First off, the story won't just be from Ned's perspective. As it goes along the perspective will also be shown from Moze and maybe a few others depending on the flow of the story. Also, these first two chapters are shorter than what I envision for future chapters. I'm hoping to put out a new chapter every week or two but a lot depends on my schedule. Anyway, without further ado, here's chapter 2! Enjoy!

As Moze emerged from her house and walked towards him, Ned wasn't sure how to react. She didn't look angry, but she wasn't smiling either. If anything, she looked sort of nervous, which just added to Ned's confusion about how she was acting.

She looked nice. She had on a light pink button up shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned. Underneath her shirt, a darker pink tank top was partially showing. She also had on a pair of blue jeans. Her hair was down and flowed around her shoulders and down her back.

Ned liked how Moze looked, but he also didn't understand why she had taken so long getting ready. She was dressed pretty much the way she usually did for school, and Moze was never one for taking a long time to get dressed unless she was getting really dressed up. Ned decided not to ask her about it, as he suspected it might get her angry with him again.

As Moze reached where he was sitting, Ned popped to his feet and gave her the biggest smile he could.

"Hey Moze. You look great!"

Much to Ned's relief, Moze gave him a smile in return, although he noticed it was smaller than usual. Again, he decided not to pursue it.

"Thanks Ned" she responded. "You look really good too."

"So are you ready to go meet Cookie and Lisa for pizza or do you wanna hang out for a bit first?" Ned asked, secretly hoping she would opt to hang for a bit first so he could figure out what was bothering her. Unfortunately, this was not to be.

"No, you know how Cookie gets when we're late. He'll probably freak out if we take too long and end up making a total fool in front of himself in front of Lisa. You know how long hes been hoping for a date with her. If he blows it, WE'RE gonna hear about it nonstop."

Ned grinned. "Yeah but if it goes really well he probably won't shut up about it either"

Now Moze finally did break into a full grin. She reached out and grabbed Ned's hand with hers.

"Come on Bigby, let's go get some pizza with our crazy friend."

Ned and Moze held hands the whole walk to the pizza shop. They talked for a bit but the conversation dwindled and they walked the rest of the way in a semi-awkward silence. When they arrived, Cookie and Lisa were already there, waiting outside for them. Cookie couldn't contain his excitement about the double date.

"Ned! Moze!" he exclaimed, a little too loudly. "Isn't this great? The four of us getting pizza? Maybe we should make this a regular thing, am I right?"

"Cookie, why don't we see how tonight goes first before we commit to anything long term" Moze said firmly.

Ned glanced at Moze. Ok, something is definitely up he thought to himself. He made a mental note to talk to her about it when they got back to her house. In the meantime, Cookie eagerly led the group inside. Lisa seemed happy to be there and was grinning almost nonstop as Cookie picked out a booth for everyone to sit in. Cookie and Ned sat opposite each other on the inside part of the booth, with Moze and Lisa on the outside sitting next to their respective dates.

"So what kind of pizza do you all want?" Cookie asked in his suavest voice. "Feel free to get whatever you want. It's all on me and I am HAPPY to get you anything you like!"

Lisa reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Simon, you don't have to do that" she said pleasantly. "It's a nice gesture but you don't need to impress me. I'm already here with you."

Cookie raised his eyebrow and gave her his fake macho expression that he often used when trying to impress a girl.

"Lisa my dear" he said, again trying to sound suave, "I want you to have the best pizza date you've ever had. And besides, its Ned and Moze's first date as boyfriend and girlfriend. I want it to be special for them too."

Moze shifted uncomfortably as he said this but when she spoke her tone was pleasant. "Cookie, you don't have to do anything special for me and Ned. Let's just have some pizza and hang out. I want sausage and cheese pizza and I don't mind paying for it ok?"

Ned cut in before Cookie could object. "Cookie, why don't I pay for Moze and I and you can pay for Lisa? Ok?"

Cookie didn't miss a beat and continued trying to charm Lisa with his over the top antics.

"Absolutely" he said, still using his suave voice. "That means I can buy you dessert too Lisa. Anything you want."

"Thank you Simon. I really appreciate that, but you can drop whatever voice that is." Lisa responded with a warm smile. "Just be yourself and I'm sure I'll have a wonderful evening"

"Ok I can do that" Cookie said, finally going back to his normal voice.

The group placed their orders. Ned and Moze decided to split a sausage and cheese pizza, Lisa opted for a vegetarian pizza, and Cookie chose pepperoni for himself.

As they ate, they talked about the end of junior high, summer plans, the weasel and its babies that Gordy had found, and about the field trip. Everything seemed to be going fine until, just after they'd finished eating, when Lisa decided to ask Moze and Ned how it felt to be going out. Moze visibly stiffened and didn't seem to know what to say so Ned decided to answer.

"For me, I don't think I've ever been happier. It was kind of a long road to get here but choosing Moze ended up being the best decision I've ever made. I'm still in shock that we're here on our first date but in a good way and I've been excited about it all day."

"Ned that's so sweet" Lisa exclaimed. She turned her gaze to Moze. "What about you Jennifer? How excited were you about your first date with Ned?"

Moze glanced at Ned then quickly looked down at the table. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Moze what is with you?" Ned asked with a hint of anger in his voice. "Ever since we got back from school you've been acting really weird. Things were so perfect on the field trip and at school and now it's like you're a different person!"

Moze suddenly jumped to her feet and glared at Ned. He was surprised to see her eyes looked wet.

"Everything's the matter!" she shouted. "If you don't know then don't bother asking me!"

She turned and ran out of the pizza shop without a second look at Ned, Cookie, and Lisa, who all sat with stunned looks on their faces. No one knew what to say. After a few minutes of silence, Ned slowly got to his feet.

"Cookie…..Lisa….." he fumbled for words. "Uh….I'll see you guys later."

Ned walked out of the restaurant feeling very confused and at a total loss to explain what had just happened. He headed home, hoping he could talk to Moze.

The short walk back to his house felt longer than it ever had for Ned. He went inside and went straight to his bedroom. He looked out his window at Moze's room. The curtains were still closed tightly.

Dang it he thought. I was hoping I could get her attention through the window. Guess I'll have to call her. He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Moze's number. The phone rang and rang. Finally it went to voicemail. He hung up and tried a second time. This time it went to voicemail after only two rings. He tried one last time and this time it didn't ring at all.

She's avoiding talking to me. That's not good. He decided to leave a voicemail for her. At the beep Ned froze for a second figuring out what to say. He opted for a quick message.

"Moze, it's me. Please call me back. I'll be up late. Please tell me what's going on."

Ned waited in his room for a while, hoping that either Moze would call back or she'd open her curtain. After about ten minutes when neither happened, he decided he needed to get out of his room or risk going crazy.

Normally in situations like this he'd go spend time with Moze. Since that was not an option, Ned ended up wandering into his backyard. It was a pleasant night, comfortably warm, and the three quarters moon high in the cloudless sky was surrounded by stars.

Ned grabbed a wooden Adirondack style chair his parents had picked up at some garage sale and sat, staring up at the sky. At first he didn't think about anything, but after sitting for a while he started thinking about Moze.

I've never seen her act like that he thought. At least not towards me. He pondered how she had acted on the field trip, and then how she'd acted after they got home from school. Then a dark thought entered his mind: could she have changed her mind? Maybe she realized she doesn't feel the same way about me that I do about her. This led to an even darker thought, one that shook Ned to his core: What if we can't come back from this? What if this is the end of our friendship?

After that thought, Ned started remembering his favorite moments with Moze: pretending to date her to fool Missy, beating Loomer and his cronies at dodgeball thanks to her saving the day, the double date with Moze, Suzy, and Jock Goldman where he'd accidentally kissed Moze thinking she was Suzy, winning the bet with Moze about getting his project done on time, helping her get a good picture on photo day, and of course the moment he'd realized he liked her as more than a friend.

Ned hadn't realized how long he'd been outside until he felt how stiff his back was. His heart hurt more than his back but he knew he'd better go inside, even though the thought of looking out his window at Moze's would hurt. He was just about to get up when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned to see who it was and was surprised to see Moze standing there.

"Moze" he managed. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"I saw you sitting out here and I needed to talk to you" she replied.

Ned looked at her for a moment. It was dark out, but the moon provided enough light to fully see her face. She didn't look upset, which he took as a good sign

"So what did you need to talk about?" Ned was going to leave it at that but then he suddenly blurted out "Are you breaking up with me?"

To his surprise Moze actually laughed

"No you idiot, I'm not." Then her face became serious. "I can understand why you'd ask that though. I'm sorry I've been acting so weird. I'll try to explain."

Ned released the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. The relief that she wasn't dumping him was immense. He waited for her to continue, which she did.

"Ned, when we got home today, I had some time to think, and the more I thought, the more I began to freak myself out."

"What were you freaked out about?"

"You. Well, not just you. Us. As in the going out version of us. Ned, I freaked because I suddenly realized that because we're now more than friends, there's going to be so many more expectations. Take tonight for example. When we would go out before, all I cared about was what can I wear that I'll be comfortable in? Tonight I was worried about wearing something that you'd like, and that you'd think I looked good in. Believe it or not I almost decided to wear a dress. To go out for pizza."

Now it was Ned's turn to laugh. Moze smiled and kept going with her explanation.

"That's why I snapped at you when you called, Ned. I was flipping out over my wardrobe, and I was pissed that you were ready so quickly. I finally decided to help keep myself sane by just going in something I'd usually wear. I tried to treat it like just a normal outing. But I kept thinking this is our first date, should I be doing anything special?"

"So that's why you were acting weird?"

"Yeah. And then when Lisa asked how excited we were for our first date, I lost it. I thought I must be doing something wrong by not trying to make it extra special. Then when you seemed fine and asked me why I was acting crazy, I got mad because I felt like I was the only one having trouble and it frustrated me. I'm sorry I stormed off like that."

Ned stood up, walked up to Moze, and put his arms around her.

"Moze, its ok. This is all new to both of us. You're allowed to freak out. But let me be there to freak out with you. Or turn a hose on you. Whatever works."

Moze gave him a huge smile. "Bigby, sometimes I want to strangle you, and sometimes I want to hug you, but right now I want to do this" She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against his in a simple, sweet kiss.

Ned held her close against him and gazed into her eyes. "Moze, why didn't you just talk to me about this BEFORE you went off the deep end?"

Moze paused for a moment, and then replied tenderly "Because I've never liked anyone the way I like you. Or as MUCH as I like you. You're in my heart Ned. It's scary, it throws me off, but mostly it's completely wonderful. YOU'RE completely wonderful. I don't want to do anything to lose you."

"You won't." Ned replied. "You're in my heart too."

With that, Ned pulled Moze close and kissed her, passionately and deeply. It was even more intense than their kiss in the gazebo. Neither one of them wanted to ever pull away.

I hope you all liked chapter 2! Next chapter will arrive as soon as I am able.