"The usual darlings?" Dourine asked, not even bothering to give us menus.

"Yes ma'am." Wes said sweetly, reaching across the table to grab one of my hands once she had disappeared. I gave his fingers a gentle squeeze.

"So, since I won, you're paying for the rest of the month, is that correct?" I told him gingerly, smiling as innocently as was possible.

"You did not win." He shot back.

"I did too, by like ten seconds." I reminded him, spinning the syrup dispenser round and round, watching the colors disappear in pattern. Maple, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, and maple again.

"It was not ten seconds." He grumbled.

"You're right. It was more like fifteen, but who's counting? Just as long as I get my bacon, I don't really care on the exact incrimate of time it took me to kick your butt."

` He kicked my jogging shoe lightly with his under the table. I laughed, tugging on his fingers to kiss the back of his hand.

I shivered lightly at the freezing air in World of Waffles. Wes smiled lightly, eyeing my jog pants and white under armor. He always teases me about my simple red ski hat that kept my hair down even though I hated it, but the air was freezing outside. Just as chilly as World of Waffles.

Our food arrived just moments later. The staff was probably already waiting our arrival because my blueberry waffles and hash browns were hot and steamy. We played a light game of truth while we ate nothing heavy duty.

At least, I didn't think it was heavy duty until I was scraping the last bit of waffle of my plate and Wes hit me with a big whammy.

"Where do you see yourselves in ten years?" Wes asked me, reaching over and taking my coffee cup before giving me an innocent smile while taking a sip.

"I'm not sure. I can't see the future." I told him, raising an eyebrow.

"That doesn't count. Are you passing?" Wes inquired, leaning forward on the table anxiously.

"No, and if you remember honey, I already won." I wiggled an eyebrow, smiling at him widely. The memory flooded us at the same time, leaving us with nothing but goofy grins and a breathless head whirl.

"Oh please. Kissing me does not mean that you win. You wanted to do that since the day you met me." Wes said arrogantly, waving his hand around like it was no big deal.

"You're just mad I kissed you first. I stole your moment and whipped you of your masculinity for some time." I shot back, resting my legs on his lap across from me, leaning back in the retro booth, full and content.

"Oh . . ." Wes started to defend himself but I interrupted.

"Of course, you did pull out the whole, 'I love you' card first, but then again, I did just beat you by about fifteen seconds in a race so you, my friend, are trumped." I said excitingly. He gave up, defeated, rubbing my leg lightly.

"Smartass." He shook his head, stubbornly frustrated and chuckling lightly.

"You love me." I sang lightly. "You want to hug me, you want to kiss me. You want to love me, snuggle with me." The Miss Congeniality lyrics surrounded him. His mouth pursed in mock anger, then laughed because he couldn't escape my humor.

"I do love you. I played that card already." He reminded me with a smile. I could feel him attempting to tie my shoelaces together, but a light kick to the gut made him stop with an extremely frustrated laugh.

I grinned widely and arrogantly at him when he pulled out fifteen bucks for the meal and he seemed extremely bouncy and giddy on the run back to his house. We weren't extremely chatty as we wound through the white snow-coated town. We weren't silent, but it wasn't like we were debating the national debt, either. I flew up the steps a few heartbeats before him.

"Would you like me to run backwards? Maybe that would give you a better chance at beating me?" I demanded, shaking my butt at him as I let myself in.

"Oh hush." He demanded, with a smile. I started towards the kitchen to get another cup of coffee, when I caught my reflexion in the toaster. My honey colored hair was straight today, flared out around my shoulders under my red hat. I felt nice and warm in my white under armor and black jog pants.

I walked past the counter when something grabbed me around my waist. I was kissing him back as soon as his lips got within a decent vicinity of mine. The house was dark except for the bright snow-brightened light filtering through the windows.

We somehow managed to navigate through the house to the couch in the living room. His lips were urgent and warm against mine. My own antics shocked me as my fingers clawed at his sweatshirt.

I hadn't even noticed that the shower was running, so I didn't hear it when it shut off. I heard the bathroom door open too, suddenly noticing the heavy humidity that flowed out the room when it was cracked.

"Aw, that's our couch. I sit there." Bert moaned a moment later, drying his wet hair with a towel. I sat up, startled, and inched away from Wes as quickly as possible.

"Shut your face." Wes laughed gently, slinging an arm around the back of the couch behind me. I blushed as red as my hat and tried to wiggle out from his grip. He just scooped me up at lightning speed and settled me onto his lap.

The doorbell rang lightly then. Bert grumbled something about having to call Alyssa a.k.a "female Bert" and disappeared in his room. Wes crumpled back onto the couch, pulling me with him part of the way.

"I'm . . . so . . . tired." He breathed, closing his eyes, but his smile was evident.

"You weren't tired two minutes ago." I reminded him a grin, kissing his forehead before hopping off his lap and heading towards the door. His arm waved lazily above the back of the couch.

I opened the oak door with a smile on my face. One that disappeared quickly.

Becky.