"So, her little sister came out of nowhere, and he just had to go drop her off after he barely just won you back?" Varun scrutinized.

We sat in his car in the parking lot of the abandoned park. I couldn't blame him for taunting Ezra for his actions, but it was getting kind of annoying.

I rolled my eyes, "This is why I don't feel like telling you things," I said.

Varun exhaled, "Fine, I'm sorry," he said, shifting in his seat, "I was out of line."

"Whatever," I said, putting on my seatbelt, "Let's just get home. Ajit's probably waiting by the door."

Varun hooked his seatbelt in, again, and then said, "I mean, we could, but Ajit's not home; he'll probably be out all day."

This intrigued my interest, "Really?" I asked.

He nodded, "So, I could drop you off or... we could do something a little more fun," he suggested.

He turned to me, and smirked. His dimples glistened. My heart rate quickened.

I went from staying locked at home all day to possibly hanging out alone with two different boys. Life changes pretty quickly.

I'd regret it if I said no to Varun, so why not? "Sure, why not?" I said.

Varun drove out of the parking lot, and didn't really announce where we were going. Wherever we were going it was taking a while. Meanwhile, I looked over at Varun, who seemed to be suppressing his smile. He looked dorky in an adorable way.

"You know your lucky I've known for you for a while because this situation's giving serial killer vibes," I said.

Varun burst out laughing and I did too. The truth is, I had an unwavering amount of trust in Varun. At times I trusted him more than I trusted myself, as pathetic as that might sound.

"Hmm," Varun hummed, "Are serial killer vibes better than escort vibes?"

I stayed quiet, trying to muffle my cheeks from laughing.

"Or am I roleplaying a serial killer escort. I'd kill as that," Varun said.

He noticed his pun after he had said what he said. He brought a hand to his mouth, laughing at his words. His ridiculous laugh made me laugh as well.

Varun, then, turned on the radio. I bopped my head with the beat, and watched Varun slightly singing along. He cracked open the windows and my hair was flowing.

About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at an ice skating rink.

"Oh no... no, I can't ice skate," I said.

Varun chuckled to himself, "Why do you think I'm here?" he asked.

I felt quite hesitant about the entire situation. I didn't really like trying things that were new. It was always intimidating. There was a certain comfort in the known.

Varun stepped out of the car, and came to the passenger side, opening my door.

"Come on, sweet, scared, Tara," he mocked.

I rolled my eyes and stepped out. Before I knew it, we had our ice skating boots on, and we were now standing on ice.

Varun and I walked in hand-in-hand into the ice skating rink.

He, then, effortlessly glided over a few feet, still holding my hand. I stumbled behind him, tightening my grip on his hand.

He stopped, noticing my uncoordinated self stumbling behind him. Him stopping suddenly made me slam into his hard chest.

I looked up at him. His eyes softened and his eyebrows curved up, watching me. He stared at me and then at my lips. He leaned in closer.

My stomach was fluttering.

He took his hand and moved a hair away from my face. I felt myself waiting, desperate to just finally kiss him, diffuse the tension.

He pulled away. Ugh, why was I so disappointed?

I felt chills overtake my skin; my body jolted.

"God, you're probably freezing," Varun said, noticing my skinny cardigan.

He unzipped his jacket and put it over my shoulders.

For a split second, I couldn't help but look in his eyes and think to myself, I think I am falling for him. I really didn't want him to catch me, though, that situation would just end badly.

His jacket smelled like fresh laundry. It was basically drowning me.

After about almost an hour, we decided to give it a rest. We returned our shoes. Varun knew about this little restaurant on the floor above the ice skating rink.

***

Varun and I were stuffed after eating out hearts out. It really felt like we were on a date, but that's not what this is, right?

I looked over at Varun, and he was already looking at me. I looked over at the clock and it was almost four p.m.

"Do you think Ajit's home?" I asked.

Varun bit his lip, "Okay, should I tell you the truth?" he asked.

I nodded. "Is that even a question?" I asked. He should always be telling me the truth.

Varun exhaled loudly, and then scooted his chair closer to me. "He's with this girl," he said.

My jaw dropped. Not freaking way! "As in, they're working on a project together?" I asked.

Varun pushed his lips together, "As in, they're probably going to start dating soon."

I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn't believe that he was meeting up with some girl. I-I guess I was happy for him, but I was incredibly irritated. I felt like he was a hypocrite.

"So, that's why he let you drop me off today," I said, piecing things together.

Varun bit his lip a bit harder, "Erm, yeah," he said.

I could tell Varun might've started feeling guilty about telling me.

"Wow, thanks for telling me," I said. He gave me a tightlipped smile. "I promise I won't tell him."

Varun was still sitting close to me, and since he had just unleashed this huge bomb of information, I owed it to him to do the same.

"Uh, I guess I have something to tell you, too," I said.

Varun's ears perked up, and his attention was piqued.

I swallowed hard. "I know this girl who has a crush on you, and she wanted me to tell you."

Varun's eyebrows peaked, and he smiled, "Oh really, who?" he asked.

I sighed, "Some girl named Dahlia," I said.

"Dahlia, hmm," Varun said, rolling her name on his tongue. I hated the fact that he was so intrigued by what I just said.

I nodded, "Yeah, do you know her?" I asked.

He chuckled softly, "Yeah, I know her." He was lost in a daze. I guess he did know her, and perhaps maybe even liked her.

I tried biting my tongue, so I could stop myself from revealing anything in my voice. "So, are you going to ask her out?" I asked.

Shoot, why did I say that. That made it seem like I cared. I did care, though. I was allowed to care as a friend, right? Or not as a friend, because we weren't friends, I think.

Varun simply said, "Uh, I don't know, we'll see." I could tell he was brushing past the conversation, and I didn't want to push Kim any further. I also didn't want to make it seem like I was encouraging him in any way.

I refrained from rolling my eyes at his response.

Before I knew it, one of my favorite slow songs by the Warflowers began playing.

I'd wait out in the rain

Not caring about all the pain

You're the only one I see

But darling, you can't say the same.

I couldn't help but smile. Music was such an integral part of my life. At times it felt like it was the only thing I had, and the only thing that understood me. I also took my favorite songs playing in random places as a token of good luck. I mean out of all of the songs they could've chosen, they decided to choose this one? It was a couple years old and there were newer slow songs out there.

I swayed with the music in my seat, really intaking the music. I felt Varun stand up and he stuck his hand out. He had a huge smile on his face.

I looked around, nobody was dancing, and the restaurant was crowded. There was a D.J. though, and what seemed to be an open dance floor.

Varun looked at me with hopeful eyes. Ah, fuck it, why not.

I stood up, and followed him. Immediately, upon setting foot on the dance floor, eyes were glued to us. I did feel a bit intimidated.

Varun's eyes, however, were fixed on me. I swung my arms around his neck and stepped closer to him.

Varun smiled, "Can I?" he asked, referring to grabbing my hips.

I nodded, and he softly placed his hands on my hips. We slowly swayed to the music. I inched closer to him, ignited by the spark that set when he touched my skin.

Holy fuck, my heart was racing. Looking up at him, we were inches apart. His body moved so fluidly.

"You're a really good dancer," I admitted.

His eyelashes fluttered and his golden eyes twinkled. "You're not too bad yourself," he teased.

His hair fell in front of his eyes, so I unhooked my hand and reached for it. He watched intently as I did. I pushed his hair back, my fingers intertwining with his ever-so soft hair.

I removed my hand, wishing I could just feel his hair intertwined in my fingers all day.

He grabbed my hand, leaning into me, and we began swaying. He lifted his hand that held mine, and I twirled underneath him. When we reconnected, I felt butterflies twirl in my stomach. I stared at him for a second, not moving, and he did the same.

My eyes trailed to his pink puffy lips. We were incredibly close, inches apart. Varun locked eyes with me, and then fixed on my lips.

It felt like a magnetic force was urging both of us to lean forward. The tension could be cut with a knife. I wanted to kiss him so desperately. I longed to learn how it felt to have his lips on mine, and judging by the desperation in his eyes, he felt the same.

We leaned in at the same time, only seconds away from achieving what we both wanted. My lips were trembling out of anticipation.

Till immediately, Varun's phone went off.

Varun immediately snapped out of the moment, and so did I. I couldn't lie, I felt disappointed—incredibly disappointed.

He grabbed his phone, texting quickly. He turned over to me, and said, "Ajit will be home soon, we better get going."

So, that was that. The unclimactic end to a beautiful night.