adore you ( 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍 )

iii. part three

( adore you. ― part three! )

☽ ☾

     AYDEN KEPT PULLING AT THE LOOSE STRING on the hem of her dress as she sat next to laura in the back of the uber. laura swatted at her hand and ayden glared at her. "stop fidgeting" she said and ayden crossed her arms over her chest, jutting her bottom lip out for effect. "i wouldn't have to fidget if you just let me stay home" she replied and watched as laura rolled her eyes. "you never do anything fun anymore dee. you stay home and watch reruns of supernatural and the only person you see is me or maia." ayden pouted a little more, uncrossing her arms and folding her hands in her lap as the uber rounded the last corner before pulling up infront of the small, rustic, italian restaurant. the two girls thanked the driver and then got out of the car, ayden walking around the back before standing beside laura on the curb.

"it's not true by the way. i see marney and eliza just as much as you and maia" ayden said and laura rolled her eyes again, but let out a light chuckle at the same time. "i just want you to make more friends" she said, looping ayden's arm in hers as they walked towards the door.  ayden smiled at her friend, knowing full well that what she was saying was true. she'd always found it hard to make friends with other people. everyone she knew seemed to come to her first and she just found that life was easier if she kept her circle small. a waiter opened the door and laura mumbled a quick thank you before pulling ayden through the tables. ayden looked around the room and spotted the zendaya, waving them over with a huge smile on her face. ayden was definitely feeling the nerves now.

she smiled back softly, taking in the four boys that were seated around her. she recognised all of them immediately. she let go of laura's arm and let her hand fall to her thigh, her fingers finding the loose string once more. she focused on tugging at that instead of the nagging feeling in her gut that was telling her she was going to mess everything up. laura squeezed ayden's forearm before unlooping her own and moving around the table to hug zendaya. ayden stood there awkwardly before one of the guys stood up and held out his hand. "i'm tony. nice to meet you" he said and ayden took his hand, shaking it with a smile. "nice to meet you too tony" she said and her fingers slowly started to let go of the string at her hem. "dee there's a free seat next to tom!" laura said, smiling like a 5 year old as she pulled out the chair next to zendaya. ayden sent her a swift glare before shuffling behind tony and jacob and sitting down next to tom.

he gave her a giant grin and held out his hand, just like tony did. she could see laura and zendaya giggling to each other across the table and made a mental note to punch her bestfriend later. she knew damned well that she'd planned this stupid seating arrangement. she took tom's hand with a smile and shook it. she looked at him, taking in everything about him. from the way the front of his hair curled slightly at his forehead, to the way his maroon shirt fell open over his collarbones. she didn't wanna stare but she couldn't help it. he looked good. "it's nice to meet you ayden" tom said, and ayden couldn't help but fall in love with the way her name rolled off his tongue. perhaps it was the accent, or maybe it was just him. she nodded and ran her hands down the thighs of her dress. she was sweating so much and she was praying that nobody was noticing how awkward she was being. "it's nice to meet you too" she said before turning to face the table, "all of you."