A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the wait. I had part 10 done a while ago, but I completely forgot to post it here / anyway... this is as far as I've gone with this story and I won't have time to write for it until I finish the semester. Hopefully I'll get the next part done before xmas :P but without further ado, here's:

I Can't Stay Away

Part 10

I was on cloud nine all through the following morning. I couldn't believe I'd been so nervous to go out with Alex. The date had been so enjoyable and Alex had been a complete sweetheart. I have no idea why I'd never consider dating girls. I mean seriously, this one date with Alex (apart from the occasional awkward moment) was by far the best date I'd ever been on and without a doubt, the most exciting, terrifying and nerve-wracking one as well (all in a good way, of course). I just couldn't stop thinking about it... and Alex.

Alex…

Then the phone rang.

"Marissa Cooper" I answered distractedly.

"Coop!" was the replied shriek.

Gotta love Summer's greetings, I thought, "Hey Summ, what's up?"

"What the hell Coop?!" she scolded, "You never called me last night and I'm dying to know how your date with Alex went"

"It went well" I replied simply, knowing full well that I was torturing her. Summer had gone silent and I grinned as I envisioned her state of shock.

"COOP!!"

And as Summer went on with her ramble on how I was failing in my best friend's duties of filling her in on how my date had gone, I just sat there smiling, staring out my window as I dreamily twisted the phone cord around my fingers.

"Are you even listening to me?" she scolded as I'd neglected to answer any of her questions.

I chuckled. "Sorry Summ"

"Coop…" she whined, "How can I be supportive of you and Alex if you don't tell me anything?"

I chuckled again. "How about we meet for lunch? We can talk then"

"And you'll fill me in?" she asked and I couldn't help comparing her to a child asking her mom for an ice-cream cone. I could even envision her puppy dog eyes.

"Yes Summ" I replied with a roll of the eyes, "Every last detail"

That phone call was the most excitement I got for a while, I later attended a meeting in which various new accounts were discussed, but as my work load was already exceeding the norm, I spent most (if not all) of it daydreaming about… well you know what (or should I say who?). After the meeting ended, I was back in my office, flipping through random files in hopes of making time pass quicker. I still had another hour before my lunch break and I was getting impatient.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked aloud as I realized just how impatient I truly was.

This wasn't like me. It wasn't like me to just sit around during work hours. I should've been reviewing covers for the fiction series that would be published in two weeks. I should've been editing and selecting reviews. I should've been reading the manuscript to the story I was illustrating. Even the job for Brandon still needed a lot of work done.

So why the hell am I just sitting around doing nothing?, I yelled in my head.

"Miss Cooper, you have a call waiting on line one" my secretary informed me.

I tried keeping my frustration at bay as I picked up the receiver.

"Marissa Cooper"

Silence greeted me for a moment before a soft voice finally said, "Hi"

Need I say who it was?

"Hi" I softly greeted back. My frustration was long forgotten and a smile instantly made itself known.

"Is this a bad time? I can call later if you –"

"No, I'm not busy" I gently cut her off.

I could hear her voice wavering with nerves and my smile widened as butterflies once again took claim of my stomach.

"Good" she whispered shyly, "I wasn't sure if I could call so soon, but umm… I umm… I'm short of plans for tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to umm… go watch a movie or something?"

I don't think my smile could get any bigger. "I'd love to"

Then came lunch with Summer. She finally got her gossip as I told her all about the date, no detail left out (obviously not my choice, but Summer easily picks up if I leave something out, no matter how tiny). The positive side to this was that I got to talk about Alex, but unfortunately, Summer took up most of my lunch hour boasting that it was only thanks to her that I'd even met Alex.

"You owe me" she stated matter-of-factly with a huge grin on her face.

"Whatever" I replied. Of course I was internally grateful that Summer had taken me to that club, but there was no need to boost her ego.

"So when are you seeing her again?" she then asked.

"Tonight. We're going to watch a movie" I replied. And for some reason, her grin turned mischievous, reminding me of that night at the club. "What?" I asked annoyed.

"Nothing" she replied with an innocent shrug, "Just picturing you and Alex in a movie theatre" she paused, waiting for a reaction. I just raised an eyebrow. "Alone in a dark and cozy movie theatre"

I could only roll my eyes.

That evening, I was a lot more relaxed. I'd easily picked out my clothes, there had been no accidents regarding walls or make-up and I had more than enough time to walk to the theatre.

Alex was already there, once again leaning against the wall. Only this time, there were no nervous glances at the watch. Instead, a dreamy smile graced her beautiful face and I couldn't help matching it as I caught the sparkle in her eyes the moment they locked with mine.

"Hey you" she greeted warmly. I replied and we headed inside.

There wasn't much fuss over which movie we wanted to watch, but getting the tickets took longer as we were both adamant with paying. I won that argument, insisting that it was in fact my turn to treat as she'd already paid for dinner.

"Fine" she replied with a pout, to which I couldn't help but chuckle.

So cute, I thought, "You can pay for the snacks if you want to" I said with a playful wink.

She blushed slightly but said nothing and we walked towards the snack bar. We then made our way into the theatre and sat in the middle seats towards the back. As the trailers played continuously on the screen, I felt a sudden urge to look at Alex and I wasn't disappointed when she was looking back at me. This felt nice, comfortable, and I easily settled into my seat as the movie started rolling. The bucket of popcorn sat between us and as I laughed at the main character's clumsiness, I reached into the bucket at the same time as Alex. The laughter instantly vanished and the screen went pitch black. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes shyly trailed down to our hands. They were barely touching, just frozen within the tight confines of the bucket. Neither dared to move. I bit my lip and my pinky twitched. Our hands were merely grazing, but I could feel the full effect of her touch and I desperately craved for more. I took a deep breath and placed a shy hand over hers. God she feels good, I couldn't help thinking. But then Alex moved our hands onto the armrest between us and interlaced out fingers, and I just couldn't contain the smile from breaking through. I sneaked a glance at her and saw her smiling, and it completely warmed me up inside.

When the movie ended, we remained seated. The room was getting empty, but I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to let go of her hand.

"Let's go?" Alex asked, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

My heart dropped and I glanced at our hands, but I nodded and got up. She followed, letting go of my hand, and picked up the empty bucket of popcorn.

What's the big deal? I asked myself as we walked out of the theatre, I was getting frustrated with myself for feeling so down at the loss of contact, I can just reach for her hand again, I thought. But I knew I wouldn't. I knew I didn't have the guts for such a bold move. I mean, it was nice having her hold my hand while we were in the dark theatre, but was I really ready for such a public display of affection?

But then her hand slipped back into mine, and all my thoughts vanished except for how right it felt. I found myself interlacing our fingers and she glanced at me with a smile.

Thoughts?? Comments??