Didn't you hear me? Shoot me! I deserve it. I had just been about to get smooched by the guy of my dreams, it was the perfect moment, the stars were twinkling, the birds were singing – all right, it was an owl and a few ducks in a nearby pond, but they still were birds, and okay, they weren't really singing, but so what? – all in all the ideal moment for some serious snogging. And what do I ask?

“Why do you wear a toilet seat under your shirt?”

Argh! Shoot me, already!

He blinked.

“W-what did you say?”

For a moment, I considered denying it. Perhaps he would think he'd misheard. But the cold, hard thing was really feeling very uncomfortable and was getting in my way. I had things in mind which I'd like to do with my hands later on, so it would be just as well to get any obstacles out of the way immediately.

“When I ran into you the other day you had a toilet seat stuck under your shirt,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. “And now you're wearing it again. I would like to know why.”

“I assure you Angela, I do not wear a, err... toilet seat.”

“Really?” Before he could flinch away, I made a fist and tapped against his chest. I was rewarded with a hollow 'tap, tap' noise. “Sounds like a toilet seat to me.”

He had that expression on his face again, that half-bemused, half annoyed expression that told me he didn't quite know what to make of me or how to answer me.

“I am not in the habit of carrying pieces of bathroom equipment under my clothing. This is not a toilet seat. It is... something else.”

“What?” I demanded instantly.

“Has anybody ever told you that you're very nosy?”

“Yes. You have. But I've told myself the same on numerous occasions, so don't worry, I wasn't offended.”

“I didn't think you were.”

“But I don't think it's curiosity in this case,” I murmured and pressed myself closer against him. Yes, that cold thing was really extremely annoying. “It's more a necessity. I have a right to know what's getting in my way, don't I?”

My hand slid off his chest and traced along the side of his torso, in the hope of finding an unprotected spot. Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Finally, I moved my hand up the side of his arm and began tickling him just above the collar. My heart jumped as I could hear his breathing turn ragged.

“Angela... perhaps we should take a walk together.”

“Why? Don't you like it here?”

I stretched out my arms and laced them behind his neck. Kiss scene, take two. And this time, everything was going to be perfect!

I pulled softly, until his face was just in front of mine and only the tips of my toes were still touching the ground. He was so close...

“Angela, I...”

“Psst.” I placed a finger over his lips to keep him from talking. His lips would soon have better things to do. I don't know why exactly I said the words that next came out of my mouth. Perhaps because there was that tortured look in his eyes again, the one that I had seen every time he had come close to me, the one that hurt me so deeply. “It's all right,” I murmured. “Everything is all right.”

Very, very carefully, my lips brushed against his. It was unlike the first time. It was deliberate and slow. It was the softest of caresses. His lips were warm and tender as I could feel one giving itself over to me while the other gently stroked my upper lip. I breathed him in, luxuriating in the feeling of sharing his breath, and then, equally carefully, I touched his lower lip with my tongue.

It was a mistake. The moment he he felt me probing him, he drew back.

“Angela!”

“What's the matter?” I tried to reach his lips again, but without him bending down, they simply were too high above me. Never in my life had I wished more to be tall than in this moment. Desperately, I tried to read his face. What was it? Had I done something wrong? But I couldn't make out his expression. All I could see was that his face had turned a strange, darker color. Was he choking on something? Before concern could flare up in me, another possibility occurred to me. Was he... blushing?

A grin spread across my face.

“What? Not used to tongue-wrestling?”

Yes, his skin was definitely changing color. Not Blushing so much as darkening, but close enough.

“Not really”, he said.

Neither was I, of course, but I wasn't going to let on to that. He had to be lying anyway. There was simply no way that a guy as hot as he was hadn't had a girl try and stick her tongue in his mouth at some point during his lifetime. Dozens, probably. Maybe hundreds?! I tried to think of something else before panic could well up in me. And that wasn't all that hard. His voice was so compelling, so convincing when he'd said he'd never really kissed anyone before. I wanted so badly to believe him. And his mouth, still just inches away from mine, was a pretty big distraction, too.

“Why not give it a try?” I wanted to know, futilely attempting to pull myself up to his face.

“Why don't we go for a walk instead?” He repeated his earlier suggestion.

“Fine...”

Pouting, I dropped to my feet again.

He took my hand and instantly, my pout vanished. I didn't protest or balk as he led me down towards the lake. I was under his spell. And if he wanted to walk, then that was fine. As long as he held my hand like that... as long as his thumb rubbed slow circles on my palm, caressing my sensitive skin in a way that sent shivers through my back. Who would have thought that holding hands, just holding hands, could be that electrifying?

“There are still so many things I don't know about you”, Giacomo said in a quiet voice.

“That makes two of us,” I answered, leaning my head against his arm. For a second, I could feel his muscles tense, then he relaxed again.

“You still go to school?”

“Yes. But you already knew that, didn't you?”

“I didn't, really. I mean, I guessed. You're so young...”

Something in his voice made me tighten my grip on his hand.

“Not that young,” I protested. Not too young for you.

I felt rather than saw him smile down at me.

“Where do you go to school?”

“St. Peter and St. Paul's.”

He didn't say anything to that. When I looked up, I saw him frowning. “What's the matter? Do you have anything against St. Peter?”

“St. Paul, rather,” he muttered. “But that's not what's bothering me. Isn't St. Peter and St. Paul's a church?”

“Yes, but it's also a school, can you imagine? It's so far away from home, it takes me more than an hour every day to get there. But my parents won't hear of me going anywhere else as long as there's a staunchly catholic school within a hundred miles. It's really stupid. Religion class isn't more religious there than anywhere else, and it really gets on your nerves when you try to concentrate and there's a service going on right under your feet. Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often, though.”

“Why? If there's a church, shouldn't there be a service regularly?”

I snickered. “I didn't mean the service. I meant me trying to concentrate.”

He stared down at me reprovingly. “You should really try to learn. How else are you going to find a job one day?”

“Says Mr. Great Career.”

The words were out before I could stop myself. I heard his teeth clench together. “I didn't exactly have a choice”, he snapped. “I...”

I waited, but he didn't go on. Instead, he let go of my hand, turned away from me and stared off into the night.

Pain shot through my heart. How could I have said something so stupid! I tried to take his hand again, but it was clenched into a fist. So I walked around him and reached up to his face.

“I'm so, so sorry,” I whispered. “I should never have said that.”

“You're right.” His voice was hoarse. “Who am I, after all? A nobody. A penniless, homeless nobody.”

Carefully, I stroked his stubbly cheek. “Not to me you aren't.”

“I shouldn't even be here. What was I thinking?”

Fear gripped me. “Don't say things like that! Why on earth shouldn't you be here?”

He turned away from me again.

“My life is a broken ruin at 18, Angela. I... I don't want to drag anybody down with me – least of all you.”

“You don't need to drag anybody down with you! Nothing is so completely ruined that it can't be repaired. Why don't you try to get back into school? I'm sure father Elliot would...”

“No!” It was almost a shout, or perhaps rather a desperate cry. “I can't Angela, okay? I can't go to school, I can't go to work, I can't ever... I can't ever offer you any of that. I just can't.”

He seemed to struggle with words that were slowly overpowering him. Again, I felt his pain and wished I knew where it came from.

Again, I went around him, this time to take his face with both my hands. “You don't need to offer me anything,” I said, “apart from yourself.”

There was no response.

“Giacomo?”

Still nothing. The silence was driving me nuts.

“Hey, Giacomo! Didn't you want to walk with me? How are you going to do that if you just stand there? Some duck is gonna come along and nest in your hair, you know.”

That got a faint smile out of him. It was obviously forced, but at least it was there.

I took his hand again.

“Sorry if I'm bothering you,” I said. “I'm nosy. I can't help it.”

He lifted our entwined hands and brushed along the side of my face. Sighing, I leaned into his touch.

“I wouldn't want you to,” He said. “You are you. And I wouldn't want you to change.”

“Okay.” I took a deep. “Because there's one question you have to answer.”

Instantly, his expression turned guarded.

“Angela, I...”

“No. I won't discuss this point. This one question you'll have to answer. If you don't... then I will have no choice but to leave.”

There was a moment of silence.

“All right,” he said, finally. “What is it?”

I looked him straight in the eye and asked: “When is your birthday?”