I woke up to a message notification ding on my phone. At first, I was completely uncaring in my sleepy haze, until Elizabeth almost fell out of her bed from excitement.

"Is it Elijah? It must be Elijah. Who else would it be?" She was panting and I could tell, as I rolled over and pulled my hair out of my face, that she was desperately trying not to slide the lock screen on my phone.

I never felt it was necessary to put a password on my phone, but with these girls, I think I might have to.

I didn't quite have the same reaction as Elizabeth, but I still couldn't restrain my excitement when I saw Elijah's name on the notification bar.

I just wanted to see if you were up yet. I was going to call, but I didn't want to wake you.

You didn't wake me. Elizabeth accomplished that on her own.

No sooner than I sent the message, my phone began to vibrate and the airy default ringtone played from my hand.

Elizabeth's eyes went wide and I quickly shooed her out of the room. I knew she would just make distracting noises in the background and I wanted to give Elijah my undivided attention. Especially after my dream last night...

"Hello?" Even if I know who's calling, I still pick up the phone the same way each time. Force of habit.

"Good morning. I'm glad you're up."

"Yeah, I've been up for a while." I was trying to suppress my yawn, but I heard Elijah chuckling in the background.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I'll call you back later -"

"No! No, I'm wide awake. I just came back from my morning run." Why am I lying to him? I hate running.

"Huh, that's interesting. I just came back from my run. I didn't see you."

"Hmm. It's a big campus. You must've missed me."

"Not possible. There's no way I wouldn't notice you." I could practically see him shaking his head with the cocky smirk on his face.

"You're such a flirt, you know that?" Whoa. Where did that come from? I guess I have more confidence when he's not in the same room as me, staring me down. And when I'm half-asleep.

I didn't want to wait for his response. I could already anticipate his next teasing remark. "Let's just change the subject."

"Sure. Here's an idea. I was going to bring up our next date, but why don't we discuss it over a run? I'll meet you in front of your building tomorrow morning."

"Really? I have time now." The mention of another date with Elijah brought a large grin to my face, but the idea of meeting him for a run wasn't exactly something I was looking forward too.

"It's okay. I'd rather talk about it in person. I'll see you tomorrow!"

I knew there was no getting out of this. Part of me felt like he was trying to mess with me just so he could watch me suffer.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning. Bright and early." I heard his light chuckle before we each said our goodbyes.

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When I said "bright and early," I only got half right. It was definitely early. Way too early for me to be awake, let alone putting on sweats to go running. I certainly didn't look as glamorous as I was on the first date, but it's not like he'll see me anyways.

When I looked outside, it was pitch black. How could anyone possibly enjoy this? Its basically torture. I'm not trying to sound lazy or like a cliche girl, but if I were to explain the process I'm about to endure, you would feel the same way.

Imagine forcing yourself to run, almost to the point of losing consciousness, pushing yourself so hard that your lungs are fighting to force out each breath, feeling like they were on the verge of bursting. It doesn't sound so fun, does it? It would be one thing if I was a professional or even a regular runner, but I haven't run for a long distance since the fitness tests in gym class.

As I try to remind myself why I'm even doing this in the first place, I hear a knock at the door. Immediately, my qualms went to the back of my mind. I was brought right back to the moment before our first date when I heard the same familiar knock at the door, only this time it was softer, due to the early hour.

Of course, none of the girls were up. Even Elizabeth was sound asleep with another one of her philosophy books covering her eyes. I silently laughed to myself. Nothing would keep these girls from their sleep, not even Elijah. Maybe there is a plus to being an early riser after all.

I opened the door and greeted Elijah in a whisper and a smile before we walked outside and down the steps of the building.

This time, I prepared myself by beforehand by grabbing my old lounging sweatshirt to keep warm. There was a note on the jacket. I could tell it was from Elizabeth from the distinctive spidery handwriting.

Don't bring a jacket! Let him give his to you so you can keep it!!

I should've known that she would put her own two cents in, whether she was conscious at the time of our outing or not.

As much as I wanted to wear Elijah's jacket, I didn't want him to risk getting sick for my comfort, so I stuffed the note in the pocket and zipped myself into the well-worn fabric.

I was even more appreciative of my decision to bring a sweatshirt when the crisp early morning air slapped me right in the face and pierced my lungs as I took a deep breath in.

"Well, this is going to be fun." Elijah looked down at me with a knowing smirk at my obvious sarcasm. He can see right through my BS. I shouldn't keep underestimating him.

"We'll start off slow. We need to warm our muscles up first before we really start going." I watched and tried to mimic his stretches. It actually felt good to loosen up for once. I guess I'm always so uptight, it keeps my muscles really tense.

When we started to jog, I thought this might not be too bad. I was doing a pretty good job of keeping up with Elijah, even running ahead of him a few times to demonstrate how much of a breeze it was. Big mistake. About five minutes later, we were already sprinting.

I was pushing myself beyond my limit. This is even worse than the description I gave before! My shins feel like they are going to snap right out from under me! Elijah, on the other hand, was in perfect shape. He wasn't even breaking a sweat. I could tell he was trying to show off, but I couldn't even catch a breath to make the accusation. I had to slow down to a halt, which made everything hurt even worse.

I could tell that Elijah felt bad because he gave a concerned look as he rushed to my side and placed his hand on my back. Good. He should be worried. I was bent over, heaving. I felt like I was about to pass out.

"You go on ahead. I'm going to walk, well crawl, back to my room." I shook my arm towards him, trying to shoo him away. I barely got that sentence out. This is so embarrassing. I must look so pathetic. It hasn't even been a full ten minutes since we started running.

"Nope. I'm not letting you hobble all the way back. It's much easier my way." Before I could respond, I was being gently picked up honeymoon-style and Elijah began to jog in the other direction.

If I wasn't so awestruck, I would've protested, demanding that he put me down so he wouldn't draw attention. But, I've only seen three other people out here at this hour, and they passed us long ago.

I felt like burying my face in his shoulder anyway. I didn't know if it was out of my desire to hide or get closer to Elijah.

I began to think back to all of my research yesterday. I was up until eleven going through my textbooks and even scouring the internet on Elizabeth's computer. I didn't like occupying it, but I needed as much insight as I could possibly get into this uncharted territory. Even after all of that, I wasn't able to learn how to curb the butterflies in my stomach or the fluttering of my heart when I was with Elijah. It was just too much. The physical contact only made it more intense. Soon, he slowed to a walk.

While I was in his comforting embrace, I felt like my heart would explode. I was no longer aware of the pain in my legs or the straining of my lungs. I couldn't escape. All I could do was melt into his chest and become one with his heartbeat. I looked up and subconsciously began to admire his features. It was still dark, but we were facing east, so as the sun rose, it showcased his attributes. How could a human being be this perfect?

His defined jawline was accented with a dark beauty mark that complemented the curve below his right ear. His warm hazel eyes that I then realized, turn deep brown in the sunlight to match his hair. Of course, I am drawn to his hair, which also changes color when the sun reflects his natural gold highlights. I kept returning to his color-changing eyes, glowing in the sunrise. Chameleon eyes, I thought with a small smile.

A simple description doesn't do him justice. Neither does a photo. You'd have to look into his chameleon eyes in order to truly appreciate his beauty.

He looked at me with a questioning, yet mischievous gaze. "What are you staring at?"

"You." I let out a sigh. I didn't care if he knew. Why would I hide it? There's no way he wouldn't realize. He must know how breathtakingly gorgeous he is. But, I noticed a blush creeping into his cheeks.

"Is that a blush I see? Is Mr. Chameleon Eyes bashful?" I couldn't help but poke fun at him. After all, he did force me into an impromptu run just to watch me suffer.

I began to poke him all over his chest and ribs as he carried me in his arms, which made it even more enjoyable because he couldn't fight back.

"Is someone ticklish?" I noticed a glint in his eyes as he laughed that filled me with excitement.

"Mr. Chameleon Eyes?" My smile disappeared and I rested my hands on my lap. Why did I say that out loud? Elijah just stared straight ahead with an amused smirk on his face.

"Well, just your eyes, they kind of change color in the sunlight and-" I was quickly cut off by giggles as his hands began to tickle my hip and my ribs. If it were anyone else, I would've been terrified they would drop me, but that wasn't even a possibility with Elijah. I felt completely safe in his embrace.

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Before I knew it, we were in front of my dorm and, once again, Elijah looked into my eyes. Amazingly, I still shied away and tilted my head down to avoid his intense gaze. This time, he kissed my forehead before setting me down on my now aching feet.

"I'll see you in class." Elijah smiled as he slowly slid his hand out from its grasp on mine and began to walk away.

"Wait! Wasn't the whole point of this 'run' to talk about our next date?" If I had to wake up this early and endure immense self-inflicted pain, the least he could do was share his plans for our second date (The whole reason for me doing this in the first place!).

"Eh, I think I'd rather keep it a surprise." The cocky grin returned to his face as he gave a smug wink before turning and running away. I just stood, cemented in place, with wide, angry eyes, a furrowed brow, and a gaping mouth. 

He's lucky he's fast.

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So, what did you guys think about Sara and Elijah's little outing? I think Elijah just wanted an excuse to see her again...

Please vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter! I love reading and responding to all of your reactions, predictions, etc.

I didn't want to include a cast list because I like to leave my characters open to interpretation, but I know many of you want to know what Elijah looks like. Because everyone finds different things attractive, I only gave a brief description, but if you picture Elijah, or any of the characters differently, you can continue to do that too!

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Well...