Dear Stranger

Chapter 11

"You guys seem to be in a better situation" Ricky noticed from behind his desk. Darren and you finished working on the songs for the musical and you had to hand back the work at your manager before the craziness started: meeting with the producers, rehearsals with the singers, recording, etc. "We... tolerate each other" Darren said. You looked down and tried your best to hide your smirk.

You both have been more than tolerating each other. Ricky took the papers along with the usb drive which you recorded the demos of the songs for the producers. All you had to do now is wait and hopefully that would please them.

"Good. You guys will work with each other for a pretty good amount of time, so that's always good" your manager explained. You and Darren glanced quickly at each other before nodding at him. "I emailed you your schedules for the promo by the way. You should check that out" he added. You nodded once more. "Well, it's not that I want to throw you out of my office, but I have things to do" Ricky said as he stood up and gathered his things. "Sure. We'll go" you smile politely. You quickly hug him and exit the room, followed by Darren.

You both went to the elevator and quietly waiting for it. You saw Ricky leave his office and take the stairs, waving to you on the way. You waved back as well as Darren. The elevator opened and you kept a neutral face as much as you could. 'Cherish the secret' you thought. You both entered and once the doors closed, and you were alone.

You glanced at him and bursted out laughing with him. "Tolerate me? Really? You bastard" you joke and playfully hit his shoulder. "What? It's true!" he grinned. Once your laugh disappeared slowly, you asked. "Do you think you can tolerate me over dinner?". You didn't look at him, but somehow you knew he had that smirk over his lips. "Are you asking me out on a date?" he turned to you. "Absolutely not. Don't get your hopes up" you smiled. "I'm not. Not at all. But you're totally asking me on a date though" he grinned. "Get over it and respond to the invitation" you replied. It would be your first official date, 'If he accepts of course' you thought. "I don't know, what do you offer me? I wouldn't want to go on a lame date" he joked. "Shut up!" you laughed. "We could go dinner at my place so no risk of seeing any particular person. I'll cook" you propose. He seemed to think about it for a second, but you clearly noticed the smile on his face. The clear sign of happiness that you asked him out. "Ok" he nodded. You mentally sighed. 'Thanks God he didn't say no. Would have led to an embarassing moment here', you thought. "I'll be there at 8" he almost whispered and kissed your forehead right before the elevator doors opened.

Your heart stop beating for a second, but you manage to get out after him and get out of the building safely.

You spend your day grocery shopping and cooking. Everything had to be perfect. But at the same time, you didn't want it to be super cheesy with roses over the table and classical music in the background. Doesn't mean you'll welcome him in your pjs either, but just not fancy. You felt nervous. So nervous. That was stupid. You just spent weeks in a studio alone with him, including 2 of them not being a basic bitch with him. You had spent time alone. God you even had sex with him already! 'What are you afraid of?' you scold yourself.

Well now it was official. It wasn't for work. It was for you both. Just to make sure you were really feeling those butterflies in your stomach everytime he was around. And just thinking about it made you smile. That was a good start.

The bell rang at the moment you finished getting ready. Perfect timing. You almost ran to the door, put the hand on the handle and took a deep breath. You eventually opened the door with a smile on your face to see his. He was holding a nice bouquet. "Hello beautiful" he smiled and handed you the flowers. "Hi! These are amazing. Thank you so much" you couldn't help but grin.

You stepped aside to let him in. He did and stood in front of you to properly greet you, not really knowing how to. He finally decided to place a kiss on your cheek and to step into your apartment. You blushed. 'Control yourself y/n!' you said to yourself.

You closed the door behind him and put the flowers in a jar quickly, not wanting to leave him alone too long. You went back in the living room and took a proper look at him. He had on jeans, a white shirt with rolled up sleeves and a simple black tie. "You look..." Handsome. Amazing. Fantastic. "..cute" you said. He looked down at himself and smiled "Thanks! I can't say that for you though, you look more than just cute" he replied. Smooth. You chuckled. "Thanks" you looked into his eyes. You felt the blush coming up to your cheeks again.

A silence filled the room and you almost felt uncomfortable. Fuck. "I'm uhm... Gonna fetch dinner" you explain as you motion to the kitchen behind you. You turned around but was quickly stopped by Darren saying "Wait".

He came closer and suddenly seemed nervous. He coughed, but you could see it was fake. "Uhm... Am I the only one stressing out right now?" he asked. You breathed out. "No. You're not. I am too" you admitted. "Ok good" he relaxed. "Why are we though? It's not like we never been together before" he added. "I know!" you point out. "I was actually asking myself the same damn thing earlier". You thought for a second and found the answer. It was a date. It was serious. It didn't mean you had to play serious, neither did he. You were not serious people after all. "You know what? Let's just forgot all the seriousness of this" you say as you take off your heels, "Let's just be us". "Ok" he smiled and took off his tie and put it over his chair. "Plus, I made burgers" you said and went to the kitchen. "No you didn't" he chuckled as he followed you.

"Yes I did" you grin and show off the plates before taking them. "You're awesome" he declared. "You didn't know that before?" you joke and put the plates on the table before coming back. "Let's say it's now 100% confirmed" he grinned. "Good answer" you smirked.

He helped you put the dishes on the table and you ate and talked casually. The thing was to be casual, you thought. 'It wasn't about impressing him, he already knows who I am' you reminded yourself. Your phone rang in the middle of a very important conversation about magical creatures. "Sorry" you said as you reach out to take your phone. Joey. You put it back.

"I bet that if you don't answer that call, Lauren will call on the row" Darren joked. The rings stopped and Darren counted down "5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." and the phone rang again. "Nailed it" you said, truly impressed. You turned off your phone so you wouldn't be bothered for the rest of the night. "You haven't talked to them?" Darren asked. "Not really. I'm still kinda pissed off they didn't say a thing to us" you explain. "You realize that you're angry at them for doing something we're actually doing to them right now?" he chuckled. You hit his arm playfully. "Hey, it's not the same thing!" You laughed. "We are doing that so they won't tease us. They did that for no reason" you added. He shrugged, "I guess you're right".

You kept talking for hours. The time seemed to pass away like a snap of a finger. Too quickly. Before you knew it, it was 3 am and you both were still sitting as the same place, still looking at each other's eyes and learning about them. You couldn't help but to yawn at some point though. Darren eyed the clock and exclaimed "Oh fuck that's late. I should probably let you get your beauty sleep". You chuckled. Cheesy.

He put the dishes in the sink with you and finally gathered his belongings to go. "Wait, you forgot your tie" you said and took it to put it around his neck. "I don't even know how to tie it. I had to watch a how to on the internet so... It won't be a huge lost" he joked. "Really? It's actually pretty easy" you say and start tying it around his neck. As you fingers worked around the piece of cloth, you felt his eyes on you. His special glance. The heart eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that" you said, unable to hide your smile. "Like what?" he asked innoncently. "Like you wanna kiss me" you replied. He chuckled, "Can't stop that. Not sorry". You shook your head and tighten the tie around his neck. "Here ya go" you smile. You were about to pull away from him, but he put an arm around your waist. "Maybe I should kiss you" he whispered. His eyes went back and forth between your lips and your eyes. You found yourself doing the sale thing."Maybe you should" you answered. He grinned and lean on you, stopping right when your lips brushed his. He put a hand on your back and kissed you sweetly. And the butterflies were definitely there. No. Who are you kidding? It was more like a fucking fireworks. The best you ever experienced.