Running on very little sleep after a night like that, I somehow made it through my classes and managed to only nod off once or twice. I hit the point where my tiredness became a background emotion as I walked over to the diner.

After a large yawn, I noticed Matt standing outside. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed trying to look natural. He almost succeeded.

"Hey, hot stuff!" I greeted him. "Whatcha doing out here? Were you waiting for me?"

"Yeah." He uncrossed his arms. "I wanted to talk to you about something somewhere a little more private."

"Hmm? That only sounds a little suspicious. Okay, then." I leaned into Matt, hoping he'd kiss me.

Of course he did, as usual. He took my hands and entertwined them with his. With that, he lead me away from the diner. His car was in the parking lot, so it wasn't exactly a very far walk to get our privacy. I got into the passenger side.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Okay, so remember what we talked about the last time we met?" Matt started.

I tried not to look too embarassed as I brushed my hair behind my ear. "Yeah. That's a little hard to forget."

"I know. I've been thinking about it all the time. Constantly. I..."

He turned to look at me. Like really look at me. As in his miraculously blue eyes were staring straight into mine. "I want you, Jules. I want you so bad sometimes, it's impossible to think about anything else."

I stared at him for a moment. And he just stared right back.

"I'm...waiting for the 'but'" I said, inexplicably breathless.

"So am I. Since the last time we saw each other, I kept trying to think of reasons why we shouldn't. The only things I could come up with were flimsy and circumstantial."

"So there are reasons why you think that we shouldn't," I clarified.

"No, Jules, that's not my point. They're just excuses because this is so unfamiliar to me. To both of us. What I mean is when the time comes, if you're willing and I'm willing, then I don't see why we can't take a shot."

I took a moment and let that sink in. This actually could happen. I reached over to the driver's side and kissed him. I could feel tingles all over my body from excitement. I pressed my hands meaningfully into his chest, as if I could touch his skin through the eighty layers of clothes he wore and a daily basis. I bunched them up in my fist.

Matt laughed breathlessly, yet with an awkward twinge. "Not that I think we should do it right now. That's not the reason I brought you out here. I just didn't want to be overheard... Honestly, I'm not entirely sure we'll be ready by spring break, but I'd like to be optimistic..." Words were coming out faster than he could really figure out what he was trying to say.

I sat back in my seat and smiled. I could almost feel a flush coming. "You're babbling."

Matt took a deep breath and audibly exhaled. He shook his hair in his hands, which made it a little difficult for me to try to keep my distance and let him breathe.

"Anyway, so what was going on yesterday? I missed you."

"Um," I laughed. "Well, Olive was pissed that Romano wasn't speaking to her, so we were having a mandatory anti-boy night. That's why I didn't call you before. She was going to break up with him, but then he showed up late last night and proposed to her."

"Wow," Matt said, his eyebrows raised. "That's a twist."

"I know right. It was very dramatic." I leaned toward Matt to rest my head on his shoulder, but he was a little too far away. I landed somewhere on his upper arm. "So, what's next?"

"You mean tonight?"

I nodded.

"Not quite sure. Honestly, I'm a little wound up, so I'd prefer to do something not so, you know, sexy."

I could feel my eyebrows furrow together. "Eating pancakes is sexy?"

"It can be. But I still want to do something with you. Just you know, away from the diner and a bunch of waitresses who are way too observant."

"So, basically, you want to go on a date with me which will make you not want to have sex? Where's the fun in that?"

I heard the sound of the ignition catching. I sat up in astonishment and looked at Matt.

"Put your seat belt on. I thought of something."


It was loud and there was a plethora of smells. Cheese, dirt, and the unique plethora of scents from children. I'm pretty sure one boy in particular had been screaming from the top of his lungs for the last five minutes.

Matt sat across from me with a smile. Our pizza had just arrived, but neither of us had touched it yet.

I broke first, grabbing a slice. I knew it was going to be unnaturally sweet. "Well, you're right, I guess. I do not want to have sex with you right now."

"Nothing like screaming children to decrease you libido," Matt said.

"You're lucky I like you. If this had been our first date, I don't think we would see each other again."

"I'm pretty sure that if I took you here on our first date, that would mean I never wanted to see you again." Matt took a bite of pizza, made a face, but kept eating anyway.

I flinched at the recorded voice of a rundown animatronic mouse as it came out from behind a curtain. "Hey kids? Are you ready to rock?"

I glared at Matt as he stifled a laugh for my reaction, I ate without trying to think so much. I was hungry. "You better get me dessert."

"Okay, okay hold on."

Matt got up and left the table. I looked over to my side. The mouse started singing some song about cheese and pizza. He was later joined by a bird and some other creature I couldn't identify. A little girl was staring at me. It was just a little creepy.

Matt came back with a giant brownie and all was mostly forgiven. It was rich and chocolatey and sweet. We split it half and half. Well, mostly. I ate the majority of it, but Matt managed to sneak in a couple of bites. He also splurged on a cup of tokens so we could play some of the games. You would think with our matured bodies and brains that we would clean the place of all the tickets. Not quite the case. Despite our combined efforts, the only thing we could to get with the tickets we won was a top. I elected to give my tickets to the creepy girl I saw before. She gave me a huge grin with a splattering of missing teeth.

Matt sat on a tiny bench outside that was half taken up by the mouse mascot. I squeezed myself next to him and we both groaned from the effort. I was bloated and stuffed, but that didn't stop me.

"Why?" He complained.

"You brought this on yourself." I was nearly sitting on him. It was uncomfortable, but it was worth being so close to him. There was something irresitble about his warmth and the feel of his body. It was becoming wonderfully familiar.

"Jules..." Matt said.

"Tough it out, Matt. I'm not moving." I scowled and held him closer.

"No, Jules..." He lifted my chin. Now that I could see his face, I could see the glint in his eyes. It was mischievous and happiness and sexiness all rolled into one. He kissed me right there. He was uncharacteristically playful despite the fact that we were in public. Who knows. Maybe Chuck E. Cheese was leaking.

I giggled as he kissed along my jaw. I opened my eyes to see the sideways glance of a giant plastic mouse.

"Uh..." I gently but insistently pushed on his shoulders. "As much as I really enjoy this, if you don't get me out of here, I'm gonna have nightmares about your friend Chuck there."

Matt looked over his shoulder. "Right. Okay. See if you can get up."

I tried to use my weight to hoist myself up, but it didn't seem to be working. I was wedged in there pretty good. It took a good shove from Matt to get me back on my feet.

We groaned again. I gingerly rubbed the place on my hips where the metal parts of the bench dug into me.

"Here," Matt said. His hands replaced mine on my hips. He rubbed a little deeper, pressing his hands into me in a caress.

I smirked. "Better be careful. This might get a little too sexy for you."

"Probably," he laughed.

We walked back to the car. Matt followed me so he could open the door for me. Instead, I pulled him against me, kissing him. I felt my back press into the side of the car as Matt got closer.

"Mm," I hummed in satisfaction. He kissed me slowly, drawing out our contact. I played with the soft hair on the back of his head.

"You know, it's really frustrating that you're so tempting."

"Poor thing," I teased. "Want to break up?"

"Not a chance." He held me a little tighter and kissed me definitively. With that, he let me go and went to the driver's side.

I got inside and fluttered my eyelashes at him. "What now? Do you possibly want to do anything else? With me?"

He gave me a sideways glance. "I'm taking you home."

I threw myself against the seat, dramatically. "Your place or mine?" I said huskily.

He laughed. "Yours. Thank god you couldn't be seductive if you tried."

I feigned hurt. "Ah! I'd like to see you try!" Though I really would like to see him try. I mean, he was pretty incredible normally.

His eyes were half hooded. He curled his finger to indicate to me to come closer. He brought his lips to my ear and whispered. "If we did go back to my place, neither of us would make it to class tomorrow."

It wasn't so much what he said, just the way he said it. Unlike mine, his voice was naturally husky, especially when he whispered like that. Matt wasn't a naturally loud person like me. He was naturally quiet and soft-spoken, but he didn't whisper. I knew this voice was just for me. It permeated quickly to my core and gave me goosebumps.

"You're blushing. That's cute." Matt smiled slyly.

"You're dangerous," I said. I shook my head and buckled my seatbelt.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Matt said as he shifted his car into gear. "Dangerous... I like that."