Requested: Annie discovers something Auggie doesn't want anyone to know about

Annie loved hanging out at Auggie's. His place was always impeccably clean, a lifestyle she found refreshing but difficult to personally maintain; plus, it gave her a good excuse to order in.

Tonight, they were waiting on delivery Chinese. The greater DC area was blanketed with a light dusting of snow, but the delivery guy was clearly milking it for all it was worth. They'd passed the customary half-hour mark ages ago.

Auggie sat on the sofa, a glass of wine in hand. She'd been trying to get him into wine ever since Barcelona. He had one hell of a palate, but he still wasn't a fan. She was busy trying not to spill a glass of her own all over his stereo system.

"What are you looking for over there?" Auggie asked, sniffing his glass. "Also, can I have a beer?"

"Damn it, August, I am trying to make you a fancy gentleman," she laughed. She'd moved past the iPod and onto the cabinet full of CDs. "I'm looking for a song- any song- that doesn't have 'blue' in the title."

He was already up and getting a beer. He feigned disappointment. "But that's how you know it's good!"

She thumbed through all the CDs with Braille labels, careful to return them to their rightful bins, before happening upon a shoebox crammed in the back. "Hey, Aug? What are these?"

"You'll have to be more specific."

The albums were all devoid of labels of any sort, unmarked CDs in plain sleeves. "They're just plain CDs. They were in the back of the cabinet?"

Auggie blushed furiously. "Um..."

"What?" she wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. Was this one of those times she was allowed to laugh at his blush? "You don't have to tell me."

"No, no," he laughed. "It's just... I think this is about to get pretty embarrassing."

"I'm all ears."

"You know how I told you, before Iraq I wasn't really a big jazz fan?"

"Yeah?"

"These are all my old mixes," he was turning redder by the second, looking like a bashful teenager. "They don't have Braille labels because I was kind of hoping to forget they existed."

Annie made a face. "Sorry."

"You're going to play them anyway, aren't you?" he flopped back on the couch in humiliation. "This is going to be so bad. Don't judge me."

Annie eagerly plugged the CD into the system. The strains of a song she hadn't heard since roughly 2004 came through the speakers. Hard rock. As was the next one. The third was some screamo something or another. The fourth was Nickelback.

By the time they reached the end of the album, Auggie looked like he was willing himself to disappear.

"It's over," she whispered with mock reassurance.

"In my defense," he managed. "I was a moron."

She grinned. "Nickelback?"

"How about we just pretend this didn't happen?"

"I don't think I can..."

"What did you listen to back then?"

Annie thought back. She blushed a decent blush of her own. "Shakira."

"Yeah. See?"

"But..."

"But?"

"Nothing. Can I keep this?"

"Hell no. I'm destroying that box tonight."

"Don't hurt yourself."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

Annie laughed again. She couldn't help seeing Auggie in a new light. "So you went from Nickelback to Mingus."

"Yeah. And I started wearing sweaters. Is there anything else you'd like to cover?"

"No, Mister Rogers, I think I've got what I need," Annie giggled, but he did not look amused. "Hey, if it'd make you feel better, you can force a heartfelt confession out of me, too."

"That would make me feel a lot better."

The doorbell rang, the food finally arriving.

"I used to eat Chow Mein with a fork," she admitted.

"I still eat Chow Mein with a fork," he scoffed. "That is not a confession."

She paid the deliveryman and began dishing up the food. "Well I solicited your confession out of you. It's not really fair that I have to conjure mine out of thin air."

"Did you just buy me dinner?"

"I figured it'd be easier than splitting it," she shrugged. It wasn't like it was a date. "You can get it next time."

"But you brought that horrible wine and everything," he said. "Now I feel bad."

She shook her head at him. "You are unbelievable."

He fished forks from a kitchen drawer and began to set the table. "What's really unbelievable is the fact that I still haven't thought of some horrible secret to draw out of you. I'm almost sure you're a multifaceted human being, there must be something about you I'm curious about."

She set the plates down on the table and took a seat. "Well, you've got plenty of time to think of something."

"Oh, I will, Walker. I definitely will."