The Growing of Hearts (A BTS & EXO Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Date Night

If you like this story, check out our other stories on this account- Haunted (Written By Blake) and To Kill The Anthem (Written By Corpus)! Enjoy this chapter!

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

~MERCI~

"Let's go inside before the food gets cold," Kris whispers. 

Merci feels a shiver run down her spine. She mentally slaps herself for being so... vulnerable. Kris tugs on her hand and leads her into his house. Merci looks around in awe and envy. The house had a comfortable yet chill feel to it. The living room where they were standing had cream colored couches scattered everywhere. The walls were a royal blue color that matched Kris's shirt and the floor was a black, hardwood floor. A large window took up the length of one wall which looked on into a forest as well as a patio.

"Make yourself at home," Kris says as he walks into another room, the kitchen Merci assumes. Listening to his words, Merci takes a seat on one of the couches. She takes another deep breath and tries to calm her nerves.

"It's just a guy... It's just a guy..." she whispers to herself. Then she moans and covers her face.

That's exactly the problem...

"Dinner's ready, come inside."

Merci looks up startled, lost in her thoughts. Kris's head was peeking out of the doorway, looking at her in curiosity.

"You okay?" he asks, scrunching his eyebrows together. Merci blinks but then nods her head quickly.

"Uh yeah! Of course! Why I wouldn't be?" she says as she stands and makes her way over into the kitchen.

Stepping inside, a smile immediately breaks out onto her face. The long rectangular table was covered with a black tablecloth with silver utensils on top. A vase filled with brightly colored roses (red, orange, blue, pink, white etc., etc.) sat at the end that Merci immediately fell in love with. There were two plates on both sides of the table that were filled with steak, Mac & Cheese and steamed vegetables. Wine glasses accompanied the plates that were halfway filled with a sparkly gold liquid.

"Wow!" Merci exclaims happily. "Everything looks amazing! You cooked all of this yourself?"

Kris smiles and places a hand on Merci's shoulder.

"Of course. I'm good looking, a cook, an artist, athletic and can sing. I'm the whole package," Kris says arrogantly. Merci frowns and elbows him in the side.

"Hush!" she exclaims as Kris yelps in pain. "You're ruining it!"

Kris pouts as he rubs his side.

"Ruining what?" he questions. Merci opens her mouth to answer, but immediately closes it. She couldn't tell him it was because he indeed WAS the perfect package and that his cockiness was ruining it. She would be so embarrassed, not to mention pride less.

"Uhh... Ruining the temperature of the food!" Merci says, her voice slightly pitched. "With all this talking, the food's bound to be cold!"

Kris glances at the plates and sees steam wafting up from the still hot food.

"The food's still hot, what are you talking about?" Kris points out. Then he realizes that Merci isn't telling the truth. Smirking, he walks closer to her which causes her to back up.

"W-What are you doing!?" Merci gasps as she takes steps away from Kris who is encroaching her personal bubble. Kris says nothing for a moment, just stares into Merci's eyes with fire, causing her to melt on the inside.

"Why are you lying?" he asks in a low, husky voice. "There's no need to. Admit it. What do you want to say about me ruining something?"

Merci's voice was lodged in her throat. Her hands begin to get clammy while she swallows the lump in her throat. The longer Kris stares into her eyes with his smoldering chocolate colored eyes, the more and more Merci feels weak. Succumbed to the power Kris seems to be emanating.

"There's nothing for me to admit," she answers in a voice that was confident and unwavering, surprising herself. "I said what it needed to. That's it."

Kris narrows his eyes slightly, still not buying her story. He leans his head down closer to Merci's so that his lips were only a couple inches from hers.

"This is the first strike," Kris warns in a low rumble. "Next time I catch you lying to me, you better watch out."

Merci's eyes widen in shock. Then they narrow menacingly. Shoving him away, confidence and feist begins to seep into her.

"I do what I want," she snaps at Kris. "If I lie, I lie. I'll take responsibility for it. But do NOT tell me what to do. Nobody controls me but me."

Kris stares at Merci, both with respect and awe. This was the first time a girl has talked back to him, the first time they stood up to him. It was different and irked him slightly.

But it made him even more attracted to the mystery beauty that is named Merci.

"So are we going to eat or what?" Merci questions, her flaming cheeks beginning to die down as she steps away from the wall and from Kris. He nods and takes a couple steps back, giving Merci the room that she needed. Wanted? Not the same case, sad to say. As cheesy as it sounds, the warmth that came from Kris disappeared when he backed up, leaving Merci cold.

"Ladies first," Kris says in a fake British accent as he playfully bows. Merci rolls her eyes, but a small smile graces her face as she sits down on the chair that Kris had pulled out for her.

"Bon appétit," Kris announces as he picks up a knife and begins digging into his steak. Merci does the same, but she examines the bite before she takes it. The meat was browned on the outside and an appealing pink on the inside.

"I didn't poison it, if that's what you're thinking," Kris tells her through a mouth full of steak. Merci scrunches her face up in disgust.

"Ewe, such a gentleman..." Merci murmurs, loud enough for Kris to hear. Kris frowns once again.

"Yah, this is my house. I do what I want," he says, mimicking Merci from earlier. When Merci's eyes meet Kris's challenging ones, his eyebrows shot up, as if he was teasing her, provoking her, pushing her to see what she does. Merci doesn't take the bait though. Sitting up straighter, she clears her throat and continues to cut another piece.

"Great minds think alike," she responds, shrugging her shoulders. "Following orders are for the cowardly."

Kris nods, agreeing with what she had said.

"Very true," he says as he takes a sip of the refreshingly tangy wine. "Something that you seem to live by. It's endearing."

Merci almost chokes on her food when she hears what he says. As Merci clears her throat, Kris notices and continues.

"Attractive, independent, feisty," he says, looking down at his hand that is swirling the drink around in the glass. "Things that I have not seen in any of the girls I've seen in a long time."

He pauses and looks at Merci who has stopped eating and is instead staring at Kris with wide eyes. Keeping the eye contact, Kris speaks.

"You're different and it's intriguing me in a very good way," Kris tells her, his voice lowering. "I find myself now looking forward to what you have to say. You're mature, intellectual. It makes me want to get to know you better. If of course, you'd want to stick around a little longer with me."

Kris looks away from his gaze with Merci. He fixes his stare at the roses in the vase. On the other hand, Merci feels as if she's about to faint. She feels giddy, nervous and hesitant. She likes Kris, she knows that. There's no question she's interested.

But at the same time, she's scared. She doesn't know what to do in a relationship. The thought of sharing your deepest thoughts and feelings with someone that you love, or potentially will love, is a frightening thought. Being vulnerable terrifies Merci. She's spent so long building up a wall to not get hurt by those around her.

And here comes Kris that seems to already have broken down one wall.

Maybe it's cause he's is similar to her that she unconsciously trusts him. She doesn't know what it is...

But she's willing to take a risk. Merci decides to just take a chance with Kris and see how it goes.

To heck with potentially getting hurt. It's time to take a risk and go head in.

"Maybe it's the wine... That's why I'm thinking this," Merci thinks as she sighs.