Ally's pov:

It takes a while to find Claire and Zoe in the crowd of students swarming the living room. After what felt like hours of searching, I find them against the wall at the far end of the room, talking amongst themselves.

When they see me approaching, their faces break out into smug-looking grins, "We were wondering where you and Axel disappeared off to, but by the looks of it, nothing past pg rated yet." Claire teases, bumping my shoulder with hers as I join them.

Axel went to find Bryce and Dylan to make sure they were doing alright. After talking outside for about an hour, we decided to head back to his place to hang out for a bit before his roommates got back.

Which leads me to my current predicament, telling Zoe and Claire that I won't be heading back with them tonight. Axel said that he was sure that Dylan or Bryce wouldn't mind walking my friends back to the dorms, which made agreeing to go back with him now a lot easier.

But it is sweet to see him worried about Claire and Zoe making it back alright without him.

I playfully roll my eyes at Claire, who seemed more determined than anyone else to get Axel and I passed our innocent little talking stage.

I don't blame her though; I'm beginning to feel the same way.

"We just went outside to catch some air since it was getting pretty loud in here," I say, pointing my thumb behind me toward the backyard.

"It is getting pretty crazy in here, how long are we planning on staying?" Zoe asks, which gives me the perfect opening to tell them.

"Funny you mention that..." I start off, and those words alone cause them to look at me with wide eyes, as if they are already predicting what I am about to say.

"Go on." Claire urges, already starting to get excited as if I was about to tell her that Axel and I were about to get married or something.

She has probably already planned the whole thing in her head anyways. I wouldn't be surprised.

"Axel asked me if I wanted to spend the night at his place-..."

"YES!!!!" They both scream, interrupting me from being able to explain any further.

Their shout causes a few curious eyes to look at us, but they don't seem to care as they begin bouncing around in excitement.

Unsurprisingly enough, I had already seen this type of reaction in my head when I thought about having to tell them. But the stares from the students around us cause my face to heat up as I try to calm them down.

"Obviously you said yes, right?" Zoe asks, shooting me a look that said if I didn't agree, she would no doubt find a way to make it happen.

What amazing friends I have.

"Of course, but don't worry, he is making sure that one of the boys will walk you both back to the dorms."

They brush off my last comment, not seeming to care what happens to them. Which only leads me to believe that Claire and Zoe wouldn't even care walking back by themselves, as long as this thing between Axel and I progresses.

But I care a lot more about their safety than leaving early with Axel.

"Make sure to tell us everything that happens, you better not leave anything out," Claire says, pointing an accusing finger at me as if I don't tell her everything already.

"I won't."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After thanking Dylan for volunteering to take my friends back, Axel and I find ourselves shortly leaving the party after that.

I know there is absolutely no reason to feel nervous because it's just him, and we've already had two whole sleepovers before this, but I can't help but still feel a little bit anxious about it.

I'm sure anyone would be anxious when spending time with their crush, I was just hoping that I would already be a little bit past this stage by now.

It was a quick walk back to his place, where we were met with a quiet house. I'm sure when all four of them are here, it isn't all quiet like this.

"Are you still hungry? I can make you something if you want." Axel asks as he leads us into his kitchen.

I had mentioned earlier at the party that I was starting to get a little hungry. Typically, I would say that I was surprised that he would remember me saying that, but it's Axel we're talking about, he remembers everything.

"What do you have?" I ask, watching as he pulls out the chair to the kitchen island before helping me up.

He walks behind the counter and begins opening up cabinets and rummaging through them.

I watch...

Okay fine, I check him out as he does this, finding it strangely attractive.

Why am I like this?

POV SWITCH!!!!!

Axel's pov:

Why am I like this?

I pretend to act busy, going through my cabinets as my hands shake. I'm tensed up as I try to pretend that Ally isn't sitting here in my kitchen with her pretty eyes on me.

It's not every day that you have the house to yourself with a drop-dead, gorgeous woman.

God, help me.

As I'm facing away from her, I take a few deep breaths to calm myself.

Come on Axel, get it together. You're 21 years old, stop acting like some premature, wimpy 16-year-old.

After a few more seconds, I finally turn towards her and lean back on the counter, "We don't have much, but I did just get a fresh loaf of bread and cheese from the grocery store. You like grilled cheese?" I ask.

She nods her cute little head and continues to watch me as I get it ready.

Knowing that her eyes were on me, it was the most difficult grilled cheese I'd ever made in my life. There is no possible way she doesn't know the effect that she has on me. I can't even make a damn grilled cheese without worrying I'll mess up in front of her.

"So... who usually cooks when you are all here?" Ally asks, breaking the comfortable silence between us.

I turn towards her with a shy grin, "Definitely Tanner, he's a natural in the kitchen." I say.

I don't know how or where my roommate learned his remarkable skills, but I am in no way, shape, or form complaining. No wonder he's had the longest relationship between the four of us guys, he's the definition of husband material.

Which reminds me to keep a distance between him and Ally, I don't need her seeing any of that.

"Plus, I wouldn't trust Bryce or Dylan in this kitchen with my life," I add, earning a giggle from her.

We continue to make small talk as I finish her grilled cheese. Because I am a perfectionist and want to show off my "cooking skills," I make sure each side of the grilled cheese is cooked to perfection.

See, I can be husband material too.

Take that, Tanner.

I slide the grilled cheese onto a plate and push it in front of her. I watch as she takes her first bite, wanting to hear that it's the best, God-damn grilled cheese she's ever had.

So, I wait.

And I wait.

She takes another bite.

I wait.

She takes another bite.

I wait.

And finally, she takes her eyes off her grilled cheese and looks up at me with wide eyes.

Here it is, she's going to say it.

But she doesn't say a thing, so I help myself by asking, "Is it good?"

Her eyes flicker down to the grilled cheese before looking back up at me. She had a bit of a weird look on her face, as if she was trying to make sense of it.

"It's good..." She draws out as she stares at me with a guilty looking expression.

She's lying.

"You don't like it?" I ask. Before she can even answer, I'm already racking my brain for something else I can make her.

"No, it's not that... but in California, we add cheese to ours." She says, blinking innocently at me.

"Huh?" I end up saying, confused by her wordplay.

At this point, I watch as she tries her best to hold back a laugh.

"You made me a grilled..." She draws out, and her eyes begin to water as if she was trying to make some sort of joke.

Sensing that I'm still not understanding, she finally bursts into a fit of laughter in front of me.

I watch as she does so with a curious stare.

Is the grilled cheese different in California?

Finally, to answer my question, she reaches out a hand towards the grilled cheese and before I know it, she is removing the top piece of the sandwich which reveals...

No cheese.

FUCK ME.

I forgot the cheese.

As if my facial expression already says enough, she doubles over into another fit of laughter. This time, clutching her arms to her stomach.

There goes the world's greatest grilled cheese...

Maybe I can still qualify for the world's best toast though, seeing that it's what I've made.

"I... I don't know how I managed to do that." I say, looking at the grilled-... toast as if the cheese just stood up and walked away by itself.

I look back towards the counter, and unsurprisingly enough, there sits the pack of fresh cheese...

Unopened.

I was so nervous that I literally forgot the cheese.

I watch her as she continues to laugh, before resting her hand on my arm to steady herself from falling over.

"If you think about it, you only forgot one ingredient... out of two." She says through her laughter, eyes watering every time she looks back at it.

"Ha Ha, very funny," I say, pretending to act annoyed. But truthfully, I found it amusing, watching her laugh like this.

I liked it.

Which honestly made ruining this grilled cheese worth it.

"I'll make you another one," I say, turning my back towards her to do so.

She snickers as she says, "Need help?"

I turn my head toward her and give her a playful glare, "You're going to pay for that comment."

...

She blushes.

HEY GUYS!

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I LOVE you all so much!!

~juls