Making (another) first move

"Heh, no, it was good. You helped me get out her hair...tentacle...thing. That let me get in and...you know."

Noah chuckled.

"I was going to say, 'I'm sure we'll all get better at is,' then I remembered I don't really want us to have to, and now I'm just bummed that I'm pretty sure we will."

"Yeah..." Madison wasn't too keen on the idea of having to get better at killing things either, but it was better than getting eaten. "We could practice fighting, if you wanted," she suggested, not entirely because it would mean a chance to spend more (possibly hot, sweaty) time with Noah.

Noah gave her a sidelong glance.

"I'm not sure I could take a swing at you," he commented, "but I guess we could give it a try."

"I don't even know how to go about getting better at fighting all 'grr'," he said, making a growly face and a claw-like gesture. "I don't think there's, like, wolf fu or whatever."

"Well honestly, you already seem pretty good at that," Madison said. "Maybe fighting without the, uh, 'grr' might be good practice too. If it's something you don't want to do unless you really have to." She paused for a moment. "I know you don't want to take a swing at me, but, gnomes aside, it seems like most weird things out there are going to be bigger than me. I need to get better at standing up to them. And... I trust you not to really hurt me. I mean it," she added seriously.

Noah was quiet for a moment after that, determinedly watching the road.

"I appreciate that. A lot. Hopefully, someday, I'll agree with you."

He pulled off the road at the curve, a short hike from the reservoir.

"Here's hoping there's no secret door crap down here, too."

"Hopefully, yeah. That's about the last thing I feel like dealing with," Madison said.

They walked a little while in silence together, the evening air cool and crisp, dead leaves rustling as they fell or got crushed underfoot. Eventually, Madison looked over at Noah. "I don't know if anyone said anything to you," she began, "but at the dance, I overheard some folks were... speculating at reasons we weren't there together. Most of them kind of sucked. Like..." She hesitated, not sure if she needed to explain to him what folks were saying, but figured she should say some of it anyway. "Like that I wouldn't have sex with you, or that I did and since that was all you wanted anyway, things were already over with us, and... stuff like that," she trailed off, looking down at the path ahead.

Noah winced, though the news wasn't new.

"Yeah, I'd heard some of that. I decked Mikey Walters at practice on Monday when he started in. Cost me a few laps, but it felt worth it."

He hesitated to continue, but honesty had been a good policy so far.

"You don't...you don't think that's what this is all about, right?"

"No!  I mean, you didn't even ask me to... um, I mean, nothing had a chance to happen, or not happen, or... no, I know it's not about that," she said hastily, blushing.  "I just didn't like people saying it, because it's stupid. And besides, none of their business."

Noah stopped and turned towards Madison, looking not bashful but open, oddly vulnerable.

"Madison...you're gorgeous. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you, but that's not why I'm here, right now, with you. A lot is changing, a lot of things are different, and this, right here, is different from anything I've done before. I never wanted to get this close to someone, because I didn't think I was worth that kind of trust. I'm still not sure, but you seem to be, and that means so much more that I thought it could. You know what I'm afraid of, everything I'm afraid of, and you're still here. So I am too. Whatever this is...whatever you want this to be, I'm here."

Madison blinked, surprised at his speech, but also thrilled by it. "I... I want you too. To be with you, I mean." She stumbled over her words in her slightly stunned state, but reached out to take his hand in hers to make sure he understood what she was saying. "To ... go out and see how things go. I... I've never felt this way about anyone, and I don't want to go too fast. But maybe a little fast? I don't know, but I want to figure it out with you," she said, smiling. "Is that okay?"

In reply, Noah raised his other hand to Madison's cheek, leaning down for a kiss. He held it a long moment, finally pulling back just enough to speak.

"Sounds good to me."

Madison stretched up on her tiptoes to reach Noah's lips as he bent down. It was really happening! And he was just as good a kisser as she'd imagined he would be, and everything was perfect, so much that she didn't want this moment to end.

When it finally did, of course, she was left staring up at him with no clue what to say or do next. "That was really nice," she blurted, then realized that was probably a silly thing to say, and blushed (more than she already was). She kept a tight grip on his hand, smiling.

"Heh, yeah," Noah replied with affable awkwardness. He held Madison's gaze for a moment before nodding his head towards the path, turning to continue their walk. He gave her hand a squeeze, maintaining their grip, though the height difference made it somewhat unwieldy.

"Well, uh, I hate to say it, but I can imagine this is just going to bring a whole new wave of speculation at school on Monday," Noah offered with a smile, trying to make it a joke. He specifically didn't mention the speculation Madison might get at home, as well.

"Yeah, probably," she agreed with a slight frown. "But what people think doesn't matter to me as much as you do. I mean... they're going to think whatever they want, but they're just being assholes or jealous or whatever if they decide to think it means something bad about either of us. And... the people who are really our friends will be happy for us." She hesitated for a moment. "...David too, I hope."