Crazy In Love | Buggy

t h i r t y - s e v e n

Somehow, the red dress I had bought looked even better on in the hotel lighting. In the bathroom, after I slipped it on, I checked myself out in the mirror and couldn't help but smile to myself. I looked good.

That wasn't something I often thought about myself. I just hoped that Buggy would like it as much as he did in the shop.

My feelings around Buggy were getting ever more confusing. I had promised myself that I wouldn't allow myself to feel anything towards him, but my feelings were so strong I couldn't deny them.

I liked him. A lot. Every time I saw him, no matter what he looked like, my attraction was so strong it made me weak in the knees. Every time our eyes met, the wind got knocked out of me. And his smile...

Stop! I thought to myself. You can't feel this way about him. Push it away.

So I tried to. When I had walked out of the bathroom, Buggy had looked at me with a look I had never seen before. It was as if he was speechless, which says a lot for him.

He tilted his head to the side. "You're..."

I waited, but he didn't finish. "You're?"

He sucked in a breath. "You look nice."

I was disappointed that nice was all he said, but it was still a compliment. We walked off to the restaurant, it was a far walk but I didn't mind it. It was nice to just talk with Buggy about nothing.

When we got into the restaurant, I was shocked. Apart from the staff, it was completely empty. There wasn't even one other guest eating.

The restaurant was beautiful as well - it was clear to see that it was expensive. Which is why the lack of clientele was so surprising.

Turning to Buggy, I said, "It's a ghost town in here."

"That's because I paid them to keep it empty for us," He replied, smirking proudly. "You said you felt judged in this town. I didn't want you to feel judged during our dinner."

I had to physically stop my mouth from gaping open from the shock and... the joy from what he had said. That was such an incredibly thoughtful thing for him to do. He was being so sweet to me.

"That's... thank you. That's so unbelievably sweet."

He looked awkward all of a sudden. He ran his hands through his long hair, which he had down, and nervously looked away. "Don't worry about it."

The waitress shyly approached us. Like everyone else in this town, she looked terrified of us and it made me so sad.

"A table for two?" She basically whispered.

"A table for twenty actually," Buggy replied, clearly joking.

Her eyes widened. "Really? We thought it was just two. We'll have to push some tables -"

"He's joking."

"Says who?"

"Says me," I cut him off. "Basically, just ignore everything he says tonight. He's a bit of a joker."

"Joker? Me?"

The poor waitress looked even more terrified. "So... a table for two?"

"Yes, please." When the waitress turned to lead us to our table, I made sure to smack Buggy's arm. "Stop messing with people."

"Where's the fun in that?"

I rolled my eyes but smiled to myself anyway.

Once we were at our table, the waitress took our drink orders - two glasses of the most expensive white wine - and left us to look over the food menu.

All the food was so foreign to me. Most of it I had never even heard of. In fact, a lot of it I couldn't figure out how the hell you pronounced it either.

"Brew...bruh...br -"

"Bruschetta," Buggy pronounced for me, smiling. "It's basically garlic bread with like cheese, tomatoes, and sometimes meat."

"Hm. What's cr... cru..."

"Crudités? It's just mixed vegetables."

"How do you know all this?"

"I'm a cultured man. I've been everywhere, tasted everything."

"Well, why don't you order for me?" I asked, curious now. "If you're such an expert."

"You're in good hands," He said cheerfully, even holding his hands up.

The waitress showed back up with our wine glasses. As she was placing them down, I noticed her hands were visibly shaking. Again, I felt guilty. It felt like she was our hostage or something.

"Are you ready to order or do you need more time?"

"We're ready. We'll have two Japanese Kobe beef steaks, please."

"Very good choice."

"I know," Buggy told her smugly.

She just gave me a small smile - probably understanding what I said about Buggy. She was off, now me and Buggy were left alone.

"This steak better be good."

"It's the best in the world. I would know, I've tried everything steak in every place."

"I've only ever had the steaks in my town so I have very little to compare it too."

He thought for a moment. "I actually never had the steak in your town."

"So you haven't had every steak!" I corrected, laughing to myself. "Maybe the steak in my town is the best in the world."

"I doubt it."

"You doubt it? How dare you!" I said dramatically. "When we go back to my town, I'm forcing you to have one. You'll love it."

"I don't know if I'd be welcome to eat in your town."

My mood fell a little bit. Sometimes, I totally forgot about the details of our situation. It felt like I had always known Buggy when, in reality, I had only known him for a couple of months. I always forgot about the awful things he did in my town.

It made the reality of how this entire situation would end even worse. If things went well, I'd be dropped off at my town, Buggy would leave and I would never see him again.

That thought was nauseating. I'd grown so attached to him, I couldn't imagine a life without him in it. Which felt crazy to say.

"Are you okay?" Buggy finally asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You look deep in thought."

"Do I?" I asked, trying to sound surprised. I didn't want him to know about what I was thinking about. "Sometimes I just zone out."

"Do I bore you? Because if so, I'm offended. I'm a fun guy."

"You're so annoying."

"But you love it," He told me, tilting his head to the side. "Try the wine."

I did as he told me to do, picking up the glass and taking a small sip. It was nice wine, but I still wasn't used to alcohol. My entire face scrunched up.

"God, how do people drink alcohol."

"I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't gotten you used to drinking yet. I'm going to have to start giving you shots before bed."

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to get me drunk for bed?"

"Not... not like. Forget it -"

"What other way could you mean?"

Now it was him rolling his eyes at me. "You're annoying."

"Great. We're both annoying. It's like we're made for each other."

"It is," He agreed.

Our eyes met and there was this awkward silence that settled between us. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him right now. I pushed that thought away.

Luckily for the both of us, the waitress had shown up with our steaks, breaking the silence.