It's been a month! Sorry! I really mean it. I lost track of time. See, there was this puma, platypus, and an antelope, and it just blindsighted me...That's not important now. Okay, the body cast is off so no excuses are to be made. -nods head and readys hands to type more- ...I think that's all I got.

Prepare for this to be an AWW chapter, so preapre your AWW-ing mechanisms. Preapred?

Now read...

Shopping? Shopping? With Seth? Seth Clearwater? Why? WHY? I cried to myself in my mind. Although…it would be just us. No one else. Alone. Stop it right now! My phone buzzing had interrupted my thoughts and it was who else, Seth.

"911, what's your emergency?" I answered. I liked hello, and it worked for many occasions, but I needed something different.

I heard Seth take a deep breath, probably in thought, "I need shopping advice! STAT!" he screamed into the receiver.

"Excuse me, tone it down, please, sir!" I wailed as I took my phone from my ear in an attempt to stop the ringing. It didn't work.

"Sorry, but I thought the role was nice and…all…emergency-like," he said quickly, his way of apologizing.

"Well, it's…" Crap, it is what? What? Don't clam up! "What do you need?" Wow, now he must think you're thrilled to be talking to him. Calm down, it's just a phone conversation.

"Shopping."

"You need shopping?"

"No," Seth said slowly, "I need to go shopping." Every word had to have had an extra space or two added in for what he thought to be my slow-processing brain.

"I'm not stupid," I quipped out before I knew what I was doing.

"I know," he retreated.

"Sorry, I…uh…lost my cool. I didn't mean it, I just said it. The filter. Off." I stammered and stopped before I would stutter something I would regret later.

"Are you ready?"

Ready? For what? The Apocalypse? No. The end of Hollister? Ah, not as bad. "For?"

"Shopping. Remember?" he asked, slightly saddened by my lack of memory. It wasn't like we were dating, so we didn't have an official "date." Darn.

"Oh, yeah, I remember. Sorry. I was getting ready to mark that day on my calendar when you called," I lied through my teeth, and it was overly obvious.

"Okay? That's weird." Seth laughed on the other side of the receiver and I could tell he was starting up an engine.

No, that means he'll be over here in—"Oh, whatever, that's me. I guess…" I stammered again.

"I'll be over in about twenty minutes, okay?"

"Sounds great!" The unnecessary sarcasm and excitement had to be a turn off.

"I know, I'm really happy we're going," Seth said quietly as the gravel road crunched under his tires.

The smile that spread across my face was wide and not something I would ever let him see. Never. Ever. Then, he could see how much of a hold on me he really had. I'm independent. Well, he did already tell me he liked me…

Seth interrupted my thoughts again, "Sorry, that was a little stalker-ish."

"No, no, it's fine." I continued smiling to myself. I can relish in this for a moment.

"Oh—Goin—Throu—Dead—See—when—get—there" The words came out jumbled, confused, and hurried.

"Okay, bye!" I said slowly, knowing he couldn't hear me, but still holding the smile that was surely not going away for another eighteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

My phone buzzed on my nightstand as I stood above my jewelry box, debating on whether or not to wear hoops, dangles, studs, or nothing. It's just shopping. But, I want to look nice. You look fine. I don't want to look nice, I want to look GREAT! "Hello?"

"Sorry to interrupt."

"Interrupt what?" I looked around my room, seeing if he could really see what I was doing. If he could it still wasn't worth an apology for interrupting.

"You look deep in thought," his laugh resonated through the phone and he seemed closer than he did twenty-three minutes ago. Not that I counted. I needed those extra five minutes.

Finally I turned to look out my second-story window, next to my jewelry box, to see Seth standing in my yard, waving up to my window. "Oh, hi. I didn't know you were there." Or that you could see me.

"Yep, I'm here."

I hung up the phone, realizing the hoops were going to have to do since they were already in my hand. I just hung up. With Seth. Without saying goodbye. What a show of courtesy.

"I would have walked in like this, but I saw you were the only one home, and I didn't want to A) scare you and you drop dead right in front of me, and then I have to explain I snuck into your house and then you wound up dead, or B) You hear a few noises, not that I would make any, since I'm amazing like that, and you come jumping out of a closet, wielding a nine iron at my head. Then I die. So, either way, I saved a life by just spying on you through the window," Seth finished in a rush with a smile on his face, satisfied he thought through every possible scenario possible.

I may have attacked you, but definitely not for the same reasons… "Yeah, better safe than sorry." I laughed, sort of wishing I said the thoughts aloud.

A slightly awkward silence eased into the room as I put my earrings in, only one wouldn't go in so I had to that scraping all around my ear to find the hole. I could see Seth watching me occasionally out of the corner of my eye. Ah, screw it! I can't find the stinking thing. I began walking over to my mirror when Seth stepped at the same time I did. It wasn't much of anything to make a fuss over, but it wasn't…normal. There's got to be a rainbow bird outside or something.

I stepped back to the left and he followed again. I still didn't bring my face up from the direction of the ground. Okay…the bird moved the same time I did. It's a mockingbird. I shook my head to rid the odd thoughts that occupied the empty space that Seth's face didn't fill. Only then, my earring slipped from my grasp and came clinking to the hardwood floor. "Crap! I'm sorry, I know we needed to leave like ten minutes ago, but this," I pointed to the earring that had landed at my feet, "I don't know, it's being ridiculous."

Seth's face held that permanent smile it always did. "I've only been in here for like two minutes," he said, his voice was way calmer than mine.

"Oh." Misty! Come on! Get a hold of yourself! It's just Seth. Seth Clearwater. Misty Clearwater. No! Yes! Hehe….I bent down and picked up the earring when I saw Seth lean over and pick up my clock, and then bend over at the same time I did. His movements mocked mine, and I found myself realizing everything seemed in slow motion.

I picked up the earring, realizing it was just Seth being…well…Seth, and proceeded to stand upright again, when his voice rocked me out of my calm picking-up state of mind. "Misty."

I squealed a little and found my head hitting the dresser in front of me as I twisted my body and sat on the floor, my back against the dresser that made my head sing a little. "May I help you?" I didn't like being scared. At. All. So when someone did take their spare time to scare the living crap out of me, I wasn't very happy to say the least.

"Oh, no. I was…I don't know. Let me help you," Seth stuck out his hand to help me up, and I reluctantly took it. Yeah, it was a small and insignificant gesture, but me, being the cherish-the-little-things kind of person I am, had to take it and…cherish it. Aww.

"Thanks."

I don't know, but I kind of expected him to…Oh…be gentle with me as he pulled me to my feet, but it was far from it. I felt his hand yank my right arm, which held my earring, and my rotator cuff felt the strain. My rear end lifted from the floor (well…I'm five foot two and Seth is pushing five ten, and his one arm could easily wrap completely around my waist. Not that I imagine that. Psssht.) and, for the split second, I was flying. Until Seth realized my earring had jabbed into his left hand. Then he dropped me. Hard. Onto the hardwood floor. Which was hard. "Seth!" I yelled as I hit the floor for a second time, due to Seth.

"Sorry, but look at this!" He held out his hand for me to see the pinprick that was beginning ot draw blood.

I decided there was no feasible way for Seth to do the dramatic, knight in shining armor deal, so I stood up on my own, earring in hand. I shouldn't wear these, they seem to be quite deadly. I ripped the other one out and threw it on the dresser as I went to examine Seth's hand. "Oh, let me see," I said with my mommy voice.

"Here. Look. It's bleeding," Seth whined.

"Oh, would you like me to take you to the hospital!" I grabbed his hand, which I believed to be allowed, since he was holding it out, and saw the little drop of blood on the inside of his monstrous hand.

"No, I don't think that'll be necessary, I think I can tough it out, "Seth said in between fake sniffles.

I still held his hand, and began dragging him around my room by it, "Where's the alcohol? Where's the peroxide?"

Seth took the hand I was dragging him by and pulled me back with it, twirling me in the process so I was facing him. I felt something soft and incredibly warm brush my ear as I was in mid-twirl.

Seth had the goofiest and smuggest grin on his face when I finally came to face him.

"Um…did you just kiss my ear?"

"Yeah!" he said in between laughs.

"Why?"

"Because. I did."

"I know, but," Seth was still holding me in the post-twirl pose, and I looked around to his face, "it was my…ear?"

"I know. But, you see," Seth's face inched closer to mine, and I, like any other normal person would think, leaned in, too, "In my dream, I missed completely! Go Seth!" He held up his free hand that wasn't wrapped around me for a high five. What? He didn't kiss my face. Hello? My face! It's right here! If you're going to do it, do it right! Come on! A little closer….

I, still slightly confused, smacked it. He is right. at least he didn't miss completely. Now that romantic ( as romantic as Seth could get) moment is over.

Slowly but surely, Seth released the pretzel grip he had on me, to my dismay. "Ready?"

I looked at the clock. A whole six minutes had passed. Not that I counted. Pssht. "For…?"

The realization that Seth had just kissed—Yes, it was qualified in my book as a kiss—me made my breathing accelerate and my cheeks immediately responded with the tomato color. How's that for a delayed reaction. It's like when the car crashed—gets hit from the front, rear, and side, comes to a complete stop, and then the airbags deploy. How much does that help?

Seth grabbed my shoulders and shook me a little, which was sweet for him. No one understood him like I did. "Are you alright?"

"Um…yeah…I was just," I looked at his face, and it reminded me of everything I wanted, "so excited."

"I know, shopping is going to be so fun!" Seth grabbed my coat that hung on the hanger beside my door and walked out of my room.

He remembered my favorite jacket. "Oh, crap. Sorry, this isn't mine." Seth sat the jacket back down on the hook and picked up his own, which was right beside it.

He was so oblivious. But I like it. I turned around and looked at the room where Seth Clearwater, the guy I liked, kissed me for the first time. I closed my eyes, memorizing my room at this exact time. It looked like it usually looked, so it wasn't such a stretch, but the slight tilt of the clock, where Seth had picked it up when I dropped my earring, made me smile. He had been here. Whoa, that wasn't stalker-ish. At all.

Did you AWW? How ridiculous for me to ask? Of course you did! I did! I just read it and I AWW-ed. It was all...cute, warm-and-fuzzy, and slightly funny if I do say so myself. Which I did. hehehe. Review!