Plans to Make & Hearts to Break

"You are amazing," I grinned as I watched William approach the table, drink in hand. I pushed myself from the tall chair as he got closer and only when completely upright did I realize exactly the impact of the alcohol in my system. "Why do you have to do this to me?" I questioned, the words leaving my mouth without my brain's permission.

"Do what to you?" He asked with a small laugh, punctuating the sentence with a large drink from the glass in his hand. The amber liquid in the glass had to be whiskey, which seemed to be his preference of poison.

I let out a small groan. "I don't know! You just... you...." As I spoke, my arms made a wide gesture towards his whole body, which was now seated while I still, for some reason, stood near the table. "You're just you and I can't handle it sometimes, okay!?" I finally spit out some words, although the end of the sentence isn't where I planned on being when I'd started it.

He smiled and seemed to hold back a laugh. "I think I'll take that as a compliment," he said with a small grin.

"You definitely should," I assured him. I grabbed my now-empty glass and turned around right as he began to speak, but my mind was already focused on getting a new drink and I walked towards the bar. The bartender was the same woman I'd seen when I ordered my first drink and it's good that she remembered what I'd ordered because I definitely didn't.

"I'm gonna get a whiskey too, um.. on the rocks?" I requested as she handed me my drink. She nodded and walked away for a moment, returning with a smaller glass and a bill. I pulled some cash from my pocket, which with a quick glance I realized was $25. "You can keep the rest of that," I grinned before walking back towards the table.

"I just started my first one!" William laughed as I set the glass of whiskey in front of him.

"Well, now you have a second one," I grinned as I took a swig of my own drink. "I can't be the only tipsy one here." As I spoke I moved the tall chair slightly, so I was much closer to sitting next to William than across the table from him.

William grinned behind his glass as he took a drink. "No one told you to drink." With another gulp he finished the contents of the first glass, leaving only a few half-melted ice cubes.

"No one told me not to," I grinned. "Maybe someone needs to keep a better eye on me."

As William spoke, I did my best to scoot my chair even closer to him - somehow, I thought I was being subtle. "I will make sure to do that for the rest of the night, if you'd like," He grinned.

"You know," I said, squinting at him for a moment, "If you get drunk, maybe that crooked smile of yours will straighten out a little bit."

William laughed, and I leaned into him slightly. "In the past, I've been told that people like my crooked smile."

"I never said I didn't," I grinned, lifting my glass to take another drink. "I think it's cute. Well, I mean, I think you're cute."

"Really?"

I sat up slightly. "Really really," I grinned. Before another thought crossed my mind, my hand rose to cup the side of William's face and I pushed my lips firmly against his. He returned the pressure of the kiss until after a few moments I pulled away slightly, letting out a small, drunken laugh. "You are such an interesting girl," William smiled, resting his forehead against my own.

This close, I could smell the whiskey on his breath; but it didn't bother me. "I'm not," I giggled, "I'm just like everyone else."

"How are you just like everyone else?" He questioned, his voice low.

"How am I not?" I responded. Drunk Nicole was obviously great at comebacks.

"You tell me," He smiled.

I moved away from him to take another quick swig of my drink. "I paint. I write for an online magazine," I said with a slight eyeroll.

"Both of which," He started, leaning to wrap his arms around my waist, "are talents that make you not like anyone else. Plus, you write books! Why haven't you tried to get them published?"

I couldn't help but sigh. "I've been told enough times that writing isn't going to get me anywhere."

William frowned, his easy mood lifting. "Who told you that?"

Even with the alcohol so strongly in my system, I knew better than to mention Danny. Or the fact that at every turn, he dashed my dreams of being a published author, or trying to sell my paintings. "A lot of people," I shrugged. "Really, I guess I just gave it up. Just a silly childhood dream of being a famous whatever."

"You could do both," William grinned, leaning closer to me. "You have a lot of talent."

"Really?"

He let out a small laugh. "Really really," He said, obviously mocking my earlier remark. "You could be the world's greatest anything."

"I didn't know you were a high school motivational speaker," I teased, giving him a quick kiss.

William grinned widely. "You could even be the world's greatest moose painter."

"Except," I smiled, moving to take another swig of my drink which basically finished off the glass, "I have not ever painted a moose in my life."

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that," He said simply. I looked towards the table for a moment and realized his second glass was empty as well.

I grinned and leaned into him. "Just because you wanted something to be a moose does not instantly make it a moose," I teased.

"I'll let you have your opinion," William sighed, resting his chin on my head, "Even if it is wrong."

"Let's agree to disagree on the nonexistence of any moose painting," I smiled.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments. I let my eyes close slightly and I could feel the alcohol in my system. My cheeks were warm and everything basically felt fuzzy. Thankfully I wasn't dizzy and definitely wasn't feeling the strange patchy vision that comes with the approach of blacking out.

Finally, I quickly sat up, and the sudden movement seemed to startle William. "I'm hungry," I announced.

"They've got food here," He suggested.

I wrinkled my nose at the thought of greasy bar food. "I want breakfast." I said simply.

"It's barely even midnight," William laughed. "Breakfast?"

"I need pancakes in my life right now," I pouted. "Or I'll wither away and starve."

"Where are we going to get pancakes at midnight?" He laughed. His expression changed for a moment as he thought about it and I couldn't help but grin after he did, like he'd gotten an idea. "There actually is a little diner near here, I'm pretty sure they're twenty-four hour," He thought aloud.

I stood from my chair quickly and it took a moment to regain my balance. "Lead the way," I grinned.

---

"That is not breakfast," William laughed, his eyes wide. "That's got to be classified as dessert."

I shook my head and grinned. "There are pancakes in there," I laughed. I took my index finger and scooped some whipped cream from the side of the dish - listed on the menu as Stuffed Pancakes, there appeared to be two of them with strawberries between them and an entire can of whipped cream on top. I turned the plate around to show William the now clearly exposed pancake. "Told you." I looked at my hand and after a moment leaned across the table and put a stripe of whipped cream straight down his nose.

"You're lucky you're all the way across the table," He smirked. "I know your weakness."

I squinted my eyes at him again. "At least you think you do," I teased before scooping up a forkful of pancake and taking a bite.

"Well I know you're super ticklish," He grinned. "Which gives me an advantage, since you know that I'm not..."

"An advantage?" I laughed. "Are we fighting now?"

He picked up his napkin and finally wiped the whipped cream from his face. "We could be." He said, that crooked grin adorning his face yet again. While I thought of a response, I watched as he grabbed his own fork and took a bite of my pancakes as well.

"I think we are, now that you're eating my food," I teased. "Why didn't you order anything?"

"Exactly this reason," He grinned before taking another bite. "Besides, I'm paying for them, doesn't that make them my pancakes?"

"What makes you think you're paying for them?" I questioned, leaning forward slightly.

"You paid for my other drink, and your own drinks," He stated. "So let me buy you pancakes. Besides, we agreed that this would be a date. We'll at least split the costs." As he spoke he leaned forward as well. I was under the impression he was about to kiss me but instead, he moved quickly and managed to smear a line of whipped cream across my cheek and onto my nose.

I couldn't help but laugh, not even able to fake anger. "You're lucky you're so adorable."

We spent almost two hours sitting in the diner, sharing breakfast and jokes and kisses. I felt like I was in a silly romantic movie, and I couldn't shake the thought from my head. It felt like it had been forever since I'd been out on a date like this and had so much fun. "We should go," I said to William after glancing around the empty diner quickly. The only other person I saw was the waitress, who seemed annoyed that we were making her do any work so late into the night. William nodded in agreement and slid out of the booth, walking towards the register to pay for our food. As he did this, I exited the booth as well.

I took a moment to assess my state - my cheeks were still warm but otherwise I felt much less fuzzy. Buzzed, mostly. William took my hand as we left the restaurant and I couldn't help but smile. We stood on the sidewalk near the diner for a moment and I tugged his arm, urging him closer to me. It took stretching onto my tip-toes, but once he was facing me I pulled him into a kiss. His hand that was not currently holding my own found a place on the back of my head, as he pulled his fingers through my hair. I shouldn't be doing this.

The kiss lasted much longer than most, when he finally pulled away I couldn't help but grin. His expression matched my own. "You are amazing," He said quietly, pulling me closer to him.

"I'm nothing special," I said softly, almost under my breath. He didn't respond but I felt his hold around me tighten a little, as if he was protecting me. "Do we need to get your car?" I finally asked after a moment.

His hold loosened and for a moment I regretted even saying anything. "I'll call a cab," He stated, digging into his pocket to pull out his phone. "We'll come back and get my car tomorrow."

I nodded in agreement and let him make the call necessary to get the cab. "It'll be a few minutes," He finally said to me after the call ended.

I reached out and took both of his hands into my own, pulling him towards me once again. He anticipated the action this time and leaned down slightly to meet his lips to my own. I smiled against his lips and my hands moved to his sides, pulling so his body was against my own. The kiss deepened more and something about it felt different. Urgent, almost. Again, his hands found their way through my hair.

We were only broken apart when a car stopped near us, headlights pointed in our general direction. Once we confirmed that this was our cab, William took my hand and led me to the car. He opened the rear door and let me climb in first. "Such a gentleman," I teased, giving him a quick peck on the lips before leaning into the cab. I moved to the opposite seat so he wouldn't have to walk all the way around and after I was in, he leaned down to enter the cab as well.

Something in my semi-drunk mind decided that he wasn't moving quite fast enough, because I leaned forward and reached out, grasping the front of his shirt loosely before pulling him towards myself yet again. Without a word, I resumed where we'd left off before the cab provided that interruption. I heard the door close behind William and the vehicle started to move.

Finally, we arrived in front of William's house. He pulled some cash from his wallet and handed it to the driver, muttering a quick thank you before we both exited the vehicle. For a moment I thought of returning to my own house, but the thought left just as quickly as it arrived.

I stood with William as he unlocked his front door. "Tonight was great," I said, my voice low.

He let out a quiet 'm-hmm' in agreement as he pushed the door open. "I was hoping tonight wouldn't be over quite yet," He finally spoke, still holding my hand in his own.

I couldn't help but smirk. "What else did you have in mind?" I asked, unintentionally biting my lip slightly as the question ended.

William's expression changed, and I couldn't pull my eyes away from his own. How did this boy have such a hold over me? As if to answer my mental question, as well as the one I'd asked aloud, he again pulled me into a kiss. Slowly, we ambled into what turned out to be his bedroom. I leaned against the door frame as we kissed yet again. This time, my hands sat behind his head, fingers touching his hair. He moved his hands down my waist and eventually his gentle touch found its way onto my skin.

Even now, the touch tickled my sides. In an automatic attempt to stifle the laugh from the sensation, I felt myself accidentally pinch William's bottom lip with a small bite. His response was to pull me tighter against himself and while I didn't feel aware to the fact that we were moving, I suddenly found myself sitting on the edge of his bed. After a quick moment, with William's urging, I moved to laying. He rolled me onto my side and our noses were just touching.

"Y'know," I whispered, "This is almost exactly what I had in mind, too," I punctuated the sentence with a small kiss.

I felt William's crooked smile against the kiss. "I'm glad we agree," He said softly, before I pulled him into another deep kiss.