AN: Please, please, please read and review :) Love to hear what you think! ~CaitCait12

I wake up the next morning and go take a shower. I eat an apple while flicking through channels on the T.V. I toss the core in the garbage and pull on some yoga shorts and a tank top. I look in the mirror and run a brush though my wavy brown hair. I don't bother with makeup. I'm going for a jog, who do I need to impress? No one.

I've been running along the beach for a while when I decide to head more into town. I jog along the roads and wait at stoplights. My stomach starts to growl so I slow down and slip into a random coffee shop; "Boost Café". I walk up to the counter and look at the menu written on a chalkboard. Along with coffee there is many choices of smoothies. I order a mixed berry smoothie and look for a place to sit. In the back corner at a small booth I see a single hunched over figure. Could it really be? Of course it is! Nobody else has white floppy hair like that. I bound over to the table and say, "Hey is this seat taken?" Nate looks up and his eyes glow when he sees my face.

"Well I'm sitting here." He says with a look of confusion.
"Not that seat!" I say gesturing to him, "The one across from you."
"Oh, ya sure. That one is empty." He blushes and pushes two empty coffee cups and a newspaper Sudoku out of the way. All the puzzles are filled out in pen with no mistakes or numbers scratched out.
"You really seem to like those puzzles." He nods. "And coffee." I add.
"I don't sleep that much so coffee is very important to me."
"Coffee is good for that kind of thing."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." I smile and he smiles back.
"Well I was just going to ask if you got settled in nice? Because you were saying it was a hassle."
"It was good. My building is only like 5 minutes from here. Now I just have to find a roommate. I can't pay the rent all alone and it's a two room apartment."
"That's understandable." He looks like he's going to say something but then stops.

"Where are you staying?"
"Well, I'm not really staying anywhere." He mumbles.
"You don't have a place to stay?" He shakes his head. "Well I have room if you want to stay at my place for a while."
"Really?" He asks with the expression a child would have when buying a new toy.
"Ya. It's not really a big deal." I finish my drink and toss it in a garbage can and stand up. Nate gets up and I say, "Let's go!"
"Ok, sure." He says hesitantly.

"So this is it!" I say as I swing the door open and walk into the apartment.
He smiles a little, more like a twitch of his lips, "Thanks so much for letting me stay here."
"It's cool, just for a bit until you find somewhere to stay and I find a roommate."
"Just for a bit." He mumbles as he stares at his feet.
I pretend I didn't hear him and say, "Follow me I'll show you where you can stay." He follows me to the other bedroom and stands by my side in the doorway. "Go on, it's your room." I smile.

"Ok." He shuffles inside and looks around the room. It's pretty plain, just a bed with blue sheets, a wooden dresser and some end tables. He walks around, taking everything in before turning around and saying, "I'm so thankful that you'll let me stay here.

"It's cool. Really, I like you." I smile and his face flushes a bright red and he turns around. "I'll let you settle in now."

Nate has been in his room for a few hours now so I go and knock on the door. He opens it and I say, "I'm ordering Chinese, what do you want?"
He shrugs, "Whatever you're getting."
"Simple enough." I turn around and flip through the yellow pages. Without turning around I say, "You know you don't have to stay in your room like 24/7? I do like some company. It gets lonely without you."
"Well I can visit with you. If you want?" He adds.
"You make it sound so formal." I laugh, "And yes I'd like that." I hear his feet shuffle out and over into the living room. I pick up the phone and order. Then I go and sit on the sofa across from Nate. "We've got 15 minutes till the food comes. What do you want to do?" He shrugs. "How bout board games?" His face lights up and he nods. "I have Clue, Risk or Monopoly."
"Could we play Clue?" He asks shyly.
"Sure." I say as I grab it from the shelves under the T.V. The apartment came with them. I set the game up on the coffee table. We pick our players and I roll first.
"Is it Professor Plum in the bathroom with the knife?" He passes me a card and I scribble down what it was. "You look uncomfortable. Just sit the way you usually do!" I laugh. He looks relieved as he shifts into his half crouch position with his knees pulled up to his chest.
"Is it Scarlet in the kitchen with the candle stick?" He says with a lift of his eyebrow.
"I don't know is it?" I slyly say as I pass the card over to him. He writes something down and passes the card back. This continues for a few minutes.

He rolls and lands on the square that makes you guess, "It was Mrs. White in the observatory with the trophy." He says with certainty. I pull out the cards and it is!
He smiles triumphantly and I say, "How could you get it that fast? We've only been playing for like three minutes!"
He shrugs, "It's an easy game."
"How can you just shrug that off? That was amazing!"
"It's no big deal. It's just a board game."
"One that you're amazing at! Remind me never to play that again with you." I joke.
"Why not?" He looks upset.
"Awe Nate, I don't mean it like that. It's an expression!" I smiled and tried not to laugh at him.
"What does it mean?" He asks.
"It just means that you're too good at it and I'll always loose. So I don't want to play because I'll loose." He has a blank expression on his face so I say, "It doesn't really matter anyway." I sigh.
"So you will play with me again sometime?"
"Yes, yes I will!" I laugh. The doorbell rang and I stand up and answer it. I swipe my card and take the bag. I put the food on the coffee table. I open up the bag and take out the food and spread it over the table. "Dig in!" I say to Nate as I grab a spring roll and take a big bite.

After we'd finished eating I cleaned up the table and now Nate is sitting in the same chair reading a book on psychology. I jump onto the couch and say, "There's one thing left to do before we are officially finished eating Chinese."

Nate looks up, "And what's that?"
"Fortune cookies!" I pass him one and he puts down his book to pick it up. "I'll go first." I open the cookie and pop it in my mouth, "It says," I read aloud, "The one who greatly admires you may be right before you're eyes. Interesting."
"I guess it's my turn now."
"Yup!"
He breaks the cookie open and reads aloud, "Love takes practice." We both pause and think about it for a little while.
"I like that one." I say with a smile.
"Me too." Our eyes meet for a second before he turns away.