"That's better. I see you're enjoying my gift." I stared at him, his boldness a new level of flirty I didn't know how to handle. Not to mention I think I just died a little bit inside. 

    His brown-mahogany orbs scintillated with a mischievous glint that could be noticed next to the umber that rimmed his iris. They glowed with humour and playfulness that never seem to escape his eyes. Nevertheless, his eyes possessed a sort of sorrow that placed a melancholic veil, which cloaked his eyes; it seemed as if it made the happiness in his eyes were matte. It took me a minute to realise he was waiting for a response of some sort. Bryn kicked me under the table and I turned around to her trying to silently get her advice. Her eyebrows raised, trying to subtly gesture smiling. I turned back around the latest addition to our table and tried to give him a smile that didn't scream hey I've been awake since 12 am and functioning on three hours of sleep. When his grin faltered I dropped mine, panicking. 

    "Is- is there s-something in my teeth?" I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand. I saw Bryn slap herself in the head. I knew that well enough to realise I was successfully driving this conversation into the deepest possible hole. 

    "There's nothing in your teeth, love. I just want to know a little more about the gorgeous girl with an apparent desire for lemon tarts." He finished with a playful smirk but all it did was jumble my nerves up again. I could feel myself gaping openly as I observed his sharp jaw, chin, and cheekbones. On either side of his straight nose were two blazing sepia eyes. Spiked, warm brown fringed with smooth ring of amber. His dark brows were actually graceful and were currently furrowed in a smile. All of it was framed by thick, warm dark chocolate curls. 

    "M-me?" I stuttered. His smiles and nicknames were definitely not helping my stuttering problem. He grinned again.

    "No, of course not, love. I was talking to the wall behind you," he replied, his voice absolutely dripping with sarcasm. Of course, me being the gullible fool I am, I turned around only to turn back to the boy who just couldn't seem to contain his laughter. I'm such an idiot. "Y-you looked at the wall!" he wheezed, "you actually looked at the wall." I forced myself to look away, instead focusing on my tightening hands in my lap. Bryn cocked an eyebrow at the boy.

    "Hey," breaking the silence, she glared at him with such an intensity I was glad that for once it wasn't me she was using her glare on, "cut it out." He stopped laughing, catching my expression and the tone of Bryn's voice. 

    "Hey, hey," he sounded incredibly gentle, pushing my head up slowly with the tip of his index finger, "I'm sorry for laughing at you, angel. C'mon, love, look at me." I stared at him reproachfully. However his apology did sound sincere. Maybe he wasn't that bad. "But really, tell me something about yourself. Name maybe? Or hobbies. Or talents? Or jobs? Or maybe why you're stuck in this airport at two in the morning." The mystery boy asked. 

    "I-uh," I broke off not knowing where to exactly start, "uh." I stopped again, my palms beginning to sweat. He smiled reassuringly at me. 

    "It's okay," he soothed, "take your time."  I took a breath. 

    "Well," I started shakily, "my name's Marshall Kennedi. Wait, wait! Kennedi Marshall! I mean, my name is Kennedi Marshall. I'm 18 and uh, I don't really have any t-talent? I mean.. I guess I'm alright at psychology if that's a talent," I laughed nervously, seeing Bryn slap her head against the table continuously, "I uh also love to design clothes? But I-I wouldn't say I'm g-good at it. I was uh planning to fly to Germany but uh my f-flight got delayed." I looked away. God, could I say anything to this guy without stuttering?

    "Kennedi?" God, the way my name rolled off his tongue will probably be the actual death of me. The way he seemed to loosely grasp the consonants was enough to make my heart do some weird little spasm in my chest, "you must be the girl that Klarissa hasn't stopped talking about. Oh, and before I forget, my name is Nicolai Kiener. I just recently turned 19. Modelling is kind of my hobby, I suppose? I started when I was 14 when my dad needed me. I never gave it up and I suppose I learned to like it." I shot a look at Bryn.

    "Kiener?" I mumbled, pulling out my books from my bag. I opened the front page to see a detailed image of labelling and sticky notes about the newest top model. Nicolai Kiener. I stared at him mortified. One of the biggest models ever to live was sitting with me, looking at my highlighted notes on posture and posing. Bryn stifled a laugh.

    "Kens is a bit of a fan," she snickered. I looked at her in mock betrayal. Nicolai on the other hand was very open about his humour at our current predicament given his laughter.

    "S-so," I said, shoving my book back in my bag, "are you here for a photoshoot? S-spring is one of the best seasons for photoshoots." I broke off, catching his guarded expression. I wondered if I sounded dull or like a reporter. If reporters sounded like they had been stuck in Antarctica all their lives with a permanent stutter that apparently couldn't be controlled around Nicolai.

    "I was actually. But I'm flying home today." I wondered which house he meant. Famous people never kept it simple with one house overlooking an ocean. They usually had five with a mountain retreat as as spare house. 

    "O-oh. Where are you flying to exactly?" I tried taking a sip of my hot chocolate, trying to calm my nerves. Bryn, who had given up on the conversation had gone back to viciously slamming the keys on her mac. 

    "Berlin, Germany-" I spat out my hot chocolate in shock. Bryn frowned at me. 

     "I'll go get tissues," she sighed, shooting me a look that screamed PLEASE JUST HAVE A NORMAL SOCIAL INTERACTION WITH HIM BEFORE I GET BACK AND REALISE YOU'VE BURNED DOWN THE ENTIRE EAST WING OF THE AIRPORT. 

    "B-Berlin, huh?" I laughed nervously, "that's so weird. Bryn and I are flying there too."

    "Yeah," he looked like he was struggling to control his laughter, "I'm flying back to meet my girlfriend." I felt my heart drop. Of course he had a girlfriend. 

    "Y-you have a girlfriend?" I hadn't heard about it. Maybe it was new. He nodded, eyes glimmering although they seemed subdued.

    "Yeah! Her name is Alyce Kaüffer," I wracked my brains, finally landing on a mental image of a beautiful German actress with shining blonde hair and striking blue eyes, "we've never really met," he continued, oblivious to my pauses, "we only call and text. Our parents are close friends and we kind of met through multiple connections but yeah. But for some reason she doesn't want me to visit her. She keeps saying she's too busy. I guess I got tired of being so far away so I decided to visit her." I smiled even though my heart twisted violently. 

    "T-that's sweet of you," his eyes brightened at my compliment. Seeing Bryn coming back with a wad of tissues, I stood up, "b-but uh, Bryn and I better get moving. T-there's a lot to see here." Grabbing my satchel and Bryn's bags, I intercepted her half way across the floors, beginning to power walk out of the cafe. I tried not to look back nor focus on the fact I had just left one of the biggest models in the world alone at a table in the London Airport. Bryn shot me a look.

    "Are you okay?" Bryn asked worriedly her shorter legs trying to keep up with my slightly longer ones, "you seem out of sorts. What did he say?" her eyes suddenly flashed, "I know it's not nice to be violent but hey, if he did something-" I turned around abruptly, smiling widely.

     "No, I'm fine," I replied, before turning back around and pulling Bryn to the nearest seats in the waiting lobby, "besides, you needed quiet and I needed to finish my book!" Bryn snorted.

    "You've read it like seven times. How many more times do you need to read it?" I grinned, beginning to rummage through my bag.

    "At least-" I broke off, frowning as I failed to locate the book before looking up upon the sound of a familiar voice. I glanced up to see the familiar messy waves of chocolate and shining sepia eyes, "nine times."

    "Looking for something?" Nicolai smiled serenely. I frowned.

    "G-give that back!" 

    "Make me," he replied, placing the book well above his head. Cursing my height, I pushed my hair stubbornly behind my ears, trying to jump even though I knew that I wasn't even close to being able to get my book, "I don't think this shy girl is who you really are at all, love. We've got another 19 hours-" I stopped jumping, landing awkwardly on my knee.

    "19 hours?" I repeated, eyes widening in horror, "the board said 6 hours! And that was 20 minutes ago!" Nicolai sighed. 

    "I know and I really want to see my girl and I'm just as disappointed as you, but as I was saying, we've got 19 hours together and I plan on bringing out who you really are." I frowned at that. I was quite happy with who I was and I quite liked my introverted life with Bryn if it meant that I didn't have to meet extremely extroverted people like Nicolai who stole my beautiful books.

    "I can see by the fire in yours eyes that you're determined. There's something fierce in your eyes. I'd wager strength," he said, glancing at my shoulders, "so, grab the book, love." I paused, judging him again. It was clear jumping wouldn't work seeing as he was over a head taller than me. He stood effortlessly on his tippy toes which annoyed me. Even if I could extend my body more than this, there would be little chance I would be able to get my book back. 

    Unless...

    I raised myself up again, however, instead of reaching for the book, I lunged at his forearm, pulling it tight with my right arm. Pulling his arm, I twisted it around his back and pinned it there, careful not to break anything. I restrained him with my left before kicking him on the back of the knees watching in satisfaction as he fell to the floor. Grabbing my book, I let him go, crouching down so we were eye level, just as I had done with Klarissa. 

    "See," I smiled darkly, "you can flirt with me all you like. You can mess with my head or my hair but you can never ever mess with my books. You said you saw fierce. You even asked for it. Consider this me granting your wish." I dusted my book off, moving past awestruck faces before sitting next to Bryn who fist bumped me. 

    "That," Nicolai breathed, "was amazing. Fierce and beautiful, my my, what a stunner you are, love." I watched him sit down next to me, raising an eyebrow at him. 

    "I'm sorry, are you flirting with me?" I asked playfully, "or are you practicing so you don't mess up that perfect hair in front of your lady?" All forms of stuttering were gone; probably because I just messed with one of the most gorgeous people in all of existence because he's tall and he took my book. Heat rushed to Nicolai's cheeks and I grinned lopsidedly.

    Kennedi - 10 points.

    Nicolai - 0 points.