it only took a few seconds before the door opened and… there pepper stood, looking fantastic as she always did. “hey,” he replied with a smile, following her inside. “things are good,” he replied, smiling. it was somewhat true, after all - things with eduardo weren’t completely awful. as a matter of fact, they were pretty good. his smile brightened a little as he inwardly convinced himself that things really were good. ”how’re things with you? how was your drunk movie night with dustin?” he asked, teasing her. he knew that she and dustin watched movies together while drinking. he also knew that dustin’s alcohol tolerance was non-existent. two beers and he was gone. it was a bit amusing, really, but he was sure that the mixture of alcohol, disney movies (pepper liked them, he remembered), and dustin was sure to prove more than a bit amusing.
Pepper froze slightly at the mention of Dustin. She cleared her throat loudly and slipped on her peacoat around herself. “Oh it was good. Just watched Finding Nemo and had a couple beers.” Not to mention decided that we will have a secret relationship we are going to tell no one about. Pepper felt like she was going to burst at her seams. Maybe she wasn’t the best secret keeper, but she couldn’t just blurt it out to Eduardo. Especially on a maybe date. “But enough about that. Let’s get our dinner on.” She joked giving him a small wink. She moved out of her apartment and ushered him out with her. Turning her key in the door, she locked everything up and reached out for Eduardo’s hand. “Now where are you taking me?” She asked him curiously with a small smile on her face.
|
The Avett Brothers |
| The Ballad Of Love And Hate | |
| Emotionalism |
The Avett Brothers // The Ballad Of Love And Hate
He couldn’t help but watch her pace back and forth, chewing at his lip as, slowly but surely, his leg started bouncing. That was the thing about anxiety: it spread. Her nervous habits were getting to him he felt a bit like getting up and pacing right alongside her. But no - Dustin kept himself glued to the couch, letting his attention drift back to the cartoon as he swallowed the lump in his throat.
Her suggestion was like a break on the horizon. She got it. She understood the problem. Dustin sat up a little straighter, wringing his hands in his lap. “You mean if we just… Just keep it between ourselves?” To be perfectly honest he wasn’t entirely sure of what he was saying, but he seemed as confident (okay, confident by his standards) as could be. “Y-yeah, I could do that.” Somehow, he’d found the courage to sound as casual as if he were agreeing to Chinese take-out for dinner. The idea of hiding some form of relationship from his friends was completely baffling, and completely mad, but also more than a little exciting.
Pepper rocked on her heels with her hands behind her back. Her grin began to grow and she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. Dustin was agreeing. Her Dustin was agreeing that they should possibly keep their whatever this was a secret. It was weird thought. She immediately wanted to tell Dominick or even Erica, but she knew that she had to keep to her secret. “Okay…” Her voice lead off as she stood in front of him. She suddenly felt awkward just staring at Dustin. She moved back over to him on the couch and sat down. Her mind still reeling. What could she possibly say to him? All she wanted to do was continue from before, but her mind still wasn’t at ease.
“You really can’t tell any of the guys. They’ll had a field day.” She thought about being approached by any of the gentlemen with accusations of being with Dustin. “Especially not Chris.” She gave him a pretend scowl as she knew that if Dustin told anyone, it would be Chris. Feeling slightly better, she moved closer to him on the couch, still facing him. Everything traveling between them felt so weird. But a good weird. A change and she enjoyed it. “I’m going to kiss you again. But this time I promise I won’t run away.” She grinned at her own comment and leaned forward, once again pressing her lips to his.
eduardo gave himself one last look in the mirror before heading out the door. he looked fine - good, even - in a black button-up shirt with the top button undone, sleeves rolled to the elbows, black slacks, a black belt, and black shoes. he smiled at his reflection, then left his room, being sure to lock it behind him. the walk down to his car was an excruciating one, and he wasn’t sure how this date would go. to be honest, he wasn’t sure how he wanted it to go. did he want it to succeed? did he want it to fail miserably? if it did, what would he do? the feelings in his stomach when he was around mark were extremely unpleasant, and he just wanted them to go away. he liked pepper, but did he want to be with her?
he had plenty of time to ponder this as he made his way to her dorm, his car only about a block away from her residence building. he took the stairs two at a time, finally arriving at her door and raising his fist to rap against it, a smile on his face.
What the hell was she doing? Pepper curled her hair with only the thought of Dustin at the forefront of her mind. Last night was confusing, to say the least, and now she was going out with Eduardo. She sighed in frustration, dropping her curling iron and moving to her closet. She picked a simple black dressed and pulled it over her small frame. God. She felt like such an idiot. Strapping a thin belt around her middle, she wondered again what the hell she was doing. Eduardo was a good friend of hers and she thought that maybe tonight was something more than just a dinner. A date? maybe. She didn’t know.
Hearing a knock on the door, she slipped on her maroon heels and clambered over to the door. She wasn’t the most coordinated. Opening the door with a large smile on her face, she greeted him. “Hey. Come in. I just need my coat.” She left the door open and grabbed her peacoat. “How are things?” She asked him with genuine curiosity.
Oh, how quickly the tables had turned. How funny. Just as he’d made up his mind, that this kissing situation was a good thing, Pepper had decided the opposite. She was scrambling away and all he could think was, What did I do wrong?! He couldn’t figure it out but let’s face it, he wasn’t about to question it. Not like that. No, sorry, you must have mistaken him for someone with a spine. Instead he just nodded his head along, keeping his eyes on the floor as a hand reached up to rub at the back of his neck. “Yeah, y-you did…”
Suddenly things seemed rather absurd, and all he wanted to do was run, but all he could do was stay slumped back in his seat against the couch, still dazed by the whole thing. There was no way Dustin could keep up with what was happening, not when so much was happening at once. How did girls brains even move that fast? Somehow he could have sworn his heart had skipped a beat - was it okay? “I-I think so - yeah. I mean I don’t see why not…” By the end of it he was just mumbling to himself, trailing off only to glance up towards her, wide eyed. “Why - why wouldn’t it be okay?”
Pepper started to pace. She was moving back and forth slowly as she thought. She really liked kissing Dustin. So maybe her freaking out was pre-emptive. Her green eyes found his and tried to get into his brain. Was he really okay with this? He said he was and he certainly didn’t look like he was lying. She stopped pacing and just rocked on her heels. She wanted their friendship to be okay through this. She wanted them to be okay through this. Her teeth took her bottom lip into her mouth and she nibbled on it softly. She was too attached to Dustin’s friendship to lose it because she can’t keep her hormones in check.
But he was sitting there telling her it was okay. “I don’t know.” She answered him simply in a soft toner. “I don’t want it to mess us up. I like you far too much to lose you.” She admitted while where arms wrapped around herself protectively. Pepper was always in check with her feelings, but admitting them out loud make her anxious and shy. “I really just want to keep kissing you.” She offered with a small smile on her face “But only if we can still keep this between us. Movie nights and best friends. If we cant, then I will just refrain myself from kissing you.” Well at least she hoped she could do that. She would have to try her hardest.
Great to meet you! I think I actually do recognize you- not many fiery redheads around campus.
I’m quite alright myself, thank you! Finishing up some papers and reading the latest from the library.
Thank you. I take pride in my fieriness. I’m thinking about going blonde again soon though.
Reading the latest from the library? I haven’t been in there in ages. Trying to avoid it for as long as I can this semester. I want to be a little less stressed this year. What are you studying? I’m sure you must of gotten this questions hundreds of times, sorry.
Frankly, Dustin wasn’t even sure what was happening anymore, much less how it had started in the first place. He suddenly felt like he was looking down upon himself, with no clue how he’d gotten there and no clue how to handle things. Nope, he was just floating above his body watching everything in slow motion. Of course, that only lasted as long as there was some distance between his lips and hers, and the moment the gap closed he was back where he belonged - sort of. He was still going out of his mind.
With her lips against he found his spine going rigid, hands raising with his fingers in the air instinctively. Then something dawned on him: he wasn’t just trapped on the couch - he was trapped by a girl that had wanted to kiss him. Wasn’t that a good thing? As the reality dawned on him, Dustin relaxed his hands once again, fingertips resting ever so lightly on her hips. His lips parted against hers tentatively, and as curiously as a kiss could be. Who knew, this could turn out to be a very good thing - even if he’d never given the prospect much though. Well, not much thought in a long while. But who was he to argue against a good thing?
Pepper felt her stomach flip as Dustin started to kiss her back. Maybe this is where it was going all along. That their nights would turn into something more. Maybe Pepper was overanalyzing everything, but she didn’t know what to make of this. She thoroughly enjoyed kissing Dustin. So much that made her worried. What if he wouldn’t want to kiss her after this? Her brain really needed to stop. Stop the worry and concerns. Just enjoy the kiss the very cute boy was giving you. Her mouth molded to his and she began to hum softly into the kiss. Pepper was finally giving into something like her feelings and reality started to kick in once more.
She was on her couch, with Finding Nemo playing in the background, kissing Dustin. Suddenly she needed air. She had to think for a moment. Breaking their kiss, she practically scrambled away from Dustin and stood up. Her breathing had become almost panting as her hands covered her face. She kissed Dustin. She had kissed the one male she had in life that was always there for her. “I kissed you!” She blurted out taking her hands off her face. “Oh my god. I kissed you. I kissed Dustin.” Her line of vision moved away from Dustin to the wall then back to him. “Is it okay that I kissed you? Are you okay with that?” She was just so confused and she really needed his input on it.
How are you all?
Hello! I’m Pepper. I’m doing great. I think we actually had a class together? How are you?
# OOC: SERIOUSLY THOUGH. FROM ALL THE PARAS IN THE LAST GROUP. I FEEL LIKE THIS IS ABOUT DAMN TIME |:
# pepper x dustin
# mn
What the hell was he supposed to do?! Dustin was stuck to a couch between a girl and a hard place. No, that phrasing was all wrong - but you get the point. With Pepper curled up against him and his body wedged against the arm of the couch, there was nowhere to go. He was trapped. He was blushing furiously and he wanted desperately to move his hands to a safer location - but the fact that he didn’t want to budge an inch overrode that urge. That would just draw attention to the fact that his hand was on her hip, would’t it?
He’d been caught with his eyes roaming over her body and just like that his mind was reeling to find something to say - something that might excuse the behavior. By the time Dustin’s brain had formulated any words, however, he was listening to her breathe out his name. Fuck. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he looked down to meet her eyes, chewing at the inside of his lip. “Yeah?” He was such an idiot. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t very well just lean in and kiss her - could he? No, of course not. That was just ridiculous. She was a friend and that was a line ‘friends’ didn’t cross.
Pepper’s eyes darted everywhere on Dustin’s face. Was she imagining this? The weird air between them that was almost tension. She couldn’t be. Dustin was acting just as jumpy as she was. She took in his deep blush and felt her heart beat frantically. He was just as confused as she was. They were just suppose to be watching stupid Finding Nemo. When did everything get so crazy? Well not crazy but when did it become like this? Her mouth felt like it was completely dry staring at Dustin. She wanted to say something. Pepper wasn’t one to be at a loss for words so this made her nervous. She is usually able to tell Dustin everything. Now she stared at him widemouth like a guppy.
Maybe she should just take a chance. One tiny chance with someone. She really never has before and now she just wants to have something. Something that she can look back on and say ‘well at least I took that chance’. Dustin was her chance. She prayed that he wouldn’t immediately run from her place after she did this. That would just incredibly depress her. A guy fleeing from a kiss from her. Nibbling on her bottom lip, she had to fight her nerves. Then she moved on the couch slowly and pressed her lips against his. She never imagined kissing Dustin before, but it felt wonderful. Pepper’s body seemed to move on its own accord sliding up closer to Dustin as her kiss still connected to his lips.
wardoupasshole replied to your post: do you want to - i mean, i don’t know what’s going on with you and dustin, but do you want to go to dinner?
what? i just meant, i didn’t know if you guys were doing your movie thing tonight. but - yeah, i’ll pick you up at.. eight? *smiles*
Oh, yeah well. I mean — we did that last night. Um. Eight works for me.
