Anywhere With You - A Lauv Fanfiction

15. The Pool

After waking up Sam, getting dressed, and taking turns brushing our teeth in the bathroom, me and Ari went downstairs and got into his car and started driving to his house, which we decided. Harper stayed behind with Sam, and I honestly don't even want to know what they're going to do. Harper is crazy and she seems to really dig Sam.

We began driving, and I looked over at Ari. His eyebrows were in a thinking position as he drove.

"I'm sorry." I apologized again.

He looked over at me and smiled. "Are you going to tell me why you said those things?"

I gave a big sigh, and began to tell him.

"I told you that I'm terrified of heartbreak. Well... after our date, my emotions were all over. I was thinking about you like crazy- and that stuff usually never happens to me. It scared the hell out of me and I decided to isolate myself from you."

He gave me a confused look, turning a corner. "Is that why you didn't talk to me until Harper wanted to see Sam the next day?"

I nodded. "I laughed at your texts. I read them, but I just couldn't bring myself to text back. I wanted to ignore you completely."

"I'm sorry." He exclaimed.

I laughed. "Why are you saying sorry? That should be all me."

He shrugged and held up his hand for a second. "I don't know, I just feel like I might have done something wrong. I didn't mean to make anything uncomfortable between us."

I became sad over the looks on his face. He seemed disappointed, and mad at himself. "No, Ari." I looked straight at him. "I like you so much. That night was replaying in my head for so long that it drove me crazy. And with this stupid fear of feelings that I have, I lost control of how I was feeling. It moved so quick, and it just scared me. Not because it was moving quick, but because I wanted it to. Then something inside of me just shut down and I wanted to prevent everything. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just an internal battle I have with myself and it's the first time I've had to fight anything like this in like, forever." I explained.

He began to say something, but then stopped himself. "Why are you fighting it, then?" He looked at me.

"I told you. I don't want things to end how they always end up."

He thought for a moment. "Okay. Let's say there's a pool. One person steps in, and says it's cold. Another person steps in, and says it's hot. You're now left to decide for yourself what temperature the pool is. Are you going to pick and choose who to believe, or are you going to feel the pool for yourself?"

"Feel it for myself." I shrugged.

"So why are you basing your feelings on love off of other people's experience?" He turned to me.

My face heated up, and I realized I didn't quite have an answer. "I- I don't know." Suddenly, my perspective began to change.

"Would you do me a favor?" He asked.

I nodded.

"I'm Ari. I'm just a goofy dude who lives in LA and makes music. You're Aria, and I like you. Do you think maybe, just possibly, you could step into that pool by yourself for a second and just give something a chance, with me?" He smiled at me.

I looked out the window for a moment, and the butterflies in my stomach now turned into wild bats. A million thoughts ran through my head, and I stopped them all. No more overthinking this time.

"Yes." I smiled.

He grinned from ear to ear, pulling into his driveway.