𝐈𝐓 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑 ; daniel seavey

E L E V E N

Daniel looked so adorable, Ashley nearly melted into a puddle.

He had a grey beanie placed stylishly on his head, making his messy hair stick out from underneath in all directions. She remembered when he tried on that hat. The were just goofing off, trying on different hats when he put the beanie on and Ashley's heart almost came out of her chest at the sight.

"That looks really good on you," she said without thinking.

His cheeks turned that perfect shade of pink that she loved. "You think so?"

"Yeah, you should buy it."

He stared at his reflection in the mirror for a while, probably judging for himself whether he agreed or not. Then, he sighed and put the beanie back on the shelf.

To say she was disappointed would have been an understatement.

And yet, here he is. Totally rocking the hat with his navy blue long sleeved sweater and his black jeans. Ashley noticed a few girls glance at him appraisingly from the corner of her eye. It made her see red, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself before she did anything rash. Like rip their hair out.

"So I see you bought the hat," she commented.

He touched it self-consciously. "Yeah. I changed my mind and went back for it." He shuffled his feet for a bit before he blurted, "It doesn't make me look too dorky does it?"

No, she thought. You look just the right amount of dorky. And adorable. You're dorky-able.

Woah. She had to make herself take a few mental steps back. That was way too cheesy. Even for her. But God, no truer words have ever been thought.

"No, Dani," she said reassuringly. "You look great."

His eyes brightened at her praise. And she could have sworn she saw them sparkle.

"Not as great as you," he responded quietly, looking down at his shoes. "You always look perfect."

She died.

Or at least, she thinks she did because honestly, who says that? How does he say such cute and wonderful things and not know how it affects her? Does he know that her heart expands whenever he compliments her? Or that her eyes seek him out in whatever room she's in? Or that she thinks his laugh has the ability to cure cancer?

Does he know that she's falling in love with him?

After a minute, Ashley shook herself out of Daniel Land and focused on the boy in front of her.

He peered at her through his lashes and cleared his throat. "I, um, wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" She would have agreed to anything he wanted at this point.

"Would you like to have dinner with me on Friday?" he asked in a rush. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to," he continued nervously. "It's just, Logan wanted to meet you and he won't stop nagging me about it. And I'll be cooking pasta since I know you like it and Logan won't be there for the whole time so we could just watch a movie or something. But it's whatever you want to do really-"

"Daniel," she interrupted, cutting his rambling off. "I would love to have dinner with you."

"You will?" He exhaled in relief. "That's great then. Um, okay. Awesome. I-I'll pick you up at seven and I'll just drive you over."

She raised an amused brow. "I do know where your apartment is, you know. You don't have to drive me."

"Yeah, well. I want to," he said softly.

"Alright, if you insist. But you better not be late," she threatened lightly.

He smiled his endearingly shy smile. "Wouldn't dream of it."

And as they walked to their homeroom together, she couldn't escape the feeling that this dinner was something more than just the casual meals they would sometimes have together.

It almost felt like a date.