Attached

Chapter 2

I sat in pajamas and watched netflix until about 5:30. At 5:37 I was in the shower, singing my heart out until my cranky neighbor knocked on the wall. Wrapping my hair up into a towel, I walked around my room with my t-shirt and undies on. I turned my music down, still danceable, but low enough to where my 50 year old neighbors wouldn’t yell at me. I sang along and danced around the bedroom, applying makeup and untangling my hair as I went.
“ Everybody needs somebody to love, Everybody needs somebody to love, And I choose you, And I choose you”
I twirled around and sang into a hairbrush, then conjured up an air guitar. I grabbed my dress off the back of the door and slipped it on. I ran into the bathroom to plug in the curler. It was only about 5 mins until it was heated up, so I sprayed my hair with heat protectant.
About 30 mins later, my head was full of bouncy curls. I made sure the bathroom was clean before I ran back into the bedroom to grab my shoes. Ankle boots with a short heel should do.
I checked the clock after double and even triple checking my makeup in the vanity mirror. My wall clock was broken, so I grabbed my phone. The time read 6:57, and I was ready on time. Eren called me up around 7:06 for the passcode to my apartment building.
“ I’ll just meet you in the lobby, is that ok?”
I grabbed my purse and threw all the random crap I knew I would probably need, whilst keeping the phone to my ear. Eren chuckled
“ Yeah that's ok, see you”
I giggled and hung up.
Before heading out the door, I took one more look at myself in the mirror. I took a deep breath, taking in the smell of the 1 person apartment. Hopefully it wasn’t a one person apartment for long.
I ran into the elevator, forcefully slamming the lobby button. I was maybe a little too excited for this date at this point.

Eren was standing in the lobby talking to one of the nice old ladies that lived in my hallway. They were laughing about something when I walked over, and then the kind woman placed her hand on my arm.
“ Liliana! You are this suave young man's date?”
I smiled politely
“ Yes Ms. Phyllis, I am.”
She chuckled and squeezed my forearm. I looked to Eren and gave him a ‘ This old woman is charming and one of the least cranky I know, but help me ‘ kind of look. He smiled back at me and grabbed my hand.
“ Don’t worry Ms.Phyllis, I’ll take good care of her”
He laughed and I laughed as well. She smiled at both of us and then slapped eren’s arm softly
“ Don't be coy, called me Ada dear. You two have fun now!”
She chuckled and pushed her walker into the elevator. I looked and Eren and he met eyes with me. As if we were thinking the exact same thing, we burst into laughter. We walked hand in hand to the glass doors of the apartment, almost hunching over.
“ Did-did she really give you her first name? I didn’t even- I didn’t even know it!”
I placed my hand on my stomach and wiped a tear from my eye. Eren started to cough a bit, clearing his throat and then giggling some more
“ Really? How long have you known her for?”
I opened one of the giant glass door and took a deep breath of the fresh air
“ Two years!”
I chuckled again.
“ Maybe I’m just too charming for my own good”
He said whilst smirking and striking a pose. He smiled and extended his hand towards me. I grabbed his hand and entangled my fingers with his. He smiled at me, and I returned his gaze.
“ Let’s go have fun then”
He leaned in a pecked my cheek. Once he moved forward, I could smell his cologne. It smelled like vanilla and...the ocean? It was a weird mix of smells, but it entranced me nonetheless.
We hopped into his Mustang convertible, and popped the hood down. I thought about my hair, how it would probably get messed up. But honestly, at this point, I didn’t care! I was ready to have fun and nothing was going to get in the way of that.

We drove down the coast, the wind blowing in my hair and the strong smell of the ocean stinging my nose. I lifted my hands and took in a deep breath. I was out of my house, I could finally breath without the cramped air tightening my lungs. I could be a free spirit and no one could judge me for it. Not to mention, I was in a convertible with a hot guy who asked...me out! It was like a long lost dream coming true.
I wasn’t into the money. I’ve never really been into the whole luxury life. Yes, it was fun to live it sometimes, but cuddling with someone you love and eating pizza and watching netflix, was just as good to me. Eren glanced to me and laughed. He turned his head back to the road, a smile plastered across his cleanly shaven face.
When I asked where we were going, he just smiled and said,
“ I promise you that where is going is somewhere you want to be right now”
I trusted him and just sat back in my seat to take it all in. He pulled into this long stretch of road that lead up into the mountains. He sped along the winding roads, also making the whole ride feel like a roller coaster. The car slowed down as we pulled up to a cliff spot. My eyes widened as I looked around, the cliff was lined with trees and the view was breathtaking. The sun lowered under the waves, turning the sky to a light purple.
I looked to Eren with a giant grin.
“ Where-where are we?”
He chuckled and looked around
“ Honestly, I don’t know”
I jumped out of the car and ran to the edge. I lifted my arms to the sky and took in a deep breath. I think this is the most free i’ve ever felt in my entire life. Eren ran up behind me, and grabbed my waist to pull me into him.
“ What was that! You could have-you could have fell”
I put my head into his chest and hugged him. I smiled and looked up into his eyes
“ Thank you...thank you so much for this. You probably take all your dates here huh”
He blushed and looked away.
“ Um- actually, I found this place recently. Maybe...a year ago? None of the other girls I’ve ever dated were...special enough to take to a place like this. But you-”
He turned me to face the ocean
“ You are so worthy of this view”

I blushed and closed my eyes. I could feel his hands on the forearms, slowly trailing down my arms to grab my hands. He grabbed one of my arms, and twirled me around. He smiled and sat me down on a rock. He ran back to the car and a popped the trunk. He rummaged it around a bit and ended up bringing out a picnic basket, two blankets, and a rope.
He told me to close my eyes, and I complied. After what seemed like 10 minutes, I was getting a little impatient.
“ Eren...can I open them now?”
I heard him laugh followed by a clink.
“ I’m almost done”
I fidgeted around with my fingers and feet until I felt him grab my hands. His face came close to mine and he whispered,
“ Ok, you can open your eyes now”
I felt my eyelids lift and my eyes lashes pull apart. Complete tenderheartedness washed out my curious expression. He had set up a picnic blanket in the middle of a little grass patch that gave a good view of the ocean. He set the other blanket and rope down by a tree that wasn’t too close to the edge.
“ What’s the blanket and rope for?”
He squeezed my arms and leaned in so that he could whisper in my ear.
“ It’s a hammock. I was gonna set it up, but I figured I was taking a little too long when I looked over and saw you squirming around a bit”
I blushed and shrugged
“ Sorry”
He laughed and squeezed my arms again
“ It's ok. Do you want to go sit down and eat now?”
He held my hand and led me to the food. The weird combo of pizza, wine, and chocolate covered strawberries made me almost fall in love with Eren on the spot.
“ What a neat...course?”
I laughed and kicked off my shoes to crawl onto the blanket. He sat down next me and started to pour the wine
“ Well, Wine is sophisticated, chocolate covered strawberries are sweet, and pizza is just...the best. Our food layout kind of reflects, you in a way.”
I blushed as he handed me the glass. I took it and touched my cheeks to make sure I didn’t look like I was having an allergic reaction or some thing. He was so charming! He smiled at me and lifted his glass
“ To the audacious days to come”
I smiled and touched my glass to his.I took a sip of the wine, the pungent but sweet taste sending a warm feeling all over my body. I wasn’t going to get drunk, and this wasn’t going to turn
into another one night stand. This night was all to ourselves, and I was going to enjoy it, sober.

    After finishing most of the pizza, and getting fed chocolate covered strawberries, my eyelids began to grow heavy. Eren looked over to me with a caring look on his face.
    “ You look a little tired”
    He put his hand on my shoulder to pull me into a hug. We then fell back onto the blanket, unveiling the millions of stars you could see from the cliff. The whole scene almost brought a tears to my eyes. This is the kind of stuff that I would dream about as a teenager, wishing some dashing man would take me away to a place where I could be free. And I was living that, at this very moment. I let myself fall asleep, feeling so safe in Eren’s care.