"It's just lunch," Savannah mutters from behind me.

I ignore her, and instead spin around to face her, clad in only a bra and a pair of cutoff denim shorts. "Oh my god," I groan. "Everything I own is from the thrift store and makes me look like I'm about to attend a funeral."

"So? That's your style," she reasons. I glare at her, not amused.

"We have to cancel," I decide, picking up my phone.

"No!" Savannah yelps, slapping it out of my hand. I stare at her with wide eyes.

She stands up from her spot on the edge of my bed and steps in front of me, placing each of her hands on my shoulders. "You're not canceling. You're going to put on the same black t-shirt you tried on three different times, and I don't want to hear another word about it. He's picking us up in twenty minutes."

"Okay," I nod. "You're right. It's just lunch. A friendly meal. Between friends."

"Just lunch," she repeats.

I sigh and bend down to pick up the discarded t-shirt, grumbling as I pull it over my head. "I don't know why I'm so nervous."

Yes you do, I think to myself.

Mom's words from last night flash in my mind like an obnoxious neon sign.

Poor. Trashy. Stuck up.

Damn you, mother.

I plop down beside Savannah and pull on my knock-off Doc Martens, the black faux leather scuffed from years of use. "Mom still asleep?"

"Last time I checked," she confirms.

"Good," I mutter. Mom being unconscious for the next few hours means no more drunken insults. Lord knows I've heard enough of them to last me a lifetime.

"You lock your bedroom door?" I ask Savannah.

"Done," she chirps.

"Alright," I sigh. "Let's do this."

"Don't sound too enthusiastic," she deadpans.

"Sorry, I can't help it," I say.

Savannah stops me in my tracks. "Aria, don't let mom get in your head. Not everyone has a secret agenda, okay? Austin's a nice guy."

I mull her words over and purse my lips in thought. "You are way too nice for your own good. How are you always so optimistic? Teach me your ways."

She shrugs. "We don't really have the best influences. But one thing I know, is that I never want to turn out like mom and dad. They're always so angry. I don't like being angry."

Can't relate. Anger is a familiar emotion. I can't remember a time where I wasn't always angry. Angry at the world. Angry at mom and dad. Angry at myself.

I guess I'm more like them than I thought.

Not wanting to feel any sorrier for myself than I already do, I just nod in agreement. "Me either," I murmur.

"Okay," she grins. "So wipe the frown off your face. You look like you just stepped in dog shit."

I roll my eyes and shove her out of my way, picking up my phone off the floor. Right as I pick it up, the screen lights up with a text. My heart races when I realize that it's from Austin, informing us that he's outside.

"He's here," I announce. Savannah hoots and races for my bedroom door. I follow behind her, taking my time by grabbing my purse and locking my bedroom door.

Once I lock the front door as well, I jog down the front porch and approach Austin's jeep. I huff as I climb up, and inhale the welcoming smell of cinnamon as I buckle up and look over at Austin.

He smiles. "Hey."

"Hi," I murmur. Savannah pops up between the front seats, propping her elbows on the center console.

"So, I don't know what your plan was, but I say we hit up the BBQ joint downtown," she rambles excitedly.

I turn and look at her with wide eyes. She just mouths "What?" and looks back at me with innocent eyes and a charming smile.

Austin laughs and meets her eye in the rear view mirror as he pulls away from the curb. "That sounds good, actually. What's the address?"

After she rattles off a set of directions, she proceeds to reach forward and fiddle with the radio.

I meet Austin's eyes over Savannah's hunched over form, half of her body in the front seat between us. "I'm so sorry about her. It's only gonna get worse from here."

He smirks, briefly meeting my eyes before looking back at the windshield. He opens his mouth to respond, but Savannah interrupts him with a loud, "They're playing the same overrated shit."

"Here," he chuckles, reaching for his phone in the cup holder. "Play whatever you want."

Savannah squeals loudly and propels herself backwards, tapping away on his phone as she looks for a song.

"You're gonna regret that," I tell him.

Wiz Khalifa blares from the stereo.

I shake my head. "Told you."

But he surprises me, because by the second verse the two of them are rapping right along to the lyrics together.

"Oh my god," I mutter. But I can't help but smile.

Three obnoxiously loud and vulgar songs later, we're pulling into the crowded parking lot of Mo's BBQ.

"Fuck yes," Savannah yells.

"Do you regret this yet?" I ask Austin as he puts the car in park and cuts the ignition. Savannah hops out immediately, racing to the front door.

"Not even a little bit," he laughs.

I follow Austin to the front door of the restaurant and murmur a small "thank you" when he holds the door open for me. Unlike Savannah, I have manners. I glance around the busy room, unable to spot where the little brat ran off to.

A waitress in jeans and a black t-shirt, with "Mo's BBQ" stitched on the front, approaches us and says, "She wanted a seat out on the back patio, is that okay?"

I laugh and look back at Austin who just grins and motions for her to lead the way. I sidestep a giggling toddler attempting to crawl under a table, waitresses bustling around with trays of food, and finally slip through the french style double doors leading out back. The patio is huge, and thankfully less crowded, small tables with maroon umbrellas casting a shade over them.

I spot Savannah at a table, a menu open and her nose pressed against the laminated paper. I pull out a chair and take a seat beside her, Austin sitting across from me.

"Here we are," the waitress says, pulling a notepad from her apron, "I'm Stef and I'll be serving you today. What can I get you guys to drink?"

We rattle off an array of soda orders, and Stef disappears to get them.

"I'm thinking we get a rack of ribs to share, curly fries, and oooh, are those mozzarella sticks?!" Savannah rambles.

I pick up a menu and scan the options and my eyes widen.

"Savannah, a rack of ribs are almost twenty bucks! I can't afford that," I exclaim.

"Get whatever you want," Austin cuts in, "I'm paying."

I look up at him and frown. He continues staring down at his own menu, ignoring my gaze.

I clear my throat. "Austin, it's fine. I can pay for our half of the meal."

He looks up at me and raises an eyebrow. "I invited you."

I snort. "Once again, you literally didn't. You told me you were taking us to lunch. But it's fine, you don't have to-"

"Damn," he whistles, cutting me off. "I need to work on that, huh?"

Savannah laughs. "You probably shouldn't. Then she'd chicken out and say no."

"Savannah," I grate with flushed cheeks.

Austin laughs, but thankfully doesn't comment. Instead, he says, "Let me do this. It's fine."

"I'm paying you back," I grumble.

"Alright," he shrugs easily.

Stef swoops in and places our drinks down. "Alright, we ready to order?"

Austin speaks up. "One rack of ribs. Two orders of curly fries, and a order of mozzarella sticks. You guys want anything else?"

"A side salad," Savannah pipes up.

I shoot her a look, to which she just shrugs at and continues sipping at her soda.

After Stef jots down our order and disappears, I turn to Savannah with wide eyes. "Sav, you're not starving. Calm down."

She snorts and reaches for her silverware, unrolling her utensils from her napkin. "Aria, don't underestimate what I can put away. If there's no room, I'll just make room."

"What are you doing?" Austin gestures towards the napkin she's trying to shove down her shirt.

She sighs dramatically. "Protecting my clothing, Austin. I don't want barbecue sauce all over my dress."

He grins and holds his hands up in surrender. "Sorry I asked."

"I can't take you anywhere," I mutter.

"How's your day off been?" Austin asks, sipping his drink.

I think back to being woken up at 7 o'clock this morning to mom puking in the hallway, just steps away from the bathroom.

I scratch my eyebrow and shrug. "It's fine."

He studies me carefully. "What are you up to for the rest of the day?"

"Absolutely nothing," Savannah chimes in.

I clear my throat. "What she said."

Austin nods, a grin tugging at his lips. He turns to Sav. "How's school going?"

"Oh my god," She groans loudly. "Awful! I hate everyone."

We both laugh.

"You applied to any colleges yet?" Austin asks.

Savannah hums thoughtfully. "University of Memphis and UT-Knoxville. I haven't heard back from either of them, though."

"There's still time," I reassure her. "You'll get in."

"You'll love college," Austin says.

"Where'd you go to college?" Savannah asks, intrigued. I turn to him, curious as well. I know that he has a degree in business management, but I never got the chance to ask him where he studied.

"Tulane University," He smiles.

"Holy shit, isn't that school really hard to get into?" I ask him, awe coating my tone.

He shrugs sheepishly. "Not impossible, but yeah it's tough."

Austin directs his attention to Savannah and asks, "You ever thought of applying there? I think you'd like it."

Sav frowns. "I don't think I'd be able to afford an out of state school."

I find myself mirroring her frown.

"Maybe we could work something out, if you got in," I say slowly.

"Wait, really?" She asks excitedly.

I nod and shoot her a small smile. "It wouldn't hurt to apply, right?"

Sav visibly bounces in her seat.

"Aria tells me you're in drama club. What's that like?" Austin asks curiously.

"Oh yeah! How's drama club going?" I ask her. She immediately freezes and tenses up.

Interesting.

"It's good. Fun," she says slowly. I raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Is it?" I ask innocently.

"Uh huh," she murmurs.

"Great."

"Yep."

Austin looks between the two of us in confusion. "Am I missing something?"

I shoot her a curt glance. "Is he missing something?"

"Nope," she chirps casually.

Yeah, I don't believe her. But I decide not to push it for now.

"You two are weird," Austin muses.

Yeah, he's got that right.

Stef appears, saving Savannah from the web of lies she's so obviously weaving. She's never been good at lying, so I'll just have to figure out what it is she's lying about.

The familiar smell of barbecue invades my senses and my mouth waters as a huge rack of ribs is placed in the middle of our table. Stef hands us three small plates and leaves us to our meal.

Savannah wastes no time in digging in, the steam wafting from the food not deterring her one bit. I reach out and tear off a few pieces for myself, transferring them to my plate.

"This is the best thing I've ever eaten," Savannah moans.

I take a bite and silently agree with her.

Silence, Savannah's way too loud moans, and occasional mindless chit-chat ensues throughout the rest of our meal.

I cringe as Savannah lets out a loud burp, and try not to flinch when I catch a glimpse of the bill. My gut churns with guilt when Austin pulls out a stack of bills from his wallet, but he doesn't seem fazed.

Once we make it back to the Jeep, Savannah laid out in the backseat with a hand over her stomach and a smear of barbecue sauce still on her chin, I turn towards Austin.

"Thank you for lunch. We had fun," I murmur.

He looks at me and grins. "I'm glad. We should do it again."

I laugh and peek back at Savannah. "Sounds good. I can't promise that Savannah won't inhale her food again, though."

"Yeah, can't say I've ever seen anyone eat that fast before," he smirks. "But you and I could go out for another Waffle House date. If you want."

My grin falters and my stomach flutters. "Date?"

He scratches the stubble on his jaw. "Yeah. A date."

"That.. sounds good. Fun," I stammer lamely.

"We don't have to," he rushes. "I just-"

"No," I cut him off. "I'm sorry. I'm just... not good with stuff like this. Obviously," I laugh weakly.

"Me either," he admits. "Clearly. Savannah was onto something when she said not to ask you, because you might say no. I guess I was trying to save myself the embarrassment of that actually happening," he laughs nervously.

My heart lurches. "I want to say yes."

"Yeah?" he rasps, before clearing his throat.

"Yeah," I say.

I glance out of the passenger side window as Austin pulls up to the curb in front of our house and puts the car in park. Savannah pops up between our seats, mutters "You guys are so bad at this," and hops out of the car.

I laugh and look over at him. "She's wise beyond her years, isn't she?"

He smirks down at his hands, where his thumbs are lightly tapping against the steering wheel. He looks over at me. "Can I take you out to dinner?" he asks.

I bite back a grin and meet his stare. "I would really like that."

"It's a date," he decides.

I smile. "Good. Glad that's settled."

I unbuckle my seatbelt and open my door, and carefully jump down onto the asphalt below. I meet his intense stare and suddenly blurt out, "I'm going to invite you inside one day."

He looks confused, so I elaborate. "My mom is a heartbroken alcoholic, trying to get over the husband that left her. And my house is nothing special. It's old, and dingy, and doesn't feel like home. But it is, and I'm going to invite you inside one day."

I exhale, cheeks flushed from my nervous rambling. But it's true.

I wanted to get to know him better. I wanted him to get to know me better. I wanted to trust him, and I wanted him to trust me. I was going to let Austin inside my house one day, not just because we've become accustomed to sitting in my driveway and sharing conversation, and laughs, and teasing, but I was also going to let Austin inside my head and my heart. Because he's slowly breaking down walls I was so sure were impenetrable, and that means something.

And I think he knows that, because he just smiles and says, "There's no rush; whenever you're ready. I'll text you about that date."

With words and a smile like that, he makes it really hard to not open the front door and invite him inside.

——

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️