Which, the offer’s sweet enough that it’s already got my heart racing, but I just laugh, awkwardly turning my face away. “The truth is, the only way I know how to save the Diary is to somehow prove that all these fake stories are real.”

If this were a romance fic, this would be the part where he takes my hand in his and says, I can’t change every story, but I’m in charge of this one, and I think we can make it real. Just use me.

Instead, he says, “Just use me.”

Wait, what?

“W-what?” I say, pretty positive I accidentally spilled my thoughts out into the real world and misheard him.

He shrugs. “Let’s get dinner. Then you can post some pictures and tell everyone you know the Diary’s real because one of the stories was about you. Sound good?”

I blink, my mind failing to calibrate. Did he just suggest a fake dating AU? Am I in a fake dating AU?

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

He laughs, pushing off the bookshelf and closing the space between us. “Why not? I mean, I love your blog, so we’ll probably get along great, and I can’t really turn down a chance at a behind-the-scenes look when I’m sure so many people would kill for one. Plus, I’d hate to see the blog fall apart over some troll.”

We stand in silence for a moment, my heart pounding in my ears. I wish Becca were here to see this, or at least a camera crew so I could film it and show it to her later.

Drew raises an eyebrow and says, “So is that a no . . . ?”

“It’s a yes!” I say, a little too fast and a little too loudly. “Sorry, I mean, it’s—yeah, I’d like that.”

The front door opens, and my eyes shoot to catch Amy walking in the door.

“Drew!” Amy snaps.

Drew rolls his eyes, slipping back behind the counter. “Always ready to work, Aunt Amy.”

Amy heads for the back room, and Drew smirks at me. “We can work out the details later, okay? Over dinner?”

I smile. “Sounds perfect.”

Inbox (83)

Anonymous asked: The bookstore romance was super cute, but I guess that’s easy to do when you make everything up, huh? Are you going to answer the callouts or just keep posting these vague non-explanations? It’s pretty pathetic to keep ignoring everyone. If you’re really some master of love, you should stop hiding behind fake stories, or at least own up to it and stop being two-faced.

I text Brian to let him know he doesn’t have to pick me up because I have a date. He responds with, “Is that a joke?” so I don’t bother answering.