They got back to Zane's house as the pink sky was fading into the deep blue of nighttime. Rikki sat down on the couch and pulled out her cell, quickly typing a message,
just went for a walk on the beach. Ordering pizza now. C u guys later and sent it to both Bella and Cleo.
Rikki could hear Zane talking on the phone in the kitchen and she quietly walked up to him. He had his back turned and didn't hear her yet.
"Okay, thank you." he hung up the phone; the pizza should be there in 15 minutes. Zane felt delicate arms wrap around his torso and quickly turned around to face Rikki. He gave her a quick kiss and placed his hands on her hips.
"Food should be here soon." he said into her hair.
"Sounds good, I'm hungry."
He kissed her again and when they broke apart they headed to the living room to watch some TV. Zane sat down on the couch first and pulled Rikki down with him. He tucked her under his arm and turned the TV on. Within no more than five minutes of sitting down, the doorbell rang signaling the pizzas arrival. Zane got up to go answer the door and pulled out his wallet. He paid the young delivery boy and gave him a nice tip before taking the pizza box and shutting the door.
They ate in relative silence, still watching TV in the background. And after all the dishes and excess pizza had been taken care of, Rikki and Zane sat down to watch a movie.
The ending credits rolled around at 11:45 and Rikki was having some trouble keeping her eyes open by then. Zane nudged her a little as he stifled his own yawn.
"c'mon let's get some sleep."
She just nodded her head and followed Zane up the stairs. They got to Zane's room and she tiredly pulled herself under the blankets, having already changed before the movie started. Zane soon joined her and pulled her body close to his own.
"I love you." he whispered into her ear.
"I love you too, Zane." she said back before shutting her tired eyes. They both fell asleep, more than content.
she woke up with the feeling of being watched. She briefly thought that Harrison had returned home early. She stirred a little but then realized who was watching her. Without moving any further, she said,
"Zaneee, why are you watching me?" he gave a little chuckle and kissed her head which was still rested on his chest.
"Because I can." came his simple reply.
"Creeper."
"Yes, but I'm your creeper."
She groaned and rolled over. Both Zane and Rikki both instantly missing the close contact.
"Are you hungry?" Zane asked her.
"Actually, yes. I'm very hungry."
"Let's go out. I want to take you on a date"
"Zane, that's not necessary. We can eat here." truth was, she wanted to go out on a date. She just felt like he was already doing so much and now he was just offering to do more. It somehow didn't feel fair.
"It will be fun, I promise."
"Okay, let's get dressed."
They were dressed and ready to go all in under ten minutes. As they walked out the door, Zane took Rikki's hand in his own and laced their fingers together. She gave his hand a quick squeeze and smiled at him.
"So where are we going? Or do I not get to know?"
"hmmm I hadn't thought of keeping it a surprise but now that you mention it..." he chuckled a little, knowing how Rikki hated to not be informed. She playfully spelled him across the chest.
"jerk." she said quietly but loud enough for him to hear. You could tell by the glint in her eyes that she was kidding around. Zane opened his mouth in mock protest.
"Oh I'm gonna get you now..." Zane said before lunging at her. Rikki took off running down the little sidewalk with Zane right behind her. In a few quick bounds, Zane threw his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly to his chest. She let out a very uncharacteristic scream which evaporated into laughter as Zane spun them slightly.
"Zane! Let me down!" Rikki said in protest to not being on her own feet.
"are you gonna apologize?"
"Do I have to?"
"hmm well that depends. I can always just carry you to the restaurant too." Zane told her, teasing her further.
"Fine. I'm very sorry, you're actually quite charming."
Zane put Rikki back on her own feet and gave her a sweet kiss right on her lips.
They both reluctantly pulled back and stared into each other's eyes for about a minute. Zane broke the eye contact first and reached for her hand, saying something about getting to the restaurant.
They arrived at a small café within a few minutes and were quickly seated.
The café was small and had an air around it that reminded Rikki of a cabin somewhere in the woods. Zane had a look in his eyes that Rikki could recognize as him thinking about his childhood.
"I like this place. How do you know about it?" Rikki asked, trying to find out what he was thinking about but also genuinely interested.
"My mom used to take me here before she left," Zane looked a little sad at the mention of his mother but the crease between his eyebrows was soon gone as he continued to speak. "And now I'm taking you here. I thought you'd like it, it's never really that busy so it's nice." Zane finished, smiling at her. She smiled back and squeezed his hand.
"Thank you." she said sincerely before turning back to her menu.
"what are you gonna have, Zane?"
"Pancake stack," Zane replied quickly without even having really looked at the menu. "My mom used to order it for me; the pancakes here are the best."
"I think I'll have the scrambled eggs with pancake." came Rikki's reply.
Within another three of four minutes, the waitress was asking for their orders. The couple told her what they wanted and smile politely when she told them it would be right out.
Breakfast was eaten over light conversation. Zane was right, the pancakes were very good. The couple soon finished their food, paid, and left the café.
Zane grabbed Rikki's hand in his own when they walked out of the café and linked their fingers together. The couple decided to take a slight detour back to Zane's. They made their way to the beach, neither one saying anything.
The walk back to Zane's was quiet but sweet. Both Rikki and Zane were busy thinking about things. A few more minutes of silence passed and they were standing in front of Zane's front door. Zane held the door open for Rikki and as she walked past him into the house, she smiled.
"So... What do you wanna do the rest of the day?" Zane asked, somewhat awkwardly.
Rikki didn't immediately reply but instead took Zane's hand and started walking toads the stairs.
"Hmmm..." she mumbled as if she was thinking about it. By now, they had arrived at Zane's room.
"I have an idea." Rikki said flirtatiously, looking deep into Zane's eyes.
Rikki's usually sky blue eyes were now a deeper shade of blue. Zane could see the desire in them. Before Zane could register anything else, Rikki was kissing him. Zane put his hands on her hips as she put her hands under his shirt. Within a few more minutes of kissing, Zane's shirt was off and discarded to some unknown corner of the room. Rikki freely ran her hands up and down Zane's toned chest. Zane picked Rikki up under her legs and gently deposited her onto his bed all without breaking the kiss.
A few more minutes passed and several more articles of clothing were discarded. Time was a blur for both Rikki and Zane after that.
Rikki and Zane were lying under Zane's blanket, wrapped up together. The comfortable quiet was interrupted by Rikki's phone ringing.
"Ugh who's calling me?"
Zane chuckled and replied with,
"I don't know babe, why don't you check?" thought he did have to admit; whoever it was had terrible timing.
"I swear, I'm gonna kill Cleo when I see her." Rikki said, sounding rather angry and throwing her phone back on the nightstand after putting it on silent. She rolled back into Zane and muzzled her face on his chest.
"I love you Zane."
"I love you too, Rikki." the couple smiled at each other and shared a sweet kiss.
Both missed the text message Cleo had sent saying, were coming round Zane's, haven't seen u in ages.
Fifteen minutes later, Zane's doorbell sounded through the house. Both Rikki and Zane let out a frustrated groan and sat up. Zane quickly threw on some pants and a shirt and ran downstairs. Rikki got up and put her clothes back on then walked down stairs.
"Cleo, Bella? What are you guys doing here?"
Rikki could see confusion flash across both their faces.
"Didn't you get our text?"
"no. I, uh, didn't have my phone."
"Oh..." an awkward silence set in and everybody in the room looked a bit uncomfortable.
"So do you wanna come get a juice with us?" Cleo asked, looking somewhat hopeful. Rikki didn't really want to go. She would much rather curl back up with Zane and take a nap. But, she also hadn't seen Cleo and Bella in a while.
"Yeah, sure." Rikki replied then walked over to Zane,
"I'll be back in a bit." she said before quickly kissing him then walking out with Bella and Cleo.
The girls made their way to the cafe, laughing and talking about nothing really. Once inside the cafe and with juices ordered, the real conversation started.
"Sooo... What's up with you and Zane?" Bella asked, almost too excited.
"Nothing much." Rikki replied but she couldn't keep the light blush off of her cheeks when thinking back over very recent events.
"Wait... You and Zane weren't, you know..." Cleo said excited but also a little freaked out. At this, Rikki turned a bright shade of red.
"Cleo!" she almost yelled.
"Oh my god! You guys were!"
"thanks Cleo, why don't you just announce it to everybody here?"
"wait, so was this the first time or not?" Bella asked, being less shocked than Cleo and suspecting it was not the first time.
"No, it wasn't the first. Enough questions now."
"Okay, but you're gonna tell us more sometime!" Cleo said.
Just then their drinks arrived. Rikki, glad for the distraction, started drinking hers immediately. The other girls followed her example and within fifteen minutes, all the drinks were downed.
"Well, this was fun. But I've gotta go meet up with Will." Bella said while walking away.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go fishing with Lewis. See ya later, Rikki!" Cleo said as she too walked away.
Rikki slowly made her way back to Zane's with a slight smile on her face.
A/N: So, not too sure how I feel about this chapter but I wanted to put something out for you guys :) I'm not sure where to go with this story from here so any ideas will gratefully be accepted!
Also, thank you to everybody who added this story to their story alerts/favorites and added me to author alert/favorites! And of course, everyone who reviewed! Special thanks to shootingstarsandjaybirds because their review just made me laugh.
