"Okay," Mira sighed sliding in a booth at the Waffle House late one night across from Zac. "If I had a slight problem, would you not tell Taylor?" Taylor had been at Julie’s since 9:00 that night and Mira decided to drag Zac out to get something to eat.

"Sure," Zac said taking a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

"Well it might be more than a slight problem," Mira said. She had learned that Zac smoked the other night at the bar and it freaked her out a little bit but she didn’t say anything.

"Alrighty," he said lighting and cigarette and tossing the pack and the lighter on the table.

"I think...," she began playing with the straw wrapper on the table. "I think I have certain...feelings...for Taylor...that are a little more than friendly." She bit her bottom lip and looked into Zac’s eyes for a solution.

"Are you serious?" Zac leaned forward.

"Yeah. But I don’t know what to do. If I tell him and he laughs in my face, it’ll ruin our friendship."

"Well how do you know he’ll laugh in your face?" Zac asked. The waitress brought Mira her pecan waffle and Zac his hash browns covered with cheese.

"Come on," Mira cocked her head to the side. "Neither of us are big believers in friends turning into intimate relationships."

"Come on," Zac flicked the tip of his cigarette into the ashtray. "Those are the best kind of relationships. I think you should totally bring it up."

"But what if he doesn’t feel the same way? I don’t think he does."

"I think he does," Zac said before shoving a forkful of hash browns into his mouth.

"Has he said anything about me?" Mira asked leaning forward.

"Well...no."

Mira sighed and leaned back.

"But, he doesn’t tell me everything. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I’ve seen you guys act more than friendly though," he said.

"Oh my God," Mira groaned resting her head in her hands. "This is crazy. Why did I let this happen?"

"No, no," Zac reached over taking her head out of her hand. "You have to let this happen. The entire family has wanted Taylor to be with you for years."

"Really?"

"Yes," Zac nodded.

"Yeah, but has Taylor wanted to be with me for years? I don’t know."

"Well let’s look at it like this," Zac said pressing his cigarette out in the ashtray and leaning forward. "If you tell him and he’s not interested, what’s the worst that could happen?"

"Our friendship could be ruined forever," Mira said cutting up a few more pieces of her waffle.

"But, if you never tell him, you’d hurt just as much wondering what could have been. And it’s not cool to wonder what could’ve been."

"I know. Seize the day, right?"

"Exactly. Suck all the marrow out of life," Zac said taking another bite of his hash browns.

"But is it worth possibly screwing up the best friendship I’ve ever had? No, it’s not."

"Personally, I don’t think you’ll screw it up."

Mira leaned back placing her feet in Zac’s booth. "This sucks."

"Well if Taylor knows what’s good for him, he’ll be all over it," Zac said.

"Were you guys on a date?" Taylor asked as Mira and Zac came into the living room.

"Where were you?" Zac asked sitting down in a recliner chair.

"At Julie’s," he sighed. Mira looked over at Zac and sat down on the couch next to Taylor.

"What’s her deal?" Zac asked.

"I don’t know," Taylor laughed. "I almost wish she’d just leave me alone. I mean, I care about her, but it’s getting old." Taylor changed the channels until he found the Discovery Channel.

"I hear ya," Zac said. "It’s time to move on, man."

Mira cleared her throat and slid her black flip flops off so she could sit Indian style on the couch.

"What’s up, girlie?" Taylor asked wrapping his arm around Mira’s shoulders bringing her closer to his body. "This is so not fair," she thought. "Ludicrous perfection." is what came to mind as she looked over at him.

"Nothin," was the best Mira could come up with.

"Where’d you guys go?" Taylor asked.

"Waffle House," Zac answered.

"Sweet," Taylor laughed and leisurely combed his fingers through her dark hair.

Mira was becoming very aware of the fact that Taylor was so touchy feely with her. She wondered if they’d always been like that and she never noticed. But ever since they arrived in Tulsa, the attraction she felt for Taylor was becoming unbearable. As Taylor focused on the special on scorpions on the Discovery Channel, Mira looked up to study his face. "God, why is he so damn cute?" she thought.

"You tired?" Mira asked Taylor.

"No. Why are you?" He looked down at her.

"No. Let’s go outside," she said standing up.

"Alright," Taylor agreed and stood up behind her.

They walked by Zac and Mira gave him a quick glance.  They walked outside into the quiet June night. They sat down on the driveway and Taylor leaned back on his hands.

"You ever notice how you can’t see the stars in New York City?" Taylor asked.

"I know," Mira said looking up. "You can see a million of them out here."

"So you went pretty much your whole life without seeing any stars?" Taylor asked.

"I suppose so. But if you never experience them - you don’t know what you’re missing," she said looking over at him.

"That’s true."

"But I didn’t bring you out here to talk about stars," she said leaning on her hip closest to Taylor.

"Oh, you brought me out here for a reason?" Taylor smiled.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "Okay," she breathed and sat Indian style. "Um, I have to tell you something, and you have to promise not to freak out."

"Well is it freak-out worthy?" Taylor asked with an amused grin.

"Maybe."

"Okay, I won’t freak out. Promise."

"Alright," she looked at her hands. "I’m just gonna say it."

Taylor’s stomach tightened as he realized she was serious. His amused grin turned to a concerned gaze.

"I, uh," she let out a small laugh and looked at his face. "I’m really, really attracted to you, Taylor."

His face kept the same expression so she pressed on before he objected.

"And I just had to tell you that, so you know why I did this," she explained before leaning in and pressing her lips against his. She gently reached up and ran her fingers down the side of his face slipping his bottom lip between hers. She slowly pulled away and leaned on her hip in front of him. Taylor didn’t look at her and held a void stare over her shoulder.

"Your turn to say something," she told him.

Taylor remained quiet. He licked his lips and played with the band on his watch.

"Taylor," she whispered.

"I, ah," he began before clearing his throat. "I don’t know what to say." He brought his knees up and hung his arms over them as he looked off across the street.

"Oh," Mira looked down. "Well, I guess that’s that," she said, her voice cracking. She stood up and made her way inside the house.

"What happened?" Zac asked coming down the stairs as Mira was going up.

"He didn’t say anything," she said letting out a laugh to keep from crying.

"What do you mean?" Zac asked.

"I kissed him. And that’s all. He’s still out there."

"Oh, wow. I’m gonna talk to him," Zac said and went down the rest of the stairs. Mira trudged up to her room and closed the door. She threw herself on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.