Three weeks after the number exchange Moose and Cam would text at all hours and both of them were developing a good friendship. Moose could feel how he was moving from thin ice to a more stable relationship with Cam so he started to be more open about his flirting.
In this time, he had only seen her two times since both of them were in the middle of exams and Cam was busy getting everything ready to joined a kindergarten near his house, she didn't know that though, as an assistant. In the last week, she barely texted Moose back and she could read his worry about it which make her feel a little excited about how the boy would ask her if she was mad or has anything happened to her. On the last day of the third week without seeing each other she had finally managed to get some time to sleep when her phone rang making her groan.
She tossed and turned hoping that it would stop ringing so she could get back to sleep finally it happened, Cam happily sighed and closed her eyes willing herself back to sleep when it started ringing again. This time, she groan aloud and put the pillow over her face muffling the scream fill with pure frustration of not being able to rest. That was it she was going to pick that phone up and throw it out the window because there was no scenario where she would welcome any interruption to her sleep.
Tossing the pillow to the side, she stood up and walked to her desk where she had left the phone before going to bed but when she picked it up the face of a smiling Moose greet her and she sighed. Without even think it twice she found herself smiling at the screen and answering the phone and when his voice filled the silence of her room she instinctive bite her lip trying not to smile at how giddy she felt.
Moose apologized for calling her so late and Cam turned to her night table and saw the watch marking three in the morning but told him that it was all right, she noticed how nervous he seemed although he was trying to keep the conversation light. He started by asking her about her day and then as smooth as he could, which wasn't smooth at all, Moose asked Cam why she didn't respond to her messages from that night.
Cam then notice that she had a lot of missed texts and she remember that she had at some point put her phone on silence when she was at the library. However, now she was confused as to why it rang when he call her and so Cam told him that and he nervously laughed. Moose then explained to her that the last time they saw each other, he had put his name in the list of contacts that would always ring even if she had put it on silence but he assured her that he was very careful not to call her on hours he knew she was busy.
Ok, that was getting weird and if any other person especially a guy that she was considered to date did that she would have tell him off already and end it right there but she couldn't be mad at Moose he was just too lovable. Cam walked back to her bed ready to lay down again while Moose kept tip-toeing around the fact that the amount of text they send to each other had definitely diminished on the last few days. Again this kind of behavior would have cost any other guy her chance with Cam but she couldn't be mad at him it was a proven fact that no matter how annoying he behave she would always be ready to move on from it.
The horn of a car could be heard outside her window and from her phone and Cam smile while walking to her window and opening, sitting on the stairs just outside her building she saw Moose covering his cell trying to muffle the sound. She ignored the horn and walked towards her door and while telling him to come up she buzz him in and leaving the door to her apartment open she then went to her room and change wondering what was taking him so long.
After a couple of minutes, Cam saw Moose's head picking into her apartment and a big smile appearing on his face the moment his eyes land on her which she was sure mimic her own. Without a moment hesitation, he pushed the door wide open and with three long steps, he was in front of her making Cam blush with the way he was looking at her.
"I've missed you." Finishing the statement he engulfed her in a hug and for a moment, the thought that this seemed so right invaded not only her mind but all her senses and Cam reciprocated it with the hope that he share her feelings. For the longest time, they stood there hugging each other and a couple of times she could've swear that he was smelling her hair wich wouldn't bother her because she was trying to carve in her memory his scent too.
The voice of a neighbor coming from the door startled them. "Sorry to interrupted Cam. I saw the door open and I was worry that something happened to you."
Moose reluctantly let go of her and relish on the feeling of seeing her blush, once he turned he saw the owner of the voice a good looking tall guy with tan skin, no shirt, no shoes that was standing there in sweats looking at them. For an odd reason, he always thought Cam's building was filled with older non-attractive people but this guy didn't look older than 28 and he was definitely not ugly and now he found himself wondering if maybe this guy had something to do with the fact that she wasn't texting him as much lately.
"Is ok Chase, thank you for checking up on me. Come in, let me introduce you to Moose, he came to visit that's why the door was open." Cam had walked toward Chase she took his hand making him stand in front of Moose giving both guys the chance to sizes each other up. Both of them were tall but Chase was definitely more build and Moose started wishing that he spent more time at the gym with Shawn and maybe he should start thinking about eating more proteins or carbs or whatever the other guy was eating.
Chase seemed nice enough he introduce himself as a close friend of Cam but Moose was so lost in his thoughts that he missed the playful way he said it and how Cam rolled her eyes at him, he also missed the way she was slightly moving her head towards the door making Chase laugh. Moose tune in again when Chase excused himself and asked Cam to walked him out so she could lock the door but when they arrived at the door Chase dragged Cam out and Moose really hope he imagined things.
If he had actually moved to see what was going on, he would have hear Chase asked Cam if Moose was the guy she kept bringing up when she would come to his and his fiance apartment each night to eat. Chase was Ty's best friend since forever and when Ty moved out of the city he promised to stayed close to Cam and always take care of her, for him, Cam was also his little sister and he had always made sure that no one hurt her. That's why when he heard someone being buzz into the building while he exercised he naturally became very aware of any noises coming from Cam's apartment and when the door open but never close he wait a moment before going to see what was going on.
After telling Cam to be careful, he went back to his apartment itching to share the news with Andie both of them often talked about how Cam needed a good guy in her life and the way Cam would talk about Moose made them realize that she really like this guy so they both hope that he would be good to her.
Cam enter her apartment again rolling her eyes at how childish Chase was sometimes, he and Ty would always act like kids when they were together but she was sure that her brother wouldn't take so lightly that a boy was alone with her at her apartment at this hour. She closed the door behind her and saw Moose lost in his thoughts so she cleared her throat to get his attention.
"Do you want to sit down?" she motioned him to her couch and sat down waiting for him to take the space next to her but she saw how reluctantly he was moving towards her and when he finally got to the couch he sat on the other side. What could have possibly happened in the last minute to make him change so drastically towards her and then the memory of the way he changed his attitude toward Kirsten came to her mind with force.
When the both of them stayed quiet for a while, she wished that Moose would just leave so she could go back to her bed. Cam was well aware that she wasn't going to be able to go back to her original plan of sleeping but she rather be alone that feel this uncomfortable in her own home. Another minute pass and Cam turned ready to tell him to go away but he turned at the same time making her stop. "Do you have or had anything with Chase?"
Cam couldn't help herself and burst into laughter not been able to stop for a long time, for her it was like someone had told her if she was in a relationship with Ty. When she finally calmed down, Moose seemed offended by her response so she just explained that Chase and his fiance were very good friends of her and that made the boy smile. The next second he was sitting closer to her and she chuckle when he yawned and put his arm around her in a cheesy classic move she wanted to laugh out loud but instead, she just leaned into him.
The comfortable silence made her sleepy, Moose's embrace made her warm and his heartbeat lulled her and without even noticing it she felt asleep. She woke hours later and noticed that he had laid her on the couch and even put the blanket the usually was at the back of it over her, Cam sighed and started to sit when the door opened and Moose appeared followed by Andie.
"Hey, you are awake. I went to get us something to eat so we could have some breakfast." Moose went into the little kitchen area and Andie run to sit next to Cam and started to whisper how he had been knocking on every door on the floor until he found theirs. They were only two apartments apart but Moose had gone the other way around so pretty much every neighbor on the floor now knew Moose, which in this place meant that every person in the building also knew about him by now.
Andie excused herself and Moose reappeared from the kitchen putting the plates over the table and sat next to her. "I wasn't sure what you like to eat so I just brought pancakes and orange juice and maple syrup. I also have some fruit."
The amount of food in front of her was impressive and for a second she wonder if he had only buy food for them or he was planning to invite more people. Maybe he thought that Chase and Andie could join them for their breakfast but when they started to eat she notice that for a skinny guy he could eat his weight in food, also he talked while he ate but still he was cute enough to let it go.
"Oh, I also brought you these. I remembered you telling me that you like having little snacks in your room but you always worry about ants, so I saw this and I thought of you. Is called Skip Hop Zoo Snack Cup I ordered it from Amazon I hope you like it". Then he produced the cutest little snack container Cam had ever seen on the lit it had the drawing of bee and she love it.
He also gave her one that had two colors but no drawing so she could take that one around, there way design for kids but he had done some research about them and they were the best option from carrying small snacks. For the first time, Cam noticed that he had his backpack with him and she asked it about it. "Oh well, I went home. First, I was just going to pick up food but I remember that I only had my train card with me so I went back to get some money and then I remember about your gifts so I decided to bring them."
"Oh well, thanks, this are very thoughtful and I really love them. Please let me paid you for the food it's not fair that you have to pay for everything especially when you are giving me gifts." Cam tried to stand so she could get her wallet but Moose took her hand making her sit again but this time, the space between them disappeared.
"Hey, I bought you the gifts because I wanted to. You know I really missed you and getting you this thing helped me pass the time between the calls." Moose looked into her eyes and she felt how he interwind his fingers with hers, he slowly raised one of her hands and gave it a kiss and then the other and she felt goosebumps raise on her skin. If the feeling of him kissing her hand had such impact on her, she couldn't imagine how amazing would it be to share a proper kiss.
Moose saw the way Cam was looking at him and he decided that this was his chance to take a step forward. Was he scare that maybe he was misreading her reaction to him kissing her hand? Yes. But to have Cam so near after weeks of not seeing her was the final piece in the puzzle of how he felt about her and what relationship he wanted with her. He was one hundred percent sure that he wanted to be with her, Moose wanted to be able to kiss her and hug her and hold her each time he'd saw her.
As slowly as possible he leaned into Cam searching for any signal on her face that would show him that he was making her uncomfortable but to his joy, her eyes close and then their lips met and he fought a moan that threatened to escape him. It took all his willpower not to deepen the kiss because the feeling of Cam kissing him back made his mind fuzzy and the rest of him hot, his hands made their way to her face holding it in place but suddenly Moose couldn't just keep them there.
They went to her waist bringing her yet closer to him and his thumbs found a gap where her top had raised leaving a little skin free for him to make tiny circles and for a second there he could hear a moan a soundless one, he felt it more than hear it honestly but that made his day. Since the night before things had been going better that he had expected and to think that everything started because he was paranoid.
Last week he had been texting Cam as often as always but her response came every once in a while, he was well aware that she was busy but still the thought that the guy from the coffee shop or any other guy could be getting closer to her frighten him. The more he got to know he was more baffle as to why Cam was still single, if he weren't such an idiot he would have notice how amazing she was and would have been trying to get with her since the beginning. The only reason the entire Kirsten situation wasn't a regret was because of her he met Cam.
So last night he texted her a lot but she didn't text him back so his insecurities win over him and without even knowing he found himself going to her building and sitting outside calling her again and again until she picked up. The second she said hello he just knew he had woken her up and felt bad about it but to finally be able to hear her voice gave him so much joy that he let it slight. Moose try to smoothly ask her why she wasn't picking up and when Cam explained the reason and also told him how confuse she was that her phone had ringed he knew he needed to come clean.
Again he was lucky enough that she let slay the fact that he had changed her settings, things like this made him think that she like him. A car came honking and Cam discovered him, after that she invited him in making him wish that he had put more effort in his outfit. Moose wonder into her building and then remember that he didn't know what apartment she live in so he went up walking every floor trying to see if Cam was waiting for him. On the third floor, he noticed a door a little open so he decided to pick in and then he saw her and his body acted on impulse and he hug her trying to convey all his feelings for her in it.
After he met Chase and felt asleep, he woke up a little-disoriented and then when he felt Cam over his chest happiness invaded him. He knew this was an opportunity to make something special for her after three weeks he couldn't believe they hadn't had a first date so he was going to win her over so they could have their first date soon. He gently stood up and arrange Cam on the couch then got out of the apartment without closing the door completely, he would just go around the corner to pick something up. Moose check his pocket for his wallet and then remember leaving it behind, he cursed his luck.
Moose went on to knock on every apartment until he found Andie, Chase's fiance, and told her his plan to go buy some food. The girl agreed to open the door for him and so he went back to Cam's and after giving her, a quick kiss on the cheek Moose closed the door and went on his way. First stop was his apartment where he showered and decided not to change because he hoped to arrive at Cam before she was awake and didn't want her to notice the change. Before leaving his apartment, he went to open two of the dozens of packages he had bought for Cam over the internet in the past few weeks. Then he went to his favorite dinner and order breakfast for them he order a little extra because when he was excited, he ate more than usual.
Once back at the building he rang Andie and she helped him to Cam's apartment where she was already awake, he went into the kitchen and got everything ready and now here they were kissing on her couch. Cam started to gently push him away and he was back completely in the moment wondering if he had made her uncomfortable. Before he could even ask Cam signal his phone and smile shyly at him "Your phone is ringing."
He took the call and it was one his professor wondering where he was because he was 10 minutes late for an appointment so he said goodbye to Cam promising her to call her later and while running to the train he couldn't contain the goofy smile on his face.
Notes
Thanks for reading!. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll let you decide if this should count as their first date or no. What do you think?