You hurried to shut the window, your skin still blazing where Chanyeol’s lips had touched your cheek. You’d have to get him back for that later.

Lon was already opening the door, so you had no choice but to just drop down under the window, grab a book that thankfully happened to be near, and pretend like that’s what you’d been doing all along.

He stepped into your room and immediately turned off your stereo. “Hopefully the neighbors don’t mind your taste in music.”

You smiled up at him, setting the book to the side. “They should thank me for elevating their taste and expanding their cultural knowledge.”

Crossing his arms, Lon narrowed his eyes as he stared down at you. “You seem to be doing better.”

“You know me,” you shrugged. “I bounce back.” Hopping up to your feet, you asked, “Did you figure out what was up with the truck?”

“Just a few bolts that had come loose. Nothing big.”

You were sure it was a little more complicated than loose bolts but your brother knew that if he started speaking in car jargon, you’d zone out.

Lon turned to leave your room and glanced over his shoulder at you. “How about we just order some chinese tonight?”

“Sounds good to me,” you grinned.

Lon pulled out his cell and started dialing your favorite Chinese restaurant you’d discovered in your first week here, giving them your usual order without having to ask.

You let out a sigh of relief. So far, so good. Chanyeol got away clean. Lon was still in the dark. And you had a date tomorrow night with your mate. It looked like life was finally starting to look up a bit.

**

You ran as fast as you could from the bus stop to the clock tower located in the square. Lon had decided that six-thirty – right when you were headed for the door – was the perfect time to start a long winded conversation on some movie that was coming out soon that he wanted to catch. How he could take a simple “do you want to see it with me” into a nearly twenty minute conversation was out of your realm of understanding.

Checking your phone, you whined. You were already five minutes late and – considering your past history working against you – you were worried that Chanyeol might have given up and gone home in that short amount of time.

Miracle by miracle, he was still there, staring up at the clock with his back to you. Once you were close enough, you skidded to a stop.

“I’m-” huff “so-” huff “sorry.”

At your breathy apology, Chanyeol turned around, a laughing smile on his lips. “Running isn’t your forte, is it?”

“Shut up.” You tried to give him a fierce glare, but he just laughed more.

Barely giving you a chance to regulate your breathing, Chanyeol grabbed your hand and started pulling you away from the square towards the mom and pop restaurants.

“Where are we going?” you laughed. Chanyeol’s enthusiasm was evident with every step he took.

“I’m starving,” he replied loudly. “Hurry up.”

You rolled your eyes as you tried to keep up with his long strides. Wolves and their stomachs.

Chanyeol didn’t stop until you were both out of the cold and inside a warm, brick-oven style pizzeria. The smell of melting cheese and baking bread filled your nose and caused your mouth to water. There was nothing in the world like fresh, hot pizza made the old fashioned way.

“How many?” the hostess asked.

“Two!” Chanyeol beamed. He seemed so proud to say that one little number

Nodding, the hostess took the required number of menus and showed you to a booth off to the left side of the restaurant against the wall that was painted to look like an old crackling wall of a Tuscan home. The hostess simply asked if this table was alright and, after receiving confirmation that it was, walked away. Chanyeol barely glanced at the offerings before sliding the menu away from him.

“I’m going to go ahead and assume you want a whole large to yourself?” You didn’t even need to look up to know that his cheeks were turning red.

He ruffled up his hair nervously. “If that’s okay….”

“Just means I get my own as well.”

Chanyeol chuckled, opening his mouth to reply when the waitress walked up.

“Hi, my name is Hyeri, and I’ll be your server to- oh, Chanyeol, hi!” She was practically glowing when she recognized her customer.

The smile that Chanyeol gave was simply friendly; the kind you gave when you ran into someone that you weren’t expecting but were on good terms with. That didn’t stop your alarm bells from going off, however.

“Hey, Hyeri,” Chanyeol greeted. “Long time, no see.”

“No, you haven’t been by to see me for awhile,” Hyeri pouted. Her lips were jutted out and you swore you even saw her bat her eyelashes.

You raised your eyebrows and scoffed. With a loud slap, you let the laminated menu fall to the table, startling both of them. That seemed to bring Chanyeol back to his senses.

“Oh, Hyeri, this is my-” he stopped, flashing you a proud smile. “This is my girlfriend, (y/n). (y/n), this is Hyeri.”

Your act left you feeling a bit shameful and yet, filling with a little bit of your own pride, you waved to the waitress. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Disappointment was an understatement for the look that crossed her face.

Trying to remain pleasant, she took your order and walked away.

“My brothers and I come here a lot,” Chanyeol explained once it was just the two of you again. “Hyeri was always our waiter.”

“For a good a reason,” you replied sourly. He seemed to miss your implication.

Yes, Chanyeol had declared you his girlfriend - a word not really used among wolves as it was too… well, normal for the connection that mates had - but you were still a little jealous. You couldn’t help it.

Hyeri brought your drinks without a word, tossing the straws down and walking away. When you weren’t looking, Chanyeol ripped the top of the wrapper on the straw and blew, hitting you right under the eye with the remaining paper.

While he laughed at you, you did the same, getting him square in the middle of his forehead.

“Hey!” he whined.

“Don’t dish it if you can’t take it,” you warned. Growing up with a brother, and other wolves who acted as if they were, you picked on quite a bit. You learned quickly that the best thing to do was to just get them back and beat them at their own game.

Shaking his head, Chanyeol took a long gulp of his carbonated beverage.

The pizzas came in a decent amount of time and you watched happily as Chanyeol downed it faster than you could eat half of your smaller portion.

In between bites, both of you swapped meaningless stories of your childhoods. You noticed that Chanyeol avoided any stories that involved his parents, sticking with tales that involved the antics of his pack instead.

You wanted to ask how he came to find the pack, to be apart of his new family, but you figured that your first date in a pizzeria wasn’t an appropriate time for that question.

Chanyeol insisted on paying for the meal even though you tried to argue that you were perfectly capable of paying for yourself. He was too quick for you, though, handing Hyeri his card before she could even put the receipt down on the table.

“Come on,” Chanyeol urged, grasping you hand once more and pulling you out of the restaurant.

Not really seeing a choice, you followed him down the street until he stopped in front of an old-time arcade.

You snorted. “Really?”

Chanyeol nodded happily. “Sehun beat some of my number one scores and I need to get them back. Plus, I thought you might enjoy it too.”

Letting go of his hand, you started for the door. “You might try to get your spot back, but those number one seats are mine.”

Just as you opened the door, Chanyeol charged forward, picking you up by the waist with one arm and carrying you inside while you laughed in a very wolf-ish show of dominance.

As he put you down, he said, “Sorry. I couldn’t help that.”

“It’s okay.” You were blushing. Mostly because you actually found the action quite cute. “I didn’t mind.”

Chanyeol ducked his head in a sad attempt to hide his blush. He walked up to the front desk and paid the cover for two, this time with no argument from you.

The arcade games scattered around the large room varied in style and quality, some dating back several decades while others seemed to be brand new. A majority of the consoles were single player, meaning you and Chanyeol had to take turns watching and cheering each other on for most of the night. Not that you minded in the least. The two player games were typical shooter games that neither of you really had any interest in anyway.

Your competitive spirit reared its ugly head. One game you were so obsessed with gaining the highest score that Chanyeol had to literally drag you away from it when you refused to give up.

By the time both of you called it a night, Sehun was no longer number one on most of the games. He still held the title on two or three, but you and Chanyeol were split down the middle with your own high achievements.

The two of you finished out the night with a short walk around the square. Chanyeol didn’t let you wander to far from him, keeping a steady hold on your hand. The cold air was nipping at your skin, but your fingers that were wrapped in Chanyeol’s grip were at least warm.

Catching what time it was according to the clock tower, you sighed.

“We should probably call it a night.”

Your wolf pouted, but understood. “I can’t walk you home, can I?”

“It’s better if you don’t,” you admitted, even though you quite liked the idea of him walking you home. The chance of Lon catching him, though, was too great. You were already going to have a hard time making sure he didn’t catch Chanyeol’s scent all over you. Taking your hand back, you took a step away before his presence made you tempted to stay out all night. “Well… goodnight.”

“Good- wait!” Chanyeol searched the pockets of his jacket before he pulled out your purple beanie that you’d lost so long ago.

You stared at him opened mouth. You’d resigned to the fact that you’d never see it again.

“I meant to give it back to you a long time ago,” he murmured, “but there never seemed to be a good time. I also meant to give it to you when you first showed up, but then you were late and I began to worry that you’d changed your mind again. When you got here, I got so excited that I forgot… again.”

“Thank you,” you whispered. Your eyes - watering with memories - were trained on the beanie as you explained, “My grandmother knitted that for me, just before she died. It was too big at first, but she did that on purpose.” You looked back up at him. “Thank you. For bringing it back to me.”

Nodding, Chanyeol gently placed the beanie on your head, adjusting it so it wouldn’t fall off. He stepped back once again. Your heart was pounding, chanting in your ears.

Oh, screw it.

Listening to the chant, you stepped up to Chanyeol, pushing yourself up onto your toes as you pressed your lips to his. It was a quick, chaste kiss.

You quickly stepped back, your face heating up.

At first, Chanyeol just stood there, stunned and opened mouth like a fish. Then a smile grew on his lips. Grabbing your waist, he pulled you back to him, kissing you again, deeper this time. His arms cradled your back, hands pressing into the space between your shoulder blades as your own rested on his chest.

You’d never once wondered what it might be like to kiss Chanyeol, never fantasized on what it would be like. And it was good thing. Because your own imagination never could have matched the fire that was igniting inside.

“Way to go, Chanyeol!”

You jumped back, gasping as you searched around for the intruder.

A few wolves that you recognized - including Tao, who was smirking - were standing a few feet away.

Chanyeol groaned. “Seriously, guys? You just couldn’t stay away, could you?”

“This was a complete accident,” one of them insisted. He had a narrow, pointed face and bubbly personality, just judging by his looks.

“Yeah, right, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol grumbled.

Feeling very uneasy, you turned to your mate. “Good night, Chanyeol. I’ll… see you later.”

He nodded solemnly. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

Keeping your eyes down to avoid the others, you ran off towards the bus stop. Hopefully, your night wouldn’t be evident on your face when you got home.