University had turned out to be harder than she'd imagined, but there was nothing that could possibly stop her from going to that cafe to read … and there wasn't a day in a week that he'd miss it, and when she was the one who did, he showed up at her place. And they talked. And got to know each other better than she'd known anyone else, so it was no surprise when they both eventually agreed to move their little read-a-thons to her flat.

She was waiting for him in her room as usual, focusing more on what she's wanted to ask him for some time now rather than on a new novel she's picked at the bookstore. Her legs felt sort of like yell-o, and her heart … oh her poor heart was about to explode, so it was pretty fascinating when she managed a shy smile upon his arrival. And although it didn't feel like a huge thing - they were after all just good friends - she'd made sure to play it all out in her head before he even stepped a foot into the room.

"I … I know it might not be your thing and all … and I'm not sure if it's mine either, but I thought I could give it a go. You know … just in case if it turns out I really like it, because you never know." This was going out of hand, slowly but surely, and the look on his face, well, it was kinda confused, so she quickly got her shit together and blurted it all out. "It's … oh man, I'm talking about the dance. We could … maybe go, you know … only if you want. We don't even have to dance. I just thought … well, I don't know what I thought."

he skipped two steps at the time on the way from his apartment to hers, just to get there as soon as possible. there was a possibility he was already running late, since he had to take a shower. in the last few days his only trips outside of his room were those into hers. and after yesterday his jaw had giant purple bruises on each side. not a pretty sight. he deserved them, therefore the other guy looked perfectly fine and he… well it was obvious he got himself in a fight. which made him worry a little – what will she say? what was he thinking? maybe she won’t even notice. maybe they’ll just stick their noses into books for two hours and then it will time to say good night. he entered the apartment without knocking, her roommates were pretty much already used to his presence, a few of them were his friends anyhow. he went straight for her room, he entered and gave her a little way. ‘’sorry if I’m late and sorry for my purple face…’’ he started but she already launched into talking, so he stood there still in the middle of her bedroom, trying to make some sense out of the flood of words that was coming out of her mouth. ‘’are we talking about the dance on the valentine’s day?’’ he tried his best not to put a big cheshire grin on his face, he really did. he also failed. ‘’you are right. dances are not usually my thing. but… if you’re inviting me… then… well,’’ now he was the one who couldn’t quite mumble the words out: ‘’would it be like a date?’’

By the time she'd finally finished with her pathetic monologue, her eyes wandered around his face and mind really gripped around the words she's read from his lips. Purple face. It really was purple. Why was it purple? The fact literally threw her standing up beside him, her fingers slowly drawing near his hurt chin. She could ask him if he was alright, of course she could, but was it really her business to discuss? "Oh god, so rude of me, I … you know … if you want to tell me what happened, I'll listen," she shrugged wide-eyed, not trying to push it. It was after all his life, plus, the dance … he was already talking about the dance and it made her flush. What to do, what to do? Pretend she didn't know it was on Valentine's day or … or just go with it and act like it's nothing. Because that's exactly what it was in her eyes, nothing. Or was it?

"No … well, I mean yeah," she made a step back to get further away from him and his precious face, only then she was able to proceed … definitely too eagerly. "They aren't mine either, I've never been. And, huh, I wouldn't put a label on it really. We're friends … we'll go as friends, you don't even have to dance with me, because when I dance I look like a newly born giraffe." Or a little capuchin monkey having a seizure. Either one of those.

when she rushed up to him he was even more aware of the bruising on his face. but luckily he couldn’t get too distracted by her fingertips coming closer to his chin as he turned the topic right back to her. ‘’the dance first,’’ he said, there will be time for explanations later. he promised her last time, he’ll never lie or hide things from her, therefore he’ll try to give the whole story to her in a nutshell. hopefully he won’t get another punch in the face. he wasn’t quite sure how much more his jaw could take. ‘’well, I’ve been. on all of them. but mostly got drunk and got laid. not my proudest moments…’’ he smirked and waited for her to go on. she was cute when she fumbled for words. he could help her out, searching the right ones, but this was too much fun. ‘’I’ll get us the tickets,’’ he nodded after she was done, he was so obviously amused, wasn’t even doing much to hide it. ‘’but we will dance. and we will drink champagne. and I will pick you up. we will do the whole thing as it’s supposed to be done,’’ he didn’t do much thinking before agreeing. he needed to take his mind off of certain people, certain issues. this seemed to be the perfect opportunity. ‘’okay, so I have like thirty minutes then I have to head back,’’ he said, laying a hand on the small of her back and stirring her towards the bed: ‘’so, baby giraffe, my face will hopefully be only yellow by then. I got punched in the face. a few times,’’ he sighed afterwards and sat down on the covers: ‘’a few years ago I did something shitty. I deserved it, I took it. it’s behind me now.’’

Her eyes lit up when he showed some interest in actually going with her. It was rather new what she was feeling, because she'd normally stay at home when time came for prom or something … and even if she'd managed to get a guy ask her out, she sort of failed at keeping him at her side for more than a couple minutes. It always went a little like this; they came to pick her up, her mother pulled out a camera and took a bunch of blurry pictures then it was time to go. At first it was tolerable, but eventually none of them could possibly keep the conversation going. "Well, aren't you lucky? When I say I haven't been … I mean to a good one. I've been to prom, twice, but I guess it explains it all when I say we always ended up talking about music I couldn't actually hear about ten minutes in." All of it pissed her off even worse, because she used to love music … and seeing everyone talk about awesome songs with brilliant lyrics made her mad. Mad, because the last song stuck in her head happened to be Toxic by Britney Spears. 2005 hit. The year she'd lost her hearing.

"Okay. I like champagne," she giggled, not even trying to hide how excited she was about it all. She was going to that dance. With him. And she'll have to pick a dress. And shoes to go with it. And she will drink. And probably embarrass the living shit out of him. But it was nice. He was nice. Beat up or not. "Oh," she was literally thrown off a cloud by his words, but he also said it was years ago, so why did it matter? "Is everything okay now? They're not planning on putting you in hospital?"

‘’then we will make this one a good one, simple as that,’’ he promised with a quick nod, already determined to make it a night to remember. he wasn’t blind, he recognized a good decent person when he saw one. mostly because she was quite his opposite. where she was all golden edges and high hopes, he was pretty much on the downside. it’s how it was. ‘’no talk of music, yes, dully noted. and that seems awfully inconsiderate from your date… to start discussing music? maybe the problem was in you going with all the wrong people?’’ he frowned, annoyance in his tone, but she couldn’t hear that. were people really such jackasses? ‘’I’m not saying I’m a perfect… hm, since it’s not a date, then I’m a dance partner? shit. well, I’m not a perfect dance partner, but I’ll try to be,’’ he went on talking and scooted higher on the comforter. her questions made him pause: ‘’hopefully not. I think he let it all out. I hurt his friend so… he had every right to beat the crap out of me. everything will be fine.’’ jackson was done with him, he was done with jackson. he was done with mindy and all he could do now was to forget all about it: ‘’and you? how are you? it’s been nineteen hours since I last saw you, I bet a whole galore of things has happened since?’’

"Right. We can try. Although, like I said, look out for my dance moves, they're amaze balls," she hesitated to laugh, because a dreadful film rolled out in her mind. Yep, her dancing will haunt her forever, there was no way around it and she will have to dance now that she's asked him out. But then again he was a pretty chill guy, so he'd probably end up laughing with her, not at her. "Well, yeah, and when I was at a point of thinking I finally found the right one it all went to hell. It's hard for me … you know, it's really, well, hard for us that aren't as good at schmoozing people." she smiled slyly using the phrase he's used before. She was crap to be honest and there were only two ways her endeavours ended up going; she either completely blew it by pretending to be someone she actually wasn't or she drove them away by being who she really was. The girl with the number of computers in her room that exceeded the number of relationships she's had in a lifetime.

"I guess you're right then … except he could have waited until after the dance, because in all seriousness … I wasn't picturing myself going with Pokemon, assuming your bruises really will yellow by then." She wouldn't mind getting to know more about this shithole he's gotten himself into, but she could also sense how much he disliked talking about it, so changing the topic felt like the only right thing to do. "Yeah, so much. I'll just make a list and mail it over."

it was amazing, how easy it all seemed. not even once did an awkward pause occur, not even once did he have to think about what to say. it came naturally with her. it helped how interesting she was and interested as well. on some level it even flattered him – how intently did she decipher his words from his lips, how curious she was about every little thing. he was by no means special. there was no big significant marker on him which would call to attention. all he did was party, sleep around, make friends and try to live the best he can. he was without goals, without ambitions and had no idea where he’ll be in two years when he’s done with uni. ‘’amaze balls,’’ he repeated after her, a wide grin evident on his face: ‘’I’m sure you’ll be great. we can embarrass ourselves together. maybe we can dance to the ducks or macarena. I suck at both and there is no way you could be worse,’’ he settled on a treaty. ‘’there is time. you’re beautiful and you’re young. it’ll happen sooner or later,’’ he shrugged his shoulders, slight discomfort visible at the mention of love and similar nonsense. ‘’I’m not that good. just good. but I’m not excelling at anything. it is kind of sad, now that I think about it,’’ the smile was still there, wavering only a little. ‘’and you schmoozed me perfectly. so no excuses,’’ he spoke before bursting out with laughter: ‘’a pokemon?’’ now that was something new. ‘’maybe we can just dress up and go in costumes even. me as a Pikachu and you as that foxy look-a-like. vulpix!’’ he finally remembered the name of the pokemon. ‘’we should go out some time. not on a ball. but like out… out.’’

Everything felt so great when he was with her, and although she was still dwelling over her past, it definitely wasn't the only thing on her mind when he was around. Because when her ex thanked her for loving him and told her what she's already known … that he couldn't give her what she's been giving him, he pretty much broke her for everything that was yet to follow in her life. So she has trust issues. So what. And she probably won't be able to really hand her heart over any time soon, but she could definitely have some fun, make friends and dance macarena. "I'm pretty incredible at macarena, so that's a relief. Can't wait to see your booty swish, though," she burst out laughing, but she immediately covered her mouth, kinda embarrassed by the sheepish sound she'd probably let loose (or so her mother always told her).

"Yeah, well you are too, and you still have time to figure everything out. Find something you're exceptional at … and then you can do that for the rest of your life and be happy. I'm sure there's something." When she thought about it, there wasn't much she really knew about him, except that he was crap at reading, although he did have a beautiful taste. And the dumbfounding knowledge of Pokemons. "Are you for real? I don't think I'm fabulous enough for Vulpix." But she was so done hiding around and although stacked with fear … she would in fact hit the ball dressed as a freaking fox with him on her hand. "Yeah, we could. To the movies or what do you have in mind?"

‘’booty swish! lineke alstad, you crack me up,’’ there it was. her amazing quality to make him forget just about anything. the outside world. him. mindy. as if only these four walls around them mattered and nothing else. their own special wonderland. ‘’well, yes. I would love to embarrass myself on the sadie hawkins’ dance next to you. like I said, I’ll come pick you up and the whole shebang,’’ he quickly concluded that specific topic.
‘’maybe. eventually. hopefully before I’m sixty and bitter,’’ he slowly nodded, not entirely convinced by his own words. ‘’when we still lived in london, that was like… elementary school or so, I was really good at writing short stories. they were mostly about bloody gruesome trolls because I had a vivid imagination. and that is the extent of my lovely skills – good at writing stories about trolls. I should put this in my resume,’’ his eyes didn’t stay connected to her intense gaze now. they shifted away as he was revealing a little piece of himself not many people knew about. he really wasn’t the future tolkien. or future anything. sooner or later he will accept his fate. ‘’I am for real. I would totes go dressed in a pokemon. but it is on you to decide. how do you want me? in a chubby yellow soft suit. or all james-bonded up in a dashing tux?’’ he gave her the choice, he really did. but somehow he hoped she will go for the costume thing, just because it was by far more amusing. ‘’movies… could be good. or well. to be honest I just want to take you out a little. to have fun. so whatever classifies as fun to you? literary evenings? sitting on the floor of a bookstore? ice-skating?’’ just to try if this thing they had going also worked outside of her bedroom. to which he still tiptoed everytime, because mindy and nola lived too near-by. same apartment near-by.

"I'm glad, you look pretty ravishing with a smile on your face," she grimaced at him, showing two bright lines of teeth off. He made her a completely different person, okay, maybe not so different, just more spontaneous, kind of fun and happy. Yes, she was definitely happy, and her heart took a couple turns every time he snuck into her bedroom. "Ok, ok, ok, that sounds perfect … or I can also wait for you outside." It was just whatever he preferred, whatever made his life easier. "Don't be so gloomy, Noam. We all think we're better at figuring everyone else out rather than ourselves, anyway. Plus, forty years sounds like a super long time, if you don't find what you're passionate about by then, there's a huge chance you were born just to make this world a cooler and prettier place to be." Unlike him, she already knew where her place was. Not that people understood when she talked about it, but she actually was interested in java scripts and general web developing.

"Don't you think Pokemon suits would draw too much attention to us? Is that what we want?" she carefully asked. Lineke wasn't all about being in the center, but then again, who could even recognise her if she wore a puffy suit. "I say no to a tux, it's either a Pikachu suit or what you're wearing now, nothing too elegant or else I'll have to go shopping. Not that I have a Vulpix suit in my wardrobe already … Where could we get the costumes anyway?" she added, with a clear image in her head. Him and her, sort of holding hands, walking down the road all dressed up, people laughing at them, but their faces are covered in paint, so that's that.

"I'd like that. All of it. Whatever really and whenever. I have time, anyway … a lot of it. It's not that I'm a prude or something, I do parties too, once a year, but I need someone to watch me or else I end up in a bush or skinny dipping."

the smile immediately increased  - ravishing? ‘’you sound so british when you talk. the words you use. like ravishing. I speak like a damn yankee that is trying to imitate an accent. it’s pathetic. my vocabulary sucks,’’ he made a fake pout. honestly, he kept the accent because he talked with nola way more than to any of those americans. but his vocabulary changed… turned into a vocabulary of a californian surfer boy. so disappointing. ‘’nah, I’ll just come here,’’ he chuckled. by the time the valentine’s day  comes around he will… well, it will be okay. doesn’t matter if mindy and nola are three metres away, literally. this was a good thing he had going, one he refused to screw up contrary to so many before. ‘’you called me cool and pretty…’’ he narrowed his eyes sceptically on her: ‘’awfully lots of compliments today, lineke. you should insult me a little or my ego will suffocate us.’’ he actually envied her – how comfortable she seemed inside her own skin, how she knew exactly where she fit and what to do with herself. she had a purpose, goals to reach. it was very admirable. ‘’the attention doesn’t matter. what matters is that we have fun. I don’t care what we wear – we can go as tarzan and jane or as two random people in jeans. it is all on you. it is your night after all, I am simply a decoration. think of me as of your purse,’’ he shrugged at the silly idea. a man purse. it was kind of funny, though: ‘’ahh. skinny dipping. I’m sorry. you just had to mention that. see, skinny dipping is my thing. I used to do it daily. really. fine. I will take you skinny dipping since you already insist and then I can tore up a bush and bring it to you so you can hide behind it… although I have no idea where this skinny dipping would take place. we’re in finland. you can’t exactly take a dip into the ice. your lady parts would freeze.''

"Quit flattering me!" she nagged him, but in fact she loved what he'd said. She's been in love with the British accent ever since that Doctor Who show she so devotedly watched every night. Too bad she's lost her hearing not too long after she started watching it nine years ago, or she would have picked a bit more than just a couple words. "What does a Yankee sound like, I mean … I think your word usage is alright, nothing too American. But then again, nothing is too American for me, except redneck, that would be really unfortunate if you sounded like a redneck, but you still have a chance to lie to me, I can't hear you anyway." American or British accent, there was something about Noam that made her like him, not caring too much about where he came from or what he did in the past. He was good to her, he did a lot to be around her and that mattered to her. A lot.

"Sure. There's a light switch just outside my door. That's how people let me know they're here," she shared a simple fact that made her life substantially easier. Calling him pretty, on another hand, didn't. "Oh, so you don't like being called names. I'll cut back on that, noted. But you tell me when you need an ego boost again," she threw a fairly light paperback at him, sort of confused by her playfulness - it was definitely something new. Normally she'd just blush like a tomato.

"Alright, Tarzan, jeans will have to do. We can go as Pikachu and Vulpix on Halloween. And I don't really wear purses, so that'll be something new, looking forward to it." She did, she was quite excited about going to a real dance … with a real person, real as in a person that wasn't paid for taking her by her mother. "I think this is getting out of hand, lets just hope there's no skinny dipping and … and lady parts freezing, because I don't think that would be fun. But I just want to make sure we're in this together, if I find a frozen pond to dip in … you do it too, so we can freeze together."

‘’flattering you? this is not me flattering. if I’d start to flatter you, you would blush from chin to chin and your knees would go all soft,’’ he said jokingly. it was good to have someone near you who laid no expectations. lineke was like that. she was great. amazing even. ‘’I told you I’ll never lie to you,’’ he therefore repeated his words from before and honestly meant them once more. therefore sooner or later he will have to explain why two of her roommates hated him. but not just right now when they were making plans. ‘’okay. I will use the light switch from now on, instead of just walking in as if I live here,’’ he nodded and shifted back to the edge of her bed. ‘’look at you. you are so kind, lineke, offering to boost up my ego. women usually only love to smash it down and tore it into pieces. it never works but still…’’ a light chuckle came out as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the knees: ‘’oh, so you will still put up with me on halloween? good to know.’’ then at the mere thought of an icy pond of water he shuddered. ‘’no. I am sorry but I can’t dip into a frozen pond. that gives a whole new meaning to blue balls and well… I like them where they are. I don’t want to suddenly get lady parts when frostbite bites me,’’ he shook his head, no way was he getting into something icy. an inside pool of course. a jacuzzi sure. but ice, no. ‘’and if you want to see me butt naked you should only say so – not that you try to get me to go skinny dipping,’’ he raised his brows as if he was completely serious. he wasn’t. she didn’t seem him that way anyhow. a quick check of the time on his cell reminded him he has classes soon: ‘’okay, I have five more minutes or so. ummm. I just wanted to ask… your roommates? how do you all get along?’’

"I don't get all soft just like that, but we could talk about blushing, can't stop that," she wished she wasn't so weirdly responsive to anything he says, but there was really no way around it. Just looking at him brought some heat into her cheeks, so she knew a little redness was constantly present. She liked how honest he was with her and actually believed and trusted him, which was definitely a new first. Too bad her heart's got broken too many times after being too naive.  "That's just what I'm like, I don't … I really don't like seeing other people hurt and unhappy. And I'm sure it gets to you somehow, no matter how strong you are, that's how people are," she was talking from experience now. She would sometimes pretend to have a wall around her, that nothing could bring her down, but everything was just building up inside until she exploded.

"Lets see how the ball goes, if you're a good purse, then maybe I'll put up with you for Halloween too. And we can go trick or treating, I've always wanted to do that, but no such thing in Netherlands," she pouted, hoping to do it one day, because there was no such thing as too old in Lineke's vocabulary. She had a sweet tooth and she liked to dress up!

"Oh come on, it's not about seeing your naked butt, don't flatter yourself," she rolled her eyes, and she could definitely go on about skinny dipping, but he reminded her of only having a couple more minutes left. Time flew by so fast when they were together. "I … I don't really know them all that well. Jean seems like a nice guy and the girls are okay." Why was he asking her about them, though, if he was about to go?

‘’blushing is adorable,’’ he countered her right away, before he looked away from her. it kind of amused him, the way some girls couldn’t hide it at all. couldn’t control it. it was a very special way of flattering, even more if it was accompanied by a small smile they were trying to stifle. ‘’well. it did get to me after those punches. that’s why I was a little absent the past few days. but, as you can see, I’m super duper now. nola worked her magic,’’ he had to thank his sister for it. she came to his room and took the matter into her own hands after she saw he got himself literally all high and mighty. however, mindy’s visit a day after didn’t help at all. but. he was getting there, to his previous always chipper self. ‘’okay. I will put on my best jeans just for you. and I will get you a corsage. yes,’’ he was already planning everything in his head and out loud, both at the same time. ‘’and I’ll be the best purse you’ll ever have,’’ he concluded with a firm nod and started to get up from the bed in order to leave. ‘’what? that hurts. I would go skinny dipping just to see you butt naked, scout’s honour,’’ he had no trouble admitting. what? she was attractive and he wasn’t exactly blind. ‘’right. jean. okay,’’ he frowned, because apparently the guy had a thing going on with his sister, which he knew nothing about. he should ask nola about that sooner rather than later. ‘’good. I’m glad. that it’s all good here…’’ he fumbled with the last few sentences, before finally stepping in front of her still sitting figure and got hold of her hand. he leaned down and kissed the back of her palm, his eyes on her: ‘’it’s an honour to take you to the ball. now. until tomorrow.’’ he slowly let go, before turning in his usually dandy way to leave. hopefully she didn’t notice how at first he opened the door, checked the outside to see if it was clear and only then left.

done.