𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐲

f i v e

"Daniel, c'mon!" Amaya called, practically skipping into the restaurant. Daniel furrowed his eyebrows but followed nonetheless, unable to hide the smile on his lips. Amaya was always this happy; he found it rare for her to not be smiling, and that smile was contagious. Plus, it was nice to see her acting all silly since she had seemed to be down recently. He wouldn't ask, but he suspected it had something to do with Jonah— namely how he didn't come with them to visit her family.

"So, what are we doing here?" Daniel asked once they got seated, and Amaya smiled warmly.

"You wanted the Canadian experience, and this is about as Canadian as it gets. This is my favorite restaurant, and we've spent every family celebration here. You're the first outside of my family to be here."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, and Amaya shrugged, continuing, "Jonah never wants to come, so I've never taken him. He thinks it's more important to spend time with my family 'at home'." She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. "We all bond differently, I guess."

"He didn't want to know where all your favorite memories are?" Daniel questioned. Amaya paused, looking at him as if she'd never seen it that way.

"No," she replied quietly, "I guess he didn't."

Daniel flinched unconsciously, sorry he had made her go quiet again. He reached out, placing his hand over hers. She looked up in surprise, taking his hand and squeezing it softly in response.

"So," he started, looking for a way to change the topic, "what's your favorite dish?"

✿

An hour and a half and a full stomach later, the two of them had ended up back at Amaya's aunt's house. Mary Kate had been by briefly, wanting to spend time with Amaya but respecting that she had a friend visiting. Amaya wouldn't have minded if she had stayed, but she also got the feeling Mary Kate didn't really like Daniel all that much— an unfair assessment of him after a short time spent together.

"Hey, she'll get to know you, and she'll love you. She's just judgy. Took her a while to warm up to Jonah, too," Amaya remarked, flopping on her bed.

"He's your boyfriend, I'm not, that's the difference."

"It's not. She just doesn't know you." She rolled her eyes, looking up at him and propping her head in her hand. "Do you wanna be in my home video series?"

"Yeah, duh. I love you, your channel, and your dorky ass." Daniel plopped down next to her, pulling out his phone. Amaya raised an eyebrow, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Tweeting. We could do a cute q&a right?"

"Yeah, we could! Let's do that." Amaya grinned, kissing his cheek before standing up. "I'm gonna go help my mom with dinner. Come down when you're ready?"

"Yeah, will do." Daniel nodded, giving her a smile and watching her leave. Oh, damn. What was that?