[Context: Thomas and Lexi work at the same call center. They go over to a coworker's house for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it's snowing heavily outside, and it looks like Lexi won't be able to drive home in the blizzard. Thomas only lives a few houses away, so he suggests that they crash at his place. Lexi accepts.] 

She’s so funny, intelligent, kind, and beautiful…
If only he can muster the courage to make the first move.

Thomas usually sleeps well on Thanksgiving night--after all, it is proven that turkey can cause drowsiness. This Thanksgiving is unusual, though, because of Lexi. She’s the only person who can make him laugh uncontrollably, and she’s the entire reason that he hasn’t handed in his two weeks’ notice at work. She’s also the reason he can’t sleep tonight.

Once again, Thomas glances at the digital clock on his dresser and sighs in frustration. It’s 2:37 a.m. Finally losing his patience, Thomas flings aside his duvet and rolls out of bed, running a hand over his tired face. He walks over to his bedroom door, opens it as quietly as possible, and pauses when he notices the light coming from the kitchen. His heart immediately starts beating faster--Lexi must be awake. Taking a deep breath, Thomas walks down the hallway and ventures into the kitchen. Lexi’s sitting at the kitchen island, her hands curled around Thomas’s favorite mug, staring off into space. She snaps out of her reverie as Thomas shuffles closer to her.

“Oh, hey. I hope you don’t mind--I made some tea.” Lexi blushes.

Thomas sits next to Lexi and waves his hand. “It’s okay. My house is your house.” He bites his lip, overloaded with the desire to touch Lexi’s cheeks and feel the heat of the blush.

"I made a little too much, if you want to have some." Lexi gestures to the kettle on the stove. Thomas gets up, grabs a different mug from a cupboard, and pours himself a cup in silence. He can tell that the silence isn’t the comfortable type, but he can’t for the life of him think of anything interesting to say.

After setting the empty kettle on the counter beside the sink, Thomas turns to face Lexi. Not knowing what else to do, he smiles without showing his teeth and leans his back against the counter. Lexi returns the same kind of smile. Awkward. Thomas mentally runs through possible conversation starters, but all of them except one seem socially inept.

“So, what’s keeping you up tonight?” Thomas settles on asking.

Lexi takes a deep breath and releases it slowly, seeming to deflate. She stares into the murky depths of her mug. She knows that she can probably trust Thomas enough to talk about what’s bothering her, but it isn’t going to be easy. “You know how I mentioned once that I used to be bullied in high school?”

“Yeah,” Thomas says, recalling the moment she mentioned it. His hands had clenched into fists then, and they now tighten around his mug. If only he could meet some of those bullies and teach them some manners…

“Well, there’s this one woman at work named Nicole. I don’t know if you’ve met her--she works in the Human Resources department. She’s our HR worker. She’s short, and she has red hair.”

Thomas frowns. “I think I’ve seen her around.” He sets his mug on the counter, knowing that the tea is probably lukewarm by now.

Lexi takes another deep breath. “Yeah, um,” she says, her voice shaking. She clears her throat in an attempt to clear the lump that’s there. “She’s been bothering me. I don’t know why, but she hates my guts, and she’s been trying to get me fired.” Lexi’s mouth quivers slightly, and she covers it with her hand.

“Ah, crap.” Thomas steps forward and rests his forearms on the counter in front of Lexi, keeping the kitchen island between them. He stares into her eyes, which are staring at the surface of the counter. She blinks against the tears forming in her emerald eyes. Despite, or perhaps because of her blinking, a tear slips out of her left eye and falls halfway down her cheek. She quickly wipes it away. Thomas surprises himself by catching her hands and setting them down on the counter--a smooth move he didn’t think he was capable of.

“I’m sorry,” Lexi whispers, inhaling sharply. Two tears stream down her cheek. Without thinking, Thomas cups her face in his hands and wipes at the tears with his thumbs.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide here.” Thomas stares earnestly into Lexi’s eyes until she returns the gaze. She nods, and her chin shakes.

“Okay,” she mouths, not quite able to speak as her eyes overflow even more. Thomas brushes the tears away, alternating between using his thumbs and the back of his fingers. Lexi allows him to wipe her tears as she shares what happened in high school and what’s happening with Nicole. After a while of talking, Lexi’s tear ducts run dry. Soon afterward, she stops speaking altogether, having said everything she could think of saying. Not entirely conscious of what he’s doing, Thomas slowly leans forward until his nose brushes Lexi’s. At the exact same moment, they tilt their heads and kiss tenderly.

They get lost in the moment. Eventually, Thomas temporarily breaks the embrace, takes Lexi’s hand, and leads her into his bedroom.

As for the rest of this story… well, what goes on in the bedroom stays in the bedroom.