It turned out that Rhys's big plans and rush to get out of Walmart was all to go to a waffle house. If he was hungry, I understood that it was the only place in our area to be open at 3:30 am, but there was nothing I found to be adventurous about going to waffle house. 

   "Welcome to the magical 24 hour waffle kingdom!" Rhys joked. I rolled my eyes, but followed him meekly inside. We seated ourselves at a table across the room from the door. We were seated against the window. Rhys sat on one side of the booth and I sat on the other. We picked up our menus and buried our faces in them, silent for about 5 minutes straight. I glazed over the options, but I wasn't all that hungry and I didn't want to make Rhys pay for something that I wasn't going to eat. Besides, I had to be ready to eat breakfast with my parents in the morning. 

   "What are you getting?" Rhys asked, his face still hidden behind the menu. 

   "I'm not really all that hungry." I yawned as I spoke, suddenly aware of how early in the night it was. If my sleep schedule got messed up, I was totally going to blame him. 

   "Well at least get something to drink." He offered. I plopped the eggnog carton down on the table.

   "I have eggnog, I think I'll live." He rolled his eyes and I chuckled. The waitress finally made her way over to us.

   "Hello, I'm Tracy and I'll be taking your orders. Can I start you guys off with anything to drink?" 

   "Coca Cola please and this one, uh, maybe just bring her a glass?" I gestured to the eggnog sheepishly when he ordered. The waitress nodded.

   "You had a case of holiday cravings, eh? I sometimes make quick trips to the Walmart on my breaks when I work late nights to get eggnog too. You're not the only one." I smiled at how kind and polite she was to me. Unlike the girl from the Irish pub, Tracy actually acknowledged that I existed instead of flirting with Rhys the whole time. She was also sincere and wasn't afraid to have a personality around her customers. I hated it when the only thing a waitress would say to you is 'would you like fries with that?' or 'may I take your order?'. 

   "Well, I'll be right back with your drinks guys and then let me know what you want and I'll have it coming right up. As you can see, there aren't many customers so it won't take long." No kidding, I thought. There was no one there except for Rhys and I. He still had his face buried in the menu. I scanned the restaurant while I waited for him to make a decision and put the menu down to talk. I had never been to that waffle house before, but my eyes found one part of the room that interested me the most. There was a jukebox near the front window that was currently decorated with arts and crafts snowflakes and garland. A quarter played 1 song. I didn't have a quarter, but my eyes were set on a certain song I wanted to play. I carefully approached the hungry teenager I called my best friend and quietly asked him for a quarter. He pulled one out of his pocket and flipped it in my direction, not taking his eyes off the menu. I caught the quarter and smiled.

   "Knock yourself out." He replied in a monotone voice. I walked back over to the jukebox and placed the quarter in the change slot. My eyes found the song that caught my attention once again. It was 'Winter Wonderland' by: Shinee. It was odd to see a kpop song on such an old device, but rest assured, it was there and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to make Rhys smile. I wanted to see if he would look back on the memories of our friendship like I had been doing all night. It was a wintery, Christmas oriented song and I figured he would enjoy a little kpop in our night adventure. The beginning started with a beautiful piano and strings duet that made me smile. Tracy came back to take Rhys's order while I was picking the song and she smiled as well when she heard the song come on.

   "Ah, not often we meet people that pick the song on purpose. People often think it's an american band covering our Christmas carol, 'Winter Wonderland'. But nope, I added one kpop track on there out of curiosity to see if anyone would know it. Good choice. You're making me want to put a song in the jukebox!" I smiled at her and thanked her. She walked over to the jukebox and picked a song of her own after putting in a quarter. I didn't see her choice, but I didn't really need to, I would be hearing it after my selection anyways. I sat back down across from Rhys as Tracy went to go make Rhys's food. I smirked at Rhys.

   "Remember our kpop days?" He nodded, not really looking at me. 

   "I still remember you playing this song nonstop last year to annoy my parents since they don't like kpop." I giggled. He simply gave a half-hearted smile. I tried to think of something else to say. 

   "Do you still listen to kpop?" 

   "Sometimes." He answered, still not really paying attention to the conversation. His eyes were often in the direction of the door and the front window. I felt like something was up with him, but this was my one chance to tell him that I missed us being friends, that I missed us talking and joking and messing with each other. This was my one chance to tell him...what? What was it I was really trying to say to the burgundy haired, brown eyed boy sitting across from me? Why did I feel so fluttery that night? Why had I been blushing so much? I know I like him once before, but things didn't end well. Him and Missy were such an awesome couple and he was really happy. I didn't want to end that happiness for him with my own feelings. I forced myself to get over him so long ago...but did I ever really get over him? That whole night had been such a fun adventure and in the midst of the adventure, maybe it wasn't his friendship I missed, but it was the late night phone conversations and the fangirling over every little thing he did, the blushing when he came near, the crush that I missed the most. My thoughts were a nervous mess. I kept fiddling with my fingers under the table. My heart beat twice as fast as it normally does. If I wasn't sitting across from Rhys about to confess my feelings, I would've thought I was dying. 

   "Rhys?" My heart almost lept out of my chest when I finally spoke his name. He looked at me for a second. There was no going back now. The song nearly drew to an end. It was time.

   "I..." Before I could finish my thoughts, the doors swung open and Rhys's attention turned immediately to the door. I followed his eyes and to my dismay, it was Missy and some guy I had seen around school before.