AMERICAN BOY ☆ DYLAN O'BRIEN

twenty-one

| real life |

addelyns mother could immediately sense the tension between the pair, the moment they all stepped into the kitchen the next morning. ava miller knew her family like the back of her hand, she immediately knew that something had occurred the previous night.

like the meddling woman she is, she decided to question. "so, what did you two do last night?"

dylan looks straight at addelyn, waiting for her to speak up first. her eyes had widened, her mouth chewing slower than it should be until she finally spoke up. "um, we were just watching tv out back. nothing much, really."

"oh, what were you watching?"

"married at first night."

ava lets out an excited gasp. "i love that show! why didn't you tell me you were watching?"

"you were already asleep, mum." addie laughs into her toast.

dylan clears his throat from the other side of the island. "it's actually very entertaining, i hadn't seen it before."

"it's my favorite pastime! and you, just became my favorite one of addie's friends." ava announces, laughing as she grabs her food and moves to exit the kitchen. "addie, i'll waiting in the studio!"

the tension significantly thickens in the confines of the kitchen. addelyn continues to act nonchalant as she munches on her toast while dylan attempts to figure out a way to speak with her about what almost happened last night.

it takes him as long as it takes her to finish her food and wash up to finally muster the courage to say something. "hey, um, can we talk?"

"about what?" she questions, an overly sweet smile on her face as she acts stupid.

"you know what, ads." he says quietly, rounding the island so he's stood next to her. "stop running away from it."

addie lets out something between a scoff and a laugh. "i'm not running away from anything, there's nothing to talk about."

"you quite literally ran away from me last night."

she looks up into his eyes, his pleading gaze boring into her. "we were drunk."

"not drunk enough to forget." he whispers as he takes a step closer to her. "we almost kissed and it was a very conscious decision."

"it was a mistake."

dylan lets out a loud huff. "that's what you keep saying. is that all i am to you, addelyn? some stupid mistake?"

"that's not what i-"

"no, it is. it is what you keep saying."

addelyn shakes her head rapidly. "stop getting angry with me. you can't be angry with me."

"what do you want, addelyn?" dylan asks determinedly. "tell me right now, and i'll give it to you."

"don't do this."

"just say it. i need you to say it."

addelyn keeps her eyes away from him, knowing that if she takes one glance at his beautiful hazel eyes, she would break. she wanted him. she wanted to say it, no, scream it. she wanted to grab his face in her hands and kiss him until she couldn't breathe.

dylan stood, waiting patiently as she glanced at him. his eyes flickering between her shining blue ones, something finally clicked. in one swift movement, his hands were around her waist and her lips were on his.