Happy Day 4 of Upstead Appreciation! Here is another little drabble based on the prompt "Kiss Me"

Title from "Simple" by Florida Georgia Line

"Don't call me that."

Hailey looks up from her beer to glance at Jay, who is walking across the kitchen to put their empty plates in the sink. She shoots him a confused look, pushing her bottle towards the middle of the kitchen island.

"Call you what?"

"Dude," he emphasizes the word in question. He puts the plates down on the counter next to the sink before coming back to lean against the kitchen island. "You're not supposed to call your boyfriend dude."

"I'm sorry, but there are rules against what I can call you?" She chuckles, unable to help from smiling when she sees the exasperated look growing on his face.

"You don't call your boyfriend dude...or bud or bro or any of those things," Jay explains, feigning annoyance as he rattles off the countless nicknames Hailey has given him during the past few weeks. "Those are what you call your guy friend."

Hailey pops down from the tall chair at her kitchen island, taking two small steps until she is in his space and looking up at him. "I mean, technically you were my friend first so..."

"Hailey," he warns, but it's a weightless threat.

"Did you really think that when we started dating I was going to start calling you honey?" She asks with a smirky smile. "Sweetheart? Shnookums?"

"I don't even know what that last one means," Jay mutters.

"I call you dude out of love," she rests her hand on his chest, fingers tapping against his shirt. "I've never been a big fan of those sappy pet names, but with you...you're dude."

Since long before they fell into this simple thing of sweet stolen kisses and whispered I love you's, she had called him dude. It's always been "dude what are you doing?" or "dude, the trucks not gonna fit in that spot." He's never admitted it, but back then, it used to make something in his stomach flip, the way she was always teasing him.

So, it shouldn't surprise him that the name has stuck. He honestly never thought pet names would be her thing, but dude? It always has fallen off her lips so easily, whether she was teasing him or trying to make him laugh. And even now that things have shifted and changed, the name has stayed, because, at their core, they are still them.

And maybe it's not as bad as he is making it seem. Maybe it's sweet because it's her and she is looking up at him with wide eyes and a dimpled smile. In all honesty, he really doesn't care what she calls him, but he likes this, simple stolen moments where he can make her laugh and he can appreciate that this has somehow become their new normal.

"Yeah?" He cocks his head to the side, unable to suppress the little grin that is starting to grow. She looks up at him with such love, batting her eyes sweetly, and it is hard to stay mad at her for too long.

"Yeah," Hailey hums. "Dude, bro, bubs. It all works."

Jay hums in amusement and it's clear that he knows he's not winning this conversation and at this point, he does not even care to try.

"You are so lucky that I like you," he murmurs. He lets his hands fall to her waist, tugging her a little closer to him.

Hailey looks up at him with a large, scrunchy-faced smile, proud of her ability to persuade him so simply. "Kiss me?"

Jay smirks, leaning back as she leans forward in an attempt to kiss him, catching the way she pouts in the process.

"You gonna call me something nicer than dude?"

'I thought you were cool with it," she complains.

Jay rolls his eyes. "I said I like you, not that I like it," he smiles. "Gonna have to do better than that, Hails, if you want me to kiss you."

She lets out an exasperated sigh, straightening up before looking at him. 'Jay Alexander, love of my life, will you please kiss-"

He kisses her, partly to shut her up, but mainly because he wants to, and it's the last time she calls him dude that night.

And maybe he finds the nickname annoying, but it's less annoying when she's the one saying it, and he always just uses it as an excuse to kiss her to get her to stop.

And neither of them complains about that.