A-dork-able.

We stayed on the dance floor for another couple of songs, although neither of us really danced properly anymore. Rebecca seemed more interested in simply being beside me, and I wasn't complaining. Every now and then she would glance up at me as though she was still trying to convince herself that this was actually happening. Sometimes I caught her looking at me and she'd immediately smile and look away, which made me laugh. It was almost like she had suddenly become shy around me despite the fact we'd known each other for more than a decade.

Eventually she leaned closer so she could speak without having to shout over the music. “I think I'm starting to get used to this.”

“To what?”

“This.” She gestured vaguely between us. “You holding me. Me holding you. All of it.”

“Good.”

“Don't sound so pleased with yourself.”

“I've been waiting years for this.”

She gave me a sideways look. “I know. That's the problem.”

I laughed, but she smiled too, and the tension eased again. We kept swaying until another song finished and the DJ announced that there were only a few more left before the dance wrapped up. Rebecca glanced towards the edge of the room and then back at me.

“What are you doing afterwards?”

I hesitated. “I hadn't really thought about it.”

She bit her lip for a second before answering. “Do you want to come back to mine?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Just… with everyone,” she added quickly. “Carla, Kat, Michael, Lyndsay. Maybe we could get some food or something. I don't really want tonight to end yet.”

I smiled. “Sure.”

She visibly relaxed. “Good.”

We walked off the dance floor together and found the others gathering near the entrance as the final song began. Michael was already complaining loudly about the dance being finished, while Lyndsay was telling him that he had spent most of the night complaining about being there in the first place. Carla was checking her phone while Kat stood a little apart from them.

She saw Rebecca and me approaching together. For a second, her smile faltered. Then it came straight back.

Rebecca glanced at me, then at Kat, clearly unsure whether she should say anything.

Kat saved her the trouble. “So,” she said, looking between us, “I guess you two worked things out.”

I felt Rebecca's hand tighten slightly around mine. “Kind of,” I said.

Kat nodded. “Good.”

There was no bitterness in her voice. That almost made it harder.

Rebecca gave her a small smile. “I'm sorry.”

Kat shook her head. “Don't be. I told him to go talk to you.”

“I know.”

“Then don't make me regret it.”

Rebecca laughed softly. “I'll try.”

The final song ended and students began filing out of the gym.

Kat slipped her bag over her shoulder. “I'm going home. My parents are probably starting to wonder where I am.”

Michael immediately stepped forward. “I'll walk you.”

Kat gave him a polite smile. “It's okay, Michael. I can get home myself.”

“I know.”

“Seriously. You don't need to.”

“I know.”

She stared at him.

He grinned. “I'm still walking you.”

“Michael…”

“Nope.”

Lyndsay laughed. “Just let him. Once Michael gets something into his head, there's no getting it back out.”

“I can handle myself,” Kat insisted.

Michael pointed towards the car park. “And I can handle a ten-minute walk. Everybody wins.”

Kat looked at him, then at the rest of us. For a second she seemed tempted to argue again, but eventually she sighed. “Fine.”

“Excellent.” Michael turned towards the rest of us. “See you later.”

Lyndsay shook his head. “You weren't even asked.”

“I'm a hero.”

“You're a pain in the arse.”

Michael and Kat headed off together, Michael talking about something animatedly while Kat listened. I watched them for a moment, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and relief. At least she wouldn't be walking home alone.

Rebecca touched my arm. “He'll make sure she gets home.”

“Yeah.”

We followed Lyndsay and Carla towards the exit.

When we reached the front steps, Rebecca looked back at the school. “So that's it.”

“Looks like it.”

She smiled. “Not quite.” She slipped her hand into mine.

We headed back towards her house together, with Carla and Lyndsay walking a little ahead of us. For once there was no Michael filling every silence with some ridiculous comment, and the walk was much calmer than the trip to the dance had been. Every now and then Rebecca looked over at me. Each time I caught her, she smiled and looked away again.

“You're doing it again,” I said eventually.

“Doing what?”

“Looking at me like I'm some sort of stranger.”

She laughed softly. “I'm trying to get used to you.”

“You've known me since we were five.”

“I know. That's why it's so weird.”

I squeezed her hand. “What’s weird is you when you were five and had just moved in, finding a tube of glitter glue and thinking it was strawberry icing. Remember you spitting it all over the kitchen floor and crying because it tasted horrible?”

Rebecca looks enraged for a second. “You promised my mom you’d never tell anyone that!”

“Yeah, well, I kept that promise for 13 years, didn’t I?”

“Least I didn’t find the tin of paint when I was sick that your dad was using to repaint the living room and paint myself blue like a smurf. Do you remember that?”

I laughed. I found these sorts of things funny unlike Rebecca who was perpetually embarrassed by them. “I had to miss school for a week until it came off.”

“I bet there was lead in that paint and that’s why your so weird,” Rebecca teased.

I stuck out my arm and pulled her in close to me. Hugging her side on as we walked the rest of the way.

We reached Rebecca’s house and Carla opened the front door before either of us could get there.

“Finally,” she called back. “I was starting to think you two had gone somewhere else.”

Rebecca laughed nervously. “Nope. We're here.”

We all went inside. The house still had the lingering atmosphere of the pre-drinks from earlier, although the music had been turned down. Carla headed straight for the kitchen, Lyndsay followed her, and Rebecca led me into the living room. It was immediately obvious how different this felt without Kat and Michael there. Quieter. More intimate.

Rebecca seemed to notice it too. She looked at me. Then at Carla and Lyndsay in the kitchen. Then back at me. “This is good.”

“What is?”

“They're here.”

I laughed softly. “You really are nervous.”

She nodded. “A little.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Because if it's just you and me, then I actually have to deal with what happened tonight.”

I smiled. “What's wrong with that?”

“Nothing. I don’t know.” Rebecca paused for a long minute before she added, “You might try kissing me again…”

I didn’t know if that was a warning, a challenge or even an invitation. I decided it was probably all three.

Just as we had at the dance, I step forward towards Rebecca. Her finger’s twirled nervously at the hem of her burgundy dress. Still, she didn’t run away as I leaned in towards her. Our lips met, touching, forming to the other. We we’re kissing and it didn’t feel weird at all.

It was the wrong thing to do with our friends around.

“Ooooooooowww,” came the combined noise from Carla and Lyndsay peeking around the corner from the kitchen.

“You guys!” Rebecca shouted but I could see that she was smiling at the same time.

The pair of them shot off back around the corner before Rebecca could deal with them properly.

“Maybe we shouldn’t try that again while they’re still here,” I said which made Rebecca laugh.

“Definitely not,” she agreed, although she was still smiling as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She glanced towards the kitchen, where Carla and Lyndsay had disappeared, then back at me. “They're never going to let us forget that.”

“Probably not.”

As if summoned by the conversation, Carla’s voice came drifting from around the corner. “We can still hear you!”

Rebecca closed her eyes for a second. “I hate them.”

“No, you don't.”

“No. I don't.” She laughed again and leaned slightly against me. “But I might in the next five minutes.”

Lyndsay appeared around the corner with a glass in each hand, wearing the most innocent expression he could possibly manage. Carla was right behind him, looking far less innocent.

“We were just coming to see whether you two wanted drinks,” Lyndsay said.

“You were spying on us,” Rebecca replied.

“We were not.”

Carla folded her arms. “We absolutely were.”

Rebecca pointed at her. “At least you're honest.”

“It's been a long night. I'm tired. My ability to lie has gone.”

Lyndsay handed me one of the glasses before offering the other to Rebecca. “Peace offering.”

Rebecca accepted hers suspiciously. “What is it?”

“Soft drink.”

She took a sip. “Actually?”

“Actually.”

Rebecca looked at me.

“See? Nothing weird.” Lyndsay confirmed.

I took a drink from mine and nodded.

The four of us ended up sitting around the living room for the next hour, eating whatever Carla and Lyndsay could find in the kitchen and replaying parts of the dance. Michael's absence was noticeable almost immediately. Without him dominating every conversation, things were surprisingly calm. Lyndsay told us about the time he'd tried to impress a group of younger students by claiming he could do a backflip off the edge of a swimming pool and had nearly landed on his backside. Carla produced photographs from earlier in the night and everyone argued over which ones were the worst.

Eventually one of the photographs from the dance came up on her phone. It was one of Rebecca and me standing together, smiling at the camera.

Carla held it up. “You two actually look really good together.”

Rebecca leaned closer to look. “We do.”

The words came out quietly, almost as if she hadn't meant to say them aloud. I looked at her. She looked back. For a second the rest of the room seemed to disappear again.

Then Lyndsay cleared his throat dramatically. “Please don't start again.”

Rebecca threw a cushion at him. “Shut up!”

He caught it against his chest, laughing. “I'm just trying to protect the rest of us.”

“You're impossible.”

“So, I've been told.”

Rebecca smiled and shook her head before settling back beside me. Her shoulder rested against mine, and after a moment her hand found mine almost automatically. It was strange how quickly that was becoming normal. The first time we'd held hands that evening had felt almost unreal. Now neither of us seemed to think twice about it.

Carla noticed, of course. She looked at our hands and smiled. “You two really are going to be unbearable now, aren't you?”

Rebecca laughed. “We'll try not to be.”

“That wasn't very convincing.”

I squeezed Rebecca's hand. “I'll keep her under control.”

She turned towards me with mock outrage. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“You're the one who started this.”

“I remember.”

“You're very pleased with yourself.”

“Maybe a little.”

She shook her head, but the smile on her face remained.