forum Pretending Hearts (O/O CLOSED)

Started April 05, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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“Pinterest is very useful for providing ideas, isn’t it?” Arvil mused. “Which song do you want to dance to, Daisy?”

Daisy blinked, still looking down at her phone. She sighed and leaned back, clutching it in her hands. “I… I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it yet,” she lied.

In reality, she had been planning her wedding since she was little. She had always been fascinated by the sounds and colors and scents of a wedding, of all the dancing and smiling and kissing, of all the people just having fun… So she had a song picked out. For both dances that she thought she was going to be in, the first dance with her husband and the father-daughter dance.

But Arvil didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to know just how much a wedding meant to her…

She was lying, Arvil could tell. It was painstakingly obvious. It made him feel like a complete jerk. He was snatching away her perfect wedding because he didn’t want marriage with a woman who wasn’t her. He was stealing away her happiness.

But she had a choice. She could have refused you.

She must have thought to repay me, Arvil argued with himself, blinking to dispel those thoughts.

“Daisy…” Arvil sighed, taking a sip of his soda. “I’m aware this isn’t something you wanted. It’s really not. I know. But I’m trying to turn it into a wedding that you want. I’m trying to make it fun for you so you aren’t unhappy with the results. But for that, I need your cooperation. I can’t do that if you don’t let me.”

Daisy blushed deeply and continued to avoid his gaze. Why did he have to realize she was lying? She hoped he didn’t feel bad, she didn’t want him to. And she didn’t want him to think she was just being uncooperative… But what else was she supposed to do? This was supposed to be the most special night of her life, and instead… she was about to marry someone who she didn’t know if he liked her…

“Sorry… It’s just a sore subject,” she mumbled, coughing softly and rubbing at her stinging eyes.

She began rubbing at her eyes and Arvil felt a spark of panic rush through him. Was she crying? Had he made her cry? What an idiot he was. He was supposed to prevent that from happening and he was doing just that.

Arvil stood up from his seat and walked over to her, reaching out his hand for her to take.

Daisy opened her eyes when she heard Arvil moving. She blinked when she noticed he was no longer in his seat across from her, and then again when she realized he was beside her. Tentatively, she turned to look at him, then down at his hand. Her brows furrowed as she did so, and then she looked back up at him with her head tilted to the side slightly in curiosity.

“What?” she asked, not unkindly just warily.

Arvil rolled his eyes. “Just take it,” he looked down at her, though he didn’t blame her for her hesitancy. “I’m not going to bite you, Daisy. Hard.”

“Oh, shuddup,” Daisy muttered. She rolled her eyes and stood, ignoring his hand and immediately feeling bad. He was just trying to help her feel better… Wasn’t he? All he did was flirt, but he could do that with any girl. “Sorry… I guess I’ve been a little stressed out lately…”

Arvil’s eyes turned a little cold when she blatantly ignored his hand, but he pretended it didn’t bother him. Instead, he dug into his pocket to take out his wallet.

“I’ll take you back home,” he muttered. “Just let me pay.”

Daisy cringed when she saw the look in his eyes. She’d just ruined their… date? Was that what this was? Well, anyway, it was ruined because of her and her lack of control on her emotions.

“Okay… Yeah. Let’s go,” she murmured, grabbing her phone from the table and sticking it into her pocket. After picking up her purse, she wrapped her arms around herself tightly, waiting for Arvil.

Arvil quickly paid before he joined Daisy, keeping his gaze ahead instead of at her. Did she have a relieved look in her eyes? He didn’t want to look at that expression.

“Do you want to take something home?” He murmured when he reached her. “Anything you need to get before I drop you off?”

“No. No, you can just take me home,” Daisy sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t need anything else.”

Arvil nodded. “Let’s go, then,” without looking at her, he began to walk to his car. When he got there, he unlocked it and waited for Daisy to sit in before himself.

Daisy curled up in her seat, pulling her legs underneath her as she stared out the window. She was an idiot. An absolute idiot… Why couldn’t she keep her stupid mouth shut this time? It only managed to get her in trouble.

Arvil couldn’t help but look at her from the corner of his eye and sigh. He reached to her to buckle her seatbelt a blank expression on his face and pulled her seat back a little. It would be better if she was a little more comfortable.

Without another word, he buckled his own seatbelt, started his car and drove out of the parting lot. He needed to keep his mouth in check. He needed to keep his hands in check. She did not like him. How many times did he have to feel that before he gave up?

Daisy blushed slightly when she felt Arvil reach over and buckle her in. In her raging thoughts and emotions, she had forgotten to do the simplest thing… How could she forget to buckle herself in? Gosh, she really was an idiot, wasn’t she?

Arvil really had to fought to keep his hands to himself. God knows how much he wanted to reach over to squeeze her small ones. Finally, after a few torturous minutes, they reached her apartment building.

As soon as Arvil pulled up to her apartment, Daisy was already grabbing her things to leave. When he parked, she unbuckled and stepped out of the car.

“Thank you for dinner,” she muttered before closing the door and leaving.

“Daisy,” her name slipped from his tongue before he could stop himself. “Goodnight. Sleep well, yeah? I’ll see you later.”

Daisy paused, her back still turned to him. She sighed, nodding slowly before turning her head just enough that she could see him out of the corner of her eye. “Goodnight, Arvil.”

When she disappeared, Arvil growled loudly to himself. What the hell was he even doing? He didn’t understand himself. Why was he always making her uncomfortable? Why was she always acting cold toward him? This was so confusing.

After five or so minutes, Arvil decided to head home. He should sleep before he passed out.

Daisy would be lying if she said she hadn’t watched his car through the blinds before he finally pulled out of the driveway. Why had he waited so long? It wasn’t like he was waiting for her to go inside, since he was already there.

[TIME SKIP: A FEW DAYS]

Arvil really didn’t know what he was doing. After that day, he’d stopped flirting with Daisy. He didn’t really have a choice. She hated the contact he made. The shameless flirting, the constant touches—she felt uncomfortable by it. So he stopped altogether. He kept his distance when they talked. He moved when they almost touched. He stopped the flirting.

Arvil had been done with his work by now—a few sleepless nights filled with coffee helps—so he was merely going over the plans for next month when there was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” His eyes lifted up. “Come in.”

It had been a hard few days. Daisy had seen Arvil a few times since their date thing, and he just didn’t seem like himself. He didn’t flirt, didn’t try to touch her even within her boundaries. It was weird. And it made her very concerned.

Had she done something wrong? How had she upset him? Was it something from their dinner? Even when she ran through the night in her mind, she couldn’t think of anything that would make him upset with her.

And now she was standing in front of his door again, bags of food in hand as she waited for him to let her him. After she knocked, he called for her to enter, and she stepped through the door.

“Hey. I brought lunch,” she greeted him, closing the door behind her and making her way over to him.

Arvil looked up briefly, but his gaze didn't last long at her face. Instead, he dropped it to her hands, which carried the food bags.

"Daisy," he set aside the plans, shutting his laptop. "I wasn't expecting you today."

“I bring lunch at this time every week,” Daisy reminded him quietly as she set the bags down on the desk. “It’s shawarma today.”

"Oh, it's Thursday," Arvil murmured, having the sudden realization. Finally, he looked up at her—and froze. Why were her eyes bloodshot? Had she been—"You were crying. Why were you crying, Daisy?"

Daisy froze, blinking at him. “I— What? Nothing happened. I’m fine,” she said, looking down and pulling food out of the bag.

Arvil looked at her worriedly, furrowing his eyebrows before he sighed, quirking one eyebrow. "Your eyes beg to differ," he snorted. "What's wrong, Daisy? Why were you crying?"

“I’m fine, Arvil,” Daisy muttered, still avoiding his gaze. She rubbed at an eye with a sigh, setting the last box on his desk.