Melted by You

26

I nervously tap my fingers on the table in front of me. He's not here yet. Maybe he ditched me. Maybe he doesn't like me after all. Why wouldn't he like me? Is that my fault? Did I do something wrong?

Then I see him. He runs through the door, scans the shop, and smiles when he sees me. He walks over to me and sits down.
"Hey, sorry I'm late" he says, panting.
"Hi Owen" I say, and I feel a deep red blush come onto my face already. He smiles at me, and leans back, catching his breath.
"I wanted to go, but Logan had a problem with Lucy and he couldn't fix it because of his arm" he explains. "I'm starting to think he's using it as an excuse to get out of everything he doesn't want to do".

"It's okay" I say, and I smile. "I'm glad you showed up in the first place".
He grins, and shakes his head.
"Of course I came" he says. "I want answers".
I chuckle awkwardly. Yesterday night, after I kissed him, we were both pretty tired, so we decided to meet up today. When we decided that, we kissed a couple more times before I really had to go inside my house. My mom had probably already spotted the car standing outside, and I didn't want her to come outside and see us.

Now we're in the ice cream store. I had to make sure I didn't mind travelling all the way to Owen's neighbourhood before he finally agreed to meet here. I really wanted to though, it's our thing after all.
"I'll pay" I say. "Because you did all the other times".
"You really don't need..."
"I want to" I interrupt, and I get up. "What flavor do you want?"

After we have gotten our ice cream, we sit down on the bench outside.
"So" Owen says, after a short moment of silence. "What are we?"
I look at him, carefully taking a bite of ice cream without freezing my teeth off.
"What would you want?" I ask. "Because I wouldn't mind to be... Together. Unless you would, because if you minded we really shouldn't be together because then you would be unhappy and if you were unhappy I'd also be unhappy and then we'd both be unhappy instead of just me".
I take a deep breath after rambling for a while, and look at Owen expectedly. He squints his eyes a little, looking at his ice cream cone.

"Can I ask you a few questions first?" he then asks. I nod enthusiastically, and shift in my chair a little so I can look at him more easily.
"Okay, question number one".
He eats a bit of ice cream, before continuing to talk.
"Why did you run away after we first kissed?"
I feel shame bubbling up in my stomach, and bite my lip.
"I panicked" I simply say.
He laughs softly, making me feel butterflies in my stomach.
"I figured" he says. "But why?"
"Well, you know... I had just found out I liked you, like... A week before that. So I was very nervous already, and you kept being adorable with Lucy and I liked you so much and then suddenly you kissed me..."
He has a big smile on his face now, and he eats some more ice cream.
"And I just felt very confused about what was going to happen next. Because... I guess I was kind of scared of dating someone again" I conclude, and I look at Owen, swallowing nervously.

"Again?" he asks.
I nod.
"I had one girlfriend before, but that didn't end well. So I was a little scarred by that. But then at the party I talked to a friend and she helped me realise I didn't need to be scared, so now I'm not anymore and I would really like to be with you. Unless you don't want to be... "
"You're rambling" Owen interrupts.
"Right, sorry".
"Don't be sorry, it's cute" he says, and my cheeks warm up even more.

"Next question" he says, and I nod, hoping he doesn't see me blushing. I mean, I know he can see it, because it's bright daylight and we're looking right at each other, but maybe he just doesn't realise it's because of him. Well, he probably does...
"Why didn't you say anything until when we got to your house yesterday night if you already realised you weren't scared anymore?" he asks.
Nevermind, the blushing is just getting worse.
"That was nothing" I mutter. "Logan mentioned you went on a date and I was just being stupid about that".
"He said that? Why did he?" he asks.
"He said you were being very annoying about it" I say, and I look at the ground. "But I shouldn't have been so stupid, I know it wasn't because you stopped liking me immediately. I just didn't realise that until..."

"Until what?"
He raises an eyebrow, and I close my mouth. He doesn't know that I was awake during the car ride, and he might get angry if he did. But of course, I don't realise that until it's too late. Will I ever stop being an idiot?
"Just... When I came home. And you said you stopped getting paid for guitar lessons and you didn't enter the contest anymore. I guess I realised you just liked to hang out with me" I try to save myself. He smiles, and nods, seemingly believing me.

"Any other questions?" I ask quietly.
He stares deeply into my eyes, and nods. I feel butterflies in my stomach. What is he going to ask? If I want to be his boyfriend? If I want to marry him? Of course he's not going to ask that, you aren't even together yet.

"What is a glarkle?"

I frown, and don't realise what he means.
"A what?"
"A glarkle. When we went to get ice cream for the very first time, you suddenly started laughing, and when I asked you why you said 'glarkle'. You never explained what that was" he says. My eyes widen when I remember that.
"You remember that?" I ask, and I giggle nervously. He nods, and grins.
"And you owe me an explanation" he says decisively.
I chuckle, and feel a light feeling in my head. Why else would he remember that than because he cares about me?

"It's the words glow and sparkle mixed together" I say. He frowns, though still smiling.
"I was just looking at your eyes and I noticed they were glowing a little bit, and there was also a little sparkle in them because of the sun, and then I put the two words together and I thought it was a funny word so I..."
"Stop talking" he says quietly. I close my mouth, a little offended. I want to ask why, but I can't, because he kisses me.

It doesn't take me long to go along with it. I have pretty much gotten used to kissing him now, though that doesn't mean I don't still feel butterflies and dizziness and weird firework-like feelings whenever I do. He rests his hand on my cheek, and I move towards him. I'm careful not to drop my ice cream, because I had an extra scoop so it was more expensive and it's a bit harder to balance.

He pulls back a little, still keeping his hand on the side of my face, while looking me in the eyes.
"You're so..."
He's quiet for a moment, looking for words.
"Adorable" he finishes.
I giggle shyly.
"That's a very nice thing to say" I blurt out. He laughs, and moves back, so we sit normally again.
"You're also an idiot" he adds.
"That's not a very nice thing to say" I say awkwardly, not very used to the look of affection in his eyes. Maggie never really looked at me like that.

"So, uhm... I'm kind of new to this" I say, and I look at Owen nervously. "Like... Dating... Not girls".
"Me too" Owen says honestly, and he reaches over the table to hold my hand.
"I suggest we just take it slow. See how it goes for a while".
I nod slowly, and smile.
"Sounds good" I say. "So we're not really anything then?"
"We're two people who like each other a lot" he says. "And if we still like each other like... A week from now, we'll be..."
"Boyfriends?" I ask.
He nods, and smiles, squeezing my hand a little.
"Boyfriends".

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