After another kiss, he led me to a more serene space in the back room.

"I can't believe you've made it," he laughed, turning towards the bar and picking up two champagne glasses.

"We have to toast to the New Year," he offered me champagne before clinking his glass with mine.

We sipped on the champagne, his eyes were like melted chocolate, and I missed them. I missed him for the past five days. I still didn't know if I missed him as a friend or as something more. He asked me about the week we had spent apart and how was I coping with my Instagram almost crashing again. I shrugged it off.

"I think this little arrangement of ours could shield us both," I gestured between us two as I placed my now empty glass on a nearby tray.

"So, you're in?" he raised his eyebrows.

"What did you think the kiss from earlier was all about? You couldn't hear me over the noise," I stepped on my tiptoes so I could speak directly into his ear. The music was still loud, even though he was bowing his head attentively towards the croak of my neck, while I was leaning on a wall.

"Well, the music is loud," he nodded.

"When did you come, because I haven't seen you earlier?"

"I came five minutes before I managed to find you." I shouted so he could hear me over the music, "Nicole and I walked for an hour because the streets are too busy for an Uber."

He leaned back a little bit, so I could see his smirk, "So you walked for an hour just to get to me?"

"Oh, don't be flattered," I rolled my eyes.

He laughed with his head back and my heart fluttered.

"But, I am."

His arm caught mine and I noticed how warm he was.

"Are you cold?" his eyes went quickly from whimsical to worrisome.

"No, I just need to warm up a bit, New York winters really shake a person to the bone," I giggled.

"Here, have my sweater. I don't need it."

He took the sweater, that was lying on the back of a nearby chair, and put it above my head. It smelled like him and the sleeves were too long for me. Alex noticed that and he pulled for them and tied them together. He looked teasingly at me, before untying them. I decided I would get him back, so I started playfully hitting him which set us into a fit of giggles before he caught my arms again and pressed them against his chest.

His mouth was dangerously close to mine and with the spark in both of our eyes, another kiss seemed inevitable. I didn't know if we were drunk on the champagne or on the promise of everything that was between us.

One of his hands was resting on a wall above my head while he was still holding my waist with the other one when he broke the kiss. We were out of breath, which could be heard, when he breathed out, "I can't believe we're really doing this."

"Me neither," I played with my fingers at the back of his neck.

He set his forehead against mine and closed his eyes, as he spoke, "We should set some rules."

I gulped, before responding with the champagne courage, "Yes or we could see where this takes us."

His eyes fluttered open. Eyeing me, he slowly said, "Or we could do that."

And we did that. Aileen has read thousands of stories with these kinds of agreements and in every story there were some ground rules. If there weren't there was at least specified what each party would get out of it.

Being good friends with him and everything that happened in the past few months I didn't feel the need to set the rules. And I guess neither did he, because he didn't mention it from that point onwards.

I mean, he wasn't ready to date and I wasn't prepared to admit my feelings for him. So what could possibly go wrong? In my head, nothing could go wrong.

That much turned out to be true in the following weeks we spent together from New Year's. In the meantime, we were slowly starting to ease into our routine which wasn't that much different from the one we had before.

We went on coffee runs together before, but now they have become more frequent and much more public than before. At least once a week I could expect a ping on Instagram, getting a notification that @alex19 mentioned me in a post. And his basketball games now became mandatory for me. Sometimes I even showed up after his practice to give the impression of a supportive couple. I didn't complain, I loved seeing people do what they love. 

This impression of a supportive couple seemed to make an impact on Alex's female audience. Sometimes in the evening when he joined me on my night shift he would boast about not getting one inappropriate DM that day. 

Despite constantly being around each other, we didn't kiss as often as one would have thought. From the kiss on New Year's Eve, I could count on the fingers of one hand how many times we have repeated it. Not that I was counting or that I was thinking of kissing him. His kisses never took me by surprise. I could pinpoint a couple of seconds before he would lean down. His eyes sparked and his lips tugged at the corners.

This was usually after his games. Now instead of a congratulation and a hug, he got in for a kiss. But with every kiss, there was a promise of something greater behind it. I could sense it, but I didn't want to believe it. Because those kinds of promises were made by real-life couples, which we weren't. And I needed to accept it. 

In our time spent together as a couple, I got to know Alex as an affectionate type of guy, whose love language was physical touch. Once he saw me, he took my hand and he didn't let go. Seeing him on campus meant he would walk me to the next class while holding my hand. But I wasn't complaining, because it meant I finally got someone. 

Holding hands helped in the night as well when I was returning from my shift. His hand in mine kept me grounded. Kept my memories from that night at bay. And in some way, it helped me heal. I was repeatedly exposing myself to the same situation with a person who could calm me down without even knowing. It was a form of therapy. Something I knew I needed. With time because of him, walking home in the evenings became bearable, lighter, and easier. 

Having lunch with him or his teammates and our friends now meant, that his hand would be hovering around the back of my chair or on my shoulder. When I let my guard down and showed some nervousness in public, he would put his hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing. 

I still got anxious in public, but not as frequently as before. It was due to the ease with which he introduced me to his friends. In careful steps, he took before we hung out with them. First was one-on-one coffee runs, and then there were double dates with Nicole and Dylan. 

Double dates showed me a new side of him, I never knew existed. We usually went to the cinema and checked out an adventure movie as both Dylan and Nicole were huge fans. Alex didn't agree, he would avoid the bloody scenes by either nibbling at my ear and getting himself distracted or by completely covering his eyes and murmuring to himself, "Why would anybody watch this?"

He was so cute sometimes all wound up, that Dylan whisper-shouted from his chair, "Man up you wuss."

"Who are you calling a wuss?" Alex tried defending his honour.

"You," Dylan laughed over Nicole and me as we were sitting between them.

We rolled our eyes as they continued their bickering.

"Hey, I just want to watch the movie," Nicole finally put an end to it.

"Hey, it's not my fault that your boyfriend likes to pick on me," Alex said in his defence.

"I am picking on you because you're a wuss," Dylan continued before Nicole gave him a death stare, which made him shut up.

I looked at Alex, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Are you even that afraid of this?" I whispered between us, close enough for only him to hear.

"What do you think?" he winked and made himself look all innocent.

"Well, I like you being a wuss," I giggled.

He rolled his eyes, "I am not a wuss, I just like messing with Dylan."

"If it helps your ego recover, you should know, that I consider you my cute wuss." I smiled at him.

He lowered his gaze to my lips, "Oh, really? Well, those this wuss get a kiss for his bravery?"

I gulped, things with Alex could escalate quickly without my notice. "Maybe," I patted my lower lip.

His tongue darted out as he lowered his now heated gaze again to my lips, "Good enough for me."

His hand slipped around my shoulder as I turned towards him. His head slowly lowered and his lips brushed against mine. He always gave me time to move away, if I wanted to, but I never did. 

Kissing him was like being in thin air, floating between clouds. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time. Everything I ever wanted and everything I was always afraid of. I felt free, but at the same time, a worry tugged at my heart. But at that moment? At that moment nothing could break me from kissing him, not even Nicole and Dylan teasing, "You're too much, get a room."

They shut up after I innocently asked, "Aren't this what the movies were made for?"

Alex's chuckle made my heart flutter while he lowered his lips next to my ear and whispered, "I don't think I had a good influence on you."

I playfully hit him across his chest before turning again at the movie screen.

In the past month, we've had a couple of those sweet moments where you couldn't even suspect we were pretending. And I was wondering if this was still feigning on our side. However, I couldn't speak for Alex, only for myself. And I didn't want to jump to conclusions and get my hopes up if I didn't know what was going on in that handsome head of his. So I let it be, I tried not to think too much of it. 

The bells in my head rang all the time. Every little thing that we did together I rearranged in different versions, looked through different aspects of it. Only to find myself overanalyzing everything. Then I tried to calm myself by avoiding the question 'Will they won't they' and repeating the now overused phrase 'We're just friends."

I was getting through my feelings for him just fine until this questioning of the definition of our relationship was done only by me. Soon Aileen started saying out loud the questions that were once only ringing in my head. 

The first time Aileen started suspecting something, was after I took Alex to the tattoo shop. He was going on about how he wanted to get a new one after the New Year. He got himself a new tattoo every year since he was 18 with the same tattoo artist. 

After he got me a shirt that had the couch from friends and Pivot! written on it, I knew I had to take him and give him a belated Christmas present. When I knew that he had no game on his schedule I booked him an appointment. 

I drove us in the late afternoon and I admired the streets of New York and the nearby trees that were blooming with the spring slowly approaching, while he had his eyes covered, "Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see," I was almost as nervous as he was.

"You know, if I didn't know you any better I would say you wanted to kidnap me," he shook his head.

"Hey, will you stop that?" I put my hand on him so he would stop shaking, which made me drive with only one hand.

"Okay. If you hold my hand," he smiled under the cover and took my hand in his. He started to play with my fingers and I giggled. 

"I'll have to make a turn," I whined when I saw an intersection in the distance.

"Okay, you could stop holding my hand for five seconds," he chuckled and let go. 

I made a turn, while he started counting down. After five seconds he started to search for my hand over the console, "Five seconds are up."

"Geez, you're needy," I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, don't roll your eyes at me," he said. 

"And what if I am needy? I don't see a problem in my love language being physical touch."

"How did you know, I was rolling my eyes?" I was sure he cheated and he could see through the bandage covering his eyes.

"I know you, Little Rosie, I have gotten to know you in these past months. So I know that every time I say something slightly sexual you roll those pretty blue eyes of yours."

My breath hitched, as I began to wonder which other things he noticed about me, what other little giveaways of mine he knew.

Thankfully I didn't need to respond to that innuendo, because I drove into the parking lot of the tattoo parlour. 

"Okay, we're here."

He didn't let go of my hand as he undid the mask with the other one, "Where are we?"

"Come on, you'll like this," I answered while jumping out of his car.

He saw the sign, "Oh, you remembered."

"Of course I did, you wouldn't shut up about it," I went around the car and met him on the other side of the car. 

We went in and we were soon greeted by the owner. It seemed like he and Alex were old friends, maybe because they were. Alex had some tattoos already covering different parts of his body and they were all in the same style, which led me to the conclusion that maybe he had them all done in this place.

How did I know the place? I stalked Alex's Instagram. I was in luck because he posted about the time he got his tattoos and the location of where exactly he got them.

For this tattoo, Alex chose a couch, just like the one in Friends. He wanted it across the side of his ribcage. I asked him, why he decided to get that motif.  

He brought his hands out to get mine and he squeezed it, "Maybe this friendship means more to me than it does to you."

With those words still echoing between us, he made his way towards the table and lay on it. The owner started slowly, while I sat on the side. I repeated his words again and again in my mind as I watched the ink slowly spread on his skin. The words were almost the same ones he mentioned months ago during our first fight. The first time they came out as reproach, but this time they came out as sorrow.

After he got his tattoo done, we went out for dinner. In the last couple of weeks, we started noticing we liked similar things. We always when the chance occurred opted for sushi and the celebratory dinner over his new addition to the collection of tattoos wasn't any different. We got it to go and went to his apartment, which was vacant because Nicole and Dylan were at our place. This also meant that we could continue watching The Office. It was a perfect end to the day.

I started noticing how comfortable I had become around Alex. I've been comfortable around him since our first encounter. However, in the last month due to our fake relationship, we have become accustomed to each other in a way I hadn't even been with my ex. I knew what he liked to eat or in what order he would eat his spring rolls. He knew that I liked to eat on the couch with my legs covered by a blanket. I guess we got the comprehension of one another that only comes due to the time spent together. 

We have slid into a continuous repetition of the same days, and the same routines while learning more of each other. Despite doing the same things all over again we didn't grow tired of each other. I didn't bore him. "At least not yet," a small voice in my head pipped. 

We ate our dinner while watching The Office. We laughed and talked over it. Before we looked at the clock, it was 1 pm. I wasn't getting home, I knew that much. His eyes were getting heavy, he was way too tired to drive and I wasn't sure going on the subway would be a smart idea. We both wanted to sleep on the couch after the last episode of the season. 

But he insisted, he insisted that the bed would be better. And since we were so comfortable we didn't even pretend that wasn't the case. We actually didn't need to pretend anymore of not wanting to be near each other. We could stop pretending and nobody could call us out. What would be so inappropriate of a couple to sleep in the same bed? Nothing.

So I made my way towards his room and his wardrobe to take a shirt of his while he was in the bathroom. Then I showered quickly and snuck into his bed. We said our goodnights and turned so our backs were facing each other. However, that didn't help me or him from waking up wrapped in his arms. And for once I wasn't trying to overthink it, maybe because that had become normal over the last month.

In the morning he dropped me off at my place as usual and before leaving he kissed me. It should all be just normal. A normal guy dropping off his girlfriend. But the pretending thing didn't make our relationship normal. Maybe that was why Aileen kept asking me what were we. I knew it was her way of alluding, that maybe I wasn't so good at keeping my feelings at bay when it came to Alex.