Wild Girl ✔️

chapter 23: love

chapter song: the only exception by paramore

Rose

A soft nock sounded on the door and my heart kicked into overdrive. I took a deep breath, smoothing down the lines of my dress, and turned away from the stove. I could see Sebastian's silhouette through the door's window and my breath caught.

Tonight was our first date.

"It's open!" I called, turning my attention back to the stove and the steam coming out from the pots. The door creaked, footsteps sounding over the floor, and then I could feel the air shift, adjusting to his presence.

"Smells good," Sebastian said, voice low. I swallowed the nerves rising inside me and turned around, biting my lip when our eyes met. He looked beautiful in a white button up shirt, black hair spilling over the collar. My hand itched to paint this moment, capture it forever.

I returned his warm smile. "Hey you," I said, butterfly wings flapping inside me. Sebastian took a step forward, hands shoved inside the pocket of his pants.

"You look beautiful," he said. I brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear as I felt my cheeks heat up. I had worn the only dress I brought with me, a pale pink, off-the-shoulder flowery one that fell to my mid-thigh, ruffles decorating the bottom hem.

"You look very lumberjack-chic," I teased. Sebastian closed the distance between us, until he was standing in front of me.

"And sexy?" he asked, lips curving up into a smile. His hands rested on my hips and I nodded, leaning up on my tip toes until my face hovered in front of his.

"Very sexy." I pressed my lips to his, he tasted like cinnamon, so warm as his hands cupped my face and held me to him.

"I've been thinking about tonight all day," he whispered, lips trailing down my neck, leaving soft kisses on my skin. I sighed as he kissed behind my ear, before grabbing his face in my hands and forcing his mouth to mine again.

The familiar electricity surged through me, the same one that made me feel on fire every time Sebastian kissed me. If it wasn't for the timer on the stove that went off, making the two of us jump, I didn't think we'd even make it through dinner.

Sebastian groaned as I turned around, shutting off the timer and the stove's burners. "Dinner's ready," I said lamely, turning around to face him.

"I can't remember the last time I ate an actual meal," he mused, grabbing the pots and carrying the food to the table as I trailed behind.

"What the hell do you eat then?" He held out my chair for me and I took a seat. I watched him curiously as he walked around the table and sat in front of me.

"Anything packaged." He filled each of our glasses with wine. "Or frozen. Or packaged and frozen," he said with a wink.

I took a sip, smiling at him from above my glass. "Then you're in for a treat tonight," I said, trailing my tongue across the rim of the glass. Sebastian raised a curious eyebrow and I chuckled, nodding to the food between us. "Let's eat."

We ate in comfortable silence, the hum of the radio filling the room with the distant sound of a piano. Every time I gazed up at Sebastian he was watching me, a smile on his face, and those black eyes of his waiting, always too intense.

His knee would brush against mine under the table. His hand randomly reaching outwards and laying on top of mine. It wasn't about the words we didn't share while we ate. Rather, the feeling of company that had grown so foreign to the both of us. I had forgotten what it felt like to just be without the constant urge to fill every silence with words.