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Soybean Burgers 

Amy squealed. Loudly. This is what happens when you break any good news to her. This time, it was about Dylan and I. "I'm so happy for you, Amelia! Gah, I wish I was there to hug you."

"I'm glad you're not," I snorted. "Knowing you, you'd strangle me alive."

"How did you—when did you?" I was as clueless as she was.

"Honestly, I don't know. I just blurted it out, and I'm glad I did, even if I was scared to say it at first." I admitted, falling back on my bed, phone in hand. "When did you know t-that Tyler was... the one?" I asked after a silent moment. She was probably processing it just like I still was.

The grin on her face grew. "He made me see the world differently, you know?" She said with a dreamy look. "And after the assault, he was there for me." Amy and I met each other at a group therapy session for the sexually abused. Her uncle had sexually assaulted her as a child and then into her teen years. "And after that, I could never imagine myself with anyone else but him," she smiled. "Why?"

"I-I don't know. I really, really, really like him, I—I love him," I finished, putting my thoughts into words.

"Tyler, he makes me a better person, we share the same values, and even through everything, I am comfortable being myself around him without having to worry about being judged," she said, playing with her hair. "Don't think about too much," she ordered. "I'm glad you told him about everything."

"Me too," I replied quietly. "At least now he understands why I'm so hesitant even when I don't want to be. I-I just... even during the kiss, the back of my mind wandered back to him, when all I wanted was to focus on Dylan," I said heavily.

"Oh honey," she muttered.

"Was it the same for you?" I wondered out loud for the first time ever. I knew she and Tyler were very, very active, but I never truly didn't think about how she felt, and a part of that was because I didn't ever want to think about my childhood friend and best friend have sex.

"It was hard at first," she admitted. "I couldn't go through with it most times, and he understood. It just took time, and I'm glad I gave myself time instead of forcing myself to have sex with him to please him. He was sweet and kind and—"

"Oh okay!" I interrupted her rambling, knowing if I didn't stop, she would be going on forever.

"And I am so happy for you," she gushed. "Dylan, he's one of the sweet ones, if I didn't have Tyler, he'd probably be next, or maybe one of your brothers. I really don't know. Or Hunter," she pondered. "They really all good looking, I would jump any of their bones," she confessed. That caused my eyes to widen.

"Well, shit, Amy. Relax there." She laughed, shrugging.

"My bad. Anyways, I can't wait to interrog—I mean properly meet him when I come back." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Well, anyways, I have to go," she quickly spoke, ending the call right away. I chuckled, shaking my head, sitting up on the front porch chair.

Dylan had told me we would go out for lunch today, and after much thought from both Amy and I, she had decided that I should just wear something casual. Besides, he didn't mention anything about a date. In the end, Amy managed to convince me to wear high waisted skinny jeans and a striped t-shirt. Simple but casual.

Right on cue, Dylan's car steered into my driveway. Thankfully, none of my brothers were home. It was nice that they actually had lives. He hopped out the car, and he met my confused expression. "I thought I was coming to your house?"

"Did I say that?" He mused, stroking the imaginary hair on his chin.

"Yes," I nodded, grinning.

"Oh well," he shrugged his shoulders. "Come on, we have a vegan restaurant waiting." He held out the car door, waiting for me. He remembered.

"Of course, I did," he quipped, shutting the door. Obviously, I said that out loud. I got comfortable, slinging my bag that contained my sketchbook onto my lap. He pulled out of my driveway, heading out the same diner I had come with Lillian.

"How's your sister?"

"Which one?" He grinned, turning his head to me quickly before focusing on the road, referring to our dispute of Charlie being his date.

"Don't even talk about that," I muttered, blushing, fingering the bag. I was still embarrassed from the night at the party.

"Don't be embarrassed," he chuckled. "I thought it was cute." That only made me hotter.

"You can't just say stuff like that," I murmured, not bothering to move the hair from my face.

"Why?" He asked as he parked the car. "I think it's true." He didn't give me a chance to reply as he left the car, and in a speed quicker than light, he opened the door for me. "Come on," he smiled.

"O-okay."

After we had ordered my meal of a soybean burger, fries, with another side of pasta, and his little meal of a burger and chips, we decided to sit outside.

"Let's sit there," I pointed to the large tree with a great shadow underneath.

"You have a thing for trees, don't you?" He chuckled, sitting across from me.

"Maybe..." I laughed, unwrapping my burger. "I can't wait until this month is over," I groaned, after finishing off the bite. "I forgot what real meat even tastes like."

"I don't know how you even managed to eat this," he grimaced after chewing his burger.

"You win some, you lose some," I laughed.

"What do you mean?" He took a sip of his drink.

"Shane always puts up a strong front through the first part of the month so he ends up caving in right before the month ends. Then he's my personal servant for the next month," I giggled.

He shook his head, slightly laughing. "Have you... talked to Shane yet?

"Nope," I quipped. "I've ignored him. It's been easy since he's out all day."

"If it's anything, I think he's a real jackass." My mouth parted, still not used to him swearing. "But I really think you should talk to him."

"What is up with you swearing?"

"With being around you all day I guess you have rubbed off on me. I should probably stop hanging out with you." He said, laughing slightly, his hair flowing in the warm summer breeze. The sun hit him ever so perfectly, it lit up his gorgeous face, accentuating his jaw line and sharp cheekbones.

"Yeah okay," I mumbled, continuing to check him out as he was busy digging into his burger. Aside from his face, his outfit was also certainly drool worthy. The thin white shirt along with a black leather jacket and light washed denim jeans.

I suddenly got an idea. I wiped my greasy fingers with a tissue and pulled out my sketchbook and my favorite pencil.

"Whatcha got there?" He asked, sitting up.

"I never did thank you properly for the sketchbook you got me, did I? That was r-really sweet of you, Dylan."

"It was nothing really." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Thank you, Dylan," I repeated with a smile, opening the fresh book he gave, flipping to the first crisp page. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything," he promised, stuffing a handful of fries into his mouth. His cheeks swelled like a chipmunk, causing me to giggle.

"Can I get you to model for me?"

"Me?" He asked nervously after swallowing. I nodded eagerly, but not too eagerly.

"You don't have to do anything crazy, just sit there and look... pretty." I muttered the last word.

"Pretty?" His eyes were twinkling.

"You heard me right," I teased. "You can continue eating," I pointed out, popping a fry into my mouth.

"I think I can do that," he joked, turning to properly face me.

I took a deep breath and began to do what I've wanted to do since the minute I've laid my eyes on him. I sketched out a rough shape of his head and started on his orbs. It was a touch and go, looking between Dylan and the book.

He kept the conversation flowing, and I lost track of time as I focused my attention both on the sketch and Dylan. The laughter never ceased, especially from me as he wouldn't stop cracking jokes.

Midway through, I even tied my hair up into a bun, letting the tiny baby hairs framed my face. I also abandoned my fries, purely focusing on the artwork. Though I couldn't tell you which one the artwork was.

In between I heard him mutter something about me with the words beautiful following shortly after, but I chose not to comment on that. My red cheeks made it a point to show, and he knew I heard him.

Now, I was placing emphasis on his cheekbones and carving out the jaw by shading. His eyes had been finished a while ago, but something was missing. I just didn't know what. Instead I focused on placing the detail on the rest of his hair, letting out a deep breath when I was done. Well, almost done.

"You done?" He asked excitedly, a grin stretching over his face.

I bit my lip, darting my eyes back and forth between the real and the fake. "Something is missing..." I placed the end of the pencil in my mouth. I groaned when my mind came up blank.

"Can I see? I'll can probably help." I quickly put the sketchbook against my body.

"I don't want you to see it until I am done," I said. "Now, give me ten more minutes and I promise I'll let you see it." He was content with that answer as he sat back down, a smile playing on his face.

The sun was starting to set, the orange glow setting on him as well. The light finally brought my eyes to what I was missing on the portrait. "Your freckles!" I squealed in excitement. "I can't believe I forgot that!" I squirmed in my seat, hastily putting my pencil back to work again.

"I like how you get excited over these little things," he chuckled. I pulled my eyes away from the sketch, not knowing what to say. Instead I cleared my throat and finally presented my artwork with the added freckles.

His jaw practically dropped to the ground. "Wow. Lia, this is... amazing. Holy. Why aren't you an artist?"

I didn't know how to react, yet again. A blush crept its way onto my face. "Thanks," I muttered, playing with my fingers. Dylan was still expressing his astonishment.

"I knew you were an incredible artist, but... but seeing my face drawn like this, this is... wow."

"Do you want it?" My hand reached up to the binding, preparing to rip the artwork out.

"No," he protested. "Leave it in. Besides, every time you open this sketchbook, you'll see my face," he said cheekily.

"Okay," I squeaked, packing up my things. "Shit!" The time on my phone read a little too late as we were supposed to have the movie night in a less than twenty minutes.

"What's wrong?"

"I... I-I have to get home," I sighed. I shoved my sketchbook in my bag, along with my pencil and phone. I cleaned up the empty containers from the food, shoving the remaining fries into my mouth, grabbing Dylan's trash as well—despite his protests,—tossing it in the nearest trashcan a couple feet away.

"Come on," he chuckled, slinging my bag over his shoulder. "Let's go home before your brothers decide to chop my head off." I grinned, lightly grabbing onto his hand he extended my way without thinking twice.

We reached my driveway in record time. "T-thank you for today," I said turning to him in the car. "Even though we just talked to each other, I really enjoyed it."

"Me too," he grinned. "Who knew modelling could be so tiring." That cracked a smile on my face. "The next date will be even better," he promised, causing my grin to drop.

"T-this was a date?"

The smile turned into a frown. "Not if you don't want it to be," he said quickly, looking away.

"No! No, I mean I do, I mean no. What I mean to say is that I d-didn't know. I just—, but yes. Yes, I do want it to be a date. Yes." I rambled, without taking a breath in between.

"I—um, sorry. This is my first time doing this in a long time."

"Mine too," I bit my lip. He opened his mouth quickly but shut it just as fast. "But a first in general," I squeaked out, embarrassed. I was twenty two.

"How it that even possible?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, tucking a strand behind my ear. "The anxiety thing I have going doesn't really help," I muttered.

"How about this," I looked up at him. "Tomorrow night, at six?" I couldn't help but mirror his grin.

"It's a date." I couldn't believe this was happening. I couldn't believe these words were coming out of my mouth and were directed at Dylan. I mean sure, we kissed and we basically confessed our love to each other, but actually acting on it was another.

"Then a date it shall be," he mocked.

"Okay," I breathed. "I-I have to go but thank you for today. I had a lot of fun."

"Anything for you Lia." I think I surprised him when I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

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