I couldn't resist writing more with my babies from Princess Academy Boy so here's another short story! This also includes a couple of May's ( ) characters as well so you might want to read her short story titled "Talking Only Seems Hard" first, but I mean you should just read all of her short stories anyway because they're amazing. Anyway, I guess if you want to read this first and then go over there that's fine too ;)

Deep breaths. You've made it this far; you'll be absolutely fiiiine.

Carol smiled at her phone. Lily always knew what to say. She replied before walking into the small cafe where they would be having lunch before going to the new movie. They had arranged to go to lunch with another couple to ease the tension before the movie. She wasn't sure what the other couple would be doing after lunch, but she knew they wouldn't be going to the movie with them.

"Carol!" Micah's voice rang from behind her. She turned around to be greeted with his infectious smile. He looked nicer than usual. Not that he doesn't look nice normally, of course! "I uh..." He held out a small bundle of brightly colored flowers. She gasped.

"Oh! You shouldn't have! Did you really get these for me? Th- thank you!"

"You're uh, you're welcome!"

"Aw aren't you two just adorable!" A new voice called out to them. Micah turned around and walked up to him, Carol following.

They walked up to two boys, who had faces as red as the inside of a fresh apple pie and shy smiles.

"Oh good, you guys are here," Micah started, "Carol, this is Aubrey and Galen, the other couple."

"Hello, Carol! I'm Aubrey!" The first boy all but yelled excitedly. The brunette had elfish features, tanned skin, and a toothy grin and he held out his hand for her to shake. She shook it as the other boy introduced himself.

"I'm Galen. You'll have to excuse him for being so loud." Galen had the darkest hair she had seen in a long time, a small smile, and oddly pale skin. The two were so different in looks, but they seemed genuinely happy to be there together.

"I'm Carol, it's nice to meet you both."

"You too! Let's go get a table then, shall we?" Aubrey proclaimed. He grabbed Galen's hand and they rushed forward, laughing the whole time. Carol laughed at their joy and looked at Micah.

"It's their first date too, they're pretty excited if you couldn't tell," Micah joked.

"Oh I can see," Carol said. The awkward silence slowly began to creep in, and she started hoping he'd do something before it overtook them.

Fortunately, he held out his hand, "Shall we then?" Carol's face suddenly reddens as she realized he was asking for her hand. She looked up at him to see he was blushing as well. She took a deep breath as Lily had earlier instructed and took his hand.

***

"So Carol, did Micah get you those flowers?" Aubrey politely inquired.

"Oh, yeah he did, aren't they pretty?"

"I knew it! Micah's trying to out-do me, aren't you?" The table laughed at his sudden accusation.

"What? No, I would never." Micah replied jokingly.

"Would too!"

"Would not!"

Galen giggled, "Aubrey, you dork. One rose from you is more than I could've asked for."

"You're too sweet, you nerd."

Carol smiled at them and almost instinctively looked towards Micah; however, upon turning her head, she noticed they were seated closer together on the booth than she had first thought. Maybe he moved closer? Maybe she moved closer subconsciously? Whatever the reason, she quickly forgot what she had planned to say and turned to face Galen, who was sitting across from her.

He noticed her quick movement and turned his head in a questioning way. She wanted to answer him, but she was much too nervous while being so close to Micah.

Galen, however, picked up on her nervous look. He saw how close they were sitting and realized that must be the reason her face was so red. He felt bad and decided to set out to help her.

He made sure Micah and Aubrey were both preoccupied with talking to each other before mouthing the single word "mirror" to Carol. He watched as she slowly nodded to him.

First, he moved over so he was sitting by Aubrey, their legs touching. Aubrey looked over at him with a wide smile, ruffled his hair, and rested his arm on Galen's shoulders.

Carol took a deep breath and copied his actions, forcing herself to close the gap between her and Micah. He smiled and seemingly instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist. Her nervous face melted into a smile as she intertwined their fingers and joined the conversation.

***

"Goodbye! Have fun at the movie!" Aubrey sang as he hugged Micah and Carol goodbye. Galen followed in suit and hugged them both before calling out his goodbye. Coral and Micah returned the goodbyes and went on their way.

Galen turned to Aubrey. "So where to now?"

"Well I picked this place, how about you pick the next one?"

"Okay, well there's this nice park I like to go to sometimes, how about we go there?"

"Oh! Is there swings?"

Galen giggled, "What park wouldn't have swings?"

"The bad ones!"

The boys laughed and Galen shook his head and started to head in the direction of the park. Aubrey walked next to him and silently intertwined their fingers. Galen smiled and swung their hands back and forth as they walked in a comfortable silence.

"Oh, here it is!"

"Look, there are the swings!" Aubrey ran towards the swings, pulling a laughing Galen behind him. Aubrey let go of his hand when they reached the swings and quickly started swinging while Galen sat on the swing beside him and caught his breath.

"How do you have so much energy!"

Aubrey laughed, "I have no idea!"

Galen shrugged and started kicking back and forth. He took a deep breath, "So Aubrey, I was wondering."

"Hm?" Aubrey slowed to a stop to listen.

"I had a lot of fun today and, I don't know, maybe this is too soon, but do you want to make it official?"

Aubrey smiled, "Like boyfriend official?"

"Uh, yeah, um, boyfriend official."

"I would love to!"

"Really?" Galen asked, slightly surprised.

"Really!" He kicked off the ground and started swinging again, "Ha! Take that Gable, now this is my new boyfriend!" Aubrey called out to the dimming sky.

Galen laughed, "Aubrey! Why're you yelling?"

"Sorry! I'm just so excited!"

Galen shook his head and started to swing, "Me too."