"Love is Like A Glass Door..."

The coffee house slowly emptied as the hours wore on. The waitress [or cashier] swept the cobblestone floor and quietly stacked up the floor pillows, giving us, however, no signal to leave. Cappuccino cups littered our table as we continued with our relaxed conversation.

As he slightly turned his head, an ear peeked out from his curly array of hair. You know what I've noticed? Nick has some big Will Smith-sized ears. But they're adorable. Why not tell him?

"Hey, Nick?"

He broke his gaze from the window. "Yeah?"

"You have cute ears."

He grinned. "What?"

I reached over and lightly tugged the one in view. "They're like monkey ears." He laughed. "They are! They're like Will Smith's. On the Fresh Prince show, all the chicks thought he was hot and he had some big-ass ears."

"Duh. Big ears are attractive." He made a show with his hair again, creating a smooth current with a single jerk of his head. Both ears poked out.

I snickered.

"Will Smith can pull it off, babe, but not you."

"Says who?"

"Says I," I said, in a matter-of-fact way.

He scoffed playfully. "Hater." I giggled.

Nick gave his signature smile, showing his dimples and squinting his eyes in that vague way of his. That's the only resemblance between the brothers, the vagueness in their eyes. Actually, Kevin doesn't have that. The only thing connecting him to the others is his similar bush of hair.

"Hey, but you just contradicted yourself! You said they were cute." He pointed at me accusingly across the table.

"When?" I asked innocently.

"Just now!"

"Mmm... Sorry, dude, I don't remember."

"Liar!"

I stuck out my tongue at him playfully. You don't know the half of it.

The waitress/cashier suddenly spoke up. "Closing in 15," she said monotonously.

Fifteen minutes?!

I'm screwed. My parents were expecting me back before dark.

"What time is it?" I asked.

Nick checked his wristwatch nonchalantly. "Eight forty-five."

Crap.

I hadn't expected this to be so long. It was supposed to be an in-and-out sort of thing. not four hours! My parents were gonna kill me.

I stood up quickly. "Nick, I have to go. Like, right now.

Nick stretched out in the corner of the booth. "What's the problem, m'lady?"

I gathered up the empty coffee cups hurriedly and tossed them in the trash. "Curfew." Nick quickly guzzled down the remainder of his sixth cup -yeah, SIXTH- and shot it into the trash.

"Okay. Let's roll."

He pulled on his windbreaker and we stepped out into the late night atmosphere. The bell tinkled lightly above. I'm glad I chose the black sweater to wear. It was freezing outside, as it was nearing the winter. I shivered a bit and hugged myself.

Nick hesitated. "Um, before we go..."

Whaaaaaat?

"Penn, I have to be honest. I had fun today."

"Me too," I admitted silently, "But can we please move?" It was getting colder by the minute.

Nick smiled, sensing my urgency. He scratched the back of his head as he struggled to figure out what to say next. "Um... What I'm trying to say is, well, I really liked this. I think I... I think I really like you. Would you consider doing this again?"

I stopped bouncing on the balls of my feet as he spoke.

"... I guess, what I'm trying to say is that...."

Holy crap holy crap holy crap.

"Will you go out with me?" He blurted out.

Damn. Already? Dude works fast, I'll give him that.

I silently weighed the options. I'll tell you this, there weren't many. It was a black or white decision. Should I say yes or no?

Come on, people!

Yes.

No.

Yes...

No!

Ugh, which one?!

Well, what have I got to loose, anyway? I'll tell you what: nothing.

Nick dropped his gaze to the sidewalk shyly.

Why was it so hard to choose?

"Because you're afraid of what will happen," My mind responded.

Wow. How cliche.

And I'm not afraid of anything, forget a simple relationship.

I lifted his chin with the tip of my finger and smiled at him. He smiled back. His eyes are pretty, are they brown? I can't tell in this light. Cars flashed by in the now darkness. Paparazzi? No doubt that if they were, we'd be on the cover of magazines by early tomorrow. Stoplights glared at the scene below. The temperature was bone-chilling.

"Sorry about that. I know most girls would jump at you before you finished the question. But I'm not like most girls, as you'll come to see."

"I've already noticed." We smiled at each other again. "So is that a yes or what?"

Patience, young grasshopper. You're ruining the atmosphere.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him so that we were nose-to-nose and at eye-level. "Of course, dumb ass."

We stayed like that for a little longer, staring at each other. I forgot the once urgency to leave.

"Are you gonna kiss me?"

I flunked his nose lightly. "Nope." He laughed again.

"Well, Miss Penn, I guess we should be going, then," and before I could say anything, he kissed my on the cheek lightly.

Cue the non-repressive blushing.

"Uh, okay, let's go."

We got onto the scooter, put the helmets back on, and zoomed off into the night. I didn't look forward to getting to the hotel.

With new prospects in our minds and the harsh cold biting at us, we failed to notice the waitress put away her cellphone that she had used to take a picture of our exchanges of affection.