Chapter 7
Ella slowly began to stir in her slumber. A small quiet groan moved past her lips at the faint sounds of the birds chirping outside. Just as she began to move her arms up to rub her face, she stopped almost immediately as she felt a weight beside her, her gaze quickly lowered and she noticed an arm draped around her waist. Instant panic began to race throughout her as her heartbeat quickened inside her chest, she tried to think of what happened last night and for a moment she couldn’t quite register anything and that made her freak out even more. Her eyes moved even lower and let out a small breath as she saw that she was clothed.
“What the hell…” she managed to breath out as she turned her head as slowly and carefully as to not wake the other person up. A soft sigh of relief escaped her when she saw who was lying next to her and the events of last night began to play in her head; meeting at the bowling alley, the game, the winning, the arcade, the misunderstanding to getting the right end of the stick, the basketball game, the leaving and coming back to her apartment with Erin, the bundles of nerves, the teasing of the photo to the kiss – God, that kiss, it was one of the best damn kisses she had ever had. She could feel her cheeks warming at the thought of it and then her mind went a little astray and she started to ponder what it would have been like to actually go further with the Canadian. Her eyes instantly widened at the thought as her heart quickened a few extra beats inide her chest and she quickly and carefully untangled herself from Erin and got off the bed, she shook her head as she closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them as she turned around and looked at the sleeping woman. A smile crept on her face but vanished just as fast as the thoughts came back into her mind.
Turning around, Ella shuffled as fast as she could out of her room and towards the kitchen to attempt to make breakfast. Reaching the fridge, she let out a long breath and moved forward to lean her head against it. “God, damn…” she mumbled out as she tried to steady her heart from racing like no other.
“You alright there, Els?” Someone spoke from the doorway.
“Holy shit!” Ella let out breathlessly as she jumped a few feet off the ground as she pushed away from the fridge at the sudden voice. She looked over to the source and instantly glared. “Don’t do that, Ash!” She said in the same manner as she moved over and punched the blonde's arm hard.
“Ow!” Ashlyn winced through her laughter and brought her hand up to rub her upper arm. “Well, that was rude.”
“Yeah, well you scared the hell out of me!” She huffed as she moved back to lean against the fridge.
Ashlyn raised her hands in the air in surrender. “Sorry,” she let out with amusement still lacing her tone.
“Yeah, sure…” Ella rolled her eyes and huffed again. She then raised an eyebrow. “What are doing up so early? Didn’t you stay out last night?”
The blonde shrugged. “Yeah, stayed out for a couple of hours and then got bored, so it wasn’t that late when we got back to the apartment.”
“Right, okay.”
“Came to check on you and…” she trailed off with a smirk that Ella caught onto almost immediately.
“Oh…” an involuntary blush took over her face as she tried to bite back a smile.
“Mhm, you were definitely all cuddled up into Erin,” Ash raised her eyebrows knowingly. “It was really cute, Els.” She teased.
“Ergh, jeez. Don’t. Shut up. Stop.” She quickly shook her head as she raised her hands to her face and grumbled.
Ashlyn noticed the change in her tone and she softened up as she moved over to her best friend.
“Ella…” she let out softly and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Ella let out a soft breath as she lowered her hands and shrugged a little not sure how to put what she’s thinking into words. “I dunno… I just…” she shook her head. “I don’t know what I
want…”
Ash raised an eyebrow and squinted her eyes. “What does that even mean?”
Letting out another breathy sigh, Ella looked to Ashlyn quickly and then lowered her gaze. “I mean, I am at the point where I want to keep Erin as close to me as I possibly can because, yes… I
really do like her, but then there is a part of me that is still so completely scared and panicky that all I want to do is push her as far away from me as I possibly can... I just don’t know what to do.”
Giving Ella a look of sympathy, Ash went to respond but was cut off by someone clearing their throat from the doorway. The pair quickly turned their heads to it’s direction and Ella’s face instantly paled as she saw Erin.
“I should probably head off...” Erin said quietly.
“You don’t have too…” Ella quickly let out. “I…uh…was just about to make breakfast.”
Erin smiled a little and shook her head. “Nah, I have to go shower and check in on Carm and Kay.”
“Oh… okay, I’ll…erm… walk you out,” she let out quietly as she rushed towards the Canadian and began heading towards the front door.
A small laugh escaped the older woman as she looked up towards Ashlyn when Ella headed out of the kitchen, she gave a small nod to the blonde and shook her head amused at the smug look she was receiving.
“See ya, Erin,” Ashlyn winked and then turned towards the refrigerator to open it.
“Yeah, later,” Erin responded as she began to turn and head towards the door. She had heard what
Ella had said, but she honestly didn't care, she knew the battle Ella was facing at the moment and was going to be there for her with whatever she decided to do.
Ella waited by the door and gave a sheepish smile once she saw Erin making her way towards her. “I guess I will see you later.”
Erin raised her hand to the back of her neck and nervously rubbed it. “Uh, so… I heard about this place in the area that you most likely know about but, eh… I was wondering if you wanted to go with me tonight?”
“As in a date?” Ella said almost instantly surprising the both of them.
The Canadian’s eyes widened a little as her mouth dropped open only slightly. “I.. mean… no, it doesn’t have to be a date, we can go as friends because I don’t want to rush you, but I don’t mind if it’s a date, because I like you and well either w—“
Ella quickly moved forward and grabbed the other woman’s face as she instantly pressed her lips against the others to stop the girl from rambling. “It’s a date,” she spoke feeling a little bolder about her actions. The part of wanting to keep Erin as close to her as possible winning just a little more for the time being.
“Oh…” Erin whispered out as her face started to heat up and she was clearly blushing. A bright shy smile took over her face as well and Ella swore that it was the cutest damn thing she had ever seen. “Perfect… I mean, great, it’s a date… I’ll pick you up at eight.” She grinned even more and then pulled a face. “I didn’t mean for that to rhyme…”
Ella giggled and shook her head in amusement. “It was cute, so don’t worry. I will see you at eight.”
Erin nodded and leaned to give Ella a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Bye.”
“Bye…” Ella whispered as the Canadian opened the door and headed out of the apartment.
Walking back into the Kitchen with a massively bright smile on her face, Ella looked up to see
Ashlyn just smirking completely amused at her. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “What?”
“Oh… nothing.”
“Yeah… okay.”
Ashlyn chuckled lightly as she took another sip of her juice. “Anyway, are we going to do something tonight?”
“No, I have a date with Erin,” Ella said almost immediately without hesitation and her eyes widened. “I…uh…I have…um…a date, yeah… with… erm, Erin,” she said again this time stuttering nervously as her cheeks got bright red.
As soon as Ella mentioned the date without hesitation, Ashlyn eyes also widened and she almost spat the drink of juice she had in her mouth out. Swallowing it, she quickly smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah… I got that the first time,” she laughed in amusement. “Aw, that’s so cute, Els!”
The blonde continued to tease. “Where are you going?”
Ella’s cheeks blushed a deeper red as she rolled her eyes again. “I… don’t actually know where we are going.”
“Mm…kay” Ashlyn drawled out. “Would you like some breakfast?” She asked changing the subject.
Ella smiled gratefully and nodded. “Yes, please.”
---
Erin left the apartment with a massive grin on her face, she made her way to her car, got in, started it and then drove home, the smile on her face not once leaving as she pulled into a parking space and killed the engine. Getting out of the car, she makes her way to her apartment and walks in, noting that it’s rather quiet, so, she figured that her roommates were still sleep. Making her way to her room, she headed straight to her closet to grab some fresh clothes for the day and then moved towards the bathroom to have a shower.
Once she was showered and dressed, Erin made her way out into the kitchen to make some breakfast. As she entered the room, Carm was standing over the stove cooking some pancakes and she smiled softly.
“Hey, Bud,” she spoke gently and made her way to the refrigerator to pull out some juice.
Carm quickly glanced over her shoulder and smirked as she saw Erin. “Have a good night?” She asked as she turned her attention back to the food.
Erin leaned back from her search of a drink and rolled her eyes at her best friend. “Yeah, we hung out, watched a movie and fell asleep half way through it.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah…. What else did you think would happen?” Erin asked with a quirked eyebrow. There was no way she was going to mention the kiss.
“Nothing…”
Although she couldn’t see it, Erin knew that Carm had a massive smug look on her face and knew exactly what she was thinking. Poking her head back into the fridge, she ignored the inner question that the girl was clearly asking her and pulled out the juice she was looking for.
Carm took notice to this and decided to change the topic. “You want some pancakes?” “Would love some!” Erin grinned.
“Well, go wake Kaylyn up and then head to the table.”
“No problem,” Erin replied as she made her way out of the room, headed to the dining room table to place the bottle on it and then made her way to the blonde’s room. Knocking lightly on the door, she heard a faint come in, so she opened it slightly to poke her head in. “Breakfast is on the table,” she spoke softly into the room.
“Okay, I will be out in a second. Thanks,” Kaylyn responded.
Erin nodded and leaned back out of the room to make her way back to the table, she sat down on one of the chairs just as Carm was bringing out the plate of pancakes.
“Good timing,” Carm winked as she set the plate down and sat herself.
Not long after Kaylyn had joined them and they began to eat.
“So, are you joining us for movie night next door?” The blonde was first to break the silence after a few minutes.
“Eh… no. I am going out with Ella tonight,” she said normally with a shrug.
The other two looked at each other and smirked knowingly. “Oh, yeah?” Carm said with raised eyebrows. “As in a date?” She continued through a grin.
Erin rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yes, as in a date. And before you start, shut up!” Carm smirked again as she nodded slowly and went back to eating.
Erin knew exactly what she was thinking once again and she shook her head.
“Well, have fun.” Kaylyn said in a teasing tone which made Erin groan.
“Yeah, yeah.” Erin responded. She couldn’t wait for the day to be over, so she could hang out with Ella some more.
---
For both Ella and Erin, the day seemed like it had went on forever - that time had surely stopped at one point for a good three hours, before it started ticking again and continued to move at a snail pace for the rest of the afternoon. When it finally hit 6:30, Ella couldn’t help the massive smile that took over her face. Only an hour and a half to go! She thought to herself as she began picking out an outfit. She had texted the Canadian earlier to ask where they were going and what she should wear, however, all she got in response was to wear something comfortable and that she wasn’t going to say where they were going.
In the other apartment, Erin had the same feeling, although she just wanted it to be time for her to head off the pick the younger girl up, her nerves continued to grow as the minutes ticked by and her two roomies seemed to notice.
“Calm down.”
“You’ve never been this nervous.”
“This is really hilarious to see.”
“Aww, Erin is a little... more like a lot nervous.”
“You're too cute, Bud!”
Are just a few comment she got thrown her way as she paced the house a few dozen times after getting ready. She was dressed in a simple light blue button down shirt, pair of navy skinny jeans and a pair of tan timberland boots.
Finally when it was closer to 8. Erin gathered up her stuff quickly, said goodbye to her roommates and headed out of the apartment - not without getting teased a little in the process. She made her way to her car, got in, started it and made her way to Ella’s place just a few minutes before 8.
Pulling into a car space, she turned off the engine, got out and headed up towards the apartment.
Knocking a few times, she took a deep breath in and slowly let it out as she rocked back and forth on her feet, nerves picking up by the millisecond.
“I’ve got it,” she heard a muffled voice say on the other side of the door and then it was swung open. An instant smile took over the Canadian’s face as she saw Ella on the other side.
“Hi,” Ella softly whispered as a blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks.
“Hi, yourself,” Erin grinned even bigger. “You look nice,” she nodded once.
The blush on her face deepened as it now reached her ears, she lowered her gaze to the floor and shuffled her right foot against it. “Th- thank you,” she mumbled out. Ella was wearing a pale green sweater, denim jeans and dark brown leather boots. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she smiled shyly as she stepped out of the apartment and closed the door.
“Well, thank you,” Erin smiled. “I take it you have everything?”
“Yep, all ready to go.”
“Alright, then let’s head off.”
The pair made their way out of the building and towards Erin’s car, the Canadian made sure to open the door for Ella, which made the American’s blush stay plastered on her face, she thanked the older woman and got in.
After closing the passenger side door, Erin made her way around to her side and got in the car her, she started the engine and could barely hear the noise of it over her beating heart, to say she was incredibly nervous was an understatement, in fact she was panicking just a little more than she’d like on the inside, she just really wanted this date to go well and hoped Ella liked what she had planned.
Pulling out of the car space, she turned to Ella quickly, gave her a tiny smile and then turned back to the road as she began to head to their destination. The drive was rather entertaining, they talked about their day and how it went painfully slow for the both of them, they spoke about their life some more, still able to learn a little more about each other which they thought wasn’t even possible and then they listened to a little bit of music, which once again Erin sang along to and Ella listened with a massive grin on her face.
Finally they arrived where they needed to be which was; Santa Monica Pier and Ella’s face lit up as she saw where they were.
“An amusement park!?” Ella grinned brightly.
“Yeah, thought it’d be a different and unique type of date… Eh, I know it’s kind of kiddish,
but…”
“No, I love this idea,” Ella assured her.
“Great!” Erin grinned in return as she pulled into a free car space and killed the engine, her heart was still beating crazily in her chest, but now it wasn’t from panicking about Ella not liking what she had planned, it was more just nerves from being around her. Getting out of the car, she quickly rushed around and opened the door. “After you,” she whispered softly.
Ella smiled shyly and got out of the car. “Thank you,” she spoke softly in return.
Erin quickly made her way over to pay for the parking and then they began heading towards the entrance. Ella went to pull out some money to pay for some ride tickets, but Erin stopped her almost instantly. “Eh, no! I am paying, I asked you on this date, so…” she trailed off with a smile and walked the rest of the way to the lady behind the window of the ticket booth, she bought them both unlimited ride wristbands and handed Ella hers when she had received them.
Once they had the wristbands on, they continued into the park and Ella breathed in the aroma of the area- Immediately being hit with the smell of fried food with a hint of sugar. Hot dogs, pizza, fries and cotton candy filled her senses and it brought back her childhood, she loved going to the amusement park with her family and especially enjoyed all the fatty foods that her parents allowed her to eat only on the occasions when they went. The rides were followed closely behind and not far after that were the games, she would always have so much fun and now that she was here, she was loving this date even more.
As the younger girl looked around, the area was casted with bright different coloured florescent lights wherever she were to look and that reflection rainbow coloured light to flow throughout the entire park, which made it look kind of magical. The laughter of young kids running around and screaming happily on the rides, brought a massive grin on her face at how much fun they were having. Then the teenage couples hanging around at the games, where the boys and even some girls were trying to win their girlfriend’s a prize, it was all too sweet to be honest.
Looking towards the rides, Ella’s face once again lit up. “Oh!’ Ella quickly said and turned to Erin, instantly grabbing her hand and tugging on it. “Let’s go on the West Coaster first,” she grinned and began to pull her into its direction.
A tingle ran all the way up the Canadian’s arm as Ella grabbed her hand, her heartbeat quickened and for a moment she felt like she couldn’t breathe as the American began to drag her to the ride. Finally once she was able to, she let out a chuckle and slowly nodded her head. “Sure, whatever you want,” she smiled as they got into the waiting line. It was mostly filled with kids and their parents, which made them feel a little out of place, but they didn’t really care.
About ten minutes had gone by and it was finally their turn to get on the ride, they flashed the young man behind in charge of the ride their wristband and as they were heading towards the ride, they got a smirk thrown their way from the boy and they were a little unsure the reason behind it.
After the ride, they went on a few more appropriate ones, concluding with that Pacific Wheel. Once that was over, they made their way to the food stands to grab a bite to eat. Erin ordered some fries and Ella got a pepperoni pizza in which they could share. When they finally got their food, they found a vacant table, sat down and ate.
The pair headed towards the games area after they had finished eating and spent about a good hour just playing the games and wasting a little more money than needed, but Erin didn’t care, she was happy to pay as much as she did in reward to seeing the American’s bright smile and rosy cheeks. They had won a bunch of tiny toys along the way until Ella pulled Erin over to the Mini Hoops and managed to win a bear in which she gave to Erin. The Canadian chuckled and grinned at the gesture and was even able to win a cute bear herself to give to Ella. They headed to the car quickly and placed the prizes in it.
“Do you want to get some sweets and take a walk along the shoreline?” Erin asked once she closed the door to the car.
“Yeah, that sounds like a lovely idea.”
Erin smiled with a nod as she led her over to the food stands once again and grabbed a funnel cake, dippin’ dots, and fresh spun cotton candy. With the food in hand, they made their way out of the park and began walking along the beach, when they were a fair distance away from the park, they sat down on the sand and began eating what they got.
“You know… this has got to be the best date I’ve been on,” Ella admitted after a moment of silence.
Erin turned to her with a smile on her face. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Ella grinned as she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to Erin’s cheek.
The Canadian blushed lightly as she looked down to he cotton candy in her hand with a shy grin on her face. “Me too,” she whispered softly.
After about another hour, they had eaten all the food, spoken about random things and decided that it’d be best to head home now. Picking up the rubbish, they headed back up to the pier to throw the rubbish away and headed towards the car.
As soon as they were settled, Erin started the car, reversed out of the car space and headed back towards Ella’s apartment. The drive back was mostly Erin singing along with the radio and Ella enjoying the angelic tone of the Canadian’s voice. ---
“I’ll walk you to your door,” Erin smiled as they finally got back to younger girl’s apartment.
“Okay…” Ella spoke sheepishly as she blushed once again, it had seemed to stay on her face the entire night, but she didn’t really care, it was just what happened to her when she's around the Canadian.
They headed towards Ella’s apartment and stopped outside the door. Erin stuffed her hands into her pockets nervously as she shuffled on the spot, not sure if it was okay to kiss her or not. She had been restraining herself all night, because she knows that Ella is still trying to comprehend all of this. It was a lot harder than she ever imagined, but was glad she was able to stop herself in certain situations throughout the night, especially with how close they got after winning a game and Ella would pull her into a tight hug, or kiss her cheek from time to time. She knew people were looking at them strangely but there was no way that she was going to bring that up to Ella and freak her out even more.
“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Ella spoke softly as she rocked back and forth on her feet.
“You’re welcome,” Erin smiled. A small awkward silence fell over them for a second. “Can… um… can I give you a goodnight kiss?” Erin asked shyly with a soft blush running across her cheeks.
Ella grinned shyly herself and nodded sheepishly in response.
The Canadian smiled softly and raised both of her hands to Ella’s face, leaning forward, she pressed her lips softly against hers in a tender kiss.
Ella instantly melted into it and moved her arms to wrap around the older girl’s waist as she pulled their bodies closer together.
This action caused Erin to tilt her head a little as she deepened the kiss slightly until she slowed it down and pulled back, pecking Ella’s lips once more. “Goodnight,” she whispered softly.
With a grin on her face, Ella pulled back and stepped backwards towards the door, bumping into it softly as she bit her lip. “Night,” she shyly spoke. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she continued.
Erin nodded in response as Ella turned around and opened the door.
She snuck one last look at the Canadian as she closed the door and leaned back against it as she closed her eyes. “Best. Night. Ever.” She whispered softly to herself as she pushed her way off the door and headed towards her room.
Erin stared at the door for a moment and then turned back around, she left the apartment with a bright grin on her face, pretty much thinking the same thing.