Chapter 6 First Date

Tara's POV

I watched as Chris came running down stairs. "I need a lunch for two in fifteen minutes," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"She said yes!" he exclaimed. "We're going to the meadow, but keep Bree away." He was practically wagging his tail.

"Calm down. Breath," I said in my calmest slowest voice. When he did that I asked, "Now, what is the mood? Do you want to impress or be casual?"

"Casual."

"Good. Now remember to take your coat even though you won't get cold. I'll pack a blanket so she won't get her clothes dirty. And don't kiss her till she's ready."

"Kay. Anything else, mom?" he mocked.

"Yes. You have twelve minutes, I suggest you get ready," I turned toward the fridge.

"Was that Chris?" asked Bree. I smiled and thought of a good lie.

Fear's POV

He gave me only fifteen minutes. Can you believe that! After the nightly visitor and whoever cleaned my room, it took a few moments to find everything. Then I had to worry about my hair and teeth. He was sitting on my bed when I came out of the bathroom. He didn't say anything as I tied my boots. I looked over at him. He got up and walked out the door. I quickly followed.

"You know, you're not making a good first impression," I said catching up to him.

"I've already made it. Now come on, I want to get their before noon," he said smiling at me. "You'll love it now wait here so I can see if our escape route is ready." He went down the stairs and was gone a few moments before coming back to get me. "Coast clear now we got to make it through the dinning room and out the front door."

"Why didn't we go through the ballroom?" I asked.

"Tara is distracting Bree," he said holding the photo as I passed, "and we would have left our lunch." he said putting on a backpack.

"I'm impressed," I said. He smiled again. I was beginning to think something was wrong.

"Now no talking till we reach the trees," he whispered in my ear before crouching in the shadows of the house and then opening the door before running toward the woods leaving me a few steps behind.

"Now," I said breathing heavily. I know I was out of shape(the distance didn't look that long). He smiled and started walking. I stared after him. He disappeared around a corner. "Christian Nicholi Mêlée!" I yelled when he didn't slow down.

"What?" he yelled from around the bend in front of me.

"Bree told me never to enter the woods. She said there are wolves in them." I heard him laugh. "Did she lie to me?"

"No she didn't. There are wolves, but with all your screaming they have ran off." I picked up a small rock and threw it at the back of his head. "What the hell?" he said. "Not even dating for a day and she has turned into an abusive girlfriend. My mother was right, all women want me for is a punching bag." he said melodramatically. I rolled my eyes.

"Your lucky I couldn't throw as hard as I wanted," I said catching up to him when he slowed to my pace. "Besides, I thought she said for you body."

"She stopped when you started leaving bruises on me."

"You always started hitting me first," I accused.

"I would never hit a girl," he stated walking past me. I grabbed his backpack pulling him back to me.

"You said I was no girl, cause I fought back. You said I was too evil to be anything but fear personified."

"I lied," he said. "You cry too much not to be a girl."

"Name three times when you saw me crying," I dared.

"The most recent was last night. Before that was when you lost that stupid bull. And the time before that was when you graduated."

"Last night doesn't count. You took my bull. And I wasn't crying at graduation," he started smiling. "You know there was something in my eyes." I punched him in the shoulder.

"What was that for?" he cried in outrage.

"For calling my bull stupid," I said before walking in front of him trying to figure out which way to go. He growled softly. "Oh, quit pretending you don't like the abuse. Now where are we going?"

"I'm not ruining the surprise," I rolled my eyes and moved out of the way.

"Lead on fearless leader."

He rolled his eyes before taking the lead. He didn't say a word till we reached a meadow in the woods.

It was beautiful, even though it was fall. I turned all around me with my arms spread open absorbing the colors of the leaves. I turned back to face him. He was watching me with his red eyes and a smile.

"Well do you like it?" he asked.

"Yeah," was all I could say. He sat down the backpack and retrieved a blanket. We spread it on the ground between us. He started retrieving food containers and spread out everything we needed to make sandwiches. After we ate and had put everything back, we laid under the noon sky. I fell asleep curled next to him.

When I woke up, he was sleeping. I was very still as I watched him take deep even breaths. His brow was relaxed and his chin was not stuck out as stubbornly as it was when he was awake. I traced a finger down his jaw line. It was a little prickly. I watched his lips. They looked so soft. I wondered if they were. I traced them next. I started to wonder what it would be like to kiss him.

I continued to trace his lips with my finger, till he grabbed my hand and pulled me across his chest. I noticed his eyes were open and filled with mischief. I slapped at his chest when he rolled over on top of me. He solved that problem by putting his weight on top of me while he grabbed and stretched my arms above my head to be held by one of his hands. I looked back into his eyes. They still held mischief.

"You know waking to someone starting something they aren't going to finish isn't fun," he purred in my face.

"You know some guy imposing his will on a girl isn't much fun either," I countered.

He leaned down next to my ear. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to," he whispered.

Is that a promise? "Sure your not," I said suppressing a shiver. "And the Indians willingly left Andrew Jackson's land."

"What?" he asked.

"Nevermind," I said.

"You're a real mood killer," he said releasing my arms but stayed on top of me.

"Yeah, and you weigh a ton," I said.

He repositioned himself. "Better?"

"Yes. Why am I the mood killer?"

"You wouldn't understand," he said starting to get up. I shifted making him loose his balance which gave me the opportunity to be on top of him.

"If anyone's the mood killer, it's definitely you," I said. He started smiling.

"Why am I the mood killer?"

"Cause I was thinking about ki-" I stopped realizing what I almost said. He started grinning his toothy grin he only did when I did something really stupid.

I let him roll back on top of me. He was still laughing. I started to smack him, but he caught my arm. He turned serious. With his other hand he started tracing my face as I had done his. He let go of my wrist and started unloosening hair out of the bun I always wore. He saved my lips for last.

"Chris." I said meaning for it to sound stronger than the whisper it came out as.

"Hmm?" he replied.

"I don't kiss on the first date."