Devin

Ben and I walked and talked for a long while, we stopped around 3:00 in the morning, only because we were both super cold. We somehow managed to circle back to Lily's house, now dark, quiet and deserted. I walked back up on the porch and grabbed both of our wings and brought it over to him.

"Here you go." I shakily held up Ben's wings for him to take.

"Thanks." He leaned forwards and took the wings while simultaneously kissing me on the cheek. I wonder how long it would take for that to become old? I'm guessing never.

"I'll see you tomorrow, or something, I guess." Smooth. Real smooth. (Editor me who is also listening to Smooth by Santana) He chuckled lightly while pulling his wings on.

"And I'll be looking forward to seeing you." I felt my face get hot as I smiled weirdly.

"Uh... good night!"

"Good night." Were we going to kiss good night? Ben didn't seem to start so I didn't either. I waved awkwardly and took off in the air, already eternally cringing.

/-/

I bounced up the stairs and into my house, with a proud expression still plastered on my face.

"You seem happy." I jumped a full 180 degrees to face the short blonde girl sitting crisscross on an armchair, eating cheesecake in my living room at 3:00 in the morning.

"What are you doing here!" I screeched, still quite startled.

"You said I could have free cheesecake if I didn't call back. Where were you anyway?" Lizzy shoved another forkful of cheesecake in her mouth.

"Umm... I just needed to be alone." I tripped over myself as I wandered into the kitchen to set down my wings and get myself a bit of cheesecake.

"Yeah, well what made you so happy?" I grabbed a fork and fell on the couch to relax.

"Noth--" I felt my phone buzz gently in my pocket.

Ben- You free friday night?

A smile spread over my face as I looked at the message.

"Who is it?" Lizzy asked from right over my shoulder.

"Ah!" I jumped and hid my phone under my leg.

"Come on! Tell me!" She pleaded. "I won't tell."

"Fine." I caved. "I was with Ben." I smiled proudly and ate a bit of cheesecake.

"You were! What happened!" She practically exploded, grabbing onto my arm.

"We kissed."

"Oh my gosh you did! What was it like? How many times? Was there tongue? Please! Details!" Lizzy was nearly falling apart by now.

"It was amazing!" I gushed, smiling even more now. "He's such a good kisser." My face turned red as I recounted the details. "We were walking together in the woods because the party was... bad."

"Yeah, I heard that too." We went quiet for a second. "She was a bitch anyway." A small laugh escaped me. "But anyway, what else happened!"

"Since we were alone, I figured that this was a good time so, I just... said the stuff. He kissed me; I was flustered; he kissed me again; we both loved it." I took the last bit of the cheesecake slice. "At least I think he did. I know I liked it so..." I laughed quietly.

"That's SO CUTE!" She gushed. "Tongue or no tongue?"

"No tongue."

"Did you want there to be tongue?" I stayed quiet for a second.

"...maybe." My face stayed red as I looked away.

"Aww!" She cooed. "You should tell him that! He'd like it."

"NO! I will never tell Ben that." I recoiled. "That would be so weird."

"If you won't I will." She stared for her back pocket where her phone undoubtedly was.

"No no no no no no!" I reached for her, but then my pocket buzzed again.

"Who is it?" She smirked.

Ben- We could go and get dinner

Ben- Just me and you ;)

I giddy smile spread over my face as my heart gave a little flutter.

"Who is it?" She got more desperate as time went on.

"Ben."

"Lemme see!" She ripped the phone out of my hands and scrolled through the texts. "Ooooo. I don't care if you have stuff going on tomorrow, you're going with Ben."

"I know, I wanted to." I snatched my phone back. "Uh. What should I say?" Lizzy took my phone back.

"He sent an emoji, so you are allowed to if you choose." I nodded. "He asked a question with a one-word answer, never use a one-word answer unless you mad. If your mad feel free to disregard any or every rule." Should I be taking notes?

"Got it."

"If you went on a date and/or you were together for a long period of time, tell him you liked and/or didn't like doing put activity here with him. I took a psychology course back in high school, we talked about positive reinforcement with dogs, boys are dogs, therefore positive reinforcement with boys." She preached.

"What?"

"It makes sense, trust me." I took my phone back and let my fingers hover over the small iPhone keyboard.

"What should I say though!" I whined.

"Tell him... what did you do? Did you just talk?" She questioned, peering over my shoulder.

"Yeah."

"Did you like it?" A small smile sat across my face.

"...yeah. Should I say that?"

"Yes, of course." Lizzy responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uhh, alright." I started to type. "I had a great time t-o-n-I-g-h-t, and I would love to go and have dinner with you... How's that, should I add more?"

"No that's good. Not too long and annoying but just enough. Go ahead and send it." Lizzy stood up and started to pace.

"Sent." I pored over the phone, eagerly waiting for a response.

Ben- I had a great time with you to

Ben- We could go to Alex's pub if you want

"He replied!" I celebrated. "He says that he also had a good time with me, and he wants to go to the pub for dinner."

"I don't need words." Lizzy grabbed my phone and stared at the messages. "Check for emojis and exclamation points; stuff that shows emotion." I nodded and took my phone back.

"I'm going to tell him... that's great... what else? Should we meet up or should I pick him up?"

"Hmm." Lizzy started to pace again. "Propose a time. Maybe 6:00? If he wants to pick you up, he'll say something."

"Sent."

Ben

Devin <3- that's great, maybe at 6:00 or so?

I smiled and momentarily paused my petting of Ziggy.

Ben- sure that works for me. Ill pick you up at your place

"Is that too much?" I asked Ziggy. He whined and nuzzled his snout underneath my hand, begging for more petting.

Devin <3- sounds great!

Devin <3- good night

I smiled sweetly.

Ben- sweet dreams :)

I closed my phone and leaned my head back on the sofa and sighed. Ziggy was already asleep, and I would not be too far behind. I wiggled away from Ziggy so I wouldn't disturb his sleep, then I wandered upstairs to my room. Haphazardly, I kicked my shoes off and flung my khaki jacket onto the floor and fell in bed. Only once I pulled the comforter over my head did I realize that I was still in my clothes, but I cared very little and just forgot about it as I drifted off to sleep.

/-/

I made a quick deal with Alex so me and Dev could get some prime seating at his pub. I only had to sign my life away for two hours, not bad. I've done worse. Other than that, I haven't prepared too much, should I have done more? Do I still have time to do more? I took a quick glance down at watch. 5:36. Should I go and get flowers? Is that too much for a first date? Date. Wow. I hardly expected to be doing that on the second day of the new year.

I yanked some dark washed jeans out of my closet and started my search for a shirt that would look somewhat good. I checked my watch for the fifth time in the last two minutes. 5:37. Am I running out of time? I'm running out of time. I grabbed the first remotely good-looking shirt, which ended up being a light blue button-down.

I quickly tugged off my black sweatpants from the night before; somehow, they still smelled vaguely like dirt. I jumped into the jeans and threw my shirt over my shoulders, then scanned my bedroom floor for a belt. I heard a ding from my phone, sitting on top of my bed. I dropped my belt search and quickly grabbed my phone.

Devin <3- You still up for tonight?

I smiled and sat down on my bed.

Ben- of course!

Ben- are you?

Devin <3- Definitely! Very excited.

Ben- great. Ill be by soon.

Devin <3- alright

Devin <3- See you soon :)

Ben- :)

I put my phone down again and continued my desperate search for a belt.

Devin

"He says tonight is still on." I told Lizzy, as I continued combing my hair.

"Great... Do you have any cologne?" She replied, starting to rapidly open drawers in my bathroom.

"No, I've never needed to." I fixed a couple strands of my hair, so they were all in line with each other.

"I'll grab some from my place and you can use that for tonight." My head shot over to her.

"Why do you have cologne?" I thought only men used cologne.

"That's not important." She started over towards my door, dismissing my question. "I'll be back in a minute!" I sighed and moved out of the bathroom and over to my bed where I collapsed onto the soft blankets.

"Ughhh." I heard Mercedes climb up on the bed and begin to paw my hair. "Hello to you." I said, looking up at her.

"Meow." She set her small grey paw on my forehead, with her claws out, of course.

"Ow!" I shot up from my relaxed position on my back. "What was that for!" I looked across the room to examine my forehead in the mirror. I suddenly heard the downstairs door swing open forcefully.

"I-I'm back!" Lizzy panted from the downstairs. I heard her feet running up the stairs. "I'm back." She said, while leaning on my door frame, holding a small bottle of cologne.

"Thanks." I stood up, took the bottle from her hand and took a quick whiff of it. "Not bad." I sprayed a bit on wrists and neck. (Nobody: Me needing to Google 'where do men put cologne')

"He's coming by at six, right?" Lizzy asked, sitting down on my bed and picking up a half-asleep Mercedes.

"As far as I know." I stood up at the mirror again, patting out the wrinkles on my green and grey plaid shirt and plain blue jeans. "Do I look too much like a cowboy?" I asked, fixing my hair for the millionth time.

"Not at all." Lizzy shifted her position, so she faced me. "Fix your collar." She stated plainly.

"What's wrong with my collar!" I screeched, frantically patting around my neck.

"Nothing, nothing you fixed it." She's backtracking. I sighed and pulled my phone out of my pocket. 5:44. I was already antsy, and the date hasn't even started yet. I left my room and went downstairs and took a seat on the couch but stood up only seconds later. I saw Lizzy join me on the main floor bringing Mercedes, cradled in her arms.

"You need to calm down." She let the cat jump out of her arms and into her cat tree. (Did you know that's what the little cat-climbing-tower thing is called? It took me a solid two minutes of googling to figure that out.)

"I am calm. I perfectly calm." I leaned up against my fridge. "I'm not stressed your stressed." Lizzy fell back onto the couch and took out her phone.

"Ben's on his way." She stated.

"What! Did he tell you? How do I look? I need another minute. Tell him I nee—" I heard a strong knock on my door.

"I saw him on the porch." She smiled, pushing me up to the door. "Good luck!" She whisper-shouted, ducking behind the door and giving me two thumbs up. I took a breath and pulled open the door.

"Hey."

-laughs in Sith Lord- and that's where I'm gunna end the chapter. Have fun with that. Also, did you catch Ben changing his contact info for Devin? The last time they texted each other (in text) was in Chapter 7 (I think) and Ben's contact for Devin just said 'Devin' and now it says 'Devin <3' I'll probably be doing that for other characters. Look out!

I have nothing left to say other than this chapter was 2,081 words.

Also, please check out Realms Alt! Imma start updating it and putting in cute oneshots! I take requests (no smut)!

Love y'all!

--Kio