggested as he plopped on the couch next to Nate, who shook his head.

"Sitting in the dark close to each other will intimidate Lillian on a first date. Take her to some fancy restaurant."

"You're right about the movie." Ben nodded as he lay on the bed. "But the restaurant is overboard. Try something simple."

"How about you don't take her out at all?" David smirked. "Then you don't have to worry about it."

I picked a pillow and threw it on his face as he sat in the window alcove.

"How about you shut the f**k up?"

Everyone else kept giving ideas, but none made sense until Louis, who was quiet all this time, spoke.

"Take her to the carnival." He yawned.

"Huh?" We all turned towards him.

"The Carnival. You can do a lot of things there." He shrugged.

"But we are all going there." I groaned. "How is it going to be a date?"

"You can hang out separately." Jordan pointed.

"Yeah. It won't be intimidating or too fancy." Nate agreed with them.

"And if Lillian wants to run away from you." Ben grinned. "We will be there for her."

I rolled my eyes at him, but went to Louis and hugged him tightly.

"That's a great idea, dude."

"Save the kiss for your girl." He squirmed out of my grip.

"Yeah. You can have the Ferris wheel kiss." Nate teased, making me pause.

Kiss?

"First date is too soon for a kiss," Ben said, but Jordan laughed.

"Yeah, but in the carnival, if you go to the Ferris wheel with the girl, the kiss is bound to happen."

"How do you know that?" David asked, and they scoffed.

"Don't you watch movies?" They began arguing among themselves while my brain swirled.

Ferris wheel...

Kiss...

It's our first date and I don't want to make it the last by doing anything awkward!

But I want to kiss her!