He had hand-made two PB and J sandwiches and stolen chocolate cake from the kitchen. There was some sort of bubbly fruit drink that tasted like apples, and little tiny olives and cheeses all waiting on the picnic blanket. Off to the side there was a CD player that he probably thought I couldn't see. I laughed to myself. What did he have planned?
"Come. Sit." He said gesturing to the blanket he had set up.
"Did you come here earlier just to set all this up?" I asked.
"Yes." He blushed.
"That is the sweetest thing someone has ever done for me."
"I'm glad you like it."
"I love it. But what's with the CD player in the corner over there?"
He froze. "You saw that?"
"Yes."
"Oh, well, um, it's for…."
"Never mind. Tell me later," I giggled.
He was as red as the apples he had sitting out for us. And he was stuttering.
He couldn't be cuter.
The sandwiches were absolutely delicious. I was honestly surprised that he could cook. I never expected that from him. I pegged him as the "martial arts expert who could break your wrist in ten different ways" kind of guy. Not the kind that spent his free time perfecting PB and J sandwiches. I devoured mine while Tobias tried to stop blushing.
It was dark now. The sun had set behind the clouds, leaving the world cloaked in darkness. Tiny fairy lights were strung up in the leaves so that they glowed in every shade of gold and red giving light to the alcove. It was magical.
Lying on the blanket, I stared up at the stars. The night was cloudless but cold. I shivered and Tobias moved closer. I could feel the heat radiating off him and I wanted to move closer but I stopped myself. Why was I so shy tonight?
All of a sudden I felt his fingertips brush against mine and a jolt of electricity shoot through my body. He took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. The ice that had been forming in my stomach from the cold thawed, running rivers of nerves and anxiety through my system.
A thought occurred to me. "Did you come here and string up all these fairy lights just for tonight?"
"Uh, I um, yes," he stuttered.
I fought down a smile, but it was harder to stop the blushing. "Well thank you, I love them," I whispered turning my head so I could see him. He was lit from behind by the lights giving him a halo and making his eyes bright.
"But where does the electricity come from?" I didn't know much about that, but technically I could have been Erudite….
"Oh, um there's a generator in the trees. It's powering the lights… and the CD player."
He looked away.
I raised my eyebrows but didn't say anything. Possibilities were swirling in my mind. What was he going to do?
"Oh, we still haven't eaten the cake yet. It's chocolate; the best." Sitting up, he scratched the back of his neck. He looked uncomfortable.
He cut me a piece and handed it to me.
"Fork?" I asked.
He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. I laughed. "That's okay. It's better without it. More Dauntless," I teased.
"You have chocolate frosting on your face," he said gesturing to my cheek.
"Oh!" I tried to get it off.
"No higher. More to the left. No other left. No just, here-"
He leaned across the picnic blanket and used his thumb to get it off.
"Is it gone?"
"No now there's—" He turned my cheek to the other side and tried to brush off icing from that side. I felt something cold smear across the cheek he just tried to clean and down my nose.
"Four it's—" I gestured to his hand as he realized that he had chocolate all over it.
"Oh crap, sorry. Here—" He tried to get it off his hand and my face at the same time, his arms getting tangled as I tried to get it off as well.
I smeared chocolate all down the side of his face by accident. We froze. Mischief replaced the panic in his eyes and I began to worry.
"Four, what are you thinking?"
Cold icing smeared down my face. I never even saw his arm move.
"Four!" I squealed. Laughing, he danced away.
I scraped icing off my face.
"Oh no," he said as I began to move towards him. "No no no no no—"
I smeared frosting all down his neck. He laughed and scraped more off the cake and danced towards me with a handful of chocolate goo.
I screeched and ducked around him but he caught me around the waist and lifted me up, covering my arms in the sticky stuff. I giggled and wiped it on his cheek.
It got in my hair, on my jacket and even down my shirt. He was covered in it too. It was even smeared down his legs and in his eyelashes.
We collapsed onto the picnic blanket. My sides hurt from laughing so much. I smiled at him.
He grimaced back. "I think I have frosting in my eye."
"I'm going to be washing this out of my hair for days!"
He scraped some off my cheek and stuck it in his mouth. "But it tastes good."
I stuck my tongue out at him.
His gaze softened all of a sudden. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes sparkled. I could see every shade of blue, every hue of indigo, in his eyes.
He moved towards me and slipped his hand behind my ear, cradling my head in his hands. He guided my lips to his. They were sticky and tasted of chocolate, but I didn't care. My heart was slowly migrating to my throat, beating out an irregular rhythm in my sternum. I could feel my pulse everywhere. It was as if electricity was coursing through my veins waking me up, making me hyper-sensitive to his touch.
I could feel his hands on my waist pulling me closer, holding me tight. His fingers toyed with the edge of my shirt.
"Tobias," I whispered. "Wait."
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