After that Monday, the school week went by pretty quickly. The hallways were abuzz with excitement over the dance and winter break, it was so close that everyone could just feel it. Even the teachers. So, schoolwork was very limited, we watched movies in most of my classes, and that was fine with me. My relationship with the club was growing, and I was constantly wondering what to do about the Nick situation. That Thursday everyone was filled with excitement, because tomorrow we had no school, and the dance was that night. I, on the other hand, was cringing internally at the thought of a school dance. The girls of the Club had decided that they were going to kidnap me for the day and we were all going to get ready for the dance together. Ugh...

"Don't grunt at me, woman." Laurel snapped, and I realized that I had groaned out loud.

"Oops, you guys weren't supposed to hear that." I said, and a few of the other girls -Diana, Melanie, Cassie and even Deborah- snickered. We were sitting in the backroom of the cafeteria, and the boys had been banned from the room so we girls could talk dresses. "Sorry, I'm just not the dress up type." I said returning my attention to the subject.

"I don't really care if your the dress up type or not." Laurel said, you had to admire her honesty. I rolled my eyes, and started doodling as they all decided what I was going to wear, its not like I had a say in the matter. I felt like I was a child and my Granny was dressing me again. I really didn't like the idea of someone else dressing me. When the bell finally rang on the longest lunch period ever, I left very quickly, and practically ran to Calculus, just to get away from the girls. During class, I sketched a picture of the only person I couldn't seem to get off of my mind. I was very surprised when, after the bell rang, I walked out of my classroom and found Nick leaning against the opposite wall, I could feel a smile stretching across my face as I walked over to him.

"Hey you." I said, my voice wavering a little as his dark eyes ran over me -it seemed that he was becoming bolder.

"Hey." He greeted me with an almost flirty smile, this was a Nick that I had never seen before. I'm sure my surprise was showing, because his smile only grew. "How was lunch?" He asked.

"Oh, my gosh! You guys are never ever going to be kicked out again." I said momentarily getting over his presence. "They were all trying to decide how to dress me for tomorrow night!" I added, glad to have an outlet. He snorted, and looked me over again. I was wearing jeans and a dark green long sleeved shirt.

"I think you're old enough to dress yourself." He stated as we walked down the hall.

"Agreed." I stated as we neared the classroom. I really didn't feel like putting up with the boys in auto-shop today. I would probably end up blowing them up. "Hey Nick..." I slowed my pace, he slowed his to match mine.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking down at me.

"I really don't feel like going to class...Do you think you can cover for me?" I asked, and to my surprise he laughed out loud, like real laughter, and it was adorable until I remembered he was laughing at me. I scowled at him. His laughter dried up a little.

"Do you really think you can skip without me?" He asked with a daredevil smile. My scowl dissolved into a wide smile.

"Fine then. Lets go." I said, and we headed toward one of the less noticeable entrances, and slipped outside and down to my car. I tossed him the keys, earning a very surprised look from him. "Please, go easy on her. She's an elder." was all I said as I slid into the passenger seat.

"Where to?" He asked looking over at me from behind the steering wheel. I shrugged.

"I don't know. How about the beach?" I said, and he started the engine and we were off. It didn't take us long to get back to Crowhaven Road, and when we pulled into my driveway I saw a bit of paper stuck in the crack in the doorway. I jumped out of the car and headed up to the house, pulling the note out, I couldn't open the door since Nick had my keys. It was a note from my Granny telling me she's gone to the mainland with the other crones to do a bit of shopping and they would probably be out for a good part of the afternoon. "Come on." I said when Nick handed me the keys, and I unlocked the door and stepped inside with him close behind. I headed straight for the kitchen, and began digging through the cupboards, brewed a quick pot of tea and poured it into a thermos and grabbed a couple snacks. Nick watched me for a minute and then began taking in the room. Our kitchen was a lot like his and probably most of the other houses on the road, but he walked around examining everything. "Ready?" I asked after placing everything in a small bag.

"Yeah." He said, and we left my house and walked down to the beach. As we walked side by side our hands brushed against each other, and we were constantly peeking at each other to check out our reactions. Luckily, neither of us seemed repulsed by the action. Once we found a good spot, I spread a small blanket out and set the bag down on top of it to keep it from blowing away. The wind was a lot cooler down here by the water, it sometimes stung when it blew. Nick sat down and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and his lighter, but the wind kept killing the flame, so I knelt down next to him rubbing my hands together to build up the friction, and then when my fingers got hot enough, I cupped a hand around the end that was hanging from his lips, and snapped the fingers of my free hand. Nick's eyes widened a little when a small flame erupted from the tips of my fingers and lit his cigarette. I smiled.

"Sorry, I should have warned you." I told him, settling myself so that I was angled toward him. He shook his head with a look of amazement.

"No, no. It's just... wow.." He said, smiling a little as he offered me his pack. I was going to decline, but considered my nerves and accepted.

"Thanks." I said, scooping up his lighter this time. It took a couple of tries because of the wind, but eventually the end of the cigarette lit and I took a long drag from it. He shook his head as he watched me. "I know, girls smoking isn't very attractive." I said with a grimace as I blew the smoke back out.

"What? No, that's not it." He said with a snort. "It...You...I mean..." He struggled for something to say, but ended with shaking his head again and gazing out into the roaring ocean. I was amazed, Nick wasn't really the most talkative person, but I had never seen him speechless. After a minute or two he seemed to find words, "I just...I feel like I know you right?" He said, still struggling "and then you just surprise me all over again. It's..." He dark eyes bore into mine as he tried to arrange his thoughts. "Kat, you're amazing." He finally said, and I was forced to look away as my cheeks filled with color. We sat in silence for a little while, him watching me watch the ocean. It wasn't awkward, it was actually quite peaceful, but me being the kind of person who can't sit still for a long period of time, I began untying my shoes and then pulled my socks off and rolled my pants up to my knees."What are you doing?" He finally asked. I smiled.

"I'm going to go get my feet wet." I told him, jumping to my feet. He looked at me like I was crazy. (It kind of made me wonder if he wanted to take back his earlier statement.)

"Are you kidding? You'll freeze." He said, also jumping to his feet. I grinned.

"Nah, I'll be fine. You should come with me." I said, taking a few steps backward toward the water. He surprised me by pulling off his shoes and socks, a mischievous grin on his face. I took another step back, and he took a step forward.

"Well, if you're going to get pneumonia, than I guess I will too." He said, before charging toward me. I let out a girly squeal as I turned and tried to get away -it didn't work out very well. Before I could even take three steps he grabbed my waist and swung me around earning another shriek, he just laughed in my ear. As I struggled to get away from him, I shifted my weight back and we tumbled to the sand. He grunted from the impact and I began giggling uncontrollably as I rolled off of him and onto my front.

"Are you okay?" I asked, still giggling. He grunted again, and I assumed it meant he was. After climbing to my feet, I held out my hand to help him up. A little sand had managed to attach itself to his dark hair and I very hesitantly reached up to brush it out. He met my green eyes with a small smile as I continued to brush the sand from his hair and then my own smile grew when I realized that cool, calm, no one can touch me Nick was shivering. "Are you cold?" I asked, just to see if he would admit it. He shrugged like I figured he would, and I grabbed his hand, lacing my fingers with his and sending a gentle wave of heat into him. A smile full of wonder lit his face.

"Kat, your amazing." He told me, squeezing my fingers, as I led him back over to the blanket. I didn't say anything, instead I let go of his hand and pulled out the still warm thermos and poured him a cup of tea. "Aren't you cold?" He asked catching my hand, I continued to send him waves of warmth -I was his own personal heater.

"No, I don't really get cold." I admitted.

"You know," He said suddenly "I don't even know your birthday." It was true, I knew about the birthday season that started with Nick.

"My birthday is on Christmas." I told him, he looked surprised.

"Sean is older than you?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"Yeah, but just by a couple of days, like the rest of you." I pointed out.

"True..." He said. "You ready to go?" He asked, and I thought about it for a minute. We had been out here for a while. The sky was already glowing orange from the coming sunset.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I said, and we gathered our things and headed back up the bluff toward my house. When we got to my front door, I smiled. "Are you sure you don't need me to walk you home so you don't freeze?" I asked and he smiled.

"Nah, I think I'll make it okay." He said, his eyes running over my face. "You look pretty burnt out." He stated. I was, when I used large amounts of magic it wore me out.

"Okay... Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow night." I said with a small smile. He nodded, also smiling a little.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow... Night Kat." He said, and with that he ran down the steps and headed toward his own house. I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore, and then went inside. That night, I fell asleep with a smile.