14 – That Is The Question

Ben was first up the next morning. Felicity woke to the shower running and the low noise of a radio in the bathroom. She hurried into a clean pair of jeans, realizing it was her last one. She dug into her suitcase for a shirt, and at the bottom she noticed a flashy red satin top with spaghetti straps. I forgot I had that. She had bought it at Elena's insistence that spring in a boutique in New York. Elena swore up and down that Felicity would look incredible in it, but Felicity had never had the nerve to wear it in spite of her friend's assurance. She sighed. It really was a shame for a top that expensive to go to waste. She had tried to give it to Elena, who wouldn't hear of it. Girl, you do yourself a favor and wear that top, do you hear me? she heard her friend insist. Felicity worried her lower lip between her teeth. Do I have the nerve to wear it now? In front of Ben? After what we talked about last night?

Even after a year of college freedom, part of her still felt like that shy wallflower from Palo Alto High School, too awkward and too brainy to be noticed. She picked up the top and pursed her lips in determination. Making up her mind, she shrugged out of her nightshirt and put the top on.

By the time he came out, rubbing a towel in his dripping hair, she had packed her bags and was getting her shoes on. "Good mo—Wow."

Felicity blushed. "Good morning."

Lowering the towel, he came toward her. He couldn't seem to decide what to do after that, freezing where he stood. "You look great."

"Thanks." She beamed at him. Wearing jeans and a green button-down shirt, he didn't look so bad, himself, either, she thought.

Ben cleared his throat and dropped his towel on a chair. "What do you want to do to today?"

Standing up, she wrinkled her nose at her suitcase. "I think, at some point, we're going to have to do laundry."

"Laundry could be fun," he chuckled.

She slanted a sardonic look at him. "Laundry is never fun."

"You've never done laundry with me."

Laughing, she picked up her suitcases and started lugging them toward the door. Ben reached out and took one from her, shouldering his duffel bag with the other hand. "I was looking through some of those flyers on the dresser this morning. There was a coupon for this restaurant down the road. Sound okay with you?"

"It sounds amazing. You have no idea how hungry I am this morning. I never realized traveling made you so hungry."

The restaurant wasn't very busy that morning. While they waited for their breakfast, Ben unfolded the road map onto the table. "I figure we'll get through Nebraska and into Wyoming today, before we have to stop for the night. We'll have a couple of days at Yellowstone. He said he didn't want us to rush, but I think if we push it, we can spend more time at the park seeing bears and stuff," he grinned.

She mirrored the look. "I can't wait. My parents said they stayed there for a whole week, and they still didn't see everything they wanted to see. Can you imagine what it must be like to get that close to a wild animal?"

"I just hope they don't get too interested in The Baby. How would we explain the claw marks?" Ben laughed.

Felicity gaped. "Oh, my God. Don't even say that. Are you sure we should drive through there?"

"I don't think walking is a good idea," he said, raising an eyebrow at her. He angled his head. "Anyway, how many chances are we going to get to see this?"

They fell into silence, during which she felt his eyes on her so intensely that she ducked her head in embarrassment. The welcome distraction of their breakfast arrived, platters of food piled so high that even Felicity knew she had no hope of finishing it. Ben seemed to have no such predicament. She watched him eat with amusement. By the time she'd finished her pancakes, he was almost done with his entire portion.

He noticed her looking and paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. "What?"

"I thought I was starving. Are you sure you don't want some of mine?" she chuckled, indicating the unfinished home fries on her plate.

"Can't I be hungry?" He started to smile, but it faded. Something caught his attention, and he gazed over her shoulder at the table beyond.

Puzzled, she checked over her shoulder just in time to catch a young man looking away. She turned back to Ben. "What? Do you know them?"

"No," he said, turning back to his plate. He started eating again.

Felicity peered back over her shoulder once more. This time, the young man was staring at her. So was his friend. Felicity spun back around in her chair, blushing. Guys never stared at her. They stared at girls like Elena, who looked good in everything, including a burlap sack. Self-conscious, Felicity pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

Ben shoveled another forkful into his mouth, looking suddenly moody. "Want to go to a movie tonight? There's this new action movie playing."

She blinked. "Huh? Yeah, that sounds like fun."

He glanced over her shoulder once more, then back to her, looking at her so intently that she started to squirm in her seat. "What did I do?" she blurted.

"Nothing. You didn't do anything."

Felicity turned her attention to her plate and crammed a piece of toast in her mouth. Her ears burned, but she couldn't help feeling a little giddy. The wallflower from Palo Alto didn't feel like such a wallflower anymore.

After breakfast, she paid their bill and they went to the car. Ben drove the next leg of their trip while Felicity flipped through the radio stations. The two-lane highway sped past beneath them in the otherwise silent car. "Is there anything you want to listen to?"

"No, whatever you want is fine," he murmured.

She turned the radio down. "Ben, what's wrong? Ever since breakfast, you've been acting weird."

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then, so quickly that it made her head spin, he pulled over to the shoulder of the road beside a vast cornfield. The car skidded to a halt in the gravel and he put it in park, then turned and eyed her. "Felicity, will you go out with me?"

Her jaw dropped. "Wha…?"

"Go out with me. Officially. I'm asking you out."

She felt the subtle shift of the earth dropping out from under her. She forgot to speak.

He lowered his eyes to the seat between them. "I got to thinking about it last night, and you were right. We might as well, you know…make it official."

She tried to say something and couldn't. Seconds passed. She furrowed her brow.

Ben glanced sidelong at her and jerked a shoulder crossly. "I just don't like the way those guys were looking at you."

Her tongue finally fumbled into motion. "What?"

"Those guys at breakfast," he snapped. "They were staring at you the whole time."

The smile started somewhere in her toes and zoomed up through her body onto her face. She was helpless to avoid it, even if she wanted to, which she didn't. She noticed the ting, ting of the car's turn signal and the dim crooning of some pop song on the radio. Outside the car, the wind shushed through the cornfield. Ben was still looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "Go out with you?"

He turned to face her. She saw him take a breath and hold it. "Go out with me."

Is he nervous? Why is he nervous? "Okay. Yes. I mean yes, I will."

Ben smiled at last. He leaned forward, caught her face in his hands, and gave her the most incredible kiss she'd ever gotten in her life.

When he pulled away, her head was spinning. The song on the radio had ended, and now it was a commercial. Felicity giggled, knowing she was beaming from the inside out. "Shouldn't we go?"

"Yeah, I guess," he grinned. He put the car into gear and took her hand in one of his, lacing his fingers through hers. They pulled onto the road and started away again.

Felicity stretched her other hand out the passenger window, letting the wind whip through her fingers. All of a sudden, she felt like she could fly.