Dislclaimer: Still not mine

O.o

Hearing the buzzing of New York traffic, Craig woke up.

"Ugh," he moaned, shivering a bit. Shifting his body weight a bit, Craig sat up.

Upon coming home from his day (or date, he wasn't quite sure which one yet) with Ellie Nash (which he was still amazed about) he and Marco had spent the evening watching reruns of Boy Meets World and eating take out Chinese. It had been fun. And they had stayed up way too late. And now he had a headache. Pushing himself off of the couch, Craig Manning yawned and stretched, pushing his arms and hands above him.

"Whoa, buddy," whistled Marco as he observed Craig's well toned stomach.

Turning around to face his friend, Craig blushed slightly and threw his pillow at Marco.

"Whatever, man. Like Ellie hasn't told me that you do yoga," he scoffed.

Marco smiled and nodded.

"Had a good sleep?" he asked.

Craig nodded and yawned again, bringing his hand to his mouth. "Yep. That couch is surprisingly comfy."

"What did I tell ya, man, what did I tell ya?"

"So, up for playing tour guide?" Craig asked hopefully as he walked to the kitchen and grabbed some orange juice out of the fridge.

Marco contemplated the situation a bit and then replied, "Actually, I've got...I've got a job interview today." Craig frowned at him from the kitchen as he poured a glass of juice. "Sorry, man. But hey, what about Ellie? She's free today," he concluded, even though he knew fully well that thier red headed former band mate was not free on this particular day.

"Think she'd be okay with that?"

"Probably," Marco shrugged.

"Huh, okay. Sounds like a plan then."

In mock panic, Marco glanced at his watch, said, "But hey, I've gotta jet so, I'll see you later. Have fun today."

"Wait, man! How do I get to Ellie's?"

"At my front door, walk right, past the Starbucks, and her apartment is across straight the street on the corner, number 12," informed Marco and then walked out the door with a final, "Ciao!"

Craig shook his head and laughed. Despite the passing of five years, Marco was still pretty much the same. Then, glancing at the clock on the microwave, he realized he should probably get dressed out of his plain white t-shirt and boxers if he was going city touring with Ellie.

Twenty minutes later, Craig Manning emerged from the bathroom clean and dressed, ready for his day with Ellie. He followed Marco's instuctions and on the way stopped by Starbucks and got two tall double mocha lattes with skim milk. He walked into her building and found the door with a fading 12 on it. Taking a deep breath and feeling slightly nervous, Craig knocked on the door and waited.

o.o

Ellie heard an unexpected knock on her front door right as she was about to put on her other nylon sock on. She was running a bit late and was also in the middle of sticking a bobby pin in her red hair.

"Kenny, for the billionth time, no, I will not go..." Ellie trailed off as she opened her door and realized that it wasn't her perverted neightbor standing there, it was Craig with two Starbucks coffees in hand and a confused look on his face.

"Who the hell is Kenny?" he inquired.

Ellie could feel her face starting to burn not only because she had assumed that Kenny was at her door, but also because she probably looked ridiculous sporting one and a half of her nylon socks.

"Uh, no one," she muttered.

"No one, eh? Doesn't sound like no one to me if you're telling him no to something for the millionth time."

"Billionth, actually," retorted Ellie.

"Ha, see?"

"Whatever," she snorted, shooting him a look. Then realizing that it was completely out of the ordinary that he had showed up at her apartment she asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, I thought you could use someone to make a coffee run for you this time," Craig answered, motioning to the coffees in his hand.

Ellie couldn't help but smile. He looked so adorable with that blue shirt on that accented his eyes.

"So the whole reason you came over was to bring me some coffee?" she questioned as she took the cup from him and smiled on the inside again as she realized it was her favorite.

"Well, that and hoping that my former band mate and group buddy wouldn't mind showing me around the city? Marco said you were free today." He made the most pleading face he could and even though Ellie knew very well that she wasn't free that day, she agreed, making a mental note to scold Marco for this set up.

"Sure, Craig. I can play city guide. Let me just make a few calls." She pulled out her cell phone and walked to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Inside, Ellie began pacing. She was about to meet her editor to talk about new book ideas. And she couldn't just cancel. Not only would it be rude, but very unprofessional as well.

'Screw it,' she thought as she flipped open her cell and dialed her editor's number.

"Hey, Lynne, it's uh, it's Ellie."

"Yes, I can see that. And I can also see that you're late. Where the hell are you?"

"Actually, I'm not going to be able to make it," she gulped.

"Why the hell not?" Gee Lynne sure was a fan of that word.

"Because, I've uh, well see, my friend is in town tonight and I kind of--"

"Say no more, Ellie."

"Wait, what?" Now she was confused.

"You'e a workaholic so I'm happy to reschedule."

Great, now her editor was on her back too? But nevertheless she was off the hook.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah! Take the time off! And have fun with your friend."

Before Ellie could even begin to even wonder what she meant by that tone, Lynne hung up.

'And so now my editor is somehow bizarrely setting me up?' The day was definitely getting strange. She fumbled around with her cell phone some more and remembered Seth's message from yesterday. 'Why the hell does he want me back? He's the one that..." Ellie shook her head. No, she wasn't about to go there. Besides, Craig was waiting.

She stripped off her suit that she had put on to meet Lynne and traded that for the amazing jeans that she and Marco had bought the other day and a graphic t-shirt that flattered her body well.

When she was done changing, Ellie regained her composure and walked back into her living room where she found Craig sitting on her couch. Upon seeing her, he got up and met her halfway.

"All set?" he asked, smiling that smile at her again. Suddenly Ellie felt her knees go a bit weak.

'Damn,' she thought to herself and then sent a mental note to her legs to stop doing that.

"Uh, yeah. All set," she responded a bit uneasily.

"Wait, did I do that thing where I showed up randomly and interrupted whatever you were doing today? God, Marco...I am going to kill him! Look, I'll just go and we can reschedule, okay?" Craig turned to leave and instead of letting him go like she should have, Ellie heard herself saying,

"No, Craig. Stay. I have no problem playing tour guide today."

He turned back to her.

"Are you sure?"

Ellie nodded. "Totally. C'mon, Manning, let's just see if you can keep up!"

And with that, she opened the door and the two of them ventured out into the crazy city of New York.

o.O

A/N: Review, please!