That Girl in the Diner

its about the relationship between reserved stable diner girl and an unstable, kind of a man- street musician who are poles apart but just clicks right away after they meet..

1

Booze. That sounded like a really good idea right about now, he couldn't help but think, as he walked down the sidewalk heading back to his apartment. The streetlights were flickering on, slowly, as dusk settled over Los Angeles. The sunset was pretty, but it wasn't as if he noticed. All he knew was that he was in a bad mood, he was hungry, and his feet ached, his fingers ached, his back ached- hell, everything ached. He might only be twenty but he felt about sixty years older. He didn't think anyone would blame him for drowning his sorrows tonight. He'd only made enough for about a cheap bottle of vodka anyway. Today had not been a profitable day either. Five whole dollars. That was it. He couldn't say that anyone had been exactly generous. As the light had been fading, his guitar just seemed to get heavier and heavier with each person who passed and didn't throw in a dime. Not many had even just stopped to listen today. It had been less than encouraging.

So, he was going home. But luckily, there was a liquor store only about two blocks from where he lived so he really didn't even have to take a detour. He would by a bottle of wine or something- whatever he could afford- and he would go home and drink until he either finished the bottle or started to feel a little sick. Then, he would go to bed and sleep it off until noon. And then the whole process would repeat again. It was less than cheery and hopeful, that was for sure. His shoes were scuffing the pavement as he walked, turning the corner, he slunk slowly down the street... Until something caught his eye. Mick's diner. It was a big red brick building with a bright neon sign, standing just on the corner, within sight of the liquor store. It wasn't the classiest of places. He always went there when he'd made a few bucks and it was too early for a drink. His stomach rumbled as if on cue. Maybe he didn't need a beer after all. He took a chance and peered inside the window. Yeah, that was what he needed. The two things in the world that might have a chance at bringing a smile to his face right now: a big, fat, juicy cheeseburger after a long day at work and her. He could see her through the window, sweeping the floor of the almost totally deserted diner. Her black hair was falling out of her messy bun and into her face, and she had to keep stopping to push it back. He smiled just a little. He didn't even know her name, she was just 'diner girl', but every time he went to that diner (which was fairly frequently since he couldn't cook to save his life), he would always look for her. She was sweet, and most of the time, she slipped him a little something extra, even when- especially when- he couldn't afford it. It might be just a little extra cheese on his burger or some fries or just a glass of water. He always made sure to give her a little nod of thanks before he left, he didn't want to get her in trouble, but aside from taking his order, they had never spoken. She was really pretty too. He always daydreamed about what it would be like to talk to her and what it would be like to see her in a nice pair of jeans and a t-shirt instead of that grimy old uniform. She had a good figure, he could see that through the window even, and a cute, pretty face. What was not to like about her? Just seeing her inspired him just a little to write something. His song writing had been dwindling to pretty much nothing lately, but she always perked him up a bit. He had just never met someone so kind before. The booze was totally forgotten as he walked into the door of the diner, hoping that this would at least make his night a little bit bearable.

He walked in and sat in his usual spot, slinging the guitar case over the back of the chair and sitting down heavily in the seat. Every muscle in his body was drained of all strength. He really wanted to get home and sleep, but he did have to eat something first. He sat back in the chair, just relishing the moment of being able to relax for a whole ten seconds. He'd been working way too long out there in the heat and the cold winds and everything. He was just ready to drop. Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a second or two...

His eyes flashed open as he felt a hand press lightly on his shoulder. Had he actually been asleep? He jumped a little and looked up. Diner girl was standing over him, smiling kindly down at him. "Sorry if I surprised you." She said, her voice soft and apologetic. She removed her hand from his shoulder, a minute too late for him to forget that it had been there. He felt a strange tingling sensation at the spot where her hand had been, and almost wanted to ask for her to put her hand back on him again for some reason. She had never touched him before, he wanted to relish the fact for a moment longer.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Don't worry about it."

"Are you ready to order?" She took a pencil and a piece of paper out of her dusty apron and he nodded, feeling a little sheepish suddenly. He rubbed the back of his head with a calloused hand and nodded. It wasn't a hard decision. He only had five dollars, he couldn't get much.

"Yeah, can I get a hamburger, please? Just the burger." He said sort of sadly.

She tucked the pad back into her apron. It wasn't like there was very much need of that, any dimwit could remember a hamburger, and smiling slightly at him, she left him alone. She didn't want to impose, it was plain to anyone that he was worn out. She didn't want to bother her favourite customer.

He had been her favourite customer practically since the day that he had walked in. She didn't know his name, but she did know that he rarely had enough money to pay for anything, and he seemed really nice. It wasn't any kind of trouble slipping him anything extra, honestly. Nobody noticed her much around here, she could get away with quite a bit when she wanted to. She had always wanted to talk to him, but she could never work up the courage. She just hoped that he hadn't caught her staring yet. She always snuck glances from the other side of the room when she was sure that he wasn't looking. He had the nicest, deepest eyes, and the most infectious, boyish smile. But she only snuck a glance over once as she was giving the order to the cook. Today, there was no one else here. He looked battered. Even the marks on his beaten up guitar case seemed to be formed in a frowny face pattern. She looked around the room, her brow furrowed in thought. If there was one thing she was good at, it did happen to be coming up with plans. She was an organized kind of girl. A tall glass in the corner of the dirty dish pile caught her eye and she smiled a little to herself. She might be able to give him a little extra something tonight... Just this once.

She walked over to his table again a few minutes later, clearing her throat quietly to get his attention. He looked up, having been busy looking out the window, almost too tired to think. He was confused at first. This was too early for his burger, he had been to this place so many times, he knew that the cook wasn't even close to that quick. His eyes lit up a little though, when he saw what she was carrying.

It was a tall chocolate milkshake, with a topping of whipped cream and a cherry on top for effect. A blue bendy straw stuck out of it, and he looked around. Who would have ordered that? Then, she explained.

"I just found this laying around on the shelf; I'd hate for it to go to waste. I was wondering if you might be able to choke it down?"Lies, all lies, and they both knew it perfectly well. He smiled gratefully, for the first time that evening, as she set it down in front of him.

"Yeah. I don't think I could ever turn down a chocolate milkshake in need. Thank you." His eyes met hers, and his thank you was earnest. She was far too sweet. Sweet like the cherry on top his chocolate milkshake, which was suddenly disappearing quite quickly. It tasted divine. He didn't delve in long though. She was only turning away slowly and he wanted the chance to say something to her before he was too tired to summon up the courage or the energy. "I don't think I've ever said thank you to you, for all those other extras you give me. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble or anything because of it though..."

She shook her head, her messy bun loosening a bit at the movement, threatening to let her raven locks stray. "No, I've only gotten caught once. I don't think anyone really cares. And I don't expect a thank you anyway, that's half the fun of it." She had seen his slight nods and his smiles as he left most times, and his boyish grin was enough thanks for her. For some reason, she never thought that he was being rude. The less they spoke, the less suspicious it was, and besides, he was so much nicer than most of the other regular patrons. He didn't try to play games of grab a*s, and he didn't trip or spill things on her intentionally. He didn't slop all over the tables and even when he was tired like this, his eyes still seemed to be so deep... She was afraid to make eye contact because then she might just fall into those chocolate brown pools and get lost and he'd think she was totally nuts. It wasn't exactly the impression she wanted to give him that was for sure. She stood there for a moment, a silence descending on them, but neither cared. They just looked at each other, as if in their own little worlds. To anyone else it might have been awkward, but neither really wanted the other to leave.

It was only when she heard the cook calling her from the kitchen, saying that the burger was ready, that she had to excuse herself. Julian watched her walk away, and then stared down into his milkshake. He really didn't understand why she was always so nice to him. What had he done to deserve it? He didn't even know her name, they'd never really spoken aside from her taking his order. She did brighten up his mood just a little bit though. Maybe all the people on the street today hadn't given him so much as a second glance, but she restored his faith in humanity just a little.

She was back momentarily, with a juicy cheeseburger, and fries of course. He shook his head a little, smiling though. She just couldn't resist doing that to him for some reason could she? He was almost a little sad though. Now he had his food, she had no reason to come back. Oh well. He sighed softly and fished in his pocket for the five dollars in change he had made that day. She shook her head as he offered it though.

"No, it's on the house tonight. You look like you could use it."

But Julian was absolutely adamant on this point. "Take it. Please. I owe this diner so much already- and one day I'm going to pay it all back. Plus interest. I promise."

She silently took the money from him, sticking it into her apron pocket. Looking around the diner, there were no other customers left. It was only her and him and the cook in the kitchen, singing along to Italian opera radio rather badly. There were no more chores to do. Everything was wiped and cleaned and ready for tomorrow. She decided to summon a little courage and take a chance.

"It's... It's kinda dead here tonight. Do- would you mind some company?" She stammered a little. Bringing food and taking orders was easy, but sitting down and having a conversation with a guy? Not so much. She had never exactly been socially adept, and she wasn't big on rejection, but what was the harm? He looked like he had had a hard day. Maybe he would like some company?

He smiled, perking up at her question. "No, I wouldn't mind at all." He tried not to sound too excited. It wasn't like he'd been daydreaming about this for weeks, just wondering what it would be like to talk to her. He didn't know why he'd never asked her to keep him company before. He was usually quite good with women. He flirted with them on the streets all the time for a few extra bucks, and he'd never had trouble getting a date. He didn't know what was so different about her, but he was glad that she was interested in chatting with him. He could use that tonight.

She smiled back at him a little and slipped into the booth across from him as he took a big bite out of his burger. It looked as if he hadn't eaten in months, the way he'd almost finished half of it by the time that she could blink. She couldn't restrain a small giggle at the sight of it. He wasn't a big guy by any means. She had to wonder where all of that was going. He looked up as he heard the laugh, and smiled back at her a little, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, realizing that he had to look like a pig to her. He was just so hungry, and the food was so good...

"Sorry." He apologized.

She shook her head. "It's fine. You have immaculate table manners, really. You should see some of the people that come in here, with sauces dribbling down their chins, eating four or five burgers, three plates of fries and god knows how many milkshakes before dessert."

He swallowed and chuckled. "Not to be gross, but I could probably pack all of that away right now. I haven't eaten all day. Here, have some fries. I don't want to be the only one eating." Julian pushed his plate closer to the middle of the table, allowing her to steal a fry or two. He didn't mind sharing. She had given it to him after all, it was only fair. "I'm Julian, by the way."

She nibbled on the fry, only having taken one out of politeness. If he was starving she didn't want to steal all his food. She smiled at his name. Julian. She liked that. It wasn't Matt or Brad, or Josh, or anything dull like that. "Madeline. But everyone calls me Maddy, of course."

"Madeline." He repeated. She got butterflies as he said it, liking the way it rolled off his tongue. She averted her gaze, looking down at her hands for a minute so she wouldn't let herself get carried away.

"So, uh, you're a musician?" She nodded to the guitar case, trying to start up a conversation.

He sighed, not smiling for the first time that she had walked up to him. "I wouldn't call myself a musician, a struggling one, perhaps? I don't even know anymore."

"Not a good day, huh?"

"No, not at all to be honest. You're doing a pretty good job of turning that around though." He didn't want to dump all his problems on her and let her realize how much of a loser that he really was. Even though she had probably already guessed that he had no money, and that was bad enough. The way she smiled though, as he said that, made him smile again. Yeah, she was definitely turning his bad day around, sitting and chatting with him.

"Well, I think you're definitely a musician. I mean, I don't think there's one day I haven't seen you with your guitar. You obviously have a passion for it. That's all that matters- whether you make any money at it or not." She shrugged. She wouldn't usually give an opinion like that to a stranger, but he didn't feel like a stranger to her. It was so easy to talk to him- usually it would take an hour or two for her to really relax and be able to say what was on her mind. But not with him, for some reason. They had known of each other for longer than an hour or two though, so did that count? Either way they seemed to click, and it was refreshing after so long to have a real conversation with someone. Madeline wasn't the type to have many friends, she hadn't spoken to anyone her own age in so long. That just made it doubly wonderful.

"It's complicated... I've been doing this for years now, playing my music on the streets, and I'm not getting anywhere, it's kind of frustrating. But thank you for the faith in me anyway. You're very sweet."

She blushed a little at that, and it made him smile yet again. She was quite adorable in his eyes. She twisted a piece of hair around her finger several times before she managed to recover from being complemented by someone like him. It was small, she knew, and it was a bit of an overreaction to be so flattered, but she couldn't help it. Men like him were hard to come by.

"I'd like to hear you play some time..." She said rather sheepishly. Arranging to see him again would be good. It would be a shame to only see him every now and again at the diner, now that they'd spoken. He came in often, but she didn't always have time to chat like this. She really was curious about his music too. She imagined he had to be good if he played his guitar so often, and his voice was smooth and soft. She liked the way he spoke. She could only imagine his singing voice would be even better.

Much to her delight, he nodded. "Well, I'm usually at the park, around the corner if you ever want to. Private shows cost extra though." He winked at her. "But enough about me. Tell me about you. What do you do when you're not here?" He didn't want to come off like a total jerk, only talking about himself, and he did genuinely want to know. All he knew was her name so far and how nice she was and how pretty and soft those lips looked, and how shiny her hair was. He wanted to reach out and touch her to see if she was as appealing to his fingertips as she was to his eyes but he figured that would be way too creepy for a first meeting.

Maddy merely gave a modest shrug. "I don't do much, actually. I take night classes at the university to study for my psychology degree. And then in my spare time, I mostly just stay at home with my dog. It's really not that exciting."

Julian was fascinated with those few small sentences though. It told him a lot, and knowing about her meant a lot to him. She had been so sweet to him, it almost seemed callous to be clueless about her. "Psychology? So, you're studying to be a shrink or something? That's impressive."



She smiled brightly at the encouragement. "Yeah, I do want to be a psychologist. I'm in my second year. Most people don't think it's interesting, but I enjoy it a lot. And don't worry, I'm not about to start asking how everything makes you feel."

"No, that's really cool." A psychologist? So she was smart, too? That was always a refreshing quality in a pretty woman: brains. In his experience, it wasn't something one encountered often, a mixture of the two. "And you have a dog?"

She nodded. "Yeah. A Rottweiler, his name is Fluffy."

He chuckled. "That's an interesting name for a male Rottweiler."

"I got him from a shelter when I moved out of my parent's place almost a year ago, to keep me company. The name was part of the deal."

"I love dogs, but I could never have one. I can barely take care of myself right now, much less anything else..." He said quietly, but he quickly tried to brighten up the subject. He couldn't help adding stuff like that in though. He had just had such a bad day. Even if she was making him feel lots better, his problems still haunted him a bit. "Anyway, what do you do for fun?"

"Oh, I write sometimes. Poems, stories and stuff like that. Nothing terribly exciting. I play the piano a little, and I sing in the shower but that is about the extent of my musical abilities."

"I'd love to read something of yours. If you don't mind."

Madeline usually didn't show anyone else her work. Ever. Rarely anyone had read it, and even fewer said that it was actually good. She didn't think it was much good either, but right now, she just really didn't want to say no to him. "We can trade. I'll show you something of mine if you play me a song. How's that?"

Julian grinned. That would mean he would get to see her again and he couldn't argue with an arrangement like that. "It's a date then."

Neither of them had said anything about a date but Julian thought he would be bold. Maddy blushed at the suggestion and looked down into her lap. To Julian, her slight shyness just made her that more attractive. And what was better, she didn't say no. The last fry had been picked off the plate, and there was no singing coming from the kitchen, so assumedly the cook had already left. She slid out of the booth without making eye contact and grabbed a pair of keys out of her apron pocket.

"I'd better lock up now, I guess. We don't stay open very late on weeknights and my manager would kill me if he had to start paying me overtime for this." She chuckled a little and slipped in back of the restaurant to grab her things, still with her cheeks slightly rosy. She got asked out by guys at the diner- mostly slimy, drunken, unattractive ones, on occasion. Maybe once a month or so. She was a bit of a plain Jane and the uniform didn't help but she didn't mind it. Her reaction usually wasn't like this though. A date with a guy like him? Did he really mean date or was that just an expression? She couldn't imagine getting that lucky. She hadn't been on a date in months. Especially not with a nice guy, either. Of all the times she'd been daydreaming about that... It took a minute for her to compose herself and act half decently normal again.

She came back out, shrugging on her jacket over her greasy pink dress, the classic uniform that was about as frumpy as oversized sweats but not anywhere near as comfortable. He smiled at her and slid out of the booth. It was time to say goodbye, apparently. He wished that it wasn't. Suddenly, he had a brain wave.

"Do you live near here? I just didn't see a car outside."

"Yeah, I live about three blocks away. Why?"

Jack smiled. "I'm four blocks away. I always walk past this place coming back from the park, that's why I come in here so often."

"Oh, really? I'm surprised we haven't passed each other then." She opened the door and he shouldered his guitar case. They both slipped out into the dark night of Los Angeles. "I always walk to work. It saves on gas." She locked the door behind them and slipped the key into her pocket, standing there for a moment when they should be parting ways. She didn't really want to say goodbye quite yet.

Jack already had that covered though. "I could walk you home, if you wanted. Women really shouldn't walk around alone at night out here."

"Okay." Her heart skipped a beat at his offer and she turned in the direction of her apartment. "Provided, we're going the same way, of course. I live up here." It didn't bother her that a near complete stranger would know where she lived, she wasn't paranoid like that. She was just glad that she'd get a few more minutes with him. She didn't like walking alone anyway.

2-a walk in the park

2

The day was sunny. It was about ten in the morning, and the park was alive with small, giggling children chasing after stray Frisbees and run away balls. It was busy because of the weather, and the ceaseless traffic brushing past her for once made her smile. She never liked large crowds, she far preferred to be on her own, but today as Madeline walked through the park, she didn't mind everyone around her for once. She was out walking Fluffy as usual, and on nice days she usually never went to the park. She never went to this particular park at all really, but since the night before... Julian had told her that he usually played at this park and she had thought that she might just walk by and 'accidentally' run into him. There was no harm in that, right? The walk home with him had been nice, she just liked the company and Julian was definitely a good conversationalist. Not to mention the eyes... But she didn't even want to go there.

She had dolled up more than usual for a walk in the park due to her mission, and even her dog seemed to notice the change in attitude. Fluffy was a big dog, and usually protective of her. That was the main reason she'd gotten him anyway, aside from companionship. She wasn't the strongest girl ever and he did make her feel safe. He always growled if anyone shady got too close, and now, even more than usual. Perhaps Fluffy knew something was up and was jealous? She couldn't tell. Something was definitely in the air though. She was nervous to run into him, in case he would see through her facade and think she was creepy. She didn't even know what she was going to say if she saw him. She just knew she wanted to hear him play and run into him. After that, the plan was a little shaky.

It didn't take long to find him though. The park wasn't huge, and once she heard the faint strumming of a guitar in the distance, all she had to do was try not to grin so broadly and look like a creep as she followed the sound. Kids rushed past her and mothers with babies told them to stay close, but once she came into sight of him she couldn't notice anything else.

He was sitting on a bench, with his guitar case out in front of him, singing Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. His singing voice was flowing and deep and gentle, even better than she had hoped it would be. She approached him slowly, not wanting to interrupt. Nobody else really seemed to be listening to him, or throwing much money into the case as they walked by. If she didn't know him she would at least even stop to listen for awhile, he was quite good. But the only audience he seemed to have was the group of drunks on the bench opposite him, singing along badly with his guitar playing. Julian was immersed in his music, and it was plain on his face. Until, he happened to look up and see her. Once their eyes met he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, and the last few lines of the song were really just for her.

"Singing don't worry, about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright - won't worry! Every little thing is gonna be alright,"He played the last few chords on his guitar, smiling at Maddy, this was by far the most interesting audience he'd had all day. And not to mention- the most beautiful. "It's about time our paths crossed."

She nodded, finally reaching the bench he was sitting at. "Most definitely. That was great. You're really good- not that it surprises me. You look a lot better than you did yesterday night, if I may say so. Oh, and this is Fluffy, of course. In case you hadn't already guessed." She did realize that she was rambling just a little bit but it was hard not to. She had been worried about what she would say but now it felt as if she was saying far too much. It was almost like he was too easy to talk to, she just had to spill everything all at once. Julian didn't really notice though- or mind. He was just happy to see her. He almost felt a little awkward right now, being unable to wipe the stupid grin off his face. He had been expecting to see her today, but not quite so soon. She always brought a smile to his face. He had been hoping she'd walk by but he had doubted it, so he had told himself that later he would walk around her place like a creepy stalker in order to just 'bump into her' as if by accident. She had a dog, after all, so she'd have to come out sometime, right? He just really wanted to see her, after she had boosted his mood so much yesterday. He was just so excited to finally be able to start getting to know her. It was strange for him, usually he didn't go after girls like this, but Maddy was different. Way different.

He set his guitar down on the bench beside him and slid over to her, getting off the bench and onto his knees to greet Fluffy, who was not pleased with the fact that he was coming closer to his mistress. Fluffy growled and snapped viciously but Madeline wasn't worried. She knew that she had her dog totally under control. She tugged on the leash harshly and snapped her fingers. Fluffy seemed reluctant but he sat at attention without another peep, though he still looked at Julian intensely. It was going to take awhile to win Fluffy over, that much was apparent. He petted the animal cautiously though, despite its aggression. "Why hello, Fluffy. Nice to meet you."

Julian stood then, and brushed off his jeans, leaving Madeline quite impressed. Anyone with that much manners and respect for her dog was a definite winner in her book, for sure. "And yes, I am feeling a lot better than I was yesterday. Business hasn't been much better, but it's okay. How about you? You look great... I mean, not that you didn't yesterday. I've just never seen you out of your clothes before." Okay. Stop. That came out wrong. "I mean out of the clothes you wear when you work... never seen you in 'normal' clothes, yeah," he slapped one of his hands over his face, hiding out behind the palm of his hand for a moment or two. Madeline giggled a little and blushed at the compliment. He was quite cute when he wanted to be.

"I get it, thanks. I don't think that uniform is flattering on anyone."

"If it was, you'd be the only person to pull it off." Julian smiled, eager to change the subject. He usually never messed up like that, he never got tongue tied. He wanted to forget about this incident as soon as possible. "It's nice that we ran into each other. I have never seen either of you at this park before."

"Well, we don't usually go here, I'll admit... We just... wanted a... umm... change of scenery, didn't we Fluffy?" Maddy's eyes couldn't meet Julian's for two reasons now- not just because she was afraid of falling into them and looking like an idiot. She fidgeted a little, and Julian grinned suddenly.

"You were looking for me?" He could tell she was lying a mile away, and his heart leapt a little at the thought that just maybe because he'd told her where he played last night, that she might have hunted him down to talk to him. This was almost too good to be true.

Even if Madeline would have said no, her blush still would have betrayed her. She was a blusher, that was for sure. She thought it was one of her worst traits, that she could never play it cool with a guy because she was always turning red as a beet every five minutes or so. She could feel her face warming up and she figured she might as well tell the truth. If he thought that she was creepy, then so be it. "Okay, you caught me. I was bored and you got me curious last night."

He chuckled. Everything she was saying right now just kept giving him more and more hope that she liked him. Because he was definitely feeling an attraction there, but he didn't dare do much about it yet. Not until he was certain anyway. Her admitting that had to be a green light, though, right? Besides, the opportunity to make her blush even more was something he'd jump at right now. "I'm glad you decided to accidentally on purpose drop by then. Truth is, if I didn't see you today I was planning on going all stalkerish on you and walking by your place to see if I could catch a glimpse. But now that we've run into each other, you want to walk around a bit? I don't think I'm going to be getting much more business here anyway."

Madeline smiled at that, feeling less of a fool with that confession, although she had to question his motives. Was he just that bored that he thought running into her would be interesting? Guys like him, with talent and deep brown eyes, the kind that did whatever they wanted and followed their dreams even if it meant bad days sometimes... They never gave her a second glance. In fact, she was pretty sure she'd never seen one this close up before. She didn't understand his interest in her but she was more than glad for it. "Yeah, sure. I guess now that I've heard you play, I owe you some of my writing now, huh?"

He had almost forgotten about their little wager. "Oh yeah, I guess you do now." He scooped up the change from his guitar case and packed it up quickly, swinging it over his shoulder lightly. He was used to it.

It didn't take long for them to fall into step, with Fluffy walking in between the two of them like some kind of chaperone. He still didn't seem to like Julian very much yet, but Madeline wasn't surprised. The dog had always had a protective streak. When she'd first brought him home from the shelter, she could barely pet him, he was so timid. He would bark at everyone on walks. Now that she had him a little more calm, he was eager to be petted, but he still guarded her with his life. Most of the time Fluffy was the only company she had, and even though she knew that he shouldn't be so aggressive, she was thankful for it. He didn't trust people too easily, especially men wielding large foreign objects. She wasn't surprised at Fluffy's reaction at all. But her dog would just have to get used to Julian, because she was hoping that this wouldn't be the last time that they were out walking in the park together. Of course, she knew she was aiming pretty high with her hopes, but she could always dream, couldn't she? Whether she'd ever actually have the guts to get a guy, that was another story entirely.

"So business hasn't been good today? It's such a nice day out, I thought I'd have to get Fluffy to make a bath for me through the crowd to get to you or something. The music was good enough to warrant that, anyway."

Julian laughed. Maybe someday he would be able to get a crowd like that, but definitely not anytime soon. Or maybe ever. He had felt so down about his music lately. She was helping to turn that around though. "Thanks. Business has not been good lately- maybe it's the recession or something? I don't really know. My most faithful audience has been those drunks that sung along back there and they're about as rich as I am. But there's things I'd rather do than beg people for money, like... spending time with you." He shot her a winning smile and she turned away, smiling shyly. Every time he smiled at her she seemed to do that. He didn't care what people said, shyness was definitely an attractive trait.

"I wouldn't call it begging exactly. You do give them something in return after all." She said, completely avoiding the way he was trying to flatter her.

"Oh, I don't know. Let's talk about something else- you for instance." The truth was, he could talk about music all day, he just didn't want to talk about his music. He already figured she thought that he was a total failure by now. He didn't want to say anything more to reinforce that belief.

"Okay, what about me, exactly?"

"Your family. Your boyfriend. Your dog. Anything. You have my full attention."

She shrugged. "Well... I'm the baby of the family. I have a brother and a sister, both in different continents. My parents are still in the city, still together. And you already know about Fluffy. Don't worry if he seems a bit hostile, he'll get used to you."

"So, no boyfriend?"

She blushed and shook her head. Of course not. Why would she have a boyfriend? "You really have got to stop making me blush so much."

"Alright. Change of subject. We could discuss how soft your hair is, and how well it frames that pretty face of yours. Or, how blue your eyes are. Or, we could talk about how nicely you fit in those jeans. Does that help?" He was in a mischievous mood. He figured a girl like her should know how beautiful she was. She didn't seem to realize that, and if that had to be his mission to remind her? He'd gladly do it. Madeline might not be the most gorgeous woman on the planet with knockers the size of watermelons and a perfect nose with a flawless complexion... but with her blue-black hair and pale face, that slender figure and those full, rosy lips, she had nothing to be ashamed of. There was no denying that this girl was attractive. She just had to believe it herself.

She flushed redder than a strawberry at all of that, which he found rather fetching. He was so used to the egotistical girls who wanted a guy who could write an ode to their four hundred dollar designer pumps. He was used to being the guy with the guitar, and he didn't really care normally. As long as it got him laid, right? He was finding though, that a girl with a little more modesty and a touch of sweetness (more than a touch really, he didn't even want to think about adding up an estimate of how much he owed the diner because of her gifts) was just as hot.

"If you don't stop complimenting me, you will never get another fry out of me ever again. You'll order a plate of fries and I'll give you a dollop of ketchup and a bowl of grease!" She threatened. Receiving compliments was not exactly her specialty. She wasn't used to it and she didn't know how to take all this flirting from him. Not that she didn't like it. She just wasn't used to this kind of thing. She was a loner, boys didn't do this to her, and she hardly knew how to respond. She felt like she was all arms and legs, she felt awkward and embarrassed, but at the same time her heart was pounding and she felt kind of light headed from all the praise. What was it that he was doing to her? After so many months of not talking to each other, of not even being able to ask anything more than 'what can I get for you today?', this was what she got. After so many weeks of daydreaming about what he might say, this was it. She was scared to say something stupid and... Well, she didn't know about and, she'd never gotten that far. She'd only gotten as far as the scared part with men.

Julian couldn't see that though. He only laughed and conceded. "I'm sorry, I'll stop. I just can't help it! I'm part Spanish you know. Language of love and all that stuff. It's in my blood."

"I thought that was Italian? Or French?"

"All three, I think. Depends on who you talk to. Personally, I've always thought that Swahili was particularly romantic."

"My vote is still for Norse. Those Vikings, you know- the warriors of love."

Julian laughed again, trying to picture it. "I couldn't agree more." It was just then that his stomach rumbled ravenously. He patted it, as if that would quiet it. "Sorry. I'm a little peckish."

She readjusted her grip on Fluffy's leash, fidgeting for a second. Dare she ask? It just seemed like such an opportunity. Before she could really think about passing it up though, her mouth opened and her voice said the words. "You could come back to my place, and have lunch with me... if you wanted. I mean, my apartment is only a couple blocks away. And, I do have to hold up my end of the deal, after all." Normally, she would never ask anything like that, she was way too fond of not getting rejected to ask that. But, Maddy did have a tendency to blurt things out sometimes.

"Yeah, sure." Apparently, this was one of those times where the blurting out stuff paid off. "You don't have to feed me every time you see me though. You do so much for me already. I've gotta say though, my mom would smother you in hugs if she knew how you kept me so well fed."

Madeline's smile grew, as they turned down the street, out of the park, walking towards her place. "What am I supposed to do, let you just waste away? And it's really no trouble, I have lots. I don't work all those shifts at the diner for nothing."

"How often do you work there? I've only missed seeing you a handful of times when I've gone to eat."

"I work there whenever I'm not studying, pretty much. I have tuition and school costs, on top of rent and Fluffy and the necessities, so I work as many shifts as I can to make sure I'm in the clear."

"That must be hard. Do you like it?"

"It's not as hard as your job! You have to stand out in the pouring rain and on really hot days and play. That must be tough. I'm not really crazy about working there, but, it's okay. I can't complain much. There's good days and bad days."

He chuckled. "Isn't that what people say when they have cancer?"

"It's definitely not that bad!" She couldn't remember the last time she'd smiled or giggled quite so much. It had been awhile.

The walk to her apartment wasn't very long. Julian was shocked at the fact that she was letting him in after she'd only met him yesterday, but he certainly wasn't complaining. He could drop by her place on occasion now that he knew where it was, if he couldn't find her at the diner. It was something he would definitely take advantage of.

When she let him in, he was surprised. Compared to his place, her little pad was a palace. It had a living room, and a kitchen with enough space for a table, and a bathroom and her bedroom was even separate! All he had was a two room place, one big room for everything and a teensy little bathroom that barely fit a shower a sink and a toilet inside. Hers was several rooms and while it wasn't all that huge, it wasn't a total disaster zone like his was either. It just looked lived in, and cozy. He felt at home already and he had barely stepped in the door. She let Fluffy off his leash, and hung it up on the rack in the entry way, but Fluffy didn't move an inch from her side. He followed her into the kitchen and sat on the floor in the corner, keeping a close eye on Julian as he entered the kitchen behind Madeline.

She began rummaging around in the fridge for ingredients. "I was thinking angel hair pasta with red peppers. Is that okay?"

He nodded. "I definitely think that I could choke that down. One of these days I'm going to have to cook you dinner for a change. And by cook, I mean order take out, because I'm a really lousy cook." He would never want to subject such a sweet woman to tasting his cooking, that would just be cruel. He truly was a horrible cook, it was a success for him to just boil water, never mind making a whole meal that tasted half decent. But he seriously was going to have to make all this up to her at some point, one way or another. He owed her, big time.

"It'll take fifteen minutes or so, but umm... I guess you can read some of my stuff, if you still want to. Just to pass the time." She was nervous about showing it to him, it wasn't often that her work saw the light of day like this. Curse that silly deal she'd made, but she would be true to her word. It was only fair.

Julian nodded eagerly. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

She slipped past him and returned momentarily with a little black leather skinned notebook, handing it to him, and quickly going back to the stove, awaiting huge bursts of laughter, or maybe for him to just plain ask her how weird she really was. Running out in sheer fear that her oddities might be contagious was another option. The possibilities were just endless. He sat down at the kitchen table, and flicked open the first page. It was a book of poems. She didn't figure she'd torture him with a long story or anything like that. And she hadn't even heard the whole song that he was playing, so really, it was only fair. She busied herself with cooking, but it didn't take very long to get his reaction.

"Maddy, these are... wow..."

"That bad, huh?" She laughed a little, stirring the pot of pasta.

"No! These are amazing." Julian found himself just a little bit awe struck. He had expected something mediocre, the angsty, cliché type that he was used to reading from girls back in high school. But this was definitely not the average run of the mill stuff. She really had talent. He shouldn't be so surprised, it wasn't as if he had been betting that she was only good at serving fries. Madeline couldn't help but smile at the praise and he drank in the smile, grinning back. "Please tell me you're trying to get these published, at the very least."

"Published? Oh, they're definitely not that good. It's just a hobby. You really like them?"

He stood up and walked over to her, handing her the book back. "Love them. I don't know how you can say those aren't good, I'm practically speechless."

"Then why are you handing them back so fast?" The blush was clear on her cheeks again. She wasn't entirely sure whether or not to buy the praise. He might just be being nice after all. Either way, it was flattering. Nobody had ever liked her work that much before.

"I don't want to steal it! I want to turn them into songs, they're perfect for that. You're really talented."

He handed the book to her, their fingertips brushing. An electric current surged through her veins at his touch, while Fluffy growled at the closeness. Julian stepped back, figuring it was best to be nice to that dog, considering it could rip him to shreds no matter how many times Madeline said that Fluffy was harmless.

"Better?" The dog seemed satisfied and Madeline was glad for the attention being turned on her Rottweiler rather than herself. She didn't know how to take the compliments and the closer that Julian got, the more she kept staring into his eyes, and looking at his lips and wondering what it might be like to brush her own against them... Yeah. Definitely not a good idea to start that train of thought. He might think she was pretty and he might like her writing, and he might have been intending to 'accidentally' run into her later, but that didn't mean he liked her that way... right?

"Well, anyway, I think the food is done." She announced, changing the subject and serving them each a plate. They sat down opposite each other at her kitchen table, with Maddy trying to avoid eye contact so she wouldn't accidentally get carried away with falling into his eyes again. Those looks were dangerous.

Julian took a bite and smiled. "This is really good. Impressive." And Julian really was impressed. She could cook too. It felt like his dream girl was sitting right in front of him. She mumbled a thank you, with a smile, and looked down at her plate. The fact that she wasn't looking at him wasn't escaping Julian. He reached out and tucked a stray strand of her raven hair behind her ear, so he could see her face better. Madeline looked up- his plan had worked; and deliberately touching her, even that little bit, seemed to have taken the breath from both of them for a moment. There was a connection here. Julian wasn't sure on her signals, but he was pretty sure by the way she kept blushing that she didn't dislike him. He figured it was time to be a man and make a move, finally, acting on the hints he'd been giving out all day. Things seemed to be going fast with them. Only yesterday they'd been talking, and now she was serving him lunch at home. Maybe he'd been daydreaming about her for too long or something. Either way, he knew she had to feel something too, otherwise she wouldn't be being so nice to him all the time.

"This is going to sound weird cause I know this is only the second time we actually speak but it feels like I have known you my whole life. Truth is; I can't stop thinking about you and I think we should go out sometime, like... on a date."

Madeline immediately choked on her mouthful of food. Woah. She knew she was pretty bad at reading signals, but she really hadn't seen that one coming. Couldn't stop thinking about her? She didn't even turn red at that one, she just didn't get it. What was there to think about when it came to her? He barely knew her. To be fair, though, she hadn't exactly stopped thinking about Julian very much either. She would come home in the evenings after a long day at work, she would find herself sitting on her couch wondering what it was like to be him. She envied him for his 'job'. It just seemed so free- no boss, no work hours. Not much of a pay cheque, either, but it seemed really romantic to Maddy. She often wondered what he might say to her if they ever spoke. It just seemed like he was everything she wasn't, it was attractive. To think that he felt the same way, after such a short time... She had never noticed the lingering stares when he looked at her before, she had never gotten any hints. It felt like she'd been thrust into a romance novel. Was this right? Well, it was just a date. She should stop freaking out. He wasn't confessing his undying passion for her or anything. It was just a date. With her reaction, though, he'd felt like he'd stepped over the line somehow and he was quickly thinking of a way to make it sound better.

"Only if you want to, of course. I was just thinking of going up to the national park for the afternoon tomorrow, to get away from the city a bit and clear my head. You're welcome to come with me if you want."

It took a moment or two for her to find her voice again. "Yeah, I have the day off tomorrow, I'd like that."

Julian grinned. "Good. And I don't mean to freak you out with the whole 'I feel like I've known you for ages' thing and all that. I-"

"It doesn't freak me out at all. I mean, technically we have known each other for a few months. I'm sure that counts somehow. You don't really even know the half of it." She smiled secretively. Oh, he really didn't know the half of it, about how she felt the same and more. Compared to her, he was the King of Normalcy. She liked that though. The fact that they were going on a date just made her feel all light and bubbly. She'd never been up to the park before, but even if it was a toxic waste dump that smelled of garbage and had weird mutated chipmunks running through the fields of dead trees, she knew she'd like it. She'd be with him, why wouldn't she like it? He'd been so sweet to her so far. She wasn't even sure if she'd be able to sleep. The mood was infectious, and both thought that tomorrow really couldn't come soon enough.


3-first date

They met at the trail head just before lunch time. The air was crisp and not too hot, and birds twittered up in the trees, almost as if they were feeding off of their excitement. Madeline's heart had been pounding in her chest ever since he had asked her on the date and she was pretty sure that it could be heard from a mile away. She hardly knew what to feel. She was anxious and excited, and she didn't want to screw things up. She had not stopped thinking about Julian since he had left the afternoon before. His face filled her mind, the song he'd been singing had been stuck in her head, she just couldn't get that smile off her face. She hadn't been treated that way in so long. Madeline wanted to get to know him so much better. Julian was just as eager. He'd practically had to tear himself away from her the day before, he was thrilled that she was going out with him. He couldn't remember the last time a first date had meant so much to him. Of course, he went on dates pretty regularily. Except, not recently because he couldn't bring himself to care. But Madeline was sweet to him, and he couldn't not ask her out. He grinned widely as he pulled up to the trail, seeing her sitting on a rock outside, waiting for him. This was going to be fun... provided he didn't totally make a mess of himself. Impressing girls he actually cared about impressing had not usually gone very well with him before. Hopefully today it would work out better than it had during the past twenty years.

"Hey. You found it okay!" He said brightly as he closed the door of his rustmobile.

"I almost got lost, it's a good thing I got here early. I've never been up here before."

"Really? My parents used to take us up here for camping trips all the time. How long have you lived in Los Angeles?"

"All my life. My parents aren't exactly all that appreciative of the great outdoors." She laughed. "We only ever went camping once, and that was more than enough for them."

"Well, we can make up for the lack of dense forest exploration now, I guess. Let's get going." She slid off the rock and shouldered the small backpack she had brought with her, full of snacks and a couple of sandwiches and juice to keep them going. She figured they might need it.

"So, you know where we're going?"

"Not really." He admitted. "I mean, I've been up here before, but never up this trail. It should be nice though. I always liked this area. It's full of little lakes and secret trails and stuff. I always used to sneak off when I was little and go exploring. Which my parents loved, of course. If they had a dollar for every time that I've freaked them out like that, they'd be billionaires by now."

"Tell me about your family. I mean, I've told you a little about mine. How many brothers and sisters do you have?"

"Five. Yeah, I know, it's pretty big. You should see our family get togethers. Eight Torreses plus all the little hyperactive nieces and nephews I have, it's... well, it's never dull, I'll say that much. I'm the youngest. There's two sisters and three brothers. We all get along with each other pretty well. Most of them live in Las Vegas, which is where I grew up. Only one of my sisters lives in LA with me."

"The one you were talking about that brings you food?"

"That would be her, Casey. Does your family live around here?"

"My parents do. My brother's in Africa, he's a doctor and he runs a bunch of clinics in little villages around the coast. I don't see him much. And then, there's my sister. She runs a vacation resort on a beach in Brazil. I'm the only one who stayed close to home. But we were never very close, so..." She trailed off, shrugging. "What did you do as a kid with that many siblings, anyway? Just play guitar? I'll bet you got picked on a lot with two older brothers."

"Did they ever! They still do, all the freaking time. Gotta love them though. And, believe me, I wanted to sit inside with my guitar all day, every day, my parents pretty much forced us outside. We were here at least once a month actually, they're big nature freaks, my parents. I really don't know how they survived, taking care of all of us."

By this time, they could see where the trail was heading. It was thick forest, but they were clearly going up. Madeline suddenly wondered if they were going up an actual mountain, the trail was so rocky and steep in some places. Julian knew for a fact that they probably were, having been in the area enough times to know that there were plenty of mountains in the region. That just meant that there would be a nicer view once they got to the top.

"Anyway, do you always tend to drag your dates up mountains on a first date?" She asked with a smile.

He laughed. That would be pretty creepy if it was true, when she put it that way, as if he was a serial killer and was taking her up here to make it easier for him to dump the body or something. He'd never brought a date to this place before, though. "No, you happen to be the first one." He wasn't about to add that his dates usually involved maybe a meal at someplace cheap and inevitably going back to his place for the night. It was pretty simple, but she didn't seem like that kind of girl. He would actually have to work to get to that point, and he was almost looking forward to it... Suddenly, a thought struck him. "You don't have a boyfriend, do you? Or, like, other guys you're dating that are going to beat me up for this?"

Now it was her turn to laugh. "Truth is, I haven't been on a date in six months- at least. There's definitely nobody who's going to come and beat you up. Are there any girls who are going to want to rip my hair out?"

"No, but... Six months?" He raised an eyebrow. She was joking, right? A girl like her not being on a date for half a whole year seemed just a little bit far fetched to him. But then again, he hadn't been on any dates in awhile either, so he couldn't really judge. Maybe she was just picky about the men that she went out with. It wasn't as if he wasn't happy that she was single, either- he was ecstatic that there was no competition. He kinda wanted her all to himself after all.

The upward path soon started taking a steep downturn and it wasn't five minutes before they found themselves staring across the surface of a glossy blue lake, surrounded by the forest. It looked like a good place to stop and Madeline let her bag slide to the rocky lake bed and breathed a silent sigh of relief. That thing had been getting heavy.

"I'm surprised you didn't bring your guitar on this trip. I think it's the first time I've ever seen you without one." She commented, picking up a smooth rock and attempting to skip it across the lake.

"I usually take it with me everywhere, but it's a little hard to hike with. Besides, there's other things I'd rather focus on right now than music." He winked at her and attempted to skip a rock himself. It didn't go very far before it plonked to the lake bed. "Places like this tend to give me lots of inspiration though. Once I get back, I'll probably be glued to my guitar for awhile. Hopefully."[/b] There had been no shortage in inspiration lately, only in people willing to hear it.

"I thought that you wrote songs, too. I'd love to hear one of your own sometime."

"I probably owe you now. I only gave you the tail end of a song, yesterday, and I think I read about five or six of your poems. I think I'm due for another performance. Maybe I should have brought my guitar after all."

"You could... well, if you wanted to, you could sing something at least. I like the sound of your voice." She complimented him timidly. He did have the perfect voice though, it was soft and smooth and just the right pitch. When he sang it was like a chorus of angels, or something equally cheesy.

He smiled at it though, looking over at her. He usually didn't sing without his guitar, he just felt so much safer with it in front of him for some reason. But how dare he resist those big blue eyes? And he did just say that he owed her. "Alright. But, I'm going to need a stage." He looked around briefly. There was a scattering of large rocks, going out to the middle of the lake. There was an especially big one just a few feet out. That would do. He wanted to impress her with this, and before he could reason with himself, he was hopping across the slippery pathway to get to his goal. The rocks were a lot more slick than he had originally anticipated, however. He thought he would be okay, he just had one rock left to go.... but of course, that was when the world started to waver and his legs slipped out from under him. He landed face first in the water with a huge splash.

"Julian!" Madeline cried from the bank, worried that he might have hurt himself. He might have hit his head or he might not know how to swim... but he came up sputtering and coughing in a matter of moments. She breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she liked him she hadn't really been intending on spending their first date in the emergency room.

The water was frigid and deeper than it looked. He was soaked to the skin, and it kind of hurt, hitting the water like he had, but once he looked at Madeline he started to laugh. He had to look like a total idiot, and once Madeline saw that he wasn't about to be hurt or offended, she couldn't help but join in as he sloshed his way out of the lake. He did look pretty funny like that.

"I think I should take this as a sign that I should never sing without my guitar. Or... a sign that I should not jump on wet and slippery rocks to impress beautiful women." He wasn't too embarrassed- sure, it wasn't exactly his most glorious moment or anything, but as long as no one else knew about it, he'd be able to survive. Besides, she had the most infectious laugh. He couldn't not like that.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" She asked, trying to calm her giggles. "This is stating the obvious, but you're absolutely drenched!"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little cold, but I'll dry off eventually." He shook his head like a dog and water flew everywhere, as she held up her hands to avoid getting splashed. Unfortunately, her reaction gave him an idea and a mischevious smile crept onto his features.

She couldn't help but notice the expression. "Julian? What are you... no!"

He was inching closer and his arms were opened wide. "I think you need a hug." He lunged forward quickly, embracing her tightly, and effectively soaking her to the skin. The hug was very nice actually, despite the fact that he was sopping wet.

"Julian!" She shrieked in protest, though she wasn't entirely serious. Her hands were on his back, pulling him in slightly, rather than pushing him away. She didn't want to be wet, but this wasn't something she could really complain about. The hug lasted a bit longer than it should have, before they pulled away. Madeline blushed deeply once she saw the damage. It almost made Julian feel a bit guilty when he realized all of a sudden that thin white t-shirts and bright red bras didn't really mix well with water. Okay, so he wasn't exactly considering the view traumatizing, but he felt kind of bad when she crossed her arms over her chest to sort of hide it. She had a lovely body, but she wasn't exactly ready to show it all off yet. Still, there wasn't much she could do. She walked over to the big rock that she had set her bag on and opened it up, taking out two sandwiches and handing him one.

"Here, we might as well stay and dry off a bit." Madeline leaned back on the rock to sort of sunbathe, hoping for her shirt to dry faster.

"Thanks." He chuckled a little as he took the sandwich. She always had food ready for him- she had to be some kind of angel. "And if it's any consolation, red is definitely your colour."

She smiled a little at that. "You should consider yourself lucky. You're the first guy ever to see my bra on a first date."

He grinned cheekily. That was definitely not a bad thing. Of course, it probably meant that he wasn't getting into her pants tonight but that didn't matter. It wasn't about sex with her. It was about something totally different.

Julian had devoured his sandwich pretty quickly, and once his hands were free, he slid off his soaking wet shirt and started wringing out the water so it would dry faster. His shorts were soaking wet too, but he wasn't about to take them off. They would just have to dry on their own. Madeline couldn't help but stare just a bit, and Julian smiled at her as he noticed her gaze. "Unfortunately, I can't say you're the first woman to get me to take my shirt off on a first date, but you're definitely the first one I've gotten soaked for."

Maddy looked away bashfully. Julian was no body builder, for sure. He possessed no sexy six pack and he was more scrawny than he was buff. But he didn't have fat oozing out over his shorts, and he had no unsightly chest hair. She had the sudden urge to run her hands across his chest but she restrained herself. His skin was just begging to be touched, though. It looked soft, and it was glistening wet from his dive, the droplets of water sparkling a little in the sunlight... It was definitely more than his smooth voice and his apparent freedom and charm that had attracted her to him, that was for sure.

He leaned back to lay on the rock, joining her, kicking off his shoes to get them to dry more quickly. He hated squelchy sneakers. "You know," He said absently, "I'm surprised we've never done this before. I mean, I've always wanted to say something to you for ages, whenever I've been at the diner. I just, I don't know... I don't know why I never did."

She sat up to look at him. The thought seemed a little random, but with the way this day was going, they just got along together so well. They at the very least had some chemistry. She'd not rather be anywhere else than right there with him, soaking wet or not. "You... you wanted to talk to me before? I've been asking myself the same question, really. It seems strange that we've never talked or hung out together until now, when I think about it."

He smiled at the fact that she had been thinking about him too. This date? It was completely meant to be. "Well, at least we finally got around to it. Anyway, where do you want to pick up from here? Once we're dry, of course."

Madeline looked around. "Umm... That depends. Where did we come from?" Her brow furrowed in confusion. She hadn't been paying much attention to that, she hadn't been thinking about getting lost. Unfortunately, that hadn't exactly been foremost on Julian's mind either. Soaking wet and lost. Always a fabulous combo for a first date.

"Good question. Oh well. We can just wait here until they send out a search party to come look for us. I'm quite comfy here."

She sat up and tugged at his arm. "We can't just wait around that long. It'd be a couple days before anyone realized we were missing. There must be a trail head around here somewhere. The faster we walk, the faster we'll dry off anyway."

She was probably right, he reasoned, sitting up and grabbing her pack, just to be a gentleman. His mother had taught him how to treat a girl right. He had just never really thought to be that considerate before. He did have to kind of make up for the wet hug after all.

They picked the path that looked the best, which really wasn't saying a whole lot since they didn't know where they were going. But Julian wasn't too worried, and Madeline trusted his judgement- even though she'd only spoken to him a handful of times so far, he did know more about the area and the trails than she did. This trail didn't seem to be going very far up anymore, which was a good thing. The paths were covered by trees on both sides, and flowers and various animal droppings littered the sides. Madeline plucked a bright blue morning glory on her way by and stuck it in her hair just for kicks. Julian smiled at that, it brought out her blue eyes. But he really shouldn't get too dazzled, that was the reason that he hadn't been able to keep up with where they were and where they were going the first time. He had been looking at her more than he had been looking at the path. But who could really blame him? A cute face, rosy cheeks, bright eyes, blue-black hair that shone in the sunlight. And, okay, he had to admit, the little shorts she was wearing that showed off enough of her leg to be delicious but not quite enough to be s****y, that didn't help his concentration much either. But, being a man, he had tried his best.

"So," She began, trying to make conversation. "Do you ever do givs outside or the park? Do you have a band or anything?"

"You know, I'm pretty sure that's the thousandth question you've asked me about my music since we've officially met."

"Sorry..." She frowned. The last thing she wanted to do was pry.

"No, I don't mind!" He quickly corrected himself, not wanting her to feel bad. "That came out wrong. I don't mind at all, you're the first person in a long time that seems to genuinely care about that kind of stuff. The answers, to those questions would respectively be no, and sorta but not really. But it's just occurred to me that I've been talking way too much about my art form and I've barely asked you two questions about yours." This would possibly be why he didn't currently have a girlfriend, he could kind of forget about everybody else when the topic was music. He was interested in her stuff too, he didn't want her to think that this had to be a totally one sided conversation.

She smiled again, slightly relieved. "Well, I like talking about your music. It's interesting. I'd love to be able to do what you do."

"You'd want to be a broke street musician with bad hair and a sopping wet shorts?"

"I think you have great hair."

He chuckled a little. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Can you play any instruments or anything? I can't believe I never asked." What was it about her that was suddenly making him so forgetful? So much for trying to be the suave charmer with the immaculate conversation skills. That approach was totally out the window now. He was being a bit harsh with himself because she was someone he really wanted to impress, but little did he know that Madeline hadn't noticed a thing wrong with him at all. Hell, for her, she was just glad someone was interested in talking to her at all for any length of time, she didn't have many friends and her family was distant. Any conversation was welcome, especially with him.

"I took piano lessons when I was a kid. And a little bit of singing lessons too. It's not where my talent lies though. I think everyone knows how to play some kind of instrument these days."

"I think it's an accomplishment. We should jam sometime. I can play more than the guitar- bass, piano, drums, violin... My parents really forked out for my lessons when I was a kid."

"Apparently it paid off."

He smiled at her. He didn't really think that it was paying off much right now. He loved his music but he hated having to practically beg for money every day, no matter what the weather. He would be no good at a regular nine to five, but sometimes he thought that he should just give in and take a job like that because the way he was going about this wasn't really working out so well. But talking with her, that was the first time in all too long that someone seemed to... just show support. His parents and family had always been supportive, but, lately he hadn't wanted to talk to them much. They had to keep giving him money for food and rent and he was starting to really feel like a failure. She was the first person in awhile that had not made him feel like that.

He stopped on the path and cut her off, standing in front of her. "Has anyone ever told you that you're really quite sweet?"

She blushed a little as he moved closer, it felt like the whole world was moving in slow motion. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and he was leaning in, and she could feel his breath on her now, and her eyes closed automatically and her muscles were rigid in anticipation... A clap of thunder suddenly broke the magic of the moment. She gasped and looked up. There was only one thing that a clap of thunder in what had been a blue sky five minutes ago could mean one thing in Los Angeles: flash flood. It started to rain in a matter of seconds. They had been so wrapped up in each other, they hadn't even noticed the weather changing. He suddenly started to laugh. Could anything else go wrong on this date? Slipping and getting soaked in the lake, and then getting lost, and now this. He could only laugh, and it was contagious. Truth be told, it was the best date either of them had been on in awhile.

But, if she thought that a little rain (or a torrential downpour) was going to stop him from finishing what he had started? She had a lot to learn. He wrapped his arms around her suddenly, pulling her tightly to him. He kissed her passionately, and she just melted in his grip, wrapping her arms around his neck timidly. The rain was pouring down on them and if Julian had thought he'd been soaked before, he'd been wrong. They were both soaked to the bone, but the rain didn't feel cold. Her body was burning up and it was like nothing else in the world existed in that moment.

Eventually, they had to pull away for air. He smiled at her, staring into his eyes. "I think we'd better find shelter." He said, as lightning cracked overhead. Rain was blurring their vision and standing right next to a huge tree probably wasn't a good idea either. She was flushed bright red, but she couldn't avert her gaze. That had been her first kiss- not that she was going to tell him, but she still couldn't stop her heart from racing. She could only nod as he mentioned shelter. He let go of her, and they latched hands, racing up the path in hopes of finding a lean-to, to take cover from the rain.

4-sick day

It had been three days. Three days since they had gone on their first date, three days since their first kiss, three days since she just could not get him out of her mind. Oh, and three days since her nose had started running, her temperature had gone up and she'd been laying on the couch, watching soap operas from the seventies and drinking more green tea than she had ever thought was humanly possible to consume in such a short amount of time. It wasn't really a surprise that she had suddenly gotten sick, considering their getting caught in that thunder storm. They had found shelter within a couple minutes, and had been able to sit and wait it out easily enough, and after that they'd found their way back to their cars quickly enough. But apparently, it didn't take too long for a cold to set in. By the time Julian had dropped her off at her place she had already been sniffling. And not because she was sad to see him go, though there was that too. She had called in sick to work the past few days, and had stayed at home feeling rather miserable. She had not seen or spoken to Julian since their date, and she wasn't about to until she was feeling better. She didn't want to give him the impression that she wasn't interested anymore- because that most certainly wasn't the case- but she did not want him to see her like this at all and she didn't want to seem clingy. She had not been on many second dates in her life and she wasn't exactly sure of the 'protocol' to get to one. She assumed that there would be one eventually, of course. After all, he had kissed her. She swore that she could still feel the tingling of his lips on hers, even days later. Standing there in the rain, in his arms, and looking into his eyes, breathless, the moment they pulled away... It was magical, like something straight out of a chick flick. These kinds of things didn't actually happen in real life, did they? If it wasn't for the cold she would have sworn it had all been a brilliant dream of sorts. She was almost half-glad that she had the sniffles to prove that it had all been real. Almost.

Fluffy was sitting loyally by her side, ever since she had come home. He had sniffed her to no end, apparently not liking the strange smells and knowing she had gone somewhere without him. He was curled up next to her on the couch. She knew she shouldn't let him and normally she didn't, but today she liked it and she didn't have the energy to turn him away. She was bored out of her mind, and strangely enough, missing Julian already. She knew that she had just barely met him, but she really couldn't get him out of her head- his eyes, that voice, that kiss. It was sweet memories and she wanted to see him again all too soon. But instead, she had to wait out this cold and watch more reruns. She wanted to be at her best to see him next, not like this.

Although, throughout the torturous hours of As the World Turns, (for which she could care less, but it was either that or the hot dog eating contest to watch, which did not help her nausea), her will was dwindling. It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon by the time she was staring at her phone longingly. How much could one little text hurt? She got lucky, though. He beat her to the punch.

Her phone began vibrating on the table beside her and she snatched it up with more agility than she thought she had, feeling so awful. She grinned when she saw that it was a text from Julian, and Fluffy gave her a wary look, as if he already knew who it was from and he wasn't pleased.

It read, Hey, I was just at the diner and they said you were ill. How are you doing?

She smiled at that. It was sweet of him to ask. She hadn't thought that he would ask for her at the diner, either. It was nice to be thought of. She quickly texted back, I'm okay, just a cold. How are you? She figured he was probably fine, but it was polite to ask anyway. It would be really bad if they both caught colds though. It would serve them right for lingering in the storm, like that, she thought with a small giggle.

Fine, thanks. Do you mind if I come by for a second, if you're at home? I've missed you and I just want to say hi. The text was sent back instantly. Her smile widened at that. He'd missed her? She suddenly felt like a lot less of a fool for missing him now. Her heart sped up a little bit. Maybe he could see her, just for a little bit? She would have to clean up, of course, and brush her hair out and put on something other than an old t-shirt and some pyjama shorts. She couldn't resist it though. She was bored out of her mind. Before she could really think it through, her fingers took on a life of their own.

I'd love for a little company. I've missed you too. :P She felt the need to stick a smiley face on the end of it, just so she wouldn't seem too creepy, but she wasn't really sure if it would really give that effect.

She got off the couch as quickly as she could manage, encumbered by masses of blankets and empty tissue boxes, as she was. She was a mess, she hadn't seen the light of day in two days. What was he going to think of her, looking like this? She managed to grab all the tissues she could with record speed, so it didn't look totally disgusting. She didn't care much about cleaning up her apartment, mostly just cleaning up herself, but she didn't want him disgusted by the refuse everywhere. He'd be there in about ten minutes, she gathered, if he was walking. She didn't have a lot of time.

The garbage disposal was just outside, so she unbolted her door to toss out what she could before going back inside and getting dressed, running a comb through her hair and all that. But, once the door swung open she was in for a little surprise.

"... Julian?"

Yes, Julian was standing right there, his fingers on the keys of his cell phone. He smiled sheepishly and stuck it in his back pocket. "Hi, Maddy."

She was too surprised to be embarrassed at how she looked right now. She slid past him to dump her bag down the chute, which was right across from her door. "Do you happen to have some kind of teleportation device that I don't know about?" She asked, wondering how he had gotten there so fast when she had only texted him back five seconds ago.

"I uh... I was kinda already here, but when I got here I thought since you were sick you might be asleep or something, so..." He shrugged. He hadn't counted on getting caught. Did this make him too eager? Combined with the accidental 'I missed you' thing. He really hadn't meant to put that in there, but, by the time he realized he'd typed it out, he'd already sent the thing. He had hoped she wouldn't think that was weird after only one date, but she would probably think he was certainly quite weird now. He wasn't some kind of stalker though, really! Well, maybe just a little. He had only gone to the diner today to see her, after all. He'd just gotten bunch of leftovers from being at his mother's, and his sister donated some groceries on the side, too, the day before, so he didn't really need to eat out. But he had wanted to see her, so he'd gone to the diner. He'd been so disappointed when she wasn't there, and he did think it was a little bit his fault that she'd gotten sick, considering the whole hugging her when she was wet and then getting her caught in the rain thing. At least she'd wanted him to come over though. If she'd said no and opened her door, it would have been even twice as bad as this. He felt just a little foolish, but he was smiling anyway, hoping she wouldn't mind.

She had to laugh, running a hand through her messy hair. "I was hoping to have at least a little time to get myself halfway presentable before you came, but, come on in now, I guess." She led the way into her apartment, coughing suddenly. "I'm sorry. I'm a bit gross right now. But come and sit down. Can I get you anything to drink?"

She flicked off the tv, and sat down. Fluffy had gotten off the couch to 'greet' Julian- which in his mind was to growl a little and stare suspiciously from a distance. It was better than last time though. Julian patted him fearlessly, in an effort to be friendly, and then sat down on the couch beside her, smiling and shaking his head at her offer of anything to drink.

"You're the sick one, I'm supposed to be asking you that. And you're not gross. I'm sorry that you're ill." He didn't think that she looked gross at all- maybe she felt it. He hated being sick, with all the various running fluids and fevers and icky medicines and all that stuff. But she pulled it off rather nicely, if anyone could look good while they were sick. Her face was pale and her hair was messy. Her clothes were rumpled and not at all new. Still, he thought she looked kind of sexy with her hair all messed up, and her pale skin just made her lips look rosier and her eyes brighter. No, she could never look bad in his book, not even if she honestly tried.

"Oh, I'm not that bad. It's just a cold. I'll be back to work by the end of the week. I'm just mostly bored out of my mind. I can't do much other than watch tv. Reading puts me right to sleep for some reason. I'm glad you came, it'll give me something to think about. Anyway, what have you been doing since I last saw you?" She asked brightly, feeling suddenly a whole lot better now that he was in the room.

"I went down to Las Vegas to see my family. We get together once a month for birthdays and stuff, it was insane. As usual. But it was fun." He explained, shrugging. Most of the time he was there he had been playing with all his siblings' kids (he was the designated babysitter since he was the youngest), and if he hadn't been doing that, his mother had been grilling him about this new mystery girl that he liked so much. He was glad for the silence on the drive home with his sister, with her kids asleep in the back and the radio off. Everyone in his family was just a little bit crazy, but it wasn't a bad thing. He was just glad to be back, and see Madeline again, even if she was sick. "I feel bad for leaving you alone this weekend especially since it's my fault you're sick. Dragging my date up to the mountains and getting us lost in the woods was not one of my best moves. I owe you, seriously, I'm at your service now. Do you need anything? Oh, and feel free to kick me out whenever you get tired and feel like you have to rest, ok?"

She shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous! It's not like either of us could have predicted that rain storm, and it was half my fault we got lost anyway. In the end, I think it worked out alright. And I don't need anything, really. I'm not exactly on my death bed." She said, sneezing.

He handed her a tissue. "You're right, it didn't work out too badly in the end."

"Anyway, tell me about something interesting. I have done nothing these past few days except for watch infomercials and soap operas. I do not care anymore who fathered which triplet, and if they say 'but we can't be together... I'm too in love with your step mother who is actually your aunt and your real mother, and the murderess of the mother who you thought was your real mother, but was actually your step brother...'. In short, I'm being driven nuts here."

Julian laughed. "Soaps aren't my favourite either. I dunno what you would think interesting. I haven't done a heck of a lot, really."

"Did you sleep with your transsexual half sister who happens to be dating your best friend and is totally being poisoned by your father this weekend?"

"I can honestly say that the thought of doing that never even crossed my mind. You really haven't had anyone to talk to all weekend have you?"

She blushed a little. She knew she seemed a little hyperactive all of a sudden, even though she was totally wiped out from being sick. She was just excited to see him and excited to get a distraction from being so bored. Even though she wished that she could have at least had time to brush her teeth again before he came. But still, even if the timing wasn't great, she was still glad to see him. She would have to try and calm down just a little bit though. She didn't want to scare him away or anything. "I'm sorry. I don't take to being cooped up very well."

He smiled, her blushing looked cute. Heck, it almost made her look not deathly pale for a few seconds! He was glad that she wasn't one of those people who got all grumpy and depressed when they got sick. Her attitude was no turn off at all. "So I see. Come here." He opened his arm for her to come closer and she shook her head.

"You don't want to do that. You'll get sick!" She protested. As if it wasn't already painfully obvious that she was really in no fit state to be around much of anyone, as tempting as it was.

"I don't really care." He pulled her close to him. He didn't want her to feel self-conscious about talking too much- because, honestly, with a voice like hers, she could talk for hours and he wouldn't mind. Besides, the distance between him and her was just too great right now. He had waited three days for this. He just assumed that after their kiss, this wouldn't be a problem.

She couldn't deny it made her a little uncomfortable, though. Not physically, of course, because cuddling up next to him, with his arm wrapped around her, leaning against his side... that was quite comfy. It was just that, well, kissing in the rain was one thing. It just seemed so odd now, being so close to him, especially when she was sick. What kind of guy was he to want to cuddle up to a girl like her who was snuffling and sniffling and rambling on so much because she was just that bored? And ever since he had come in, he'd been concerned about whether she needed anything and whether or not she was alright. It was just strange to be treated that way, and so suddenly. After all, they'd only spoken three times before. Was this going too fast? She couldn't help what she felt, but she kept telling herself that she couldn't stop thinking about him simply because he was the first guy in a long time to take an interest. But for him? It was obvious enough that she didn't know how to handle compliments, but she hadn't really thought about how she was going to handle a full fledged relationship. It had been awhile since anyone had cared about her like this, and she didn't really know how to take it, especially considering they hadn't even been on a second date yet. Still, she stayed in his arms, because for all her reservations and the knot twisting in her stomach, it felt nice to be so close. She didn't resist.

"My weekend wasn't all that exciting, but visiting my family is always a little crazy. I couldn't imagine having a family reunion where nobody started a food fight or had a screaming contest. There's about twenty of us or so, every time we get together. There's so many kids, and a bunch on the way. And there was so much food, you could hardly imagine the table was big enough to fit all of it."

"I'd like to meet your family sometime, they sound fun." She regretted saying that the moment that it came out of her mouth. Oops. She blamed him for going too fast, and she'd just said that she wanted to meet his folks! Oh, what a hypocrite she was. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp out of sheer embarrassment, but he just put another arm around her. "Umm... I mean, you know, eventually..." She murmured, trying to save herself.

"You say you want to meet them now, but every person I've taken there, aside from my absolute best friends, have been scared away in the first fifteen minutes. They're a little overbearing. More than just a little, actually. But they're nice to be around once you get to know them." He explained. Of course, it hadn't been lost on him that saying that was a little fast, but hey, he didn't really mind. He was just glad she was taking an interest. He loved his family- he was a huge mama's boy, to be entirely honest. He was just glad that she wasn't bored of him talking about them yet.

Julian looked down at her. She looked so embarrassed. Was he making this awkward? He didn't mind that she kept blushing or that she sometimes just let things burst out instead of thinking about what she was saying. She was really sweet and he wanted to make her feel a little bit better. He had come to cheer her up, after all. He chanced a glance at Fluffy. He was still keeping an eye on the two of them from across the room- he didn't look happy, but Julian was close to Maddy and he hadn't attacked him yet. That had to mean that the loyal dog was getting used to him, at least a little. Madeline noticed Julian and Fluffy exchanging glances.

"I've been talking to him about you, trying to tell him that you're rather a sweet guy and aren't going to randomly attack me out of nowhere. I think he's just a little jealous of the attention now." She said quietly, with a small smile. It was kind of flattering to be fought over- even if it was only with a dog and a random guy from the diner. Even if he wasn't quite so random now.

"Oh, so you've been talking about me, have you?" He thought it was rather sweet that she talked to her dog like that. Whenever he had had dogs, he talked to them too when nobody was around to think that he was crazy. That was just one more thing they had in common.

"Maybe a little..."

"Good. Cause I can't really say that I kept my mouth totally shut about you either. You're just kind of a hard topic to avoid right now."

She blushed. He had been talking about her? To actual people? She was kind of flattered, even though she didn't exactly know if what he had said had been all good things. She looked up at him, about to ask what he'd been saying, but he leaned in for a kiss instead of letting her talk. The longer he sat there, trying not to kiss her again, the harder that it was getting.

But Madeline pulled away from him, pressing against his shoulders to stop him. "Now that would be one sure fire way to get sick. Maybe you should go. I've probably already started to infect you already."

"What if I told you I'm Superman and I can't get sick... would you let me stay?" He asked, laughing slightly. "And even though I'm not Superman, I think I'm willing to take the risk." Screw the fact that he might get sick! Screw the fact that his voice was his only source of income right now- he didn't need money. Money wasn't important, even if he was currently broke. He'd been thinking about their kiss in the rain all weekend - he wanted to do it again and so, he would, germs or not. "I've been longing for this moment all weekend..."

He kissed her, softly at first. Madeline closed her eyes and she kissed back automatically- why did kissing him always do this to her? It was like it was magic, the way that she just had no choice but to melt into him and kiss back. But she didn't know what this meant. She didn't know how to handle being in a relationship, she didn't know how to handle someone actually kissing her while she was sick and not caring. Had he really been longing for this all weekend? As if she hadn't been thinking about kissing him again, ever since that first one. But for some reason, the whole thing scared her. There was something in the pit of her stomach that said that this was crazy, she didn't understand it.

She pulled away after a long moment, just as Julian was trying to deepen the kiss. His eyes flickered open as she pulled away. He suddenly felt very cold, since she wasn't with him. He liked having her in his arms but apparently she had different feelings about all this. She shook her head. "I think... I think even Superman has to get sick sometimes. I don't want to take the chance."

Even he knew that it had to be more than that, but she was curled up on the opposite side of the couch and Fluffy wasn't looking too happy... What was he going to do, argue with her about it? The disappointment showed in his face, but he got up from the couch anyway, not understanding. But then again, Madeline didn't really understand how she felt a whole lot better than he did either, right now.

"Okay. Get some rest, then. Call me when you're feeling better. Maybe we can do something. If you want." He offered, telling himself that she was probably just tired, since she was sick. He had only just gotten there, it felt like, but, he had only said that he would drop by for a second anyway.

She nodded, curling up in one corner of the couch. "I'd like that." He pulled the blankets she'd had strewn across the back of the couch, that she'd been using to keep warm and keep her fever down, over her and kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Okay, then. Well... bye." He left, without a smile, closing the door softly behind him, wondering what had happened. Madeline wanted to slap herself. Why couldn't she have let him stay? She was so bored without him there and she had been so happy to see him, she just... She wasn't used to this. She didn't know how to take it, it seemed like he cared about her and thought of her as much as she thought of him, which was kind of scary. She curled up tightly, into a ball under the covers, as Fluffy came over and licked her cheek comfortingly. She'd get the hang of it eventually, she wouldn't feel so smothered. Right now she just had to get better and make sure that the next time they saw each other, she could make up for it. She didn't want him to think that he had done anything wrong. No, Julian wasn't perfect perhaps, but he was close enough. She didn't want to scare him off or otherwise ruin things before they had even gotten the chance to start.

to be contd...

Author's Note

i'll be adding 2-3 chapters every week dont think i will stop updating in the middle of the story coz i have finished it;)

Reviews

[Dragon]

This is a great story. Everything sounded like you know what you were doing. I hope you keep writing more stories to share.

[ScarlettTheDreamer]

Wow, beautiful story. The dialogues were very good. They seemed natural and not fake. You wrote down both their point of views which doesn't work well with most the stories but in this story it worked great. And I think you called Julian 'Jack' in a few places, which could be avoided. But if you're gonna add more chapters, then add this as a book, split it into many chapters cause its too long. That aside, its a great start, keep going :)

[Laranda]

I like where you are going with this. Cant wait till you add the next chapters.