Dawn's eyes widened. «Nathan!» she screamed and pushed him away. Her push was strong enough to make him lose his balance. As soon as she realized she had overreacted, she apologized and offered him a hand to help him pull himself up. «I am sorry. It's just that you took me by surprise.»

«I just wanted to make you feel better. I thought a hug was appropriate.» Nathan said as he got back to his feet, holding onto Dawn's hand. «Evidently, I was wrong.» he whispered.

«What were you thinking?» Dawn asked, letting go of his hand.

Nathan flinched slightly. «What?» he murmured.

«I asked you, what were you thinking just now.» Dawn reiterated, this time she enunciated every single word.

Nathan felt a sudden sensation of heat spreading across his face. He lowered his gaze, while his cheeks colored red and embarrassment took over him. He instinctively brought his fingers to his lips.

Dawn laughed. «Girls are usually the ones who fantasize about certain things.» she said.

They were interrupted by some banging on the door. «Guys, dinner is almost ready.», it was Ellen's voice, coming from the other side.

«We're coming.» Dawn replied to her best friend, then she turned to Nathan. «We'd better go. We'll talk about your powers later.»

He, however, remained stunned, still with a red face. Dawn had to call him several times before Nathan decided to proceed towards the door and go to the kitchen.

In the corridor, Nathan walked behind the two girls. He stared at Dawn's back, wondering what expression was marking her face, since he couldn't see her. But – judging by the perfectly functioning lights, and the stable earth beneath his feet – Nathan guessed she wasn't at all fazed by what he had shown her. He had only imagined it but it was still a kiss. Dreams, after all, are a reflection of what people want anyway, so it was clear he had started to have feelings for her. Perhaps, however, it wasn't the same for her. After all, she had pushed him away until he fell to the floor, that was a pretty clear answer. That thought left no room in his mind to consider the fact that his abilities had finally manifested.

At the table, Nathan had to try so hard to keep his eyes fixed on his plate and not look at her. He felt uncomfortable for having exposed himself so openly and was afraid, because he had probably been rejected and he had no idea how he should behave from then on. 

Unfortunately for Nathan, he and Dawn had been the last to cross the kitchen threshold, so he had to stay and clean up with her. It had happened before but, for clear reasons, Nathan felt tremendously uncomfortable this time.

While he did his best not to think about it, Dawn decided to bring up the topic. «You will have to train with Tess.» she began and Nathan clearly remembered the imaginary kiss. «Now that they have manifested, you must learn to control them, or you will not be able to use them for serious things, like our missions.» she continued. That insinuation from her gave Nathan confirmation that, for her, that kiss hadn't mattered. He tightened his grip on the glass he was rinsing out, simply nodding to end the conversation. At that moment he just wanted to erase what had happened and make everything right. After all, he hadn't done anything and – if she didn't reciprocate – Nathan still had time to suppress whatever that feeling was, that had taken control of his mind, of his imagination.

Nathan handed Dawn the last dish left in the sink and then took his leave to head to his room.

PAll night he couldn't sleep a wink. He feared that once he fell asleep, he would still think about Dawn, want to caress her face, look into her green eyes, and end up dreaming of her lips again.

When he heard Oswald's alarm clock, Nathan realized that the sun had risen. He didn't get up, he pretended to be asleep, in a pathetic attempt to stall. He would much rather arrive last and clear the table than meet Dawn.

Oswald called him to hurry, but Nathan told him not to worry about him. «You go. I'll join you later.»

«Whatever, I warned you.», Oswald shrugged and then left the room towards the kitchen.

Nathan waited a few minutes before getting up and starting to get ready. He moved extremely calmly. He hoped at least at breakfast he could eat in peace, without running into her. He didn't want to repeat what happened at dinner, and admire the food the whole time. 

Unfortunately for him, when he arrived, it wasn't just the plates and cups waiting for him. From the corridor he could already hear noises that announced the presence of someone. And, having crossed the threshold, he saw Dawn intent on climbing up the sink shelf to reach the cupboard above. She was putting away the dishes she already had washed, as Nathan didn't seem to have any intention of arriving.

«What are you doing?!», Nathan reached her before he could order his feet to stop. He grabbed her hips to pull her down, before she could hurt herself. As soon as his hands rested on her, Nathan couldn't keep his mind at bay. He had imagined sitting her on the counter and kissing her passionately.

«Nathan… », Dawn called his name and he slowly set her down, until her feet touched the floor. He also released her hips from his grip, but Dawn didn't move, she remained with her back turned. She felt Nathan's breath on her neck. The lights began to flash. «If you keep doing this… I will end up misunderstanding.»

Nathan's eyes widened. His heart was on the verge of exploding and he almost stopped breathing. «You are allowed to misunderstand.» he whispered shyly to her.

Dawn gave a slight gasp then she turned and their eyes met. Nathan instinctively took a step back. He was afraid of being so close to her. He didn't want to show her what he was thinking. He hated his powers speaking for him without giving him the slightest bit of privacy.

Dawn noticed his hesitation, so she decided to gather all her courage. She stood on her toes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. She smiled at Nathan. «This time it's real.» she said. «But I assume you're perfectly capable of distinguishing reality from imagination.»

Nathan wanted to kiss her again, but he feared he wouldn't be able to control his powers.

Dawn headed for the door. «When you finish with breakfast, make your way to the Council room. You'll stay with us until lunch, then Tess will help you practice.» she told him, walking backwards, to continue looking into his eyes. He just nodded, still slightly confused – but happy – about what had happened. Dawn smiled at him one last time and then left the kitchen.

Nathan touched his lips with his fingertips. He finally felt like he could really breathe. He was so relieved she had feelings for him too, he couldn't help but smile.

However, when he found himself in the room with her again, he once again felt embarrassed, especially because they were not alone. It was a good thing his powers weren't that developed, otherwhise, even remotely, he would have shown her what he really wanted.

As soon as he crossed the threshold of the room, the members of the Council began to congratulate him. He had to step back several times to avoid them touching him. If everyone had known about his uncontrollable desire to get close to Dawn, to kiss her, an uproar would have started and his embarrassment would have taken hold of him.

From Nathan's look, Dawn realized how uncomfortable he must feel at the center of all that attention. So, she thought it was time to intervene to help him. «Guys, let him breathe.» she said, coming between Nathan and the others. «Don't attack him, he's still metabolizing what happened.»

They all took a step back except Jeyson. «Make sure you train for real this time.» he said, then went back to sit in front of the screen to pick up the game where she left off. «It was more like a date when we met you last time.»

Nathan instinctively looked at Dawn. Her back was turned, a few steps away from him, so he couldn't examine her expression. Then he took a look around him and, in the room, nothing strange seemed to happen. The lights were fine and, outside the window, there was not a breath of wind, nor signs of an approaching storm. In any case, however, he felt obliged to answer, to avoid trivial misunderstandings. «We were just taking a break. And then it's not like I really had a chance to practice, since my skills hadn't manifested themselves yet.»

«Well, now you'll have to get busy.» Jeb said. «If you want to get to our level and be useful.»

«He just needs to get used to them again.» Chelsea interjected, remembering that Nathan had actually used his powers before. «I don't think it will take him long to control them again.»

«Tess will definitely help him. So he can actively participate in the rescues.» Ellen sat down next to Jeyson on the floor. «Let's not torment him. Get back in line and be ready in case we are needed.»

Meg and Sam sat down, together with Chelsea, on the carpet on the floor near the sofa, and resumed reading their comics. When they finished a volume they exchanged it and continued reading.

Dawn sat down to read too, but on the couch. Nathan sat down not too close to her, he was still afraid to touch her. He pretended to play with his cell phone while, actually, he kept looking for her out of the corner of his eye. Dawn, at his umpteenth glance, looked up from the book and stared at him back. Nathan jumped slightly but, when she smiled at him – before going back to reading again – he felt calm and relieved.