Who wants a romance o/o? (OPEN)

Laura rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, I-I thought it was cute. We got her when she was just a kitten."

"Cats are good friends! Especially when they grow up with you!" He grinned at her.

She nodded shyly. "Yeah…"

He reached around blindly for her hand. "Jesus used to sleep right on my pillow next to my head, every night. We were bros."

She reached towards him and brushed their fingers together. "Oh."

Nicky took her hand, weaving their fingers together happily. "Yeah. I miss him from time to time."

She smiled shyly. "Y-You can meet Smokey if you come to my house…"

He looked over at her, eyes wide with excitement. "Really?"

"Y-Yeah," she said softly.

"I would love to!"

She smiled, breathing in relief. "Oh, okay."

"Smokey and I are going to be best friends!" He said surely.

She smiled shyly. "I'm sure."

"Great, now I want to get another cat." He laughed.

She blushed. "Uh, s-sorry…?"

"Why are you apologizing?"

She blushed harder. "I-I don't know…"

"Laura, there's no reason for you to apologize." He drew out the syllables in her name, and squeezed her hand. "I just like animals."

She gasped slightly when he squeezed her hand, and when he said her name, chills ran down her spine. "O-Okay," she whispered.

He tapped his foot as a song came on. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

She swallowed and thought. "Paris." Dammit, Laura, you're so cliché!

"Paris sounds fun. I'd like to see the Eiffel tower at night, all lit up. My any place in the world would be Rio though."

"Why?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Music, sun, dancing. Plus, I really liked the movie Rio when I was a kid."

"I'd also like to go to London. And Berlin," she remarked absently.

"Go everywhere in the world." He used his free hand to gesture widely, in a swooping motion.

She smiled happily. "Yeah…"

"Maybe we could be travel buddies!"

She blushed a little at the suggestion. "Yeah, that would be fun."

"Y'know, one spring break I went with a friend to Uruguay, and I got a hat!" Without letting go of her hand, Nicky sat forward and dug around under the bed, pulling out a black baseball cap and putting it on Laura.