I drummed my fingers against the armrest of the couch, staring at the phone over the table.
It was Sunday and he still hadn't called. I gave him my number on Friday, why was he taking so long?! Alby said he spoke about me, and Newt himself asked me to go out sometime.
Defeated, I turned on the TV and absently watched it. There was a game show on, something about many contestants trying to find the way out in a gigantic maze. Well, that looked overwhelming.
Someone came running down the stairs, and I smiled when Chuck plonked himself next to me in the couch.
"What are you watching?" He stared at me with big eyes and I grinned at him.
"Nothing really" I lazily pointed at the screen, my eyes glancing at the phone again on the way for just a millisecond. "Just that"
"That's klunk!" Chuck exclaimed, picking up the remote and zapping through the channels as he bounced up and down on the couch. He was such a hyper and adorable little brother.
"Klunk?" I repeated, puzzled by that word.
"I made it up" He proudly told me, smiling widely. "It means crap or shit"
"Alright, I definitely rather you say klunk" I ruffled his hair playfully and he pouted as he combed his curls with his chubby fingers.
"Hello?" Someone shouted from the door.
"Thomas!" Chuckie stood up and run to him to greet him.
"Hi, buddy!" I heard Thomas saying to him.
Thomas had a key to my house; I gave it to him for emergencies. But he just used it to come whenever he felt like it. Not that I complained, though, it was great to hang out with my best friend. And Chuck liked him so much as well.
Still, Thomas took the advantage that my parents were out travelling.
I turned around to look over my shoulder and waited for Thomas to show up in the living room and then I gave him a hug.
"How are you, Y/N?" My friend sat down and handed me the bag he had been carrying. Occasionally, he would bring me candy or sweets or something.
"Meh" I mumbled, digging around the plastic bag and picking up the Snickers to start devouring them.
"She's moody because her boyfriend hasn't called her yet" Chuck explained with a mocking tone.
Well, what a mistake I made by telling them about my encounter with Newt.
"I'm not moody" I simply told them, watching my brother as he sat between Thomas and me.
"But he's your boyfriend" Thomas, of course, went along with him.
"What?"
"You didn't deny it"
I rolled my eyes at them as I nibbled on the chocolate.
"I'm just waiting for him to call so we can hang out, he's not my boyfriend"
"She's blushing" Chuck loudly whispered to Thomas, who laughed.
"Alright" I just stood up and was headed to my room, not very fond of the idea of putting up with their teasing, when suddenly my phone rang.
There was a lot of movement, and before I could stop them, the rascals picked it up.
"Y/N's phone" Thomas sang as he answered it. "Oh, hey, Newt!"
I let my jaw drop and mouthed a clear 'no' at him, but my friend just smirked evilly and faced his back to me.
"Give it to me!" I whispered yelled, throwing myself in his direction and climbing onto Thomas' back. I struggled to take the phone from his hands as he changed it from one to the other.
Chuck began to laugh, trying to keep it down so Newt didn't hear him.
"Yeah, she's here" Thomas kept talking to the blond over the phone.
"Thomas!" I complained, showing him my most menacing look.
He rolled his eyes jokingly at me and gave me my phone.
"Newt?" I said as I got on my feet and walked away from the laughing Thomas and Chuck as they were too loud.
"Hi, Y/N!" Oh, it was so nice to hear his endearing and husky voice. "Um... are you doing anything this afternoon?"
"No, actually..."
"We can go for a walk if you want"
I smiled so big that my cheeks began to hurt.
"Y-Yeah, why not? Sounds fun!"
"Great! Pick you up at around... um, seven?"
"Okay"
"Bye"
"Bye..."
"Bye" He said again, and hung up.
I screamt out of pure excitement and started dancing.
"It's just a boy" Thomas was suddenly very cranky. What happened to all the laughter?
"But it's that boy!" I definitely needed a female friend to celebrate. She would understand.
Boys...
Chuck tugged at my shirt, so I looked down at him curiously.
"I don't want you going out with that guy" Chuckie said to me in a childish tone, and I raised my eyebrows in utter surprise.
"Why, little brother?"
"I don't like him" He was thirteen, but he sounded like he was five or something.
"You don't know him; you haven't even seen him yet!" I just laughed, not knowing he would react like that.
He seemed really keen of mocking me for liking him just a minute ago.
It was the first time I properly went on a date with a boy –was it a date? - because other times it didn't really quite work that far. And I was really excited about it, why couldn't they be happy for me?
"He's got a point, you know?" Thomas pointed out.
I cocked my head to the side and desperation.
"Really? You too?"
Thomas simply shrugged, but I knew he was being overprotective. It wouldn't be the first time he took the role of a big brother.
"Whatever, I'm going to-" I cut myself midsentence as I realized something. "Oh, no"
"What is it?" Thomas face was covered in concern.
"He's picking me up, but he doesn't know where I live..." It got off to a bad start already. "What am I going to do?!"
I was so nervous that I couldn't come up with a solution.
"That's such a pity..." Thomas sarcastically said.
I desperatedly needed a friend. A girl.
And the only girl I got along with better was Teresa.
I dialed her number in a hurry and impatiently waited for her to pick up.
"Hello?" Her voice soon replied.
"Who are you calling?" Thomas interrupted me.
"Teresa! I need your help! He finally called, and he asked me out on a date, but he doesn't know where I live and it's going to be a disaster, everything is going wrong. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, it all had to be perfect-"
"Whoa, calm down, girl!" Teresa laughed on the other end of the call.
I glanced at Thomas, who was pursing his lips so he wouldn't laugh. I slapped his arm nervously.
"Start from the beginning, why are you so anxious?"
"Did Thomas tell you about Newt?"
He just rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch again, chatting with Chuck as he knew this would take a while.
"Yes, what about Newt?"
"He called me finally and asked me out, but he's supposed to come pick me up and he doesn't know where he's supposed to come"
"Well, if he called you... Then you have his number, right?"
I didn't speak again as I realized how utterly stupid I had been, instead I sighed softly when I realized it had a solution. Of course I had his number; it would be registered in my calls.
"Y/N?"
"I do"
I heard Thomas chuckling, so I threw the closest object I had at him. Luckily for my friend, it was just a pillow.
"Then call him back and tell him"
"I can't call him..." I nibbled on my lower lip. "I'm too shy"
Teresa giggled on the other side of the call.
"Maybe you should drop it then!" Thomas mumbled from the couch.
"Shut up, Stephen!"
It was an inside joke we had. We were besties even in high school, and we were in the same class. But for some reason, Janson –our terrible, obnoxious and odious teacher of Science- always called him Stephen, for whatever reason. He just got his name wrong all the time.
And Thomas did indeed shut up. It annoyed him so much when I called him Stephen.
"Send him a text then" Teresa suggested.
"Yeah! I'll do that! Thanks, Teresa"
"You're welcome" I was about to hung up when she spoke again. "Hey, want me to go over to your place later and help you get ready?"
"That'd be great" Having a girl's opinion on how I should look for the date would be perfect.
"Okay, see you later then!"
"Later!"
I hung up the phone and immediately sent a text to Newt telling him my direction. And also saying how excited I was to hang out with him along with a smiley face.
"What would be great?"
I looked up from the phone once I sent the message and saw Chuck and Thomas peeking over the couch, staring at me.
"Teresa's going to help me pick up my outfit for today"
"She betrayed me" Thomas said as a joke.
*
The hours couldn't go by any slower.
Thomas stayed with us and we watched some movies and ate lunch. At least, being with my best friend and my adorable little brother time passed slightly faster.
But when it was around five o'clock, I couldn't help myself and went to take a shower already.
Teresa had arrived at some point while I was showering.
As soon as I had stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel securely under my armpits, Teresa friendly took my hand and dragged me to my room, directly going for the closet.
"Let's see..." She mumbled as she opened it and looked at the clothes.
I absently used a small towel to dry my hair as I intently watched her, my mind still wandering to Newt and the evening with him I had ahead of me.
Chuck and Thomas walked into the room and observed the scene curiously.
"Hm..." Teresa tapped her index finger against her chin in deep thought. "This one!"
She took a dark blue long sleeved top and held it over my torso to see how I would look like wearing it.
"Yeah" She warmly smiled. "It goes great with your eyes"
"That's too revealing!" Thomas snapped from the door, scratching his neck.
"Don't be such a prude, Tom" Teresa whined, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.
"It's not even that much" I had worn that top before, and it wouldn't show much more than my collarbones. And that, barely. Thomas was being ridiculous.
"And..." Teresa completely ignored Thomas' babbling about choosing another shirt instead. She picked up two hangers, containing some clear blue jeans and some dark black ones. "This"
My friend placed the dark jeans in the bed, next to the top.
"Get dressed!" Teresa cheerfully ordered, clearly excited like me.
She threw the boys off the room to give me the intimacy I needed and friendly winked at me as she left herself.
*
By seven o'clock I wasn't completely ready. And I had heard the sound of the door bell ringing coming from downstairs.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..." I mumbled under my breath as I ran from one room to another, trying to find matching shoes for my outfit.
Teresa had to leave while I was still getting ready. She had styled my hair doing a complicated but beautiful braid. But she didn't help me choose the shoes and neither gave me any advice about my make-up, so I wasted a lot of time being indecisive about it.
"Y/N!" Thomas called me. "Newt's here!"
"Give me a second!"
I finally made my mind up about my shoes. I would wear my infamous blue converse, so I put them on. They kind of matched with the shirt.
Before I left my room, I took a last glance at the mirror to make sure I was satisfied with how I looked.
The outfit looked great; it was casual but not too much. My hair was really beautiful thanks to Teresa. My make-up was soft and natural, but it made me look prettier.
Nodding to myself, I picked up my backpack- where I carried all my stuff: the phone, the keys, the wallet- and left the room.
I walked down the stairs taking deep breaths to try to soothe the tingling sensation in my stomach. I was incredibly nervous and just as excited.
When I reached the hall, I saw all three of them.
Newt looked clearly uncomfortable. I thought Thomas and Chuck definitely had something to do with that as I eyed them up and down.
Their heads turned to me as they heard me.
"You look lovely" Newt mumbled as he opened the door that led outside.
"Thank you" I smiled at him, the tingling intensifying and probably the blush in my cheeks too.
"Ready?" Newt cleared his throat and took a quick glance at my sibling and best friend.
I nodded my head at him with a tiny smile and we didn't lose any more time. He headed out of the house.
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder before I followed Newt.
"If he misbehaves in any way, let me know" Thomas whispered as he cracked his knuckles. I knew he was serious, but I couldn't prevent a giggle.
"Don't worry, T" I gently slapped his cheek in a playful mood.
I waved at Thomas and Chuck as I exited the house. The two of them were obviously not amused, but were still resigned.
*
First of all, we took a walk and enjoyed a cheerful chat while we did.
The more I talked to Newt, the more I liked him. His personality was just so lovely. Fun, kind, outgoing, collected, a little mischievous, sweet, smart...
We talked about the things we had in common. We both loved music and knew the pleasure of reading a good book. We also liked watching tons of movies, sometimes doing marathons –that he suggested we could do together some time- and he was quite sensitive, as he could also admire the beauty that lay in a simple sunset.
After a nice and exhilarating conversation with him as we strolled through the city, we decided we were hungry and wanted to have dinner.
Newt took me to a few places he knew and liked, but they were all full or not even open. It was what he had in mind, so he didn't really know where to take me next even after we had trudged so much. He apologized a few times although I wasn't bothered really by it.
Finally, I suggested we could go to a pizza place. After all, I much preferred a good pizza instead of a fancy dinner. I am a simple girl.
He said he knew some place that was really good, so we went there.
*
When we chose the pizza flavor we wanted, Newt came back and sat with me after making our order.
I stared at him trying to come up with a good conversation topic while he looked around the store. As I observed him I thought there was something truly special about him, but I couldn't figure out what.
His dark brown eyes wandered around the place curiously.
I liked his eyes. They were deep, warm, awake and kind. Like him.
Newt suddenly turned to me and told me something I didn't catch.
"Sorry, what?" I repeatedly blinked, trying to focus on his words and not his lips.
He laughed a little and licked his lips before repeating what he said.
"I said the pizza should be here soon" Newt accompanied his words with a gorgeous grin that was slightly crooked in a mildly smug but still sweet way.
"Oh, alright"
He looked down and gently put his hand over both of mine, which rested intertwined with each other on the table.
"I'm sorry about this, Y/N, I had planned to take you to a nice restaurant, but..."
I waved one of my hands in the air carelessly before I let it fall again on top of his, letting him know that it didn't bother me.
"Pizza's great. I love pizza" I happily said with a simple shrug.
His eyes were fixed in the table that separated us, but they went up until they met with my own. For some reason, when our glares collided I got flustered.
None of us spoke again, but when our glares met, he smiled again.
It was a stunning smile. Shy and extroverted, sweet and loving. I fell in love with that smile right there and then. And we suddenly were staring into each other eyes.
"I knew I saw you come in!" A voice broke the charm of the moment, surprising us so much that we put our hands under the table, separated from each other.
Two pizzas were put in the table as someone stood beside us, a hand on their hip.
We looked up at the same time and met with a young man with dark skin and a big grin.
"Siggy!" Newt exclaimed, surprised to see him.
The guy laughed and friendly shook Newt's shoulder.
"How are you doing, Newt?" This Siggy asked him.
"Great!" He looked at me as he waved a hand in my direction. "Y/N, this is my good friend Siggy. We used to call him Frypan because he's the best bloody cook ever"
Siggy –or Frypan- smiled at me and shook my hand politely.
"Nice to meet you, Y/N" He seemed nice, I liked him.
"Nice to meet you too, Siggy"
"I didn't know you worked here" Newt mumbled, looking up to his friend.
"Yeah, I'll make it soon to a fancy restaurant" Siggy pouted, obviously bummed out about it. "Hopefully"
"You sure will, the meals you prepared for our parties were brilliant" Newt replied back.
He had mentioned before that he enjoyed going to parties. I said I didn't, because I usually was too shy to involve in conversation and disliked crowds anyway.
As a response to Newt's kind words, Frypan softly smiled at him.
"I have to go" He pointed over his shoulder towards the kitchen with his thumb. "But enjoy the pizzas, made them myself"
"Thanks" Newt and I said at the unison, and proceeded to devour the food.
*
The pizzas were great, and we left with our bellies full and feeling satisfied with the dinner.
When we got out of the pizza place, we wanted to take another walk. But it started pouring down with rain much to our despair.
I've always hated the cold, I much preferred the heat. So when it started raining I got gloomy and quiet.
Newt sighed beside me as we had covered ourselves under the roof of a building, sitting in the steps that led inside.
"I'm sorry, Y/N..." He mumbled with shame.
"It's alright, I'm enjoying the evening" I smiled at him to make him feel better.
He slowly looked up at me and I felt the urge to pinch his cheeks when I saw that puppy face, but I contained myself. He could be so adorable sometimes.
"Although it's raining and it's so freaking cold..." I muttered through clenched teeth.
Newt laughed a little and took off his jacket, leaving him only with his white sweater. Then he put the jacket over my shoulders and one arm on top of them as he rubbed my upper arm with his hand to keep me warm.
"I'll warm you up" He simply said, gently pulling me closer to his side.
I shyly cuddled into him and a few seconds later I had stopped shaking, thankfully.
"You're so hot" I mumbled as I took in the pleasant sensation of the warmth his body radiated.
"Yeah, I get that a lot" He mumbled smugly.
"No!" I exclaimed, completely sure that I was violently blushing. "I meant-"
"What? You don't think I'm hot?" His face displayed a mischievous look that I found both annoying and attractive.
"It's not that" I shook my head as I thought about something to say to save myself.
Newt chuckled in amusement, and I just hid my face on his shoulder, embarrassed.
"I know what you meant, love" He rested his cheek in my head and I felt butterflies in my stomach.
I squeaked in surprise when a loud noise broke the perfection of the moment.
"Sorry..." I mumbled as I took my phone out of my pocket and answered the call.
"Where are you?!" Of course, it was my overprotective friend Thomas who again was oh so timely. "It's so late, why aren't you home yet?"
"Are you actually waiting for me?" I face palmed at his childish behavior.
Newt was still wrapping me in his warm embrace, so I tried to pretend like he wasn't there as I spoke to Thomas.
"I couldn't leave Chuck alone!" He objected innocently.
I looked at Newt for a moment too see what he was doing, and he was smiling.
"Hi!" A girl's voice said next to Thomas.
"Oh, yeah, Teresa's here" He informed me calmly and casually.
"How is it going?!" Teresa excitedly asked me. I couldn't answer that when Newt was still right next to me.
"Thomas, I'll be home soon" I awkwardly smiled back at Newt since he was watching me with that smile still. "Stop being a little klunk and take care of my little brother while I'm gone"
"Don't be home too late" Thomas warned me, and I rolled my eyes even if he couldn't see it.
"Yes, mom" I mockingly said before I hung up.
"Need to go?" Newt stared at me with sadness in his eyes.
"Should do, before Thomas has a heart attack"
He lightly laughed and stood up, offering me his hand to help me up too. Always the gentleman.
"I'll walk you home"
*
I don't know if it was my imagination, but I had the feeling that we took so long to arrive at my place. Almost as if we both walked slower without realizing. Or maybe on purpose.
"Well, it didn't go as planned" Newt shoved his hands on the pockets of his jeans with a shrug. "But I hope you enjoyed the evening"
It wasn't how it should have been, that was for sure.
I might have forgotten to tell him my address and freaked out. It might have rained a lot. The places he wanted to take me to for dinner might have been full or closed. And I might or might have not tripped and landed on the floor while Newt stared in concern and I wished I would just disappear because I was too embarrassed.
But I was still happy and didn't really want to leave. After all the effort that took me getting a date with him, it was finally over.
"It was great" I replied to him, smiling shyly at him as I tried not to let show how sad I was that it was over.
I took a good look at him, wanting to remember every detail of that moment.
The way his warm brown eyes lingered in my face made me blush. His blond hair was wet from the rain, sticking to his cheeks and forehead in an adorable way. And the white sweater sleeves were a little too long for his arms and covered up to his knuckles, which was so cute as well. Still, that lively and slightly naughty grin on his face was so attractive.
An intense feeling of happiness and joy was taking over me because of one of the best times I had ever spent and I would always remember that day fondly. But at the same time I was sad because it had ended.
"I'll see you soon" I mumbled, getting my long wet hair away from my face.
"I bloody hope so" His grin grew wider and before I noticed I mirrored his smile.
Newt leaned closer to my face to leave a kiss on my cheek. When his cold lips met my skin, I felt a tiny spark of electricity and I wondered if he did too.
I stared at the ground as I heard him chuckle at my shyness.
"Bye, Y/N" He briefly held my hand and gently squeezed it before walking away, still facing me.
"Goodbye, Newt" I watched him turn around so his back was finally to me.
He distanced himself from me and looked over his shoulder one last time. Just then I came in, with that last sight of him and the tiny smile plastered on his lips engraved in my mind.
With the sound of the front door closing, I heard Thomas and Chuck's voices.
"How was it?" My best friend asked me.
I knew an annoying interrogation was about to happen, and I didn't want them to ruin my mood and get me back to reality.
I happily sighed as I still leaned on the inside of the door and smiled at them, laughing a bit at the way they were staring.
"Not as planned" I simply walked the stairs up to my room and plopped down on the bed.
And it was just then when I realized that I was still wearing Newt's jacket.