Ramin :
Ramin stood in front of his closet, his mind only occupied with one thought: what was he going to wear? That night they were going to have a grill night on the beach with the cast and everyone would be there, including Sierra. He had no idea what to wear and he only had 20 minutes left before he had to go to Sierra's apartment, so they could walk to the beach together. Knowing that he had been standing there for the last hour he was a little stressed, but he wanted to look nice for Sierra and still not look overly dressed. As Sie often liked to point out, he acted very girly when it came to the outfit. He liked to look good and he had always had a hard time choosing clothes to certain occasions, but since he had realised the feelings he had for Sierra it had only become harder. Ramin was almost a little sad by the fact that Sierra had thought that he liked Ali. Maybe he was really good at hiding his feelings or she was just bad at seeing these things. But what else could he do than hiding what he felt, if he started to show her his feelings he would most likely scare her away and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
After choosing between a plain black t-shirt or a navy blue one to match with his khaki shorts he finally chose the navy blue. This choice had taken him far too much time and he was very grateful that he had fixed his hair and showered before choosing clothes because he was already late. Running out from his flat he forgot to lock the door so when he had come outside the flat's port, he had to run up all the 15 floors to come up to his flat again to lock the door.
When he at last arrived at Sierra's flat he was ten minutes late and a little sweaty, even if he had tried not to sweat during his run to her apartment. The sun was high on the sky even if it was after 4 in the afternoon and it was very hot outside, which didn't help his attempt to not sweat. He regretted his choice to bring a hoodie with him a lot, so before he stepped inside the stairwell he took it off and threw it over his shoulders. Thankful though, that he had taken an extra layer of deodorant, he hoped that he didn't smell too much sweat as he made his way up to Sierra's floor. He took off his sunglasses, put them on top of his head and knocked three times on the door. It didn't even take 30 seconds before the door opened and Sierra flew into his open arms and embraced him in a hug. They stood there for a minute before they both realised that it first of all maybe looked weird that they hugged for so long, and secondly that it maybe was time to walk to the beach which wasn't very far away from where Sierra lived.
As they made their way towards the beach their hands entwined. Ramin's heart skipped a beat and he cursed his face as it became hot. He hoped with all his heart that Sie didn't notice, it was the last thing he wanted her to see. His face didn't get very red, but it looked like he had been out in the sun for too long and burnt his face. Why did he have to react this way all the time? This didn't help him making her like him more, if he was unattractive she would definitively not like him.
- Are you excited for tonight? she asked after some time.
The question snapped him out from all thoughts that swirled around in his head. He didn't know what to answer, he had completely forgotten how to speak. His face grew hot again and he felt how her eyes burned in his face. Reluctantly he turned his face to look at her and gave her a what he hoped to be a goofy smile.
- Yes, and you? he said at last.
- Of course, I'm always excited; she said and returned his smile.
His inside got warm as usual when she smiled at him which made it quite hard for him to think of an answer.
- Absolutely.
What kind of answer was that? All he wanted was to sink through the ground and stay there for the rest of his life. It was the worst answer he had ever heard, and she probably thought the same thing because she giggled a little. Why did he have to act like this? This was not alike him at all, he used to be more confident and overall better at talking. He acted like a pathetic teenager who talked to talked to his high school crush for the first time. How could Sie stand to be with him when he acted like this? He was actually very thankful for her patience with him.
The rest of the walk to the beach was quiet, though it was not an awkward silence. Even if he felt like the dumbest person on the planet, Sierra's company still made him feel good. Because Ramin had been late to Sierra's flat they were late to the party, so as they arrived at the beach everyone turned their heads to look at them. Of course did everyone notice that they held hands and Isabella and Luca did some "Ooooooo"-ing noise as they sat down next to each other on a bench. As he looked around he saw that Ali gave him an encouraging look and he returned a quick smile. When he turned his head towards Sie he tried to not smile when he noticed that she was blushing, it didn't mean anything. She just didn't like to get attention for a thing like that, right?
Sierra:
She desperately tried to make her face less red as she sat down beside Ramin. Why did Luca and Isabella have to do that "ooo"-ing noise? This would probably make Ramin understand her feelings for him, and it would most likely disgust him. They were best friends and if he discovered that she loved him he would hate her. But probably he didn't notice since he stayed at her side.
It was a warm summer's evening and Sierra only wore a sleeveless, tight, knee long dress. She had had a big argument with herself whether she would take that dress or just tights and a tank top but at last she had decided to wear the dress. This, she was very grateful for, since it was a lot warmer than she had expected it to be, even though the sun was beginning to go down.
During the evening they had eaten grilled hot dogs and talked a lot. Because this party was to celebrate that they had moved the rehearsals from the studio over to the theatre, everyone that was in the cast was there. It was a lot of people, but Sierra only talked to those who sat close to her. This included Isabella, Luca, Ben and Ali, and of course Ramin. Sierra had noticed that Ramin always made jokes to make her laugh. Each time he told a joke he looked at her, casually, as to confirm that she found it funny. She thought that this was very cute, even though it didn't mean anything. He just wanted her to laugh, nothing more. It hurt but she just accepted it. They would never be anything else than friends, she didn't have a choice, but if she could she would choose him.
Around 9 the sun was low on the sky and the air had become a little cooler. The cast had now lit a fire, and everyone sat around it on wooden logs. Even though it wasn't very cold, and the fire was warming Sierra felt herself tremble a little by the evening cold. Ramin must have noticed something because after a while he said:
- Sie, are you freezing?
- Ehhh, a bit yes. But it's no problems; she answered, blushing a little.
- Do you want to borrow my hoodie?
Her heart started to beat faster. Of course she wanted to borrow HIS hoodie, but first of all, everyone would suspect something and she would get red in the face. Second of all, she didn't want him to freeze so she decided to say no, in a kind of panic.
- No, I'm all right; she said giving him a weak smile.
- It wasn't a question Sie, here you go; he said as he took it off and gave it to her.
- But won't you freeze then?
- Don't you think about that. Put it on or I will force it on you!
This he said a little too loud according to her, because now everyone looked their way and she had no other choice than to put it on. It smelled like Ramin, the best smell in the world, but this thought didn't stay for long because the rest of the cast's eyes were burning in her face and of course she blushed deeply. Desperately she looked around to find something to do and she spotted a guitar which she walked to and picked up. Walking back, she saw Ramin giving her a wondering look and as she sat down she said:
- Well, I thought I could play a song and you could sing something.
She immediately regretted this because she didn't know how to play the guitar.
- Sure, what do you wanna play then? he asked and smiled at her.
Why did he have to be so freaking cute with his dimples and his beautiful brown eyes? She had no idea what to play since she only knew two chords and that didn't help her much.
- I don't know. I don't really know how to play so...
She cursed herself, why did she have to blush all the time?
- Yes, you do. I know that you can play at least two chords and that's almost a song; he said encouraging.
- Well, yes but that's not enough.
- But I can help you. You can play... ehhh, do you have a song you wanna play?
- Why am I falling? I love that song; Ben said enthusiastically from the left side of them.
Did her eyes work properly or was it the light, because she thought she saw Ramin's cheeks become a little red by Ben's comment. It was probably the light, why would he blush?
- Well, okay. Do you wanna play that Sie?
- Sure; she said and put the guitar in place on her knee.
She knew that Ramin normally didn't like to think, sing and talk about his own songs. Poor Ramin, but she didn't care. She loved that song and it felt like it meant something if they sang it together.
Ramin stood up and walked around her sitting down behind her. He placed his hands on top of her and showed her the chords.
- You do like this... and you put your finger here; he said as he showed her where to put her fingers.
Somewhere around the fire she heard someone whisper "aww" and "they are so cute" and she felt her cheeks grow hot, and felt the urge to either leave together with him and be alone or just move away. But also, she couldn't help enjoying his closeness. His cheek was almost touching her cheek and his head was close to resting on her left shoulder. If she only would lean half an inch backwards her whole back would touch his chest and stomach. This combined with that he actually tried to teach her a love song made her sweat nervously. Did this mean anything? Obviously, it didn't, he just wanted to teach her a song and nothing more. Or was Sierra just using stupid non real reasons to his behaviour, maybe he really did like her... No, she could not think that way. It would only end badly.