By the time Connie and Amanda dropped me off at my apartment, it was very late. But I had never felt more awake. I couldn't believe Jackson had asked me out. I couldn't believe he had talked to me. Me. I was undeserving.

I walked up to my apartment door but took a couple steps back and stood in front of Marcus's door, preparing to knock. What if he was sleeping? I shook my head. The amount of times this man had woken me up with his conquests, he deserved to woken up for a change.

I knocked on the door and waited. I knocked again, louder this time, before the door was opened to Marcus in pajama pants and any-shirt. His hair was tousled and messy, his eyes were squinting. I had woken him up. "Maybie?" He asked, sleep thick in his voice. "Is everything-"

I wrapped my arms around him excitedly, "Marcus you genius, you! It worked!" I was too excited to care that he had just woken up or that he was so buff with my arms around him that I could feel the tendons of his muscular body.

I stepped back with a wide grin.

His eyes trailed down my body, taking in my short, dark green dress that hugged me in all the curvy places.

His gaze darted back up to my face and he looked even more confused than he did before. "What are you wearing?!" He tugged on my arm and ushered me into his house quickly.

"What? You said to update my wardrobe!" I complained as he shut the door behind him.

He grumbled to himself and walked into his room, emerging with a hoodie that he handed to me. I held it up and saw the words Fire Station 226 printed on the back.

I gave him a dry look but slipped it over my body nonetheless. The sleeves fell past my hands and it covered my butt perfectly.

Marcus's anxious gaze relaxed as he sat on the couch and gestured for me to do the same.

I collapsed onto it and stretched my legs across from me to rest them on his coffee table. I placed my arms behind my head and leaned back smiling at him.

After a moment of sufficiently annoying him I blurted, "He asked me out!"

A flash of annoyance crossed over his face before he replied, "That's great, Mabel."

"It was amazing, Marcus. There I was texting you and he just walked up to me. Can you believe it?! And asked for my number. And asked me out on a date. Me. You know, maybe I'm just a genius at this flirting thing. Maybe I have natural talent that I've never been aware of. Maybe I'm a real guy magnet!" I let out a sigh of contentment dropping my arms into my lap, a wide grin set in my face. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"

Marcus ran a hand through his hair, "That's great," he repeated, "I'm happy you're happy."

I paused for a moment expecting something. I wasn't sure what. Maybe a happy dance. Maybe a 'you're amazing Mabel' or maybe a little more support from my friend. Whatever I was expecting, this wasn't it. "That's it?" I asked raising my eyebrows.

Marcus was silent before he stood up, stretching his arms. "It's late, Mabel. I'm going to get some sleep."

My grin dropped into a frown pretty quickly, but I got up regardless. "Okay."

I walked to the door, made my way to my apartment and was only left with one thought - what in the world was wrong with Marcus?

As lay in bed staring at my ceiling and unable to sleep, I began to draw out a list of reasons that Marcus was upset.

- Did he want out of our agreement? Unlikely. He was getting a great laundry service (minus the first first few loads).

- Was he upset about his girlfriend? Probably, but that didn't seem like it would spring up randomly.

- Had I annoyed him with my wake up call? Most likely. There you go again, Mabel. Suffocating everyone around you.

~~~

I grumbled my way through my morning routine the next day. I slammed my phone to shut my alarm clock. I brushed my hair aggressively. I burnt my toast. It was an awful morning.

I tried to make up for it by dressing in my comfort clothes, but even that didn't work. So I just looked like a sad hobo walking around my apartment in my two sizes too big sweatpants and a drowning my large t-shirt.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at my door and I was excited for any distraction that would take me away from my miserable morning.

I opened the door to Marcus holding a bag in front of him in both hands as though it were an offering.

"Hi!" I chirped, moving aside for him to enter. Maybe he wasn't upset at me after all? I did have a small flair for the dramatics.

Oh, Mabel. You really can't read people at all.

"I brought you something," he stated sheepishly as he held the bag out to me.

I accepted it and opened it to a... "a breakfast muffin?"

"A cupcake," Marcus corrected me. "It's always a cupcake if it has frosting on top."

"Debatable," I argued.

"Diabetes would beg to defer."

"Pshh. Tell that to my stellar health."

"Anyway, I didn't come here to argue," Marcus interrupted. "I'm sorry about last night. I was just tired and being a grump. I'm really happy you got a date with Jackson and I'm not going to be a dick about it."

I grinned at him and pulled out the muffin from the bag, admiring the pink sprinkles and the personalized chocolate lettering spelling out 'Maybie' on top before taking a huge bite out of it. "Nothing like a breakfast muffin for hurting hearts."

He smiled at me, "That's true." His eyes darted down to my lips momentarily before he reached out with his thumb to wipe frosting from my bottom lip. His eyes met mine as he placed his thumb in his mouth and licked it off.

I swallowed harshly before using the back of my hand to swipe at any further remnants.

"Bambi," He smiled almost to himself while I was at a loss for how to breathe properly. Was it in through the nose? Why was my mouth gaping? Why was my heart beating so quickly? These were all questions I wish I had answers to.