But instead and for my surprise he didn’t say a word about how I screwed up his perfect life. “Babygirl, I’m really sorry for all this I put you through, I didn’t mean to bring you troubles” I didn’t let him finish his sentence, “Nick, you’re not bringing me problems, I’m just scared with all this, I never thought of being on tv, newspapers for something I didn’t even do!” I tried to assure him but the smirk on his face showed me I had said something I’d regret. “So….you’d do it?” he asked me with such wondering eyes that let me at a loss for words.

            “Nick, don’t bring it up to me, ok?!” I squealed. He laughed and hold me “Sorry, babygirl, I was just kidding” he said and then continued “By now, probably the media knows where you live, if they really followed us to school” he paused for a moment, “You will have to be very careful, I mean, we will” he finally said scratching his head. I cocked my head “What do you mean? That I can’t leave the house and live my life?? No way!!”.

            “Of course you can live your life. What I meant is that we will have to be careful otherwise we will give them more what to talk about…or we can show up together and give them exactly something to talk about.” This last sentence sounded like an invitation but he was probably just trying to piss me off.

            “Nickolas Gene Carter, this is serious! Can you stop joking?” he looked at me in shock with the tone in my voice. “But… I was serious” God, I couldn’t believe him, I was there all frightened and he was laughing at me. “Listen, I know it’s not easy for you. It’s not easy for me either, but I think that...if they are already talking about us, we could give them what to talk about” Oookay, did he just say what I understood? Is he proposing to be an us? “What do you mean, Nickolas?” I had to ask. He thought for a moment and said, “I’m talking about this…”and leaned close to me. I didn’t expect that. I felt like fainting and all I could feel was his lips touching mine so softly and tenderly. At first I didn’t know what to do but slowly I started kissing him in return.

            Then suddenly I broke apart from him in shock. Did he really want to risk his name being with me? Who was I? An ordinary Brazilian girl almost lost in the USA. Well, maybe that’s what he needed to feel more ordinary. He thanked me for giving him this feeling after all. But was it right? Was I enough for him?

            There I was again acting like he was a god. Me, who first treated him just normal, now I am going crazy on my own thoughts, forgetting he is not just a person who is in the media everyday. Though I couldn’t help myself asking. “Nick, kissing me will not solve the rumors media is putting out!” He frowned with that silly face I love so much and joked, “You didn’t like my kiss? Nobody ever complained”, and then pretended to be crying like a dog.

            I slapped his arm in a playful way and smiled, “It’s not the best I’ve had, but I can deal with it” I shrugged. “But, seriously, Nick. You want to show up with me like a real couple?” He answered that was the only way to stop the rumors. Denying would only keep them hooked to this story and they would follow us even more just to check it out. That seemed like a bucket of cold water on my feelings. I guess he just wanted to play with the media and I was part of it, my feelings too. He must have realized that the light in my eyes was gone and reassured me. “I don’t wanna use you, babygirl” He finally called me babygirl again. “I really fell for you and if they are gonna talk about it, at least I prefer it to be true”

            The silence between us grew longer. What was I supposed to to do?

Should I accept it or refuse? “Nick… I really don’t know what to say.” He looked deeply at me in a mix of tenderness and confusion. “Babygirl , I don’t want to press you to do anything. And I’m not doing this because of the media. I do want to be with you”, he finally said. I was so surprised that I held him and kissed him.