Metal Chains {Dylan O'Brien}

Chapter 3

"Wow, who are those from?" my mom asked when I walked into the kitchen holding the roses. I blushed and sniffed them. "I think they're from Dylan." I told her. I heard Matt's chair scrap the floor as he stood up fast, but I gave him a look and he sat back down slowly. My brothers are still pretty protective of me, even though I'm eighteen and I don't need protection anymore.

"He's a sweet boy." was all she said.

"Yeah, he really is."

I sat the vase on the window sill and sat down at the breakfast bar, but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. He sent me flowers, and not just any flowers either— roses! I was in my own world, so when I heard a voice singing, "Katy?" I looked up to see everyone staring at me. "You haven't touched your food." Austin pointed out. I blushed and bit my lip with a soft smile on my face.

"No way, she's doing the face!"

"What face?" I asked taking the first bite of my pancakes.

Tristan shook his head, smiling, and then they all ignored me. "What face?" I urged again, slapping my hand on the table in front of his plate. "Your 'in love' face." Matt teased me, stretching out the world love. My cheeks turned bright red, but I tried to hide it by shifting my focus to my food. However, my brothers noticed and that resulted in more playful teasing which resulted in us chasing each other around the house like five year olds.

But now I'm lying in bed, staring at the roses that I just put in my windowsill with a small smile on my face. At around 3:30, Matt came in and sat on my bed. He looked at me for a while, without saying anything, and then chuckled and patted my knee. "You should get dressed." was all he said. I sat up, confused.

"Why? Are we having guests?"

"Yeah." He smiled and exited my room without another word.

He's so weird. I shook my head at him and got up to look for something to wear. I have this huge walk in closet. It's pretty hard to explain how big it is unless you see it. It's a square room with shelves on the left side and a long hanger bar on the right. On the shelves, I have my nightwear, scarves, socks and things like that. Hung up on the right are my dresses and casual clothes  which take up the majority of the room. On the wall furthest from the door, there are three stairs that lead up to another smaller room for my shoes.

After a moment, I decided on a white v-neck with ruffles going down the neckline, black jeans, and white flats. I left my make up natural looking by applying a little mascara and some lip gloss. Then, I pulled my hair into a high cheerleader like ponytail and curled it into soft little ringlets. I looked in my full body mirror at myself. Simple and casual, but elegant.

I pounded down the stairs, my brown curly ponytail bouncing around behind me. "Hi Daddy!" I kissed his cheek and walked toward the kitchen. "You need any help?" I asked my mom, who was fully dressed and putting dessert in the oven. "No thanks honey, I'm almost done." She smiled at me, obviously thankful to have a daughter still at home. The doorbell rang and I went to go answer it, but dad, being in the living room, got to it first. "Hi, come on in." I heard him say.

That's when I saw him, wearing a light brown shirt over a polo and dark colored jeans. My mouth dropped. When he saw me, he smiled, but didn't say a word until we had sat down at the dinner table. "Did you like your roses?" he asked when no one was paying attention. I giggled, making him smile even wider. "I loved them."

"Good."

I smiled again and started eating slowly. Mom made sure to wink at me from across the table, making me blush again. I've blushed more times today than I have since... There was a sudden pang in my chest when I thought about it.

"You okay?" a voice asked.

I took a deep breath and nodded before turning back to my food. Dylan and I talked casually for a while, asking each other questions and learning more about each other. "What are you going to major in?" he asked when I told him I was going to be attending college in the fall. "I don't know, I'm really into journalism, but I'm not sure. I still haven't decided yet." I admitted. Probably feeling like he should admit something too, he said, "I really love acting."

"Really?" I said, surprised. "Is that something you'd want to do?"

"Definitely."

"That's amazing!"

"Katy, could you help me with dessert?" my mom asked. I nodded, excused myself and got up, following her to the kitchen. While she was frosting the cake, she smiled at me. "You and Dylan seem to really be hitting it off." she whispered teasingly. "Yeah, he's.. he's really sweet." I told her. And he is, honestly he is. I just worry that I'll get hurt... and I can't get hurt again, I really can't.

After dinner, Dylan and I went outside and swung on the swings. My brothers tried to come with us, but mom told them that she needed help cleaning up in the kitchen and sent me a wink. I thanked her with my eyes and Dylan and I slipped through the patio door. After a couple minutes of silence, he looked at me with a small smile.

"Why do you look at me like that?" I looked up at the stars and waited for an answer.

"Like what?"

"Like you always want to say something." I answered, looking over at his again.

Our eyes met for a moment and I could see him hesitate, so I look up at the stars again, trying to think of what else to say. "You're just... a lot different from other girls, Katy." he answered my question. My entire body felt warm from him, and I didn't respond for a while, but when I did, I'm sure he just barely heard me.

"And you're a lot different from other guys."