Devin

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—last chapter, in Realms—

"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."

/-/

"Hey to you to." I could feel my face get red as an obnoxiously large smile spread across my face as I looked Ben up and down. He had his khaki jacket from the night before on top of a cyan button-down shirt. His dark brown hair was swept to the side, making him look unbelievably handsome.

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss." Lizzy chanted quietly from behind the door. Ben laughed quietly and pressed on the door, squishing Lizzy onto the wall. "OW! Ow, I surrender!"

"Wow!" Ben exclaimed in fake surprise. "There's another person behind your door, Devin. Do you have any idea who it might be?" He let up on his door-pushing but turned his gaze on me. My face turned red as I laughed along.

"I have no idea!" I giggled. "But let's get outta here before this mystery person axe murders us." I started walk forwards as Ben turned to the side and let me walk through.

"Great idea." He pulled the door shut and gently took my hand as we walked down my porch steps.

"You look really nice tonight." I commented, letting my fingers wrap gently around his hand. "That jacket... it's really... hot." I said quietly, I didn't quite think out that sentence too well. Ben, on the other hand, burst out laughing and let go of my hand, only to put it around my waist.

"I'm glad you think so." He smiled, gently nuzzling the side of my head with his nose. I felt my stomach doing flips as I tried not to think too weirdly. "And let the record show, that I think you look very beautiful tonight. You look very sexy in green." My face turned a whole new shade of red.

"Stop." I whined, hanging my head so he didn't see my monster blush. "You're too good at this." I felt his hand glide through the curly part of my hair.

"Alright, I'll try my best to be normal." He sighed. "I can't promise anything though." I smiled lightly as I leaned into his embrace, but still walking on the now slightly beaten path that led to (F THE UNIVERSE! I'm going to say shopping district, and nobody can stop me.) the shopping district, where Alex's pub was and where me and Ben would be having our first date. After a couple minutes of silent walking and my brain going from 'this is going to be a great night' to 'wow, Ben smells nice' I finally spoke up.

"So, tell me something really random about you." I pulled myself out of his arms and stood up on my feet but not forgetting to hold his hand.

"Um... When I was little, like five or something, I had an imaginary friend named... what was her name... Zeith! Her name was Zeith and I remember she was part bird." He laughed to himself quietly. (Zeith. Zee-ith. It's like impossible to say aloud I'm sorry.)

"How did a five-year-old Ben come up with the name Zeith?" I asked, swing our arms as we walked.

"I have no idea." He smiled, his face all cute and red. "I think I learned the word 'zenith', but I heard it wrong or something I have no idea."

"Tell me about Zeith. What was she like?"

"Well... have you ever played Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild?"

"No, but I've watched people play it, does that count?" I laughed.

"Sure! There are like a ton of different... races? of people. One of them are like... bird-like humans called the Rito?"

"Oh yeah! There champion was, um, I know his name sounded like ravioli because that was the only way I could pronounce it." Ben chuckled lightly while pushing on a branch so we could walk underneath it.

"I think that's what we all called him to be honest." Ben snickered, letting go of my hand for a second as we walked on opposite sides of a tree. "Zenith looked like one of them. She had... white and purple feathers and she said that once I grew up, she would teach me how to fly."

"Did you ever learn to fly?" I asked.

"Nah, but she wasn't too good with promises. Apparently, I'm supposed to marry her later this year, because five-year-old me thought anybody over 20 was too old to get married... you're free to come to my wedding if you'd like." Ben joked. How did he want to marry a girl, but also go out with me? I decided to just forget about it. "What about you? Something random... go!" He pointed his finger at my face.

"Once, on a family vacation, I fell into a cactus." I started laughing as I called upon the memory. (Editor me is listing to The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny and I'm straight up vibing!)

"How does one 'fall into a cactus?' You have some serious talent!" We ducked underneath another branch and saw the lights of the shopping district come into view.

"So, my parents and I went on a vacation, when I was twelve or so, to P22... or 27 I don't remember. We were staying at a bed and breakfast that was kinda secluded, so while my parents were talking to the owner about... stuff, I went and climbed on some rocks because I was a bored 12-year-old who has been stuck in a car for a couple of hours and then--"

"I thought P22 was a beach resort?" Ben questioned.

"Oh. I guess I was in P27 then because this one was pretty cold and dry."

"Isn't there a volcano in 27?"

"Yep. That's why we went."

"Cool. Continue with the story please, sorry for interrupting." Ben apologized, gently squeezing my hand.

"Your good. Well, I went climbing on the rocks and because it was cold and dry, there were some cacti around, along with a bunch of rocks. I ended up tripping on a rock and falling into the cactus. So then, I started running all the way down the little hill I was on and into the office where my parents were talking to the owner. Eventually, the owner's wife needed to go and get a pair of tweezers to get out all of the spines. I still have scar!" I proudly held up my hand where a small dark spot rested on the middle section my thumb. (TOOOY FOOOOD Like real food but its toy TOOOY FOOOOD not real food do not eat)

"I love that story so much. I bet one day you're going to meet a really jacked guy with like 50 war scars, and you'll just be like 'I fell in a cactus.'" Ben laughed, imitating me.

"'I was sliced nearly in half with a machete. And you?' 'Cactus.'" I giggled, imitating some supposed tough guy. We walked through a little alleyway between Meria Mart and some other shop that I didn't know. We stepped out on a nice path that circled around a small courtyard that used to hold the Christmas tree.

Across the way, I saw a small building that looked like it could be an English Pub and sure enough Ben started leading me towards the building. Inside was only a couple normal tables, the middle was occupied by a bar.

"I got us a good table." Ben said, bringing me to a far corner. "And I only had to sign my life away for two hours." He laughed.

"Aww! You're so sweet." Ben gently pulled a chair back and motioned for me to sit down and I gladly obliged. As if Alex was physically bound to us, he was right by our side. He had white bleached hair with dark roots and brown eyes, but somehow gave off Malfoy vibes.

"What can I get for you two this evening?" I looked over at Ben as he looked up at Alex with a blank expression.

"We'll just have a menu." I piped up.

"Alright." Alex turned around and looked over his bar; he turned back at us. "Lemme find it first." He laughed quietly and bolted back in the kitchen.

"I love how it's his restaurant yet he doesn't even know where his own menus are." I laughed quietly, looking over at the door Alex disappeared behind of.

"I bet he hasn't used them in ages." Ben mirrored my gaze as we both fell silent. Suddenly, Alex reappeared and moseyed over to our table, menu-less.

"So, uh, I recommend the fish and chips..." Alex started.

"So, you don't have a menu." I clarified, watching Alex get flustered.

"It's an English Pub! You know what we offer." He looked me dead in the eye, not quite realizing that it was a joke. Ben glared at him for a second until Alex put on an obviously fake smile. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"I'll have a sprite." I replied quietly, looking down.

"Two please." Ben added. Alex swiftly walked into the bar area and got two sprites while simultaneously cracking a couple beers for the other guys at the bar. "Sorry about him. I--" He stopped as Alex placed down our drinks. "He's not the nicest, but he can make good food."

"So, you're exploiting him?" I asked innocently, wanting to see his reaction.

"Well... exploiting is... such a strong word." His face turned red as he fiddled with his jacket collar. I started laughing hysterically at his flustered expression. "Oh, shut up!" He playfully slapped my head even though I just couldn't stop laughing. "At least I don't 'just fall' into cacti all the time." (I'm so confused. Apparently, the word 'cactus' can be pluralized to be BOTH cacti and cactuses. WHY MUST ENGLISH) "Why must English" --Kio

"Oh, stop." I joked back, finally able to contain myself. I leaned forward and took a sip of my sprite, seeing Alex start over to our table once again. "Oh no, here he comes." I muttered so only Ben could hear me.

"Have you guys figured out what you want to eat?" He asked, still sounding quite annoyed.

"Yes, I'll have the fish and chips." Ben answered, looking over at me.

"I'll have the same thing." I added, keeping my eyes down.

"Great." Alex walked back behind the bar and into the kitchen; I turned my gaze back towards Ben, searching my brain for something else to say.

"So, what was your favorite year in school?" That's a dumb question. Why would I ask that, now I sound stupid!

"Ooh that's a good question." Ben leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. "Probably my 6th grade... yeah definitely 6th grade. The county had built a new middle school, and we were the first sixth grade class to be in there."

"Lucky!" I interjected. "Our county always renovated the schools after I left them. The elementary was done when I was in sixth grade, middle school when I was in ninth grade and high school sometime around now." I leaned forward and took a sip of my drink. "But what else was so great about sixth grade?"

"Well, we were told that we would go to Disney if we went all three years in a music class, so I chose to play the Saxophone and--" (I was supposed to go to Disney to :( I'm still not over it.)

"You played the Saxophone?" I wondered. "You don't look like a Saxophone player, even though that makes absolutely no sense." I looked Ben up and down and tried to imagine him holding a Saxaphone. "Did you really?"

"Yeah, I was actually pretty good believe it or not. I played in my schools marching band for a couple years." He said, keeping a cute smile on his face.

"I need a picture!" I jumped up and ran over behind him so I could see over his shoulder. "Please tell me you have a picture of you in a marching band uniform."

"Uhh... maybe?" Ben pulled out his phone and started to scroll through a bunch of pictures. "Oh! Here's some." He held up his phone to see a picture of a maybe ninth grade Ben, holding a Saxaphone in a green, black and white uniform.

"I love your little hat!" I squealed, zooming in on a green and black hat with a big white feather on top. I started to swipe through a bunch of pictures that must've been taken that night. There was the same five or so guys in nearly every picture, most of them being weird selfies. "You were really into selfies."

"Okay! We're done!" He yanked his phone back as I kept laughing quietly. "How about you go, what was your favorite year in school and why?" I moved back over towards

"Fifth grade was my favorite because we got all the 'end of year trips' and such." I smiled. "We got to go to a trampoline park in school hours! It was awesome, we did nothing important all year."

"Nice. We never got much of that, but we did get an ice cream party on the last day of school. Or maybe it was the Kona Ice truck?"

"Ooh! I loved to get the Kona Ice back in the day. Jeez, now I feel super old." I laughed, brushing some of my hair out of my face. "Once,--"

"Here are you're two orders of fish and chips." Alex said from behind me, making me jump a full three feet off my chair.

"Thanks!" I smiled.

"For getting your adrenaline to go through the roof." Alex added under his breath, placing a steaming plate of fish in front of me.

"Haha very funny." Alex started to refill my drink and give Ben his food.

"Can I get you anything else?" I cast a look to Ben, but he was already eating some of his fries.

"Hmm?" He asked, making eye contact with me.

"We're good." I told Alex, letting off the hook for a while. I squeezed some lemon (Demon) on my fish. "So, who were the other people in your pictures? Was Steven one of them?" I cut off a bit of food and took a bit.

"Nah, I think I was a scrawny freshman at that time, I haven't met Steven yet. I think... some of my other friends were there and my brother."

"You have a brother?" I leaned forwards, nearly letting my shirt fall into my diner. "You don't look like a little brother, more like a big brother." Ben started to laugh a little bit.

"Funny story... I'm both."

"You're a middle child!" I nearly screamed, some fish falling off my fork.

"Why is everyone so surprised to find that out?"

"I don't know, just because." I joked, stabbing some fish. "What are their names?"

"My little sister is Lauren she is... 17 I think and my brother is Neil and he is 25 or something. Neil is in one of the pictures. He was in the percussion section... the pit mostly."

"I have no idea what any of that means." I giggled, taking a couple of Ben's fries.

"Ah!" Ben lightly slapped my hand and tried to steal back his fries. "You have your own." I was able to do some tricky maneuvering and got the fries back over to my side to pop them in my mouth.

"I know!"

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Little snowflakes started falling as we walked back to my house through the forest of course. The sun had set a little while ago and it had swiftly got much colder than before, which I knew would be happening. Lizzy told me not to bring any extra jackets, because I would undoubtedly shiver, causing Ben to either A) give me his jacket B) wrap his arm around me or C) do nothing and lose some respect. I was hoping for A or B, but I haven't figured out which I REALLY wanted.

I saw my house way the distance, well, only the lights. Some rain dripped down off some pine needles and was able to skillfully land on the tip of my nose and roll down underneath the collar of my shirt. Reflexively, I shivered, causing Ben to look down at me with worried eyes. (Did anyone know that 'reflexively' is a word? I didn't.)

"You cold?" Ben asked, already starting to take off his jacket.

"Uh, yeah... a little." I already knew what was coming and was way too excited to be considered 'normal'.

"Here." Ben finished pulling off his jacket. "Take my jacket... since you like it so much." My face turned bright red as he helped me pull on his khaki jacket.

"It--" I started.

"Oh Ben!" Ben said, making his voice go high as he imitated me. "You look soooo hot in that jacket!" He wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. "You're so cute, I hope you know."

"I know." I smiled sweetly, letting myself be warm as we walked. As I saw the actual outline of my house in the distance, I got a little idea. I looked up at Ben and his handsome face and silently hyped myself up until I finally got enough courage to lean up and peck his cheek. I immediately regretted everything as I turned my head away.

"Quit moving your head away when I want to kiss you most." I felt Ben's rough hands against my jaw and gently twisted to face him. My breathing was already sped up as our eyes met for a long moment. With a sudden leap of faith, I pressed my lips onto his and wrapped my arms around his neck. Ben stumbled back and wrapped around my waist and gently caressed my hips. We broke apart for a quick second, feeling Ben's hot breath on my face.

"See. That wasn't too hard was it?" He smiled softly, eyes locking with mine. I stood up on my toes and quickly pecked his lips a couple more times.

"Yes. It was very hard." I smiled. "Now let's go inside I'm cold." I leaned back a bit and started off down the path again and to my house. With a small smile still on my face, I skipped up the wooden stairs and swung open the door.

"STOP!" Lizzy shouted from behind me, making me jump a few feet in the air.

"Why must everybody scare me!" Ben started laughing as he held my hand, but also stayed glued to his spot on the porch.

"You're under the mistletoe." She said matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips. I looked up and sure enough, there was a small green plant hanging for dear life on top of the door frame. "You know what happens now!" She sang, giddy with excitement.

"Alright, fine. But only because I'm in a good mood." I replied, taking a small step forward, practically glued to him. I felt my heart still pounding in my chest as Ben leaned down a bit and kissed me once again. I started to move my lips against his and let my hands twist around his neck.

"Aww!" Then I remembered, that we were not alone. I pulled back and dropped my arms from his neck. "Ok, I'll leave." Lizzy pushed back both us and squeezed through the gap, leaving us alone with each other.

"So." Ben started, clearly still recovering from the moments before. "I... I had a really great time with you tonight." I smiled and leaned up against the doorframe. "I don't know about you but I would like to do it again sometime...?" He asked, more like a question than a statement. A large smile stayed on my face as I replied.

"I would love to go on a second date with you to. Maybe... next tues...day? Sorry, that's such a random day." I laughed nervously, playing with a loose string from my shirt.

"We can figure it out later." Ben chuckled. "I'm not good at coming up with a day on the spot either." We stood in silence for second, before I finally spoke up.

"Well, good night, I guess." I smiled softly. Now I was going to make sure I got a good night kiss.

"Good night." Before I could even make a move, Ben leaned down and gently pecked my lips. "I hope to see you tomorrow."

"I'll make sure it happens!" Ben started to step back a little bit. "Uh, bye!" I called after him as he started to turn around. As he trotted down the stairs, he quickly turned around, blew me a kiss and waved. I smiled warmly and shut the door and started to take off my jacket.

"Oh!" I smiled and finished removing Ben's khaki jacket I forgot to give back. "I did that on purpose." I said allowed, like it was normal. "I was securing a second date, that's all." I started towards my room to finally get some sleep.

-Intense screaming- I've been trying to write that last paragraph for the past twenty minutes. My computer is being OMEGA laggy and I can hardly switch between my music and writing tab. ITS INSANE KILL ME. I can't tell you how many words this is because said computer is super laggy. I'd love to write more but Mouth Moods keeps getting glitched out because my compUTER IS SO FREAKING LAGGY

Oh wait. Wattpad is a little less laggy so I'll tell you a little bit. I didn't plan for Alex to end up being so mean, but whatever. He is also directly based off of Alex from 13 Reasons Why.

Love y'all!

--Kio