_faithful (_faithful) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-01-06 17:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-28 |
I've got a crush on you
Who: Alanna and Aaron
Where: 7 Springs Baptist Church
When: Noonish - after church
Aaron was surrounded by youth, grinning and laughing with them as they said their goodbyes for the day. They'd had a good youth session this morning for Sunday School and had great numbers too. He was pretty pleased. Aaron made sure to speak to the new people individually and invite them to come back.
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone he recognized. She was standing stiff against the wall, completely freaking out as people touched her to welcome her to the church. Aaron immediately felt for her and excused himself from his youth and went over to her. "Alanna! What a nice surprise!"
When his voice boomed over to her, the throngs of people around her parted and he was able to get to her. He made sure not to touch her, but instead motioned for her to go forward. His hand hovered over her back, never actually making contact. "So what brings you here this lovely day?" he asked as he guided her to the elevator.
Why had she decided to go to church? Alanna was not sure, but she was asking herself that question from the time she dress in Sunday-appropriate clothes, walked in and was all-but assaulted by people who meant well and wanted to say hi right up until the service ended and the same thing happened again. Only she could not hurry away because she knew why she was really there and if she did not say hello and he found out that she had not, then she was going to feel bad forever. Besides... she wanted to see him. So when she heard him calling out her name, causing the people who kept touching her and making her want to curl up in a ball somewhere, she smiled gratefully and followed his lead without a second thought.
He even remembered not to touch her, Aaron was really so considerate. "Hi Aaron," she smiled at him. "And I came because... well... I don't really know." She shrugged her shoulders and fiddled with her watch. Part of the reason was because she had been in a church just because the other night and wanted to hear a sermon again, but the other part was that she had known he would be there and she liked to see him when she could. Even if she was struggling to not bolt back outside because of all the people who had brushed up against or actively touched her. "But it doesn't matter much, right? Heard anything about how Jamie's doing lately?" There, that was a good question, steering away from any topic that might be awkward.
"Of course it matters," Aaron said, wrinkling his brow as to why she thought it didn't matter. "Lets go to my office... you might be more comfortable there and away from the crowds." He once again pointed her in the right direction and waved to his youth as they walked out of the sanctuary. He pointed to the left and they walked down the hall until he came to the last door on the right. Fishing his keys out of his pocket, he managed to unlock the door and hold it open for Alanna. Once she was in, he closed it and walked around to his desk to sit down.
"Last I heard, she was fine. I talked to her a couple of days ago." He had always been amazed at Alanna's willingness to stay friends with his sister, even after what happened.
Looking at her, she just didn't look right. He cocked his head to the side, his mouth turned down into a concerned frown. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
"I would be," Alanna agreed gratefully, going the direction he indicated without looking at any of the people he waved at. She was not trying to be rude, she was just a little tired of being around so many new people who kept smiling and expecting her to smile back. The redhead was friendly, yes, but she had her limits and they were usually breached immediately if more than a few people were trying to get her attention. At least Aaron noticed that and Alanna slipped gratefully into his office, sighing quietly as she sank into a chair. "I'm glad she's doing alright." I'll have to call her later. With all that was happening lately, Alanna did not want to hear of any of her friends being hurt.
Alanna glanced across the desk at Aaron, almost surprised by the question but not quite. He had known her for long enough to be able to tell when she was not completely fine, something that was no doubt helped by her inability to conceal anything. "It's been a really rough few days," Alanna replied, reaching up to rub at her temple. "With the demons and all..." Here she paused, licking her lips unconsciously. She had made a point of not making it too public knowledge that she had run into one. But what was Aaron going to do, tell her mother? No, he would never betray her trust, had never. "I ran into one of them." Her hands still shook a little at the memory. "And it was bad; I s-shifted and after I was so scared... guess that's why I came to the service today. Went and prayed the other night but it felt so empty." She had never made her falling out with religion a secret, though she had hated to tell Aaron, he was so sure of his path and she was sometimes jealous of that. The corners of her mouth tugged up in a weak smile as she glanced back up at Aaron. "Definitely didn't feel empty today with all those people."
"Alanna!" Aaron's heart was beating so fast upon hearing that she'd run into a demon. He jumped up and knelt before her, his hands hovering over her knees, wanting to touch her so bad, but not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. "Are you hurt? Are you okay?" Aaron could feel his blood run cold at the thought of her being hurt.
"Do you want to pray with me now? I would love to pray with you, if you want." Aaron was already praying in his head and heart for her, praying that God will protect her and keep her safe. He was praying that any wounds she suffered, that they be healed fast.
"I'm better," Alanna promised, biting her lip as she almost touched his hands, hesitating. It had almost been a year but it was so strange for her to touch people, feeling nothing but what she was supposed to. And she had not even worn gloves today... her hands slipped under his and moved up to touch them lightly, shuddering a little despite herself. "There was a vampire who helped me, and I healed really fast, you don't need to worry about me, really."
At the word 'pray', the redhead stiffened a little. Aaron knew, he knew, that she had problems with faith since Jamie had bitten her. "You can pray," she said quietly, looking away now. She would never deny him praying for her, knowing what it meant to him and actually not minding. "But you know I'm not going to, Aaron. I'm sorry." And she really was.
Aaron was quite surprised when she touched him. Even though her touch was light, he still shivered slightly, his palms tingling at her touch. He'd always had such a crush on Alanna and it felt amazing to feel her. Out of respect for her, he had always made such a conscious effort to not touch her so as not to make her feel uncomfortable. Her skin was so soft and Aaron could feel himself quickly becoming addicted to the feel of her skin against his. He curled his fingers and lightly stroked her wrists, just needing to continue their contact.
"I'm glad you're okay," Aaron said, sincerity ringing in every word. He filled in the blanks on what she'd told him earlier. "So I guess you had to shift into your hybrid form?" He knew she struggled with that form the most and his heart ached at her. At the same time, he felt a flare of anger towards Jamie for biting Alanna and making her suffer. As if her life hadn't been hard enough with the clairsentience Jamie had to go and bite her. It was sad to say but he and Jamie's relationship shifted a bit once he found out she bit Alanna. It would have been bad enough for her to bite some random person, but her best friend?! He would never understand her reasoning and was shocked that Alanna could forgive him so easily.
Aaron had expected her response to him asking her if she'd like to pray with him. He didn't like it, didn't like that she blamed God for what she was now. She wasn't the monster that she thought of herself. At all. There was no way someone like her, with her beauty and her heart could ever be a monster, no matter what their outer shell looked like.
Still though, Aaron bowed his head, his fingers still tracing patterns on Alanna's wrists. He prayed aloud, knowing Alanna would follow along if she wanted to. "Dear Lord, thank you for protecting and saving Alanna here. Help her to heal quickly both mentally and physically. Lord, help her to find her way back to You so she may feel Your eternal love and grace once again. Thank you for such a good friend and a beautiful day. In Your name I pray, Amen." He opened his eyes and searched hers out. He hoped she wasn't upset that he prayed aloud. Aaron just wanted her to know that he was praying for her - and more than just because of her injuries. He really did want her to have a relationship with God again. It was important to him, so important.
Alanna's heart felt like it paused for a moment when Aaron's fingers curled around her wrists. She did not, to her own amazement, pull away because her mind was not translating the lack of images to feeling dead... it actually felt, well, nice to be touched, if anything and Alanna felt her cheeks heating up a little. Almost every girl she had known in high school had had a crush on Jamie's big brother and been so jealous when he had taken her to the prom, but she had not been able to let herself think like that when touching, such a basic thing, was impossible. Not that she was not fully aware of how attractive Aaron was, and how sweet... stop that. Jamie's brother. Isn't it illegal or something to crush on the brother of your best friend? Girl law!
"Yeah... I... did," Alanna admitted. "Don't remember, of course, but when I started to my clothes were all torn and this vampire who was all broken up was looking at me like I'd done some great thing." She hated that, being looked at like she had done good when really, it had been monstrous. Sure the demon had wanted to kill her, doubtless, but she had no control over anything she did. That was the worst part of everything and the one she could not really talk about because she did not know anyone who understood. Aaron and Jamie had been born that way, it was different for them. They did not turn into monsters.
Her throat clenched when he started to pray. Not because she did not want him to, but because she could not follow along. Her heart was no more in it now than it had been at the church the other night when she had sat with Mihai and been given a prayer card that still resided in her purse. Tears stung her eyes by the time Aaron finished - it was not fair that people could have so much faith! - and she glanced away when he looked at her. "Sorry," she murmured, pulling one hand free to wipe against her eyes. "It's just... thank you, Aaron. I didn't mean to come here and start crying in front of you." But she was and now that it had started it was not stopping, her shoulders shaking a little as the tears kept falling. Her hand went from wiping her eyes to covering her face and she turned away. He was being so nice to her, why did she have to ruin it by crying?
"What you did was a great thing," Aaron murmured. He hated to see her beat herself up for something that wasn't her fault. "Just think, if you hadn't had that hybrid form, you might not have made it out of that alive. It's a miracle that you were able to fight off a demon and kill it." He wanted to tell her that it was with God's help that she managed to stay alive and it was all in God's plan that she be this monster she hated - because if she hadn't, she might not be sitting before him today. But he knew instinctively that Alanna was not ready to hear that. Was not ready to understand that what she was saved her life that day. Instead, Aaron just squeezed her hands reassuringly.
After he prayed he looked up to see her with tears in her eyes and all of a sudden her shoulders were shaking with the force of her tears and she'd turned away from him. Aaron's heart seized because the last thing he'd ever want to do is make her cry. He wanted to pull her down into his arms and hold her while she cried, but resisted the temptation. "Cry all you want," he said instead. His free hand went to tug her hand off her face; she didn't have to hide from him. Once it was down, he cupped her cheek and his fingertips absorbed the tears as they fell. "Ca-Can I give you a hug?" He had to hold her, comfort her, do something other than sit there and watch her cry.
Miracle? No, Alanna shook her head because she did not see how Aaron could think that. There was nothing miraculous about what she had done and she was sure that if he had been there to see the mess that she left and how she had thrown up when it was all over, he would not have said that. Though the Drake siblings did seem to not grasp how she felt about what she was - not that she could fault them. They were born into what they were, natural as breathing for them. They had control.
First reaction, flinch away from the touch on her face before she... no, she was not feeling anything but Aaron's hand cupping her face. Like when she had touched his hands. It was almost soothing. So Alanna nodded through her tears, a part of her mind that had always protested such things screaming that it was a bad idea, but another part yearned for the comfort she had never actually been able to have. Hugs? What was easy for other people had always been a nightmare for her. But he feels nice now. "Please," she whispered, lip trembling as she bowed her head. Her struggle with whether or not to let him touch her more had not stopped the rush of emotions that had pushed her right over a cliff she had not known she was standing on.
Aaron sat down on the floor in front of her and reached up, his strong arms pulled Alanna down into his lap. He cradled her against his chest, his arms wrapped around her as he rocked them slowly. Aaron couldn't help but press a kiss to her forehead as she cried. She felt amazing in his arms, small and alone and he had an overwhelming need to protect her.
For a moment Alanna held herself stiffly, her throat clenching tighter at the feeling of someone else not just touching her, but touching her that much... but then she relaxed against Aaron's chest, her tears slowing quicker than expected. This was the first time that Alanna had ever been held that she could remember and it was so new that she did not know how to describe it. Warm, Aaron felt warm and comforting. As her shoulders stopped shaking she sighed quietly, pressing her face into Aaron's shirt after another brief hesitation. He did not feel dead to her sense at all, rather the opposite. "Thank you."
Aaron didn't stop holding her close and wouldn't until she pushed him away. "Anytime," he murmured. "I am so sorry." He was apologizing on behalf of Jamie. She never should have bitten Alanna. Then again, if she hadn't, he wouldn't be here holding her right now. Aaron sighed. He wished there was something he could do for the girl. He felt largely responsible for her since it was his misguided sister who'd turned her.
He pulled back just a bit to look down at her. "What can I do to help you? What do you need?" Aaron wasn't letting her leave until she felt better. He'd play it by ear, but perhaps he'd ask her out for lunch. They didn't have a lot of time to get some one-on-one time and he was enjoying her company more than he could express.
So strange to feel comforted by something that had once made her want to scream and run away, Alanna noted, almost amused with herself as the last of her tears fell. "Not your fault," she whispered into his chest. She did not even blame Jamie anymore. Oh she had for a time, had even hated her maybe, but Alanna did not hold grudges well and good friends were hard enough for her to come by to cast one aside. Besides... a blush heated Alanna's cheeks, it felt nice. Even if she could not crush on him because Jamie would kill her. Wouldn't she?
"It's okay, Aaron," Alanna said, her voice a little ragged from the sobs. "I'm fine now, really, you don't have to do anything for me." She offered a tentative smile, but made no move to leave his lap. "Believe it or not, I'm just glad that you held me and I didn't feel like you were dead." That probably made absolutely no sense to anyone who was not her and her smile faded. She bit her lip and looked away, making as though to rise. "Sorry, I know, weird of me to say."
"I know I don't have to do anything - I want to," Aaron clarified. He had one hand that was stroking up and down her arm, still not quite believing he was touching her and she wasn't pulling away from him.
Aaron cocked his head and thought about her statement while he tightened his arms around her and kept her in his lap. It did actually make sense now that he stopped to think about it. He always assumed that she would be relieved to be able to touching things and touch people and not have visions. "No, I think I understand. Before, everything you touched had a memory, a vision. But now, it's empty, right? So I see how things might feel dead to you." He looked down at her, questions in his eyes to see if he was right.
One thing to be held, another thing to feel his hand on her bare arm. Goosebumps popped up in response and Alanna's eyes widened. A rather large part of her was utterly delighted with all of this - being touched and finding out why everyone seemed to enjoy it so much - and it beat out the part that was demanding to know why she was letting it happen. Then another, previously silent bit, wondered as to why Aaron was touching her so much and keeping her held in his lap despite her weird statement. She only strained a moment before relaxing again, her head going back to his shoulder. It was almost like it fit there.
"That... that's right," Alanna replied, surprise clear on her face and in her voice. "That's exactly it!" It had always been hard to explain to anyone who was not her aunt and therefore able to pick the thoughts right out of her head. "Everything feels so dead to me when I touch it. Maybe I'm just not used to it because you definitely don't feel dead. You feel nice." Her eyes widened a bit, her natural tendency to chatter coming back now that the tears were gone. "Oh, that sounded wrong, didn't it? Please don't tell Jamie I said it, she'd probably get mad at me for even being... like..." Her blush got worse and she changed her line of thought. "Why are you holding me so tight?"
Aaron gave her a smile when she sank back into his arms. She did seem to belong there and he wasn't complaining a bit that she was there. His smile widen when she said he'd guessed right. He chuckled when she started chattering, loving her tendency to do that. "You feel nice too, Alanna," he murmured, a faint blush staining his cheeks. He looked at her confused for a second before asking, "Why would I tell Jamie any of this? She knows we're friends." Even though eventually he'd like to be more than friends, he couldn't see that Jamie would have anything to say about that. She'd made Alanna's life hell and if he could make her happy, then so be it. Jamie could just deal with it.
"Oh, sorry!" Aaron quickly relaxed his arms, not realizing his hold had tightened. "Did I hurt you?"
She felt nice, did he really just say that? It's like one of those movies... oh! Alanna blinked several times at the sudden thought. Was that strange fluttering and her embarrassing habit of blushing when Aaron was close a crush? The redhead had never had one of those before, well, that she knew of. But if she had then she knew it would have been on Aaron, the guy who had always been nice to her and even taken her to her prom even though he had been in college. "I don't know," she said in response to his question, "People talk and you know your sister. I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, do I? I need to learn to think first." Which she did, it was not her fault that no one else followed the same sense of logic.
"Uh-uh, didn't hurt me," Alanna said, her naturally happy disposition returning quickly now that she had calmed. "It just seemed like you wanted to keep me here even though I was done crying."
Aaron chuckled at her, thinking she was absolutely adorable. "I kind of like having you here," he admitted. "But if you're getting uncomfortable or something, I suppose I can let you go." His grin was teasing and he liked this banter between the two of them.
"Actually, while you're here - do you want to go to lunch? I'm starving but I don't want you to go yet." The admission surprised him because it seemed that his crush was back in full force. He hadn't seen Alanna outside of Jamie for a while so it was nice to have her to himself for a few minutes.
"I'm not uncomfortable," Alanna muttered. He liked having her there and that made the fluttering worse. It may have been the first time that she had been this close to someone in her life and Alanna was sure that later she would wonder why she had let it happen, but right then she was enjoying herself. "Lunch would be very nice, yes." It seemed like she was eating out with people a lot more than she had used to. "But we could stay like this for just a minute, I'm kind of liking being held. If you don't mind."
"Of course I don't mind. Already said I liked it, silly girl." He held her a teeny bit tighter as she was warm against his chest. "We could order in delivery and have a picnic right here in my office. That way we wouldn't have to move." It sounded like a fabulous idea to him. He didn't really want to be moving anytime soon. Who would when they had a beautiful woman in their arms. He was getting far too used to her in his arms and enjoying it far too much.
"Girl has to make sure of these things," Alanna defended herself, no real bite to the words. She did shift a little so that she could move her arms, which felt a little tense after being a little trapped like they had been. "But I like the way you think. I'm good with pretty much anything so long as it's not pizza, not really in the mood." She usually ended up with cheese hanging off her chin when she ate that and, while normally she did not much care who saw, she had a strong desire to not look like an idiot in front of Aaron. Her arms, having not many options, ended up settling sort of at his waist, Alanna's dark eyes wide when she blinked up at him. "I'll pay for mine, of course."
Aaron shot Alanna a look that clearly said she wasn't going to be paying for her lunch. No self respecting gentleman had a meal with a girl he crushed on and made her pay for it. Aaron reluctantly unwrapped an arm from around her and grabbed his cell phone off his desk. He punched in the number to his favorite delivery place, Steak Out. "They have chargrilled chicken, hamburgers, salads and steak - take your pick," he told Alanna as he held for someone to pick up. He was partial to their grilled chicken sandwiches, himself.
"Okay, okay," Alanna laughed, almost holding her hands up in surrender until she remembered where they were and decided not to. Instead she scrunched her face up a little as she tried to think of what sounded good. "I'll take a chef salad with ranch dressing if they've got those, but no onions." She hated onions, especially if they were fresh. "And, uhh... just water to drink." She had had that huge Slurpee just the other day when Melody stopped by, she did not need to overindulge. Though continuing to sit in Aaron's lap could be counted as that. But he won't mess with my need for sugar or caffeine.
Aaron quickly ordered and dropped the phone, putting his arm back around Alanna where it belonged. Something she'd said earlier bothered him a bit, so he looked at her curiously, his brow slightly furrowed. "You think Jamie would have a problem with us spending time together?" He sincerely hoped not. She was all the time ragging on him for not dating much and not having a girlfriend. He never wanted to tell her that the one person he was interested in was her best friend. And probably not interested in him. At this point though, he could care less if Jamie liked them hanging out or not. Jamie had already caused irreversible harm to Alanna and she wasn't about to do it again by tell them who they could hang out with and who they couldn't. They had to draw a line somewhere and as far as Aaron was concerned, the line was drawn at his friendship with Alanna.
"Spending time together? Noooo," Alanna shook her head. That was not it at all, Jamie had always encouraged Alanna to make friends with Aaron, claiming jokingly that the redhead needed all of the help she could get and who better than her best friend's brother? For all she actually knew, Jamie might not have a problem with the current scene at all. "Me sitting in your lap? Yeah maybe just a little." Not that Alanna had expected that to happen, was still a little shocked by it, but thinking about what her best friend might say made the shock take a backseat. "Not that it matters right? You're just making me feel better like you'd do with any of the girls who started crying like idiots in front of you. Just if she, like, walked through that door she'd probably jump to conclusions and... yeah." Her tongue had gotten away from her again, she was going to need to find a leash for that thing.
It was Aaron's turn to blush a little. "Well, I normally don't pull every hot girl who's crying into my lap, I can assure you. This is, uh, kind of a first for me." He chuckled nervously, not quite sure how she would take that. Hopefully well, as he liked her...a lot. "Are you? Feeling better though?" He certainly hoped so... he hated to see her sad or unhappy.
"Yeah, feeling a lot better or I'd still be crying. You know me, can't hide what I'm - wait, what?" Alanna's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as her mind processed all of what Aaron had said. "Did you just call me hot? Me? You're aware that I'm Alanna, right, your little sister's strange friend you had to take to prom because no one else would?" Hot was not a word used to describe her, like, ever. Especially not by Aaron Drake who she had borne first-hand witness to a multitude of crushes on by girls who actually were attractive and not weird like her.
Aaron chuckled at her reaction. "You are too hot, missy. I took you to the prom because I wanted to and I used the fact that you didn't have a date as an excuse to go with you. You looked absolutely beautiful that night, Alanna." He remembered how much he wanted to dance with her, to kiss her but didn't because of her clairsentience. Now he blushed, so thankful that she was telepathic and couldn't hear what he'd just thought.
He remembered that night a lot differently than Alanna did. She remembered being nervous and so afraid that someone was going to brush up against her or that Aaron would be just like everyone else. But his way of remembering caused Alanna to tilt her head a little, her expression suddenly thoughtful. "You wanted to go with me," she remarked. "And you think I'm pretty. Those things usually go together when you like someone, Aaron." Which was exactly what she was sure would have Jamie in some sort of fit. Best friends don't date each others brother. Seriously she thought it was an unwritten law. "You like me, don't you." Could never be said that Alanna was shy when she had something on her mind.
Of course she remembered things that way. That was her priority at the time, as it should have been. When she asked him the point blank question, he blushed deeply. He searched her eyes trying to decide how to answer that. Finally just deciding to go for it, he swallowed hard. "Yeah, I do, Alanna. I've liked you for a long time," he admitted. He buried his face in her shoulder as if to hide from her.
Once he felt the blush subside a bit, he looked up at her a bit sheepish. "Are you mad?"
Was Aaron... blushing? Alanna was more surprised by that than the answer, then the action. "Mad?" she asked, blinking before shaking her head. "No, I'm not mad, Aaron, just really surprised." She was weird, she had accepted that a long time ago and boys teased her and avoided her because she shied away from things like being touched. They did not like her, especially not ones like Aaron. "Really, really surprised because if I'd ever had a crush on anyone when I was growing up it'd be you."
Aaron stared at her, not sure he'd heard her right. "On me?" He was confused by her wording... if she'd ever had a crush. "You don't know if you've ever had a crush?" He definitely knew during high school and college that he liked Alanna. No other girl really measured up to her in his eyes. "You're surprised to hear that I like you? Why?" Obviously she didn't see herself the way he did. He would have to work on that, he resolved.
Shrugging, it had always been rather matter of fact, Alanna replied, "Hard to be able to tell when you don't really think about it. I mean, I... you were always so nice and made me feel good about myself in a way that Jamie didn't..." It was extremely hard to explain something that no one else seemed to grasp, except maybe some kid who thought the other sex was full of cooties still. She had had that basic mentality for twenty-two years. "And, uhh... because I'm weird? First I couldn't touch anyone - do you realize you're the first person to hold me like this that I can ever remember? - and now I turn into a monster every time the full moon comes. Not exactly the sort of thing guys like." Her smile was slightly self-mocking by this point.
"We all have our challenges, Alanna. And neither of yours matter to me. I hated not being able to touch you at times, but that didn't stop me from liking you and wanting to be around you. I don't care if you turn into your hybrid form on a full moon." He refused to call it a monster - she could never be a monster in his eyes. He'd seen hybrid form weres and true, they were scary but it didn't matter to him. Aaron put a finger under Alanna's chin to turn her face to his. "What I care about is who you are - not what you are. I care about this," he said as he tapped his finger over her heart.
Slowly, Alanna's cheeks turned a bright shade of red as Aaron went on, though she still did not think he viewed what she was right. She was a monster, she forgot everything from the moment she shifted to the moment when she changed back and there was nothing to be done for it. Aaron probably would not have thought that way if he could see her on the full moon. Which was never going to happen, Alanna decided that right then. "Well, I guess that's that then," she said. A teasing pout slid across her face then. "You should have told me on my birthday! This would've been a great present." Even if back in March she knew that she would have run right away if he had asked if he could hug her.
Aaron shook his head with a small smile. Only Alanna would have the response of 'that's that' to him spilling his guts out for her. It was part of her charm, he supposed. "Well, this birthday will be the best then, how about it?" He vowed to do something super special for her on her birthday next year, just to make her feel as special as she was.
A knock sounded at the door and it was their delivery. Aaron pouted slightly before pressing a kiss to Alanna's hair and shifting her gently off his lap. He hopped up and paid for their meal, tipping the delivery guy generously. Rooting around in the bag, Aaron pulled out the salad that Alanna had ordered and set ti down in front of her. "Bon appetite!" He sat across from her, his bad knee stretched out. He bowed his head and offered a silent prayer of thanks for the good food and great company.
"I'll remember that you said that," Alanna promised with a laugh, allowing herself to be shifted without complaint. The kiss was just as unexpected as everything else and by the time Aaron returned she had her fingers pressed where his lips had been, a curious expression on her face. "Thanks a lot," she smiled as she accepted the salad, applied her dressing and started to eat slowly. Salad had always been one of her favorites and it was even nicer because she was sitting with Aaron... Aaron who liked her... that was actually starting to sink in as Alanna chewed on a rather large piece of carrot. "So if you like me... and you think I'm pretty... doesn't that usually go with, like, asking me out?" If he was willing to hold her like that - a bigger deal to Alanna than most girls - then being asked out did not seem like much more.
"I thought I kinda did." He gestured to the meal around them and smiled at her. "But, if this doesn't work for you, then, would you like to go to dinner tomorrow?" He wouldn't mind the chance seeing her all dressed up - not that she doesn't look pretty on any given day - she'd just be a knock out all dolled up. Taking a bite of his chicken sandwich he worried a bit that tomorrow might be too soon; that she might need some time to adjust to everything.
Alanna shook her head, swallowing a little fast so that she could reply. "No, this doesn't count because I didn't know that you liked me before I agreed." That made every bit of sense in the world to the redhead. "But yes, I'd like to go to dinner tomorrow, I don't have any other plans." Wait, did she have to dress up? Alanna's heart jumped a little at that thought, this was one of the dressiest things that she owned! After she took a drink of her water she added in almost absently, "Besides, I like you too so it makes sense that I want to spend time with you." Liking and having a crush were two separate things in Alanna's mind and liking ranked up higher because she actually - sort of - understood it.
Aaron blushed, "You like me too? Really?" It made him feel good to know that his feelings were reciprocated. "Dinner it is then. Do you like Italian? There's this really nice Italian place we can go." It was one of his favorite restaurants so she hoped she liked Italian. "Do you want to go to a movie too or just dinner? I'm fine with either." He figured this would kind of be a first date ever for Alanna and wanted to make it as comfortable for her as possible.
The fact that she had made Aaron blush several times made Alanna a little giddy. She did not really make people blush - but people don't like-like me either so... it's different? - and it was kind of nice. "Yeah really, or I wouldn't have said it." Alanna stabbed at a tomato that did not want to just go on her fork like it was supposed to, grinning when it finally did. "Italian's awesome, yeah! And I don't mind going to a movie, it's been awhile since I have and I don't have to go to bed early tomorrow night, class doesn't start until noon."
Aaron grinned, pleased that she genuinely liked him too. "Dinner and a movie it is then. We can officially say it's a date. I'll pick you up at 7pm? And I read in the newspaper not long ago that there is an old fashioned drive in movie theater that plays current movies... perhaps we could go to that." It sounded like so much fun to him and he was ever so grateful in that moment that he'd spent a couple of thousand more to get leather seats in his SUV. It should make for a more comfortable movie watching experience.
"It's a date." Alanna had never thought that she would hear herself say those words - oh my god, everyone is going to freak! - and she knew that she was grinning like an absolute idiot as she finished off her salad. "And a drive-in, I've heard about that place... never been to one, but I've heard it's fun. Yeah." She nodded, pushing her hair back. "I say that sounds like a really good idea." Stretching, the redhead realized that she had been sitting for a lot longer than she usually did on Sundays and her muscles were protesting. "Ugh, I think I've got to go do my run soon, didn't get it in this morning since I decided to come here. Not that I mind! Totally worth it."
Aaron thought her grin was absolutely adorable. She was clearly pleased to be going out on a date with him and that in turn, made him happy. Aaron was really excited to see where this all was headed. He'd had such a crush on her for such a long time and was finally ready to see where it led. Aaron polished off his sandwich and tucked everything back in the bag to throw away. He stood up and stretched a hand down to Alanna to help her up. Once up he kept pulling until he could wrap his arms around her in a tight hug. His arms were a natural fit around her small waist and he buried his nose in her hair. "Thanks for stopping by," he murmured in her ear.
Biting her lip, Alanna accepted Aaron's hand and allowed him to help her up, though her mind immediately took off when he was hugging her again, face in her hair. Dead dead dead, her mind lamented at the lack of any memories resonating from his touch. Not dead! He's very much alive, stop that! She forced her breathing to even out and even managed to hug Aaron back before slipping out with an apologetic. "Sorry, just... minor freak out. And I'm really glad that I came by, and that we had this whole discussion. I'll see you tomorrow at seven?" She brushed back a piece of hair that had fallen loose, remarkably pleased with herself for not bolting right out the door, which would have shamed her to no end. Girls did not run away from the guy they liked because he had hugged them, she was pretty sure.
"I'm sorry," Aaron immediately apologized. He had rushed things. "I'm really sorry... I'll ask before I do that again - give you fair warning." It was definitely going to be an adjustment to curtail his naturally touchy tendencies... but an adjustment he was willing to make for Alanna.
"Do you still want to go out? I understand if you don't." The last thing that Aaron wanted to do was to rush her. He knew that this was all very new to her and if she needed time to adjust, he'd give her that time.
Alanna blinked, a little confused by Aaron's question. "Well, yeah of course I do," she replied. "I didn't mean to jump away and I'm not mad, that's just how I am. A little flighty." It had gotten her in trouble before and it seemed it was going to do its absolute best to do it again. She tilted her head a little, eyes wide as she teased, "I'm just a little thing after all, can't help but be intimidated by someone bigger than me." But she ruined it by laughing right after she finished, shaking her head. "Don't worry too much, Aaron, I'll get used to it."
Aaron laughed when she did, loving the sound of her laughter. "Good then. Seven tomorrow night then." He leaned in and quickly kissed her cheek before walking with her to the door. "I enjoyed lunch. Thank you again for stopping by."