Luke woke to the sound of his buzzer going off. Grumbling about it being a Sunday morning, he went and hit the call button. He tried as hard as he could not to growl at the speaker. "Hello?"

"It's Mara, Farmboy. Considering it's past ten a.m., I think you've slept enough, don't you? Let me in!"

Despite himself, Luke grinned and said, "Give me a second to throw some clothes on and I'll be right down."

"Hurry up, Sleepy-head;" she sniped back.

Luke chuckled as he threw on clean clothes and ran down stairs. When he opened the door, Mara just walked right in. "It's not nice to keep a girl waiting you know;" she said playfully.

Luke chuckled and they headed up stairs. Luke checked his phone and found that it didn't have any new messages or anything. Mara reached into her bag and pulled out a paper bag. "I made you breakfast, by the way. It's just a bagel but I figured if I was going to wake you up, I could at least feed you."

Luke unwrapped it and smiled appreciatively, "Thanks, Mara. Eggs, sausage and cream cheese - you sure know how to keep a guy from getting mad at you for waking him up."

Mara smiled prettily and said, "Aww, were you really going to be mad at me, Farmboy?"

"No, not really;" he chuckled and took a bite.

They made it to his room and Luke blushed. The bed wasn't made and his clothes were lying everywhere in view. As Mara sat on the bed, Luke quickly gathered the clothes up and tossed them into the hamper. "So what are we doing today?" she asked.

Luke looked out the window and sighed. It was going to rain. "Well it looks like our picnic might be rained out so I'm not sure. What would you like to do?"

Mara shrugged as she took one of Luke's blankets and wrapped it around herself. "Would you like a sweatshirt?" Luke asked.

Before she had even answered in the affirmative, he took one of his sweatshirts and handed it to her. Mara took it and put it on. It smelled like him - a little musky but good at the same time. "This thing is huge;" she said and she pulled her head through the head hole.

Luke laughed and said, "I like my sweatshirts a little bigger. In truth I didn't have very much planned today. Beside my date with you, I was planning on just being lazy and maybe watching something or playing a computer game or something."

Mara nodded and said, "That sounds nice. Finish your breakfast;" she took a sniff and asked, "Is that coffee I smell?"

Luke grinned and headed towards his coffee maker as he munched his bagel. Before stripping down and collapsing into bed, Luke had managed to pre-set his coffee maker. He was glad he had too. He poured them both generous cups of coffee. "Creamer? Sugar? Wedge has some in here somewhere."

He looked around and found the creamer in the fridge. When he opened the cupboard, he started and then sighed ruefully. "Well it looks like Wedge dropped off his recent purchases before heading to Iella's last night. There are ten jars of shine in here. Hey! Look at that! Four of them have my name marked on them."

Mara laughed. Luke finished his bagel sandwich and they sipped coffee in a companionable silence. "Remember last night when I asked you why you raced?" asked Mara quietly. Luke nodded as he went and sat next to her. Mara chewed her lower lip a little before asking, "Can you tell me why again?"

Luke nodded. "I guess it's just a thrill. The speed, the adrenaline rush, the danger, all of it is just so intoxicating. I love the races and the money is nice too but that isn't the real reason. In truth I guess there is no truly good reason. It's just something I really enjoy and something I'm pretty good at."

Mara was still chewing her plump bottom lip. "Is it usually like last night - with the cops and angry participants and such?"

Luke shook his head. "No. Last night was different. The cops are hardly ever involved and usually the racers are disgruntled but not ever like that."

"How often do you race?"

Luke scratched the back of his neck as he thought about it. "Oh, about once every month or two. We can't do it too often or else the police will catch on. It's in random locations around the city and sometimes, outside of it. Not only that, there is a, shall we say, 'large business owner' who doesn't like clandestine racing like that in 'his city' without the opportunity to get a cut. He's been trying to catch on to us for awhile but Mazzick knows his business about keeping it quiet."

Mara's green eyes widened. "So you have angry racers, cops and the mob to worry about and you still race. Wow..."

She stood up and paced. This worried her. She was really starting to like Luke. He was brave, considerate, smart, sweet, good looking and just plain fun to be around but this was some heavy stuff he was into. She couldn't and wouldn't ask him to stop. It wasn't her place to try and change something like this that was part of his life even if she was worried about him. They weren't even in anything other than a friendly relationship but the thing was that she wanted it to be more than that. She turned and considered Luke for a moment. He asked in a quiet voice, "Is everything alright, Mara?"

Mara went and sat by him, taking his hand and holding it. "I guess it just concerns me that you're doing stuff like this. It worries me and is going to every time you do it. Just promise me that you'll always be careful and that you'll never lose focus or lower your awareness or anything like that."

Luke smiled and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. "I promise;"

Mara smirked and said, "Good. I don't want my farm boy getting hurt, arrested or killed."

Luke cocked an eyebrow. "'Your farm boy'?"

Mara nodded. "Yup. 'My farm boy' - unless you don't want to be my farm boy."

Luke's mouth fell open slightly and he cleared his throat. "Are - are you asking..." and he felt utterly ridiculous for asking such a childish question. "Are you asking me to be your boyfriend, Mara?"

Mara giggled at his bashfulness. "A more adult way to say it would be that I'm asking you to be in a committed relationship with me but yes, I am asking you to be my boyfriend. Can I be your girlfriend?"

Luke blushed at her teasing but was grinning and laughing none the less. "I think a committed relationship sounds good. Yes, I would very much like to be your boyfriend and for you to be my girlfriend."

They both laughed at how juvenile they sounded but they were both thrilled at the same time. After that, Luke refilled their coffee cups and neither really knew what to say. After clearing his throat at least four or five times, Luke said, "Well I'm sorry about our picnic date. Would you like to go out to lunch or maybe order something in? Unfortunately there isn't much but leftovers in the fridge."

Mara, to his surprise, grabbed the blanket and snuggled up to him, hugged his right arm to her like a stuffed animal. "Let's order a pizza and keep watching Knight Fall. It's a perfect day for it. Hey, is that your Ipod?"

She let him go and picked up the device. It was the second or maybe third generation Ipod touch and its screen was cracked. Curious, she flipped through, giggling at his choice of music and also at the fact that he had at least two dozen audio books on the device. Taking his earphones, she put one in and selected a title. Luke was blushing a little as he put in an online order with his laptop to be delivered to the dorm building. Before he had the chance to put on the show, Mara said, "Forget the show, let's listen to this instead. I love this book."

Luke listened and blushed a little more though he grinned. "Yup. Pride and Prejudice is a guilty favorite of mine. Pizza should be here in a half hour or so."

They sat quietly, snuggled up in sweatshirts and with blankets wrapped around them. Mara was leaning back against Luke and his chin was gently resting on the top of her red-gold head. The smell of her shampoo was wonderful - like strawberries. Mara just felt warm and comfortable and safe. After a half hour, the pizza guy showed up and Mara paused the book while Luke ran down and grabbed it, tipping the delivery guy heavily since it was really starting to rain hard outside. When he got up to his and Wedge's dorm, he opened the window slightly. At Mara's questioning look, he shrugged and said, "It's probably going to thunderstorm and I love the sound of a good storm. I can close it if you want."

Mara shook her head and said, "No, it's fine. Come here before I get cold."

Sharing the pizza and some more coffee, they snuggled up and continued to listen to the book. Every now and again, Mara would straighten and look back at Luke, a question on her face. Luke would smile and sometimes ask, "Is everything okay? Can I get you anything?"

Mara smiled and shook her head. Each time, Luke would look at her stunning features and would feel a desire to kiss her. Not a quick friendly peck but a real kiss. Each time, the more cautious part of him would warn, not yet. It's too soon, while the more brash, reckless part of him would say why not? Wedge and Iella kissed BEFORE their first date and so did plenty of other people you know.

Mara looked back at him again before changing position. Slowly, she eased herself into his lap, sitting sideways and leaning her head against his shoulder. Somehow, that made all the difference. Tentatively, Luke kissed her brow, inhaling the fruity smell of her red hair. She looked up at him, biting her lower lip. Her green eyes were twinkling just a little and she reached up and touched his cheek, pulling him down towards her. Well if she wants me too, why not?

Gently, Luke pressed his lips against hers and it was like a lightning bolt going through his body. All clear thought stalled in his mind for the few seconds as they held the kiss. Slowly, they separated and looked at each other. For a moment, they considered before Mara shifted a little so that she could face him more easily before leaning back in. This time, the kiss was less tentative and more experimental. Luke's arms were wrapped around her and Mara had one around his back while the opposite hand held his face again, running her thumb along his cheek bone. Neither of them knew how much time had passed when they were interrupted by the dorm's door suddenly opening. Standing there with looks of surprise were Wedge and Iella. The former grinned broadly and said cheerfully, "Whoops! Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Luke was blushing but Mara gave a mock glare and said, "Go away;" before kissing Luke again as if neither of them were there. Wedge and Iella just walked on in and Wedge sniffed the air appreciatively. "Any of that left?"

Mara separated from Luke and glared again. "Not for you. That's what's left of our super romantic date so no touching."

Wedge lifted his hands away from the pizza box and said, "Okay. Fair enough."

Iella was laughing. The thunder rumbled outside as the two newcomers sat on Wedge's bed and cuddled under the blankets there. "What are you two listening too?"

Luke blushed as Mara answered, "Pride and Prejudice. It's something we have in common - we both love this book."

Wedge tried to hide a smile as he nodded. It was a little awkward for just a moment before Wedge said, "Don't let us interrupt your little make out session. We'll just be over here doing the same thing."

Luke glared at his friend before Mara said, "And, just like that, the moment's over. Can you hand me another slice of pizza, Farmboy?"

Both Wedge and Iella snorted and Wedge asked, "Um... 'Farmboy'?"

Mara smirked and said, "Yup. He's my farm boy. No one else is allowed to call him that - just me;" and she took a bite of the pizza.

Luke reached over and grabbed another piece himself. "So Luke, last night was absolutely spectacular, to say the least - except the crazy new guy with the gun. That was a little unbalancing. You handled it like a pro though. The next race isn't going to be for awhile though. Apparently the cops and the Prince are getting a little too interested."

Mara looked at Luke and swallowed her pizza before saying, "The Prince? Who's that?"

Iella replied, "The Prince is what a lot of people call the local crime boss. If he were to get a hold of Mazzick or any of the racers, he would undoubtedly take control and levee a 'tax' against everyone involved. That would be bad."

Luke nodded. "The day the Prince gets involved with racing is the day I retire. I'm fine with a little illegal racing but organized crime is a whole other beast."

"Well that's a relief;" chuckled Mara.

Updated 10/15/2018