Thea 

We are slightly tipsy, stumbling along another avenue that looks exactly the same as all of the others. I wonder how he gets from place to place. Or maybe he is just as lost as I am but he is confidently leading us all the wrong ways and pretending he knows what's going on.

A laugh bubbles up along with a burp but I'm too tired and fuzzy to care. Ellis looks at me and asks, "what?"

"I guess the motorcycle wasn't a great idea?" I laugh harder now for no apparent reason.

His blue eyes widen slightly, "shit, I forgot all about it."

Now we are both laughing because it is 3:00 in the morning and we just left his brother's bike at a bar that is closing in an hour.

We kind of don't care too much as we continue laughing and walking down emptying streets.

"We'll just get it later," Ellis mumbles as he wraps an arm around my shoulders and my head automatically falls onto him and it feels nice. It feels good and comfortable walking around in the cool air of the morning with him.

We are quiet as we walk, the only sound is the distant honking of a yellow taxi cab and our in-sync breathing.

We reach a more crowded park where street vendors line the sidewalk hoping for drunk kids and adults to feast while they wait for their train or subway or ride. And right at that moment my stomach growls. Ellis looks over at me with a smirk, "hungry?"

I roll my eyes, "well you ruined my snack at the first bar."

"I want a hotdog. It would not be a trip to The Big Apple without one!" I say loudly and with a lot of emotion.

"Do not call it The Big Apple," he shudders dramatically.

"Why is it even called that?" I ask.

"Because when you are above the city in a helicopter or plane or something looking down it is shaped like a giant apple."

"Wow that is really cool! You know so much stuff," I say walking over to the hotdog vendor, "but if you tell me anything gross about this hotdog I will kill you."

"It's called a dirty water dog! I don't have to tell you anything you don't already know!" He laughs and pulls out his wallet and pays before I even have a chance to think about it.

"Thank you," I say to both the vendor and to Ellis before grabbing my hotdog and taking a big bite.

I chew for a bit and swallow, Ellis watches my every movement, "so?"

"It's okay. Not as great as everyone says they are. Maybe he just changed the water so it was less dirty or something. Maybe the dirt is what really flavors it, just like the poop favors the pretzels and lemons."

"That is nasty, Thea!"

"Are you a germaphobe?"

"No." He says.

I hold out my hotdog, "take a bite,"

"I don't like them."

"Why not?"

"They're gross."

"You don't like hotdogs in general or just these dirty ones?"

"All of them."

"Liar!"

"Shut up." He mumbles and walks a little ahead of me.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You didn't."

"Whatever, Ellis." I smile and he finally smiles back and it's like everything is back in working order again.

"Tell me how you learned all this stuff! Like the poop and the "Big Apple" thing."

"The poop I learned in some documentary about food and the Big Apple thing I made up."

I slap his arm as hard as I can, which isn't very hard at all in my tipsy state, "asshole."

He starts laughing hysterically while I stand there with my arms crossed, "you should have seen your face when I told you that." He makes his eyes wide and opens his mouth in surprise.

"I did not look like that."

"No you looked way cuter," he says.

"Don't try to suck up now."

We stop outside of a lit up restaurant with a large sign that reads Open 24 Hours in neon flashing lights. I look at Ellis and he looks at me, I shrug and say, "I'm still hungry."

The bright lights of the tiny rundown diner are so different from the dimness of the bars are the darkness of the streets.

A lady with large blonde curly hair leads us towards a booth in the back corner of the building, it has bright blue vinyl material that is cracked and splitting in several places. The floor is black and white checkered and also cracked and broken in sections, but it is decently busy for this time of night.

"What can I get for you?" she asks with a thick New York accent.

"Coffee," I say and Ellis repeats.

When our waitress, whose name is Randy comes back with our steaming mugs she takes our orders, "I'll have pancakes and french fries," I say.

Ellis smiles at me, shrugs, and says, "same."

"I figured you'd order something fancy, Mr. Chef," I smirk.

He laughs, "yes I was thinking they'd have excellent duck or escargot, but your choice seemed a bit safer."

We laugh until tears are rolling down our cheeks and I don't know if it's because we are still a bit drunk, or maybe delirious, or maybe because we are having such a damn good time and it's hard to think about it ever ending.

I haven't felt this light and happy since Blake left Michigan over a year ago to move to New York with her family. It's been hard to keep in touch and continue a close friendship from so far apart. Once I think about Blake I realize I haven't checked my phone since leaving her hours ago.

When I finally grab it I have just about a dozen texts and missed calls from her.

"Blake," I say holding out my phone to show Ellis.

His eyes widen and he smiles a little then grabs his phone and looks at it before holding it out to me, his phone is also filled with missed messages from my best friend.

"She probably thinks I kidnapped you."

"Well you kind of did."

"It is definitely not considered kidnapping if the kidnapped comes willingly," he argues.

"I think it's called Stockholm's Syndrome, Ellis."

"You're so smart and pretty and funny."

"Shut up," I laugh.

He shakes his head and a huge smiles lights up his eyes, "I can't wait to show you this next thing."

Our food arrives and his nose wrinkles in disgust when I dip my fries in maple syrup, but when he tries it he decides it isn't terrible. When he goes to the bathroom after insisting on paying the bill I call Blake.

"What the hell, Thea."

I sigh, "sorry. But I told you I was leaving with Ellis."

"You didn't tell me you'd be gone for forever." Blake has always been into high drama, "you're on your way back, right?"

I watch Ellis make his way back towards our booth, he rolls his eyes and smiles when I mouth that it's Blake on the phone.

"No. I don't think I'm coming home tonight."

Ellis fake gasps and grabs the phone, "Blake, your friend is trying to take advantage of me. We'll talk to you later."

"Bye Blake!" I yell hoping she can hear me before Ellis ends the call and we head off on our next adventure.

"Secret time!" He says grabbing my hand.

"What's your favorite movie?" he asks seriously.

"That is a super dumb secret."

"That can tell a lot about a person!" He objects.

"Twilight," I say and start cracking up before he can say anything else.

**Thank you for all the comments and votes! It means so much!

What other questions do you think Ellis and Thea should ask each other?

They will be getting to know each other more so the questions can get better ;)

Please keep voting and commenting! <3

-Brooke