Right There || Dylan O'Brien

chapter twenty-five; a lifetime

Dylan groaned when he heard the bell ringing. She was early, the food wasn't ready and he hadn't done his hair. He hadn't brushed his teeth, he hadn't done anything besides preparing dinner right after work.  But he couldn't just let her stand there wait for him, could he?

He quickly walked out of the kitchen to open the front door, seeing her standing there with a slight smile on her face. She was looking absolutely beautiful, like she always did. There was just something about the way her cheeks heat up when they locked eyes, it was different. It was adorable, more adorable than anyone could think it was. She was adorable.

"Hey, come in."

Her mouth moved but a sound was barely heard as she walked into the apartment, Dylan closing the door behind her. He walked back into the kitchen and Clara followed him in hesitation. Was she allowed to come see what he had prepared, where the delicious smell that was hanging in the air came from?

"Sit down, I'll make you something to drink. What do you want?" he opened the refrigerator, searching for anything that she would like. He decided to give her a glass of Ginger Ale when all she did was shrug her shoulders.

Dylan went to grab two plates before filling them with chicken noodles, taking forks and knifes with them to the table. He watched Clara play with it for a second, amazed at what he had prepared, how well it was made but she didn't say anything. So he said something instead. "How was your day?"

"My day?" she questioned awkwardly, sighing as she poked into the food with her fork. "I guess it was fine. School wasn't very interesting. But like, Holland picked me up and we hung out at her house. How about you?"

"I went home after work to cook for you."

"Just for me?"

"Us. I went home after work to cook for us." He smile tugged on the corners of his mouth, gazing down at her with his brown eyes. There was another silence as they both ate their dinner;  it was silent constantly, there was just an awkward tense filling the air they wanted to go away. Why was this more awkward then the times before they hang out?  "How do you like it?"

"To be honest, I think this is amazing. Thank you for actually taking your time to cook for... us" A giggle left her mouth, her hand leaning in the palm of her hand, "I've never really prepared chicken noodles. Is it easy?"

"It is. It really is, it's probably one of the easiest things, well not as easy as soup. It depends. But then again, I make this a lot because I absolutely love chicken."

Clara took a sip of her glass of Ginger Ale after taking the last bite of food. "Hmm, you know what you should make? Burritos. It's fun to make, it's easy and well, I think it's freaking delicious."

"Are you referring that we should cook together someday?"

She attempted to get comfortable in the chair, but when she did her foot touched his underneath the table. It caused her to sit back up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she felt her cheeks heat up. "Ehm, well... I'm not actually referring it, but if you want to we can."

"We could do that someday."

"Someday?"

"Yes, I already planned something for what we could do next. You shouldn't have to worry about that, it's all on me but I'll tell you something," he stood up, grabbing the plates to lie them in the sink. He turned his head to hear to send her a smile. "It's on Sunday evening, it's for your birthday."

"Wait, is it like a surprise?"

"I know you don't like surprises, but you're going to have to trust me on this."