Champagne Kisses

"I'm not sure whether to kill you or thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said to my blunt, outrageous, crazy best friend.

"Oh, please, you know you owe me, Miss Manners." He gave me a little push towards the DQ. "Go before she realizes what a sap you are."

"You're not coming?" I suddenly felt vulnerable.

"Don't you want to do this on your own?" Zach smirked. "I seem to remember a time when you would rather die than let me see the inside of your – admittedly butt-ugly – house."

I reached up and took his hand. What barriers were there between us now? "Please?"

Zach looked down at me with a half-exasperated, half-blank expression. "Just try not to flood the joint," he said, curling his fingers around mine. His hand, I noticed, was a good fit around mine.

The thought made my stomach clench.