"think i like you best when you're just with me and no one else."
---
y/n's pov
I put on a fake smile and watched as another middle-aged woman walked out of the small store.
"Jesus Christ." I muttered, wiping my hands on my apron. I look up at the line to see a familiar, curly-haired boy looking down at his phone. "Ethan?"
He looked up and his eyes went wide.
"Y/N! Shit, I didn't know you, um, worked here." He gestured around the coffee shop. "Since when did you work here?"
"Since like three months ago, Eth. I started in July." I then looked down at the computer screen in front of me. "So what can I get for you, Landry?"
Ethan was silent for a moment, and his smile faltered for a split second. I didn't catch it, though.
"Um..." He coughed to clear his throat. "Just a, uh..."
It took him almost five minutes to decide.
"Jesus, Ethan. You're lucky there's no one else here." I sighed after he finally ordered. "What are you doing here?"
"I was, um, actually on my way to see you." He answered as I started making his drink. "But I stopped here first. Lucky, huh?"
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yeah. I, uh... I wanted to ask you something."
"Well, you can ask now." I shrugged, placing a lid on the drink's paper cup.
"Okay..." He cleared his throat. "Uh, would you, um, maybe want to go on a date with me?"
"So, would you want to go on a date with me... next weekend?"
I slid Ethan his cup and smiled.
"Yeah, of course." I cleaned the small mess of split drink I had accidentally left while making it. "When were you thinking?"
"Um, tonight maybe? Only if you're free."
"Well, I'm closing tonight, but I get off at 6:30, if that's okay?"
"No, yeah, yeah, that's fine, really cool." He nodded quickly, stumbling over his words. "Perfect. Yeah."
"You seem nervous, E. Am I really that scary?" I asked and he chuckled, looking down at his drink. "So tonight?"
"Yeah. I can pick you up, too."
"From down the hallway? My knight in shining armor." I reached forward and ruffled his hair. "I'd love for you to pick me up. Maybe around 7:30?"
"Yeah, cool. Awesome." He nodded again. "Um, I'm gonna..."
He pointed over his shoulder towards the door.
"Bye, Y/N." He leaned over the counter and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "See you tonight."
I bit back a smile. "See you tonight, Ethan."
---
I sat on my bed, bouncing my leg up and down as I avoided biting my nails.
"Why do you keep on looking at the door like that?" Anika asked and I looked over to where she and Mindy were seated by Mindy's desk.
"Hmm?"
"She's waiting for Ethan." Mindy answered, grabbing a chip from the bag she was sharing with her girlfriend. "They're going on a date. She hasn't shut up about it all evening."
"I'm just excited, Mindy. And a little nervous, but mostly excited." I nodded, getting up to check my outfit in the mirror one last time.
"Y/N, stop fussing. You look good, okay?" Mindy sighed and I slowly nodded. "Besides, you could be wearing,like, a bag of trash and that boy would not take his eyes off of you."
"He's whipped." Anika nodded along, smiling sweetly.
"Look, guys, I'm just nervous." I sighed. "I mean, this is my first date since Wes. Hell, it's my first date with someone who isn't Wes."
Anika went to speak, but there was a knock at the door.
"Shit." I brushed my shirt down and hurried over to the door before opening it.
There Ethan stood, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt before meeting my eyes.
"Hey." He greeted with a smile. His eyes drifted over me and his mouth sat open very slightly. "You look gorgeous."
I almost slammed the door in his face to scream.
"Thank you." I felt myself blush.
"Um, are you ready to go?" He asked, awkwardness taking over once again.
"Yeah." I nodded and took a good look at him.
His curls were dark and damp, as if he had just showered, and he wore a blue button-down and jeans.
Overall he looked pretty cute.
"Okay, see you guys." I turned to Mindy and Anika.
"Bye!" Anika waved enthusiastically and Mindy just nodded.
I stepped out of the room and stood beside Ethan, closing the door behind me.
"So, where are we going?" I asked as we started heading down the hallway.
"Um, I was thinking dinner and movie? It's a little basic but--"
"Sounds great." I grabbed his hand in mine.
He let out a breath of relief.
I glanced to the right side of dorms as we walked to see Chad's head sticking out of a gap from his open door with a grin. He gave a thumbs up and disappeared into the room, shutting the door with him.
"Oh, my God." Ethan muttered, looking down at his feet in embarrassment. "I told him not to do that."
"You telling him not to is probably what made him do it. It's just how Chad works." I met Ethan's eyes. "I mean, if you're gonna be his roommate for four years, you might need to catch on."
"Yeah." Ethan went quiet until we reached the stairs.
We had started heading down and my shoe caught onto something on the carpet.
Gum.
I stepped in gum.
"Ugh, what the fuck!" I groaned, pulling my shoe away from the gum and looking down at the bottom. I looked up at Ethan. "You wouldn't happen to have anything for this, would you? Tissues, maybe?"
"Uh..." He dug through his pockets until he pulled out his dorm key.
"It's fine. I'll just try and... scrape it off." We made it outside of the building and I started dragging my foot back and forth over the pavement in an attempt to rub the gum off. "Well, tonight's starting off great."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise." I took his hand again and we started walking. "It's not your fault."
He squeezed my hand and led the way to the movie theatre, and let him, even thought I had been there before.
Ethan paid for the tickets and I offered to pay for snacks, but he insisted he would.
We took our seats and he immediately turned to face me.
"Thanks for coming with me." He spoke quietly.
"Thanks for asking me." I leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.
When I pulled back, he tried leaning forward, chasing my lips. I smiled and tousled his hair.
He pressed one kiss to the back of my hand and the previews started up.
It was a fun night.