Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is my first fic, so please let me know what you think!

Charlie needed some serious killing. He was literally thirty five minutes late. I mean, seriously, how hard is it to remember you have a kid sister who needs a ride home from ballet? Okay, sure, Charlie was never the most punctual, but come on.

Finally a car pulled up. But it wasn't Charlie's. Confused, I walked up. I knew I recognized the car, but I couldn't remember from where. And then it hit me.

Dez.

Who was almost as bad as Charlie. Are you sure? That nagging little voice hadn't gone away since the night of the fire. Why not? That question was still hanging in the air between us. And honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Which bugged me. On the upside of that, my skating had gotten much better in the past few days. But something had definitely changed between me and Dez. I almost… liked him. It was weird.

He rolled down the window. "Hey." He sounded nervous, though I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

"Where's Charlie?" I asked.

"He sent me instead." Dez shrugged. "Do you want a ride?"

I definitely didn't want to walk home, so I guess I had to accept Dez's offer. I rolled my eyes and opened the door to his car. As soon as I was buckled in, Dez started to drive off. Thankfully, the beginning of the ride was silent. But only the beginning.

"You come up with anything yet?" Dez asked, after about fifteen minutes of driving.

I rolled my eyes and prayed my voice stayed even. "Nope."

"So, then, why not?"

"Are you gonna keep asking that until I give you an answer?" I asked, outwardly giving off the impression I wanted a no, but secretly hoping for a yes. So, okay, maybe I did like him. Because if I couldn't give him an answer, maybe he would finally do something about the fact that neither of us could think of a reason we shouldn't be together.

"I don't know." Dez's hands tightened slightly on the wheel. Oddly enough, I could always tell what he was generally feeling. He didn't speak much, which I already knew, but I could usually figure out from everything else how he felt. And right now, he was nervous. "Maybe."

I thought of telling him that I would really never think of a reason why not, but I knew it would be game over if I said that. There was no going back. And even if I did have feelings for him, dating him was a bad idea. He was Charlie's best friend. Then again, Charlie had wanted to go out with my best friend. Maybe he'd be okay with it.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dez asked, still looking as nervous as he had looked the entire ride.

I pondered, wondering if there was some way I could say no. "Um, sure."

"One date." He said it as a statement.

"Okay, not a question," I said, hoping to delay what I knew was coming.

"Will you go on one date with me?" I glanced at him and now I saw a little hope mixed in with the nerves. He was hopeful. And as much as I wanted to, I couldn't say no to the hope in his eyes.

"Why would I want to do that?" I shot back, despite already knowing the answer.

"I don't know, to pay me back for the ride?" He replied. "Or… maybe just because you want to?"

It was that last question that did me in. Maybe just because I wanted to. Well, he was right. I did want to. It was strange. I was seeing a new side of Dez, and it was confusing. But I liked it. Not only could he be Charlie's best friend, but he could be a sweet guy who cared about his dog Calvin who'd been hit by a car, or who could tell me to turn the flash off my camera because Ansel Adams never used flash, or who was making my head dizzy with new information. But after he said that, I couldn't bring myself to even stall not denying him.

"Fine," I found myself saying. "I'll go."

He nodded calmly, but I saw his hands relax on the wheel. He pulled into my driveway. "We're here." He stopped in the middle of the driveway for me to get out. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, not sure what we were waiting for.

"Friday night at seven." I said suddenly, needing to put it out there. "You free?"

He nodded slowly again. I nodded sharply back. "Pick me up." I said, then yanked my door open and stepped out onto my driveway. I started walking towards my door, but didn't get more than three steps before I turned and walked to the driver's side window. He rolled it down slowly, just looking at me. "Thank you," I said simply, then walked to my front door.

Friday night at seven. I had a date with Dez.