i look at tommy's extended hand and take it without thinking.

"i would love to," i reply.

we make our way into the rink and skate together, hands still interlocked.

"OH MY GO-" i hear karl shout before his voice gets muffled. i look over and he's pointing at me and tommy, and nick is covering his mouth. i laugh and turn my head back.

"i like this song," tommy comments.

"you like ed sheeran?" i ask after listening closely to the music.

"uh, well this song's good..."

baby i'm

dancing in the dark

with you between my arms

"do you not like it?" tommy asks worriedly.

"i do now," i say smiling. tommy blushes and nods.

"cool..." he quietly lets out a flushed laugh.

when the song ends, we leave the rink and sit down for a while.

"that was fun," tommy says. i nod.

"thanks for asking me..." i say. "to skate."

"you thought i wouldn't ask you?"

"well, i mean, it's couple's skate... and i didn't know if we were really a couple."

"label or not, my feelings for you are the same." tommy takes my hand and gives it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. i smile and nod.

"mine too," i say. tommy gently grabs the side of my head and pulls me close to him, lightly pressing a kiss against my temple. my face goes red and i pray none of our friends are looking.

both of our phones go off and we check to see who texted us. turns out it's wilbur letting everyone know that him, niki, and toby are in the food court and we should all join.

"dinner?" tommy asks.

"dinner," i confirm.

we put on our tennis shoes and walk to the food court, cutting in line with the three. the rest of the group joins shortly after.

"are we just your guys' excuse to cut the line?" wilbur asks sarcastically.

"yes," alex says. "that's exactly it."

we end up ordering two pizzas for all of us, one cheese and one pepperoni, and all sit down to eat at a large round table.

"so, we all saw what just happened, right?" clay asks. everyone looks at him with a confused look.

"what happened?" niki asks.

"valerie. tommy. couple's skate. you figure the rest out."

"I SAW THAT!" karl exclaims. i wince.

"you made that very clear when you shouted and pointed at us," i say, taking a bite of my cheese pizza.

"because i got excited!"

tommy looks at me with an expression that reads "do we tell them now?" i give a swift nod and tommy clears his throat.

"well... uh..." tommy starts off awkwardly. "val and i... we don't have a label... but yeah. we like each other. and we kissed." a few people gasp, a few people cheer, and everyone seems elated.

"FUCKING FINALLY!" nick shouts.

"took you guys long enough!" george adds in.

"how did i not figure it out at the arcade..." toby quietly contemplates. tommy and i laugh.

"why not the label?" wilbur asks. tommy scratches the back of his head. i bite the inside of my cheek in thought.

"i want to put a label on it... but i don't know how the fans will react..." tommy says. "i really like val and i only have eyes for her but... the stans are crazy."

"crazy for you two!" nick says. "have you not seen twitter since the meet up? they're DYING for you two to get together."

"actually?" i chime in.

"check twitter. literally check twitter right now," alex insists. i pull out my phone and check my timeline. sure enough, #talerie has been trending multiple times in the past week, lots of tweets shipping us, and couples have even started using our faces as matching profile pictures.

"do you see what we see now?" niki asks. i nod. everyone turns towards tommy.

"why are you all looking at me..?" he asks.

"ask her..." toby urges.

"'pop that pretty question, right now, baby,'" karl sings. i gasp.

"i love that song!" i say.

"you expect me to ask her to be my girlfriend NOW? in front of all of you, eating greasy pizza at a roller rink? hell no. i'll ask her somewhere special," tommy says. the table is filled with "aww's" and me hiding my red face.

after dinner, i excuse myself to use the restroom. i go in one of the stalls and pull out my phone, to see i have a new twitter dm.

i gasp when i see who it's from.

@amanda.lilian: hi valerie! it's been a while, i hope you haven't forgotten about me :)