After the lunch with the Blue family, everyone headed home except Ty and Tinka, who went off on a little excursion of some sort.

Rocky told Cece that she'd have to go to Crusty's this evening on her own, because she had something to do for the upcoming junior prom.

With that, Rocky headed off to Crusty's early. She had told Gunther to meet her there early. She wanted to talk to him personally.

Rocky stood outside of Crusty's and waited for Gunther to arrive.

After ten minutes or so of waiting, Gunther sauntered up to the restaurant's entrance.

"Hello, Gunther," Rocky smiled, disarmingly.

"Hello, Rocky," Gunther looked around. "Where's everyone else?"

"They'll be here this evening," Rocky answered, still smiling.

"Um," Gunther looked confused.

"We have to talk," Rocky gestured to a bus stop bench. "Might as well take a seat."

Gunther sat down and Rocky sat down beside him. "Rocky, what is this about?"

"It's about Cece," Rocky smoothed her hands over her skirt.

"Cece?" Gunther asked.

"Yes, Cece," Rocky kept a serene smile on her face. "How do you feel about her?"

"How do I ….. feel about her?" Gunther gulped.

"Yes, like what does she mean to you?" Rocky asked smoothly.

"Uh, well, um, she's, um, she's a very close friend as you know," Gunther said haltingly.

"Yes, she has been that for a while, Gunther," Rocky replied. "But what about trying to ruin her date with Jaden?"

"That was…for fun," Gunther offered.

"Okay, then what about kissing her?" Rocky asked.

"Ki..ki..kissing her," Gunther stuttered. "You two really do have no secrets from each other."

"That is correct, Gunther," Rocky stared levelly at him.

"Well, I guess I might, kind of, sort of, maybe have started liking her," Gunther cautiously answered.

"Not quite what I was looking for," Rocky tapped her fingernails on the bench as she leaned toward him, her eyes narrowed. "Do you love her?"

"Love…that's such a strong word," Gunther mumbled. "What does it insinuate in your country?"

"Gunther, don't play foreign student on me," Rocky sighed. "I know you've lived here long enough to have an idea what the word entails. So, love?"

"Rocky," Gunther had the faintest start of a blush on his cheeks. "I think I ….love her. I think I have for a long time. It's just we've been, you know, for so long. How does she feel about me?"

"If I knew Gunther, I'm not going to tell you," Rocky tapped his forehead with a manicured fingernail. "You made the first move, you will find time tonight to tell her what you feel about her, and you will graciously accept whatever decision she makes about you."

"Rocky, why are you getting involved in this?" Gunther replied.

"Because Cece is my very best friend in the whole world. She means more to me than a lot of people in this world and I will not let you hurt her or treat her in what I consider an unfair way," Rocky stood up. "If you don't mind, I have some shopping to do before tonight's little event. See you there!"

Later that evening, there was a rowdy crowd gathered around a table in Crusty's. Ty and Deuce were greeting each other with their usual ceremonies, involving fist bumping, punching, and saying dumb things to each other. Gunther joined in with the other guys as he arrived, being careful not to look at Cece; he was afraid that he would give himself away.

The pizzas were ordered and the jokes and laughter and catching up went on for the next hour and an half.

After that, everyone started drifting off. Deuce had to get home early so that he could go to work in the morning. Dina wanted to walk home with Deuce. Ty thought that was a great idea and offered to walk Tinka home and they left too.

Rocky sat with Gunther and Cece for a few moments longer and then made a very big ordeal of getting up and looking busy. "Wow! I totally forgot that I was meeting up with someone from the decorating committee tonight! Got to run! Bye!"

With that, Rocky bolted out the door and away and Gunther and Cece were left alone.

Gunther cleared his throat and stood up. "Can I walk you home?"

"Sure," Cece didn't feel entirely sure about this, but walked out of Crusty's next to Gunther.

All was silent for awhile until Gunther looked over at Cece, "Look, Cece, about that kiss..."

Cece felt a blush creep over her cheeks. "Oh," she said, softly. She couldn't manage anything else.

"Yeah," Gunther reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. He seemed nervous. "You see, for a while now, I've been thinking that I'm moving past the 'friends' stage with you. I just don't think of you like I used to. I want so much more from the two of us. I want to be...how do I put it? Well, together, I suppose. I really, really like you, probably love you."

Cece stared up into his clear blue eyes. She could see how much he was anticipating her answer. "I knew that something had changed, it's been kind of weird between us, but until...the kiss...I wasn't sure what it was."

"About that," Gunther spread his arms out. "I'm so sorry about just flying in on you like that. I'd like to do it again, kiss you I mean, but properly this time. That's why, I'd like to ease into something deeper with you. Let it come naturally this time."

"Which means?" Cece asked. She was pleased and nervous about him wanting to kiss her again.

"Let's just let this relationship take its own pace. No forcing it to stay a friendship and no forcing it too fast into unknown territory," Gunther laughed.

"That sounds good to me," Cece smiled up at him.

"Cece," Gunther leaned down a little. "The Junior Prom that Rocky and the decorating committee have been working on?"

"Yeah?" Cece felt breathless. She knew it was no dates allowed, but...

"Can you save a dance for me? It could be our first real slow dance together since our little date way back when," Gunther smiled gently.

"I'd like that a lot," Cece smiled back. "I'll save the best dance for you."

"Goodnight, Cece," Gunther leaned down and kissed her cheek, softly. As he pulled back, he pointed at her home. "We've arrived. See you soon."

Cece watched him walk away, her eyes shining. She didn't know what the future held, but she was hoping it would bring more time for her to spend with Gunther. She couldn't wait until the dance!

A/N: I've been really busy lately. So, sorry about the delay. My favorite chapter yet is next!

-CoS