"You look good."

Torryn Cole whipped his head to the sound of his mother's voice. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"You've checked yourself in the mirror the sixth time now, honey, and you normally don't even check once," Arabella Cole smirked at her son.

Torryn's ears felt like they were on fire as he cleared his throat. "I was just checking the mirror," He offered lamely. "It looked....weird."

"Sure, son," Theodore Cole chuckled, joining his wife at the door to Torryn's room.

Torryn's eyes narrowed. Was this an intervention?

Maybe his mom wanted to go on the date instead, Torryn snorted. He was sure she was almost happier than him about this date. Ethan, at least, had screamed to high heavens when Torryn informed him of the date. His ears were still ringing.

A bark broke him out of his thoughts and everyone turned to face Milo. He seemed to be barking his encouragement at Torryn. A soft smile broke out on Torryn's face. Now, where would he be without his wingman?

"Don't worry, the date's going to be perfect," his mom reassured, sensing his worries without him having to voice them. Torryn hoped to the gods his mom was right.

After what seemed like only minutes, Torryn was ringing the door bell to the Millers' house. He took in a deep breath before arranging his features into calm and composed—not that he felt calm and composed on the inside at all. Torryn was taking Aria Miller on a date! He almost couldn't believe his luck.

The door opened and Torryn's heartbeat quickened like it always did whenever she was nearby. Aria Miller grinned at him, emerald-green eyes shining brightly, looking cute in a cream sweater and blue jeans.

Dangerously cute, his subconscious reminded when he noticed the wicked gleam in her eyes.

When he'd told her to dress comfortably, he was sure she would dress in pajamas. He wouldn't mind, he knew first hand how adorable she looked in those.

"I'll admit, I was gonna wear pajamas," Aria smiled impishly, her eyes dancing with mischief.

"What happened then?" Torryn raised an amused eyebrow, trying hard not to smile like a fool.

"This sweater is new and I really wanted to wear it. Do you like it?" She gestured to the sweater with both hands, looking cuter than Torryn was accustomed to.

"Uh-huh," he nodded. "The color suits you." Everything suits you, he wanted to say.

"I know, right?" Aria grinned excitedly, making Torryn grin as well. Then, she bunched up the seater from the helm and lifted it to him, leaving her midriff exposed. His eyes widened frantically. What was she doing?

"Look at how soft it is, Cole," she sighed happily and Torryn calmed down. He touched the sweater once before rapidly bringing his hand back to himself. Torryn shook his head, trying to hide his smile. Being great at noticing little things, Torryn knew very well by now how much Aria loved new things, especially new clothes. She was always happy when she had on new clothes, so, at least he knew she was happy now.

"It is soft," he admitted. Then, he took out a small bouquet of chocolates and it held it out to her. Torryn also knew that Aria didn't really care much for flowers. Chocolate was the way to her heart.

"After my heart, are you, Pigeon?" Aria teased him, accepting the bouquet. She looked down lovingly at the chocolates and Torryn was almost jealous for a moment.

What are you jealous for? Be happier because it wasn't a bad idea and she likes it, his subconscious reasoned and Torryn shook himself out of his reverie.

"You know it, sweetheart," he smirked back at her as crimson bled into her cheeks. 

Aria was about to say something (probably something snide to make up for the blush), when another figure joined them at the door. 

"Mr Miller," Torryn greeted the older man. Mr Miller shook his hand.

"Torryn," he smiled, "It's nice to see you again, son. Now, my wife says that Aria is supposed to have a curfew. So, bring her back by 2 AM, I guess," Mr Miller said as if the time he had set was too soon.

Both Torryn and Aria raised their eyes at the man.

"Dad, it's supposed to be more reasonable," Aria pointed out as yet another figure joined them.

"Exactly," Mrs Miller shook her head in disbelief at her husband. Then she turned to face Torryn with a sharp smile. He was still intimidated by the strict-looking lawyer very much. "Torryn, the curfew is midnight. Now, go and have fun, you two."

The two bid them goodbye and soon enough, they were on the road. Aria, who had been humming in the passenger seat—Gods, she had an amazing voice—stopped abruptly and turned to him. "Did you know cocoa was actually used as currency?"

"It was?" Torryn raised an eyebrow, not asking her what brought the thought on. He had done that once and it was confusing enough that he never tried to follow her train of thought again.

"Uh-huh," she nodded as she went on to explain it.

Torryn had been nervous before but talking to Aria helped calm his nerves down, not to mention, the faint scent of chocolates had engulfed his car. Torryn knew for a fact that the bouquet of chocolates that Aria had insisted on bringing with them, ("I don't trust them with it, Cole, they'll eat it all before we even leave"), was not the only reason for the scent.

They reached a cozy diner across town to eat. Light banter, sarcastic jibes, and a disturbingly clumsy story later, they finished dinner. It was quite late when Torryn took Aria for a walk, which turned out to be an amazing decision on his part. 

It was cold and windy, so Aria had cuddled up to his arm as they walked. Torryn's other hand was preoccupied with a bag but it felt very nice to have Aria on his other side. Very nice indeed.

They continued to walk in companionable silence, which was surprising since Aria didn't really do silences if they weren't awkward. Torryn had been shy as a child, so he didn't talk much. As he grew up, he became cold and rude. That was the only way he could avoid small talk. Gods, he hated small talk.

That was part of the reason why Torryn liked spending time with Aria; he definitely wasn't the talkative type, so Aria did the talking for the both of them. 

"What's in the bag?" Aria asked.

"You'll see when we get there," Torryn answered.

"Where are you taking me?" Aria asked impatiently.

"Why, to kill you, of course," Torryn said with a straight face.

"Right," Aria snorted. "I don't think you'll be able to kill me."

"Trust me that much?" Torryn had to stop himself from smiling too giddily.

"No, where does trust come in?" Aria raised a baffled eyebrow. "I was obviously talking about our odds in a fight. I would kill you before you even thought about killing me," She said, matter-of-fact.

Torryn couldn't find it in himself to be disappointed by her point about trust, he liked this side of her far too much.

But, then again, you like every side of her way too much, don't you? His subconscious snorted.

"So, you're saying you'd win in a fight against me?" Torryn turned to Aria as they both stopped walking.

"Of course," Aria said as if this was common knowledge and he was the crazy one to doubt her words.

Torryn looked pointedly at his body and then at hers, suggesting that he had more muscle than her. This was an amusing conversation.

"So, what if you're physically stronger? I would cheat, Cole, but I would win." Aria tilted her head to one side as she flashed him a coy smile that confirmed her words. She would be the fucking death of him.

Torryn couldn't control himself any longer. He turned Aria gently to face him and lowered his face onto hers. As their lips molded into each other, Torryn couldn't help but let out a satisfied groan. He had wanted to kiss her again ever since that day in their art classroom. 

Aria's arms slid around his neck and tugged on his hair. Torryn clutched her closer, leaving no air between them. He kissed her with a fervour that had been missing in the sweet kiss they'd shared earlier that week, and Aria responded with equal intensity. A few moments later, the kiss broke, their foreheads leaning against each other. 

"You're hot," Aria blurted out and immediately, her cheeks heated up in a fiery blush.

"It's good to know you think that, Miller," Torryn smirked lazily, combing back the hair Aria had disheveled a few moments ago.

"You know what I meant," she huffed, fanning her cheeks in an adorable manner. 

"I do," Torryn nodded. Then the shit-eating grin that he had been trying to suppress etched onto his face. "You meant that I'm hot." 

"No," Aria blushed more, looking scandalized. "I meant that you're warm, Cole. Stop fishing for compliments," she huffed. 

"Why should I fish for them if you're going to hand me them so easily?" Torryn murmured, tucking a lock of brown hair behind her ear. He ducked his head down to hide his smile at Aria's barely hidden shiver.

Aria narrowed her eyes at him, before noticing where they had stopped. "Wait, are we near the pier? But..." She looked around once more with curious eyes. 

Torryn entwined their fingers together and tugged her along. "We are near the pier, but this is the other one; it's quieter," he explained. It was true, this pier wasn't as crowded as the other one because all the shipments were loaded and unloaded here.

"Seriously, what's in the bag?" Aria asked when they were just a few minutes away. 

Of course. Torryn rolled his eyes at her impatience but gave in anyway. "Cake," he admitted, raising the bag up for her inspecting eyes. 

Aria's eyes widened in childlike happiness, which, again, made Torryn feel proud of his decision. 

"Chocolate?" She asked. 

"Of course," Torryn replied. 

"You really are after my heart," she declared. Then, as if she just realized something, her eyes widened in glee. "Cole, we're going to have cake by the ocean. Get it?" She asked him as she succumbed to a fit of giggles at her own joke. 

Torryn raised an unamused eyebrow. "You can do better than that, Miller."

Aria's eyes narrowed at him again. "Then I guess I can do better than you, too." She smirked and Torryn would've been hurt had not been for the humorous glint in her eyes. Don't dish it out if you can't take it, they seemed to say.

"You wound me, Miller," Torryn played along.

"And you thought you'd win in a fight against me," Aria snorted. 

Torryn stopped short, letting out a low whistle. "Well played, Miller, well played."

"I always do," she smirked and they both stopped short at the sound of something big hitting the ground loudly. "What was that?" 

"Your guess is as good as mine," Torryn muttered, looking around cautiously. Whatever was happening better not spoil their date.

Cautiously, they both walked towards the source of the noise. It was safe to say, neither of them were expecting the sight that greeted them. 

A crowd of men carrying huge crates from the dock to the waiting trucks. Apparently, one of the crates had fallen down and caused the noise that had attracted Torryn and Aria in the first place. Torryn found this interesting. It was way too late for the men at the docks to still be working.

"What the—?" Aria murmured to herself. "Maybe they're shipping imported clothes," she said hopefully.

"No," Torryn shook his head, "It's low-tide. Plus, I spend way too much time around here to not know the cycle of shipments. They really can't afford to be out of schedule and this," he gestured at the men, "is definitely out of schedule."

If that wasn't surprising enough, what happened next was enough to render them speechless. Tyler Atwood, their instructor for the senior camp, emerged from the shadows next to the toppled crate and sneered at the men around it. "Why don't you just announce to the whole town that we're doing something illegal here?"

                                  *

"Well, fuck me," Aria mumled as soon as Torryn had pulled them behind a huge truck and out of the light.

"Really?" Torryn raised a smooth eyebrow, not being able to resist teasing Aria despite the situation. 

"Shh, Cole, it's a new year and you're already earning coals for Christmas," she scolded.

Torryn shot her an amused smile before they both focused on the scene before them.

Tyler Atwood kept barking orders at the others as the men moved around quietly and efficiently. "Boss will be mad if he thinks the shipment got delayed; work faster, assholes."

"I always knew there was something off about him," Torryn murmured in smug triumph, as they crouched out of sight.

"No, you didn't," Aria snorted. "You think that about all men. You were just being a jealous little pigeon."

"No, I wasn't," Torryn said defensively, even though there was some grain of truth in that sentence.

"You thought Liam was into me, Teddy Bear Liam!" She whispered in disbelief.

Torryn looked down at her, sighing in defeat. It always amused him, how oblivious Aria was about her own charm. She didn't even know the effect she had on people; how everyone in her vicinity hung onto every word she spoke. It wasn't only because she looked good, (the best, if you asked Torryn), it was simply because she was Aria Miller and it was impossible to dislike her. 

Torryn didn't like her becuase of the reasons everyone else did; he liked her because she had a mean streak and was just as much a troublemaker as him and because when he had told her that they could go back if she wasn't comfortable lurking around the shady situation, she had shot his idea right down. ("No, why would we do that? If this is what I think it is, then Inspector Bryant is going to have a heart attack.") Her words worried him but he was happy she was as curious as him about what was going on at the docks.

"What are they moving to those trucks? C'mon, show me what's inside," Aria bounced in her place and Torryn had to keep her from walking over to the men and demanding they show and tell her everything. They might even give in, Torryn thought. Aria Miller was dangerous in more ways than one, after all.

"I don't think they're going to do that, Miller. Be quieter, please," Torryn said as a car came driving in and stopped next to the biggest crate. Both Torryn and Aria tensed up. Torryn hoped it wasn't an innocent civilian, because the conversations some of the men were having were shady enough already without a local being caught in it for no reason.

Then, they got the third shock of the evening when a familiar blond-haired man got out of the vehicle and walked towards a pale-faced Tyler. "What did I say about late shipments? Don't want to tip off the cops now, do we?" Jason Queen narrowed his eyes at the men around him. 

******************************************************************************

TA-DA!!!

First of all, awww, they kissed again! 

Secondly, a belated Merry Christmas to all of you! 

And lastly, sorry for not updating last week :((

Also, guys check out the song Cake By The Ocean by DNCE.  I like it!

Now, how was it?! I really hope you guys enjoyed it. Lemme know what you think!

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Aria: Vote because no matter what, we have cake!