"We won't go near the forest, correct?" Fayette asked for the third time. Not that Benny counted or anything.

"I promise. You can trust me, you know."

Fayette's green eyes peered up at his, apprehensive, but not creased with worry like they usually were. "All right. Lead the way."

"How about we walk beside each other instead?" Benny offered.

Again, acting as though she held back a smile, she proceeded to walk with him down the sidewalk, destination unknown. "So do you still have that daisy I gave you?"

Benny reached into his back pocket, pulling out a perfectly preserved daisy. Fayette eyed him suspiciously before he explained, "I wasn't going to let it die. Magic touch, remember?" He wiggled his fingers in her face, causing her to grab his hands to stop him. In doing so, Benny held onto one of her hands, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"Very smooth," she concurred. "You know, I like it better when you're not trying to impress me."

Benny laughed nervously. "Me? Try to impress you? Pssh... What?... No..." Fayette looked at him skeptically. "Okay, fine, maybe a little. Sorry I'm not cool as a cucumber, like you."

"I don't know if I agree being compared to a cucumber."

"Cool as a penguin?"

"Nice. I am a sucker for a bird in a tux. So what does that make you?"

"A hopeless little fish," Benny sighed.

She laughed, holding his hand tighter. "Benny the magical fish. Hooked by a nerdy penguin. So where are you taking me, little fish?"

"Really cute," he teased. "And why can't you just go with the flow of the stream, like me? We'll get there, I promise."

"I'm still not fully convinced that you're not kidnapping me."

"Hey, whose hand is holding whose now?"

"Would it be 'whose' or 'whoms'?"

"I don't think 'whoms' is even a word."

"Oh, I love it when you talk grammar," Fayette remarked with a grin.

"I before E, except after C."

Fayette put the hand that wasn't holding Benny's again her head. "Oh, catch me. I'm swooning!"

"You're lucky I don't take you seriously."

"You're lucky...that... hmm... Okay, I have nothing witty to say to that. One point for Benny."

Glancing over at her, he felt the corners of his mouth go up into a slight grin. "How do you do that?" he blurted.

She looked perplexed. "Do what?"

"It's like one minute, I can't even speak around you. And the next, I feel like I've known you for...well, much longer than I've actually known you."

"Ooh, that line's almost as good as 'You've got beautiful eyes'," she smirked. Benny slowed his pace, squeezing her hand lightly. "I'm kidding. And honestly, it sounds less like something I'm doing, and more like something to do with you."

"I'm not usually like this, you know."

"Like?"

"Nervous, around girls. In fact, I'd say I'm more of a flirt... No, that sounds negative. I guess I'm just less afraid to talk to girls."

"We're talking now."

"Yes, but...sometimes I think if I'd never hit my head against that locker door, we'd never be talking. The build up to talking to you was nerve-wracking."

"I'm just a girl, Benny," she laughed, poking his side, but he'd stopped walking. She turned towards him until they were face to face. "Aren't we going to continue down this path?"

"No. We're here."

Fayette finally observed her surroundings, and noticed that they were in front of what seemed to be an old shop, sitting by itself on the corner of the otherwise barren street. It was two stories high, with a lamp post outside and a sign nearly hanging on its hinges. The paint faded on the sign, so much that she had to practically squint to read it. "A bookstore?"

"Not just any bookstore. Let's walk in, shall we?" Benny released her hand momentarily to open the door for her. She curtsied while he bowed slightly, and entered the most unique bookstore she'd ever had the fortune to be in.

Bookshelves filled the walls, books lined the floors, leading all the way up the stairs where even more books toppled over books upon books. "Come on, let's go up the stairs," Benny said.

Fayette followed him, doing her best not to fall over the books. Benny gently took her hand, seeing her struggle, and led her up the rickety stairs.

"That's it, you're trying to kill me. Kidnap me, then kill me with the world of books."

"Well if that were the case, I'd be going down with you."

Benny took her through the shelves, back to a corner where a slightly tattered, pink loveseat sat all by itself amidst the books. "This is where I used to come with my Grandma when I was younger, and I'd read the comics."

He gestured for her to sit down, while he went to a nearby display and sifted through to find a comic book. "Spiderman!" he said jubilantly, bringing it over and plopping down beside her on the couch.

Fayette sat next to him, no more than a foot apart from each other, suddenly engulfed by the scent of old books. Benny flicked through the pages of the comic, eyes alight. She smiled over at him, feeling as though he'd just let her in on a secret by deciding to bring her here, into this tiny corner in this vast world of words and pages. Inching herself closer to him, Benny looked up at her, a smile still across his face. "What?" he asked.

She wanted to say more, but knew now was not the time. "Nothing. I just like it here."

Benny winked, going back to his comic, not realizing that Fayette didn't necessarily specify which 'here' she was referring to. 'Here' could've been the bookstore, the city, the world. But the 'here' she spoke of, in this instance, meant 'in this important place with this uncommon boy'.