Bright sunlight streamed through the windows straight into my sleepy eyes. To get away from the intrusive light I rolled over, only to be turn face first into a hard chest. Cracking my eyes open, I looked to see Nick still sleeping on the couch with me on top of him.

Last night's events came flooding back to me as I looked at his sleeping face.

I finally kissed him. Granted it was in my bathroom right next to my toilet, but it was awesome all the same. I went in with mild expectations, but he exceeded them. I did think it was funny that his mask wouldn't come off. I tried my best not to laugh at him when I saw him standing there with his face dripping wet and light pink. I hold myself responsible for him not being able to take it off, but if he would have done it himself I might not have been able to kiss him. See I always have my own best interest at heart.

Post bathroom make-out Nick wanted to watch a movie with me. And that is what we intended to do, but I caught him staring at me several times. He did something that if he was any other person I would have slapped them in their face, but I spared him--he pinched my cheeks. Not my ass, which to me would make more sense, but no-- my face. He's lucky that he's one of the hottest and nicest guys I'd ever met because if not he would've gotten punched in the face.

Doing to him what he did to me I squeezed his cheeks while he was sleeping. That should wake him up.

"Maya," he said with his eyes still closed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm admiring how cute you are," I mocked him.

He cracked his eyes open. "You're mocking me first thing in the morning."

I squeezed his face a little harder. "Yeah, isn't that the best way to wake up?"

"Only with you," he said. His hair was a mess, and stubble covered his jaw, giving me the beard vibes that I craved so deeply. God, I really want him to grow a beard.

"You are so...."

"Handsome." He smirked placing his hands over mine so they stayed on his face.

"Corny."

He glared at me, "My answer was better."

I shrugged. "That's your opinion. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit," he replied. I for one am starving and craving waffles.

"Do you want to go get breakfast with me?" I asked hoping he wouldn't say no. "I mean if you're not busy."

"I'm not busy, I would love to come," he said. "Do you have anywhere in mind?"

"There's this place I like near the mall. I go there before work sometimes."

He ran his hand up and down my back. "Then that's where we'll go. I'll drive if you want."

I gave him a quick kiss. "You are a saint."

He laughed. "Not really."

I got off of him and stood from the couch. I looked down at my old sweatpants and holey t-shirt. "I'm going to get changed."

He sat up running a hand down his face. "You wouldn't have a spare toothbrush would you?"

"There might be one under the bathroom sink." I bought a two pack when I moved, in case of an emergency, like if I dropped mine in the toilet.

"I'll look for that while you get changed." he yawned. With the thought of waffles in mind, I quickly changed into a pair of leggings and a t-shirt without holes. I could hear the faucet running in the bathroom so I assumed he found a toothbrush. I should brush my teeth too.

Walking across the hall, I knocked on the door. Nick opened the door with toothpaste foam and my spare toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

"I need to brush my teeth," I told him. He held the door open wider so I could come in.

My toothpaste was already out on the counter, thanks to Nick. I put a small amount of the minty gel on my tooth brush and began brushing my teeth.

Brushing my teeth with him should be weird, a lot of the things that Nick and I do should feel weird but they don't. Talking about my non-existent family, that should be weird. Eating dinner together almost every night, that should be weird. Making out in a bathroom, that should be weird.

But it's not, and it confuses me. We brushed our teeth side by side, taking turns spitting in the sink. How domestice are we?

"Do I look dirty?" Nick asked. I took a step back and looked at him. His jeans had permanent oil stains on them, but his shirt looked clean, it was wrinkled but it wasn't filthy.

"No," I replied. "Who cares anyway? Most of the people there are so hungover they couldn't care less what you look like."

He still inspected himself in the mirror. "You look fine, Nick," I assured him.

"Okay," he sighed. He turned to me. "Let's go I'm hungry."

I gave him the directions to the restaurant as he drove. The place was already packed with hungover people just rolling in from a night out. I wasn't hungover, but I was starving.

This place was first come first serve so if you saw an empty table you better sit down before someone else got it.

I spotted an open booth in the middle, and quickly headed towards it. Dragging Nick with me.

"Here you go," I said handing him a menu.

"There's so much to choose from," he said looking down at the menu. "I don't know what to pick. How do you know what you want?"

"I order something sweet and then I order something salty. Oh and they have really good fries here. You should try them." When I wasn't in the mood to eat bland oatmeal at Roxanne's I would come here before work. Everything is so great that it even taste good the next day.

"I'll keep that in mind." He turned the menu over in his hands. "What are you getting?" He asked as I slid my menu to the side.

"At first, I wanted waffles but now I think I want a breakfast sandwich." I sighed heavily. "I guess I'll just have to get both and I'll save the leftovers. Do you know what you want?"

"I think I'm going to get the American Special," he said. The American Special was a stack of pancakes, four strips of bacon, cheesy eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, and ham.

"You're going to put yourself in a food coma."

"I'm feeling well rested right now. I think I'll be fine," he said.

"I thought you said you had insomnia," I said. He seemed to sleep just fine last night.

"I do," he replied. "I don't know what happened, it usually takes me forever just to be able to sleep for an hour, but recently I've been going to sleep much easier."

"Do you think it's the lack of energy drinks?" I haven't seen him with a single can of Red Bull in the last few weeks, and I'm proud of him.

"Maybe," He said unsure. "Your couch is very comfortable."

"Best thirty dollars I ever spent." I smiled. The waitress came up and took our orders for our food and drinks. After she put in our orders she came back with my coffee and Nick's orange juice.

"I don't see how you drink that sludge," he said disgusted. He took a sip of his orange juice.

"It's good." I stirred cream and three sugar packets into the steaming cup. "And versatile. It tastes good iced, hot, with cream without cream. You just haven't had it the right way."

He wrinkled his nose up. "It makes my stomach hurt."

"Light weight," I said taking a sip of my coffee.

"So I'm on fall break this week," he told me.

"I know," I said. "Nia told me about it." We're all supposed to hang out sometime. I feel like I haven't seen them in ages.

"I think if I focus I can get your car finished."

"Really," I said in shock. "Already?"

"I've been working on it almost non stop for over a month, Maya," he explained. "The engine was the biggest issue."

"Oh," I said. "It didn't seem like it was that long."

"I know," he sighed. "It went by fast, but at least you'll get to drive your car again."

That's exciting, I guess. "Does that mean you won't be coming over as much?" I've gotten used to him being around. It wouldn't be the same if I didn't see him everyday.

He placed his hand over mine on the table. My first instinct was to pull it away, but I fought against it only flinching slightly. He ran his thumb over the back of my hand. "Not if you don't want me to."

"I like having you around," I admitted.

He smiled, "I like being around." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone staring at us. I had tried to ignore it the best I could but I was starting to get annoyed. I'm not new to people gawking at me in public, I'm short, I'm black, and I have a silver hoop pierced through my nose. I shifted my gaze to look at the person who couldn't keep their eyes to themselves.

The dark-haired girl was smart enough to look away when she caught me looking back at her. Her low plunging sweater left little of her chest to the imagination. Not my style, but if you've got it flaunt it, if you like. She didn't appear to be hungover so I don't know what her lack of manners was about.

"Nick, do you have a girlfriend?"

He scrutinized me over his glass of orange juice. "You know I don't. Why do you ask?"

"This girl keeps staring at us, and I don't know her, so maybe you know her."

"Maybe she thinks you're pretty," he suggested.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't try to be cute."

He rolled his eyes. "What does she look like?"

"She has dark hair," I described. "A lot of cleavage. Big eyes, a lot of makeup."

"Maya, that could be anyone," he said.

"Well, I guess we'll see because she's coming over here."

"What? Why?" he asked.

I shrugged. The girl with the staring problem approached our table. Now that she was at our table I could see her more closely. Her jeans were skin tight and she wore thigh high boots. Sparkly necklaces adorned her neck, she was obviously from the Glendale side of town. Why am I surprised?

"Hi, Nick," she smiled brightly at him. "I haven't seen you in awhile." Well, I guess that solves why she was staring so damn hard.

"Hey, Stephanie," he said not returning her big smile. "I've been busy."

Her eyes zoned in on where he held my hand on top of the table. She turned towards me her smile dimming to something fake and cordial.

"And what's your name?"

"Maya," I told her, not bothering to smile at her. "Nice to meet you."

"I've never seen you before. Are you apart of the new East Chapel transfer program?" she asked. I guess I don't give off trust fund baby vibes. Her tone was nice, but I could tell she was sizing me up. Looking at me up and down, taking in my cheap leggings and old thrifted t-shirt. I can tell when I'm being judged.

"No, I've already graduated high school, actually."

"She graduated early," Nick chimed in, sounding more proud than I was.

She hummed, "Are you going to college anywhere?"

"Yeah, I'm going to community college next semester."

She smirked. "That's nice," she said, but I could tell she didn't mean it. "I'm going to Harvard in the fall." Okay, Stephanie...

"Cute," I said nonchalantly. It's obvious she wanted to impress Nick but he wasn't paying her much attention.

Thankfully, the waitress came out with our food then cutting our conversation short.

"It was nice meeting you, Stephanie," I said trying to politely give her the cue to leave.

"You too. Bye, Nick. Maybe I'll see you around."

"Bye, Stephanie," he said not addressing her last comment. Disappointed, she walked back to her own table leaving us alone with our breakfast.

"So how long did you date her?" I asked as I cut into my waffle. Our table was covered with plates of different sizes. The portion sizes were huge we had enough to feed at least two more people.

"I didn't date her," he said, taking out his knife and fork.

Yeah, right. "I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night."

"We weren't dating. We were just hooking up every once in awhile," he explained. "It was a casual thing."

I leaned forward. "Oh my God, Nick, you didn't tell me you were a slut," I whispered. I couldn't stop laughing but he didn't think it was as funny.

"Stop it," he said throwing a sugar packet at me.

"I'm sorry," I laughed. "But it's obvious she wanted something more than just casual sex."

"Well, that's never going to happen," he said. "She's too shallow for me."

I gasped. "But she's going to Harvard."

"You're having way too much fun with this."

I shrugged, eating some of his hash browns. He pushed the plate towards me. Oh, what a man. "Can I have some of your breakfast sandwich?" he asked looking at my messy bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich.

"Sure." I cut the sandwich in half, so he could have some and I could have some. While he ate part of my sandwich, I ate some of his scrambled eggs.

"This is amazing," he said his mouth full.

"Isn't it," I agreed. "That's why they're so busy all the time, it's great and it soaks up all the remaining alcohol."

"I can see that," he nodded. I stole his glass of orange juice and sipped from the straw.

"Thief," he called me.

"Sharing is caring."

We finished our breakfast with no leftovers to be found. My stomach felt like it was going to explode and I was already ready for my daily nap.

Nick, despite his insistence that he was well rested, looked just as drowsy as I felt. "I need a nap," he said placing his hand to his forehead.

"Thought you were well rested?"

"That was before I ate half of my breakfast and half of yours." About half way through our meal I asked the waitress to bring me a water. I sipped at it hoping to wash the taste of bacon out of my mouth.

"Do you want me to drive home?" I caught myself referring to my apartment as home for the both of us, when only I lived there.

He didn't seem to catch it just nodding and handing me his car keys. We put our money on the table and left. Nick playfully held onto me, placing most of his weight on me.

"Maya, help me," he said to me as I struggled to hold him up. His arm was draped around my shoulders. I was practically dragging him across the parking lot.

"Nick, you're too heavy," I groaned. "I can't hold you up."

He went limp. "But I can't walk by myself." I'm going to drop him in the middle of this busy parking lot, and he's going to be hit by a car.

By the time we got to the car, I was out of breath and my arms were hurting.

Before I could get too mad, he kissed me. Making me forget the burning in my biceps. "Thank you for helping me to the car."

"Don't ever do that again," I reprimanded him. That was my first and last workout of the year.

He smiled playfully. "Okay." He squeezed my cheeks before getting into the passenger side door.

"Silly cute boy always doing crazy stuff," I mumbled to myself as I went around to the other side of the car. When I got in the car, Nick had his head rested on the back of the seat with his eyes closed.

I was overcome with a mushy giddiness that quite frankly made me sick. I'm blaming it on the sugar from the maple syrup. His lips did kind of tasted like maple syrup.

I sighed deeply starting the car. I need to get a grip on myself.

Nick groaned next to me. "Maya, I think I'm dying."

I looked at him. He looked completely fine. "You are not dying."

"Yes, I am," he insisted. Grabbing my hand and he placed it on his sweaty forehead. "Don't I feel hot? And I'm so sweaty."

I pulled my hand away quickly wiping his sweat on the leg of my pants. Gross. "You just ate three types of pork. You just have the meat sweats, you'll be fine."

He placed his hand over his stomach. "Nope, I'm dying."

I rolled my eyes at him, grabbing my backpack from the backseat. I pulled out the bottle of antacids that I keep in my small pill case along with my ibuprofen and birth control. I pulled out the two large chewable tablets. "Take these, drama queen."

He scrunched up his face as he chewed them. "It's so minty." he coughed. "And powdery."

"It'll settle your stomach."

He stuck out his tongue. "If doesn't at least my breath smells fresh."

"That's a good thing for you and me."

He smirked at me. "You want to kiss me."

"Not if you're dying."

He leaned close to me over the center console. "I'm not dying anymore, so pucker up."

He then began kissing me all over my face. I laughed as his stubble tickled my face. I felt prickly stubble under my fingers. "Have you ever thought about growing a beard?"

"No," he said his minty breath hitting me in the face. "It might make me look too old."

I continued to brush my fingers against it, liking the way it felt.

"Would you like it if I grew a beard?"

I didn't even hesitate. "Yes." A hundred times yes.

"You're into the lumberjack look."

"Not exactly." Not everyone can pull it off anyway. "I just think you would look nice with a beard."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me. "You think I'll look sexy."

"Get out. I'm kicking you out of the car."

He sat back in his seat with a laugh. "You can't kick me out of my own car."

"If you're not on your best behavior, I will," I warned him. He made kissing noises at me. He's such a turd. I pinched him in the side.

"You're walking on thin ice, Nick."

He didn't care. He just laughed.

I liked his laugh. I liked that we could tease one another, and it not get annoying. I like that he's not annoying. I just like Nick in general.

"You're walking on thin ice, Nick," he mocked me, making his voice high pitched.

You know what, never mind.