—
"Maybe don't burn my face off." Ryder joked, tilting her head to look at the boy behind her.
"I'm trying not to burn your hair off, give me a break." Austin muttered, smiling at the sound of her giggling.
The two teens were in Ryder's bathroom, the girl sitting in a chair they got from the kitchen, Austin stood behind her, carefully putting the bleach in her hair.
He had listened intently as she explained how he should do it. Despite what she said he should do, he didn't want to risk anything and even went out his way to watch a video and read the instructions that came on the back of the box.
Austin was both shocked and confused that she was allowing him to possibly ruin her hair. It didn't seem like she was too bothered by him asking simple questions about the products. In fact, it sounded like she enjoyed explaining things to him.
Josie had passed by earlier, standing in the bathroom for about ten minutes ranting about how he was lucky because Ryder wouldn't even allow her to borrow her hair brush.
Austin felt his heart swell knowing she trusted him that much.
He placed part of her hair in a clip, gently moving her head to his preferred positions, not wanting to risk missing a spot.
"I have a question." Ryder suddenly spoke up, struggling to keep still, instead focusing her mind on something else.
Austin paused for a minute before continuing, "Ask away."
"So, you remember the winter formal, correct?"
His content expression was erased, "Unfortunately, I do." He nodded, assuming he meant the end of it.
"Uhm- i meant the part that I would describe as good. Not when i nearly died."
"Oh!" He shouts, startling the girl in the chair, "Yeah, yeah, I remember."
"Okay, I—"
"But I wouldn't describe it as 'good', maybe great, magical, exciting..." He rambled on, "You can stop me at any moment."
Ryder laughs, tilting her head back, Austin gently moving it back forward.
"Yeah, sure." She shrugged.
He gasped in faux offense, "You're sure?!"
"You know what I mean." She rolled her brown eyes fondly.
"Do I?"
"You do."
His heart pounded at her soft tone. He had no clue how she did it.
One minute he was having a normal conversation with her, and the next, his heart rate was going up because of the simple sound of her voice. He didn't know if her scratchy voice was a natural thing that came and went as it pleased, but he absolutely melted when she brought it out.
"Austin?"
He snapped out of his thoughts, clearing his throat, taking hold of the last piece of hair, "S-Sorry, this is my last part."
Ryder frowned, she didn't want to bring up how that wasn't what they were talking shout, sitting quietly while enjoying how she was able to make him stutter with a simple sentence.
•••
"You guys are done already?" Aaron asked almost as soon as he was Austin making his way down stairs.
Had it been anyone else, he wouldn't have let them upstairs alone with his possible soon-to-be a werewolf daughter.
Romona had also been speaking a lot more, so he gathered from her that it was probably best for someone like Austin to be around Ryder as much as he could be.
The woman knew how much Ryder and Austin trusted each other, she knew that if Ryder just so happened to then with Austin around her, she would hurt herself before allowing herself to hurt him.
The man could only wonder how long it would be for his, what Josie described as "emo", daughter to push Austin away from her.
Just like she did most people.
"Yeah, she's taking a shower to wash everything out."
"You guys did bleach and tone?" Josie asked, tilting her head back to drink her juice.
"I guess?" The George boy frowned, "I don't really know what tone is."
Romona hummed, their eyes immediately falling on her, excited to hear what she had to say, "Her hair did not fall out?"
Austin chuckled, "I hope not."
"I hope it did." Josie scoffed, "Karma for not letting me do it."
"You know why she won't let you do it, Jo." Aaron told her, his arm making its way around his wife's shoulder.
Austin glances between the family, a smile making its way onto his face, he was extremely interested in knowing the story, "Why not?"
"Little Josie tried to cut Ryder some bangs, poor thing would not go to school for three days." Romona laughed, the sound sending her husband into a trance.
The man had greatly enjoyed hearing her speak up. While they had their moments alone, her voice would be nothing more than a soft whisper. He was glad that she was comfortable enough around others to say what she wanted.
"Austin?!"
"That's my cue." The George boy pointed his thumb back.
"Good luck." Aaron spoke, clamping his teeth together in worry, no one being able to tell if Ryder's scream was a good thing or not.
•••
"Woah."
His pupils dilated at the sight of her. His heart, once again, speeding up as he locked eyes with her.
"I don't hate it." Her face pulled into a wince, turning the blow dryer off so she could hear him clearly.
Austin's face drops, "So I did bad?"
"You did good." Her voice cracked, sending the teen boy into a frenzy.
"I told you that we should've went to a professional, Ry!" He groaned, "I'll pay to get it fixed, come on."
"Can you relax, please?" She laughed out loud, turning the hairdryer on and turning it in his direction.
His hair moved back at the action, his eyes closing in relief upon realizing she was joking.
"Don't do that to me!" He reach for her hand, pulling her towards him, placing her hand against, "You gave me a heart attack."
"So, I see." She whispered, drawing his attention back to her oh so beautiful brown eyes.
Only now, the eyes he took credit in describing as beautiful, were now no longer their usual brown.