"Oh, geez." Nick grinned and leaned his head back to look at the department
store light, and I felt like nuzzling myself in right there- curling my body
against his torso, my head on his chest, resting my head on my knees. I thought
about it- but instead, I pulled my legs up to my own torso and rested my head
on my knees there, leaning against the couch leg. He saw this and mimicked
me, leaning against the opposite couch leg but sprawling his legs out in front
of him so that the soles of his shoes pushed up against the tips of mine. He
grinned his little half-grin at me and I smirked back at him, "Lindsay...I've just
known her forever. She's the type that wants to know every time a guy glances
at me for half a second when I trip and fall on my face."
"He was definitely checking you out?"
"Most certainly. Everyone's always checking me out. I'm just the sweetest eye
candy in the shop."
"Sweeter even than the tootsie pops." I rolled my eyes but smiled slightly as I
spread my legs out, on a whim, between Nick's. His grinned widened and I
watched as he leaned towards my feet. I watched him untie my shoes and only
pulled my legs away when I realized that he was planning on tying my laces
together. I stuck my tongue out at him and turned, with my feet on the ground
again, leaning over to retie my shoelaces. Nick got up and squatted in front of
me, intercepting my hands and retying my shoes for me. "Thank you," I said,
only slightly sarcastically. He grinned and stood up, offering me his hand. I
took it, and as he started toward the front of the store, he didn't let go.
Nick took me to the bar again and I waited while he sang, but when he was
done it was only 2:00. We started just walking down the streets-neighborhood
sidewalks, the walk outside of the stores in town, and finally to the park. I
strolled over to the playground and climbed up the stairs, sitting at the top of
the slide and resting my head on my arms over the dome there. Nick walked
over to the slide and pulled himself onto the end of it, sitting with his legs
crossed and looking up at me. I bit my lip and after a minute I said, "It's cold out
here." He nodded a bit. Neither of us had jackets. "I used to come here," I said,
glancing over at the swings, "when I was little, with my brother. He would bring
me here sometimes after picking me up from school." Nick smiled a bit, and
then shook his head. "I didn't. But I used to want to. Sometimes." I cocked my
head, "Why didn't you?" He shrugged, "No one took me."
"Ever?" He shook his head. I bit my lip again and looked off toward the parking
lot, wondering what we were doing. We talked, and apparently we kissed, but...
I hadn't even told Lindsay anything about what was going on. Maybe because I
wasn't sure there was enough going on for me to tell. I looked back at Nick and
scrunched up his eyes and asked, "How's the weather up there?" I grinned, "A
little on the chilly side." He grinned his half-grin back and said in an accent I
couldn't identify, "Come on down, the weather's nice." I grinned but did nothing,
so he pulled on my shoe and I slipped down, collapsing into him. When I stopped
laughing I looked up at him with a huge grin and saw his eyes fixed on my face. I
interrupted my incoming smile by biting my tongue and head-butted him. He
gasped and cracked up, and I squirmed with giggles as he buried my head in a
noogie. I laughed in protest and tried to push myself away against his chest, but I
gave up eventually and let my hands fall limp, and he kept me in that position for
another minute before moving his arm to rest on my back, tugging slightly on
strands of my hair. He smelled like shaving cream and Tootsie pops, and I
breathed him in before leaning away from him and lying on my back on the slide.
He remained in a sitting position and after a moment of silence I said, "Tell me
your middle name."
"What?"
"Your middle name. What is it?"
"What's yours?" I paused for only a second before replying, "Marie." I heard his
grin in his voice as he said, "Remi Marie. That rolls off the tongue quite nicely."
I laughed and kicked him lightly, "Ok. Your turn."
"Paul."
"Nick Paul." I thought about it for a moment, and then said nothing. Nick grinned
at me, "I know. Doesn't roll quite so nicely." I laughed and shrugged, "I don't know,
I kinda like it. Are you named after anyone?" He cleared his throat, "Um, my first
name no, but, my middle name, yea." I sat up on my elbows and said, "Yea? Yea as in
who?" He grinned, "Paul."
"Thank you for that. Paul who?"
"Paul Apostle. Paul the Apostle." He cleared his throat, "Apostle Paul." I rose my
eyebrows, "As in the one in the bible?"
"That's the one."
"Yea?"
"Yup." I lay back down on my back and looked at the bright stars, "Huh." I grinned
leaned up on my elbows again, "Paul the Apostle Angel." He gave me a half-grin and I
added, "Or otherwise, Nick." He grinned and looked away, and then stood up. "I
should probably take you home now."
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