Six Feet Under the Stars

Wrestling the check away from me, Alex held the paper overhead just out of my reach. "I'll be a gentleman even if it kills me."

"Taunting me isn't being very respectful," I chastised making a grab for it on my tip-toes.

"But it's fun." Moving his arm backwards, I leaned forward in response in an attempt to snatch it. "Come on." Alex toyed playfully. "At this rate you'll never pay." The words struck just the right chord to get me motivated. Alex always had a way to do that with me. Falling forward slightly more, I made a swipe at his hand but lost my balance and ended up tumbling in his arms without grace. Alex grinned widely and caught me against his chest with strong arms. "Seems like you can't stay away from me, doll."

"It's becoming a problem." I mumbled into his T-shirt that was still askew from the fight earlier that morning.

"What? I couldn't hear you."

"Nothing." I said in abrupt response not wishing to repeat my foolish words. Straightening back up to a normal height, I brushed myself off and tugged at the belt loops around my waist some to distract myself from the waitress' eyes I could feel boring straight into my back like a laser.

The front counter was decorated with warm yellow tiles that complimented the scattered theme of the cafe. A vintage cash register served as the module of payment and a lanky guy with a face full of freckles took the money. Well, Alex's money. The clicking keys tabbed in the price and with a ding the drawer popped open and nailed the cashier in the hip. Wincing, he grudgingly handed the change to Alex after wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"Have a good day." He told us in a monotone having said the same phrase already too many times on his short shift.

"Thanks, you too." Distantly, Alex replied while subtly wiping his hand on his jeans.

Once out in the open the sun beat against our faces like a common friend. Shielding my eyes against the rays, I turned to Alex. "I wish I had some hand sanitizer to offer you after that."

He laughed easily studying his palm lines, "Hopefully it was only allergies he had and not some life threatening communicable disease."

"You'll be fine. See, you really are a knight in shining armor; you paid for the meal and you saved the spread of disease from reaching me."

"All in a day's work." Faking the humbleness in his voice, he shrugged.

I threw a hand across my forehead overdramatically. "My hero."

Alex elbowed me in the ribs gently as we turned a street corner. The road was bumpy with rubble from recent construction projects to re-pave the pathways. A bright orange cone lay in an unmarked grave on the sidewalk with a gaping dent being the cause of death. Quickly side stepping the plastic corpse, Alex pulled me out of the way also. I noticed he even walked on path nearest the street like in the old westerns when lead male roles would protect their women from accident or mud flinging from the horse-wagons galloping by. It was very charming.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Suspicion enhanced a worried edge in his eyes.

"No reason." I told him though I ended up smiling even wider in response to his question. "Why are you so nosy?"

"It's pretty much my job. It goes along with holding doors open and pulling out chairs for you."

"And paying for checks?" I guessed with a smirk. "Did that count as our date?"

"Eager to get it over with?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"No," I began defensively, "Just wondering. I'm beginning to get like you."

"See, I'm rubbing off on you."

"Was that some kind of weird sexual innuendo?" I questioned, not sure if I should be offended or laugh.

"Get your mind out of the gutter." He jokingly scolded tsking at me while pausing at a crosswalk. Cars zipped by us going twice the speed limit then deamed necessary for the intersection. "On second thought, get your mind back in the gutter. We could have a lot of fun with this."

"No more, I can't take this."

In a mock-seductive tone Alex leaned into my ear, "That's not what you said last night." His lips skimmed against my earobe as he spoke and even jokingly the tone had me on the edge of getting goose bumps. "See, it's that easy."

"Not as easy as you." I teased trying out my hand at innuendo.

"Right! That's a good start. With a few lessons you'll be better than me and then we'll both be masters at subtle sexual seduction."

Hair blowing from a passing car, I snorted into the gas pipe exhaust, "And where are these lessons held?"

"Probably should be held in a bedroom, I suppose."

"That sounds dangerous."

"You think me, you, and a bedroom is trouble?" Alex questioned with a secret smile only meant for me to see.

"It almost was." Looking up through my eyelashes, I delicately reminded him about the Trojans we had almost lusted through.

Slanting a look down, he replied, "How do you feel about that?"

"I feel like maybe you should have let it happen. I was definitely ready."

He laughed, "Yeah, you practically tore the box from my fingers trying to rip open the condoms."

"I did not." I protested getting a little huffy, but blushing all the same. "You were just opening the box wrong."

"You can't open a box wrong. If it gets open somehow, that's really all that matters." Alex argued while looking both ways in the intersection to make sure the cars were stopped before we headed across the designated white paint lines.

When the hotel came into view, a crowd of spectators crowding the front sidewalk were visible. They were shouting unintelligible words as their phrases mixed together in a jumble or words. It looked like a rally straight from the 1960's, but without the bell bottoms and flowers. People crowded up to the entrance and a frazzled hotel worker was the unlucky person in charge of keeping the crowd at bay.

He held his hands out in front of him in an attempt to keep the others back, "No, I'm sorry but I can't let you in. If you don't have a room key or a parking pass, I can't let you into the lobby. Sorry folks."

"What's going on?" Alex wondered aloud.

A girl to his left turned and said, "All Time Low is here and--." When she caught site of Alex her eyes went wide and her lips quivered as she opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to speak.

Backing up cautiously, Alex pulled me along trying not to start a commotion. The All Time Low band posters and love phrases now were plainly obvious on the posters the two of us had overlooked while approaching the hotel. The stir of movement in the crowd drew attention of a few people, and they watched Alex in disbelief like a zoo animal. With so many girls around, Alex and I would get trampled if they moved to surround us.

A high-pitched scream broke through the crowd announcing, "It's Alex!"

As if on command, every ravenous eye instantly turned towards us.