I put on a dress and stood in front of a mirror for a few minutes. I looked at myself and thought to myself that, wow, Tony liked me. He liked me for who I was. He wanted to take me out and spend time with me and that was awesome. I knew it was stupid to get so excited about it because Tony could change his mind any second. He could realize that he actually didn't want somebody younger than him. But for now, I was happy with what I had.

Tony came over to pick me up right before we left. I opened the front door before he got a chance to ring the doorbell and as I looked outside, I noticed how dark it was already. Tony stood right in front of my eyes with a grin on his face, looking as handsome as always. He pulled me into a hug and when he let go, his eyes went down my body.

”You look beautiful,” he murmured and winked at me. I laughed and grabbed my phone from the table before closing the door after me.

”Vic is in the car already,” Tony told me as we started walking towards the black car in front of their house. Vic sat on the front seat so I got in on the back as Tony started driving.

”Hey, Vic,” I said with a smile as I started to put on my seatbelt.

”Hey. So now I'm going to be all alone while everybody else has a date,” he said as he looked back
at me. I flashed a big smile.

”Sorry.”

”It's okay, Abby, don't worry. I can just get really drunk and drown my sadness in alcohol,” he joked and winked at me.

Tony drove us to a local restaurant and the three of us got out of the car. We walked into the place and spotted Jaime and Mike and their girlfriends at one of the tables and joined them. Tony made sure that I sat next to him and everybody had to move their seats so that he could be satisfied.

And when everybody started chatting, his right hand found my bare thigh and started rubbing it. But, much to my surprise, he wasn't being that sexual. It was pretty much just innocent thigh massaging and nothing more. It was like he wanted to touch me but he respected me and everybody around us enough not to try and reach for my more private areas. I guess he just wanted to be close to me and I had absolutely no problem with that. I liked it when he touched me.

Everybody ended up getting a lot of drinks and by the end of the night, we had drunk more than we had eaten and it was starting to show. Everybody, but Vic who had promised to drive, was drunk. And since we were in a restaurant and not in a bar, we decided to leave early before something happened.

So we paid for our foods and thanked everybody for the fun night. Vic, Tony and I started making our way back to the car while the others started walking back to their hotel which was just around the corner. Tony and I got in the backseat and Vic started driving us back to our summerplaces.

”I'm going to Abby's for the night, buddy,” Tony told Vic who just nodded.

But after a few minutes he opened his mouth and turned off the radio.

”I booked flights to home. I'm leaving next week,” he said.

”But there are still, what, four weeks of summer left!” Tony exclaimed.

”I know. I just don't think that I want to be the third wheel anymore,” Vic said and laughed, ”You two need to be alone and sort things out.”

Tony and I both, despite being somewhat drunk, knew that he had a point. He was absolutely right – we had to be alone and just get used to being together in order to sort things out.

As soon as we got back to Tony's and Vic had parked the car, we got out and said goodnight to Vic and then Tony grabbed my hand before he started leading me to my place. I opened the door with my keys and let us in. Tony turned on the lights and I threw my keys on the table.

”Can we go outside? To the backyard?” I asked Tony, ”Maybe have some drinks? Look at the stars?”

”Do you want to?” he murmured and grabbed my waist as he got closer.

”Yeah. Do you want wine?”

”Do you have anything stronger?” he whispered as his hand went up to my neck. His fingers touched my bare skin and I shivered and started leaning into his touch. I soon found myself wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss.

”I think there's some vodka in the kitchen,” I murmured into his mouth.

He grinned, gave me one last kiss and then disappeared into the kitchen. I started making my way to the back door and then stepped out. The chilly summer breeze hit my face and I shivered. It wasn't exactly cold outside but it was cooler than it had been before. I wrapped my arms around myself and sat down on the porch.

A moment later Tony appeared by my side and he sat down.

”Are you cold?” he asked quietly. I shrugged.

”A bit,” I admitted.

He pulled off his hoodie and put it over my shoulders and I relaxed right away. He opened an old bottle of vodka that my parents had left, and drank some of it. He grimaced and wiped his mouth, coughing a few times.

”Holy fuck,” he muttered, ”This is awful. I've never had anything this bad.”

I laughed at his reaction and shook my head when he offered the bottle to me.

”Come on. Try it, Abby,” he said.

”No. You just told me how awful it is so why would I want to try it?” I asked with a laugh. He shrugged and put the bottle down before looking at me.

”I like this. I never did anything like this with Kelsey,” he told me quietly.

”Please let's not talk about your ex now,” I mumbled.

”You're right. I'm sorry.”

”It's fine, really, but right now I don't want to think about her.”

”I understand,” he nodded and wrapped his left arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side.

”Are you cold without your hoodie?” I whispered.

”No. As long as you're not cold, we're okay,” he murmured.

”Are you still drunk?” I asked. He chuckled.

”Yeah,” he admitted, ”Are you?”

”A bit, yeah...”

”Good. I like it. I like it when you're more relaxed,” he whispered.

He looked to his side, right into my eyes for a long time until I had to look away. And when I looked back, our eyes made contact again. As I was about to open my mouth – to ask why he was looking at me like that – he leaned in, and gave me the softest and quickest kiss I'd ever received. It was barely even a kiss and our lips only touched for a second but it still counted.

”Tony, I – ”

Whatever it was that I had been about to say, it didn't even matter anymore. Instead of pulling me into another sweet kiss, he pulled me tightly against his chest, wrapping his arms around my neck and hugging me for a really long time really tightly.

And for once, I felt like we didn't need to have sex to be close to each other. There were other ways and sex wasn't always necessary. And knowing that felt nice.

---

When we got inside after freezing outside for far too long, I just wanted to take a hot shower and cuddle under blankets. Tony, on the other hand, told me he was really tired and apologized for wanting to go to straight to bed.

”You don't need to apologize,” I mumbled, ”That's just silly. I'll take a shower, just go to bed already. I'll meet you there.”

”Are you sure?” he asked and I nodded. We parted our ways and he walked into my bedroom while I made my way into the bathroom.

After a long shower, I wrapped a towel around my wet, and naked, body before walking carefully into the bedroom. I tried my best not to wake Tony but somehow ended up failing badly and soon heard his muffled voice in the dark room.

”Abby?”

”Yeah?” I whispered.

”Come here, baby,” he murmured and I completely froze at the word baby.

He was drunk, yes, and tired, but he never really called me baby. Did it sound nice to me? Did I want him to call me baby? Well... Yes and no. Maybe. I mean, I had feelings for him so of course I wanted him to call me baby and babe and all sorts of sappy things but I also wanted him to do it when he wasn't drunk or half asleep.

I shrugged the whole thing off my shoulders, realizing that it was only stupid to think too much of it, and walked over to the bed. As my eyes got slowly used to the darkness, I could see his bare chest wrapped up into a warm blanket. I smiled at him, and leaned down closer to his face.

”Lay down,” he whispered and placed his hand on my hip, trying to pull me down.

”But I'm only wearing this towel...”

”I don't care. Take it off. Just come here.”

”But Tony...”

”Abby, don't make me wake up and force you here,” he mumbled and slightly opened his left eye to look at me.

”You are awake...” I mumbled and he snorted.

Either way, I laid down next to him and allowed him to pull me into his arms and somehow he managed to pull the towel off me. I did end up laying naked by his side but it didn't matter because he held me so tightly against his body that I felt safe and warm right there. And, no, we did not have sex that night and I was perfectly fine with that.

And as I laid there, half asleep and warm next to him, I felt good. In fact, it was the best I had ever felt because, yes, my feelings for him had gotten so much stronger and what I felt for him was something incredible. At some point, very recently, I had realized that I wanted it to be about more than just sex. And that night, I had understood that it was more than just sex. It was something, a lot more than just sex.

I had fallen in love with him, and truthfully, there was no going back. I was crazy about him, and happy about that.