What I like about you

17

His words hit me.
And I did something that I never thought I would do in a situation like this...

I laughed.

I freaking laughed!

He looks at me, confused.
"Sorry. You do realize, though, how much I like you?" I try to dial my laughter down.

"Do you realize how much I like you? It doesn't matter how much either one of us likes each other. I just don't want hurt you, because if I do, I'll lose you." He drops his head in his hands. My smile fading.

He's scared to lose me.

But, how can he be afraid to lose something that isn't even his?
I guess we had something in common.

I walk right up to him, softly putting my hand in his shoulder.

"You shouldn't be afraid to lose me if I'm never willing to leave your side." I suck in a breath, surprised by my own words.

His head shoots up to look at me, his eyes wide and filled with lust. His dark hair disheveled and pointing in every direction but still managing to make him look breathtaking.

"We can't always promise tomorrow, but we can live right now and see where it takes us." I stare at him, locking my gaze with his.

He grabs my hands in his, lacing our fingers together.
"I want this. It's just, all of the other relationships that I've been in ended badly. I don't want that to happen and us never talk again. I don't want to hurt you or you hurt me. Maybe we can't promise tomorrow, but we can't promise today either."

I stand still, multiple thoughts swarming through my head at the same time. Every word meshing together, trying to create the right thing to say. Until I let all of those words in my head go, and speak from my heart.

"I get that you're scared. Scared to be in a relationship and lose me and yourself. You think that you're going to get hurt again, so you don't try. And even when you do, you imagine yourself getting hurt and end up actually being hurt. No matter what you do, you can't stop fate from taking its toll and making feel that pain again. But, you can't wait. You can't just not try because you fear the pain willing to come. I'm not saying that I won't end up hurting you, because neither of us can tell the future but, later in life, you'll regret the chances you didn't take. I will always be here for you, Blake. But if you can't live in the moment with me right now, then I can't with you either. Don't just assume that you'll feel that unwanted pain from your past relationships again, live your life like you want to. Fate doesn't decide how our stories are written, so write your own."

He tightens his hold on my hands, his eyes locking with mine and darkening slightly. His face blank and bare of emotion.

My heart pounds in my chest, anticipating his words. My knees almost going weak from the way his eyes bore into mine. The beautiful swirls of green and specks of blue collaborating with each other. His perfectly tan skin brightening those colors. His thick eyebrows scrunched together in thought, his dark hair still pointed in every direction.

My heart slows down, almost skipping a beat.

"I really like you, Danielle. And I want this...us. But, not right now."

My stomach drops, my face paling and my lips drooping to a frown.

"Oh...o-okay. Yeah, of course." I shake my head, lightly slipping my hands out of his hold.
"Y-yeah, not right now."

The sound of the front door of the house opening sounds from outside my bedroom door.
The faint sound of my mom calling out to me and tossing her keys on the table bringing me from the awkward moment.

I all but run to my door, swinging it open and walking to the living room to find my mom looking at the mail.

"I'm going to go lay down. I'll make dinner later, Alright?" She starts to turn around but stops. She eyes my face, her eyes searching mine.
"What's wrong?" She steps forward, her eyes full of worry.

"Nothing. Just tired." I force a laugh.

"Well..." She suspiciously looks at me.
"I thought Blake was here?"

"Hi, Mrs. Martin." He steps out from the dimly lit hallway. His eyes flicker to me, I look away.

"Oh, hi Blake! Are you staying for dinner?" She chirps, smiling widely.

"Unfortunately, I can't. My mom is have the neighbors over and wants me to be at dinner." He shoves his hands into his pockets.

I still refuse to look at him.

I'm not mad at him, trust me. I'm more embarrassed than mad.
I let out some pretty embarrassing and awkward confessions.

I'm relieved though. Blake likes me back, he's scared to hurt and lose me. And that's when it came to me.

Deep down, I know that Blake will wait for me like I will wait for him. And that gave me hope. Even if it's only just a sliver. I still have hope.

My mom stares between us, back and forth for a few minutes. Still confused as to what's going on. Like the tension in the room isn't noticeable.

"Alright. Well, I'm going to rest for a little bit and then make dinner." Without another word, she leaves to her room. Her door softly shutting until it clicks closed.

"I'm willing to wait for you." I rush out, swiveling around to face Blake.

"Danielle-"

"As long as you wait for me." I plead.

"You know I'll always wait for you." His lips slowly upturn into a barely visible smirk.

"Good...yeah, okay." I cross my arms over my chest, still trying to act like none of this was really affecting me.

He softly chuckles, the dimple in his cheek showing. That harmonic laugh and bright smile making the butterflies come back in my stomach.

"No matter what happens, I will always wait for you. Even if I'm letting my fears get the best of me right now." He smiles, stepping closer to me.

"And so will I." I smile up at him.

Everything about him has always been perfect. His hair, his eyes, smile, that perfect little dimple on his right cheek. Everything. So much that I wish this wait would already be over. That I can already have him, call him mine.

No matter what, I will always wait. I want to be with him, I want him to be with me. And I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

No matter what...

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A/N: Hey guys!! Sorry that I haven't been updating quick enough. It's hard to come up with ideas of what to write and what twists to throw in the book. And school is barely getting reasonable to where I can make my schedule flexible enough to have time to write. Thank you all for reading, voting and commenting! And thank y'all for waiting as long as y'all have! It means so much to me that you enjoy my book!

Just, thank you!!

P. S. - sorry if this chapter isn't good or doesn't make any sense right now, I'll edit it after I get further into the story.

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~ Hayleigh 💕