Author's Note: I was really hoping to update sooner but as most authors are, was busy. I had an essay due last week that I had to concentrate on, and then there's the Olympics! Darn Olympics-that's like 50-75 of my day when I should be focusing on my online computer class and college apps and this story! But I finally updated!

Oh! And thanks so much for all the reviewers and the hits! I was amazed at the numbers, which makes me want to finish this story faster even more but school is coming up soon...grr...

Well enjoy this chapter!

Vacation in France

Chapter 2: The Unofficial Date

So there I was—alone with Takeru. I'd never been alone with a boy before, much less be on an impromptu date with a guy I've only known for about an hour.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw him fidgeting, his hands in his pockets as if he wasn't sure what to do and how it all ended like this. He was attractive, no doubt about it. Probably one of the most attractive guys I've ever laid eyes on, but his nervous state was kind of cute. My attempts at stifling my giggle failed, and his eyes landed right on my face.

"Did you hear a funny joke or something?" he asked, raising a brow suspiciously. "Don't tell me a bird flew by and pooped on my head." Takeru patted his head to double check.

My grin grew wider, as I shook my head. "It's nothing," I stated innocently.

"Oh no, I don't think it's nothing. It was something." He seemed to gain more confidence now since his tone was firmer.

"What are we doing standing around here? I thought you said that you'd take me to the movies?" I tried changing the subject, pointing at various cinemas, but he was stubborn.

"Of course," he replied instantly. "But I'm sure we can still walk and talk," he added, shyly taking my hand and leading me towards a theater. "Are you going to tell me why you were laughing?"

"You're going to be the one laughing at me then," I grumbled, trying to ignore the warmth of his hand.

"I promise I won't if you tell me," he badgered on.

"You promise?"

"Yes."

"And won't tell anyone?"

"If you don't want me to."

I took a long breath, wondering if I was going to regret this, but he did promise he wouldn't laugh and wouldn't tell a single soul. I looked up and saw his trusting cerulean eyes looking down.

"I thought you looked cute because you were nervous," I whispered, hoping he heard it, and I wouldn't have to repeat it ever again.

He seemed to have heard it, as his cheeks turned dark red, and he shifted his eyes toward the front. His hand became slightly clammy and cool, but he didn't let go. I scolded myself during the silence between us. Takeru calmed down a bit because his hand began to warm up once more.

"So what do you want to watch? And please, not a chick-flick or anything with too much romance," Takeru begged, breaking the long silence as they stood a few feet from a theater.

I broke away from Takeru's grasp and headed toward movie posters being displayed outside. I loved a good chick-flick but only with girls, and it would be pure torture to make Takeru watch one after offering to take me here. Horror would keep me up all night, and I didn't want to be those girls who clung onto guys during the scary parts. I wouldn't understand any jokes if it was comedy. It would only be a bothersome to have him translate it for me every time.

My eyes wandered to a poster toward the end. The poster was dark looking, so it was definitely not a chick-flick or comedy. I wanted to say that it was horror and was about to cross this one of the choices until I heard a voice right beside me say, "Are you looking at that one?"

I slightly jumped up and accidentally bumped into Takeru. I hadn't sense his presence until now so I didn't know how long he was standing right behind me, but I thought I heard a little chuckle escape his mouth. Then I saw his long arm pointing at the poster that I was indeed staring at.

"Yeah, it is good? It's not a horror movie, is it?" I answered slowly.

"You would think so but it's not. It's an action-adventure film. It's supposed to be pretty good too, according to my grandfather. So that one?"

I let out a sigh of relieve and nodded.

"Not a big fan of horror?" Takeru teased, as we waited for a family in front to purchase their tickets.

"N-no-no! Of course not!" I stammered, knowing that Takeru sensed my uneasiness. "After all those years with Taichi telling me scary stories, I can handle anything!"

"Oh, well then I'm glad your older brother has taught you well. Then perhaps you wouldn't mind if we watched a scary movie then?" Takeru added.

My body froze as my eyes widen. The last time I went to see a horror movie was because Taichi dared me, and he regretted that dare once he was forced to leave the movie because I was crying, which was distracting everyone around me, and it was two years ago.

I felt him gazing at my direction, sensing that he felt guilty. "I was just kidding. The horror movie didn't get a good rating anyway, and you said you wanted to compare the cinematography. And…and I'm sorry for teasing you like that. If I'd known you were going to react like that, I wouldn't have said that. Honestly," Takeru stammered sincerely.

"It's ok. It's not your fault," I replied, giving him a gentle smile. "But you better go buy our tickets because that guy looks annoyed."

I shoved some money in Takeru's hand to pay for my ticket. I couldn't purchase the tickets since it would involve lots of hand gestures and pointing, but I couldn't let Takeru think that this was a date, right? It was just…too…wrong… Yet when I handed Takeru some money, I thought I saw a disappointment in his face for a second but maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.

XXXXX

During most of the movie, I stared at the screen wide-eye, not realizing how much less often I blinked. Almost every second had me on the edge of my seat even because the cinematography was brilliant. The plot was probably great too if I had been able to understand it. I only closed my eyes a couple of times when there was going to be an obvious murder, but the murderer was taking his time on his little speech that I couldn't understand, building up the anticipation. I wasn't a big fan of a protracted cut when the edge of the blade was already touching skin. Takeru seemed to notice my fear because every time I closed my eyes, he edged closer to me and whispered that I could open my eyes now.

When the movie ended, we looked at each other, grinning.

"I'm guessing you liked it? Minus the parts where you closed your eyes," he said.

I nodded. "Too bad I couldn't understand it, but French action movies are so different than Japanese's."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. And if you're scared of Japanese horror movies, trust me. French horror movies aren't as scary. None of them have endless students committing suicide," he added.

I felt a cold shiver go down my spine. Taichi and his stupid dare.

"So where do you want to go now?" he asked, as we headed out towards the exit. It was really bright outside. My eyelids instinctively lowered to shield my eyes from the brightness.

"Anywhere except the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower," I replied, naming off sites that I've been too.

"Well…there's the Arc de Triomphe," he began, saying it with a French accent. "There's a nice garden we can visit. There's the other museum, Centre Pompidou, filled with modern art. We could just say around Champs Elysees and watch the street performers…"

His cerulean orbs gazed over at me as I looked at him, pondering. "I can see the Arc from here, even though it's kind of in the distance. How about a garden? I noticed that there was one near the Louvre, but of course Taichi could care less about flowers after half a day in a museum." I rolled my eyes and whispered, "guys". Takeru chuckled at my expression.

"I'm guessing you mean the Jardin des Tuileries."

I stared blankly at him, tilting my head and not comprehending what he had said, except I thought I did hear the word 'garden' in French.

Takeru nervously laughed. "I'm taking it as a yes. It's the only garden near the Louvre, but the Arc de Triomphe isn't that far from here. We can go to both and then have dinner?"

"Sounds perfect," I responded a bit too eagerly.

Takeru shyly smiled and led the way toward the Arc de Triomphe. I quietly followed him, absorbing the atmosphere around us.

There were lots of tourists and people strolling around, talking quickly in French and some times in other languages. The smell of traditional warm French food entered my nose—croissant, pizza, baguette, etc.

"I can't wait to enter high school," I mumbled, not realizing that Takeru had heard me. Then again, his right hand was about 3 inches away from mine.

"Really? Most people dread going back," Takeru simply stated, looking at me and grinning.

"I don't mind school, but this year's going to be fun I hope. I registered to take French as my foreign language because it sounds pretty, and France is really amazing," I explained, spinning around in a circle with my arms out like a little kid. "Next time I come to France, I'll be able to speak and understand it."

I grinned, looking at Takeru, who was laughing. "It's not funny."

"I know, but you're…nevermind," he began as his face grew redder, staring at Arc de Triomphe now.

"I'm what?" I asked curiously, speeding up and stopping right in front of him. There was a slight height difference so I stood on my toes, crossing my arms as if I was angry with him.

Takeru seemed to ignore me as he agilely walked around me. Before I knew it, he was several feet ahead of me.

"Hey! That's not fair! I told you why I was laughing at you early," I defended, after I jogging up to catch him.

Takeru never glanced at me as I tried to catch his eye. His face was still red, but I saw his lips move.

"I didn't hear you, Takeru."

"Iaslafingturut."

"Can you say it again?" I asked, leaning closer to hear him apart from the noise surrounding us.

"I was laughing at your cuteness," he whispered, turning redder and turning his head farther away from me while quickening his pace.

Now I felt my cheeks warm up as I widened my steps to follow Takeru. The silence between us grew as we arrived at the Arc de Triomphe. It was my turn to lead, taking snaps of the site at different angles. Occasionally, I held up my digital camera at Takeru, who was sitting idly at a bench, gazing at his surroundings and took a couple of pictures. At least I could have pictures to remember him since I'll never see him again.

I flushed, and luckily he wasn't looking this way. It's not like I wanted to see him again, do I? He just helped my experience in Paris. My heart panged. I didn't understand the feeling, so I shrugged it off.

Finally, the excitement of the Arc waned. Mustering up all the courage I had, I casually walked up toward Takeru, breaking the silence.

"Ready to go?"

His cerulean eyes gazed up nervously. "Yeah, I've been waiting for you."

"Well…thanks."

Takeru stood up and began walking towards the garden. Apparently the garden was from the Louvre to the Place of the Concorde, and the latter was the closest from our current location.

"Takeru, I was thinking," I said, which was true since neither of us were talking, and the awkwardness was increasing by the second.

"Yeah?" he asked, peering over at me. He seemed a bit more anxious.

"I was wondering if you could teach me some simple French words or phrases. I already know "Bonjour" and "Au revoir", and I'm too anxious to wait until school starts," I explained.

The mood between us lightened up once more as Takeru smiled friendly. "Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

"Ok then, how about we start with just simple words." Takeru pointed at a passing bus. "Le bus."

"Luh boose," I imitated.

"Not bad."

I grinned. The awkwardness was finally gone. Then, walking around the garden was wonderful. My camera was filled with pictures of the flowers, the fountain at the Place de la Concorde, which Takeru helped me pronounce, and pictures of Takeru and me. Takeru also taught me words like fleur-flower, eau-water, bleu-blue, beau-beautiful. He always laughed at me when I couldn't pronounce words with the soft "r" sound, but the pronunciation was foreign on my tongue.

After a long walk around the city, both of our stomachs were grumbling as sun began setting, displaying a gorgeous view of pastel blues, oranges, and pinks in the horizon.

"Dinner?" Takeru stated simply, laughing with a hue of pink on his cheeks.

"Sounds great," I replied, grinning. "As I recall, you're supposed to 'recommend something'."

"Well that depends on what you want. There's French food, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, and the list goes on," he ended, smiling at me.

"French food of course! I won't be able to enjoy authentic French food in Japan. But not an expensive restaurant because I don't think I have enough money."

"I think that's ok. I know this great place where we can get a discount. Actually, my aunt owns it and she's one mean chef," Takeru responded, quickly grabbing my wrist and leading the way.

Takeru's aunt's restaurant was far that we even had to buy a subway ticket. My stomach was craving for food. My feet were aching from standing up all day that sitting on the subway felt relaxing. I yearned to close my eyes and take a short nap, but Takeru was sitting right next to me. I could feel his arm grazing mine, so if anything were to happen accidentally…

A quick image of me leaning on his shoulders popped into my head, and I blushed. Luckily, I managed to daze in and out so that circumstance didn't occur.

Takeru's aunt's restaurant was a quaint little restaurant in the middle of a nice neighborhood. The housing all looked the same while the restaurant popped out in the middle. Blue, red, and white French signs decorated the window and door. Pictures of food were outline in the glass with paint. Outside had a few tables with green umbrellas. Flowerbeds underneath the windowsills brightened up the outside.

Stepping into the restaurant, warm delicious aromas entered my nose, watering my mouth. It was busy though—the noise of orders and customers chattering. A plump woman with blonde hair and familiar blue eyes peered over at the two of us who had entered. She grinned at Takeru and her eyes faltered over me as one of her blonde eyebrows rose.

She ordered something in French to a couple of her workers and directed her way towards both of us.

"Salut Takeru! Qui est cette belle fille? Ton amie?"

Takeru's face reddened. I had a clue what she was thinking. "Non…non….elle est une copine. Elle est japonaise. Elle s'appelle Hikari." he replied, gesturing towards me.

"And Hikari, this is my aunt, Michelle Dupont," he said in Japanese. I smiled friendly at her since there was an obvious language barrier.

"Une copine? Je pense tu ne l'as pas amenee pour me presenter," she questioned, not believing him.

"Oui, une copine et elle a dit qu'elle voulait manger a la nourriture francaise, donc…"

"Je comprends," she said, winking at Takeru and led them to a table for two in the back.

Takeru's cheeks burned hotter, as he tried to avoid eye contact with me until his aunt left us with the menu, which was basically pointless for me.

"We should just order the special. The boubillaise is pretty well-known in this area," Takeru suggested, finally looking at me from over the top of his menu.

"It sounds good. I'm so famished. Anything sounds good. And if it smells anything like it does now, I'll eat every bite."

Takeru chuckled. "I'm sure my aunt will be very pleased."

Speaking of the devil, Takeru's aunt emerged from nowhere and began talking in French immediately.

"Quelle boisson voudrais-tu?"

"L'eau s'il vous plait."

"Et pour la belle fille?"

Takeru ignored his aunt's comment as he turned to Hikari to ask her what she wanted to drink.

"Water's fine," I replied, looking at his aunt, who was smiling at me suspiciously as if she had all knowing.

Takeru immediately told his aunt and gave her our orders.

While the two waited patiently for their meal, Takeru taught me some more French phrases for restaurant use like "Je voudrais" – I would like, "délicieux" – delicious, and "cuillere" – spoon, while we munched on our bread in the breadbasket.

When Madame Dupont returned with the boubillaise, I nervously muttered "Merci" and she laughed jolly and smiled at me.

"Je vous en prie," she said to me. I smiled at her, not comprehending a single word, which both Takeru and Madame Dupont could tell by the awkward expression on my face.

"That means 'you're welcome'," Takeru explained once she left.

"Oh!" I uttered, feeling embarrassed. "Well, this smells really great though," I added, changing the subject and grabbing my fork to dig in.

I felt Takeru's cerulean eyes gaze at me while I ate my first bite, allowing my taste buds to soak the flavor.

"Délicieux!" I exclaimed, stabbing another scallop.

Takeru laughed before digging into his.

Once the main course was over, Madame Dupont surprised us with a free desert. The only problem was that it was one chocolate cake with two forks. I could only guess what Takeru argued against his aunt when he saw that. I heard loud, quick, nervous responses from Takeru while Madame Dupont spoke calmly and innocently.

"Apparently it's the last dessert in the house so you can have it," Takeru muttered and once again, avoiding eye contact.

"But I can't have this all to myself," I protested, pushing the plate slightly to his half of the table.

"It's fine. I've had it before. It's better good too," he replied, pushing the plate back towards me.

"Fine, if you won't have a piece, then I won't either." I leaned back and folded my arms across my chest like a little kid.

It was like this for a while—Takeru avoiding eye contact and me pouting like a child until I admitted defeat. The chocolate aroma was luring me. I didn't glance at him when I picked up a fork to slice a piece. It was moist too!

"You have no clue what you're missing, Takeru. This is amazing. It's moist and fluffy. The icing is perfect-not too sweet."

"I know. Enjoy it."

Slightly frustrated at his stubbornness, I unyieldingly finished the rest of the cake. Then we said bye to Takeru's aunt before leaving.

The sky was darker than before. The sun had faded into the horizon with the crescent moon replacing it, but no stars were out yet. Takeru glanced at his watch and gasped.

"It's 8:30. Your mom wanted you at the hotel by 9. We better hurry to catch a train. Summer really throws your time off." Takeru unconsciously reached for my hand and then pulled me to the subway from earlier. He was a better runner than I was by a long shot that I was huffing when we arrived at the subway to watch for a train.

By the time we were a few feet from the hotel, it was already 9:20. Mom and Dad were probably flipping out. Taichi was probably worse off than the both of them. Then when we were in front of the hotel doors, I could see Taichi pacing angrily in the lobby.

"I'm guessing it's better that Taichi doesn't see you," I stated, pulling him away from the door. "Thanks for today. I'm really thankful for you for saving Taichi and showing me around. It was a coincidence to see each other again, but I'm glad." I smiled at him, but I was slightly sad that I was never going to see him again.

"Me too," he whispered, staring at me. "Probably one of my best days here in Paris. Enjoy the rest of your stay."

He turned to leave but then after a step, he turned around and whispered, "Good night, Hikari."

I wondered if I was ever going to see him again.

Author's Note: So I think this was worst the the previous chapter. Not a big fan of this 1st person writing. But what do you guys think? Do you want me to continue in 3rd person or 1st?

Salut Takeru! Qui est cette belle fille? Ton amie? - Hi Takeru! Who is this pretty girl. Your girlfriend?

Non…non….elle est une copine. Elle est japonaise. Elle s'appelle Hikari. - No, no, she is a friend. She's Japanese. Her name is Hikari.

Une copine? Je pense que tu ne l'as pas amenee pour me presenter - A friend? I think that you did not bring her for introductions (Translation's kinda off but that's what I mean)

Oui, une copine et elle a dit qu'elle voulait manger a la nourriture francaise, donc - Yes, a friend and she said that she wanted to eat French food so...

Je comprends - I understand

Quelle boisson voudrais-tu - What drink would you like?

L'eau s'il vous plait - water please

Et pour la belle fille - And for the pretty girl

Phew, that was a lot of translation. Sorry for all of you who didn't understand it 'til now!

Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! It really makes me motivated!