The Pizza Boy

AN: Welcome to my first ever one-shot and just for readers of my other stories The Life You Deserve, Part of Your World and Happier With You; this is completely standalone.

So, since I saw the trailer for Dog Days this little idea has been playing in my mind and I wanted to get it out there before Dog Days premieres.

I hope you enjoy this! :-)

"Max I'm home!" El called out the moment she walked into the apartment that she shared with her best friend. They were juniors in college and found it cheaper to live together and split the bills over the extortionate price of living on campus.

"I'm in the living room!" Max called back in response whilst El shook her jacket off and hooked it onto the coat stand. She yawned, throwing her bag by the door and kicked off her shoes.

"How was work?" Max asked, her voice louder as El walked towards the living room. The sound of the television started to prick her ears and El smiled knowing that Max was watching The Notebook despite her protests that she hated that film.

"Work was work. You know what it's like, once you've served one coffee you've – "

El stopped abruptly as Max came into view. Her red headed best friend was slung across the couch in denim shorts and a baggy sweater, her hair plaited to the side in a French braid. But it wasn't Max's appearance that stunned El. It was the thing stirring on her chest.

"Max…what is that?"

Max looked up at El and grinned, stroking the creature that popped its head up to see where the new voice had come from.

"That is a pug, he to be exact. His name is Gizmo, he's my grandma's dog." Max said snorting in amusement at El's reaction to the dog who was now wagging his short tail and had jumped down from his comfy position to greet a surprised El.

She bent down and stroked the small dog, grinning at Gizmo's big bulging black eyes and sandy coat. "He's actually really cute," El couldn't help but admit as she took in his squished face and scratched behind his ear.

"Well I'm glad you think he's cute because we're dog sitting him this weekend." Max said before yawning and snuggling further into the couch cushions.

El rolled her eyes in fake annoyance at the fact that Max hadn't even thought to mention that Gizmo was coming to stay. "What if I had plans?" She said to her best friend before sitting more comfortably on the floor whilst Gizmo jumped onto her lap.

Max scoffed, "oh please! Your only plans are with me and you know it." She teased making El huff in embarrassment because she was totally right. It wasn't like she would have some hot date or something.

El had given up on dating a year ago, losing faith in all men after several dates when the guy only seemed interested in getting into her pants. Not that she had let them of course.

"So what's for dinner?" El asked changing the subject from her lack of a social life. It was a universal understanding between Max and El that when one of them was working, the other one handled dinner.

Max shrugged and looked at the television screen lazily. "I was thinking we could just order pizza and have a girly night on the couch with Gizmo."

El grinned and stroked the little pug. "Sounds good to me. Do you want your usual?"

Max nodded, "yes the deluxe please." Whilst the red head was more adventurous with her pizza toppings El was just a regular cheese pizza kind of girl. She had lost count of the amount of times Max had complained that she needed to stop being boring and order a damn topping. Did extra cheese count?

Whilst Max took Gizmo out for a quick walk, El took the menu off the fridge for Casa Bianco Pizza Pie and grabbed her cell phone, tapping the touch screen and quickly dialling the number.

"Thanks for ringing Casa Bianco Pizza Pie, this is Lucas, how can I help you?" Came a bored voice.

"Hi, I'd like to place an order for delivery?"

"Fire away," Lucas answered sarcastically making El want to laugh. She could hear the sound of glasses clinking in the background, the steady noise of murmured voices and a loud exclamation of "shit, shit, shit I burnt the crust!"

"Shut up Dustin" Lucas hushed through gritted teeth before clearing his throat. "Sorry about that, what can I get you?"

El put in her order and provided Lucas with her address. He mumbled that it should be about 30-40 minutes and El thanked him, putting her phone on the side before heading to her bedroom to get out of her barista uniform.

She changed into sleep shorts, a white tank top and pulled her wild curls into a messy top bun. Finally feeling relaxed and comfortable El sauntered into the living room and flung herself onto the couch.

Max came back 10 minutes later with an excitable Gizmo, both of them joining El on the sofa, laughing and kicking each other for equal space to stretch their legs out whilst the happy pug settled in the middle on top of their tangled legs.

El sighed longingly as they watched Rachel Mcadams and Ryan Gosling kissing passionately in the rain. "I want what they have," she whined making Max snort.

"You want to find the love of your life and then be separated for years, get engaged to someone else and then finally get back together?"

El rolled her eyes and smirked at Max, "no you wastoid." She exhaled deeply and rolled her shoulders back to get cosier against the couch cushions. "I just mean, finding that person that you have this instant connection with. Someone that you love with every part of your being. Someone you would do anything to be with because they make you the person you were always meant to be."

Max raised her eyebrows and smiled, "woah that was deep." The girls were quiet for a moment, too immersed with Ryan Gosling hoisting Rachel Mcadams up as they kissed passionately before making love.

"But remember, this is a film." Max finally pointed out after the steamy scene. "Everything you just explained is from a movie that isn't real."

"I guess," El muttered, her eyes still on the screen when there was a gentle knock at the front door. She blinked and smiled at Max, "that'll be the pizza!"

"Take my wallet," Max said before leaning forward and pulling Gizmo onto her lap.

"Why aren't you getting the door?" El teased as she extracted herself from the couch.

"Because I'm busy with Gizmo, I can't help it if he just curled up here." Max said playfully making El chuckle as she grabbed the wallet and hurried to the front door.

"Pause the film!" El called to Max as she turned the door handle. "I'm not missing another moment of this epic love sto – "

Every single atom in El's body froze as she opened the door and forgot how to speak, move or even breathe for a moment. The pizza boy had arrived but oh man he wasn't a boy, he was a man. A beautiful man.

Every love song El had ever known seemed to play in her mind as she stared at the man and he stared back.

He was tall, with dark floppy hair that almost fell into his eyes and curled at the ends. His pale skin was so clear he looked ethereal and his straight nose and high cheek bones were splattered with golden freckles that looked like stars. His lips were almost red in comparison to his stark white skin and El felt the desperate need to kiss them. And his eyes, oh god his eyes were such a dark amber that they were almost black, but they seemed to sparkle like the night sky as he looked into El's eyes.

Her heart seemed to be re-born in that moment, beating erratically as a million butterflies exploded in a burst of colour into her stomach.

El didn't know how long she stood there staring at this man who was looking back at her, his eyes dancing over her face whilst her cheeks blushed. Finally she felt some air being squeezed back into her lungs and she gasped breathlessly.

"C-Can I help you?" she choked, her mouth still slightly open in awe. She wasn't even sure if she had blinked yet.

He cleared his throat and his eyes went down to something he was holding. El followed his glance and then cringed in embarrassment, oh shit yeah, the pizzas!

"Oh," El laughed awkwardly, shuffling from one foot to the other. "The pizzas…right…"

"Y-Yeah pizza…" The man croaked, a sheepish smile lifting up his pretty lips. El was mesmerised staring at them, his voice also sending a fluttering sensation through her heart.

There was a little yap bringing El out of her daze and she blinked in time to see Gizmo running eagerly towards the handsome man.

Before she could stop the pug, he was sniffing around the man's pants leg and then within a second had leaned up on his little legs and started to hump the poor pizza boy's leg.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" El gasped as she bent down to extract Gizmo whilst the man nervously laughed and tried to shake the dog off. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," the man chuckled whilst El grabbed Gizmo and held him under her arm. He smiled shyly and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "I guess it means he likes me?"

"He's probably attracted to you," El blurted out, her cheeks burning as she realised how much she was attracted to him.

"You think?" The pizza boy asked playfully, a lopsided grin on his pretty face.

El felt like she had the wind knocked out of her as she stared into his eyes, feeling drawn in by him in a way she had never experienced before. "Y-Yeah he's got good taste…"

"El where are these pizzas?" Max moaned, trudging down the hallway and stopping when she noticed the way El and the pizza boy were staring at each other. She smirked and cleared her throat so that they both blinked bewildered and turned to her, with matching blushes.

"Um yeah, that's $21 please." The man said coughing awkwardly as he pushed the pizzas towards El.

She felt equally flustered and opened Max's wallet, taking out $30 and handing the bills over with a coy smile. "Keep the change," El said breathlessly as she exchanged the cash for the two pizza boxes and ignored Max's grunt of indignation over the decent tip coming out of her money.

The pizza boy looked down at the dollars in surprise, "really? Wow thanks." His gaze landed back on El's eyes and they both smiled at each other foolishly whilst he started to walk backwards from the door.

"Um e-enjoy your pizza." He called sheepishly.

El leaned against the door, poor Gizmo still stuck under one arm whilst she clutched the boxs in the other hand. "Thank you," she replied grinning before blushing for the millionth time. "And sorry about Gizmo humping you."

The man laughed, "it's okay." They stared at each other for a little while longer before the pizza boy gave her a small wave and headed down the hallway, looking back to smile before disappearing around the corner.

El gasping for breath shoved the pizza boxes into Max's waiting arms and then closed the front door, immediately pressing her back against it and closing her eyes.

"What the hell was that?!" Max asked snorting with laughter.

El moaned and kept her eyes closed whilst the image of the handsome man flashed before her mind. "I'm in love with the pizza boy…"

Max grinned, "yeah I could see that. I'm surprised you didn't offer to hump him from the way you were smiling and batting your eyelashes!"

"Oh please," El huffed, opening her eyes and finally letting a deflated Gizmo down. "I don't even know his name," she said stiffly before grabbing her pizza box from Max and heading back to the couch.

"His name is Mike," Max called casually from behind El as she followed her into the living room.

"How do you know his name?" El asked suspiciously as she got comfy on the couch with her pizza.

Max snorted, "because of the shitty little name tag that said Mike."

"Oh," El squeaked before clearing her throat and trying to ignore the blotchy red blush creeping up her cheeks. "I didn't see it. I was – "

"Too busy staring into his eyes?"

"Yes…" El whined in defeat hiding her red face in the couch cushion whilst Max cackled with laughter.

The red head un-paused the film and settled down next to El who was still hiding her embarrassed face. Max opened her pizza box and frowned. "Do you have my pizza? This is just a plain cheese."

El lifted her head from the cushion despite her heated cheeks and opened her pizza box lid lazily to find that she also had a plain cheese. When she heard Max groan in annoyance she quickly said, "I did order you a deluxe I swear!"

Max huffed and closed the pizza box, putting it down roughly on the coffee table before reaching for her phone. She found the number and then called the restaurant.

El watched as Max spoke with Lucas, telling him that someone fucked up and that they had two plain cheese pizzas instead of her deluxe pizza.

"Tell me about it!" Max said in exasperation. "Who orders a plain cheese? It's totally boring." El rolled her eyes, half annoyed at her friend calling her boring but also curious at how well Max was getting on with Lucas.

"Oh, your friend Mike likes plain cheese?" Max said feigning mock innocence whilst winking at a bright red El. "That's very interesting…"

"And tell me Lucas, is this the same Mike who delivered the pizzas?" Max asked whilst smirking mischievously at El who was glaring back at her whilst Gizmo sat nudging the pizza box on the coffee table.

"And what's his story? Pervert? Murderer? Single?" Max was drilling Lucas for all the content whilst El tried to grab the phone off her in embarrassment, but her best friend was too strong and managed to get El lying down on the couch on her stomach whilst Max sat on her legs without even having broken a sweat.

Max laughed, "oh no, he's not my type." El huffed from her position on the couch and listened as her best friend flirted with Lucas. Before long she was giggling and acting all coy, making El roll her eyes.

"Perfect it's a date. I'll see you Saturday night at 8." Max reiterated. She giggled again and grinned like a Cheshire cat, "okay Lucas, see you then. Bye."

El whined, "how do you make it look so easy to get a date?"

Max hopped off El's legs, freeing the brunette who rubbed at her sore calves and tucked them under her body.

The red head grinned and handed El back her pizza box. "It's easy once you know they're interested too." She admitted stealing a slice of the cheese pizza. "And trust me, from the way he was staring at you, that Mike is definitely into you. Oh, and he's not a pervert or a murderer, and he's single. And straight too." Max said wisely smirking at El who was picking at her pizza nervously.

"So…um, is he coming back with another pizza?" El asked sheepishly. She couldn't keep the nerves out of her voice and wanted to kick herself for being so ridiculous.

"He sure is," Max grinned knowingly before taking another bite out of her slice. Her blue eyes appraised El for a moment. "So, we best get you ready."

She frowned, her hand stopping before grabbing another piece of pizza. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously, her hazel eyes narrowing with uncertainty.

"El I love you, but you look like a slob right now. Have you seen your hair?!"

El opened her mouth and furrowed her brow in offence as she reached up and patted her crazy curls. "What's wrong with my hair?!"

"It looks like a bird's nest," Max snorted before narrowly avoiding a punch to her shoulder which only made her chuckle in amusement.

Max closed the pizza box and got up from the couch holding out her hand for El, "come on queen let's get you ready."

El sighed but begrudgingly took Max's hand, allowing her to heave her off the couch. Gizmo followed the girls, racing around their feet as they walked into El's bedroom.

She walked over to her full-length mirror whilst Max started rummaging in her dresser. When El caught sight of her hair she couldn't help but flinch. Okay maybe Max was right…

Her best friend had been kind with the description of a bird's nest because El thought it more closely resembled a rat's nest. She groaned and unravelled her hair ties, letting her thick curls fall free before grabbing her brush.

"Right wear this," Max said chucking an item of clothing at El who leaned down to pick it up from the floor after it bounced off her chest.

El frowned and hooked a finger through the lace strap, showing it to her best friend in confusion. "A bra? Max I'm already wearing a bra."

"Yeah well that's a push up bra," Max said wiggling her eyebrows whilst El rolled her eyes. "It'll make the ladies look even better," she explained further before pulling out a few dresses.

El couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's antics. "Max! I just saw him dressed like this," She sighed impatiently, gesturing to her tank top and sleep shorts. "I can't wear something else, wouldn't that be too obvious?"

Max shrugged, "he's a guy. He probably wasn't paying attention to what you were wearing…" She sorted through a few dresses before smirking and holding up a black body con dress. "Yes! Wear this!"

El scoffed, "absolutely not." The black body con dress had been an impulse buy, but the moment she had seen how much it showed off her body, especially her boobs and her ass, she wasn't so keen on it anymore.

"Oh, come on!" Max whined. "You'll look amazing I promise." She smiled sweetly at El, breaking down her walls. "We're running out of time, and you want to look nice right?"

El sighed and grabbed the dress, "fine," she huffed whilst Max cheered in triumph. She put the push up bra on as requested and with her best friend's help managed to pull the dress on, cursing under her breath as she tried to shift the tight material over her body.

Max stepped back from El and beamed, "you look hot! If I was into girls I totally would." Gizmo seemed to bark in agreement and wag his tail making El snort.

"Right make up," Max said promptly as she clapped her hands together.

El shook her head and crossed her arms resolutely, "nope sorry. But this is more than enough." She was determined that this was ridiculous and way too much, but somehow found herself hastily putting on some mascara and lip gloss when Max left the room with a scurrying Gizmo at her heel.

There was a gentle knock at the door, just the same as before and El choked, feeling her heart frantically pound and her palms sweat. "Shit," she whimpered to herself as she slowly left the bedroom and walked towards the front door.

"Give him your number!" Max called, popping her head around the door whilst holding Gizmo. El groaned already knowing that her best friend was going to be listening in.

She took a deep breath and checked her dress was suitable, well as suitable as a short body con dress can be before pushing up her bra one more time and opening the front door.

"I'm so sor – " The apology that Mike was trying to get out seemed to die on his tongue as his expression faltered from one of embarrassment to one of awe. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped as he took in El's appearance.

She however felt uncomfortable and stupid. Surely, he was wondering why the hell she had changed? El gripped onto the door, needing something to keep her up as she stared at the love of her life once more. She felt like crying because he was so damn perfect.

Mike finally blinked and took a breath, averting his eyes to the pizza box he was holding. "That's um a really nice dress, I mean you look really pretty…" He choked out whilst El tried desperately to hide her pleased grin.

"Are you, uh, going on a date?" Mike asked, his eyes lifting back up to meet El's.

She blushed and felt practically ready to just hand him over her heart. "No," she said quickly, trying to clear her dry throat and shaking her head for good measure. "I was just dressing up," she said before laughing like an idiot, whilst inside she grimaced.

"Oh…okay," Mike said smiling sheepishly.

There was an awkward silence whilst they both stared at each other. El's grip on the door tightened and she could barely think straight with the butterflies fluttering madly in her stomach and her pulse pounding in her ears.

"I don't have a boyfriend!" she blurted out before her eyes widened in horror at letting her mouth run wild. Shit.

Mike blushed, his eyes flicking to the floor whilst he bit his lower lip, El was watching his mouth so closely that she noticed the way his teeth were preventing a smile from erupting on his gorgeous lips. It only made El feel more flustered.

"I just mean…I'm not dressing up for a date b-because I don't have a boyfriend. Like I'm single…" She said weakly, having hoped to dig herself out of an embarrassing hole. But now it just felt like she had added dynamite to said hole and it was exploding underneath her.

"Right," Mike answered chuckling nervously before clearing his throat and staring at the pizza box. His cheeks flushed, and he lifted his head once more, captivating El with his gaze.

"I'm really sorry about messing up with the pizzas. This isn't actually my job. My friend Will was sick, and I said I would cover his shift because my other friend Lucas runs the restaurant and he was short staffed." Mike explained as he handed over the pizza.

"That was really kind of you to help out your friends like that," El said smiling as she took the box and clutched onto it like it was her only life support.

Mike grinned and shrugged his shoulders, "they are still paying me and everything. Not that I deserve it, I'm the worst pizza boy ever." He said chuckling in exasperation at his delivery skills.

His laugh made El's insides turn to mush and her brain to short circuit for a moment so when she laughed in response it was slightly delayed and she wanted to kick herself for the strange tension between them.

"You're not the worst pizza boy ever," El said probably a bit too late to sound believable but it seemed to make Mike's brow raise in surprise. "You're actually like…good. Really good."

A pretty blush crept up on his high cheek bones and he beamed at her words, his eyes crinkling in delight. "Really?" he asked softly before laughing, "you're not just saying that because your dog tried to sexually assault me?"

El snorted, unable to stop herself from grinning like a fool. She took a breath and tried to put a serious look on her face, "he did not try to sexually assault you," El shrugged playfully, "he was just humping you because you know…you're attractive – to him!"

Mike raised a thick eyebrow and crossed his arms, making his biceps become more prominent against his thin red baseball style shirt. El's eyes were glued to them and she gulped realising how ridiculous she looked.

"Humping is totally sexual assault," Mike said teasingly, making El blink and focus back on his face. His mischievous grin made her almost stab holes into the pizza box with her nails because of how tightly she was gripping it.

"It would be sexual assault if a person did that to you against your will," El reasoned smiling gently and wondering why the hell they were talking about sexual assault of all topics. Really attractive El. "I mean, if I was humping you, then that would be sexual assault…"

"Only if I didn't want you to hump me…" Mike said quietly, his voice so suddenly deep that El felt herself melt. Oh shit, I'm going to drip into a puddle right in front of him.

She didn't think she had ever been so red in her entire life. Thankfully Mike looked equally embarrassed by what he said and they both averted their eyes, looking anywhere but at one another.

El heard a very quiet voice being cleared and looked to the side, to see Max hiding behind the front door holding Gizmo. She blinked in surprise, wondering if her best friend was a ninja for getting so close to El and Mike without either of them hearing her.

"Give him your number" Max mouthed whilst El coughed and shook her head resolutely, feeling mortified by the topics she had been discussing with Mike. He was watching her curiously, probably wondering why the hell it looked like she was having a conversation with herself.

She tried to change the subject to something more normal. El looked down at the pizza box in her hands, "so um Mike…do you like pizza?"

Mike blinked and then smiled warmly, "yeah I like pizza. But I think I've seen enough of them tonight to last a life time," he said chuckling before shuffling his feet and putting his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. "The restaurant does nice desserts though, like the tiramisu is so good. Maybe um…maybe you could like order it or something?"

El gulped quietly, was he trying to get her to place an order, so he could come back? She chanced a glance at Max who held her free thumb up in agreement and nodded eagerly.

"Wouldn't you have to come back here like a third time though?" El asked dumbly whilst Max rolled her eyes behind the door.

Mike smiled shyly and shrugged, "I don't mind. I mean I know where you live now…" He froze and coughed, "not that I'm like a stalker or anything!"

El laughed, her heart aching with want. "I don't think you're a stalker," she said smiling softly, her eyes gazing over his face whilst he grinned sheepishly.

"Cool," he exhaled quietly.

"Cool," El agreed, her heart beat now in her throat as she tried to think of something to say. How did you just go 'oh hey here's my phone number!'

There was a sudden vibrating noise and El blinked coming back to reality as Mike grabbed his phone out of his pocket and answered the call. He seemed to flinch and El couldn't help but smile as she recognised Lucas's annoyed voice.

"Yeah I know! Sorry, I'll get going now. Okay, sorry, Jesus…" Mike said shaking his head as he disconnected the call. He looked up at El in embarrassment and smiled bashfully. "Lucas said I'm 15 minutes late getting the next order out and if I don't get a move on he's gonna dock my pay. Friends huh?"

El tried to ignore Max's frantically flailing limbs as she continued to try and grab her attention and mouth "get his fucking number dipshit!"

"Yeah friends," El said trying to smile whilst mentally thinking about how she was going to kick Max's ass in a minute if she didn't stop.

Mike cleared his throat, "so um, just call if you want dessert I guess…" he said smiling shyly before slowly walking away.

El tried desperately not to blush at the innuendo and how her mind was cooking up all sorts of lovely fantasies about Mike which most definitely had nothing to do with actual dessert.

"Y-Yeah," El answered weakly, smiling coyly. "I will. Bye Mike,"

"Bye El," Mike grinned before disappearing out of sight.

El slowly closed the door, taking a deep calming breath whilst Max exclaimed, "are you freaking crazy?! He couldn't have flirted with you more if he tried! He said you looked really pretty, he was all dorky and shy and then he basically said he wanted to have sex with you!"

"He did not say he wanted to have sex with me!" El flushed bright red as she huffed and walked into the living room, Max hot on her tail with Gizmo who just looked excited at the prospect of more food.

Max snorted, "oh please, he asked you to call if you wanted dessert."

"As in tiramisu!" El practically shouted, her face blazing with embarrassment.

Max let Gizmo down, grabbed her phone and smiled at her best friend, "we're totally calling again so he has to come back."

"No Max!"

"Yes El!" Max whined back, "he's so into you, he's practically in love."

El moaned and dug her head into the cushions. "Max I can't deal with this flirting shit, I talked to him about Gizmo humping his leg and sexual assault! Who does that?!"

Max grinned, jumping onto the couch next to El, "you do that apparently. And he basically said he wouldn't mind you humping him!"

"Oh my god Max I can't do this," El said lifting her face from the cushions, not at all surprised if she was as red as a tomato. "I am going to get back into my comfy clothes, chuck my hair up and wallow in self-pity."

Before Max could say another word El had left the living room, she pulled at her dress groaning in frustration when she had to practically bend herself in half to yank the tight material off her body. Her tank top and sleep shorts were a welcome addition and she quickly scooped her hair back up, tying it into a neater bun than earlier so Max didn't give her anymore shit about bird's nests.

"What do you wanna watch?" Max asked from by the DVD stand as El re-entered the room. She felt thankful that her best friend seemed to have mercifully dropped the Mike topic. El wasn't about to admit how much she was wallowing over ruining it with him.

"I don't know," El mumbled as she grabbed one of the pizza boxes and stuffed her face with cold cheese pizza. "Titanic or Moulin Rouge or something…"

Max rolled her eyes, "so you want to watch a sad film?" When El just shrugged the red head shook her head in dismay and continued to search. "Fuck it let's watch Frozen, Elsa doesn't need a man."

"It's not like she's had a chance to find a guy." El reasoned as she nibbled at the crust of her pizza slice.

Max shrugged and put the movie in, "yeah but she doesn't need a man. She's fierce." El didn't argue with the red head and settled down, trying to get into one of her favourite films but being distracted by thoughts of Mike. How cute he was, how handsome, how sweet and how caring he clearly was to help his friends out.

They were an hour into the film, cuddling together under a blanket with Gizmo when there was a knock at the front door. They could barely distinguish it over the sound of Anna, Kristoff and Olaf falling off a cliff, but Max frowned, untangling herself from El and Gizmo.

"Are you expecting anyone?" El called whilst the red head walked towards the front door.

"No," she replied, interest evident in her voice.

El kept her eyes on the screen, absentmindedly scratching behind Gizmo's ear and thinking how she was going to miss the small pooch when he went home.

"Oh hello," El heard Max say in a teasing voice. The playfulness of her tone made El frown, her ears twitching. "Come on in!"

El sat up wondering if it was Lucas, although she could have sworn they weren't going on their date until the weekend.

Max came around the corner, a shit eating grin on her face that immediately made El's stomach lurch. But it was nothing like the utter mayhem that erupted in her body the moment Mike came into view, smiling sheepishly behind Max and holding a white paper bag.

"Mike!" El yelped in surprise quickly trying to work her way out of the blanket, but in her fluster only managing to trap her legs for a good 30 seconds before she was able to finally make her way off the couch.

"W-What are you doing here?" El asked anxiously as she crossed her arms over her chest, kicking herself internally for having changed out of her sexy dress and back into her slob clothes.

Mike just smiled at her, his eyes dancing over her outfit for a moment as his cheeks turned pink. "Lucas told me to finish early because I was so shit, and I um…well I wanted to bring you some tiramisu…" he said breathlessly whilst Max gave El a knowing smirk.

El's eyes went down to the bag and her heart bounced with excitement, "oh," she croaked before desperately trying to clear her throat and meet Mike's dazzlingly eyes. "That's really sweet of you."

They continued to grin at each other until Max coughed loudly and scooped Gizmo up, "anyway…the pug and I are going to my room." Without further ado Max pranced out of the room gleefully leaving a flustered Mike and El to stare at each other bashfully.

"Um…if you want I can just leave this here and go?" Mike finally said after the silence became too much.

El blinked and shook her head resolutely, determined to fight her nerves. "No. I mean you can stay if you want and um, we can share the tiramisu. Only if you want to…"

"I do want to." Mike answered immediately before looking down at the floor shyly. "I mean, that would be cool…"

El squealed internally and nodded her head, fighting the massive grin on her face. It was sadly winning. "That's um…that's…yeah, I'll go and get some spoons." She hurried to say before hastily rushing to the kitchen and yanking open the cutlery draw with a lot more force than was needed.

She returned with two spoons and a shy smile as she watched Mike stand awkwardly in the middle of the living room looking around with interest. "We can um sit on the couch, if that's okay?" she asked him anxiously whilst closing the significant distance between them.

"Totally," Mike said breathlessly before sitting on the couch and unwrapping the plastic container of tiramisu.

El tried to ease her trembling body the moment she sat down next to Mike and felt the heat rolling off his body. Her heart was so loud that she prayed he wouldn't hear it.

"So, what were you watching?" Mike asked, his eyes flicking to the television. El immediately blushed with embarrassment, wondering if he would think she was a child.

"Frozen." She said smiling and shrugging her shoulders.

Mike grinned, "yeah I've seen Frozen before, it's good." He said before thanking her when she passed him a spoon. "Although I am more of a Star Wars fan," he added with a sheepish grin.

El smiled and moved a tiny bit closer to him, pretending to use the tiramisu container in his lap as an excuse. "Well we have those too. Maybe um, when Frozen's finished we could watch one?"

"I'd like that," Mike said smiling warmly at her, they got lost in each other's eyes for a moment, their intense stare only being broken from the spell of their attraction by a little yap coming from Max's room followed by her telling Gizmo to shut up or he'll be evicted.

El laughed nervously and then almost swooned when Mike shuffled closer to her, explaining it was so that the tiramisu container could rest against both of their thighs. Their bodies were pressed together as they ate and watched the film.

Even when the dessert was finished and El changed the movie to A New Hope because Mike said the classic ones were his favourite, they still stayed sat as close as possible. Their arms touching and their legs brushing against one another. El had never felt so much electricity in her life, it was practically palpable.

She was pleased to see how much they had in common as they debated Star Wars, discussed their degree programs with Mike going to the same college as El, as well as discussing their families. Mike explained how he had two sisters whilst El told him that she was adopted by the Police Chief of a small town so didn't have any siblings.

They had just finished The Empire Strikes Back when Mike realised the time. "Oh shit, I best get going or the guys will freak." He said anxiously grabbing his jacket.

"Oh okay," El said getting up from the couch with Mike and trying to hide her disappointment.

They both stood there for a moment staring at one another as if they were both desperate for someone to say something, but they were both so shy, not wanting to ruin everything they had built.

"So," Mike began, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets. "I guess it would be rude to not finish a trilogy. Maybe we should, uh watch Return of the Jedi some time?"

"Yes," El said right away, nodding her head eagerly and smiling. "It would be really rude to George Lucas if we didn't finish them."

Mike laughed at her comment and then bit his lip, smiling bashfully. His fingers seemed to grip around his phone and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Would it be okay if I um got your number?"

"Definitely," El said, unable to stop from beaming with excitement as she watched Mike create a contact for her before handing the phone over so she could type in her number. As their fingers brushed their eyes immediately met one another, both of them feeling the eternal sparks of something deep and powerful erupting into their hearts.

"Here you go," El coughed nervously as she handed Mike his phone back. He smiled and immediately text El. She heard her phone dinging but didn't open his text, wanting to concentrate on him whilst he was still there.

They walked to the front door together, both of them reluctant for Mike to leave but knowing it was so late that neither of them could function properly.

"Thanks for bringing dessert Mike," El said smiling as she leaned against the door frame whilst he stood in the hallway.

"It's no problem. And um, thank you for letting me stay to watch movies with you. I had a really great time." Mike answered, a beautiful warm flush rising in his sharp cheeks that made El itch to touch his face.

"I had a great time too," El said breathlessly, her eyes dancing over his face. "Will you text me when you're home safe?"

"Definitely," Mike grinned, looking down at her, his eyes softening. They stared at each other for a while before Mike cleared his throat, "well goodbye El. I'll speak to you soon."

"Bye Mike," El sighed, smiling tenderly as she watched him walk away. He was hesitant and walked slowly, but with his long legs he was soon moving away from the door and down the hallway.

El watched him, her heart pounding and yearning to be with him. What the fuck are you doing? Her mind and heart seemed to scream at her in unison. Go after him!

"Mike!" El shouted as she ran down the hallway towards him before he could disappear around the corner.

Mike turned around immediately, his eyes filling with concern as he saw the urgency on her face. "El what's – "

Her hands went to his cheeks and she closed her eyes, leaning up on her tiptoes and ending the space between them. Her lips met his and fireworks exploded in front of her closed lids. She heard Mike's breath hitch and then he was kissing her back eagerly, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer.

El smiled against his lips but managed to keep kissing him, her hands stroking his cheeks, his skin was incredibly soft, and she swooned as she breathed in his homely scent.

They finally broke from their kiss, breathless and red faced with matching goofy grins. "I just wanted to say goodnight," El finally panted.

Mike smiled ecstatically, his hand moving to the back of her neck, tickling the baby curls there as he brought her back for another kiss. She whimpered at the feeling of their lips moving together so perfectly, their lips tugging at one another in a blissful flurry.

When then moment ended Mike beamed, practically glowing. "Night El," he whispered breathlessly.

"Night Mike." El sighed hopelessly, as he gave her one more devastatingly beautiful lopsided grins before finally walking away with a promise to text her when he got home.

El practically skipped to her bedroom, a permanent goofy smile on her face as she collapsed onto her bed with a deep shuddering exhale. She reached for her phone, opening the text message Mike had left her so that she would have his number.

She grinned when she read it, biting her lip and counting down the minutes until they would see each other again.

"I'm really glad I was your pizza boy ;-)"

AN: What do you guys think?! I hope you enjoyed that, please review and let me know what you thought.

Also, would you be interested in this becoming a two shot?