"I realized I was thinking of you, and I began to wonder how long you'd been on my mind. Then it occurred to me: Since I met you, you've never left."

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Chapter Fifteen

"I'll see you later, okay?" I said before waving Helen a short goodbye. I then walked to Ian's car and hopped in. I could just go home with Helen to avoid troubling Ian, but since he insisted on giving me a ride, I obliged without any objection.

"Where are we going?" I raised an eyebrow when I noticed that the route he took wasn't the one leading to my apartment building.

He gave me sideways look before returning his attention to driving. "The cafe that I took you to before. I know that you're starving, right?"

"I'm not—" Before I could protest further, my stomach grumbled as loud as thunder, making such a noise that caused me to cringe internally.

"Thought so," he responded, a smirk slowly formed across his face.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed that he was right.

After all, I shouldn't reject free food, right?

After we had arrived at our table and ordered, I finally realized something: we were alone.

Well, not technically alone since there were other customers too, but alone in term of being at the same table with only the two of us here. My mind unintentionally drifted to the time we had our first kiss together a few days ago, leaving my face to blush uncontrollably.

Don't look at his lips, don't look at his lips, don't—

"Hey, is something wrong?" Ian asked and tilted his face to the side in amusement.

"No, nope, nah, everything is perfectly fine," I answered almost too quickly.

"Then why are you trying to avoid looking at my face?" His lips cracked up into a dashing smile.

"Uh, nothing," I responded, my eyes were still on the table.

"Uh-huh," he murmured incredulously. I replied nothing, causing us to fall into a deep, awkward silence.

"I love you," he muttered, deadpanned.

I released a sharp gasp. He couldn't be serious. To say it so casually was extremely absurd of him...

I bored into his eyes, my gaze lingered on his face for a moment before I asked, "What?"

"Ha! I knew that by saying those words would get your attention and you'd finally look at my face." A smirk etched itself on his face.

"You jerk!" I said harshly, scowling at him. 

So he was just playing with those words. He didn't mean it.

"Anyway, can I ask you a favor?"

"What?" I rolled my eyes.

"I have this friend who's been single for a long time, so he wants to try going on a blind date for the first time. I've already promised him that we'll go on a double date with you and your friend. So what do you say? Will you go on another date with me?" Hopefulness twirled in his voice, making butterflies in my stomach to erupt.

My cheeks heated up hearing him talk about our date, but I brushed it off. "So I have to bring my friend with me?"

"Your friend doesn't have to worry though, my friend is extremely handsome. And nice. She'll like him. I'm sure 100 percents."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked doubtfully.

"I just know it." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Fine. I'll try to invite Helen to go on that date."

"Perfect." He made a fist pump and grinned in victory.

"When will it be?"

"How about this weekend?"

"I have evening shifts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, remember?" I reminded him.

"Don't worry, it's fine. I'll tell Mr. Carter—"

I cut him off. "Ian. I don't want to skip work anymore. The guilt— it's overwhelming. I feel like taking the job for granted. I worked hard to get a job and when I finally got one, all I did was skipping work. I can't do it anymore. And I don't want people to think that I misused our friendship to get off from work."

"But you just agreed to go on that date," he countered, pouting a little.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not like we can't go on a weekday. How about this Thursday? I only have morning classes so I'm free in the evening. Helen is the same, I think. Not sure about you and your friend, though."

"It's a deal then. We'll pick you guys up at your apartment."

"Okay," I responded nonchalantly. 

♦ ♦ ♦

"A blind date? And a double date on top of that? No thanks, I'm good," Helen responded immediately and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Come on, Helen. One date won't hurt. Ian seems to be really eager to go on this date. I have no other friend to go with but you. Just agree to it, alright?" I begged her.

"Who's his friend anyway?" Helen asked suspiciously, quirking an eyebrow.

I wrinkled my nose. "I'm not sure. But what I know is that he's single, available, nice and hot."

"How can you be so sure that he's hot if you haven't even seen him?"

"Touchè. But Ian seemed to be really confident when he told me that, so I believe him."

"Hmm," Helen mumbled, still contemplating her decision.

"Pretty please," I pleaded, making puppy eyes.

She eyed me for a few seconds before she finally heaved a sigh. "Fine. But I'll only agree to this if you're willing to pay for our pizza tonight."

"Consider it done," I stated, smiling wickedly.

You owe me pizza, Ian.

  ♦ ♦ ♦  

I rummaged through my wardrobe for my outfit of the day. This was my second date with Ian, so I had to make a good impression. I wanted to appear pretty, yet I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard either. After what felt like hours of searching for the perfect clothes, my eyes finally caught some simple, decent clothes, so I made a decision to settle for a loose white tank top, a brown knee-length cardigan and a pair of leggings. I snatched a long gold pendant from my little box that was full of accessories to match the outfit. I finally grabbed a pair of leopard print flats and my brown handbag.

When I skipped to the living room, I scrutinized the whole place in search for Helen, but she was nowhere to be found. Realizing that she probably hadn't gotten ready yet, I whisked to her room and began knocking on her door.

"Helen! Come on, hurry up. We'll be late!" My knocking increased as I waited for her to open her door for what it felt like ages.

"Just a moment!" she shouted. Within a few seconds, the door finally swung open, revealing a pretty girl with a long-sleeved crop top and a skirt that reached her mid-thigh. She matched her outfit with a pair of cute sandals.

"Wow." It was the only word that I could mutter.

"Do I look that bad?" she asked anxiously, biting her lips in worry.

"No! You look fantastic. I bet on Mr. Smirky Pants that Ian's friend will be all over you." I grinned and winked at her.

She rolled her eyes upon hearing me mentioning Mr. Smirky Pants. "Would you bet on your soul that he'll fall for me, too?" she retorted.

"Probably. Because you look that good." My lips curved into a fat grin before I winked at her.

Before she could object any further, the doorbell rang, indicating the arrival of Ian and his friend. I scampered to the front door and pulled it open, exposing Ian who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with plain black jeans.

I opened the door widely and backed away slightly, giving access for him to walk into the apartment easily.

Dang. He looks so freaking hot, like he always does.

"Hi," he greeted me in a deep, husky voice and flashed me a handsome smile.

I ogled at him, almost drooling. He was such an eye candy. After recollecting myself, I cleared my throat and put on a serious face. "Hi. Um, where's your friend?"

"He went to buy us the tickets for the movie, or else they might sell out. So we're just gonna meet him at the mall," he spoke.

"Oh."

"I'm here! Let's go," Helen yelled, her voice sounding a bit excited for a girl who didn't want to go on this date in the first place.

Ian put his hands in his pockets and began to walk out of my apartment, while Helen went to lock the door. Agitated, I followed him and shambled off down the corridor.

I hope our second date will be even better than before, although I'm pretty sure nothing could beat our Ferris wheel's magical date.

After we arrived outside of the cinema, my attention went to a guy dressed in black jacket who was prancing towards us. I stared at him wide-eyed, panic rose inside of me as I shot Ian a questioning gaze, but Ian only waved at his friend, unaware of my gaze.

Oh no. That's it. I'm freaking sure that this date will be a disaster... 

Helen was looking vacantly elsewhere, totally oblivious to the critical situation. I forced myself to bring out the topic to the surface, but my mind was still processing the situation, unable to fully comprehend it, slowing my reaction. Before I knew it, Ian's friend was already there, standing right in front of us.

He cleared his throat, looking at nowhere else but Helen. "Hi," he greeted her.

Helen who finally became conscious of his presence raised her head to look at the source of the voice. Her eyes were big as saucers when she eventually realized who her date was gonna be.

It was none other than Connor Stevenson.

"You shouldn't be here. Why are you here?" Helen asked him nervously, still afraid to face the truth.

He opened his mouth to respond, but Ian cut him off. "It sounds like you two knew each other already," Ian stated in utter confusion with his eyebrows raised.

To be honest, I really thought Ian was setting Helen up with Connor and he deliberately asked me to invite Helen so that she could meet Connor. But it turned out that even Ian didn't know about their past relationship...

"Um..." Helen mumbled, unable to argue with any excuses.

But luckily, Connor saved the awkwardness by intervening the conversation. "We better get going. The movie will start in 5 minutes," he said after checking out the time on his Rolex.

After we bought popcorn and drinks, we scurried off into the cinema, entering our movie hall before we began to search for our seats. Unfortunately, I was separated from Helen by two rows. Ian and I swiftly chose the back row, so Helen and Connor had no choice but to take the two rows in front of us.

After the advertisements, the dim lights were turned off one by one, indicating that the movie would soon begin. The movie had just started for 30 minutes, but I would be an idiot if I didn't realize that Ian kept staring at me as his eyes lingered on me. Bubbly feelings welled up within me, my heart knocked wildly against my chest. I couldn't concentrate on the movie when he was still persisting on fixating his gaze on me.

"Stop staring at me," I whispered to him softly.

But his respond left my body ablaze, my cheeks on fire and my heart rate leapt up the scale. The butterflies in my stomach turned into dragons, growling dangerously. "How could I not stare at you when you're the most beautiful girl alive?"

    ♦ ♦ ♦    

Finally! New update! Yay! Cheer with me. No? Because I updated a bit late? I'm so sorry :( Things have been kind of hectic to me, so I'm not able to update regularly as I used to. But I'll keep in mind to constantly write on weekends the next time!

So, what do you think about this chapter? Do you ship Helen with Connor?

Oh and about Ian and Hailey's ship name... I still haven't decided it yet. So I hope you guys will choose the best one for me. What will it be? Haian or Hailan? Don't forget to express your opinion!

Please vote, comment and share if you liked this chapter. Till next time!

xx,
Tris.