14. That Is The Question (1/2)

14 – that is the question

ben was first up the next

morning. felicity woke to the shower running and the low noise of a radio in

the bathroom. she hurried into a clean pair of jeans, realizing it was her last

one. she dug into her suitcase for a shirt, and at the bottom she noticed a flashy

red satin top with spaghetti straps. i

forgot i had that. she had bought it at elena's insistence that spring in a

boutique in new york. elena swore

up and down that felicity would look incredible in it, but felicity had never

had the nerve to wear it in spite of her friend's assurance. she sighed. it

really was a shame for a top that expensive to go to waste. she had tried to

give it to elena, who wouldn't hear of it. girl,

you do yourself a favor and wear that top, do you hear me? she heard her friend insist. felicity worried her lower lip

between her teeth. do i have the nerve to

wear it now? in front of ben? after

what we talked about last night?

even after a year of college

freedom, part of her still felt like that shy wallflower from palo

alto high school,

too awkward and too

ainy to be noticed. she picked up the top and pursed her

lips in determination. making up her mind, she shrugged out of her nightshirt

and put the top on.

by the time he came out, rubbing

a towel in his dripping hair, she had packed her bags and was getting her shoes

on. "good mo—wow."

felicity blushed. "good morning."

lowering the towel, he came

toward her. he couldn't seem to decide what to do after that, freezing where he

stood. "you look great."

"thanks." she beamed at him.

wearing jeans and a green button-down shirt, he didn't look so bad, himself, either,

she thought.

ben cleared his throat and

dropped his towel on a chair. "what do you want to do to today?"

standing up, she wrinkled her

nose at her suitcase. "i think, at some point, we're going to have to do

laundry."

"laundry could be fun," he chuckled.

she slanted a sardonic look at

him. "laundry is never fun."

"you've never done laundry with

me."

laughing, she picked up her

suitcases and started lugging them toward the door. ben reached out and took

one from her, shouldering his duffel bag with the other hand. "i was looking

through some of those flyers on the dresser this morning. there was a coupon

for this restaurant down the road. sound okay with you?"

"it sounds amazing. you have no

idea how hungry i am this morning. i never realized traveling made you so

hungry."

the restaurant wasn't very busy

that morning. while they waited for their

eakfast, ben unfolded the road map

onto the table. "i figure we'll get through ne

aska

and into wyoming today, before we

have to stop for the night. we'll have a couple of days at yellowstone.

he said he didn't want us to rush, but i think if we push it, we can spend more

time at the park seeing bears and stuff," he grinned.

she mirrored the look. "i can't

wait. my parents said they stayed there for a whole week, and they still didn't

see everything they wanted to see. can you imagine what it must be like to get that close to a wild animal?"

"i just hope they don't get too

interested in the baby. how would we explain the claw marks?" ben laughed.

felicity gaped. "oh, my god. don't even say that. are you sure we should

drive through there?"

"i don't think walking is a good idea," he said,

raising an eye

ow at her. he angled his head. "anyway, how many chances are we

going to get to see this?"

they fell into silence, during

which she felt his eyes on her so intensely that she ducked her head in embarrassment.

the welcome distraction of their

eakfast arrived, platters of food piled so

high that even felicity knew she had no hope of finishing it. ben seemed to

have no such predicament. she watched him eat with amusement. by the time she'd

finished her pancakes, he was almost done with his entire portion.

he noticed her looking and paused

with his fork halfway to his mouth. "what?"

"i thought i was starving. are you sure you don't want some of mine?" she

chuckled, indicating the unfinished home fries on her plate.

"can't i be hungry?" he started