[Q] perfectionistically PETRIFIED (Sawyer)

[LOKI!]

His pulse was pounding in his ears he couldn't believe she had said yes. He tried to hide his exhilaration, and play it cool. "Sounds like a plan to me." He walked her to her room enjoying her company the whole trip.

He tried to keep from staring too much. How great would that be to make himself look like an idiot now by not watching where he was going. As they got to her room he stopped and faced her, "So here we are I guess." He took a piece of paper and wrote his phone number on it. "Just give me a call and let me know what your schedules like. And as far as accidents go, I'd have to say today's was probably the best ever."

[averygrant]

As they reached the door of her classroom she stopped and turned back to him, taking his number. She quickly opened her notebook and wrote her own down for him, and handed it to him. "Yes, thank you. My day is starting to look up. Just call me whenever...,"

[/b] she trailed off, not wanting to sound overly enthusiastic about it. She really hoped he'd call her or text her soon - before the weekend. She knew she'd probably be too nervous to get up to nerve to call him, unless he hadn't called her by Saturday. But then again, he had her number now. So if he didn't call her, it just meant he had been being polite, and nothing else. Maybe that's all it was. A decent guy trying to help her get off on the right foot. Who was she kidding thinking an older guy would be remotely interested in her. Not to mention the fact that he looked like the kind of guy who'd be much more interested in her sister.

She blushed then and hurried to turn around and begin walking in the classroom. She'd already taken up too much of his time.

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[LOKI!]

He slid the paper into his pocket. He didn't know if he had met a new friend or something more, but he was looking forward to finding out. He stood at the door way for a moment after she had gone smelling her perfume lingering in the air.

She seemed to be on the bookworm side, so maybe she wasn't truly interested. But a guy can hope, and anyway it would be nice to have a female friend to pass the time with. He turned and slowly walked back to his dorm, the memory of the today's events playing on repeat inside his head. He couldn't wait to see her again.

[LOKI!]

----------A Few Hours Later----------
Sawyer rushed around his apartment trying to get things straightened up. Being by himself it didn't really matter how the place looked. Not that it was overly messy, but if Avery was coming over it had to be impeccable. As he finished putting everything away he sat on the couch and picked one of his school books up. He didn't want her to think he had lied about having a ton of homework.

He sat in the quiet apartment with his homework and awaited her arrival. He couldn't understand why but he was starting to feel nervous. He sat the book down on the end table and went to the kitchen for a drink. He checked the clock in the kitchen, she should be here any minute he thought.

[averygrant]

She slowly made her way across campus, noticing that the sidewalks were far less crowded than they had been earlier that day between classes. Several time she contemplated turning around and chickening out, but something kept her moving forward. She was nervous about going to a guy's apartment. She'd never been in one before. She didn't know how to act or what to say... But he probably just wanted help with his homework, and she'd tutored other students in high school. She had to tell herself to treat this the same way. Of course it wasn't, because it was in his apartment. If he his roommate was there it would only make her more nervous too.

She finally found the small complex of apartments on campus. Less than 50 in all, and reserved for seniors, or those juniors who were lucky enough to have senior friends. They were a lot bigger than the dorms, but she couldn't imagine sharing a place with anyone but Riley, so she'd probably never have one. She walked up the stairway to the second floor and found his door. It was on a corner, and looked a little smaller than the others. She shrugged, and knocked on the door.

[LOKI!]

He about spilled his glass of coke when he heard the knock. "Coming," he wiped his hands clean on a paper towel and threw it away. Stay calm he thought as he crossed the apartment. He opened a few more of his books, so it at least looked like he had tried some of it. He stopped just short of the door and took a deep breath. He turned the knob and let the door swing open.

The first thing he noticed were her eyes looking up at him. He stood for a minute before half mumbling, "uhhh sorry, you can come in." He stepped aside to let her in. "Can I take your jacket? These apartments sure beat the dorms don't they?" He was on the verge of rambling so he forced his mouth shut and motioned her towards the couch where his stack of books lay.

[averygrant]

When he opened the door she noticed he seemed a little nervous, and was talking quicker than usual. She glanced around and saw a few books sitting open, but otherwise it was clean and tidy. He seemed to have several books for just two classes, and she shuddered at the thought of carrying around so many books someday.

She looked down at what she was wearing and then stared at him. "Uhh, I'm not wearing a jacket. But thanks for the offer."

[/b] She laughed, feeling a little less embarrassed about running into him earlier. She walked over to the couch and sat down, leaning forward to peer at his books. An English book and a couple of smaller paperbacks that probably accompanied it. And then some kind of a crop production book that had a lot of math on the page, and another crop book with more words and less math. She glanced back up at him, "So, uh, is this what you need help with? I'm good at English but I don't know much about this other stuff."[/b]

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[LOKI!]

He felt his face flush deep red, "of course you aren't wearing a jacket." He felt rather embarrassed, but for some reason it helped ease his nerves. "Yeah, I've never been really good with English. The other stuff is where the emotional support comes in." He closed the door and walked back to the couch. "I think my pile of books weighs more than you do." He smiled at her.

He sat at the opposite end of the couch, the smile fell from his lips slightly. "Avery, I have to be honest, I didn't really need help with all of this." The blush crept back across his face as he tried to find the words. "I just wanted to see you again." He tried to force the smile back into his face. It didn't seem to work quite right, until his eyes met hers.

[averygrant]

As he sat down and made his confession she flickered between awe and anger. He'd set her up for this. Did he not think she would have come over if he'd just asked? Was he really the nice guy she had originally pegged him to be. She sighed, and looked at him. "You know, you could have just asked. If it's not already obvious, I don't exactly lead a very exciting life..."

[/b] She felt like pointing out her lack of friends, but decided it was best not to yet.

She wanted to be mad at him, but she knew she couldn't. He was nice, funny, and he made her feel comfortable around him. In high school a few guys had occasionally talked to her, but most of them were too busy checking her out to carry on a conversation. The rest brushed her aside as being boring and knew she wasn't the type to get involved in anything anyway. She'd had a couple crushes, but the guys were her close friends, other 'smart' kids, and she'd never really known how to push past that. But Sawyer, he seemed like the kind of guy who could be a good friend. She didn't dare to hope it could turn into more, but of course, a part of her was hoping for just that.
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[LOKI!]

He looked past her eyes into the emptiness of the room. "I'm sorry Avery, I can understand if you want to go." He gazed around the room, "I've just never really been good at this sort of stuff." He was trying to figure out if she was getting ready to storm out or not. He picked up one of his books and thumbed through the pages. "I mean I have friends and all, but I don't know it just feels different with you."

Now he was rambling, practically gushing almost. He didn't know why he was saying these things, his brain was yelling shut up, shut up now but his lips just kept moving. "I know I just met you Avery, but I feel like I've known you for years. Not like knowing things about you, just how comfortable you make me feel." He tossed the book back onto the pile. "I can walk you back to your dorm if you want?"

[averygrant]

Avery smiled and shook her head. "No Sawyer, I came over here to spend time with you, homework or no homework. You seem like a really nice person and I'd love to get to know you better."

[/b] She couldn't believe she'd just said all that, but she had. But now she was feeling nervous again and didn't know where to go from there. Since he didn't need help with homework, that was no longer an option as a subject of conversation.

What did guys like him like to talk about? She felt like an idiot for not having a better idea of what guys liked to talk about, so she just sat there staring at her hands, neatly folded in her lap. "So, uh, this is your last year here I guess? Have you been here all 4 years?"[/b] She knew it was a stupid excuse for conversation, but she had no idea what else to bring up.
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[LOKI!]

He nervously reached out to take her hand, but decided to pull it back instead. "This will actually be my fifth year. I thought I was going to graduate last year, but I was short two classes." He tried to look away from her, but her face kept drawing his eyes back to her. "Hence why I'm only in two now, but I may have a reason to take a few more next semester now." He smiled weakly as he tried to regain his composure.

"So what about you? You seem like you could have gone anywhere you wanted, why did you stay here?" He took his eyes away long enough to stare back at the pile of books on the couch. He tried to divert the conversation back towards her. He didn't exactly know how to make small talk.

[averygrant]

Fifth year? That meant he was even older than she imagined. And he'd be gone after December. She felt a little hurt, realizing that her new friend wouldn't be around for that long. He'd probably get a job and a real life and never remember the petite blonde who'd bumped into him.

His question brought her attention back to reality and she shrugged, blushing at the compliment. "Oh, you know. It's close to home and my family. I didn't really want to go anyplace far away by myself."

[/b] She left off the part about her sister. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason she wanted to keep Riley out of this. She was probably just scared that if he knew she had a twin sister, he'd end up realizing who the fun, prettier twin was and Avery would never see him again.

She sighed. "What about you? Are you from nearby?"[/b] She figured he must not live super close if he was staying on campus, but then again she lived pretty close and she was. Her parents had said in order to really appreciate college, they needed to live on campus. It was supposed to make juggling 7 classes easier.

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[LOKI!]

He shrugged a bit, "I live a couple counties over. Not really far, but not super close either." His eyes wandered back to her face, he noticed something new. It looked like something was troubling her, the look rattled him. He reached across the stack of books on the couch and took her hand. He didn't even think about what consequences might come with such a bold gesture.

He squeezed gently as he looked into her eyes, "Avery, what's wrong? Have I done something? I didn't mean to mislead you." The electricity pumping through his arm from the feel of her skin made his smile easy. He tried to think of anything he could say to bring her smile back. "You know your eyes are much prettier when you smile."

[averygrant]

She wanted to pull her hand away when he took it, but she felt frozen. She wouldn't admit it to him, but it was the first time a guy had held her hand. She tried to ignore it, but it seemed to take over her brain and make rational thoughts impossible. "I...uh...I...well....it's...nothing, really."

[/b] She offered him a weak smile. "You haven't done anything wrong, quite the opposite."[/b]

Then she blushed at his comment about her smile, which of course, only made her smile shyly at him. Of course, maybe he meant she was only pretty when she smiled. But no one had ever called her pretty at all before, so she would have to accept that. "Um, thanks,"[/b] she spoke softly. She was scared to look him in the eyes. Afraid of what she might find hidden there. She wanted to smack herself for letting her imagination wander, but already she was feeling like this could become something. Of course, that was silly. They'd only just met. He was just trying to be a nice friend.
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