"So cutie, where to?" Kid Flash asked with one of his signature grins, one corner of his lips tilted up mischievously.
Jinx shot him a nasty glare.
They had ventured outside, trying to decide where they should go to pick up some dinner. After rejecting several suggestions, they had resorted to walking around downtown Jump City. Jinx hoped that someplace would catch her eye amongst the flashing neon signs and the hustle and bustle of traffic.
Plus, she could tell that Kid Flash was going insane. He hated walking, dawdling, shuffling, and pretty much any other form of transportation that didn't get him from point A to point B in as short a time as possible. Jinx slyly glanced over at him from time to time, watching him squirm and fidget every so often.
"How about that?" He asked, pointing a finger at a small restaurant sandwiched between two much larger buildings. If it wasn't for the bright red, white, and green sign hanging above the door, she would've never guessed that it was a restaurant. It looked more like a house with white washed walls and cheery red geraniums on each window sill. She looked it over appraisingly, catching a whiff of fresh baked garlic bread.
"I've been here a couple times before- it's pretty good. They cook up one mean plate of chicken carbonara…" He quipped.
Jinx smiled in approval. "Zio's- best Italian food in all of Jump City? Well with a promise like that, I guess it can't hurt to try…"
Being a Tuesday night, they were seated almost instantly. The ceiling was painted black and draped with chains of tiny white Christmas tree lights that sparkled brightly. There was a mix of small tables and worn red leather booths. The place had obviously been around for a fairly long time, but instead of coming across as dumpy, it seemed instead to be cozy and worn-in like a good pair of boots. The entire atmosphere was warm and homey. She even gasped with delight when she spotted a small patio in the back, where a stone fountain gurgled quietly amidst a garden of rose bushes.
"Pretty cool place huh?" Kid flash said with a laugh. "But this," he pointed to the menu, "Isn't that bad either."
She scanned through the menu, relieved to see that the prices were relatively affordable.
"Well, now! What an honor!"
They both spun around to spot a beaming waiter, with an olive complexion and slightly sunken eyes.
"Anthony!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "How's it been man? Still saving up for that car?"
Jinx noticed that the waiter had very thin lips and the traces of a five o'clock shadow as he smiled, responding with a surprising amount of enthusiasm for his tired looking demeanor.
"Kid it's great to see you again- yeah, I've almost got enough saved up, still paying off some college loans though…Who's your girl?" Jinx blushed as he pointed to her.
Kid Flash grinned again.
Does that boy ever stop smiling? She thought to herself.
"She's a friend of mine…Jinx, this is Anthony. Anthony, Jinx."
The waiter gave another thin lipped smile.
"Pleasure to meet you, ah…Jinx is it? What a wonderful name…Okay, well then what can I get for you two?"
Jinx wasn't quite sure what to get, and settled on ordering the spaghetti, and kid flash ordered the same.
"First name basis? I'm guessing you come here a lot?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nah- not really. Well, I come here a decent amount I guess- Need plenty of carbs for running!" He replied.
They talked for a while, as he explained that his real base was near Steel City, but he had grown up in the Midwest. She had been born near Quebec, her parents were both French-Canadian but she grew up mainly in New York with her aunt. A little furrow appeared across her forehead as he asked why, and she softly explained that her parents had been in a car crash- air bags never went off, truck struck the front end- just bad luck.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly, looking at her with a bit of sadness expressed in those big blue eyes.
How does he do that? She thought to herself. How can he seem to pour so much emotion into one glance?
"It's okay…I got used to it a long time ago." She replied, changing the subject to his recent crime fighting exploits.
When the food arrived, they both dug in, and Jinx stopped for a second to watch him.
"Wha-?" he said noticing her funny look.
She blushed again.
God what is with all the blushing?
"Kid…" she said pointedly, "What are you doing?"
"Umm…eating?" He ventured with a confused expression.
"No, I mean, don't you know how to eat spaghetti? You don't just slurp it up, you hafta kind of twirl it around-" she demonstrated, spinning her fork and taking a bite. "-like that."
"Sorry, but I was practically raised by my uncle, and he wasn't really a stickler for table etiquette...He said, attempting to mimic her previous motions and failing miserably.
She gave a frustrated sigh.
"No, no, no…you're doing it all wrong!" Jinx said a bit more sharply than she had meant to.
She grabbed his hand, feeling a warm tingle, (what was that) and said a bit more softly, "You have to move it like this, just one continuous motion…" She guided his hand, twirling the pasta neatly around the fork, then stuck it in his mouth.
She smirked as he gave her a slightly shocked glance, then his expression changed and he started laughing again.
"I don't think I quite caught that…can you show me again?" He said with a mischievous looking grin.
She scowled, but couldn't hold her straight face for long when she saw the glint in his eyes.
The other diners glanced over momentarily as the two both burst out laughing.
After a while he proclaimed, "Let's go home," dropping a couple crinkled bills on the table. He switched momentarily to super speed, so she almost didn't catch sight of him as he quickly snuck a couple extra bills into Anthony's apron, which was sitting on a peg by the door.
"Do you want to go the long way, or the short way?" he asked.
She frowned.
"Short way of course…"
She shrieked as he picked her up and ran, the colors of the city blurring together, each light quickly becoming a pinprick in the distance as he finally stopped in front of the apartment door and set her down, grabbing her elbow as she nearly fell over.
"Wh-what was that?" she said, still feeling a little dizzy as the lights overhead seemed to be spinning.
He laughed.
"That, was a shortc-"
He was cut off as she lost her balance and they both toppled over.
When he looked up she was laying on top of him, and a blush slowly spread across his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Rolling out quickly from beneath her, she fell onto the carpet with an "oompf".
Reeeal smooth move there Kid… he thought to himself.
Extending a hand to pull her up, he apologized, brushing some dust off of her shoulders.
They both stood still for a moment, just looking at each other's eyes. Jinx tilter her chin up slightly, narrowing the gap between their faces so that they were nearly touching, then turned and whispered in his ear "Have some issues with a girl being on top?"
There it was. She was happy to note that he was blushing again, and had just turned to open the door, when he grabbed her elbow and spun her around so they were facing each other. She was frozen, her head screaming at her to move, but her feet seemed to have suddenly grown a mind of their own and refused to move.
He kissed her, moving a hand to her hip and relaxing the hold on her arm. He stopped after only a few seconds though, noticing that she wasn't reacting.
What was that? Come on Jinx why aren't you moving- kiss him back, do something! She chided herself.
He looked down, obviously embarrassed, and muttered under his breath, "Sorry, I shouldn't ha-mmmpfh!" His eyes widened as she cut him off, planting a kiss on his lips. He relaxed almost instantly and started to kiss her back, feeling her run her hands gently through his hair as he held onto her waist. Then they stopped, Jinx's eyes widened slightly and a shocked expression crossed her face. She grabbed the handle, running into the apartment and slamming the door to his room.
He stayed in the hallway for a moment, still slightly dazed, as he watched her retreating figure.
Inside the room, Jinx flopped onto the bed, burying her face in a pillow.
This is so not happening…
Thank you so very much for the reviews of the last chapter! 3
I've got part of the next chapter written already, so hopefully I'll have it loaded up here soon.
