From Paris to Berlin (Asher)

[Izabelle Phillips]

It was a new year filled with new opportunities and possibilities and seeing as how most kids were even gone from school or busy with their own, Izzy was glad to find the auditorium completely empty. Izzy had her issues with the stage fright and didn't dare to perform in front of anyone. Even singing Christmas carols at home was difficult. But now she finally had to chance to get on a real stage and sing her heart out without anyone bothering her. Or so she hoped anyways. If anyone came inside, she could always make a run for it and hope they wouldn't notice her.

Standing in the middle of the scene felt so right. It felt as if she had finally found the place that was meant for her. Somewhere she belong in all of the chaos the real word seemed to throw around like it was a game. But this felt good. Really good.

A little nervous at first, her voice shook as she pulled the microphone to her lips and started singing. It had been a while, apart from all the singing that was done in the shower. But as the song progressed, she didn't feel as nervous anymore. And reality seemed to slip away.

 She didn't pay much attention to the world around her, if someone was coming in or not. Izabelle was completely lost in the song. She focused on the words she formed with her lips and the tunes in the background, trying to match them with each other. It was such a wonderful feeling, she didn't know quite how to explain it without making it sound like a cliche.

But it did; She was finally home.

[Asher Hayes]

Holy shit! It was 2014. Asher was wondering where the year had gone. He decided to start the year right and work on his album. Since his dorm room was too messy, Asher decided to resort to the auditorium. "2013 was a good, solid year" he told himself, "but 2014 will be even better." Just thinking about all of the things he was going to do that year got Asher pumped. With his notebook in one hand and ukulele and Game Boy (yes, one can make music on a Game Boy, google it) in the other, Asher headed out into the snow and towards the auditorium. He was so excited that he basically sprinted. In his mind he brainstormed some lyrics of a song:
Why can't we see beauty
Through a blind man's eyes
Because facial features are just
a petty disguise

Though they were just lyrics in the making, he was pretty proud of himself for thinking of them on the spot. Finally, Asher had arrived at his destination. As he opened the door, he was immediately hit with the sound of a powerful voice. Though he didn't recognize the song, he could tell this girl was doing it justice. As the singer finished up, Asher began to applaud. She was fantastic and deserved to know that. "That was amazing! I'm Asher and I'm a musician too." He held up his ukulele and Game Boy to show her. Immediately after saying that, he could tell it was a mistake. The second the girl's face turned red, Asher realized that she probably had stage fright. "So... I'm guessing you don't sing in front of others that often. Just so you know, the world is missing out."

[Izabelle Phillips]

The shock as the applauding reached Izzy's ears couldn't be mistaken. Her face turned red in an instant, unable to speak, unable to move. The blonde simply stood there like a deer staring into the headlights of a car speeding towards it. Her mouth went dry and if she could, she would have ran away. But her body didn't want to listen. It didn't want to react. The boy kept on talking, and talking, and talking. She, however just stood there. Completely and utterly in shock; This was exactly what she had been so afraid of.

''Uh, hi.'', she finally managed to press out, a little awkwardly and her voice was shaking. But at least now the blonde dared to move climbed down from the stage. Brushing off some invisible dust off of her dress, she could feel her hands turning clammy. ''I'm Izzy.'' She walked over, trying her best not to trip over her own feet. She just wanted to get out of here and hide under her bed for the rest of the year.

Gosh, what an awful start to 2014.

''Heh.. Yeah. I didn't know anyone else was going to be here.'' Man, she was making this a whole lot worse for herself than what it needed to be. After all, he had told her she was good. So why was she so nervous? ''But thanks. For.. You know.'' Maaan, she probably appeared like some social awkward girl that didn't know how to communicate with people. And that wasn't her, at all.

[Asher Hayes]

Asher was relieved that the girl didn't run away and actually walked over to him. And her name: Izzy. Asher loved it. It was edgy, but still cute. It seemed to fit the singer. "Are you okay? Do you want me to get you some water?" Asher was pretty sure that he had brought a bottle. He looked behind him where he placed all of his stuff. Ukulele, Game Boy, notebook, and pencil. There was no water. Asher didn't want to go to the cafeteria or a vending machine because he was afraid that she would leave while he was gone. "Heh." Asher said awkwardly, "Never mind about the water." Asher felt bad about surprising her. He couldn't just leave her all flustered and embarrassed. Asher was great at cheering people up when they were sad but he wasn't very experienced in calming people down. Though the two sound similar. They are very different art forms.

Asher needed to think fast. The silence was making things worse. He did the first thing that came to mind. Asher planted a kiss right on the lips of this girl he barely knew. Obviously he didn't use his tongue (it was their first kiss for pete's sake). He went for the classic lip to lip smooch. Asher had to admit the few seconds it lasted, weren't half bad. Once their lips broke contact, he asked "Did that make you feel better?".

[Izabelle Phillips]

''No, no. Don't worry about the water.'', the blonde reassured him. That wasn't really the problem, even if her mouth felt dry. Water wouldn't have solved the problem anyways. The problem was her and her stupid stage fright. It almost felt like she was about to jump through the roof any time now, and quite frankly, she was just about to extract her wings and do just that. A little dramatically perhaps, but it couldn't be helped. He had caught her just when she didn't want to. And to put the cherry on top of the cake, she was also making the poor boy feel... What was it? Guilty, maybe. She wasn't quite sure.

And then the boy, Asher, did something to turn the entire situation upside down, rolled it around and tossed it sideways. It came so unexpected, Izzy didn't even know how to react. She stood there once more with her eyes wide, and her body stiff. What the hell was going on? She was confused. Completely and utterly confused. Her thoughts went back and forth in her head, making it hard to think clearly. And then he pulled back, and said something that sounded like the worst thing to say after kissing someone, considering the situation. But even so, Izzy couldn't keep the laughter away.

''Woah, you're clearly not the shy type, are you?''

[Asher Hayes]

Izzy's reaction was by far better than Asher expected. He was picturing something more like her slapping him, running away, and/or crying. A cute and funny remark was perfect. It wasn't like Asher was in love with the singer and wished they would of made out and gotten married. He didn't even have a crush on that sexy, smart, and talented girl.. okay he was kind of falling for her. But this was completely spur of the moment. Though Asher could have taken an educated guess, he had no idea what Izzy's age was. Before anything "happened" between them, he wanted to get to know her. Then, he would make the moves of her. Getting a girl/boyfriend was one of Asher's New Years resolutions and Izzy seemed perfect.

"Yeah I'm not shy at all. I like taking risks and making decisions on the spot. I was kind of stuck this time and wanted you to calm down. No one likes to be flustered so I was trying to help. I probably screwed it up though." Asher said with a laugh. "I don't know. Your just really cool. I want to get to know you. Hey, do you want to help me work on my album? If not, here's my number so you can text or call me later." Asher ripped a piece of blank paper out of notebook and wrote down all of his contact information. After scanning it to make sure all of it was correct, he handed it over to Izzy.

[Izabelle Phillips]

Beneath the confusion, Izzy was a little glad the boy had done what he had. Not only had it calmed her down, but it had also made her laugh. She wasn't freaking out as much as she had before and she could finally ease back into being herself. Izzy wasn't normally a nervous wreck, or even the slightest shy - no, no, Izzy was quite the social, outgoing girl, so behaving like she had before was so out of character it was almost like watching herself in third person view.

And it surely helped that the guy was cute. Not that it seemed appropriate to burst out something like that.

Izzy arched her eyebrow at the boy, the smile still lingering on her lips. He was talking. A lot. And he didn't stop either. He just went on and on, worse than before. It was a flow of words, letters and compliments and suddenly she stood there with his number in her hand. ''Well, damn. That was easy.'', she let out with a chuckle, a little surprised. ''You don't waste any time, do you?'' It was a little refreshing though, he didn't exactly beat around the bush. Izzy appreciated people like that, more than she cared to admit. ''Do you write your own music?'', the blonde asked, referring to his question about the album. She was now genuinely interested, like she always was when someone talked about music. Especially those who made their own.

Izzy looked at the note before tucking it into her pants, her eyes lifting to his again and a grin appearing on her lips. ''You're weird. I like that.''

[Asher Hayes]

Asher laughed at Izzy's comments. Things were going smoothly and he was feeling more and more comfortable around her. He was no longer trying to constantly woo her but was truly being himself. That was his favorite part about the singer. Asher could be Asher and not some mannequin that positions itself to her liking. If their relationship was like that, he would've already left and not even had wasted a second more.

One thing that wasn't going so great was that Asher felt like he was talking too much and his crush wasn't really paying attention. From then on, he would keep his responses short and sweet. Now was the perfect time to start since she just asked a question. "Yeah, I mostly write my own stuff but I cover songs sometimes." One sentence was pretty good considering Izzy just asked Asher about a subject he could talk about for months. "This is my first full album though. I've never done it before so I could use all of the help I could get." Asher added. "Okay, three sentences is your limit on the subject of music" he thought to himself.

"I was just about to say that to you." Asher said in response to the girl's compliment. "So, tell me about yourself. I want to know anything. At least enough so I can impersonate you as I watch you sleep." Asher said jokingly. "But seriously, you do some talking."

[Izabelle Phillips]

Nodding slowly, appreciating the fact that the boy seemed to calm down a little. Izzy was glad to see that the boy seemed a little more comfortable and not as nervous. In Izzy's book, rambling was the first sign for someone being nervous. Not that she understood the boy having any reason too - since in fact, he was the one that had walked in on her, not vice versa. ''Ohh, that's so cool!'', she mused. Izzy hadn't written any songs of her own yet and mostly did cover songs. ''I'd love to help out. Music is my life.'', she laughed and rolled her shoulders. Finally, someone who understood the importance of music. If only she was as brave about it as Asher was, imagine how great her life would have been.

Izabelle grinned at the boy's comment. Maybe she should have been freaked out by it, but she wasn't all that timid. The blonde could tell a joke from the truth when she saw one. Well, usually anyways. ''Well, that's going to take years of practice.'', she winked at him before sitting down on one of the chairs. Izzy crossed her feet and leaned her chin on the back of her hand. ''Well, I have a twin sister named Dextra. Don't worry, we're nothing alike. She's a real nightmare.'' She really was. And the fact that Dextra hated her sister didn't really help much on the relationship. ''I'm a meta- clearly. I have butterfly wings and hallucinogenic dust, so beware - I can totally drug you down and kidnap you.'', she said with a smirk and leaned further back in the chair.

''I don't know. What do you want to know?''

[Asher Hayes]

Asher was relieved when Izzy wanted to help out. A part of him expected her to be too shy to sing on his album. Oh yeah, Asher was totally making her provide vocals. It would be a crime if he didn't take advantage of her blessing of a singing voice. He was trying to figure out how she could assist him in the creation of his debut album when he suddenly realized he should be listening. Asher felt a little crappy that he wasn't paying attention. Being an only child, he couldn't really relate to Izzy's sibling rivalry with Dextra. Based off of stories his friends and family told him, he knew fighting with brothers and sisters was very common.

Asher was actually surprised when Izzy didn't say much. Though when he first met her, she seemed shy and awkward, he could always tell she really had an energetic personality. Most of the energetic people Asher knew were talkative as well. But Izzy wasn't like most people so that point was weak. Obviously, there were mysteries about this girl that Asher needed to crack.

What did Asher want to know. Things like favorite food, hobbies, and where she was from seemed too boring. Asher needed to ask something that would mean something. After thinking it over for a couple of seconds, he finally spit it out. "So, do you wanna go out sometime? Like a date, but... yeah, it's a date." Before Izzy answered, Asher did a quick silent prayer and hoped for the best.

[Izabelle Phillips]

Izzy wasn't really the type who enjoyed talking about herself. She herself preferred to get to know people by simply watching them, being with them and studying them. Sure, certain things couldn't be learned from simply watching, but yet, the usual awkward conversations where people had to tell stuff about themselves were usually something the blonde tried her best to avoid. She never really knew quite what to say, other than the obvious anyways.

People rarely surprised the girl, not like Asher did as he out of nowhere decided to ask her out. It had been the last thing she had expected to come from the blue haired boy's lips, and when she thought about it, she couldn't quite find a reason for saying no. ''Yeah.'', she began and smiled. ''Sure.'' He was cute, he was funny and he was weird. Perfect.

Izzy was so used to people being shy, stuttering when asking others out, so she had to admit that him blurring it out like that was actually pretty refreshing as well as charming. Maybe it lacked the romantic feel to it, but she didn't really mind. She wasn't one for gooey-stuff anyways.

''All though, I must warn you - before you bend down on one knee and propose, let me just tell you that I hate waking up early, so you'll have to feed the dog.'', she said with a smirk, clearly making a joke.

[Asher Hayes]

Though Izzy responded to his question only a second after he asked it, to Asher it felt like a century before the words left her beautiful lips. When they finally did, Asher exploded with excitement on the inside. He tried not to show it because he didn't was to seem desperate. After the singer responded with a yes, he realized he hadn't really thought this through. Where would he take her? A fancy restaurant or just out for ice cream? What if they just chilled and wrote song lyrics? Luckily, Izzy cracked a joke that calmed him down a little. It made him realize that she'd be fine with anything.

"Well, if your a dog person, I guess I'm just gonna have to return the engagement ring" Asher wasn't 100% sure that Izzy was aware of his huge fear of dogs that was caused by his neighbor's dog attacking him when he was seven. He still had scars going down his back that always reminded him of that day. But that wasn't the point. The point was that he had successfully asked a girl out that he only knew for forty five minutes. "I was thinking of taking you to Shake, Sprinkle, and Roll. You know the 50s themed ice cream place. I know it's kind of cold for ice cream but we're both weird." Asher was starting to talk to much again. He really couldn't help himself. It was the first time he took a girl out so he was kind of new to this. "If you have anything better in mind, feel free to shoot down my idea." Asher added with a laugh. Was he blowing this? He had no clue.

[Izabelle Phillips]

His comment brought a smile to her lips and Izzy shook her head. ''Don't worry. I'm an all animal kind of person.'' She didn't really have any preferences. And no, the blonde wasn't aware of how much dogs scared him. Truth be told, she didn't really know anything about him. Besides the name, the fact that he had an energetic personality and that he loved music as much as she did. But that could wait. She figured she'd learn everything she needed in time. Besides, she was in no rush.

''That sounds perfect.'', she replied with a enthusiastic nod. She hadn't been there before, but she could imagine how cozy the place must be. And if it was 50's themed, well, that also meant she could get creative with her dress code. Which was a win-win. ''I like it.'', she nodded and clapped her hands together.

''Just name the time and place and I'll be there.''

[Asher Hayes]

Score! Asher hadn't completely blown it. If it all came crumbling down, he would would of gone down with it. He doesn't try to show but he really likes Izzy like REALLY likes her. If it wasn't completely inappropriate and if he was a little crazier, he might of even got on a knee and proposed. But marriage is not on Asher's mind. All he wants if for their upcoming date to be a success. Would they just go out for ice cream or would they chill afterwords. Would the discuss the album or just try to get to know each other. Asher would have loved to talk about music for hours on end but at this point in their relationship, the latter is most likely the better choice. He would't dare to call someone his girl/boyfriend if he didn't know the basics: favorite color, food, movie, etc.

Asher had never been to the ice cream parlor either but it seemed like the standard first date. He knew neither of them followed standards but he didn't want their very first date to be too peculiar. He would save the indie coffee shop gigs and hanging out in trees for a later dates, if there are any. "Well since I already mentioned the place, I'll pick you up at six at your dorm. We can walk to the ice cream place together. Maybe we could hand in my room afterwords. And no, I won't try to make any moves on our first date."