{18}

Chapter 18: (Olivia's POV) Well, I was gonna have to ask him later anyway, might as well do it now. "Olivia?" "Uh… yeah?" "Your zipper is still open, do you need help?" he offered. "Yeah, sure. I couldn't reach it," I explained. "That's fine," he said, standing up. I turned my back to him, closing my eyes tightly. I opened my eyes and looked down, realizing that he could see me in the mirror if he wanted. "Um, your hair is- nevermind," he stammered before pushing my hair over one shoulder, his fingers brushing against my bare back. His fingers were freezing, I almost let out a gasp. "Why are your hands so cold?" I asked. "They're uh, they're not?" he said, sounding confused. "Are they?" he asked, putting his hand over my shoulder. I grabbed it and sure enough, it wasn't cold. "Yours are colder than mine," he laughed. "They just felt cold," I mumbled. "I can see that, you've got chills," he chuckled. He grabbed the zipper and slowly started moving it up. I looked up in the mirror, noticing how he was zoned in on the zipper. "Is it that hard to close a zip?" I smiled. "I don't wanna pinch you on accident," he said, looking up at me. His eyes met mine in the mirror and then it was either he couldn't look away or he didn't want to because he didn't. Oh, it's too intense. Do something. "Ow!" I shrieked. "Shit, sorry. Did it pinch?" he asked. "No, your reaction was just funny," I laughed. He rolled his eyes, zipping it up completely, pulling my hair over my shoulders. "Thanks for doing that at a snail's pace," I taunted. "Don't act cocky," he said, walking to my dresser with me. "I'm not," I chuckled. "Hmm," he nodded, standing behind me and peering at all the stuff on my dresser over my shoulder. "What do you do with that?" he asked. "With what?" I questioned, turning to look at him, noticing the proximity. We were really close. "That," he said, taking a step closer, his right hand going to my waist while he pointed to a siren keychain that was sitting there. "That's not for getting ready," I laughed. "What is that then?" he inquired. I looked at him, smiling. "What?" he asked, looking at me. I nodded, grabbing it and handing it to him, "Pull it," I encouraged. "Pull it?" he questioned. "Mm-hmm," I nodded. He held it in front of my waist and grabbed the other end with his right hand, leaving my waist. He quite literally had his arms around me while I grabbed my earrings and put them on. He looked down at it from behind me and pulled. The siren went off at a loud, high pitch. I immediately blocked my ears but he winced, jumping and his grip tightening around me before he pushed it back together immediately. "Oh, my god. Take that with you everywhere you go, please," he winced, putting it back on the table, wincing because the sound was probably still echoing in his ear. "You'll be fine," I nodded, turning to face him, pressing the point under his ears. "Just press down there for a minute," I chuckled, turning back to the mirror. He pressed down with his fingers, resting his forehead on my shoulder while I put my other earring on. I watched him through the mirror, smiling to myself. This is getting out of hand, Olivia. I don't care anymore. It's not like I'm confessing any time soon. Or ever maybe. "That's gonna echo in my ears for ages," he laughed. "Ethan, we're-" We both turned to his window where his mom had come in looking for him. "Ethan?" she called out, knocking on his bathroom door. We looked at each other before he walked over to my window and I followed. "Mom?" he asked. "Oh, you're there. We're leaving, we'll see you there later, okay?" she asked before her eyes traveled to me. "Oh, is this the Olivia I hear about?" she grinned. "Hi," I smiled. "Oh my dear, you should hear the way-" "Let's go, honey!" Mr. Archer called out. "I hope to see you tonight, darling. You're looking beautiful," she smiled. "Thank you," I grinned, "So are you, Mrs. Archer." And then she left, waving us bye. His door opened again as she stuck her head through. "You should hear the way he talks about you, I'm glad he's found you," she grinned before leaving. My eyebrows shot up in surprise while a smile began forming on my face. "Oh?" I turned to him. "I left my shoes there, I'll uh, be right back," he said before crawling back out. I chuckled, grabbing my clutch and flicking the lights off, closing the window as well before heading downstairs and out the door. I walked over to his driveway as he came through the door and unlocked his car, getting the door for me. "Thanks," I smiled as he closed my door. He slipped into the driver's seat and put an arm around my chair, turning around and looking behind to back the car out of the driveway. Can we talk about how attractive it is when he does that? Not right now, fangirl about it later. Preferably when he's not around. "So um, what exactly do you tell your mom about me?" I asked, turning to him. "Nothing," he shrugged, his eyes focused on the road. "Oh, come on. You can tell me now, she already told me that you talk about me," I laughed. "So? You talk to your mom and aunt about me too," he shrugged. "Yeah, and you know all about what we say. So tell me," I chuckled. "I don't tell her anything, just about how annoying you are," he glanced at me. "Liar, you probably tell her how you think I'm the first girl you've liked so much," I taunted, not realizing how much I would like it if that were true. "Maybe, but I have every right to say that about my girlfriend." He shot me a pointed look. "Did I say I have an objection?" I asked, smiling helplessly. We both fell into silence as he drove. We stopped in front of a hotel. "I think it's in the banquet hall," he said as we entered the hotel. I stopped, reading the board. "Nope. Ballroom," I said, noticing 'Martins' written on the board with the location. "This way," he said, tugging at my hand, leading us to the right. "If it's in the ballroom, does that mean we'll have to dance?" I questioned, looking around. "Probably, remember last time?" he asked. I hummed in response as we entered the ballroom which was fairly swarmed with people. I noticed Justin while we were making our way through the crowd, but it didn't make me anxious or angry like it did last time. I wasn't focused on him, I was focused on Ethan instead. We got to the bar, both of us letting out sighs of relief. We look at each other, chuckling before looking around. "I wanna meet your mom," I said, looking around to see if I could spot her. "Don't look too hard," he said, nudging my ribs. I looked straight ahead, noticing her with her husband as they made their way over to us. "Aw, let me get a look at her," she gushed, grabbing my hands and pulling me forward, admiring me. "You're gorgeous honey," she said, pulling me into a hug. "Thank you," I chuckled as she let me go. "Ethan, I approve," she nodded. I smiled, turning to his dad, "I'm Olivia, it's really nice to meet you, Mr. Archer." I extended my hand for him to shake. "Pleasure is all mine, sweetheart, we've heard plenty about you," he smiled, shaking my hand. "All good things, I hope," I mumbled. Apparently, that's funny cause his parents both laughed. I smiled, taking my spot beside Ethan. "Olivia, are your parents here?" Mrs. Archer asked. "No, they're actually in New York right now for some work, Ethan brought me here," I answered with a smile. "Well, if he doesn't bring his girlfriend as his date then who else will he bring?" Mr. Archer chuckled. I glanced at him, recalling how I told him not to tell them that I was his girlfriend because we both knew that in reality, I wasn't. "Right," I smiled, letting go of his hand once I realized we were holding hands. "We'll see you around, hmm?" his dad said before they left. I turned to him. "I thought I told you not to tell them that," I sighed. "It was a little hard to come up with something else when my mom saw us kissing through your kitchen window," he said, turning to me. "No," I whined, grabbing his arm. "Yeah," he nodded. I cried, resting my forehead against his arm. "There, there, girlfriend," he said. I looked up at him, "You could have told me this in advance, you know," I said. "So you got a chance to freak out? Haha," he scoffed. "You didn't tell me cause you didn't want me freaking out?" "Obviously, I hate when you freak out. I absolutely hate seeing you like that." . . . . . Chapter 18