Anywhere With You - A Lauv Fanfiction

7. You Learn A Lot From Love

After almost an hour of talking with Ari and sharing sushi rolls, I was getting stuffed.

"This place is so good." I nodded. "You did good with the whole surprising thing.

"Well, you've been surprised the whole night. Right?" He said.

"Definitely." I laughed in my head at the thought that he really is kind of a celebrity.

"Does that mean I can surprise you again tonight?" He asked.

I thought for a moment. "Like.. with what?" I started overthinking.

"With another place." He said.

"Okay, Ari. I'm ready for another surprise." I smiled.

"Okay, Aria Taylor." He winked. He ran his hand through his wavy brown hair, and my heart wanted to burst. I never get this way about guys. Any guy. Especially on the first date.

"So who'd you write that song about?" I blurted. Maybe that was too personal of a question.

"What song? I Like Me Better?" He asked.

I nodded. "A girlfriend?"

He nodded back. "When I went to NYU I had a girlfriend, Gracie. We dated for about 4 years. I have a lot of songs about her."

Something inside of me felt jealous. "I see." I said. "What happened?" Again, a personal question.

"I moved. She had her own thing going. It just didn't work out how we thought. Things change, I don't know." He looked down. "I still think about her. I have to. But it's not something that I look at and think about how sad it was. It never was sad or upsetting for us. It was just something that happened, because that's life. And life happens. I'm probably not making any sense." He seemed nervous.

"No, I get it. You guys just knew things were changing." I said.

He nodded his head. "I loved her, and I questioned that a lot after things changed because I wasn't sitting in bed crying every night or anything. I thought that meant that I wasn't in love. I was still happy, and she was too. We just knew it was done, and we moved on. But it was definitely love. I've seen her since I moved and you can tell we're pretty distant and the feelings are gone, but we still remember them." He looked at me.

"What would you say to her if you saw her like, today?" I asked.

"Well," he thought about it. "I'd ask her how she's doing... I'd hope she's doing well, and I might brag about the girl I went on a date with today." He smiled.

I blushed again, and let out a little laugh. "She wouldn't be upset?" I asked.

"She has a boyfriend. Of course not. We always wish each other the best."

"That's good. I think it ended good. You seemed to have learned a lot from it, and that's how the lucky ones end up." I shrugged.

"What about you? Tell me about your past lovers, love." He smiled and rested his head in his hands on the table.

I made a face. "I don't have past lovers. I don't do relationships. I don't know." I fumbled with my hands.

"Why not?"

"Well, guys have been interested in me. But I break things off before they're serious. I don't want a broken heart. Ever. I'm saving myself." I said.

"You don't think love is worth more than a broken heart?" He asked.

"In the end, no." I looked at him, telling my brain to shut up with all the lovely thoughts I'm thinking about him right now.

"Well, Aria, I think you should give people chances." He said.

"People?" I questioned.

"Really, you learn a lot from love. Just give things a chance. If it ends up not working, you become wiser. If it ends up working, you still become wiser."

I thought for a moment. "That's true."

The waitress brought Ari the receipts and I discreetly watched as he left a $20 tip on top of the $80 order.

He stood up, and held out his hand. "Next surprise."