So, here's the next chapter. Merry Christmas guys! Thanks for reading, and I totally did not plan that this chapter, which is going to be very interesting, was going to be posted on Christmas. *wink wink*

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick. Leo wouldn't have been so sad if I was the author of Percy Jackson.

Chapter 6: The Day Things Get Serious

Katie's POV

I reluctantly go into Travis's outstretched arms, and then I get warm and comfortable, so I give him a squeeze. I take in his warmth as he uses his smooth voice to send shivers down my spine with a low "Have fun, Katie. I'll see you later." And I know he noticed because I felt him smirk into my shoulder where he had tucked his head. When he pulls away, I feel disappointment in the bottom of my stomach, and maybe even my heart. That hug was a lot shorter than I hoped it would be. It felt like 5 whole minutes, while in reality it was more like 6 seconds. He waved goodbye with a look in his eyes that I can't decipher. He pulls his hat back on, and it leaves a nice view of his neck, which is long, but is the perfect length for his body. I watch him for a few seconds before I turn back to Evie, who has a giant smirk and a knowing look on her face.

"Alright Katie, are you sure you can't see the look in his eyes? The way he adores you?" I shake my head.

"I can't decide what it is. I'm going with something on the brotherly love side of things. I just don't think that he likes me like that, sadly." Evie gets an exasperated look on her face.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are the most oblivious person in this world?!"

"Yes, and I wish that someone would tell me why they think that!" She rolls her eyes.

"I'll let you figure that out yourself, it should happen soon enough," then she mumbles "with the way he looks at you."

"Excuse me? What's you just say?"

"Nothing Katie. It's nothing. Let's go inside."

"Alrighty." I say. I'm still a little suspicious of what she means, but I don't ask anymore because she is the most stubborn person I know, besides myself. "Hey, how's things going with Mikey?"

After hanging out with Evie, I went home. I lounged around for the rest of my weekend, did some art, read a few books, and got ready for school the next day.

Monday was good, though Travis didn't sit with me at lunch. I saw him pass by to get his Monday fruit loops, and he waved, but he went back to his friends. He didn't talk much in Calc either, which wasn't as odd as not sitting with me at lunch. This happened until Wednesday, when I took matters into my own hands. I hadn't properly met his friends yet, so I figure the present is better than later. I pick up my lunchbag, and move seats about fifteen minutes into lunch. I walk into the lunchroom and pause, looking for him and his friends.

I find him almost immediately, as his green hair stands out rather well. He's wearing a purple t-shirt, and it really matches well. I gather my courage, and then I walk over. I see that there's no seats open near Travis, but he is leaning back far enough that I could sit on his lap. I cringe. If that's what I have to do to get his attention, well, I guess that's what I'm gonna do. He's sitting next to Matt, who is across from Connor, and then a few other boys are around them. James is across from Travis, no they seem to be in a conversation, about who knows what. I take my chances and I walk up behind Travis and tap him on the shoulder. I drop my backpack and lunch bag gently on the floor as he turns around. A surprised look comes over his face, but then turns to shock when I sit down gently on his lap. I feel him tense up and then I hear him gulp. Crap, he doesn't like me. My heart drops. Maybe he's just so surprised? No, he just tensed up because he was uncomfortable. I take a short breath before turning my head to look at him. I feel all of his friends' watching eyes on the back of my head. I decide to go straight to my main point.

"Why have you been avoiding me Travis?" His eyes widen even more, and he looks over to James.

"I uh, well, you see,-"

"We begged him to come back and sit with us for a while since he's been sitting with you for the past few weeks, assuming you're Katie. I mean you have the blue tinge to prove it." Oh. Okay. He's not avoiding me. And Calc is just like usual.

"Yeah." Travis says confidently, unlike the first time he spoke to me today. Yup, something's still wrong though. He didn't wrap his arms around me like he would have done if he was playing.

I stand up and step around behind him, and I hear him let out a breath of relief. My heart breaks, as I know for sure that he doesn't like me like I like him. Katie, don't cry. Please not in front of the whole cafeteria. While I pull myself together, I see James and Travis having a violent silent conversation with their eyes. I clear my throat and they all turn to look at me. Again with plucking up my courage, I say something I would never usually say.

"Well, if you're not not avoiding me, you and I are still on for Friday movie night, right? I know Connor and Miranda are going to a party or something, but we can still hang out, right?" I hold my breath, waiting for Travis's answer. I would never do this, but we need to actually talk it out. Not just avoid it. Something is definitely wrong, and I need to know what I did.

Travis blushes, looks at James, who nods, and then looks back at me.

"Yeah, of course. Your dad gonna be home?"

"Nope, it'll be just us. If you don't want to come, well, that's okay. I'll understand." A shocked look comes over his face, and he hurries to cover it.

"Nah, that'll be fine. Maybe we can bake cookies or something?" Okay, that's better than before.

"Sure whatever you wanna make Travis." I smile at him, and I can see his cheeks turn pink. Darn, I made him uncomfortable again. I can feel my face fall again, and his friends are still silent.

"Hey Jamsie-Pooh!" I hear a voice call out. Some of the boys snicker, and everyone turns to look over to where the voice came from. James looks shocked that someone called him that in front of his friends. I let out a breath of relief that the focus shifted off me and Travis.

Miranda and her friends walk over, and one goes and sits on James's lap. He brushes but kisses her cheek.

"Hey Leah, how's it going?" He asks, as he puts an arm around her waist. The other boys roll their eyes. I can tell that they think it's a little much. I tap Travis on the shoulder, and he turns around to stare in my eyes for a few seconds. I open and close my mouth but no sound comes out. His blue eyes blink a few times, and then move down a few inches on my face. I blush, and close my mouth. Finally I figure out what to say.

"I'll see you in math, Travis. I'm gonna go up to the library now." His eyes flick back to mine as I speak, and I see something I would have never thought would be there. Desire. Confusion. And something else I can't place. He nods, his cheeks pink and his ears pinker. He's so cute, it takes all my will not to kiss him right there. Wait, where'd that come from? Who cares, it's a good idea! Oh shut up, it's not a good idea! He nods and then I walk away. At the doors, I turn and look back to see him watching me still, but he turns around quickly to hide it. I turn back and head through the door.

It's Friday night. 6 o'clock. Travis is usually early. I peek out the window for at least the third time. This time I see Travis pacing in the shadow of the tree in my small front yard. He looks like he's muttering to himself and retiring wildly with his hands, but there's no one there talking with him. Then he puts his head in his hands, rubs his face, and starts walking to the door. I close the drapes and hurry back to the kitchen. Not even a minute later, he knocks on the door. I check to make sure I set out basic cookie ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, and such. I'll let him decide what type we make. I push back my hair and walk briskly to the door. Inhale, exhale. I open the door. There's Travis, looking nervous as crap for no apparent reason.

"Hey, Katie." No Katie-kat today. I just stand and stare for a moment. I don't even know why. But I do let my eyes sweep over him. His hair is almost all brown now, just the slightest bit of a green tinge, same for mine but with blue. He wears a blue collared t-shirt and khakis, with his blue and black high top Vans. Why the heck is he all dressed up? Not that I mind it, he looks really good, but he also looks good in joggers and a t-shirt. No, he looks good in everything he wears. I glance down at myself, and I realize how casual I look compared to him. Another volleyball t-shirt, and some pajama shorts, which I am now feeling slightly self conscious of. I look back up quickly and motion for him to come inside. I see he was also looking at me, which makes me even more self conscious of how short the shorts are.

"Sorry, c'mon in Travis." I open the door wider, and he squeezes past me, brushing his shoulder against mine. I shiver a bit from the cold coming in the door and I shut it quickly. I walk past him into the kitchen, and I hear him take in a breath sharply. Stupid teenage boys and their horomones. Maybe I should change the shorts… I pull them down my thigh as far as possible without actually taking them off. I hear him smirk, and then I turn around. He turns a bit red, but still manages to smirk.

"You know, I can take these off if they're too distracting." Travis's eyes widen and his smirk gets bigger. I realize what I said, and I am mortified.

"No, I mean, like, change, uhh, how about we just forget that statement." I smile nervously and manage a small laugh. Travis is still staring at my face, and a grin replaces his smirk.

"I know what you meant, Katie. It's not distracting though." Liar. "But your face is." I furrow my brows in confusion, and he grins wider.

"Your facial expressions are very distracting, especially when you do that one." He laughs and mocks my confused look. I roll my eyes and pull him into the kitchen and point to a stack of recipes on the counter.

"Pick out what type of cookie you want to make, and then I'll get out the other ingredients." He just stands there, staring at the stack, and does nothing.

"Travis, choose." I put my hands on his waist and push him towards the counter. He shivers as I put my hands on his waist, but it gets him looking at recipes so it's fine, I guess. Definitely not weird that he shivers at my touch. He flips through the recipes for a while, and I get out vanilla, eggs, and milk.

"I found it." I turn around to find Travis holding up a recipe on a yellow notecard. "Monster cookies." Really? They fit his personality perfectly. It's got peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and M&M's. All such delicious flavors, or different parts of a personality. Like Travis.

"Well, thanks for comparing me to a cookie." Travis smirks, and I realize I just said this outloud. I blush in embarrassment, but he shrugs.

"Lets just make this then. Their new name will be Travis Cookies. Perfect, yeah?" I roll my eyes and smile.

"Sure Travis. Whatever you want." Gosh, what am I saying? I am losing my mind around this boy, what is going on? Smiling, blushing, not saying things the right way, this is not normal for me. Though nothing is normal around Travis.

"Alright, I'll start on butter and sugar, you do the dry stuff and sift it to make sure they will be really soft. Don't add the oats yet though, they won't go through the sifter."

"Geez, Travis. If I had known you'd be so bossy in my own home, I wouldn't have invited you over!" He mutters something under his breath, and I slap his shoulder.

"What'd you say, boy? You better not be mumbling in my kitchen. Otherwise you'll get a spankin with The Spoon!" I say, imitating my grandma. If she were in this kitchen, she would have said something like that about mumbling.

"The Spoon? Why does that sound so intimidating?" Travis asks. I whip a wooden spoon out of the utensils jar, and put it in front of his face.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you'd ever been spanked by an old woman with this. It hurts like heck!" Travis widens his eyes, and I raise my eyebrows.

"Yeah, don't fight with your sibling when my grandma's in the kitchen."

"At times, your grandma sounds like an amazing woman, and then you go off and talk about her whoopin your butt with a spoon! She sounds a little crazy, if you ask me."

"NO ONE, calls my grandma crazy except ME. Call her crazy again and I will whip your butt with this spoon." I do my best scary face, but I let my playfulness show in my eyes. He starts to laugh, and he stops creaming the butter.

"Don't you laugh at me boi! I'm comin for ya now!" His eyes widen as I move towards him with the spoon in my hand. He turns around and runs into the dining room. I follow him with the spoon ready, and chase him around the table until we are just running around in a circle, not getting anywhere.

"We're never gonna get the cookies done at this rate," Travis says with a smile. A genuine smile, not that smirk where he tries to be sexy. It does work sometimes though…

"Yeah, that's true." I walk back into the kitchen, and get ready to mix the butter and sugar. Travis comes in and stands besides me, waiting to put the eggs in. After he adds the eggs and vanilla, he goes over the the fridge to get some water, because that is like all we have besides milk. And I've learned that Travis doesn't really like plain milk, so he sticks to water. I start to stir the mixture when I feel him step up behind me. I try to ignore his presence, but I can't, so I stop stirring. He puts his hands over mine, one over the spoon, and then another on the side of the bowl.

"No, Katie. You gotta stir it like this. It will work better with cookie dough." he breathes in my ear. I feel my heart rate pick up as his long fingers grip my hand over the spoon and stir in a motion I'm not used to. With my thumb down on the spoon, rather than up. His head is over my right shoulder, and I can feel him breathing against me, and his heart is beating about as fast as mine is, if not faster.

"There ya go, you got it now." I look over my shoulder to see him smiling at me, soft and caring, his eyes staring into mine. My breath catches in my throat as his blue eyes dip lower than where he met mine just a moment before. He turns around quickly to turn on the oven, and whatever moment we had is ruined. What was that? What was going to happen? If it did, did I want it? Travis suddenly breaks the silence and my thoughts.

"So, you wanna watch a movie while they bake or somethin?" he asks casually. Deep breaths Katie, deep breaths.

"Sure. Do you wanna grab the dry ingredients I mixed together earlier, to put them in the wet stuff?" I don't wait for an answer, and I hear movement behind me, so I assume that's a yes. Then I feel a burst of something tickling my skin. My mouth drops in shock. I turn around to see Travis holding the bowl of flour, his long fingers coated in flour and a smirk on his face. Before I can react, he flicks flour on my face.

"Pthh, phphh, yuck! Get that nasty bleached flour out of my mouth!" I sputter. Again, I realize what I said that could be taken as wrong, but I ignore it, trying to get the flour out of my nose and mouth. I run to the sink and rinse my face off. I can feel that it's pasty, but it's better than itchy powder. I hear laughing, so I turn around to slap Travis on the shoulder.

"Ow! You hit hard, Kitty!" Kitty? Where'd that come from. I grab a handful of flour and dump it in his hair, and then I rub my hand over his face so he gets just what I got. He grabs my wrists and I pause my actions. Then we burst out laughing.

"You should see your face!" he laughs.

"You should see yours, I can't believe we did that! This is one big mess. We're gonna need showers cause I'm not letting flour touch the couch." He shrugs and flour puffs off his shirt.

"Well, I don't have any fresh clothes, so I guess I should just go home. I'll help you clean up though." No! I don't want him to go yet! Okay, I gotta think of an idea to keep him here longer. We finish cleaning up the flour and then mix more dry ingredients together. We make small talk, but it's awkward again, just like it was when he first got here. I have to speak up soon before he leaves covered in flour. Once the cookies are in the oven, we just stand there in uncomfortable silence. Okay Katie, it's now or never. During the silence, I came up with this: He can take a shower here and wear my oversized shirts and joggers. They might be a bit short, but it's better than getting flour on the couch. I take a deep breath.

"Travis, you don't have to leave just yet. You can take a quick shower or wash your hair here. I have some oversized clothes I save for days I want baggy stuff, and I'm sure my dad has something you could borrow if you don't wanna wear my clothes." I take a deep breath, as I let it all out fast. I see surprise wash over his features for a moment before it goes back to his normal expression. He shrugs again, which he has done a lot this evening.

"Alright. If you don't mind, I guess." I nod.

"I'll go set it out for you in the bathroom, and then you can shower. Watch the cookies while I set it out for you. I don't want the timer to go off." He nods and I head upstairs.

I grab a large black t-shirt and hold it up. It looks like it's going to be slightly small on him, but you never know. I have a few bands I like, and I've been to the concerts, so I have some t-shirts. Like Fallout Boy and My Chemical Romance. Yeah, I went to the concerts, when they were close.

That was last year. Even though I'm the quiet plant girl, I like rock. And I might have taken The Killers t-shirt from my dad a while ago, but he didn't say anything about it. But the largest t-shirt I have is my guilty pleasure band: One Direction. They helped me remember that guys can be good, after my eighth grade jerk situation. I have two t-shirts, but I pull out the 'I heart 1D' shirt, as it's the largest one I have, so I set that one out for Travis. The other one, which is my size, has the outline of the boys on it. On second thought, I set that one out and hold the larger one for after. I have to take the quickest shower so I can see if he actually puts it on. That'll be funny! Imagine: Travis in a tight 1D shirt, too short on his midsection. I laugh at the picture.

I also set out my largest sweatpants, but I can already tell they will be much too short for Travis. So I go into my dad's room and grab a pair of his for Travis. They have about the same build, but my dad is slightly shorter than Travis. Dad has to stay fit for the firestation and stuff. Then I bring it to my bathroom and set it on the counter with a towel.

"Travis, the shower's ready," I call. I go into my room to get my stuff ready, and I hear him stomping up the stairs. I put my stuff in my dad's bathroom and then I go into my bathroom. Travis is staring in the mirror, trying to get the flour out of his hair.

"The shampoo is over here, and there's some soap in the corner." I point to their respective places and he nods.

"Kay, thanks Katie-kat. Do you have conditioner?" I laugh.

"You use conditioner? Never mind that, yeah I have some." I pull it out of the cabinet, and hand it to him.

"I'll be in my dad's bathroom, so wait in the kitchen till I'm done if I take longer than you." He nods again and shuts the door in my face. I furrow my brows in annoyance but I walk to the kitchen. The timer goes off and I put the cookies on the cooling rack. I put the second batch in and then set the timer. 15 minutes to take a shower,

I run up the stairs into my dad's bathroom and start the shower, before getting ready, so it heats up. I rub the flour in the garbage, and then hop in. I scrub out whatever flour is leftover and use my favorite shampoo. Yes, I have two bottles. One in my shower, and then my travel size, which I am using. I finish up quickly using fresh apple soap and get out. Fastest dry off in the history of drying off. I twist the towel over my hair and flip it back, before heading to my room to drop off my stuff. I hear the oven beep and I hurry downstairs. The towel almost slips off my head, but I save it from falling. I take out the cookies and run back upstairs, so I can catch Travis as he comes out in the too small shirt.

I sit down outside my bathroom door and file my almost too short nails while I wait for Travis. I even go back down to the kitchen to grab a cookie before I hear the shower turn off. I grab Miranda's little instant camera and sit opposite the door. I take off my hair towel and throw it over my bedroom door. He took so long! At least half an hour. About five minutes later he opens the door fully dressed.

"Katie, what is this?" He points to the too small t-shirt. I laugh and take a picture. The confused look on his face in the picture makes me laugh more.

"It's you in a too small One Direction t-shirt. It's my favorite one." I take a good look at him. It's really tight on his shoulders, and it stops about 3 inches above the waistline of my dad's sweatpants. I keep laughing until he lunges towards me.

"Oh my gosh, I'm Harry Styles! I love you Katie Gardner! I hope I'm your favorite! I love you so much! Ahhhhhh can I hug you?"He says this as he tackles me with tickles. He puts on a fake teary face and pretends to cry with happiness.

"I can't believe it, you looked at me! AHHHHHH I'm a crazy fangirl!" During twenty questions, he asked what my guilty pleasure band was. I said 1D, of course. I asked him a different question, and then he asked who my favorite was. It was a hard choice, I love all of them really. But Harry and Niall are my favorite for sure. So now Travis jokes about it, but never this much. I laugh and scream as he tickles me, and I try to push him off of course.

"Travis, stop!" I manage to wheeze out. Finally I get my right leg to my left side and push him off with both legs.

"You're fun to tickle, Katie, you have this cute laugh that only comes out when someone tickles you." He laughs. I blush when I think of the situation a few weeks ago. Miranda got mad cause I took the last cookie, so she tickled me. I blush at his statement, and get up.

"C'mon, you can have the first cookie." I lie. His face lights up like a child's at a christmas tree.

"Really? You saved it for me?" he says eagerly.

"No, of course I ate one! They were good though. And there's plenty left, so don't worry." I take another picture as he slouches with a pout. That brings him back to reality. I throw him the large shirt I was hiding behind my back, and he wastes no time changing his shirt right there.

Gah, it's all I can do to not stare! Broad-ish shoulders, toned arms, defined abs, and, oh gosh, pecs. I feel my face turn beet red and I look down before he notices. Actually, I decide to get up and head downstairs. When he comes down, I hope my blush is under control.

"So, Katie-kat. You left early cause the sight of my awesomeness is too much for the humble Katie Gardner?" He smirks, the arrogant play is back on, except for the slight blush dusting his cheeks. He knows I was staring. Oh gosh, he knows I was staring. My previous blush comes back, so I turn away.

"C'mon Travis, drop the arrogant act. I know you're all shy and just a regular boy under that. Which explains why you are blushing at me seeing you shirtless a few minutes ago." His blush becomes a little more prominent, and it's so cute. He's adorable when he blushes and does the shy smile he has on right now. Then the act is back on.

"Ahh, you admit to seeing me shirtless. How'd you like the show?" I roll my eyes.

"Are you nervous or something, cause you haven't been this conceited since I first met you. I thought you had gotten comfortable enough with me to be yourself." A nervous look crosses his face and the blush is back again.

"Maybe, Katie. Maybe." He grabs two cookies and heads downstairs before I can say anything else.

"So, whadaya feel like watching tonight? It feels wrong watchin Avengers without Connor and Miranda, so we shouldn't watch any of those." I sit on the opposite edge of the couch from him and he eats his cookie in silence. He doesn't speak for a full 3 minutes, so I take matters into my own hands.

"Alright, looks like we're watching a cheesy Christmas romance then." I pick out my favorite, which would have to be The Christmas Prince, and put it on. Travis still doesn't say anything. I can tell he's thinking hard about something though, because the look on his face says it all. About thirty minutes into the movie, he's done thinking and has relaxed his posture to his normal one. Now he's bored.

We're both lying on the couch, heads at opposite ends with legs stretched out, so I decide to play a game I played with Miranda when we were younger. Nudge the other person with your foot until they're so annoyed that they give up and it's an all out foot fight! Kicking and all the works. Hopefully it won't go that far tonight, that might be weird. So I nudge his thigh with my foot. He looks at me, definitely confused, but goes back to watching the TV. I nudge him again, this time twice. He shoots me an annoyed look and nudges me back. I nudge again. This time he doesn't look my way, he just kicks.

Soon it's an all out footsie war and the movie is forgotten. I pause it and then take my turn to hit him. I kick a little too close to where the sun doesn't shine and he gasps in fright. His eyes widen as he takes a deep breath in. Then he kicks me, hard. I send him an exasperated look.

"Sorry, okay! I almost hit you, but I didn't, so stop kicking me so hard!"

"Well, if you say so…" Then he rubs his foot up my leg and back down. I give him a very confused look before speaking again.

"And please, never do that again." I shiver in disgust at the weird feeling that gave me. His eyes light up, full of mischief, and I know he's planning something.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop." He stops for a moment. Then he pushes me off the couch! He rolls off after me and starts tickling me. And through the tickles, I miss the fact that he's pretty much straddling me. He digs his fingers in my sides and it's all I can do to not scream out, it hurts and tickles so much! Okay, I don't hold it in. I'm screaming and laughing and he has this huge smile on his face and he's laughing too. Finally, I get control over myself enough to tickle him under his arms, and it startles him so much that he falls on me. Air rushes out of my lungs and I take a sharp intake of breath to fill them back up. That sharp breath in was for nothing though, because when I notice how close we are to each other, it leaves again.

Our faces are an inch away, and because he fell on me and also noticed how close we were, it didn't seem to register in his mind that he may or may not be crushing me. But that's not the only reason I'm having a hard time breathing. His gorgeous blue eyes are staring into my soul, but I can't convince myself to tear mine away from his.

After a few moments, I finally tear them away, only to find myself looking at his lips. Full, pink- My eyes move back up to his, and I know he saw, because he's got the cutest half-smirk half-smile playing on his mouth. I feel myself blush, and his smile only gets wider. He moves from being completely on top of me to being propped on his elbows above me.

"Dang, Katie. Why do you have to be so darn cute?" Travis whispers. I take a deep breath as his eyes flick downwards again. He looks back up to me, a pleading look in his beautiful eyes, and my heart flutters.

His hands tenderly cup my face as he leans in and places his lips on mine. I freeze as his soft, warm lips gently move over mine with the softest hints of pressure. After a moment, I gently press back, and then pull away to catch my breath, which I had been holding. I stare up at him, watching his expression turn from tender nervousness to wonder and amazement.

I wonder if he's ever kissed anyone before. This is my second kiss, but I'd like to count it as first, since my actual first was rough and without my consent. My thoughts go back to Travis, as I feel him gently move off me to lay by my side.

"Travis, why'd you do that?" I ask softly. His expression changes again, a little nervous and little sad. I really hope he doesn't think I didn't like it.

"I-I don't know Katie, you just looked cute and I, well, I couldn't help it," he says quickly. Like he's nervous. I feel my eyebrows furrow in confusion, why would he do something like that if he doesn't like me?

"I, I mean, I, well, I have something to tell you Katie." Travis says softly. He looks at me intently again, and takes a deep breath.

"I really-" bvv bvv. I hear and feel something vibrate against my left leg. Travis looks down and pulls his phone out of his right pocket. He looks at the lock screen, and I see a small bar with a message on it. He turns to me after scanning it, his expression sad.

"I'm so sorry Katie, but I have to go. Connor said he dropped Miranda off here a few minutes ago, and went home to find our mom was acting weird or something. I really need to go." His eyes are so sad, I don't want him to go and I can tell he doesn't want to either. I nod understandingly.

"But I want to hear what you were going to say tomorrow, after you've sorted things out with your mom." I say as we stand up. I look back at him, and give him the biggest hug I've ever given anyone. He squeezes me back just as tight, and I hope he can feel my feelings for him through the hug, just like the kiss. Oh gosh he kissed me. We kissed! And I think I'm gonna do it again. I stand up on my tiptoes and brush a stray curl from his face, and the look in his eyes is too much for me. I brush my lips against his ever so softly, yet still enough to send butterflies in my stomach. More than there already were. A small smile plays on his lips when I pull away.

"Bye Travis, I'll see you tomorrow, kay?" He nods, and turns to head up the stairs. A million things are rushing through my head. Feelings, thoughts about what he feels, what I'm really feeling. I was not prepared for this. But I was even less prepared for what was about to happen in the next hour.

Travis's POV

As I walk home, I think about what just happened. I kissed her, she kissed me. We kissed. I finally had my first kiss. I'm eighteen years old! I should have had that a long time ago! But I saved it, hoping that someday it would be with her. And oh was it perfect. I'm so glad I saved for her. I hope it was better for her than the one that dirtbag Brad gave her. Jerk. But the rush of feelings is still here and nothing could break my mood.

I wonder what happened with mom? And why couldn't Connor have waited maybe ten more minutes! I had just built up the courage to kiss her, which I did, and then tell her my feelings, and I was interrupted! But really, I am worried about my mom. Connor said she was sobbing and saying things about our dad, why could he leave us and such.

I sigh. I cross street after street, not looking both ways like kids are supposed to. I'm just so happy that we finally kissed that I'm distracted from everything. Which is why, when my life flashes before my eyes, the last thing I think of is Katie.

Then the car hits.

EEEE! All I'm saying. And I'm not apologizing for the cliffhanger, either.