"But they never knew what school you go to," Connor explained to the girl sitting across him, "so they sent a bug bracelet addressed at Gisela to every school in town."

"Great," Gisela set her glass down and made a face, setting an elbow on the table so she could lean her forehead into her palm in exasperation.

"I'm sorry about that umm-" Said Connor somewhat awkwardly as he flickered off a few gestures with his hands.

"Kiss?" Gisela finished for him goodheartedly with a perfect smile stretched across her lips, though it was tight-lipped and as every bit of feeble as Connor's attempt to apologize, "Don't worry about it."

Gisela averted her gaze as soon as she finished her sentence, examining her nails and toying with her fork absently.

"Listen, about the way I reacted to the rumor-"

"It's okay, really," Gisela interrupted with a tone that was intended to be reassuring, "You were embarrassed, I get it. High school rumor mill is brutal."

"No," Connor replied, "Just let me finish. The reason I acted the way I did wasn't that I was embarrassed. It was because it wasn't just a rumor."

The fork hit the table with a loud clutter. Gisela's eyes were wide, maybe wider than physically possible. Her eyebrows shot so high that they were joined with her hairline. Her mouth was hanging open, forming a perfect "O" shape that would have looked hilarious to a random onlooker. Her jaw was on the floor, right next to any shred of dignity Connor had left. A pure expression of astonishment crossed her face. Connor had seen Gisela look many things before, mostly bossy or annoyed, but never stunned.

"Oh" was all that came out of her mouth after an extremely awkward and uncomfortable silence had descended over the pair.

"When we were hiding in the alley, the Diaz brothers had Ed, and we were cornered, and all I could think about was that if something was going to happen to either of us, I had to kiss you at least once," Connor confessed, his eyes were burning and locked onto Gisela's.

The weight of his admission and the heat of his gaze was overwhelming.

"But what about Tanya?"

"She's great, but she's not you."

"How-How long have you-"

"Felt like this?"

Gisela nodded.

"The day your father offered me to go to Cordoba and train to become a spy, I realized that I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you, not even for what I've always wanted. That's when I knew."

"Wow," Gisela replied, surprise was evident in her voice, "that's a lot to take in. All this time you- if you wanted us to be more than friends then why didn't you say something?"

"Because you could never be with me. You are Gisela Calicos. You are beautiful, smart, independent. I'm nobody. I'm just a wannabe."

"That's not true. You are so much more than that. You are my best friend."

"You are my best friend too, but you don't feel the same way, do you?"

Gisela was silent.

"It's okay," Connor said, "I get it. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me Gisela, and I have never been happier than I was in the last few months I spent you, but after what happened today, knowing how much danger we live it, I can't just pretend I don't feel these things anymore."

"I-" Gisela opened her mouth, only to close it. Her lips parted again, but nothing would come out.

"I'll see you at home," Connor gave her a forced smile before getting up and spinning his heels around.

"Connor-" Gisela called out, but he didn't stop.

Bang.

"Connor?"

Another bang.

"Connor? Open up."

Two more bangs.

"I know you are in there."

Silence.

"Come on, let me in."

Connor knew he was being ridiculous. Totally unprofessional and certainly irresponsible, like a fifteen-year-old struck by the full force of teen angst, which he supposed was true.

But he had a good explanation.

After the very awkward conversation with Gisela, Connor had been putting his secret service training in action, i.e. avoiding Gisela with some mad ninja moves while discretely making sure she was safe with his surveillance gear.

Then Ed was gone. Their mentor, guardian, trusted friend was going rogue to uncover the identity of Azul's mole in the Cordoban government. All this time, they always knew that Ed would have their back, no matter what kind of mess they got themselves into. But they were truly on their own now, while the enemy was getting closer and more dangerous than ever.

Could he do this on his own? Protecting Ed's secret and keeping Gisela safe while dealing with new threats and trying to apprehend Azul. Connor generally considered himself a fairly optimistic person, but he had to admit his mission sounded daunting.

The combined fallout from kissing Gisela, confessing the feelings he had harbored for so long and Ed leaving led to Connor locking himself up in his spy nest, staring at a computer screen and brooding through teen angst, while Gisela yelled at him from his room and demanded to be led in.

Gisela Calicos was many things, but if Connor had to describe her with one word, it was definitely stubborn. Unfortunately for her, it was the exact same word Connor would describe himself with, even though he usually preferred persistent. Connor knew that eventually he would have to face Gisela and deal with the impact his little bombshell doubtlessly had on their relationship, but he was determined to keep Operation Avoiding Gisela going as long as he could.

"Fine."

That got Connor's attention. Gisela Calicos doesn't give up. Ever. She always gets what she wants one way or another. And Connor recognized that dangerously annoyed tone as a warning that she was about to do something radical and reckless. In fact, Connor wouldn't put it past a determined Gisela Calicos to blow the door open with explosives. The more he thought about it, the more Connor wished he had the foresight to build an explosive-proof when he set the place up. Then again, his life wasn't nearly as complicated before Gisela barged in and acted like she owned it. Connor supposed she did, in some sense at least.

His phone buzzed. Connor flipped open the screen and saw he had a new Facebook notification.

Gisela tagged you in a photo.

Connor frowned.

This cannot be good.

Connor clicked it, only to find himself staring at the picture of him and Gisela kissing in the alley. The caption read: To new beginnings.

Connor was so shocked that he almost dropped his phone. His notification feed exploded as comments started piling up.

Tanya: I knew it!

Whynot: OMG I'm writing a song for you guys.

Lily: CONNELA IS REAL MY SHIP HAS SAILED YES!

Ty: Great now I owe Lily ten bucks. P.S. I totally ship you guys.

Connor slammed the screen back shut in horror.

"Are you going to let me in now?"

Dumbstruck, Connor got off his chair and unlocked the hatch door without a word in protest as Gisela poked her smug face into the room.

"Wha-Why did you do that?" Connor stuttered, his brain still too busy trying to recover from the existential shock he just received to form coherent thoughts.

"Well," Gisela shrugged like the royalty she was, "You wouldn't talk to me, or pick up my calls, or return my texts. I had to get your attention somehow."

"You sure have it now."

"Those feelings you say you have for me, you are not alone in them."

"Wha- You mean-" Connor asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes," Gisela answered, her tone was so firm that it left no room for doubt.

"How?"

"I guess I always had feelings for you too. It's just that I never thought of us as anything other than friends. But after you told me you had feelings for me, I did a lot of thinking, and I realized that my feelings for you went beyond platonic as well, I just didn't know it."

"Wow," Connor said, "What about Andre?"

"We broke up," Gisela smiled, "Andre and I have a lot in common, and when I'm with him, I feel like I have my old life back. But he's not you."

"So," Connor said, and somehow, they were standing toe to toe, face to face without either of them realizing it. They were close, so close that Connor could count how many eyelashes Gisela had, not that he was doing it. The air between them was hot and thick, and the warmth of Gisela's breathe tickled Connor's face, "Where does that leave us?"

"Aren't you supposed to have all the answers from your spy movies?"

"Gi?"

"Huh?"

"What's Connela?"

"No idea."

Kissing Gisela was explosive, like fireworks. Kissing Gisela was sweet, like honey. Kissing Gisela was intense, like a whirlwind. Kissing Gisela was delicate, like a slow dance. Kissing Gisela was everything Connor could have hoped for. Kissing Gisela was so much more.

The journey in front of them was long and hard, and neither of them knew what was going to happen. All they knew, was that they would be together until the end, and that was the only thing that mattered.

I was thinking about you

thinking about me

thinking about us

what we gonna be

open my eyes

it was only just a dream

travel back

down that road

will you come back

no one knows

I realize

it was only just a dream