The burning embers of the fire reflected in his eyes as he sat before the bonfire.

He accepted another cold beer from Ryan and took a huge gulp,his insides welcoming the alcoholic warmth.

"Drink up,"Ryan said as he settled besides him and slapped him on the shoulder.

Louis winced internally.Ryan's version of a friendly pat in the back was more of a hard smack on the shoulder and he himself knew it.

"Look at you.You almost fell over,"he laughed.

"Thin as a toothpick,my sister has more muscle than you,"he tsked.

He smacked him again to prove his point causing Louis to spit his drink all over himself.
Louis cursed him out while still choking on his drink.

Ryan's huge mass shook as he laughed the insult away.The sound of his guttural laughs almost overpowering the music.

"I don't swing that way.Sadly for you."he said as he laughed through Louis' coughing and spluttering.

"So when are you gonna come back to the game?"he asked after settling down.His demeanour had changed now,a slight seriousness accompanying it.

Louis' answer was silence as he turned his attention back to the fire.
He hadn't played rugby in a long time and he didn't know how to explain things to Ryan.

Rugby was part of his carefree life.And after his dad's death,things just weren't the same anymore.He had to man up and take over things.And so rugby took a backseat.

Somehow he knew Ryan understood this,but even so he still continued,"The girls miss you and I need my wingman,"he said trying to lighten up the situation.

Louis snickered."Yeah cause you can't get some without me."

Ryan was about to retort when a pretty girl came up to them and settled on Ryan's lap wordlessly.

He gave Louis a smug look turning his eyes to the girl then back to Louis in triumph.

Louis just rolled his eyes and was about to stand up to leave the two to their own devices when Ryan's words stopped him.

"Live a little man,"Ryan said knowing Louis was about to head home early as usual.His words froze Louis momentarily as he got up to leave.

His words had the intended effect though, as Louis stopped to look around the place. He sighed. Ryan's version of a 'small gathering' would be completely different from his.This was more of a house party than a simple bonfire.He appreciated that his friend had organized this 'little gathering' for him.

Yet he envied him a little.Becuase he was always so lively.He thought about Ryan's words for a while.For the past months he'd been such a bore,always opting to stay home instead of meeting up with his friends.He wondered how they had managed to put up with him.

Maybe I should take Ryan's advice and live a little.

Life was so damn short and that was something he had realised in a terible way.

He thought of the one good thing that had happened in the past few weeks.It was about time he did something about it,he decided.

He wouldn't get any sleep until he finaly did it.

************************************
The lazy Sunday afternoon was anything but slow and boring for Louis who was speeding down the road,overtaking a few cars on his lane while getting hooted at and cursed at several times.

Louis was feeling pressed for time.Whatever he had to do he had to do now.And that reasoning was what had him swerving to the right before parking his car and springing out of it.

He hit the ground running,grateful that he hadn't bothered to take off his running shoes.In fact,he hadn't bothered to take off any of his running clothes but he didn't have time to worry about that it was now or never.

************************************
The knock on their door startled them. Lisa's house was in such a secluded area that very rarely did they receive visitors,let alone unannounced ones.

I mean it was at the top of a hill.At least that's what Stacey called it.It was almost a kilometre high anyway.A very steep hill with a rugged terrain.Cars had trouble maneuvering through it because each time you drove up the hill was like risking the very chaise of your car.

Lisa was visibly irritated.She may have been a very social drunk but when sober,she was an introvert to the core-as was obvious from her choice of residence.And one of the biggest fears of all introverts was unannounced guests.She despised them.She said they didn't give her time to 'mentally prepare' herself for them.

Eva could already picture the scowl on her face from the kitchen.She was busy doing the dishes since it was her day of chores.She had practically moved into Lisa's house and she could bet that her mom had most likely not noticed her absence or if she had she didn't care much for it.

She turned off the tap so she could enjoy the fun of hearing Lisa snap at whoever was at the door.

"Hi, is Eva in?"

Eva almost dropped the plate that she was holding.She hadn't imagined that she'd hear that voice since two and a half weeks ago.

She hastily wiped her soapy hands dry on the drying cloth and without a thought to her appearance,she walked to the living room.

It was actually him standing at the doorway,his brows furrowed in question as he looked at Lisa.

What was he doing here?

But there was something wrong.He looked ruffled.Those huge eyebags lay conspicuously underneath his eyes and there was a faint hint of unshaved facial hair on his chin.

"What's wrong?"she wanted to ask.

"Eva?"he called out when he finally caught sight of her.

It was amazing,the transformation that ocurred on his face.His eyes lit up instantly that even those ugly eyebags couldn't dim them.

Eva was suddenly overcome with self-consciousness,remembering the hideous lime-green silk scarf tied around her head.It's always when you're looking you're worst....

Oh gosh.What was she thinking.This was just Louis.Right?

Then why was a slight part of her admitting that she had missed him.It had only been like two weeks.And besides as far as she knew,they had a 'see you when I see you' kind of friendship where there was no putting effort in meeting up.It was all about meeting by chance.

"Can I talk to you?"he asked,rubbing his neck and in the process exposing his damp armpits.Eva finally noticed the slight breathlessness in his words and his heaving chest.

Wait.Had he just ran all the way up the hill to see her?She looked behind him,there was no car in sight.

"Yes,yes.It was so obvious he had."Eva realised.

The realisation surprised her and she wordlessly nodded her yes to his request not trusting herself to speak.

"We'll leave the room to you guys,"Lisa smiled as she placed a glass of water on the coffee table before dragging an unwilling Stacey off the sofa.

They stood there staring at each other.

"I....,"his words were followed by an uncomfortable silence.

He bounced on the spot trying to literally shake out the nervousness he felt.

"What?"Eva giggled.

He chuckled himself."I should probably start with 'hi' but that sounds boring."

He straightened his shoulders then all humour wiped from his face,looked her in the eye and asked,
"Eva will you go on a date with me?"

She was at a loss for words.

Louis could never have guessed the chaos he caused within her with those few words.All the alarm bells in her head went off simultaneously.

Her throat was suddenly so dry that she almost reached for the water that Lisa had meant for him.

She swallowed audibly.

"What?"

All nervousness ridden of him,he repeated his question,"Will you go out with me?"

The way he asked it,it was as if he was challenging her to do this with him,a small smirk on his face.

"You cocky Arschloch,"she said,the tension she was feeling immediately dissipating to nothingness.

This was just Louis no need to be nervous.

He smiled the sort of smile she'd not seen in him before.A playful one.

"What the heck?Fine."

"Fine?'What the heck?'That's all I get for running up this hill?"

"Okay,yes,fine.What do you want to hear?"She shrugged."You got exactly what you came for,right?"

"You know I almost got ran over by a bull on my run here."

She laughed."I doubt that."

"No seriously someone was grazing cattle."She laughed some more when she realised he was serious.

"So see you tomorrow?"he asked.

She nodded in answer.

"Oh and Eva,"he began to say as he was walking away,"nice headscarf."

"Get off my property.You ass!"

Still high on adrenaline,Louis managed to scoot off before Eva had a chance to throw a shoe at him.

Eva had a look about her when she turned back to the house.She should have wiped it off because she walked right into her friends' scrutinising gazes.

"We're choosing what you'll wear,"Stacey said with finality.

"And....does he have a brother?"Lisa asked.

Hello readers,

There you have it.Double update.
Hope you enjoy the read.

So their first official date.I'm excited.

Feel free to comment and vote as well as call me out for taking so long to update.

I'm dying of shame here.

Thank you for standing by the book,though.

Yours truly,
The reforming kemandbooks.

Xoxoxo