Settle Down

“It’s like you read my mind,”

Avery and Dylan sat outside of In-N-Out Burger, enjoying the beautiful weather while they waited for their order.

“C’mon,” he grinned, “they have the best burgers.”

“Definitely,” she nodded. “So what do you have planned for today?”

Dylan leaned over, elbows resting atop his knees as he stared at the front entrance of the building. “Nothing so far. You?” He shifted his brown eyes to her, his lips pulling up into a half smile, and she couldn’t help but feel flustered. She knew he wasn’t trying to charm her with his good looks, but hell he was doing a mighty fine job at it.

Avery ran a hand through her wavy locks, “I need to finish unpacking my stuff.”

“Look at you procrastinating by having lunch with me,” he smirked.

The door opened and out came one of the employees to bring their food out. Avery heard her stomach growl happily at how amazing their burgers looked along with their Animal Style fries.

“I could die peacefully now,” she muttered, taking a bite of it, closing her eyes blissfully. “Yeah, this definitely hits the spot.”

Dylan chuckled before biting into his burger.

“So, when do I get to meet Britt?” Avery asked randomly, not really knowing where that came from.

He starting coughing, chugging down a good amount of his Coke before looking at her. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, biting down on her lip for bringing it up since he never even told her about Britt. “I just heard that Crystal said you have a girlfriend named Britt, whom you worked on a movie with and I didn’t mean to pry, but –

“Avery,” he chuckled once more. “It’s okay. You might actually meet her tomorrow if you’re going to Holland’s party?”

“I am,” she smiled. “But it’s weird how I haven’t even met her yet.”

“Britt?”

“No, Holland,” she giggled, biting into her burger.

“She’s really friendly. I’m sure Crystal probably has her up-to-date already so don’t be surprised when she already knows everything about you.” He plopped a couple of fries in his mouth.

“Creepy,” she muttered, furrowing her brows together as she took a sip of her Sprite. “Is this a casual thing?”

“I’m probably the last person you want to ask when it comes to what you should wear,” he warned, glancing at his own attire.

Avery let her eyes roam over his form, taking in the dreadful purple jacket he had on, but aside from that; he didn’t look so bad today. “You’re right.” She agreed, taking another bite.

Dylan had already finished his burger, working on his fries now. “So, are you seeing anyone? You and Max were getting pretty cozy there.” He brought up casually.

She shrugged, sensing a different tone in his voice, but brushed it off. “He’s really sweet and very…friendly.”

“I noticed,” he replied, but Avery didn’t see the way his jaw clenched. “He must really like you.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?”

She watched him closely, and thought it was weird how he remained quiet, as if he was silently debating on whether to tell her whatever was on his mind.

“Just the way he acts around you,” he answered finally, after a minute or so. “He doesn’t usually act that way around other girls.”

“Interesting…” she mumbled, thinking about Max now.

Max Carver was a very attractive guy. He made her laugh a lot during their short time together, but that’s definitely a plus. A guy with a sense of humor is certainly at the top of her list.

Her eyes shifted to Dylan though.

He was looking off to the side at the cars driving by, oblivious to her staring at him.

Dylan was also an attractive, charming, and funny guy. She felt comfortable around him even though she just met the him yesterday and this is only the second time they’ve sat down together to converse. There was something different about Dylan that Max didn’t quite have. Maybe it was the way Dylan didn’t try so hard to be appealing or just his presence made her instantly happy. But what did she know? She barely even knew him. It could just be the jitters of meeting someone new.

“I should probably take you home,” Dylan spoke up, breaking her train of thoughts as he got to his feet, grabbing their tray. He walked over to the red bin a couple feet away, dumping their trash in before placing the tray on top.

“Thank you,” she said, walking beside him to his car.

He opened the passenger side for her with a smile. “For what?”

She blushed at the kind gesture, getting in before he closed the door gently beside her. She strapped on her seat belt right when he slid into his side, slamming the door shut.

“For going to lunch with me,”

“No,” he reversed back, turning the steering wheel the other way with one hand. He looked incredibly hot doing so, making Avery bite down on her lip again, “thank you for being kind and patient enough to have lunch with me.”

“I enjoy your company,” she replied, turning her gaze out the window.

“Do you now?”

She rolled her eyes, “No, this was awful and I can’t wait to be back home away from you.”

“Ouch,” he chuckled, but smiled nonetheless.

They remained quiet throughout the car ride, aside from her giving him directions to her apartment, which wasn’t all that difficult considering she lived down the street from the Teen Wolf set. When his car pulled into her complex and halted, she turned to him with a soft smile.

“Thanks again,” she said, struggling to unbuckle her seatbelt, “for lunch and driving me home.”

“Thanks for having lunch with me,” he responded, watching her as she struggled some more. She stopped fidgeting with it, glancing up at him guiltily.

“I think I broke your seatbelt,”

“Oh, no, it’s just tricky. Here,” he leaned over, his hand brushing up against hers, forming goose bumps on her arm at the skin contact. Her face reddened, thankful that he was too occupied to notice. He pushed the metal part in while holding the red button down, wiggling it around some more, and then voila; it unbuckled just like that.

Her mouth fell open slightly at the weird process. “You really need to get this fixed if that’s what every passenger has to go through.” She chuckled, making eye contact with him.

Her smile began to falter when she realized how close they were. His face was inches away, feeling his breath hit her skin. She did everything in her power to remain calm, holding in the breath that she didn’t, or couldn’t let out. Dylan’s eyes flickered to her lips, his gaze lingered a second too long before staring back into her crystal, blue eyes. Something about that made her insides turn.

She couldn’t. He couldn’t. He’s in a relationship and she swore to herself years ago that she would never be that girl. The girl who ruined a perfect relationship for her own selfish needs. The girl, who not only ended a relationship, but destroyed a friendship. Her eyes started to water and she immediately turned her head, quickly blinking them away.

“I should go,” she hurriedly got out of the vehicle, avoiding the temptation to turn around and get one last look at him.

Deciding against it, she entered her apartment.