Make Me Smile

Smiles

That evening, we went to the diner together. He seemed a little nervous to be walking with me, so I didn’t even attempt to hold his hand or anything like that. To other people, we just looked like two people who happened to be walking in the same direction.

We went into the diner and sat at the little booth we had the last time. He seemed deep in thought, so I asked him if something was bothering him.

Vaughn furrowed his brow. “Well, kind of. Mirabelle told me that I scare off customers. She said that the reason people don’t want to talk to me is because I look mean.” He folded his arms. “Well, do I?”

I stifled a laugh. “Yeah, a little. Okay…a LOT.”

He threw up his hands, scowling. “I don’t get it! What about me is mean looking?”

I snickered again. “Um, exactly what you’re doing now?”

He folded his arms again. “Well, I don’t how to look ‘nice.’ This is just the way I am.”

“Well, you could try smiling,” I said, tilting my head at him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Smiling? Why?”

“Well, I’d like to see you smile. Really smile. I’ve seen little half-smiles, but I want to see your real smile.” I said, playing with my glass of water.

He widened his eyes, and I could swear I saw a little blush come over his face. “Really?” He cleared his throat. “O-Okay…I’ll try.” He looked me in the eyes, the corners of his lips barely curling. “How’s this?”

I laughed. “No, not even close. Try again.”

He licked his lips, frowning, and then made another attempt. This time, it was the half-smile I was used to seeing. I clapped my hands. “I like that, but it could be even bigger.” He took a deep breath, and I saw his teeth as he grinned broadly. It was on his face for just a split second before it fell once again into a frown, but the surprise of seeing it knocked the breath out of me. “W-what was that?” I gasped.

“That was a big smile. I hope you can remember it, because I’m not doing that again,” he grunted, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

I sighed, musing this. “Maybe smiling’s just not your thing. But I can tell you one thing. If you truly want to appear nicer to people, here’s one thing NOT to do.” I narrowed my eyes and pointed my finger in his face. “Don’t talk to me! You’re annoying!” His eyes widened in horror. I grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s the exact face I made when you did it to me.”

He blushed and looked away. “I’m sorry…I didn’t realize that I was so rude.” He was silent for a few minutes, then spoke again. “It’s just that I say what’s on my mind.”

I reached across the table and laid a hand on his arm. “I know you do. But sometimes, you have to take what’s on your mind and imagine someone else saying it to you. If it would make you feel bad, you shouldn’t say it to someone else.”

“Right,” he said gruffly. Our food arrived, and we ate in comfortable silence.

After that, we left and he walked me home. It was dark outside, and all that could be heard was the chirping of crickets. I bumped my shoulder playfully into his arm as we walked, and I saw that little half smile creep onto his lips. So I tentatively reached for his hand. To my surprise, he didn’t yank it away, but let me interlace my fingers with his. I felt myself blush, and my heart beat very rapidly. We were holding hands. Walking in public and holding hands. Oh my goodness, does this mean he’s really my boyfriend? My mind worked furiously. I could feel the smooth leather of his fingerless gloves against the palm of my hand, and I sighed happily.

We reached my farmhouse. My heart was absolutely pounding out of my chest at this point. I let go of his hand, and fidgeted a little. “Well, good night…” I said hesitantly, looking down at the ground. I was caught by surprise as I felt his hand under my chin, tilting it up. He leaned forward, his other hand gripping my shoulder lightly. Our lips met, and I could feel my whole face get very hot. I sighed, letting my eyes close, and we pressed our lips back and forth.

After a while, he pulled back, and I fluttered my eyes open. He gave me that little half smile, and chuckled softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m sure you know where to find me.”

I blushed, realizing he was referring to my weeks of stalking him, but just nodded. He turned and left my farm, and I watched him go wistfully.

The next day, I worked industriously on my farm, feeding my new chicken and watering the eggplants. After doing all that, I returned to the farmhouse and took a shower, wanting to look the best I could for when I saw Vaughn. I dried off and changed into clean clothes, and then set out towards town.

It was afternoon, so I knew he would be wandering around in the forest. I headed that way. The forest felt cool, shaded from the hot sun. My eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, and I walked to the area I usually saw him in. He was there, and I squealed a little inside when I spotted him.

He heard the crunching leaves under my feet, and turned to greet me, tilting his hat hello at me. I smiled back, and we walked together through the woods. After a little while, his hand found mine, and we were once again holding hands. I was thrilled that he took my hand this time - proof that it wasn’t just me that wanted this.

I stopped at an old rotting log. “Ooh, wait just a minute,” I said, letting go of his hand. “I bet that…” I trailed off as I peered behind the log. “Uh huh.” I emerged holding some shiitake mushrooms. I grinned at Vaughn. “They like to grow where it’s dark and damp.”

He nodded. “I like mushrooms,” he said quietly.

I smiled. “Really? Well, umm….” I hesitated for a moment, then got up my courage and blurted out what I had to say. “Do you want to have dinner at my house tonight?” My hands trembled nervously as I put the mushrooms in my pack, looking away from him. “I could make something with these mushrooms in it.” I finally turned my head to look at him.

“All right,” he grunted, and I smiled gleefully.

I brushed the dirt off my hands. “Okay, I have to go get ready. Come by my house at, say, 8 o clock?” He nodded, and I skipped off for home.

I furiously cleaned my house, sweeping and dusting and straightening up. I usually kept it pretty neat, but I wanted it to be really nice if he was going to come in. I washed the shiitake in the sink, thinking hard about what I could make. Oh yeah, I realized. The guy at the diner gave me a shiitake recipe when I gave him some of the ones I had found one day. It was for baked mushroom. I followed the directions, keeping an eye on the clock. I had just put it in the oven when I heard a knock at the door. I hurriedly ran to the mirror, removing my bandanna and smoothing my hair the best I could. Then I ran for the door.

Vaughn was there, holding some blue magic flowers. My heart melted a little when I saw that. He must have seen the sappy look on my face, because he cleared his throat loudly, thrusting them unceremoniously into my hands. “I just found them in the forest. No big deal.”

I smiled happily to myself as I put them in a glass of water. I gestured for him to sit down at the table, and I went back to the kitchen area. It was a very open floor plan, so we were still in the same room. Heck, my bed was in the same room. My bed…my mind flooded with very inappropriate thoughts, like the image of him pushing me down on it. I bit my lip to keep from squealing, and took a deep breath, trying to focus on what I was cooking.

Soon it was done, and I had managed not to burn it. Vaughn complimented it by grunting, “Not bad.”

After we were finished eating, I quickly cleaned up the plates and other dishes. He stood from the table and paced around a bit, finally coming to rest on the couch. When I finished cleaning, I nervously joined him on the couch. Oh my, I realized. We are all alone in here. My heart skipped a beat as he reached up and removed his hat, setting it on the coffee table. I had never seen him without his hat before. His hair was so sexy looking. The ends tapered off around his jaw line and neck.

He moved a little closer to me on the couch, and my heart started pounding. I licked my lips nervously, looking away. He brought his fingertips to my face and turned it to meet his, kissing me softly. His fingers slid over my hair, making me shiver with delight. I reached up to touch his, and I was surprised at how soft and silky it felt.

I felt his lips part, and I shook with nerves as he urged mine to part with his tongue. I complied, and he kissed me deeply. His hands stroked my back, and I felt myself melting into the couch. I wasn’t going to be able to resist him, I knew that. I sighed into his mouth, enjoying the experience.

Suddenly, the clock above the fireplace chimed 9. His attention was drawn to it, and he broke away from the kiss. He cursed under his breath, and looked at me, frowning. “The ferry back to the mainland is leaving early today. I have to go now or I’ll miss it.”

“Oh…” I mumbled, looking down in my lap, picking at a stray thread on my pants. He pressed his lips to mine one last time. “I’ll see you next week,” he said, and then hurried out the door.

I was left sitting on the couch, my face still flushed. It was going to be a long week.