When Gil awoke, sunshine was just starting to peek through the windows of the unfamiliar apartment. He had stayed the night. With Maddie. He looked down to still find her head resting on his chest. She held him in a close embrace. He thanked his lucky stars that last night had gone way better than he expected.

As the sunlight reached the bed, Maddie started to stir. Her fingers fanned over Gil's skin. Her eyes opened, she lifted her head and squinted at Gil. Her eyes went wide and she sat up, exposing her upper body.

"Good morning, beautiful, " Gil signed.

She really did look like Victoria's Secret model but without the underwear. Without her glasses and pigtails, there was nothing inhibiting her long, beachy blonde hair and large blue eyes.

Maddie signed something.

Gil shook his head. "I can't understand you."

Maddie leaned over, took his face in her hands, and kissed him. That, Gil could understand. He gently tucked some of her long hair behind her ear. He felt her face start to warm under his touch. Her cheeks colored with a familiar blush.

"Food?" she signed.

Gil nodded, a little confused by how quickly she scrambled away. He sat up. She looked back and completely flushed as she slipped on an oversized t-shirt.

Gil ruffled his hair. He took a moment to study her bedroom. It was cute. Mostly pink. Liz hadn't been nearly this girly, so the patterns and flowers were different for him. Her dresser and nightstand were slightly cluttered with everyday things like hair ties and ribbons. When he started to smell coffee, Gil eventually got up, found his boxers, and went out to the kitchen to join Maddie.

She didn't notice him approach. She was busy over the stove doing something. He walked up behind her and placed a hand on her hip. She flinched, turning around and nearly whacking him with a spatula. Gil quickly put his hands up in defense. She signed sorry, and pushed and shooed him to go away. He was able to sneak away with one kiss and one mug full of black coffee. He found himself exploring her bookshelf. He didn't recognize any of the titles, not that he expected to. Most of them sounded like romance books, which made sense for Maddie. There was one section that stood out. A tiny little bookshelf separate from her other books. It looked like a series and the books had little tabs sticking out of them with different colors. They were all written by the same author, Madeline Winters. Gil snickered to himself and flipped one to the back flap. Sure enough, there was a stylized picture of his Maddie.

Gil flopped down on a chair and flipped to one of the blue-colored tabs. It mostly seemed to center around the introduction of some guy. A misunderstood loner, with enough confidence and machismo to send the heroine's heart aflutter. Gil scoffed and read on. He couldn't really see what the appeal in this guy was besides his exaggerated good looks. He had a bad attitude and was often caught in witty back and forths with the heroine. He flipped to one of the pink tabs and immediately saw the parallels with Maddie. Beautiful, smart, caring, maybe a bit more upfront, but that might be the influence of her sister. He noticed now that there were little notes in the margin written in pencil. Little critiques really about how to express the character. He flipped back to the blue and noticed some things similar. Mostly just question marks. Finally, there were the red tabs. Gil had to sit up a little straighter with these. From what he could tell, these were the kissing scenes. Sometimes a little more than kissing. There were comments like good and meh and little stars and hearts by the real juicy bits. Gil was getting really wrapped up in a scene when he heard a little squeak and a mug dropping.

He looked up to see Maddie absolutely red. Her coffee was spilled all over the floor. Gil leapt up. "Are you hurt?" he signed.

Maddie shook her head but covered her face with her hands.

He swept her off her feet and away from the mess, setting her down on one of the chairs by the table. He grabbed a towel hanging from one of the cabinet doors and wiped at her legs and feet.

"I'm sorry, " she signed.

Gil kissed her knee and went back to the broken mug and spilled drink. He carefully soaked it all up in the towel and threw the ceramic shards in the trash. On his way, he passed by the table set for two.

"Time to eat?" he asked. Maddie nodded.

They are and silence. Gil was way too into the food. Maddie had barely taken a bite.

Gil knocked on the table. Maddie looked up at him following the vibration. "What's wrong?"

"I'm..." Gil didn't recognize the sign.

"What?" he asked.

"Embarrassed, " Maddie said out loud. Her face went completely red.

Gil blinked in surprise. "About last night?"

Maddie pointed to the little bookshelf.

"Your books?" Gil questioned. "But you already told me you're a writer."

"I didn't think you'd read them." She looked at him sheepishly.

Gil looked at her, trying to gauge what response she wanted him to make. He shrugged. "I like them. I like you."

She blinked at him a couple of times.

Gil got up and cleared his spot. After placing his dishes in the sink, he went over to Maddie's place, placed his hand on the table, and kissed her. Just as the kiss was getting hot and heavy, he broke it off, reveling in the helplessly blissful look on Maddie's face. without another word, he went through Maddie's bedroom to get to the bathroom. He started the water and stripped down. He stepped into the shower and started to rinse off. As the water was just starting to get his hair wet, he started singing the song. He was right on the verge of forming words when he heard the slightest slide of the shower curtain. He turned around to see Maddie shyly peeking at him.

He grinned and pulled her into the shower with him. He relieved her of her now wet t-shirt and kissed all over her skin as she squealed and giggled.

Clean, well-rested, and full, Gil no longer had any reason not to start his day. Maddie's hair was still wet from their escapade in the shower, but they were both fully dressed now.

"Last night was really fun. Are you playing again tonight?"

Gil nodded, as he gathered up his bass.

"Do you mind if I come again?"

"An encore already? Alright, but when you invite me back to your place, I'm going to read your books," he said out loud, not quite sure if he wanted her to understand what he was saying.

She reached up, touched his cheek, and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Alright, " she said out loud softly.

"See you tonight, " he signed. He closed the door behind him and had to take a breather. His life didn't seem real.