Summary: Long before our favourite Sigmund Corp agents were traversing memories, they were traversing the perils of high school—including senior prom! After the night takes an unexpected turn, Neil and Eva discover that pizza truly is the answer to all of life's problems.

Romance/Humour, RosaWatts

"Ow!"

Eva Rosalene winced noticeably and tightened her iron grip on the chair she was situated in. Another sharp tug came a moment later as her sister, Traci, pulled a stubborn lock of hair into place at the nape of Eva's neck. It was the evening of senior prom, and together they were going to great strides to get Eva prepared on time.

"Just a few more," Traci chimed, skillfully weaving the strands into a plaited bun.

"You said that five minutes ago."

"I would have finished if you'd stop wriggling around."

"I'm glad my pain and suffering mean so much you," Eva answered in her characteristic deadpan style.

"Sit still and quit complaining."

Eva set her jaw and forced herself not to squirm as further tugs threatened to rip her hair from its very roots. When the last strand had finally been woven into place, Traci stepped back and craned Eva's head in every angle physically possible.

"What do you think?"

Wearily, Eva glanced up in the mirror to examine the intricate up-do that Traci had spent the last hour and a half wrestling into compliance.

"It's fine," she said for the umpteenth time, internally pleading that her older sibling would finally be convinced.

Just then, a muffled car horn sounded from outside.

"That's Neil," Eva said, peaking out the window at the street below. She watched as a bespectacled, tawny-haired boy stepped out of the vehicle and propped himself against the car frame a moment later.

"Well he's just gonna have to wait a second," Traci chided, fussing over the last minute touches to Eva's hair.

"Traci, it's fi—"

"It's not fine 'til I say it's fine!"

Eva sighed, knowing better than to start a fight with her older sister. If she wanted something done a certain way, it was going to be done a certain way.

"You're gonna be a nightmare on my wedding day," Eva muttered dryly.

"There you go, 'hun!" Traci smiled, not seeming to have heard the younger woman. She leaned back to examine her handiwork. "All set!"

"Thanks Sis." Eva turned and gave her sibling an appreciative hug. "Permission to leave now? You know how impatient my ride is."

"Alright, alright, get going." Traci shooed her off with a dismissive wave.

Eva grabbed her purse and shawl, then quickly made her way downstairs to the front door. Neil was still waiting from his perch against the car when she stepped outside, and he waved good-naturedly upon catching sight of his friend.

Unable to help herself, Eva struck a dramatic pose on the landing, to which Neil extended two thumbs up. He himself was wearing a standard tux-bowtie combination that would have looked sharp on anyone other than Neil—the man had a knack for making absolutely anything he wore look nerdy.

By the time she got to the road, Neil had moved around to the passenger's side of the car and was waiting expectantly.

"Ladies first," he grinned, holding the door open for her.

"Thank you Sir," she answered with fake formality, carefully lowering herself into the frame of the vehicle. Neil climbed into the driver's seat a moment later.

To Eva's surprise, he heaved a big, almost comical sigh. "Alright, let's get this thing over with."

"You're particularly pessimistic this evening, Neil," she said, side-eyeing him with a raised brow. "Teenagers generally look forward to their prom, don't they?"

"Let's see," Neil mused, leaning back in his seat and holding up the fingers of his left hand. "I've got no date, no money, I can't breathe in this stupid getup, and I'm missing a perfectly good Star Wars movie marathon." With each item on the list, he drew a finger back down into his palm. "Oh, and I'm 99.989% sure the music's gonna suck."

He withdrew the final finger and gestured to the empty fist with his other hand.

"What happened to Jenny, I thought she was going with you?"

"Home sick all week with the flu," he sighed. "I wouldn't bother going at all, but I already bought the tickets."

"You could have tried selling them?"

"Nope, I already rented the tux," he said. The look on his face was grim. "Basically, prom is a giant pain in the ass."

"Well it's the only one you'll get, so try to make the most of it. Will any of the gang be there?"

"A few of the guys from chemistry and band." Neil couldn't help but grin. "We'll be the nerd brigade, it'll be fantastic."

Eva smiled at the thought.

The two made random conversation as they drove along, mostly discussing courses, final exams, and potential summer plans as the end of senior year approached. Neil spent a good ten minutes bemoaning the setbacks in his drama class musical and Eva relayed concerns over the state for her Valedictorian speech. After about twenty minutes, they arrived at a small cul-de-sac lined with tidy suburban townhouses, one of which belonged to Eva's date.

"Trevor's house is that yellow one on the right," she said, pointing.

Neil wrinkled his nose, mostly out of habit. Neil was not a fan of Trevor, nor was Trevor a fan of Neil. The guy seemed decent enough around Eva, but he was known for his jealous streak and had always felt threatened by Neil and Eva's friendship.

"Do we have to stop? I could just keep driving and go straight there without him. Bet ya five bucks he'd cry."

Eva threw Neil a disapproving side-glance.

"You're dropping me off, remember? And if you behave, you won't have to speak two words to each other for the entire night. What do you have against him anyway?"

"He beat me by one percentage in Biology class," Neil said, flicking his turn signal on as the driveway came into view, "and he has bad hair."

"Last time you said it was because he chews like a llama."

"That too, obviously."

"Ugh, never mind." Eva clicked off her seatbelt as they rolled to a stop. "Thanks for the lift. Are you going straight there?"

"Nah, me and the fellas are gonna grab some grub first. Maybe I'll choke on a peanut and won't have to go after all."

"That's not funny."

"Sarcasm, dear."

Eva sighed. "Sure you won't take any gas money?"

"Nope," he grinned, tipping an invisible hat as she stepped out onto the pavement. "My treat."

"Thanks," she grinned back. "Try to have a good time, okay?"

Neil mumbled something noncommittally, which Eva took as her cue to go. She eased herself out of the car and moved to close the door.

"Hey!"

Eva leaned her head back down to peer at him. "What?"

"You owe me a dance later. Deal?"

"Sure. Thanks again for the ride," Eva smiled. Closing the passenger door, she began to make her way up toward Trevor's house. A moment later, Neil was frantically rolling down the window.

"Promise?" he yelled, sticking his head out of the car. "I'm going to be super offended if you forget!"

"I promise!" she called back from across the lawn, waving a final time.

Satisfied, Neil retreated back inside and shifted into reverse gear.

Three and a half hours had passed, and to Neil's dismay, he had survived his peanut encounter earlier at dinner. A group of friends had coerced him into coming despite his initial reluctance, and now the five of them were huddled together on a bench by the outskirts of the venue.

It was good fortune that the weather held out, since the majority of prom was taking place outdoors, save for a very cramped hall nearby that housed the bathrooms and snack bar. The prom committee had maximized on their microscopic budget, stringing rows of lanterns and mood lights up overhead and decking the seats with sashes of white and gold. Someone even managed to track down a half-decent DJ, and the majority of attendees were currently raving away on the dance floor.

Neil and company had been with them up until about five minutes ago, until an unfortunate elbow-to-the-face incident had forced one group member off the floor with a raging nosebleed. Said friend, Michael, was currently reclined in his chair, head titled back and a giant bag of ice on his face.

"I tolb you to take ib easy on thuh Carlton," he muttered at Josh, his voice muffled by the bag. Nearby, Josh simply shrugged.

"Sorry Bro. Once I start, there's no stopping my epic moves."

"I habt you."

"I habt you too," Josh mimicked with a grin. Michael grunted in irritation, but spoke no further.

Meanwhile, Neil and two others, Stuart and Alex, were hard at work concocting an intricate plan to hijack the crowning ceremony for Prom King and Queen. Alex was hunched over a hasty diagram of the ceremonial boxes that held the crowns, trying to devise a way to spring load them with confetti.

The trio was throwing ideas back and forth on how best to accomplish this and how to sneak the boxes away without anyone noticing, when Neil felt a sharp nudge in his side.

"Hey, Specs." He glanced over at Stuart, who was pointing across the room. "Isn't that Eva's date?"

Neil followed Stuart's gaze across the courtyard, where he spotted the unmistakable figure of Trevor traipsing about with a slender redhead who was clearly not Eva. The two were laughing amiably, and it wasn't long before they linked hands and sauntered off towards the outskirts of the venue.

"Whoa, is he cheating on her?"

Neil glanced around quickly; Eva was nowhere to be found.

One of the others issued a low whistle. "Coming to prom with one girl and getting friendly with another one while her back's turned? That's low."

Michael scoffed in disgust, lifting the bag of ice from his face. "I always knew he was a scumbag."

"Yo Neil, does Eva know about this? … Neil?" Alex turned, only to realize that Neil was marching across the courtyard with single-minded purpose, already halfway to his destination.

The couple had snuck around to the back of a building, out of site from most of the venue. When Neil rounded the corner, the two were deeply engrossed in a make-out session against the side of a nearby brick wall. Neither heard the fierce onslaught of steps approaching.

"Hey, douche-nugget." Neil unceremoniously jabbed his pointer finger into the crook of Trevor's shoulder. Startled, Trevor whipped around, a look of alarm on his face.

Neil met him with a fierce scowl. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What do you want, Watts?" Trevor breathed, the alarm quickly fading once he recognized Neil.

"I want to know why you're sucking face with this bimbo when you came here with Eva!"

"Hey!" the girl, Jessica, barked in protest.

"And I'd like to know why you're sticking your face in places where it doesn't belong!" Trevor answered, stepping between Neil and the girl.

"Where's Eva?" Neil shot angrily, growing more furious by the minute. "If you're cheating on her, then it is my business!"

"It's not cheating if she ditched me first," Trevor shot defensively, glaring at Neil with a mixture of annoyance and disdain. "She's been chatting away with the student council committee for nearly an hour and has barely given me the light of day."

"And your first instinct is to go tramping off with the next willing girl that comes along?"

"Look, I didn't come to prom to sit around and talk school politics."

"I'm not sure what kind of act you put on in front of Eva to make her think you're a decent human being, but you sure as hell don't deserve her," Neil whispered, cold fury etched in his voice. Trevor responded with a condescending glance.

"What, and you do?" He scoffed, looking amused. "It's not like we're serious anyway—Eva's been helping me study, and I asked her to prom as a thank you. It's not my fault if she got the wrong idea."

With that, Trevor turned his back in a dismissive air, offering an arm to his waiting companion before striding back towards the alley. It took all of two seconds before Neil was tearing after them.

"Listen noodle-brains, you better go apologize to her!" Without thinking, Neil grabbed hold of Trevor's arm and spun him around with a fierce tug.

That seemed to hit a nerve. Trevor whirled on his heel, there was a violent shove, and Neil slammed into the ground with a distinct thud. As he fell, Neil's side and head collided with the floor, sending his glasses scattering across the pavement. Neil groaned internally from the impact, suddenly lacking the air capacity to do much else.

A moment later, a high-pitched crunching sound echoed from nearby.

"Whoops," a voice remarked, and Neil leaned up just in time to see Trevor grinding his foot down into a mangled pile of metal and glass. "Hope you didn't need those."

Smirking to themselves, the pair continued on their way, not bothering to help their winded classmate up. Within moments, they completely disappeared from view.

"Asshole," Neil muttered feebly from his place on the ground. He propped himself up on his elbows experimentally, wheezing slightly while struggling to force air into his lungs. A different set of footsteps approached from nearby, announcing the arrival of his friends.

"Specs, you alright?!" Stuart asked, helping Neil sit up fully. Neil grunted in response.

"Did Trevor—?"

"Yeah," he answered, rubbing the tender lump on his temple as his bearings returned to him. "Pretty sure he KO'd my glasses too. Anyone seen 'em?"

"Er …" Josh offered his hand forward, holding in it a pair of badly mangled frames that bent in all the wrong directions. Beside them lay the glass inserts, one of which was passable while the other was cracked beyond repair.

Neil took hold of the frames to survey the damage, squinting while holding them to the light for examination. "Hm."

"I take it that's not good," Alex said.

"No, it isn't," Neil answered.

"So what happened?" Michael asked, lifting the shattered pane of glass from Josh's hand to inspect it. "Did he punch you or something?"

"Nah, just pushed me. Unfortunately the concrete cushioned my fall." Neil stood up with assistance from Alex and Stuart, groaning audibly as pain ripped through his body in the process.

"We need to go after him!" Josh spoke, clenching his fist in outrage. At the chink-ing noise that followed, he relaxed his palm and glanced down at the now-two panes of cracked glass. "Oh. Sorry."

Neil snatched them from his friend's hand with a scowl, throwing Josh an irritated glare as he did so.

"Don't bother. It's his word against mine—we all know that's an argument I can't win."

"So we're supposed to sit here and do nothing?" Alex looked incredulous.

"Well, you can help me get back to the bench for starters," Neil said, tucking the glass and frames into his pocket. "I'll see what I can do with them from there."

Eva wove her way through the mingling hordes of students with a sense of urgency, head high and eyes searching as she scanned the crowd. She'd been picking through the mass for about ten minutes now without any luck and was starting to think her search was futile.

Sighing to herself as she reached the edge of the enclosure for the third time, Eva spun around and made to start the fourth round of her search before an unusual sight caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

About thirty yards away, her normally-bespectacled friend was sitting hunched over on a bench in what seemed to be either deep pain or deep concentration. Without missing a heartbeat, Eva changed course and made a beeline for the bench on the eastern side of the courtyard.

Hearing footsteps, Neil glanced up and squinted with great effort as she approached. Finally he lifted a hand in casual greeting upon recognizing her. "Hey Eva."

"Hi Neil." Her gaze dropped to the garbled pile of materials in his lap. "What happened to your glasses?"

"They broke."

"How did they break?"

"Leeet's just say I got a little too crazy doing the Twist." As if to prove his point, Neil performed a dramatic shuffle from his place on the bench.

"That seems a little farfetched, even for you."

"It's true! Besides, I fixed them, see?" He held the warped spectacles up for examination, then cursed under his breath when the plastic straw bridging the frame fell apart.

"… Did you actually think that would work?"

"Worth a shot," Neil grumbled to himself. "Maybe I could convert one into a monocle?"

Eva shook her head. "We can't stay Neil, you're blind as a bat without them."

"I can manage—seeing's overrated anyway. Besides, I have a spare pair at home."

"We better go grab them then. Here, hold my hand."

A long pause followed as Neil eyed her cautiously. "... People will get the wrong idea."

"I don't care. Come on." She waved at him with an outstretched palm, which he sheepishly took a moment later.

As expected, they earned a few curious glances while making their way back through the crowd, but Eva paid them no attention. Neil was so caught up in trying to navigate the bustling room of human obstacles that he couldn't be bothered to notice.

Just as they neared the entrance of the site, a distinct voice called out from a nearby group of students.

"Eva!"

She stopped and turned, easily picking out its owner from the crowd. When Trevor ran over a moment later, she didn't look at all pleased.

"You can't be leaving already? We've still got the whole evening ahead of us!"

Eva gave him the darkest glare she could muster, the tone of her voice piercingly quiet. "'We' as in you and me? Or 'we' as in you and Jessica?"

Trevor's face turned white as a sheet, giving Eva all the confirmation she needed. Whispers immediately began to crop up throughout the crowd around them.

"That's …That's not …" he blubbered.

"Not what?" she asked, her dark eyes now blazing. "I'd really love to hear whatever pathetic excuse you come up with to justify yourself."

"That was a mistake! Please," he said, his voice turning desperate. "Just hear me out."

Eva casually lifted a glass of punch from the tray of a passing waiter, taking a moment to twirl it in her hand thoughtfully.

"What do you think of me, Trevor?" she asked, eyeing the swirling liquid with mild interest.

"What do I think of you?" He seemed confused by the question, but then his eyes lit up at seeing a chance. "I think you're incredible! Smart, pretty, funny …" His voice drifted off as he tried to think of other traits to appeal to.

"Flattering," Eva smiled, but the tone of her voice was cold. "My turn."

Trevor raised his head just in time to see her arm lash out, followed by a wave of red punch. A harmonious gasp rippled through the crowd as the sound of splattering liquid left a drenched and dripping Trevor in its wake, his face and torso now stained a distinct crimson hue.

Eva smirked in an expression that could only be described as victorious, her head and chin now held high. "That's what I think of you. Consider this a break up notice."

She marched past him, reveling in the look of shock and bewilderment plastered on the boy's face. Neil looked quite delighted himself, gesturing in a dramatic burn! motion as they strode by. Unfortunately without his glasses, he was pointing to a blank space of air instead of Trevor.

Eva yanked her friend's arm impatiently to separate themselves from the gathering crowd, and soon they made their way to Neil's car at the far end of the lot.

"Ok, I know I can barely see right now, but that was badass."

"Alright, alright, just get in the car."

Obediently, Neil opened the door and plopped himself into the passenger's seat, but not without smacking his temple off the side of the frame in the process. He cursed sharply and a moment later Eva could hear him hiss something about crappy automotive engineering and lack of depth perception.

When she climbed into the driver's side, Neil was rubbing his left brow attentively.

"That's gonna bruise," Eva offered.

"No #$^," Neil muttered darkly, still preoccupied with rubbing the pain away from his throbbing temple. "If the concrete didn't do it, this certainly will."

"What?"

"Nothing."

The engine rumbled to life, followed by the sharp click of Eva's seatbelt. To Neil's surprise, she cursed herself a moment later before leaning down to grapple with something near the base of the foot pedals.

Neil threw her an inquisitive glance. "Er—you ok down there?"

"Hold these," she said, remerging.

"Holy guacamole!" A look of fear and wonder crossed Neil's face as a pair of sparkling red pumps were deposited in his palms. "Eva, you could kill a man with these."

"Don't tempt me," she growled, angered thoughts still dwelling on Trevor back at the venue.

They drove in silence for what seemed an eternity, until Neil's conscience could keep him silent no longer.

"Sooo … about Trevor …"

"I know," she answered flatly.

"Er," Neil glanced over from the passenger side of the car. "You do?"

"Ellie told me. I was on my way to confront him when I ran into you."

"Oh. Well," his voice trailed off and he turned to look out the window, watching the blurred scenery whiz by. "Good riddance then, huh?"

"I'd rather not talk about this right now," Eva said. She flicked on the radio a moment later, filling the car interior with an upbeat rock number. Neil shrugged, then turned away and reclined back in his chair casually while singing along under his breath.

By the time they reached the edge of town, Neil was in full-swing karaoke mode (much to Eva's chagrin) and was currently performing a boisterous rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. When the mood suit him, he also made good use of the car's dashboard to perform drumming solos.

Eva's mood had only soured since leaving prom, and she was still silently brooding as they drove through the downtown core of their hometown.

Without warning, Eva violently slammed on the break, simultaneously screeching the car to a halt while scaring the hell out of Neil.

"What the ! #%, Eva?!"

A look of fierce determination was on her face as she swerved into the adjoining parking lot on their right, followed by a swift manoeuver into the nearest parking space. Without batting an eye, she slammed the transmission into park before ripping her keys from the ignition. "We're getting pizza."

Two pizzas, fourteen breadsticks, and five hours of Star Wars later, Neil and Eva were happily situated on the sofa in Neil's living room, flaked back against the cushions in full prom attire.

"Everything huuuurts," Neil groaned, staring up at the ceiling as he rubbed his stomach.

"Shouldn't have had that last breadstick," Eva chided, ignoring the throbbing pain in her own gut.

"I regret nothing."

"Maybe not now, but tomorrow you will."

Neil grinned. "Worth it," he said, sliding his backup pair of glasses into place on his nose.

He stood up a moment later and walked to the other side of the room, where he opened a glass pane to the right of the TV screen. Obscured from Eva's view, Neil began fiddling with an aged turntable stationed within the unit.

When he returned, a soft doo-wop tune was wafting through the air.

"Come on."

Eva blinked once at the hand reaching out to her, then gave Neil an inquisitive look.

He shrugged. "You promised me a dance, remember?"

Eva took his hand with a smirk, standing up and following him to the middle of the living room floor. "You're still on about that?"

"I was waiting 'til the heels from hell were off."

"Are you implying I'm going to step on your feet?"

"Maybe." He quirked a mischievous brow.

"Hm. I think I'm the one who should be more concerned about that."

She lifted one arm to wrap loosely around his shoulder, and a moment later found Neil's hand with the other. They began to sway softly to the music, turning in time with the melody.

"Ritchie Valens, huh?" Eva said with a hint of bemusement, nodding toward the turn table across the room. "Never took you for the sentimental type, Neil."

"Hey, it was either this or the Macarena."

"That would have been hilarious to see, actually," Eva teased. "I'm a little disappointed now."

"Excuse you, but I am a fabulous dancer," Neil shot back, extending his arm to send her into a twirl. "Even if it was the Macarena, I would have killed it."

"And one of us, I'm sure."

"Oh save it," he said, sticking out his tongue. Eva grinned. "And I won't dance with just anyone, you know. You should feel privileged."

Eva just rolled her eyes as they continued to circle around the living room. Snarking aside, he was trying to cheer her up, and she was grateful for it.

They continued dancing to the music, sometimes seriously, sometimes comically whenever Neil decided to break out his more extreme moves during an upbeat tune. It didn't really matter to Eva; it was fun spending time together like this, and their laughter proved good medicine in countering the earlier stresses of the evening.

Somewhere along the way, Neil's hands had found her waist, and both of Eva's arms were now wrapped comfortably around his neck. Eva was surprised to find herself nervous; in all the years they'd known each other, she and Neil had never been this close before. In the background, a soft, jazzy tune melted through the air.

Though she felt shy meeting his eyes, Eva stole a peak to see if Neil sensed the unusual atmosphere between them. She expected to find him flustered or indifferent, but he was neither. Instead, he looked almost … pensive?

"What are you thinking?" she asked, peering into his mossy-green eyes. She was always intrigued by the way their shade changed colour depending on the light.

Neil didn't answer for a moment, the silence reflected in his attentive, searching gaze.

"Neil?"

Jolting a little, he snapped back to attention. "What?"

Eva looked just the slightest bit annoyed, thinking he'd ignored her. "I asked what you were thinking."

He opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again. Behind them, static sounded from the turn table as the record reached its end and came to a scratching halt.

"Just regretting that I didn't punch Trevor in the face when I had the chance," he finally whispered.

"Your glasses wouldn't be the only thing broken if you did."

Neil frowned. "He mistreated you, Eva. I take issue with that."

Eva shook her head, looking away. "I guess he's not the man I thought he was."

"He's not a man at all," Neil spat, his anger finally getting the better of him. "He's a scheming, spineless cretin of a human being, and if it were up to me he'd scrubbing elephant dung off floors for a liv—oh."

Eva pulled back from him, her chin lowered and eyes hidden behind a thick veil of hair. Before he could question her, Neil caught a brief glimmer of something clear sliding down her cheek. Was that a—?

'Oh #$^,' Neil thought, his mind going into a slight panic as he watched Eva bury her face in her hands seconds later. 'CRTL-Z, CTRL-Z!'

"Sorry, I'm ok!" her wavering voice assured, muffled behind her palms. "Just give me a minute—" The words cracked as her shoulders began to shake.

Now there were some basic key facts that Neil Watts knew about Eva Rosalene:

1. She was incredibly clever and was the type of person who could be relied on for anything;
2. She had an odd but endearing habit of using vegetables in the place of swear words; and
3. She never cried. In fact, in their three years of friendship, not once had he seen her cry.

This was completely foreign territory, and emotional support had never been one of Neil's strong points.

"E-Eva?"

She didn't answer, instead using one hand to wave dismissively. Blinking back tears, she was failing terribly at trying to regain her composure.

Unable to help himself, Neil stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. As soon as he did, Eva completely fell to pieces.

"I knew it wouldn't work out," she choked, the tears flowing freely now. "I just never expected it to hurt this much. God, I feel so stupid!"

"Er—there, there." He patted the top of her head awkwardly, hoping to offer some semblance of comfort. Eva half-laughed, half-sobbed against his shoulder.

"You really suck at this, Neil."

"Yeah, sorry," Neil sighed, sounding genuinely apologetic. "Given that I have the emotional range of a teaspoon, I'd have to agree."

The quip was lost on Eva as she descended into another round of supressed sobs. Realizing his usual humour routine wouldn't cut it this time, Neil chose to say nothing and instead let her cry it out on his shoulder, inwardly cursing Trevor in the meantime.

After a few minutes, the sniffles slowly began to subside.

"Feel better?" he inquired once she remerged.

Eva nodded, exhaling deeply. "Sorry about your tux."

Neil glanced at his soaked shoulder and shrugged. "It's a rental, remember?" He handed her a wad of tissues, which Eva accepted gratefully.

"I should've realized something was up," she sighed, blowing into the kleenex. "Apparently it's not the first time they've been seen together. How could I have been so blind?"

"It's not your fault," Neil answered, grabbing a nearby wastebasket for Eva to dump the tissues in. "My personal dislike of him aside, he was perfectly presentable around you—funny, sweet, charming—the pinnacle gentleman."

"And I fell for it like a complete idiot," Eva agreed, her voice starting to waver once again. To her surprise, both of Neil's hands immediately clasped around her shoulders.

"Listen," he said, leaning down slightly to bring himself to her eye level. "You're the smartest, hardest-working, most inspiring woman I know, and any man would be lucky to have you. If Trevor doesn't realize that, he's a damn fool."

"R-Really?" her teary eyes lifted to meet his.

"Really, Eva."

Her gaze dropped away again as she sniffed. "Thanks."

"And come Monday morning I'm totally going ninja on his ass."

"Don't do that," she laugh-cried, wiping a cheek with her palm. "I don't want you getting a black eye for my sake. He'll get a good verbal lashing from me though."

Neil frowned, looking disappointed. "Can I punch him in the face just once?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Fine."

There was a sudden click from the door behind them as a middle-aged woman dressed in a work uniform entered the room. Upon realizing she wasn't alone, the woman froze on spot, taking quick stock of the adolescents planted in the middle of the room.

"Oh! Kids, you scared me. I thought you'd be asleep by n-" She stopped abruptly, catching sight of their proximity and Neil's hands on Eva's shoulders. "O-Oh! Am I interrupting something?"

Neil sighed, dropping his arms back to his sides. "Hi Ma."

"Hi Mrs. Watts," Eva said with a sniff. The older woman's eyes landed on the girl, immediate concern washing over her aged features.

"Eva! Honey, are you ok?"

Eva nodded once, wiping off her few remaining tears. "Neil stepped on my toes."

He involuntarily threw her a dirty look, followed by an I'll explain later glance to his mother.

"Neil, go on and get Eva home, it's well past midnight," Mrs. Watts said with a disapproving look at the clock.

Wordlessly, Neil stepped away and began to gather Eva's things while his mother brought Eva some more tissues. Once Eva assured the older woman that she was alright, the two adolescents made their way out into the cold night air.

Neither spoke much on the ride back; Neil seemed preoccupied with something, and Eva was frankly too exhausted after her cry to carry on much of a conversation.

Twenty minutes passed until Eva's house finally crept into view. As they drove up to the curbside, Eva glanced out the window and snorted to herself.

"I knew Traci would wait up for me," she said, observing the faint light drifting out of the second story window. "Wait 'til she hears what happened."

To her surprise, Neil shifted the car into park and promptly switched the ignition off.

"You sure you're ok?" he asked, turning in his seat to face her.

"I'm fine," she smiled, looking grateful at his concern. "Just needed to get that off my chest."

"I told you prom is a giant pain in the ass."

"It's certainly not what I was expecting," Eva agreed, watching with bemusement as her sister peaked through the curtains. "I had fun though."

"Yeah?"

"And it wasn't a total waste," she said, fixing a knowing smirk on him. "I feel like I got to see a different side of you tonight."

Neil averted his eyes and gave a dismissive hum, the kind he made when trying to avoid a particular topic.

"Remind me again why any man would be lucky to have me? Something about being intelligent…?"

"No."

"Hardworking…"

"Leave me alone."

"Most inspiring…?"

"I'm not saying it again."

"You're secretly a giant sap, I know it."

"Wrong. I'm a cold, indifferent mastermind who delights in the complexities of his chaotic neutral status. It's part of my heartless charm." He shifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sniffed as if to prove a point. "Now get out of my car."

"Sure, whatever," she mused, leaning over to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Neil. You're the best."

The gesture seemed to have its intended effect: instead of responding with his usual quips, Neil was left completely flabbergasted. He sat with his hands glued to the wheel, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Sensing she'd gotten the upper hand, Eva grabbed her purse and slid out onto the adjacent sidewalk.

Neil was grinning like an idiot when she ducked her head back in a moment later. "Don't let that go to your head."

"Night Eva." He gave a quick salute, the stupid grin still plastered on his face. She rolled her eyes and gave a final wave before closing the door with a thud.

He leaned forward, resting on his steering wheel to keep a close eye in case she stumbled in those ridiculous shoes. True to her character in all things, however, Eva carried herself with a mixture of competence and confidence that few others among their peer group displayed. It was this rare combination that had first endeared her to Neil, and she continued to find ways to prove herself more and more capable by the day.

A light clicked on as Eva reached the landing, and Neil chuckled in amusement as Traci peeked her head out and waved in an excited frenzy. He returned the gesture, albeit in a more subdued manner, then watched as Traci ushered her younger sister inside without delay.

Content that he was free to go, Neil revved the engine to life and pulled back onto the street to make his way home for the night.

The throbbing in his temple was gone now. Instead, a soft, steady burn had settled itself into the skin of his right cheek, creating a warmth that radiated throughout his entire body.

Unable to help himself, Neil raised a hand to the cheek and his grin returned once more.

Maybe prom wasn't so bad after all.

[End]