When Glory finally accepted his compliment, Gio offered her a muted but genuine smile. He knew how hard it could be sometimes to take compliments, but Glory deserved this one. She was going to play the main character in the ballet, and that spoke more about her talent than he could ever put into words. The play, though, that had already created a buzz, and Gio was actually part of that one so he had to concede that it may very well be more popular than the ballet. Even so, he was really looking forward to seeing Glory dance. "I think it will," he said.
Gio observed Glory's house in the dark when they arrived. He had seen it before, but that wasn't unusual because the island was so small. There were very few places he hadn't been, and he was sure most of those places were the insides of bars and other such seedy nighttime places. Hardly interesting.
Somehow, Gio's mind wasn't running a mile a minute like Glory's as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do. Gio already knew what was going to happen: they were going to say good night, he would probably smile awkwardly at her, and then she'd go inside and he'd stare at the door for a few seconds before he realized what he was doing and turned to head home. Very simple, and what had happened every other time he'd ever stood outside a crush's house.
However, Gio was startled when Glory suddenly stepped forward – so forward that she was touching him and her arms were around him. It was a such a soft gesture he barely felt it, and by the time his hands came up to rest on Glory's back she was pulling out of it. Gio had no idea how his heart had gone from resting rate to a million miles per hour in a matter of seconds, but it had.
He had been right about a fair few things before: the awkward smile, which he was currently smiling at her as she said she'd see him soon, and Glory going inside. "Happy New Year," he heard himself say back, and after her door closed he fulfilled the last part of his premonition before by staring at her closed door, and then realizing what a creep he must look like. So, he turned to head home.
But he'd been wrong about the sterile good night, and somehow he could still feel the press of Glory's coat against his own.