Tongue Tied *UNDERGOING EDITING*

14. Under My Skin

Ariel's POV

There stands Dylan, hands shoved in his pockets, his hair perfectly tousled, a genuine smile playing across his lips. Suddenly, I want nothing more than to be in his arms. I press my lips together, take his outstretched hand, and walk with him to his car, resting my head on his shoulder as we walk. "You look beautiful." he whispers in my ear, sending chills down my spine.

I feel the blood rise to my cheeks and I can't help but smile. "Thanks." I say, bringing my eyes up to his. Our eyes lock together as we stand in front of his car. I turn to face him, grabbing his other hand in the process and pull him a little closer to me. I bite my lower lip gently, not sure what to do, but making sure that my eyes never leave his.

His bright blue eyes search my dull gray ones for who knows what. All I can focus on is how close we are. How our breaths are mingling and how he's smiling. I smile back, but can't bring myself to kiss him.

Why?

I have no idea.

Because I want to kiss him.

At least, I think I do.

Come on, Ariel. It's like, half an inch. Just move in! Its Dylan Carter!

But the other voice in my head argues.

Don't push it. What if he doesn't want to kiss you? Then he'll think you're clingy or needy or something. And besides, do you really want to?

Just shut the hell up!

"What?" Dylan asks, a shocked look now replacing the content one. He steps back a little, too far away from me now to kiss him.

"What?" I ask innocently.

"You just screamed 'shut the hell up' in my face. I didn't say anything." he says.

Oops.

"Uh, sorry, I was just thinking to myself. I really didn't mean to shout in your face. I -" I start, but Dylan interrupts me by placing his lips to mine. "Its fine." he says with a small chuckle and opens my door. I slide into the car and buckle myself in as he walks around the front and gets in as well.

He smiles at me before starting the car and drives off to the restaurant. Why does he keep smiling at me? Whatever, his smile is gorgeous. We arrive at the restaurant and get a seat by the window, where the city is alive with the bright lights of cars and buildings. "Its breath taking." I whisper. I've always loved the look of the city at night.

The waiter brings our meals, and Dylan pays like a gentleman. During dinner, we laugh and talk about different things, but he never really seems interested in what I'm talking about. He seems like he only wants to talk about him.

So I just sit there, my hands folded in my lap, while listening to what he has to say. I push the thoughts past me. Everybody has flaws, and this one can definitely be over-looked.

After dinner, its about 8:00, and the movie starts in about fifteen minutes. We leave the restaurant in haste, driving quite fast. We make it just in time to buy our tickets. The theater lights have been darkened and the main adds start to play just as Dylan and I walk inside. "You want to go get us some snacks?" Dylan asks, as we find our seats.

"We just had dinner." I say laughing a little. He must be joking. "So?" he asks, laughing too. I nod and take the ten dollar bill he hands me and walk out of the theater, biting my lip gently on the way out. Dylan was being so sweet before, but now he's not letting me talk and making me skip the beginning of the movie to go get snacks when we just had dinner.

This date is not going as well as I thought it would.

~-~-~-~-~

"I'll see you on Monday?" Dylan asks me. We stand outside my house, the moon high in the sky and the stars twinkling like little lights. The warm May breeze blows my hair off my shoulders and makes the hair on the nape of my neck stand up. "See you Monday." I say with a smile, trying to stay positive and awake.