"What's going on?" Jane tried to cut through the knot of students at the front of the class to get to her seat, but there were just too many of them. She saw Camilla's brown hair and cheerleading uniform and made her way to her friend.

"What?" she asked, tapping Cam on the shoulder.

"Vivian says she hooked up with Charles McAllister last night," Camilla said, swishing her hair in irritation. "She says she has pictures." And Jane could tell because she'd known Camilla since they were five that Cam wasn't buying it.

When Viv's cell phone finally made its way to the girls, they saw pictures of Vivian and Charlie at a restaurant, but nothing else. Jane could tell that Charlie didn't want to be in the picture because he was doing that thing he did with his hand on his collar that he did when he was uncomfortable or bored.

And Jane knew that Charlie hadn't hooked up with anyone last night, because he'd had dinner at La Grenouille with his manager, Arlen, where Vivian had presumably seen him and gotten the selfie, then he'd gone straight back to his hotel where he'd Face Timed with Jane until two in the morning. They'd watched Pulp Fiction together, trying to sync up the start and getting it wrong three times, laughing the whole time, before getting it close enough.

Jane could hear Viv's high-pitched, slightly nasal voice telling the story. Apparently they'd "done it" in his Escalade after the pics were taken while his driver, who was named "Andy", drove them around Manhattan.

"Come on, Jane, let's go sit down," Cam said, and Jane was only too happy to go with her.

"I can't believe people are listening to that crap," Cam said dismissively as they took their seats. "Who would hook up on a Thursday night?"

Jane just nodded, but couldn't make heads or tails of this last remark. Was Thursday a "non-hook up" night?

Mr. Thorpe came in just then, and the cluster of kids finally broke apart and took their seats.

Jane sent Charlie a quick text before the bell:

"I heard you hooked up with someone I know last night? Vivian? Blonde? Nice boobs? La Grenouille?"

"No way! That stroppy cow is a friend of yours??"

"Dude! I said I knew her, not that we were friends."

"Whew! I almost thought about stopping being crazy in love with you for a mo :)"

"Well, she said you hooked up in your car, so I might have to rethink things..."

"What a cunt."

"You have no idea. Oops. Bell. See you tonight! xx"

"xxxxxx"

Last week had been Thanksgiving, so this week all the Christmas decorations were going up in Manhattan, and Charlie had begged Jane to try to get away for another sleepover so they could try to sneak out and walk around the city a bit. Jane hadn't thought she'd be able to, but then she'd gotten a bit of good luck. The Lincoln High Service Club was going on their annual Christmas Tree scouting trip in Pennsylvania. It was an overnight trip to a Christmas Tree farm where they bundled and tagged trees to sell at the high school as a fundraiser. Jane had gone every year since she was a freshman, so her mother thought nothing of it when Jane mentioned it to her. Ms. Chapman, the club advisor, had been very understanding when Jane had begged off, citing nebulous "family commitments".

Jane waved goodbye to Camilla and Bear, who were off to a basketball tournament somewhere, dashed home and put her things in a bag, and she was off to the city.

"Oh, god, Charlie, look, how beautiful!" Jane had seen the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree many times, but being there with Charlie was as magical and romantic as she could've hoped for. Between the fact that it was nighttime, and everyone was there to look at the tree, most people didn't even notice Charlie in their midst, and the few who did had zero interest in the tall, pale girl who might or might not have been with him.

Jane admired the tree and Charlie admired Jane, loving her joy, enjoying her happiness at being with him. She snuggled into his arm as they walked around Midtown, drinking hot cider and eating cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery.

"How can you drink cider and eat cupcakes?" Charlie asked, laughing at her.

"Try it, it tastes fine," Jane said, feeding Charlie half a cupcake.

"Stop, stop! Jesus, you're making a mess," Charlie declared, trying to bite what she was feeding him.

"You're the one making the mess," Jane pointed out. "I ate mine without dropping a crumb."

"Jane! Jane!" Charlie stopped her in the middle of the sidewalk.

"What?" She was still laughing about the cupcake.

"Kiss me, okay?" He pulled her into his arms.

"Okay," she whispered, nodding.

They kissed, and Charlie found the taste of her cider-y, spicy, cupcake-y mouth absolutely enchanting.

"You make me so happy, Jane Carroway," he said as he released her, and Jane was sure her feet left the pavement for a brief second. "Let's go back to my room and watch Elf."

Jane nodded happily and they walked, arm in arm, the few blocks to Times Square.

When they got to his room he opened the door, but stepped back so she could enter first, as usual. Jane had tried to explain to him how this was a kind of sexism, disguised as chivalry, but he didn't care, and insisted on continuing.

"You left the lights on," Jane chided him as she entered. She stopped just inside the door, causing him to run into her.

The room was filled with flowers. Every available flat surface was covered with vases of mixed flowers. Roses, freesias, daisies, a complete hodge-podge of beautiful color filled the room. Charlie hurried in, turned off the lights, and led her to the window, which showed Times Square, lit up brighter than day.

He gestured toward outside, saying, "I know you can't tell, but tonight's a full moon, I checked.

"Oh, and, and--" He pulled a hand-written sign out from behind the TV. It said "whatnot" in black marker.

"You said when someone said 'I love you,' for the first time, you envisioned flowers, moonlight, and whatnot," Charlie explained with a smile. "Remember?" He stepped close to Jane. "This is a re-do, okay?"

He put his arms around her after first tossing the sign on the table. "I love you, Jane," he whispered in her ear. "I really, really love you."

Jane nearly swooned in his arms. "I love you, Charlie, so much," she responded, pulling back so she could look in his eyes. She leaned forward, opening her mouth in anticipation, and fitted her lips to his as she fitted her body into him.

She kept kissing him, over and over, as she moved them toward the bed, and when she felt it hit the backs of her legs, she stopped, letting him go. She took off her coat, which she was still wearing, and laid it on the chair without breaking eye-contact. Then she pulled her sweater over her head, shaking out her wispy hair after, while he smiled at her. She dropped it on the floor.

His eyes widened when she started unbuttoning her shirt, and his smile was long-gone by the time she let it, too, drop to the floor, leaving her standing in her bra and jeans. His expression was one of concern by then, and he reached out to stop her when she began unbuttoning her pants.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a voice made soft by shock.

"I want to make love with you," she responded. Even in the dim, twinkling lights he could see her pupils were dilated with nervousness.

"What?" He sat down on the bed, utterly nonplussed.

"Great," Jane said, flapping her arm against her leg. "As you've said to me in the past, that's not exactly the response I was hoping for," she said, sitting down next to him. She put her face in her hand, deeply embarrassed.

He pulled her hand away so he could look at her face. "Why?" he asked.

"Never mind," Jane said, shaking her head. She quickly picked up her shirt and put her arms through the sleeves, heading toward the bathroom so she'd at least have a closed door between her and Charlie.

But he reached out and managed to grab her hand as she passed him. He pulled her down on his lap so she was straddling him, though of course she was looking down and would not meet his gaze.

"No. No, Jane, you're not going to shut down like you always do whenever these kinds of things come up," he said, and he continued before she could interrupt and ask exactly what he meant. "I'm not saying I don't want to," he said very slowly and clearly. "I'm not, okay?" He cupped her cheek, tilting her face so he could see it, though her eyes still slid away. "I'm just saying that the things we've done, and we've done some really, really fun things, are nowhere near having sex. I mean," and here he let out a deep breath, "I've never even seen you without your clothes." And his voice got loud with shock, even though he was trying to control it and not freak her out even more.

She gestured at her body, at her unbuttoned shirt, which Charlie was trying not to notice was sexy as hell. "That's why I was taking my fucking clothes off," she said, as if she were talking to a dull-witted child.

"Jane," Charlie began, though he had no idea what he was going to say. "You know the whole 'first-base, second-base' thing?" He was looking at her carefully.

"Yes," she said impatiently, just wanting the conversation to be over so she could retire to the bathroom and have a good cry. "It's a totally sexist baseball metaphor that reduces women's body parts to bases."

"Okay, so without trying to be sexist in any way, I'm just saying that we've, um, skipped a lot of fucking bases here, that's all." Charlie pulled her unwilling head closer so he could kiss her forehead, and he was gratified to see that he'd at least progressed to eye contact as gray eyes the color of sea glass looked back at him.

"Oh god, do you have to look so fucking beautiful and sexy right now? When I'm trying so hard to be strong?" he muttered, pulling her shirt closed in the front so he could at least stop staring at her perfect, teacup-sized breasts.

"So you want to?" Jane asked suspiciously.

"Of course I want to!" Charlie burst out, tormented beyond endurance by the presence of the girl he was desperately, stupidly in love with on his lap practically topless. "I just can't believe you do," he explained, feeling more and more inadequate by the second.

"Do you? Really? You're not just carried away by all the romance?" And he smiled as he waved at the flowers that were all over the place.

She looked around at the floral orgy that surrounded her, smiling. "Maybe I'm a little carried away," she said, pulling his sweatshirt over his head and dropping it next to her sweater. She leaned forward and kissed his neck, making him close his eyes at how good her hot mouth and soft lips felt on his skin. "But so what?" And she gave a little shrug.

She pushed him back on the bed, so she was on top of him, legs on either side, and it was so sexy that Charlie couldn't speak for a few heartbeats.

Then reality hit him between the eyes.

"Jane. Jane." He tried to talk, but she was intent on kissing him as if her life depended on it, and he had to grab her by the arms and lift her away before she'd listen.

"What now?" she asked, nimble fingers unbuttoning his shirt even as he held her.

"I don't have any condoms," he said softly. "In my defense, I had absolutely no fucking idea this was going to happen tonight, so--"

She cut him off with another kiss. "We don't need them," she said softly. "I went to the clinic a couple weeks ago and got a shot. I'm covered for the next two months."

He sat up while holding her, so they were in the same position they'd started from, only this time his shirt was unbuttoned, too.

"Jane? This is serious. It isn't just about birth control," he said, brows furrowed.

"What? Are you worried about catching something from me?" she asked with a laugh.

"No, but what about you catching something from me?" he asked.

"You're clean, you told me so," she said. "You're the poster child for condom use, that's what you said. Were you lying?"

He shook his head, somewhat unwillingly, feeling a little confused.

Jane peeled her shirt off again, this time while sitting in his lap, making his heart feel like it was going to beat right out of his chest. Then she leaned forward, putting her hands on his naked chest, and kissed him, fitting those soft lips into his again, her soft, wet, tongue curling into his mouth.

"We're fine, we're good," she assured him.

He slid his hands over her smooth shoulders, sliding them down to land on the soft swells of her barely-there hips. "I love you Jane," he whispered.

"Show me," she whispered back, pushing him over on to the bed once more.