Circles - Post Malone

Thirty Eight

The picnic under the tree is over the top. It looks like something out of a magazine or romantic movie. Tartan blanket with scatter cushions. Cheese, wine, sandwiches, cakes, fruit, and other things Dahlia knows she is not even going to try and eat. It's wonderful. "You got the twins to get all this stuff and set it up?" Dahlia asks, impressed with Austin's efforts. "No. I got all this stuff and showed the twins exactly how to set it up from a picture I googled. They were supposed to be looking after it and then disappearing when they saw us walking toward it," Austin says. Dahlia's mouth drops open as she grabs the bottle of wine and opens it. It's one thing to get the twins to do their thing but for Austin to spend so much time on planning, well that says something. It says a lot actually and it scares Dahlia. She will die the day he leaves her. Life is so fucking unfair.

"What is this?" Dahlia asks picking up what she thinks may be cheese but it also could be yogurt or cream. Austin takes it and sniffs it then scrunches up his face. "I don't know. But don't eat it, it smells off," he says. "Austin, you got all this stuff and you don't know what it is?" Dahlia asks also sniffing the cheese/yogurt/cream. It does smell off. "I am going to be honest with you. I don't know what half of this stuff is. I told a lady at the store what I wanted to do and she took me around and loaded my basket with romantic foods," he says. "What the fuck are these?" Dahlia asks picking up a little net filled with what looks like sea shells. "I don't know the name but she said they were aphrodisiacs," he says. Dahlia pulls a face.

"Aphro - what?"

"Aphrodisiacs...for you know, to make you sexually excited."

"They smell like seaweed and fish...how are they supposed to do that?" Dahlia asks opening the net and pulling one out, "how do we open it?" she asks. Austin sits up and rummages in the picnic basket and pulls out an odd-looking knife. "With this, she told me how," he says taking it from her and then stabbing at the shell and popping it open. Both Dahlia and Austin lean in and look into the shell. "That looks like a blob of snot," Dahlia says, Austin nods. He hands her the open shell then takes another one and pops it open too. It looks just as bad as the first one. "She said once it's open just tilt your head back and suck. It should pop into your mouth and slide down your throat," Austin explains. "You have made this sound like the least appetizing thing ever...but ok. At the same time," Dahlia says. "Ok, on three," Austin says and tilts his head back then brings the shell up - Dahlia copies him, "One...two...three." On three Dahlia lets the 'thing' slide from the shell into her mouth. All she can taste is salt and all she can feel is slime. Her gag reflex takes over and her throat closes. She starts gagging and then spits it out onto the grass. She is still trying to recover from the abomination that was in her mouth so she can't see Austin but she can hear him and he is no better than her. What the fuck was that? She grabs the bottle of wine and starts sucking on it in the hopes of getting rid of the salty taste in her mouth. "Give me that," Austin chokes out next to her and she hands him the wine. He takes a big swig and swishes it in his mouth. "That was fucked up," he says.

"Let's just stick to what we know. Here," Dahlia says handing Austin a sandwich. He takes it but she can see he is now a little grumpy. Clearly, this date is not going as planned. She takes a few bites of her sandwich then lies down on her back and scoots closer to Austin. He looks her up and down then discards his sandwich and leans over her. "I am a dating virgin. This is my first date ever and it's one that I don't think anyone would live up to. You set the bar high," she says. Austin takes a piece of her hair and twirls it around his finger then smirks. "Your standards are not very high then and actually this is our second date...according to you anyway," he says. Dahlia frowns at his words. What does he mean by that? A second date? What? "What the fuck are you on about? We have never been on a date before," she says. Austin laughs and kisses her on the tip of her nose. "We had a date during high school. I believe your words were...um...oh yes - Austin, you saved me and so I declare this a date," he says.

Dahlia stares wide-eyed up at him. What the fuck is happening? She does not know of any of this. Then she remembers the first day she got to New York and he stopped the coffee shop door from hitting her. He had made a throwaway comment about saving her again. But does she have amnesia? she does not remember any of this. "I...I don't know what you are talking about," she says. Austin smiles and pecks her on the lips. "I know you don't...want me to remind you?" he asks. Dahlia nods. "When we were in high school we had a lot of house parties. You never came to any and then one day you did, remember?" he starts explaining. Dahlia remembers going to that one house party. It had been a disaster. "Yes, I remember. I went intending to lose my virginity but I drank too much and passed out. I woke up the next morning tucked under a blanket on a pool chair," Dahlia says. Austin's brows raise slightly, "ok, well I did not know about the virginity part. I am going to ignore that part," he says. "So you came to this one party and I was shocked when I saw you. You made it very clear that you thought those parties were stupid. Anyway, I watched you throwing down the drinks and I thought you were fine till some of the guys decided they wanted to jump off the roof of the house into the pool and you thought that was a great idea so you followed them up there. The first three people went and only just made it into the pool. I was watching from below. Then I saw you up there and realized that you intended on jumping too. I ran up those stairs as fast as I fucking could and managed to get to you just as you stood on the edge. I grabbed you and yanked you back. You then threw your arms around me and kept thanking me for saving you. When you did not kill me like I had expected you to I realized you were really drunk. So I took a blanket and lead you outside then curled up on a pool chair with you. You buried your head in my chest like you do now and told me that this was our first date. You fell asleep after that...so did I. I woke up the next morning just before you and knew you would be upset so I left."

"I can't swim."

Austin lets out a little huff of a laugh then hides his face in Dahlia's neck. Dahlia wants to crawl up into a ball and just die. She had never really known what had happened that night at the party. She had come up with different scenarios but a scenario that involved Austin had never crossed her mind. She did not even remember seeing him. "I thought you would be more upset by that information. Why are you smiling?" Austin says with his head still in her neck. It's true, she is embarrassed but so fucking happy at the same time. "Because, Austin, I am happy and this is the best second date."