On Sunday morning, I woke up well-rested, alert, and harboring very serious doubts about my decision from night before. Namely, the terrifying feeling that this date was really some sick joke was creeping up my spine and refusing to be ignored any longer. As much as I couldn't believe Jared would do something that awful, my world had been turned so thoroughly inside out in the past two weeks that I wasn't sure of anything anymore.

By the time I had gotten dressed, I was feeling so jittery and unsure about that afternoon that I almost called Jared with some excuse to cancel.

My brother wants me home for dinner.

I just realized I have a huge paper due tomorrow.

I fell off my ladder.

I burst an aneurism.

I decided then that, if I was going to navigate the confused ocean of my feelings, I was going to need an actual friend. Before I could talk myself out of it, I picked up my cell phone and called Ella.

"Hey Kim!" She sounded cheerful, and a little surprised. "I've been meaning to call you! How are you doing? How was Friday night?"

I had forgotten how talkative and animated Ella always was. "I'm good," I couldn't help but smile into the phone. "It was good. I probably drank too much, but it was good."

"Just 'good', huh? Why don't you tell me how 'good' it was to go home with Jared, hm?"

"What?" I nearly choked on my own spit, and at once I felt hot blood rush to my face. "How did you know that?"

She laughed her contagious laugh. "Don't worry. No one knows but me and Paul. He drove me home and he told me where you were."

"Oh. Uh, yeah. He took me to his house because I didn't want Penny to see me so wasted."

"And…?"

"And…nothing. I showered in his sister's bathroom and crashed at his house." Choosing my words carefully, I neglected to tell her about our specific sleeping arrangements.

"Uh huh," she responded, clearly aware that there was more to this story, "And that's all you did? Shower and sleep?"

"Well…"

"Well? Kim, I know something happened, and you know you want to tell me!"

"Um…well, he may have, uh, kissed me." The shriek from the other end of the phone was so loud that I shrank back from the speaker to keep my eardrum intact.

"Oh my God, Kim! That's so fantastic! I knew he'd like you eventually. You've liked him for ages and—"

"Wait, wait, stop," I tried to cut her off, keeping my voice as calm as I could, though the teenage girl in me wanted to scream in excitement with her. "Who said anything about him liking me?"

"OMG, he totally likes you. He kissed you! What other indication do you need? And, like, did you see how he looked at you on Thursday? He's totally into you."

"That's, uh, the kissing was why I called you. I don't know what…um…I could use some help figuring out…uh…"

"Okay, yeah! So give me all the deets about Friday night," she giggled. "I'll be your love counselor and—"

"Wait. Hold on," I cut in, something she said catching my attention. "How was he looking at me on Thursday?" Snippets of what Sophie had told me at beach surfaced in my head. He looked like he loved you.

"Like the only thing he cared about was what came out of your mouth." Is that really how he looks at me? I'm not imagining it? But that doesn't make sense. I could hear Ella's smile in her words. "And let's not forget. He literally kicked Rob's ass for you."

"Um…I mean, who knows why he did that..."

"Oh, come on. I think the whole school knows why. It was pretty obvious." I flushed.

"Uh…"

"Okay, okay, enough about Thursday. Tell me about Friday! I'm dying over here."

So, I told her. I didn't go into too much detail about us kissing, blaming the alcohol for making my memory hazy, even though, if there was one thing I remembered with crystal clarity for the rest of my life, it would have been that night. That first kiss. Recounting the events of that night out loud only made me realize just how much I wanted Jared to kiss me again.

"So, you guys were kissing for a while, huh? Was there tongue?"

"Ella!"

"What? I'm supposed to be giving you advice! I need to know the details."

"Well…there may have been a little tongue."

"Eeee! This so exciting! Wait, but, that's it? All you did was kiss. Really?"

"Yes, really," I replied, biting my lip. I didn't think I wanted to tell her that I had tried to initiate more. I couldn't bear to think that he had rejected me. Then, I decided that, if Ella was going to help me analyze Jared's intentions, I may as well tell her. Having an actual friend again is good for you. Let's call this a first step to repairing your friendship.

"Actually…well, not all. I mean…um…I took his shirt off—"

"OMG!" Again, I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "I knew there was more. Spill!"

"Well, nothing more actually, uh, happened. I just, um, well, I took his shirt off when we were in his bed, but when I tried to go further, he wouldn't let me."

"What? Like, he wouldn't let you take anything else off?"

"Yeah, I don't know. I thought he wanted to be fuck buddies or something, but…uh…I guess he didn't want to go very far with me."

"Aw, but Kim! That's so sweet!"

"Huh? I just told you he rejected me, and you're saying it's sweet?"

"Well, you were pretty drunk, right? It would have been pretty messed up of him to have sex with a drunk girl."

"Okay, but I wasn't that—"

"He didn't know that. Kim, I told you. He's definitely into you. He just didn't want to take advantage of you, that's all. Isn't that so sweet of him? I'm sure he really wanted to have sex with you."

My eyebrow automatically shot up at the absurdity of her last sentence. The entire concept seemed foreign. I opened my mouth, but didn't know how to respond. I didn't know what to think, no matter how much I wanted to believe Ella's words. After a moment of silence, Ella asked,

"Would you, uh, would you have had sex with him though? Like, gone all the way if he had been into it? I don't want to pry or anything, but, uh, would it have been your first time…or…"

She trailed off, and again I felt my face flush. The pit of my stomach was beginning to twist into a very painful knot.

"Doesn't matter," I answered quickly. "Point is, we didn't do anything. I just ended up sleeping on his bed and he slept on the floor."

"Oh my God, Kim, how is this boy even more perfect than he seems from far away?"

"Huh?"

"He definitely cares about you! For goodness sake, he slept on his own floor so you could be comfortable. Kim, I'm like, low-key so jealous right now. I want someone to do that for me!"

"Yeah, I guess that was pretty nice of him."

"Exactly! I'm loving this. You guys should defs be together. Okay, so, what happened the next morning?"

I explained the events of Saturday, from my confused kiss and escape in the morning to his visit and our date plans from the night before. There was a lot of excited squealing from the other end of the phone, and I found my attempts at explaining my hesitation to be very weak indeed.

"Kimberly Connweller, I honestly don't know how that brain of yours functions. You've liked Jared since, like, forever. You know what? I can't even remember a time you didn't like him. And now you're saying you don't know if you should go out with him? Are you insane?"

Yes. Yes, I believe I am insane. A normal person would literally be over the moon. But no. Not me. How much easier would everything be if I was?

"I…I don't know. Don't you think it's weird that he suddenly started talking to me after not acknowledging me for years? What if he's, like, playing some sort of trick on me or something? Or, maybe, what if he just feels bad for me? Or…I just…"

"Kimmy. Sweetheart. Let me summarize the situation for you. This totally gorgeous boy has been super interested in you and punched someone who was mean to you. He let you crash at his house. He kissed you. He cared about you enough to not take advantage of you and he let you take over his bed. Then he literally told you he's into you. Multiple times. And now he's asking you out. You really think sixteen-year-old boys go through all that trouble just to play a joke on someone?"

"I'm not a sixteen-year-old boy, am I?"

"Okay, fine, Neither am I. But still. Anyone can see that he cares about you. I don't know why you're hesitating."

"I just…I just don't want him to be…I just hope he's serious, you know? And…I can't just be with him like that for fun. What I feel for him…it's, uh…pretty serious."

We were silent for a few seconds as Ella thought about my words.

"I know, Kim," Ella finally answered, her voice distant. "We grew up together. You know I had a crush on a new boy every week, but you…no, it was always Jared for you. So, I know, Kim."

More silence.

"All the more reason for you to jump into this. You know he's a good guy. Go and have fun tonight. It's what you've always wanted, isn't it? If you feel for him that deeply, don't you owe it to yourself to give this the best chance it has?"

"Yeah. You're right," I whispered. Of course she was. I did owe this to myself. "You're right," I repeated, feeling the return of my resolve from last night, "Okay. Yeah. I'm doing this."

"Yay! And you must tell me how it goes. Like, right when you get home. Promise? None of this two days later stuff, okay?"

I laughed. Ella's enthusiasm was contagious. "I promise. Thanks, Ella."

"Of course, Kim! Now go get ready! And I'm so glad you called me. I'm so glad to have you back."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that she would never have the old Kim back.

I was trying to do that hair-curling trick Ella had done for me on Friday when Penelope walked into the bathroom. I had taken a bubble bath after lunch, and was still wearing a towel as I tried to remember how Ella had flipped the iron so I ended up with waves. It was stressing me out.

Jared was coming at 4 to pick me up, and here I was, hair not presentable, no makeup on, and not dressed, with only an hour left. Clearly, I needed all the time in the world to get ready today, and not having that time was making me grumpy. And stressed.

"Hey, you! Are you going out?" Penelope looked at me, a little shocked. To be fair, her surprise was completely legitimate, because my going out twice in a single weekend probably looked like some alien had taken over my body. Nonetheless, I was annoyed.

"Yup," I replied, popping the "p". She eyed my struggles with the iron.

"You're doing it wrong," she observed. Reaching over, she took the iron out of my hand before I could protest and proceeded to curl a section of hair into a perfect curl. I felt myself seething, but I had to admit defeat.

"Sit," she said, positioning herself behind me so we both peered at my reflection in the mirror, "I'll do the rest for you."

"Oh. Thanks, Penny." I saw her small grin as she set to work.

"So…what's the plan for tonight?" Penelope asked carefully, not looking up from my hair. "Are you hanging out with Ella? Or…someone else...?"

"Uh, yeah. Someone else."

She didn't respond, obviously waiting for me to continue. I, however, wasn't about to volunteer any information, so for a few moments we sat in silence as she worked.

"Is it Jared from across the street?" My face flushed. I could feel her looking at my reflection in the mirror now, so I kept my eyes trained on my fingers.

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh, Kim, that's wonderful! I knew he liked you! Oh, I can't wait for you to start dating! He'll be your first boyfriend, won't he?" My eyebrows shot up.

"Well, don't get carried away, Penny. We're just hanging out," I tried to roll my eyes and sound dismissive of such an idea, even as part of me was screaming yes yes yes! I can't wait until we start dating either!

Then, though I hated even thinking about Robert Williams at the same time I thought about Jared, I said, "And besides. I've had a boyfriend before."

Something about the way Penelope had phrased the "first boyfriend" comment really bothered me. Even as I cringed at his name, I couldn't resist setting the record straight.

"Oh, really? Wow, Kim! There's so much I don't know about you! When was this?" Penny, keep this up and I really might punch you. I dug my nails into my palm and stealthily took a deep breath.

"A long time ago. I was a kid, and it was stupid, you know?" I was regretting bringing this up now, and prayed that my explanation would put her off asking for details.

"Oh, of course. Because you're so elderly now," she said with a laugh.

"I prefer wise beyond my years," I replied, only half jokingly. She shook her head and laughed again, as if knowingly. Oh Penny, I rolled my eyes inwardly, you don't know the half of it.

Thanks to Penelope's help, I was perched on a dining room chair, twisting the edge of my turtleneck sweater around my finger, when the doorbell rang. I popped up from the chair and bolted to the door in a single motion, but caught myself before I could fling it open. My hand floating over the handle, I squared my shoulders, took a few deep breaths to settle the butterflies, and calmly and casually opening the door.

I saw Paul's face before I saw Jared next to him, wearing khakis, a collared shirt, and a very large smile. The two of them standing side by side completely blocked the light from my doorway.

For a second—an awful, eternal second—I froze. And I panicked. And the cold gushing in from the door was nothing compared to the chill at the pit of my stomach. This is some sort of joke they're playing on me. It has to be. Why else would they both be here? I'm really going to be sick…

"Hey, Kim," I heard Jared's voice as he stepped forward and hugged me. Dazed and still panicked, I looked up at his face and saw a little frown appear at my expression.

"Is something wrong? You look worried."

Okay, Kimberly. Pull yourself together. For the millionth time, you know Jared and Paul aren't like that.

I shook my head and blinked a few times, then lit my face up into a smile.

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just surprised to see Paul, that's all."

"Ah, so you were dazzled by my handsome face," Paul laughed, pulling me in for a hug too. "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't notice if I tagged along and made sure Jared didn't say anything stupid."

Jared punched him in the arm. I smiled again, genuinely this time.

"Actually, Paul's here to fix your car while we're out," Jared beamed, and I looked down to see the mechanics kit Paul held.

"What? Oh, you don't have to do that."

"No, he insists. Isn't that right, bud?" Jared asked, putting a friendly, (perhaps threatening), arm around Paul's shoulder and still smiling at me.

Paul flashed a toothy grin at me. "Of course. I insist. Show me the way."

Still a little stunned, I led the boys over to where Jared had left my car.

"Here it is," I gestured grandly and opened the door. "It broke down when I was driving home and wouldn't start again."

Paul patted my shoulder. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

I spent the next few minutes in the driver's seat, rubbing my hands together and occasionally turning the ignition, while Jared and Paul poked around under the hood.

"Yeah, you were right," Paul told Jared, "It's definitely the coil pack."

"Good thing we brought the replacement."

"Mmhm." Paul looked up at me. "Don't worry. I told you I've got you covered."

"Are you sure? I don't want to trouble—"

"Nah, no trouble at all. Happy to do it for you, Kim. It's pretty simple, so I can probably get it done in an hour."

"Oh wow. Well, thanks so much, then, Paul." I wasn't exactly sure if Paul was fixing my car as a favor to me or to Jared, and why pass on the opportunity to have my car fixed by an expert?

"No problem. Now go! Both of you! Have a fun time."

"Thanks man," Jared thumped Paul on the back and walked around to the driver's door. "Miss Kimberly?" He extended a hand to me, and I took it, laughing.

"Why, thank you, kind sir." I stood up and met his soft eyes, and for a second I caught my breath. In the afternoon light, his eyes glowed like dark sea glass held up to the sun, and I couldn't look away.

"What?" he murmured, his mouth curved in a perpetual little grin.

"Nothing," I shook my head a little awkwardly, "Just realized you only have one dimple." I tore my gaze away and we started towards his pick-up across the street. I noticed that he hadn't let go of my hand, and the feeling of his palm pressed into mine was so natural that I forgot to be nervous.

"I've been wanting to tell you," Jared said, "You look really pretty today. Uh…not that you don't look really pretty every day. Because you do. But especially today. The, uh, that's a nice color on you." From the corner of my eye, I could see him looking at me as we walked.

I bit my lip and smiled, suddenly feeling too shy to look back at him.

I looked down at my bulky tan coat, finding it a little hard to believe that he found me pretty in it. "You think so? That's really nice of you."

"Of course I think so," he said, as it was indisputable, "Plus, the brown brings out the highlights in your hair."

"Oh…uh, thanks." I could feel my cheeks flushing, and continued to avoid his gaze.

"You're even prettier when you blush." Now I was sure I was turning red. Frantically, I searched my stunned brain for something clever to say, but nothing came out.

He opened the passenger seat for me, and I looked around the cab of his truck. It wasn't spotless like Paul's, but clean enough. I counted only three candy bar wrappers on the floor and a pair of jeans draped over the driver's seat, but I supposed that there was no backseat for him to throw random papers and empty drink cups.

He hopped into the driver's seat and flashed me a satisfied smile, which only made me blush all over again.

"You know, I'm also just glad you took my advice and dressed warm," he said as we pulled onto the road.

I turned and raised an eyebrow at his lack of outerwear. He was wearing a white tank under his shirt, which he left unbuttoned, as if he could take it off and walk around thirty degree weather with only a tank top on.

"Yeah, and see I'm the only one who did," I replied with a chuckle. "Seriously, though. How have you not died of pneumonia by now?"

"Ah, only mere mortals get cold, Kim."

"Oh? So you're saying you're immortal?"

He coughed, almost like I had caught him off guard, then laughed. I thought sounded a little nervous, but I must have imagined it.

"Um, I think animal describes it better," he smirked.

"You've seemed pretty civilized so far."

"Well, clearly you haven't seen all of me. But don't worry. We can change that."

Is he kidding? He's got to be kidding. Does he not fucking realize what kind of effect him saying that stuff has on me?

Then he winked at me, and suddenly I felt like one of those Victorian era ladies about to pass out from my tiny corseted waist. I turned away and let my hair fall to hide my blush.

"Huh," I breathed. "Right."

"So, it was really nice of Paul to come fix my car," I started, trying to change the subject.

"Ah, well, he is the expert. Can't let that expertise go to waste."

"Still, he didn't have to come."

"Oh, come on. Jokes aside, he really wanted to help."

"Really? Not like he owes me anything."

"No, but friends help each other out. Besides, he kind of feels like he hasn't been a very good friend to you."

"Oh. Huh." I chewed on my lower lip.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," I shrugged. Then, deciding that it was by now pretty obvious to Jared that I didn't have friends, I said, "It's just a bit funny you would say that, because besides Ella, Paul's the closest thing I've had to a friend for a while."

In the silence that followed, I turned my head to face him again and noticed his mouth was pursed in a very thin line. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel.

After a moment, he turned to me, his eyes apologetic.

"Kim, I…I want you to know how sorry I am for being such a jerk. I should have been there for you." He shook his head, brows furrowed.

"What? No, I didn't mean…"

"No, I know you didn't. But still. At least Paul checked up on you, you know? I just…I was such an idiot."

I smiled a little wryly. It felt sort of nice to hear him apologize, though I was still confused about his sudden enlightenment to my existence. Even so, I felt a little bad, seeing him so hard on himself. I really did have a soft spot for this boy.

"Jared, stop. You don't have to keep apologizing, you know."

"No, but I do. You don't understand how sorry I—"

"It's really okay. I told you. I'm not mad."

"Well, okay. Just as long as you know. I'll make it up to you."

I gave him my biggest grin. "There's nothing to make up. But yeah, okay."

"Okay. Great. Can we stop talking about Paul now? Because I want to talk about you." This elicited a laugh from me.

"Um, what about me do you want to talk about?" Internally, I grimaced. Really, Kimberly? What is this, an interview?

"Well, tell me something I don't already know about you." He made a turn onto the highway and turned his head to give me a quick smile.

"Jared," I said, suddenly feeling brave enough to be snarky, "For all know you could be stalking me. Who's to say what you do or don't already know about me?"

To my relief, he chuckled.

"Yeah, that's a very valid point."

"Wait, so you admit to the stalking?"

"I'm going to plead the Fifth on that."

It was my turn to chuckle. Jared Cameron stalking you? What a thought, Kimberly. What a thought.

Hi Friends :) I'm really really sorry that it's taken me such a long time to update. If only I didn't have a life beyond writing -.- Unfortunately, I haven't really thought out exactly how I want their date to go, but I didn't want to keep y'all waiting for much longer, so I hope this isn't too disappointing. Thanks again for reading!