Hand in hand, briskly walking through the chilled air, we make small talk. We laugh, disturbing the peace of the night, in pure, simple contentment. I smile, enjoying every second spent with him. I guess I just can't get enough of him. He always makes me want more.
In minutes, he leads me off of the sidewalk and onto the cold, dewy grass. Oh, I know where we are, the park! We glance over at the lazy creek before silently deciding to go on the teeter totters.
In a short while, I began to feel a bit nauseous. Bouncing up and down while being lost in the depths of his chocolate eyes makes me feel queasy. Being so attuned with what goes on around him, he senses this, but he doesn't know that it's *him* that makes my heart do cartwheels, not the teeter totter.
He lets me get off first and then he indicates that we should climb one of the larger trees in the park. We race, and although he could win easily, his instincts and thoughtfulness force him to let me in. He feigned exhaustion, to let me get ahead of him, and then he sprinted, still making sure that I won by a good few seconds. And boys seem to think that girls don't notice these things!
We laugh again, somewhat out of breath, sitting on the picnic table to rest for a minute. I sigh and look over at him. His dark wavy hair carelessly falls over his eyes and he shakes his head and smiles. He knows how I love his long hair that cascades down to lightly brush the point where his shoulder meets his neck. He's so damn beautiful it hurts. I laugh once again and take his hand to pull him off of the table.
Together we drag the table to the base of the tree. He takes my hand as I step up onto the bench and then onto the table. It's not like I'd fall, but he's usually pretty protective of me. He's a step behind me as I make my way up into the tangled branches of the tree. Damn it for wearing those platform sandals! I grumble, but I am standing in the tree a few seconds later, waiting for him to join me.
Of course, being 'perfect', he effortlessly climbs the tree and joins my side. Now that we're up in the tree, we have nothing really to do. I arch an eyebrow at him in question, and of course, he mimics me.
Sometimes, I don't know why I like him, but he's something special, someone different. He can bring out the best in me, and I always feel so great around him, until I embarrass myself, that is. So far, I haven't done anything incredibly stupid. I mentally cross my fingers and hope that it stays that way.
We gaze into each others eyes, and I search for the answer that I'm desperately seeking. I need to know, and it eats away inside me. It keeps me awake at night, and it haunts my thoughts during the day. Every time I see him I wonder. And that question leads me to more questions, until I can't stop thinking about him.
Because I haven't asked that one question yet, I don't know the answer, and my heart floats away as I can imagine one response. It would make me the happiest person in the world, but I can see the other response as well. I feel embarrassed and the heat creeps up to my cheeks and then overwhelmingly depressed.
As I picture the second outcome, my eyes tear up and I look up to see him still watching me. He asks what's wrong, but I can only shake my head. I can never tell him. How do you say 'I love you' without knowing what will happen? Even though we haven't been doing things lately, or even talking lately, he's still one of my best friends. When we talk, it seems like all that time hasn't really gone by. It's almost as if we can put our relationship on hold, and keep it in the same place. Though, I still miss him when he's gone.
Concern filters into those dark eyes as he insists that I tell him what's wrong. I hate not doing something when he requests, but I don't want to tell him. It would be way too embarrassing. I don't even know if he knows how much I love him. I want to know if he can tell that I've wanted to be more than friends since we were re-introduced at that soccer game little more than a year ago.
I turn away from him and hug my shoulders, trying to get comfortable. I take a deep breath and prepare myself to ask what I've wanted to for all these months. It's finally the right time to ask because I can't go on without the answer, despite the fact that it could very well break my heart.
'You know how we've been pretty good friends for a while?'
He nods his head and waits for me to continue.
'Well, I'm pretty sure you know that I wanted to be more than friends about a year ago. That's why I asked you to Homecoming. And after that. You talked to *her* all the time. I was so confused, and you know I ended up going out with someone else.' Bitterness crept into my voice and I sounded resentful.
'It was because I wanted to get over you. I didn't want to like you any more when it was so obvious that you liked my so called "best friend" all that time. Going out with him was the biggest mistake I ever made, and maybe if I could have the chance to change anything. I would have decided not to go out with him because that got all messed up and underneath it all, you were still the only one I loved.' My voice trembled, and I wanted to disappear. I didn't want to carry him away in a huge, stupid speech; I just wanted to know how he felt.
Mystery is wrapped all around him, and I think that's what intrigued me in the first place. He is incredibly unpredictable in some cases, but when he is predictable, it falls out of his unpredictable pattern only further proving that you can never guess what he will do. I don't know if it's his brilliance that makes him like that or if it's just him, but whatever it is, you can never guess what his next move will be or what he is thinking. Maybe that's why he wins poker all the time.
I started again, 'And I never know what you're thinking! I don't know if you notice, or if you care, or.' I trailed off.
'I just don't know if you ever liked me as more than friends or if you could *ever* like me as more than friends. And that frustrates me more than anything!'
For a split second, I am happy and carefree. I've said everything that I wanted to say for now, and all I had to do was wait. That brought the sickening feeling back to my stomach as I nervously wondered what he was going to say.
His face is undisturbed. Being one of my close friends, he has definitely seen me freak out before. He knows that I care for him and that when I'm mad, you shouldn't take anything I say too seriously.
He says my name softly. 'I thought you liked me as more than a friend, but with you I'm never really sure. You're so damn flirtatious around almost everyone. I didn't want to think that I was special, only to get left behind like you did before. I flirted with her because I wanted to see how you'd react. I didn't think you would leave me.'
I open my mouth to protest, but he gently cuts me off.
'Now that I know how you feel, I can finally relate to you. For a while I liked her because she sort of reminded me of you. Then I realized that the two of you were nothing alike. She hides behind her lies and a casual front, but underneath it all. Well, I don't think *you* of all people would need an explanation of what she really is.
'When my sister and her friends wanted me to go out with you and I realized that I was being stupid, you had already moved on. I didn't think that I could ever get you back, and I didn't think I could handle it if I told you, and you blew me off.
'I wanted to tell you for so long. I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm sorry. I love you, and I feel as if I always have.' He gave me a sad smile, like expected me to just leave him there, alone.
I had never seen him look so hurt before. There was that one time when I was half way kidding and I called him a 'rebel without a cause', but that was a long time ago. I hated seeing him like that and it made me feel pretty guilty.
'Now I guess it's my turn to talk again, huh? Well, yeah, I was pissed when you went out with her. Damn, she was my best friend at the time! But I know I don't need to tell you that any more. I guess I shouldn't have gone out with *your* good friend either, but I didn't think I could stay around by you. It just hurt too much to see you two together.
'I guess everything just happened at the wrong time, but now. I don't know; everything seems right. There's a possibility for anything to happen.' I could feel my eyes sparkling with hope, what I had thought was forbidden for so long.
He nodded his head in false bravado and declared, 'Indeed! Anything could happen.' He leaned over, and
My scream pierced through the night and I was sure that anyone within a few blocks of the park could hear me. The police would probably come, thinking he had done something awful to me.
No, of course he just tickled me. I would've glared at him and called him a jerk, but I couldn't stop screaming and laughing. I thought I was going to fall out of the tree. He was relentless for a whole ten seconds, but decided to stop because I may have woken up the entire city.
I calmed down and *then* I glared at him. I 'hmph'-ed and called him a jerk, just like I was planning to do before. Then I stuck my tongue out at him in a child-like fashion. I made my way over to the part of the tree directly above the picnic table and planned to jump off, but he told me to wait.
He squeezed past me, and jumped onto the table himself, and held out his hand, waiting for me. I jumped and grabbed his hand, trusting him completely. Still holding my hand, he led me off of the table and further away from the road.
'Where are we going?' I asked.
He just kept walking and completely ignored my question.
In the middle of the trees and grass, he stopped and let go of my hand. I immediately missed the warmth and wondered what was wrong. He turned to face me and looked serious, in contrast to his usual easy smile.

'I know that many things have gone wrong in between us, yet we still managed to be friends. But now. I think that we could be so much more than that. Nothing stands in our way, and no matter what would come between us, we would always be able to come out on top. I think you feel the same way, and I want to know if you will go out with me.'
I grinned, I couldn't help it. I had been waiting to hear those words from him for so long. It seemed like a dream. I nodded as tears came spilling down my cheeks. I felt so silly!
'Of course, I'll go out with you,' I sniffled. 'Did you really think I'd say no?' I laughed.
He pulled me in for a hug and whispered in my ear, 'No, not after tonight, but I can still hardly believe it. You don't know how long I've waited for this.'
'Actually,' I teased, 'I think I probably do.' I rested my head in his shoulder and looked around us. Everything seemed so much more beautiful.
The pale moonlight surrounded us, giving the night a surreal quality, with the stars accompanying her, filling the night's sky in glitter. Trees gently swayed and the leaves rustled quietly. A chorus of crickets was chirping, which would usually annoy me, but tonight, it was music.
In mock seriousness, he broke away from the hug and gave bowed. I could feel my eyebrow automatically arching, but when I saw his perfect smile, I smiled as well. 'My lady, could I please have this dance?'
I curtsied prettily and followed his suit. 'My dear gentleman, I'd love to, but pray tell me why. I did think you abhorred dancing.'
'If she consents, it is for a special lady friend. I hear she loves to dance.'
'I think the lady shall consent, but she inquires if this gentleman does indeed know how.' I didn't want to be rude, but he never was one for dancing. I should know, I was with him at Homecoming.
'What a preposterous question! A gentleman asking a fine lady to dance, and not knowing how! Oh, the shame it would be!'
I laughed and shrugged. If he said he could dance, I guess he could dance.
'Well then, I would love to dance with you.'
He grabbed my hand and put his hand on my waist. We started to waltz around the park in pure joy. While dancing, I asked where he had learned to dance, and more importantly, why he learned to dance.
He put a finger on my nose and told me that it was a secret, but that he had learned to dance just for me. How sweet of him!
For an hour, he swept me away. It was all just too lovely, dancing in the moonlight. I never wanted it to end, but when it was eleven we decided to walk back to his house. I had to call my mom to pick me up because I didn't want him to walk home by himself and he didn't want me to wait in the park by myself.
When there was a knock on the door I gave him a hug and thanked him for the night. He told me it was nothing and that we should do something again soon. I definitely agreed.
For the rest of the night, I didn't think I would ever fall asleep. I was just too excited, and it was too late to call any of my friends to tell them what had happened. I just stared out my window at the moon and the stars, and pictured us dancing again. I fell asleep thinking about him. I was bound to have wonderful dreams.

A/N: Wow, I guess I am still not over that *one* guy! ::shrugs:: I guess, oh well! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any other suggestions for a title, leave me a review. ^.^ Thanks for reading.