Disclaimer: All characters and moments from the past belong to Rachel Renee Russell

Nikki's POV

I glanced in the mirror one final time before I grabbed my stuff and left. I checked whether my hair was in place (it was), whether I had accidentally smeared my make-up (I had not), and I declared myself ready to go.

I hoped it wasn't too much. This was just a casual coffee date, nothing more than that. But something about Brandon transports me back to my middle school days when I freaked out over everything Brandon said or did. Thank god those days are in the past.

I walked over to the little cafe where we planned to meet. I was five minutes early, but Brandon was already there, at a table he snagged for us. He waved, and I gave a nervous wave back.

As I sat, Brandon asked, "I thought I would wait for you, so I haven't ordered yet. Any recommendations?"

"Um, do you want to try their chocolate cake? It's the best cake in the world," I suggested. Brandon nodded and ordered two slices for both of us.

While we waited for our cake to come, awkward silence settled over us. It reminded me of my first date with Brandon at a local diner named Crazy Burger. I pointed this out to him, and he laughed in agreement.

"I remember being so nervous for that date! The whole time I was trying to get you to ask me to the valentine's day dance", Brandon reminisced, "And you took an awfully long time to do it, too. Totally did not help my nerves."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But can you blame me? I was a 13-year-old girl who had been crushing on you since September. My nerves were going crazy!" I retorted, a tiny smile on my face.

Brandon seemed mock-offended as he replied, "Uh, hello?! I was a 14-year-old guy who had been crushing on you since September, and you know that I practically begged you to ask you to the dance."

"Wait, seriously? Have you had a crush on me since September?"

He gave me a look that clearly said 'duh!'. "How did you not pick up on that? At all?".

"Because I was the blindest teenager in the world?" I guessed, still shocked by his confession.

Brandon smiled wryly, "That I agree with. Honestly, it has puzzled me to this day. How the heck did Nikki not know I was in love with her?"

My eyes almost popped out of my head! OMG! Did he just say what I thought he said?

"I mean, how did she not know I liked her," Brandon corrected, his cheeks flushing.

Very slowly, I nodded, still sceptical. Did our crushes go farther than we thought? Here we are, five years later, on a date. We would have gotten over each other by now, right?