"It's not gonna work." Noel muttered darkly to herself as Lucas led her up the hall towards the elevator. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the sour face gazing back. Getting a smile out of this woman had been a losing battle all day and it didn’t look like she was going to give ground now. Was it really that much to ask for someone to be happy?

Pressing the glowing white button to summon the elevator, Lucas glanced at the woman beside him. She had pulled her hand away and her posture seemed very unapproachable as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You may be right.” He reasoned with her looking back towards the door. “There is really not much I can do to make you remember me. But I can have fun trying my best to make an impression.”

The silver doors slid open to reveal a bald, wrinkled old man in a suit with thick, horn rimmed glasses. Perfect, Lucas had wanted to get the blood flowing and make a girl happy and now he had to ride the elevator with the six flags guy and a woman that looked like she wanted to castrate him. This plan was not going according to how he had envisioned it would. There was no point in turning back now though but if this got any worse it was going to be a long night.

“Come on, let’s go.” Lucas said as he ushered Noel into the elevator, smiling politely at the man as they embarked. The doors swung shut and everyone stared at the number panel above the door as they counted down. Hushed, easy listening music circled the air and made the ride seem that bit more painful to Lucas somehow. The first floor eventually arrived and the doors swung open.

Lucas grabbed Noel’s hand again and backed out the door so he could see her as he talked. “I promise we can be back in the room in five minutes. And if you behave yourself and give me a smile, there might even be some ice cream in it for you.” The devilish grin came back. “I hear pregnant women really like ice cream.” Turning to his side, he saw the old sick flag guy watching the exchange so he addressed him as well. “There is a bowl of ice cream in it for you to if you streak the lobby big guy.” Lucas winked suggestively and the man seemed to decide it was best to mind his own business from that point on and hurried off.

The couple made their way to the front desk where the young concierge that had checked them in stood waiting to help them.

“I need your help” Lucas said. “I need you to take our picture. It has been an interesting day and we need to immortalize it. After you take our picture, I’m going to need you to print us off a couple of copies on that printer you have in the back office.” Lucas pointed to a printer on a desk in the office behind the desk clerk to aid his point.

The man behind the desk gave the fakest smile imaginable. “We don’t have a camera sir.” He said with mock apology in his voice.

Reaching over the desk, Lucas grabbed a pen and pad and began to write. “I am assuming someone in this building has a cell phone that can take photos and could email so they could be printed?” He asked, not looking up from his pad. ”Lastly but most importantly, we are going to need some ice cream.

“I’ll see what I can do sir” the clerk replied, trying to maintain his fake smile as he picked up the phone to make a call.

*****

A minute later, Raoul the night watchmen stood in the lobby with his cell phone held out before him. Lucas stood behind Noel, his head leaning over one shoulder and his arm wrapping around the other side. He held the sign he had made for the camera in front of both of them so that only the camera and the night watchman could see what it said. “Now, if you like, you could smile for the picture.” Lucas whispered into her ear while trying not to ruin his own portrait grin. “It always makes for a better picture. Of course, the truth is I think you’re cute enough to pull off a grumpy frown as well so do what makes you happy.”

The phone made a digitized click sound that was meant to mimic a real camera, signifying the deed was done. The flash left small dark circles dancing across Lucas’ vision. He didn’t wait for them to clear before going over and thanking Raoul for his time. Turning back to Noel, he held up the sign he had made for the photo so she could finally read it.

Lucas is my friend.
I trust him.

“There you go. The only way you won’t remember me now is if you don’t want to and throw the picture away.” He cocked his head to the side in an attempt to seem more innocent and lighten the tension. It used to work in high school whenever he would annoy a girl so it was worth a shot now he figured. “And before you say you don’t trust me, you did come down here in nothing but a robe even though I didn’t tell you why. Plus, there is the whole night in a hotel room without clothes thing if you still have doubts.” He waited a moment to let his argument sink in. “But I do have to ask because I can’t wait to see for myself. Did you? Did you finally smile for me?”

A picture? Noel's sigh came from the gut and she whapped... her escort... on the arm. That was one for the pregnancy comment. "I thought you were gonna water board me or make me get a tattoo or something." He obviously wasn't opposed to tattoos. And there were ice vending machines on every floor and Noel had a very bad set of experiences with ice and trying to learn to remember. No. A picture was exactly what she needed. She could fold it up and it would go right in her ankle pouch.

Noel smiled for the photo. Partially because Raoul's shirt was untucked and he looked like he had been interrupted from something he should not have been doing on his guard duty. And partially because as soon as the flash spots had faded from in front of her eyes she whapped him in the arm again just for being difficult this whole time.

"I am not grumpy, I just don't like being teased." He handed over the sign that he had so zealously guarded and she did smile. "Great, but don't you have a last name? Or do you not remember that, Lucas?" Yes. Lucas did feel right.

And She did trust him. Maybe it was left over from the fiancee mentality or maybe it was the way that he proved over and over again that he was looking out for them both, not just himself.

Did she smile for him? Yes. But now that he was asking, she scowled. There was only one thing to say to that. "I believe I was promised ice cream." She folded the paper and put it in her pocket before thanking Raoul and the front desk attendant.

(OOC: minor godmode permission was approved)

Rubbing his shoulder in mock agony, Lucas put on his best hurt expression. “Do you really think beating me in front of all theses people qualifies as being good enough to earn ice cream?” he said in a wounded voice.

Noel’s hands balled into fists again to administer another friendly punch. Before she could, Lucas took a step back in pretend terror. “Ok! You win! I’ll get you your ice cream. Just don’t hurt me anymore.” He let the charade of fear drop before continuing. “I’ll wait here and grab it as it comes out and meet you upstairs so we can get it a bit faster. OK?” Reaching into his robe pocket, the young man pulled out the key and handed it towards her.

A quick, delicate hand darted out to snatch the electronic card but Lucas held onto it firmly to keep Noel’s attention a second longer. “It’s Monroe.” He added with a smile and released his fingers. “I’ll see you upstairs.”

Turning around, Lucas walked back towards the front desk yet again. He listened to the gentler foot falls of Noel’s bare feet on the marble floor as she made her way back to the elevator and he waited for the ding of the bell before he addressed the man behind the desk again. “I’ll bring the ice cream up myself I think. Save you and your staff the trouble if you don’t mind having it brought to the front desk instead?” Lucas offered.

“Of course sir.” The concierge said and picked up the phone to make the arrangements.

Lucas looked over to watch Noel step through the doors. He admired the way she moved and found himself dreaming of possibilities. The heavy steel doors closed entirely too quickly for his taste.

The sound of the phone being hung up brought Lucas’ attention back to the task at hand and he turned to face the clerk.

“It should be here shortly sir.” The concierge said. “And if it isn’t too personal and you don’t mind me asking, how long have you both been together? You make a nice couple.”

“We aren’t together.” Lucas corrected. “Life is never that simple.”

Lucas had been trying to hide the truth from himself but the desk clerk had brought it to the surface. The fact was, if things moved any further for him, he was going to get hurt. “It might even be too late.” He admitted to himself. If any feelings that had started to grow were reciprocated, there was no guarantee that Noel would remember the next day and where would that leave them? Lucas couldn’t take a photo and scribble a note to let the young woman know how they felt about each other. A relationship with Noel would only end badly. It might not be today, or tomorrow, but the eventuality loomed there, waiting. Lucas hadn’t spent a lot of his life trying to be safe but instead, had looked out for others. Now that his family was gone, he had the chance to change that. The signs of him starting to fall for Noel were all there and he could see it. There was no way to delude himself into thinking otherwise. Looking over towards the front doors of the hotel, he understood that there was only one thing he could do to save himself the heartbreak that could follow if he went back up to the room.

“Change of plans buddy.” Lucas said softly. “I am going to need room service to bring that ice cream upstairs after all.” He sighed, contemplating how things might have gone if he had chosen differently. It was hard, but now that the decision was made, Lucas realized there really wasn’t a choice to do things differently despite the inevitable pain it would cause.

“You mind crediting me a few bucks and charging it to the room as well? I’m going to need some cash to get a few things and don’t have my wallet with me.” Lucas asked sheepishly.

Seeing the look in the robed man’s eyes before him, the desk clerk reached into his own pocket and handed him a twenty.

*****

A few minutes later, Consuela pushed a small steel cart to a suite at the end of the hall on the fourth floor. The trolley held a tray with a heaping bowl of ice cream and two spoons. She had been in the hotel industry long enough not to question what customers ordered. If someone wanted to eat ice cream in their rooms at night, that was there choice. If they wanted to do something else with it, that was up to them and she didn’t need the details. It was far from the strangest request she had received and she was pretty good about pushing these things from her mind.

Reaching the end of the hall, the room service attendant stretched out her hand and wrapped on the door gently. “Room service.” She said politely and waited for the door to open. The sound of the latch being pulled free was heard from behind the door. It swung open to reveal a long haired brunette with stunning hazel eyes and a scar on her left cheek. She seemed surprised to see her there, as if she had expected someone else. Consuela looked down at her service bill to make sure she hadn’t gone to the wrong room by mistake.

“You ordered ice cream?” She said questioningly, taking her time between each word so she could be understood through her heavy Spanish accent.

Before the pretty woman in the room could answer, a man in a robe popped out of the stairwell and picked up the tray off of the cart.

“Great!” he said, a hint of excitement in his voice. “I was worried I wouldn’t get back before it melted. Thanks.” The robed gentleman deftly circumvented the space between the two women and entered the room with a level of dexterity that was surprising for a man his size. Both of the ladies were left in the doorway, facing each other.

Noel was grateful to be dismissed back upstairs. She would have felt less naked if she had shoes on at least. She went to snatch the card, but he held it. She thought he was teasing her again and that earned him a hard scowl… until he said it. Monroe. The brunette softened around the edges and took the key, grateful that this was a hotel that printed the room number on the key so that she would not have to ask.

"Lucas Monroe." He had even defined their relationship for her so that she would not have to be confused by anything lingering from fiancee days. "My trusted friend." She nodded. It didn't fit perfectly just yet, but it would given time.

He let go of the key and she made her way into the elevator, smiling even after the doors had shuddered closed. She pulled out the paper to look at it again. It would have been best if he had let her write it in her own hand and if he had put his last name on there, but for not knowing her system it was pretty good.

Suddenly crinkling the paper close to her chest, Noel scowled at the man who she had caught in her peripheral vision leaning over to read the paper… or maybe he had been trying to see how loose her robe was. Either way he got a glare that chased him right off the elevator. She wasn't sure why but she didn't want him to see the paper any more than she would enjoy the other option.

Once in the hotel, Noel sat on the bed and smoothed the paper out so that she could scribble his full name under where Lucas had only written his first.Once that was done she re folded it and crammed it into the ankle pouch. The packages of subdermal trackers spilled out and it tickled her mind to see them. She was forgetting something again. Something she had already thought of.

Since she couldn't puzzle it out immediately, Noel left the packages visible this time before she re-flopped onto the bed. She landed on the remote and after a fair amount of wriggling, the memory-mancer managed to fish it out from under herself and fire up the boob toob.

She avoided reoccurring bills as much as she was able, so of course there weren't any shows she recognized on cable. Her fancy tv had bunny ears… back when she had a fancy tv. Noel had only just begun to get interested in something black and white when there was a knock on the door. She hopped to her feet and was halfway there before a woman announced that she was there for room service.

That… couldn't be right. Did Lucas ditch her? He really didn't have anything to stay for, maybe one pair of clothes? Was she really so bad that her friend had to run away from her in his robe? She opened the door slowly and to her surprise Lucas all but dashed in, catching the ice cream boat on his way in.

But… if he hadn't waited for it, where had he gone? Noel scratched at her earrings and went to get the plates they had polished off for dinner to hand out to the equally surprised woman in the hall.

"Thought you might have ditched me..." She tried to keep her tone neutral, but the worry was there anyway. Noel passed the plates out and thanked the woman before closing the door and resting her forehead against the back side of the door. She had only doubted him at the end, but the worry had been real enough to make her question the words he had written on that page.

She liked him. Fiancee or not. But he wrote friend as his descriptor so she would try to keep him in that category.

“So…What are we watching” Lucas asked absently as he noticed the TV was on. Didn’t really matter much to him as he wasn’t planning on a show or movie for the night but he liked to consider himself openminded. It might have been something interesting that would require him to adapt his plan, but he doubted it. Now that both of them had made it back to the room, any plans he had formulated for the remainder of the evening were pretty fluid. Ice cream, TV and another small surprise for his roomate could happen when they happened.

Stepping over to the bed, Lucas grabbed the pillows and re-arranged them. They ended up in a central pile so that someone sitting in the middle could use them as a fluffy throne-like back rest. Happy with his arrangement, he made his way to the bathroom.

The last dry towel sat on the toilet seat, looking lonely with the absence of the friends that used to be pilled on top. Snatching it up, the young man turned back around and returned to the other room with a skip in his step, resisting the urge to whistle as he put the pieces into place.

He was up to something again. Last time, she didn't dislike the outcome so she tried not to be cynical about this time. Especially since there was ice cream involved. She didn't remember either of them specifying what kind so the Hotelier must have just sent a default Neapolitan. Pink and brown sandwiched white crowned with whipped topping and a cherry.

Noel grabbed the bowl and went for the brown. Chocolate was always a safe bet.

"I think it's called "An Affair to Remember" that chick is in the King and I and I think and she just got hit by a cab." Of course, that was sort of why she had stopped on this selection. It seemed kind of familiar.

She plopped herself beside his large mound of pillows and motioned to the screen where a dashing and somehow overly tanned Carey Grant was brooding as he waited for his woman at the top of the Empire State Building. Noel glanced out the window, but in Brooklyn their view of the art deco icon was blocked. Of course, Carey Grant didn't know his little lady had been hit by a car otherwise he wouldn't have gone through so many cigarettes and looked so peeved.

"You don't smoke, do you?" She asked because she was curious and because that would be gross if he got the hankering.

Noel would give Lucas the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't just being rude and planning to take up the whole bed himself. Though if he did, she was ready to hog the ice cream, though out of respect she had left the cherry for him. She couldn't remember if she liked them or not.

Coming back out of the bathroom, Lucas took in the scene before him. The sun was half set over the horizon and bathed the entire room in an orange glow. Long shadows stretched out along the walls and ceiling, giving an illusion of depth and warmth to the tiny, confined space. Noel sat on the side of the bed beside the stack of pillows, melding into the ambient colors cast by the dimming light. She casually worked away at the bowl of ice cream in her lap, oblivious to how beautiful she looked in that moment.

“Wow.” Lucas said softly to himself as he gazed down at the young woman, his breath stolen away. It was the kind of picture you expected to see hanging in the Louvre, not in a discount hotel chain.

Realizing he had spoken out loud, he tried to cover his verbal slip. “I haven’t seen that film in a while. Not since Thursday's oldie nights at the home in Florida.” He remembered wheeling his grandmother down to the main hall at the residence where they lived so they could watch the old black and white films each week. His grandmother had become less and less coherent of her surroundings through the years but up until the end, the silver screen could still bring some life back to her face.

Lucas remembered how the basic story went, having seen the film at least a couple of times. The parallel between Noel Gage and Terry McKay seemed instantly obvious to the young man. Both women feared letting someone into their lives in case they would see them as helpless and pity them. In the end, Terry’s true weakness was not letting anybody else get close enough to care. If they made it through the whole movie, it would be interesting to see if the female mutant sharing the bed would see the same connection. As Noel was dining on a bowl full of cream and sugar, there was a good chance that she would find the energy to make it to the end of the film.

Lucas hopped up on the foot of the bed and crossed his legs. “Nope. I don’t smoke.” He answered to her earlier question. “I had seriously considered staining my teeth yellow and shortening my life by 20 years. But in the end, I just couldn’t stand the taste.” He kidded.

“Now scoot over to the pillows and give me a foot.” Lucas ordered as he threw the towel across his lap and pulled a brown paper bag out of his robe pocket. The sound of small glass bottles could be heard clinking together inside the tiny sack. Reaching in, the young man pulled out three small flasks of nail polish and a foam toe spreader. One bottle was a smooth yellow, another a sparkling red and the last a clear coat finish.

“The lady at the store said the yellow is the hottest fashion trend for the summer but the red is more sultry and classic. I was actually kind of surprised she even talked to me at all since I was just wearing a bathrobe so didn’t press for details.” He looked at both bottles with a more discerning eye and then shrugged hopelessly. “It just looks like yellow and red to me.” He conceded. “Pick your poison, hot or sultry?”

Oldies Nights at the home? Noel paused with the spoon in her mouth to ponder the implications of that. Was Nick Lucas homeless and staying in a shelter in Florida? Florida sometimes got hit by hurricanes... Or there were plenty of other reasons why someone could be in a home. Insanity, old age, or maybe no one wanted to adopt him? She decided to let that one go since it didn't particularly affect the here and now from what she could gather.

"I don't think I've ever smoked anything." But she had eaten quite a bit of her share of this bowl of ice cream. She started to hand it over when Lucas hopped up again. He probably hadn't been adopted because he was ADD or something like that. Noel slid the bowl over to his side of the pillow pile.

"A foot?" And just like that the bedroom was transformed into a beauty parlor. Noel reformed her opinion. He probably hadn't been adopted because he was gay. That would make sleeping in the same room with him a lot easier. The whole kissing thing had been a delusion brought on by the assumption that they were engaged. There was no way he had actually liked it and could paint toes nails, right? Wasn't there like, a law against that?

"I can't believe you went for tonenail polish. Of all the things... " She shook her head.

"Red." Yellow just didn't appeal to her and if she had to go with anything, she would go with a classic. She would be breaking no fashion barriers any time soon. Noel swung her legs up and over the pillow mound before curling her body around to reach for one of Lucas' feet and the yellow bottle. "The yellow goes much better with your skin tone." She grinned up at him from across the pillow mound. "You didn't think you're getting out of this unscathed, did you?"

It had been years since she had bothered to paint her toe nails, or any toe nails for that matter. She tugged one of his feet up by the big toe and ran her hands along it to get it positioned in such a way that he might be comfortable and she might get to his nails. She couldn't help but notice his calluses. They weren't the normal runner's calluses. Maybe, something that kept him on the balls of his feet...?

Noel glanced back at the screen as she shook up the glass bottle and then ran the brush along the inner lip of the jar to lessen the amount of paint on the brush. It wasn't so hard to remember... Just like riding a slightly noxious smelling bike.

Also, the movie had taken an interesting turn. The girl, Terry, was being really stupid. She didn't want to admit she'd been run over. "Why doesn't she just tell him that she's crippled?" She put the brush to Lucas' toe. Wouldn't he be so pretty?

"The yellow goes much better with your skin tone." Noel said, grinning up at him from across the mound of pillows. "You didn't think you're getting out of this unscathed, did you?" She added as she snatched the bottle of polish from Lucas’ hand. He sat there for a moment, too shocked to react.

“Didn’t see that coming.” He thought to himself as a protest began to form on his lips. He bit his tongue before it could escape. Noel was smiling. On her own, without provocation or elaborate coaxing. She was genuinely happy with the prospect of painting his nails. It was a little odd but it gave Lucas a nice feeling and he decided to go with it. It was just as easy to be a homeless guy as it was a homeless transvestite.

“Unscathed? No. But I did think I could have avoided singing show tunes on Broadway afterwards.” Lucas joked.

This was probably a good thing in a weird way. Lucas was far from a nail polish expert so having Noel there to copy would ensure a better result. He mimicked her motions and shook his bottle before unscrewing the top and removing the excess from the brush. Reaching his hand under her calve, he repositioned her foot to a more comfortable angle. His hand lingered for an extra second, enjoying the warmth of her skin against his finger tips as he held her leg.

The smell of acetone filled his nostrils and helped him refocus on his task. As carefully as he could, Lucas began to apply the red paint in long smooth strokes while stealing glances at the film or Noel’s face when opportunity allowed it.

"Why doesn't she just tell him that she's crippled?" Noel asked idly as she worked her artistic magic at the other end of the bed.

“Probably because she is scared he will see her differently afterwards.” Lucas answered. “She understands her imperfections and is afraid that they will define her and her relationship despite the fact the man doesn’t care. It’s sort of self fulfilling. You know….pride cometh before the fall and all that.”

Watching the crimson splash of color spread across Noel’s nail, Lucas thought a bit about what he had just said and it hit home. When he first noticed that ‘An Affair to Remember’ was on the screen he jumped to the obvious comparison between Terry and Noel. The taxi accident had made the leap easy. Now, he realised, he had similarities to the female character as well. The woman painting his nails felt comfortable and he knew he was attracted to her. Maybe they only had known each other a few hours but it seemed familiar to him somehow. He was holding back and hiding what he thought and felt, using Noel’s fractured mind as an excuse not to risk being hurt or rejected. It was stupid when he got to thinking about it. He was worried she would see him differently if he was honest. Thanks to him being delicate and using kid gloves he was getting his toes painted to look like yellow M&Ms.

Lucas stole another glance at Noel as she worked on his nails. There was so much about her that he didn’t know and, thanks to her powers, probably never would. Her mutation meant she would probably forget his name or a million other details and he knew how difficult that could be but somehow, this made the beautiful woman even more compelling. He was used to lost memories and the constant reminders that would come with it. It had become a part of him over the years. Falling back into that life would be easy enough but that wasn’t a good enough reason to be with someone. Respect and attraction was and he had both for Noel. She was both Ying and Yang, a strange mix of two extremes. One side was strong and independent; the other, vulnerable and innocent. Lucas doubted he would ever meet another woman like her.

“So, how does a guy go about starting a romantic relationship with a girl like you?” He asked bluntly as he concentrated on painting the nail of Noel’s little toe.

Lucas didn’t want to spend his days emotionally crippled like the lady in the film, tormented by dreams of what might have been. Life was short. It was better to just face the truth head on and know for sure.

Noel paused and the yellow nail polish pooled at the tip of the brush right above the second to last nail on Lucas' foot. Well that wasn't fair. She wasn't done convincing herself that he was gay. Now she was starting to feel all nervous. She put the brush to his nail and the paint blobbed over, spilling onto his skin. Her brow furrowed and the brush went back in the bottle before she tried to smudge the paint back onto the nail.

How long had it been since she had even bothered to go out on a date? New Years, maybe? She remembered shopping for a dress for New Year's Eve anyway. And how was she supposed to tell him how hard it would be? How did she warn him that it would most likely end in tragedy? Was it worth starting at all? Lucas seemed to think so... So what was the best way to start?

"He asks politely?"

She rolled her lower lip under and trapped it between her teeth as she pulled out the toenail polish wand to get the last toe nail on Lucas' foot. It wouldn't do to leave him uneven.

"Starting is the easy part." If he could be casual about it, she could pretend to as well even if her heart was trying to hammer its way out of her throat.

The young man pondered the response. He wasn’t sure if that was an invitation, a warning or an admission of a wilder side he had yet to see. Stopping his toe painting, Lucas looked up and studied Noel for a sign to her actual meaning. Nothing in her face or demeanour let him know which way she was leaning on the subject. That in itself made it a good bet she was toying with him a little. She wanted to make him work for it.

“Weird. I thought I was pretty polite just there.” Lucas said with a shrug and went back to work on Noel’s feet.

His limited finances were exhausted by flowers and nail polish and no really over the top romantic gesture were coming to mind. Movies always made it look so effortless. In truth, being spontaneous was hard work and he had pretty much exhausted his repertoire for the evening with photos and ice cream. Lucas was tired and a bit annoyed now to boot. If Noel expected something more to sweep her off her feet, she was probably going to be disappointed. His mind was drawing a blank and with no real avenue of approach, the young man sat back in silence and worked on the final toes of his art project. If he was lucky, something would come to him before the unbearable silence became overwhelming. Unfortunately, the words ‘high maintenance’ seemed to be the only thing that popped into his head. They had kissed already for god’s sake! Well, Lucas wasn’t driving at the time but it was the same pair of lips that did the job. That had to count for something.

Lucas hated giving up but he was having trouble seeing what else she might want from him. He had saved her life, got her a place to stay when her apartment was wrecked and even added in a few extra fun surprises along the way. Women were so tough to understand sometimes. It was situations like this that made him wish he was gay. At least he had the toes to bat for the other team now.

The point of overwhelming, awkward silence finally caught up to him and Lucas felt like he had to say something to cut the tension. “Just so I understand, seeing me naked in the shower and saving your life from a crazy Cabby couldn’t count as a first date then?” He asked as politely as he could.

He was polite there? Noel stopped trying to finagle his other foot closer without wiggling her own too much and looked at him, really looked. His eye brows drew together and formed a small crease. His mouth pulled tight into a straight line across his face. She could almost hear the wheels turning behind those eyes. He was focusing so intently on the minutia of her toes (and no doubt what she had said) that he was missing the obvious.

She had no use for flowers and, honestly, the toenail polish made her about as uncomfortable as it made him. Noel just wanted him to... to say it, to make it official, or for him to ask her opinion. So far he had asked a general question and she had answered in an equally general way. She held a sliver of hope that he was asking for posterity's sake, but with how hard he was thinking now...

She just wanted him to see her like she saw him. He was tall, but not overly so. Their lips had made a happy medium between them. His eyes were a sharp as the mind driving them and, though he seemed nervously excited around her sometimes, he had a good head on his shoulders. She wanted to touch his freshly shaved cheeks before they turned to sandpaper again.

Noel folded forward to put her hand on top of his painting hand to get his attention. He could stop sweating now, she was already smiling.

If he wouldn't ask, that meant she had to do it. So she did. Noel was the honest sort.

If starting was the easy part and all of that went into their first date... "Does that mean you don't want a second date?"

There were a lot of rules she had devised for herself to keep herself safe in a relationship and one of them was to always be clear. Nothing good came from an ill defined relationship so she continued carefully. "I can't promise It'd be as exciting as the first, but I wouldn't mind that so much." Noel tucked some loose hair behind her ear and watched him with a steady eye. He was the excitable type and he had an open bottle of nail varnish on the only bed they had.

The red, sparkly color glided onto the final nail as Lucas tried to finish his task as best he could despite the recent distractions. He didn’t want to ruin the evening but a part of him felt rejected and he was having more trouble with that then he had anticipated. He had put himself out there and knew this was a possibility but nobody ever tries something expecting to fail. It was nobody’s fault. Just the way life goes sometimes. They were still friends at least. This could help define their relationship; it didn’t have to sink it. There would be less confusion in the future and that was a small victory.

Noel’s leg shifted in his lap as she leaned forward and gently touched her finger tips to his hand, stopping him from putting away the brush. A tingling feeling tickled the base of Lucas’ neck and set his nerves on fire from that slightest contact. Slowly, the young man raised his head and saw Noel’s warm smile lighting up her face as she looked into his eyes. All the tiredness and stress flooded from his body as he lost himself in those light brown depths yet again. There would never be only friendship for him. He would fake it for her, but deep down he knew it was too late.

"Does that mean you don't want a second date?" she asked him.

His heart stopped for a moment after Noel spoke. She hadn’t been playing with him at all. She had been as scared and nervous about this as he was and was only looking for clarity. What he had thought was a straight forward question was vague and ambiguous when it reached her ears. Lucas felt like an idiot. It must be that his brain was addled from tiredness, the after effect of memory loss or both. He should have seen that possibility instead of focusing on his own insecurities.

"I can't promise it'd be as exciting as the first, but I wouldn't mind that so much." Noel added lightly. Her delicate hand rose up and tucked some loose hair behind her ear as she continued to hold him transfixed with her gaze.

Lucas swallowed reflexively. There was no mistaking her intentions now. Despite her nervousness, the beautiful woman before him had spelled it out in detail and waited patiently for him to respond. With a few words, Noel had cleared any confusion or doubt the young man might have had about what she thought. She was a truly amazing woman. Despite the intrinsic risks of them being together, Lucas plunged in headlong.

Leaning forward, Lucas pressed his lips against Noel’s and kissed her tenderly. He had wanted to several times before and no longer saw a reason to hold back. Doubt and fear evaporated at the feeling of her lips against his own. All obstacles were gone.
Pulling back to look at her again, Lucas smiled at the beautiful woman before him. “I accept your invitation for a second date.”

Somehow he had managed not to spill the little bottle in his hand when he had kissed her. The nails were done now and all that was left was to put the brush back into the red polish. Lucas screwed it closed so it wouldn’t leak before dropping it off the side of the bed. His artistic masterpiece wiggled in his lap, the crimson flare of the nails sparkling in the light from the television screen. Looking down, he noticed his own yellow toes shinning back at him.

He wanted to move closer to Noel and cuddle in for the night to watch the rest of the movie before drifting off to sleep. He wasn’t sure if he could though. They had spent so long working on each other’s feet that it would be a shame to ruin it. “I’m kind of new to this. How long does this stuff take to dry?” he asked.

He was still for so long, Noel realized that she was holding her breath before life reanimated his shell shocked face. Apparently he had already been convincing himself that it couldn't happen so when she dropped the bomb… kaboom.

She felt a little giddy herself. Kissing on the first date? That had to be breaking a rule, but it was one they had already trespassed so she allowed it again.

These things brought back memories of her first kiss. Summer in the 6th grade. There had been a boy at a pool party who she had been eyeing. He wanted to be her boyfriend and she said okay. When he kissed her the other kids 'ooohed' and she got so embarrassed that Noel found an excuse to go home early.

This was nothing like that.

She had her excuse to touch his shaved face, he had his excuse to make it last just that much longer. Of course, this was the easy part.

Noel rolled her lips together in a way that rounded her cheeks and emphasized the fresh flush. Somehow this was all still embarrassing even without the audience. He did accept her offer of another, though. The brunette appreciated the clarity even though she had been sure he would accept after the look of shock on his face spread into a smile.

Her toes wiggled, each in its own ruby slipper. His toes wiggled back in answer, the yellow brick road she was to follow. For some reason she was having a hard time processing his question. "Uh-" Her voice shook out at a higher register than was normal. She cleared her throat and tried for normalcy and coherency. "It's hard to say. I haven't done this in a while." In fact now that she was thinking about it, it was hard to keep her toes from touching each other.

She grabbed the yellow nail polish and double checked that the lid was tight before looking over the back. Nothing helpful jumped out her her. This was silly."Just leave 'em out of the covers." The polish went onto the night stand and she grabbed two pillows from the mound to toss against the head board. They could sit up and watch the movie, but by the time she had made it up there and re-tied her robe firmly closed the main two characters were kissing. If the conflict was resolved that meant the movie was over.

Maybe there would be another one on after? Noel craned her neck to glance out the window and saw that the purple hour had come and gone. Night had come to New York, but it wasn't yet bed time. God, she was nervous.

She bit a nail on her right hand and tasted one part ice cream, one part nail polish and one part foot. Yuck! But it did remind her. "Your ice cream is turning into soup."

Looking over at the brown, gooey mess in the bowl on the bedside table, Lucas decided to pass. “I got the ice cream for you. I’m fine with just the company.” He said contently as he flopped himself down on the pillow Noel had provided for him. He noticed Noel gazing out into the night and wondered what she was thinking. Her back was to him and she seemed distracted as she nibbled nervously upon her right finger nails again. She was sitting up straight and seemed a little scared all of a sudden.

Getting back up to a sitting position, Lucas moved himself behind Noel and looked out the window from over her shoulder. He sat to the side with his legs curled under him, supporting himself on his right arm. The reflection of the couple in the window seemed like two shadows looking in from outside in the night.

The smell of the woman’s hair caressed Lucas’ nose and teased him mercilessly. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply despite himself. He opened his eyes again and admired the curve of Noel’s neck where it met her shoulder, disappearing beneath the folds of the robe and slightly hidden by the cascade of her brown hair. Lifting his left hand up, he gently touched her neck just behind the ear and rubbed along its length until his fingers reached her shoulder. He could feel the tension underneath and returned back up, applying slight pressure in an attempt to help work out the stress. His hand also pushed her dark locks away from the silky skin hidden beneath them as it passed. Noel’s skin felt hot to the touch and seemed to blush slightly where it had been revealed to Lucas’ sight.

Running his hand back down again, Lucas left it at the base of her neck, slowly kneading the stiffness he found hidden in the shoulder muscle. He turned his head downwards and pressed his lips against the side of Noel’s neck, kissing her softly.

“Are you ok?” He whispered into her ear. Lucas was actually concerned. A minute ago, Noel had been her outgoing and blunt self but she had quickly become frightened and withdrawn. The only thing he could think to do was try to let her know it was ok and listen if she had something she needed to share. “We can just both lay back, find something else on the tube and you can tell me what is on your mind if you want?” He offered sincerely.