Right There || Dylan O'Brien

chapter ten; beautiful

When Dylan drove into the driveway and parked his car, he looked at Clara with his brown eyes. He wanted to say something to her, yes of course, but what was he supposed to say? She probably had heard so many times that it was going to be alright, which it was, but what if she was annoyed of hearing it? He had to do something else.

She only knew she wanted to get it over with it, so she just stepped out not even waiting for him. It was only because he had long legs or he wouldn't even been standing next to her when she rang the bell. A pretty girl with short brown hair opened the front door and called out his name. "Dylan, how are you? It's good you're here!"

"Everything's fine," he smiled before including the blonde into the conversation, by putting his arm around  her shoulders. The touch made her blush. "Because you know, I'm with Clara right now. Clara, this is Seana. Tyler's fiancé. Seana, Clara."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Clara," she extended her hand, but when Clara was about to shake it, she got pulled inside. It made her laugh nervously, following her to the living room. "I've heard so much about you, it's not even normal anymore."

"Hey, hey, don't you dare make fun of me, okay?" she felt Dylan's hands on her hips, pushing her towards the couch. He sat down next to her, "I was just excited."

Tyler and Seana started to laugh and she wanted to join in, but was too afraid to caught too much attention. Maybe they would say something to her, which she of course had to reply too. What if she didn't know what to say? They would stare at her and wait. And what if she did, what would they think of her?

"You want a beer, buddy?" Tyler stood up from the couch, looking at his friend. Dylan nodded and was about to stand up to walk with him to get drinks, when he asked what the girl wanted. "You want water, maybe a coke, ehm-..."

"You choose," she sent him a small smile, which faded quickly by how uncomfortable and nervous she was feeling. His eyes gazed into hers, sighing as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I trust you."

"Okay," he stood up, walking after Tyler to the kitchen.

She felt bad for feeling like this. They were his friends and they seemed very nice. How was she ever going to survive tomorrow with bigger group if she couldn't even act normally around two, freaking two, of his friends?  She had to man up, or 'woman'  up, and just be the fun girl she was.

"So, I've heard Tyler and you got engaged this summer?"

A big smile grew on Seana's face by mentioning it, which made her move herself from the couch where she was sitting on to sit next to Clara. "I'm so happy and now we've moved in together; everything's like a fairytale now. And then there's going to be a wedding, I hope to get the most beautiful dress."

"I'm so happy for you both," she fidgeted with her fingers, trying to calm herself down. "How long have you known each other?"

"We've known each other since middle school."

"No, really? That's long!"

Since middle school? Gosh, she didn't even have friends from middle school, let alone a freaking fiancé. She could dare guessing the people she knew back then, forgot about her when she changed schools. But by the sound of someone being so happy, actually made Clara feel better for a while.

"Yeah, it's long, but..." Seana sighed, staring thoughtfully into space. "But it doesn't feel long. Time went so fast, especially the last few years."

Before Clara could reply, the boys came back with two bottles of beer for themselves and drinks for the girls. They even got food with them, a bag of chips and chocolate chip cookies. "Who wants a cookie-... What?"

Dylan threw his hands in the air by seeing them sitting next to each other. He was surprised, but also shocked at how quickly they had gotten along with each other. Only if he knew it was because of one question that had gotten Seana all hyped. "Who do you think you are taking my spot? I wasn't even gone for 10 minutes."

"Come on, dude, we'll have the couch for cool people," Tyler patted his friend's shoulder, sitting down on the couch across from them.

"Tss," Seana sassed, rolling her eyes. "You guys be cool. We're awesome, you can't top that."

"Of course we can top that," Clara stated, turning to the short brunette. "We are perfect, fabulous, freaking-..."

"We are rad."                  

"No, you are stupid" without even thinking, she raised an eyebrow at Dylan. It just blurted out and in the way she said it, unbelievable. She hid her face behind her small hands in embarrassment. "I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

Tyler, Seana and even Dylan burst out laughing. After a moment, Clara also joined in, but kept her hands in front of her face, just to hide her red cheeks.

 ----

It was 9 AM when Dylan decided it was time to leave. Clara had been trying to keep her eyes open for half an hour, it didn't bother him that much if she was sitting with him, but she was still on the same couch as hours ago. He would've stroked her hair until she would fell asleep on his shoulder, he would've carried her to car if he had to.

"I think it's time to go."

He held her by upper arm to help her get up and it was needed, because when she stood up, a yawn left her mouth and she almost lost her balance. She was so sleepy, it wasn't normal. Especially for a 20 year old, she found it a kind of embarrassing.

After saying goodbye to the friends, they left the house to quickly walk to the car. It was where Clara could find herself comfortable position to sit in, just like on the couch inside. But not too comfortable, so she would fall asleep.

"How did you like meeting them? You seemed be getting along with them."

She shrugged as she leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes. "It was alright. Better than I imagined."

"I thought so,"  the corners of his mouth turned up into a great smile. It was automatic, he just couldn't help but think about when she would meet the rest of his friends. "How are you feeling about tomorrow? I'm still meeting up with my friends, you could come if you want to."

"Why do you want me to meet your friends if I'm such an awkward, shy and weird person?" she giggled, raising an eyebrow in confusion. It unusual thing for a guy, or someone,  to try so hard for her just because he wanted her to meet his friends. But she guessed it was a good thing, he was a sweetheart.

"You are not weird."

"Yes, I am," she opened her eyes to look at him, not thinking how she was going to explain herself. "I am extremely awkward and weird, I'm sensitive, naïve, insecure and jumpy. I enjoy reading, painting and I'm also too mature for my age." She raised a finger which actually made everything appear to be more dramatic. "And I say it because it's a bad thing. It's just who I am."

"Well, I think you're beautiful."

And she was quiet.