A Nice Love

"What?", Noah asked calmly.

"What do you mean 'what'?", Nate almost yelled.

"Mika you were just joking?", Grace poked Mika on her forehead.

"No! It is true!", Mika raised her chin.

"You didn't know that?", Nate asked Noah.

"No. I would have especially remembered if something like this had happened", he kept sipping his coffee.

"Aren't you too calm to say that?", Nate chuckled in confusion.

"Mika how is he your boyfriend?", Grace questioned.

"Well, if Nate and you are going out then I'm having Noah as my date", she pouted.

"Hey we're not exactly going out you know", Grace confessed.

Even though Nate knew it, it pinched his heart a little.

"So what?! He takes you as a girlfriend already! And I wanna go out with Noah!", Mika thumped her leg.

"Mika, I don't think that's how you start a relationship with someone", Nate pointed out.

"Yeah he's right", Grace explained. "I mean it's kind of a push".

Mika's eyes filled up. It wasn't like she was doing it for taking revenge on Nate. She actually wanted to go out with Noah. Maybe it was hard for everyone to understand her after all. She looked at Nate's and Mika's face, they both were confused with her sudden burst. Her heartfelt a little heavy. She somehow wanted to apologize.

But this time she actually had a shoulder to rely on by her side. She wasn't alone. Noah got up from his seat and sat beside Mika. He came as close as he could and patted her head. "What are you both talking about? It sounds like a perfect confession to me", he smiled brightly.

Grace and Nate were shocked. For a second, they had thought if they both were the only ones who thought it was weird.

Mika was utterly happy. She couldn't even imagine someone actually understanding her twisted feelings. But this time, she got someone who made her feel that her feelings were twisted at all. She took Noah's hand from her hand and hugged it, smiling happily.

Noah stood there just seeing his girl doing adorable things. He knew that it was her way of saying thank you. And she respected it.

At that moment Grace started laughing hard. So much that her eyes teared up. "Oh dear god Mika, who was the one who said that she would never get into such stuff again", she wiped her eyes.

"I never said that", Mika diverted her eyes in complete denial.

"You never change do you", Grace sighed.

Mika gave her a big wide smile. It was her way of telling that she would never.

"Woah dude, when did you become such a softy?", Nate scoffed.

"Well just one encounter is enough for that", Noah smirked.

PING!

"Ah well those are the cookies", Nate got up.

"Wow do you bake?", Mika's eyes lit up.

"Yeah", Nate nodded in pride.

"You are a perfect wife material then", Mika giggled.

Nate slapped his head and went to the kitchen.

"Wait, I'll help", Grace followed him.

Mika suddenly realized that she was alone in the room and to get a cherry on top, she was alone with Noah in the room. She flinched by the thought and moved a foot away from him.

Noah suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to his chest. "Now what's this? It's not a good manner to run away after such a cute confession", he said while caressing her hair.

It was a comforting situation for Mika. Somehow Noah seems to handle her like he has known her for years.

"Are you sure you are saying yes to this? Now I think about it, it must be really pushy", Mika looked down. Her eyes could tell that she was worried.

"Listen little girl", he lifted her and placed her on the lap.

"Hey! What are you-!?", Mika struggled to get up but Noah's grip was too tight.

"It's better this way. You won't be able to run now", he smirked.

"She couldn't reply to anything. She just looked down with her cherry-red cheeks.

"You know, no one and I mean NO ONE, can push me into doing something", he lifted her chin.

"And this is one of those rare things I'm happy to do", he smirked looking directly into her eyes.

"Okay okay fine!", she covered up her face with her hands. She never thought it would go this simply. Her idea of love and relationship was filed with situations of argument, ego, heartbreaks, and lot of drama. But this seemed to happen so simply yet so beautifully, that her happiness was off the limits.

"But there is one thing I would like to tell you", Noah looked a little serious.

"What is that?", Mika asked in nervousness.

Noah brought his face closer to Mika. He reached her ears and whispered, "you should know that I'm not a very gentle boyfriend".

A weird wave of excitement and embarrassment started from her heart and blasted on the top of her head. Her face was similar to a tomato.

"That's… not a problem", Mika mumbled. She would have preferred dying than actually telling him, "yes! I love that!".

"Yo lovers! Keep it a little Pg-13", Nate uttered.

They both looked towards the kitchen door and found Nate standing there holding a tray in his hand. He looked annoyed as hell. Behind him, Grace was covering up her mouth trying not to laugh out loud.

'These freaks don't have better timing. If I didn't love them, I would have loved to drown them', Mika thought to herself. But obviously she wouldn't want Nate to have anymore chances for making fun of hers. All she could do was frown at the situation.

"Mika try them! These are so good!", Grace sat in front of Noah and Mika.

"Alright", she went ahead to grab a piece. Surprisingly, she was still on Noah's lap. Nate was too happy and too annoyed at the same time to bring that up. She took a bite and the treat melted in her mouth. For a sweet tooth like her, she could happily have all of them without even thinking about others. "Oh my god! Did you seriously make them?", Mika almost shouted.

"Girl! Don't open your mouth while eating!", Nate frowned. "And yeah I made them", he said proudly raising his chin.

"Wow this is unexpectedly good", Mika kept eating.

"Thanks", Nate chuckled. "Wait! What do you mean unexpectedly?", he frowned.

"Nothing", she whistled sarcastically.

"Ugh!"

"Now now, don't start fighting!", Grace interrupted. She sat beside Nate. As she looked at Mika having her little girl chit chat with Noah a wide curve formed on her lips.

"What is it?", Nate asked.

"I never imagined this you know", she smiled.

"Imagined what?"

"Seeing her like this. From the kind of time she had been through, she always told me that she would have to suffer a long way before finding that perfect one for her. To be honest, I was coming to lose my faith in it too. I was wondering if love was actually this complex".

Nate held her hand, "well, universe has its own way right?"

"Yeah", Grace chuckled. "I know that they just clicked and people might think it's weird. But don't we all know that this isn't something random".

" I told you before right? It's all about believing and imagining", Nate chuckled.

"Yeah, you are right", Grace smiled brightly.

Nate's heart fluttered at this adorable smile. It seemed like an epic fail for his love life that Noah got a special someone before him. He wasn't even sure if Noah would ever do. But as his thoughts calmed, he looked at that smile she had on. Filled with innocence, happiness for someone she loves from all her heart. There is something special about this after all. Maybe her being a goofball isn't a problem at all.

Grace felt utter happiness and warm being around him. Suddenly her head came up with the memories of what happened the other day. She couldn't possibly forget about it. Even if she tried hard, she cannot. She looked at Nate and her heart started beating faster and faster. She couldn't resist her feelings from it. It was not possible.

As Grace was looking at him without even knowing about it, Nate got embarrassed by her eyes on him. He was happy she was finally looking at him, but this passion was too much. He gave her a bright smile just as a response.

Their eyes met all of a sudden. Grace quickly looked away, afraid that he have noticed.

Her head was filled with the same thought, 'what will happen now?'

'What's the next step here?'

'There's no way he likes me right?'

'Why did he do it then?'

Nate noticed that she was worried. But what was the thing actually bothering her? He had no idea.

"Grace are you alright?", he poked her.

Grace flinched. She was too lost in her trail of thoughts. "Yeah I'm fine", she gave him a smile.

He could see that something was not right. But pushing her to tell isn't a solution.

"Hey listen, tomorrow is our day off. Do you have any extra classes?", he asked calmly.

"No I'm free", she nodded.

All of a sudden, Nate held Grace's hand again. Looking directly in her eyes he smiled gently, making Grace's cheeks flushed.

"Would you go on a date with me?"