The Boy At the Bus Stop.

"Art," I said following him out of the restaurant."Art, Where are we going?"

"Where do you live?"

"What?"

"Where do you live, let's go to your place." He said.

"Why?"

"Because, I want to know more about you, Ally."

"You know, even if I wanted to let you in my apartment, why do you know everything about me yet I know almost nothing about you?" I asked.

"You could." He said,"You just gotta go with your gut feeling about some people."

We started to walked down the street toward my apartment. I mentally sighed knowing that we would eventually end up at my apartment no matter how much I protested, so I just gave in.

"What's your gut feeling about me?" I asked.

"Well, you're definitely smart and funny. You won't admit it, but you're quiet and you keep to yourself, you don't like large groups of people, you absolutely hate competition, and you are head over heels falling for me."

I turned to him, wide eyed, some of what he said was true but some of it was also pretty brutal.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Well, just in the last few hours, I've learned how smart and funny you are the rest was observance. Like, you don't talk much and you hate being around crowds. Like a few weeks ago, you'd rather be late to class than to get on a super crowded bus. Trust me, Ally. I saw how you looked at that waitress in there. A few more minutes in there and you would've ripped her apart with your bare hands. And if you weren't falling head over heels for me, would we be walking to you're apartment right now?" He finished.

I looked down the street, my apartment was less then a block from here and of course he didn't know that but I was feeling weaker than ever, like I couldn't put up a fight because someway, somehow he slipped through the gates surrounding my heart. He had had the power to crush it now, but what scared me is that I didn't know whether he was going to or not.

"So, what's your gut feeling about me?" He asked.

"Hm." I said,"My gut feeling about you? You're strangely accurate about some of the stuff you say, you're odd and outgoing and just fun." I said.

Art scoffed,"Nah, I want to hear the raw emotion. Don't go easy on me, I want to know what you really think about me." He said.

"Well," I said after thinking it over,"You can be confusing, and gorgeous and I can loose myself in you. You don't have any of the answers but at the same time you have all of them, all of my problems are around here somewhere and but when i'm around you it's like they're all solved. So in a way, Art, you're just like art."

He chuckled as we stopped outside of my apartment."That was beautiful, you should write poetry." He said.

I giggled,"Right." I said walking through the doors and into the lobby.

He took my hand as we walked over to the elevator and pushed the up button. I looked around noticed Jedd, the door man, coming back from his break. I looked up at Art and down at our hands before I took a step back and let go of his hand. Art looked at me, then at Jedd as if he were accepting a challenge.

"Hey, Ally."Jedd said approaching us,"I thought you had classes today, what happened."

"I do have class today. I just, didn't go." I said.

"Oh, I get ya," He said, nudging Art,"You ditched to hang out with your boyfriend."

"Oh, Jedd, actually he's not my boy--"

"Yeah, totally. You know I didn't want her to miss school today but the second she found out I was here she's been trying to get me into her apartment, if you know what I mean." Art said.

I stood appalled until I heard the elevator doors open."Oh, wow look the elevator is here." I said grabbing Arts' arm and pulling him into the elevator.

"See?" Art asked Jedd before the doors closed.

"What's was that?" I asked pushing the 12th floor button in the elevator.

"What was what?"

"The little show you just put on for my doorman!" I said.

"Oh, relax. It was a joke."

"Yeah, to you it was a joke. Art, I live here I don't-"

"Want your door man to know you're getting any action?"

The doors opened and we stepped out, I rolled my eyes at him,"No. I don't want anyone to know I'm getting any action, because I'm not." I said grabbing my keys and unlocking my door.

"Oh, come on." He said,"You know that was funny."

I wanted to be angry, but the look on Jedds face was priceless.

"Okay, I was a little funny." I said giggling to myself.

I threw my jacket on my couch as he spun me around, bringing my face just inches from his. He smiled at me with his hands tightly around my waist.

"So, how about that kiss?" He asked.

I bit my lip, then realized I was going it and let go. He smirked and moved a hand up to my face, stroking my hair before pulling me in, his lips brushed mine. My heart pounded as I pressed my lips against his, electricity flowing through my body. I felt a smile spread across his face, as he picked me up and carried me up the spiral staircase to my bed.

It started to rain again, this time even harder. I heard the rain pound down on my window, as Art placed me on my bed, his lips never leaving mine. He wrapped his arms around me, deepening the kiss. He pulled away for a moment and looked down to the end of my bed at a worried Cheshire.

"You have a cat?" He asked laughing.

"Yeah, his name is Cheshire." I said.

Art exploded with laughter,"You...named him...Cheshire?" He said in between laughs.

"Yeah." I said.

"That's hilarious." He said.

"What?" I asked,"I can't be an Alice in Wonderland fan?"

"You can totally be a fan, but did you really have to name it Cheshire?"

"Oh, shut up," I said playfully slapping his chest,"I can name my cat whatever I want."

"Oh yeah?" He said, pulling me closer to him.

"Yeah, fight me about it." I said.

"Maybe I will." He said and in one quick motion he was hovering over me, pinning my hands down on both sides of my head.

He pressed his lips against mine as I wrapped my legs around his waist. He let go of my wrists pulled off his shirt while I worked on pulling off his. He laughed at Cheshire meowing in the background. We changed positions so that I was straddling him. His chest was warm under my hands, and his hands on my bare back sent shivers down my spine. I didn't know exactly how I felt about Art, but I knew that today was one of the best days of my life. I didn't know what Art wanted from me, I didn't know if this was all a game to him or what, but I new that now I'd have to be even more careful with my heart.

I kissed his neck softly and slowly, grinding against him. He smiled with his lips to mine, his hands sliding down my back lower and lower. I reached down and started to unzip his pants before he stopped me.

"Hey, gettin' a little frisky there." He said

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, nothing I just--" He sighed,"C'mere."

He pulled me to the side of him and wrapped his arm around me.

"What are you going to school for?" He asked.

"What?"

"You heard me."

I sighed,"I want to write."

"I kind of pegged you as a writer." He said,"What do you do besides go to class?"

"Go to work." I said.

"Where do you work?" He asked.

"I'm a bartender, down the street." I said,"what do you do?" I asked.

"I'm a bartender, down the street." I said,"what do you do?"

He thought this over for a moment,"I actually own this building, well, partially own."

"What?" I asked.

"And a majority of the buildings on this block."

"No way, you're a fucking liar." I said.

"Who do you think did the renovations on this place? How else would I know that there is a board, two feet from that wall over there, that's loose."

"What?"

He jumped up, still shirtless and walked down the stairs to my living room. He walked over to the wall and measured about two feet away from the wall, then pulled up a loose board, from my hardwood floor.

"I'm actually surprised you haven't found it yet." He said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I said putting my shirt back on.

Art sighed,"C'mere." He took my hand and sat next to me on the couch,"I just took partial ownership like two months ago. I didn't want to be one of those guys that hit hit on every girl in the building. I wanted to get to know you, like really get to know you."

"I don't understand." I said,"Why have you been taking the bus and--"

"I noticed you at the bus stop, and I was going to talk to you, and somehow or another I ended up taking the bus, everyday until today."

"So you stood in the rain today, in an attempt to talk to me?" I asked.

He nodded,"What if it didn't rain today?" I asked,"Would it just have been another day or what?"

"Probably, I mean it's been two months." He said.

"I don't know whether I should be flattered, or scared." I said.

"Definitely flattered." He said.

I got up and walked into my kitchen, making a cup of coffee."Wait, so how did you know about the floor boards if you just took ownership two months ago, I moved in almost three years ago."

"Well, I wasn't here for the renovations, we hire people for that but they take notes that week keep and part of me taken ownership is reading over every last detail of this place."

"Does Jedd know you own the place?"

"The doorman? I don't know. Probably not."

I grabbed my coffee and my jacket and walked out into the fire escape, Art following close behind.

I pulled my packet of cigarettes out of my pocket and lit it before I leaning on the railing.

"You know there's no smoking on building property, right?" Art asked.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, blowing smoke into the rainy atmosphere."Evict me?"