"Where are you going? I'm back!" Joey shouted as he ran in my direction. He stopped in front of me and smiled once again. His hair was wet and flying in front of his face as he walked; he had changed his clothes to a white t-shirt and beige cotton pants. Also, smelled really good – it reminded me of musk and sandalwood.

"Where are you going?" Jamie couldn't help to ask.

"I'm taking her home. Eh… I'll be back soon."

Jamie's eyes slithered from Joey to me and back to Joey, she was clearly wondering what was going on. She smirked and shrugged.

"Have fun." she waved us goodbye and turned away. I could hear her giggling aloud.

"Shall we?" I suggested. Honestly, I was a bit tired to stand there alone.

And so we left the theatre and headed to the empty dark street. Joey was right when he said it wouldn't be safe for a girl to walk alone at night, and I was happy he was there by my side. I had no idea of what to say to him, so I chose to keep my mouth shut. It was really awkward to be side by side with Joey Richter and not know what to talk about. Maybe he felt the same because he remained as silent as me for what seemed long minutes. Useless to say he soon found what to talk about; he was known as a very talkative person.

We got into a conversation about where I was from, what I worked on and everything else he had the chance to ask me. Mainly, we talked about me.

"You came from Brazil, Rio! Wow, that's awesome. The closer I got to this city was when I went to see the movie Rio. How long are you going to stay?"

"Not much. I'll leave in one week."

"Too soon—"

"Yeah, I know. I've got to go back to work, and my vacations are about to end."

I barely noticed we were by the hotel's entrance. I'd kept talking to Joey all night if I could.

"Well, it's here. Thank you for your company, Joey."

I approached him, gave him a tight hug and, on the spur of the moment, I kissed him on the cheek, as it was a habit in Brazil to do so when saying goodbye. Joey looked at me intensely, a bit startled. I almost could see his blood vessels bringing an extra amount of blood to his face.

"So, eh… Can we have a date tomorrow?"

His face got even redder if it was possible. I felt like an idiot again as I stared blankly at him, my head empty. I blinked.

"Sure!" I answered with too much enthusiasm for someone who should be playing it cool.

Joey saved my number in his phone. He promised he would call me in the morning and we waved goodbye. When I got to my room I collapsed on the bed with a sigh; had the world just turned upside-down? A few hours earlier I had never been near a Starkid, and now I had just given my number to one of them.

Joey met me at the hotel hall right after the breakfast. He looked so charming in those simple clothes – a blue sleeveless shirt, beige shorts, a black hat and brown sandals – I felt something cold moving inside my stomach as I approached him.

"Hi, good morning." I smirked.

"Good morning, miss. You're looking great in this green dress." He smiled gently.

"Thanks." I answered wearing my sunglasses, kind of hiding my shyness behind them.

"Let's go, then."

He offered me his hand. I hesitated a bit before holding it, and when I did, I felt his hand was as cold as mine.

There weren't enough hours for everything we wanted to do together. We headed to the Central Park for a walk. There were so many things to talk about, I wanted to know everything about him, details fans never really get to know. So I was the one with unending questions this time.

We stopped for a break and sat on the grass. Joey got two bottles of water for us. I drank in silence.

"Where's your boyfriend, Bella? Doesn't he get jealous when you travel alone?" he suddenly asked.

"Oh… I don't have a boyfriend." I answered without looking at him.

"Really?"

"Yes."

I still didn't look at him, but I could swear I saw Joey let a smirk out.

We had lunch at a Brazilian food restaurant. Useless to say Joey loved it. I'm never modest when it comes to talk about our cuisine; it's actually very good.

"I think I'm overfull." Joey said as he cleaned his lips with a napkin.

I laughed. "Yeah, me too. We will need another walk to digest all this food."

"I regret nothing. It was delicious."

We left the restaurant and went to the Natural History Museum, I had never been there before. We spent the afternoon at the museum and when it was almost dark we agreed it would be a good idea to go to the movies.

Things were really less awkward between us by then. I had lost count of how many times our arms and hands had "accidentally" touched and how many times his chin had brushed my hair when he approached to say something near my ear, his soft voice and his warm, mint scented breath so close that it made my skin bristle…

By this time I was mentally begging that Joey would grab hold of me and kiss me at once. All that proximity was driving me mad. Somehow, I knew he felt the same.

I pushed my hand inside the popcorn bag, got a generous amount and filled my mouth with it. If I couldn't have Joey's mouth glued to mine, than I would keep it busy with as much popcorn as it could handle.

Chewing, I offered the popcorn to Joey, but he merely denied with a move of his head and an uncommon expression on his face. He limited himself to intensely stare at me in silence. I wished he would stop that.

"What?" I gave him a shy grin; my mouth was still full.

He didn't say a word. He simply touched my chin with his fingertips and shot a glance at my lips.

"Bella, I—"

The theatre lights died out. I could barely see Joey's face in the dim light. My heartbeats were faster than a hummingbird's, and I hold my breath as Joey approached his face to mine.

I couldn't breathe. His lips were so soft… He kissed me tenderly, as if I was a rare porcelain piece he was afraid to break. I wished he would put caution away, but he was a perfect gentleman – he didn't want to startle me. But, I had waited for that kiss the whole day. I was thirsty.

I grabbed Joey's face with both hands and pressed my lips tight to his, opening my mouth in a saucy kiss. He sighed against my skin and went all the way, passing his arms around me and filling his hands with my hair. We barely noticed the movie had begun.

"Wow…" he sighed.

I merely smiled and said nothing.

"I want another one of those." He chuckled quietly, kissing me again. Now his kiss was saucy as mine.

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