Izzy shut the bedroom door softly behind him and hopped across the room to the window, pulling it open. He clambered out onto the fire escape, peering up at the doors to Mary's bedroom. The light was still off, so he shrugged to himself and sat down on the metal grate below him, poking his legs through the spaces in the railing.

He gave a contented sigh and breathed in the calm, warm evening air with a smile. It had been a long day, and even while his body was tired, adrenaline still buzzed in his veins. The Double Dutch competition had left him with an excitement the likes of which boxing hadn't done in years, but he suspected that it may have had something to do with the people involved – or one of them, at least.

He'd been out for a while when lights flicked on in Mary's room above and to his right. For a few seconds he watched the doors; then he began to whistle a cheerful tune. After a moment one of the doors opened and Mary poked her head outside to look at him, smiling. He grinned back and patted the spot on the metallic balcony beside him.

Mary chuckled and wandered out, quickly slipping down the ladder between their balconies and coming to join him. She sat down close on his right, her hip resting gently against his, and pushed her legs out the railing to let them dangle next to Izzy's. He looked away from her again, back into the distance, and she followed suit.

"How'd you escape?" she asked, smiling. "I thought you might never get away from your dad. That look on his face? Like he was never planning on letting go."

Izzy laughed. "Boxing, Double Dutch. Doesn't matter which, he likes to see me win." He put his hands on his knees. "I told him I was tired and needed rest. I wasn't lying, really."

"I hear you," she agreed with a nod. "It's always exhausting after a competition. It's hard to go right to bed though. Still too hyped up from the win."

"Exactly." He paused. "Also, there was someone I wanted to talk to."

"Oh yeah?" she teased, glancing at him. "Who's that?"

He smiled, turning to meet her eyes. Growing momentarily serious, he said, "Hey, listen. I'm really sorry I bailed on you guys before. And I'm sorry I was rude to you. That wasn't cool."

She shook her head. "I forgive you. I get that things were hard with your dad and stuff, I should've been more understanding. And I'm sorry that you got made fun of at school when Rodney told everybody. I'm still really mad about that, actually. People are whack."

Izzy shrugged. "I'll work it out. And don't hold it against Rodney, he's dealing with a lot of his own problems. But I think he and I are square."

Mary smiled and tipped her head. "I heard what happened at the gym. The whole rematch and everything?"

"Oh yeah?" he asked. There was an edge of anxiety to his voice, as if he was concerned she wouldn't approve that he'd consented to another fight.

"I think what you did was pretty great," she answered, nudging his arm. "I never woulda done it. And I still don't quite forgive him. But who knows? I've seen people change." She grinned.

Izzy laughed, glancing down. "Yeah, me too."

She watched him for a moment, and he couldn't quite meet her eye. Amused, she bumped his arm again, jostling him playfully. "We're square, too, by the way."

"Yeah?" he asked. "Cool." He returned his eyes to the buildings facing them. The very last colours of the sunset were still visible over the rooftops.

They were quiet for a few minutes, watching the colours fade, both pleasantly aware of every spot their legs and elbows touched. After a while Mary broke the silence again. "So did I see Chuck and Tammy holding hands earlier?"

Izzy laughed. "Yeah, finally. They've been into each other for months."

She grinned. "I think they look great together," she said.

"Yeah, me too," he admitted. "But I tease 'em both about it too much to say so."

Mary giggled. "Tammy's a cool girl."

He nodded. "Yeah, she is. She… she gave me some pretty good advice, too. About the Double Dutch. And stuff."

"Remind me to thank her," she joked.

"Yeah, yeah," Izzy muttered, shaking his head and laughing softly.

"Izzy, I'm glad you're on the team," she said, pressing slightly against his side. "You're a good jumper, and you're fun. I like havin' you around."

"I like bein' around," he answered. After a beat, he grinned. He gulped and said, a little too fast, "Hey, so, remember that time a little while back, when you kissed me?"

Quickly she turned her face away, not wanting him to see her embarrassment. "What about it?" she asked, wishing she couldn't feel the blood rushing to her face.

He swallowed, smiling in a silly, apprehensive kind of way, and though Mary couldn't see the hesitation on his face, she could hear it in his voice and even in the silence that preceded it. "Well, uh." He cleared his throat and started over. "Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to try it again."

"Um." There was a pause as she searched for words.

Izzy's heart thudded almost painfully in his chest as the silence stretched out between them and his confidence faded. He couldn't explain that moment of courage that had caused him to ask in the first place; for all he liked to get on Mary's nerves – he'd been doing that for years – this was new territory for him. He licked his lips nervously. "Mary?"

"Um," she repeated, slowly turning to look at him again over her shoulder.

Izzy gulped again, casting his eyes down. Haltingly, he reached for her hand, taking it gently. He wasn't sure what he expected to accomplish with this, except perhaps to reassure her that he was serious.

It seemed to help, though. "Actually?" she asked, sounding surprised.

He glanced back up at her. "Um, yeah."

Finally she smiled, biting her lip. "Yeah, okay."

Izzy broke into a relieved grin and leaned toward her as she turned to face him properly again. Last time, she'd been so quick and he'd been so stunned that he hadn't had a chance to respond. Now she was surprised enough that it took her a moment to react, but he gave her a chance. Truthfully he didn't want to pull away, but after a slow moment he did. He stayed in close to her face, his right foot catching around her left ankle and keeping her near. He wanted to be as close to her as possible.

They grinned at each other, both nearly laughing at themselves, and at each other, but it was a good feeling. "So," he began, unable to chase the smile from his face, "does this mean I get to call you my girlfriend?"

Her smile widened, despite her efforts to bite it back. "Only if I get to call you my boyfriend." She extracted her fingers from his only so she could put her arms over his bare shoulders.

"Good deal," he sighed, succumbing to himself and dipping in to kiss her again, quickly, once, twice, three times. "I'm not going to get tired of that," he added quietly, his eyes shut.

"I didn't think you liked me," she admitted, biting her lip.

"Why would you think that?" he asked, opening his eyes and chuckling at her as he rested his forehead against hers.

Mary looked down, embarrassed. "Because until the incident a few days ago, you were considered basically one of the coolest guys at school. You probably could've had your pick of pretty much anyone."

"But I like you," he answered, grinning. "Shouldn't you at least have gotten that from the look on my face after you kissed me? I don't think I was hiding it."

Laughing, she smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "For all I knew, you just thought it was funny that I had done it. I, the girl who had always claimed not to like you at all."

"And just now?" Izzy asked, pressing his head against hers with a gentle playfulness. "When I asked to kiss you again? Why the hesitation?"

"For all I knew, you just liked kissing!" she answered, trying to be annoyed with all the questions. She was still smiling though.

"I do like kissing," he teased her. "I like kissing you."

"You like flirting, too, don't you?" she laughed.

"I like flirting with you," he answered, his tone just the same as before and his grin growing broader. She looked up into his eyes and had to fight down a rush of butterflies in her stomach when she saw the way he was looking at her.

He pressed his smiling mouth to hers again, and she giggled at the way his ecstasy fought with his self-control. His kisses were short, then long, then short again, and his fingers wove through her braids as he put his hands on either side of her face, trying to hold her as near as he could get away with.