knj imagines

ugly sweater (part 2) || c. collins

"How's this one?" I had trusted Will to help me choose an outfit for my date with Crawford but he was being the biggest pain possible. I did a slow twirl and found him frowning when I had finished. "Why are you bound and determined to ruin my date before it even gets started?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed back to my room. "Go try again. That dress is way too short. Why do you even own that?"

"It's almost to my knees! Besides, you aren't my dad and you can't tell me what to wear!" Now that he mentioned it though it did seem a bit short and I caved into him, changing for the billionth time. "Is this better?"

Will glanced up and gave me a once over before nodding. "You look beautiful."

I gave a satisfied smile and glanced at my reflection in the window smiling back at me. "But is it something I should wear on a date with Crawford?"

I didn't miss the cringe that rippled through Will's shoulders at my question. "How should I know? I don't go on dates with the guy." He noticed my frown and realized that his answer wasn't going to satisfy me. "If I'm being honest, you're too good for Crawford so anything you do would be more than enough."

"Awe Will," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a squeeze. Dylan joined us in my living room and gave me a once over, so I did a quick spin for him too. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful as always," he replied. "So Will's actually going to let you go?"

I rolled my eyes at the question, as if Will had any control over me. "No, he isn't letting me go. I am an adult and I'm in charge of my own life."

"Okay, girl power," Dylan teased, raising a fist in the air for emphasis. I left them to finish getting ready, keeping everything very casual seeing as I had no clue what we were doing. I had tried to ask Crawford what he was planning but he just told me to wear whatever I wanted and refused to give me any hints about what we were doing.

When I was satisfied with my reflection, I grabbed everything I would need and tried to escape out the door without being noticed, but I heard Will yell before I could shut the door behind me. "What do you want?"

He frowned at my annoyance. "I just wanted to tell you to have fun. And make sure Crawford keeps his hands to himself. And keep your hands to yourself too," he said, his tone light and teasing. 

"Haha, very funny Will." I shut the door quicker than last time to avoid any last minute "rules" that Will could come up with, only fully relaxing when I was locked in my car and on my way to Crawford's.

The relaxation only lasted a minute because the closer I got to the house, the more anxious I felt about our date. We didn't even know each other, how were we supposed to have a conversation? I reminded myself that blind dates happen all the time and the silent argument with myself only stopped when rain began to pelt down and I had to pay more attention to the road.

I parked as close to the house as possible and kept my head ducked against the droplets, although it didn't make much difference because I was drenched as soon as I stepped out. The door was opened for me as soon as I got to the porch and I sighed in relief at the warm, dry house.

Crawford offered to take my jacket and I slipped it off as carefully as possible, trying not to create puddles all over the floor. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea it was supposed to rain or I would have used an umbrella and your floor wouldn't be as wet," I said, smoothing my hair. I couldn't imagine the frizz that was happening up there.

"Don't worry about it. You look nice, by the way." His distracted compliment caused me to look at his face for the first time since entering the house. He was pouting as he looked out the window and he caught me watching him, gesturing sadly outside. "My date idea is ruined, by the way."

"Oh yeah?" I noticed a blanket folded on top of a basket by the door and waited for him to further explain, although I was sure I could guess.

"I thought we could go for a picnic. I swear the weather was supposed to be nice this afternoon and then this happened," he said, jabbing angrily at the glass. "I'm really sorry. There wasn't really a plan B to fall back on. "

"We don't need a plan B." I smiled and grabbed the blanket and basket, making him frown in confusion. "Where would you say is the coziest spot in this house?"

"Cozy?"

"Yeah, like somewhere quiet where we can hear the rain." Still looking confused he led the way to what I assumed was his room and looked back at me to see if this was what I wanted. "This is perfect! Are those LED lights?"

He nodded and turned them on, choosing a blue to fit with the gloomy weather. He watched me spread the blanket out in the corner and his lips tugged up at one corner. "So what are we doing?"

"Having a picnic," I replied, patting the floor so he would sit down with me. His smiled was wider now, his dimples on full display as we unpacked the basket together. "This is seriously the sweetest thing anyone has done for me, even if it wasn't exactly what you though it was going to be."

He avoided my gaze bashfully. "I thought it would be really nice outside under a tree or something but I guess this is nice too." He pulled out a bottle of sparkling grape juice and I quirked an eyebrow up at his choice. "I though after the punch fiasco at the party you weren't much of a drinker and this would be safer."

We ate and talked and I felt like I had know this boy all my life. I eventually laid on my back and closed my eyes, listening to the rain pound on the roof contentedly. Movement from beside me suggested he did the same. "I think this might be ten times nicer than anything you could've planned."

"Well then I'm glad it's raining," he replied, intertwining our fingers together.