Temptation

-10-

            It wasn't until we'd walked in and had been greeted with the savory scents of breakfast foods that I'd realized that I was starving. We debated on what song I should I should perform whilst I devoured a plate of hashbrowns and bacon.

"Twinkle twinkle little star?" Andy asked, grinning, as he stole a slice from me. I thought about it for a second before nodding in agreement. With the rate at which I was gobbling that food down, my plate was clear except for traces of crumbs in no time. Earlier on, I dreaded this moment, when I would have to get up, stand in the middle of the restaurant, and belt out a nursery song. But now, I was on the other end spectrum – The food had given me energy, revitalized me. Adrenaline rushed through me as I found my way to the dead center of the sea of tables.

The place was surprisingly busy for such an early hour, and, at first, I wasn't even sure if anybody would hear me. I put all of lung power into singing out "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are..." By the time I reached the end of the short tune, the room was dead silent. For a second, a hint of fear pierced through me, and I prepared myself to get kicked out.

Luckily, though, that didn't happen – One man in the back let out a whistle, and then the whole place was clapping. Somebody even shouted "Encore!" And then Andy was joining me, sitting by my side, and we spent the next half an hour or so performing in a World of Waffles at 3am. They were one of the best crowds we'd ever had, surprisingly enough. They sang the words along with us and let out bursts of applause at the end of every song. Even the waitresses stopped to listen, and a few people asked for our autographs. An old man stopped us to say that he hoped we would become very successful.

I felt like I could stay there forever, lazily perched on the edge of a table, harmonizing with Andy, feeling something that I never had before. Sophie would've been embarrassing by it, hiding her face and pretending now to know me – So, I was lucky that it was Andy with me and not her. Eventually our phones began to buzz with urgent texts from Blair, wondering where we were, and we were forced to reluctantly leave. Still, we meandered down the dark streets, not in too much of a hurry to get back, reciting our favorite moments of what had just happened and bursting into fits of laughter over certain ones.

"The lady up front-" Andy gasped between giggles – "You know, the one at the booth with the giant purse? She nearly choked on a tater tot when you first started singing."

"Look what you made me do! We almost killed a woman!" I said in pretend accusation.

"Ooo, look what you made me do, look what you made me do, look what you just made me do!" He sang in return. I caught a glimpse of him as we passed under a streetlight – His smile was lit up under its florescent glow, dimples crinkling with joy. I wished that I could take a picture of him and freeze it forever in time – instead, I simply studied him and all of the details of the moment, saving it to my mind's memory to take it with me forever.

He looked over at me to see that I already had my eyes on him. For maybe the first time ever, he didn't tease or make fun of me for it. He simply waited for me to join him, and then nuzzled his nose into my crook of my neck. I held my breath, savoring how good it felt as he wrapped his arms around my waist. The tip of his tongue poked out and tickled me.

"What was that for?" I laughed, still not pushing him away.

"To cheer you up. Did it work? Are you feeling any better?" He rested his chin on my shoulder as he looked up at me.

"Yeah," I said honestly. "You have a magical tongue," I added jokingly.

"You should see what else it can do..." He teased, and I tried not to think about how that turned me on.

"Shut up," I murmured half-heartedly. And although time kept moving on, as it always did, waiting for no man, and although we needed to get back to work, we still stayed there, holding onto each other, until my phone began to ring again. We were forced to part then, laughing again as we ran back to the studio. By the time we got back, my cheeks were numb from the cold, but, despite how freezing it was, I was glowing. My heart felt like it was on fire.

Maybe, just maybe, if I let go of my fear, this could be the start of something new. Something beautiful. And there was only one way to found out...