Chapter Twenty Nine-3

Lizzie looked over at him, lips curving up in a small smile, waiting for his next line of thought. When he didn't offer anything up, she figured that was pretty much the invite. And as she opened her mouth to confirm, Everett popped in with, "Lizzie, do you want to go on a date with me?" And for some odd reason - that wasn't what she expected to happen next. So, formal invitation . . . "Yes . . ." Lizzie couldn't figure out why Everett seemed so surprised at her answer. The two of them hung out nearly every day, they discussed their futures and they've shared a brief kiss on several occasions. So they hadn't been on a date yet; big deal. Lizzie and Everett were best friends turned into a package deal. Seriously - Everett didn't have any actual reason to be concerned about his question. "Yeah?" "Yeah." And at that point, Everett grinned so bright that Lizzie thought she would be blinded. The entire thing made an entire academy of Jedi butterflies erupt in her stomach. "Why haven't you said anything else?" Everett asked. With a little more confidence, he continued with, "I mean, I've sort of got an idea of what to do. I think it would be fun. I think. I hope. Maybe. I don't know. I'm sort of new to this." Everett shrugged helplessly. Lizzie just couldn't even think of what to say; she just smiled wide and leaned into Everett. "I'm excited," she told him quietly. "Yeah?" "I think we need a new affirmative. 'Yeah' is starting to lose it's meaning." Everett rolled his eyes and lightly pinched her shoulder. "Be nice!" he scolded playfully. In a strange twisty sort of dance, Lizzie squirmed away from him and scrambled to her feet. She whirled around and pointed at him, saying, "That's it, North. I'm going to check in on the other North brother and see why he hasn't returned with any drinks or anything. You're a pain." All her teasing followed over her shoulder as she turned towards the kitchen. As she rounded in the corner, she found Jesse casually standing on the other side of the kitchen. One leg was swung in front of the other, his hip resting against the counter. He held a mug in his hand and seemed to be pouring water into it. He looked very . . . posed. "You little sneak." Jesse looked up with surprise, setting down the kettle and mug. "Me? What did I do?" Little by little, a smirk crossed on his face and he chuckled. "Okay, what gave me away?" Rolling her eyes, Lizzie made her way to the cabinets. She pulled one open and grabbed a bag of chips while saying, "Well, the GQ Polaroid moment on the other side of the kitchen might have tipped me off." "Too stiff?" "Too posed." "Of course. I gotta work on that." "You ever going to join us back out there?" Lizzie asked, her arms fulled of chips, one hand already in a bag. Jesse shrugged. "Meh, thought I'd let you guys have some time alone." "And by alone you mean us in one room while you listened in from the other?" "Exactly?" Lizzie shook her head and smiled. "You're such a dork." She momentarily paused and looked in Jesse's direction. "You okay?" Jesse frowned and nodded. "Well, yeah - why?" Upon seeing the look Lizzie gave him, he rolled his eyes and he rolled them hard. "Everett got to you." It was a straight up statement. Nothing about it was a question. "You're bringing this up, because?" An exasperated sigh came from the other side of the room and before any time could be wasted, Lizzie stood in front of him. She started at him intensely and Jesse gulped a little bit. Being on the receiving end of Lizzie's intense stare really was nothing to be happy about. "You would talk to me, right?" she asked quietly, earnestly. When Jesse seemed confused, she continued, "About what's bothering you. If it hit some sort of apex you would let me know, right? You'd talk to me and we could hash it out together. We're friends, Jess. Don't forget that. Just because Everett and I are a thing now doesn't mean you can't talk to me. Okay?" He smiled back at her and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thank you, Lizzie." A sly grin crossed his face. "So . . . you and Everett going on a date, huh?" As Jesse spoke, Lizzie shook her head and backed away. "No. No, no . . . we are not having this conversation. Nope. Nope. Nope." "But, Lizzie," he called out after her. "I was under the impression we could tell each other everything!"