Intimidated?

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee frowned. "Wasn't it July?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Oops.
Madeleine frowned, scanning her mind back and counting back the dates. "Er... well the formal was the 21st of... oh. Yep, you're right, sorry," she said, colouring slightly. "That would have been the 20th, then. Oops."
Argh, she was so stupid. How could she have forgotten that date, of all of them?!

[Kira & Lee Norris]

It was like Madeleine's parents weren't even there.
Lee leant forward eagerly. "Speaking on dates, you know it's my birthday on Monday, right? Remember, remember the 5th of November? Gunpowder, treason and plot? That's my birthday all over."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Oooh, definitely you all over," Madeleine teased, leaning forward, forgetting where she was. "No, I haven't forgotten; I've already gotten you your present."
Okay, not technically true - she'd ordered it from the internet, it just hadn't arrived yet.
They were so close now, an inch more and they'd be almost touching.
Her father cleared his throat.
She leant back, rolling her eyes slightly at Lee.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee grinned sheepishly at Madeleine's father, and the look was not returned. Recoiling slightly, he leant backwards too, and turned to the far friendlier face- Madeleine's mother.
"So, I don't know that much about Madeleine's childhood," he smiled warmly. "Any embarrassing stories to tell me?"
If she was anything like his mother, she would thrive on this.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine's mother opened her mouth with a tinkling laugh. "Oh, I could tell you a few-"
Madeleine kicked Lee gently under the table and interrupted her mum. "Embarrassing stories? Me? Of course not."
Seriously, better not to go there. That story about the magpie and the river was totally something that he didn't need to-
Her mum chuckled. "You sure? There's that really good one about the bird-"
"Seriously, it's fine!" Madeleine said, in a falsely bright tone, but shaking her head. "It's fine, he doesn't want to know that."
Her dad laughed properly for the first time since Lee had come into the café. "Sure about that, Madeleine/"
"Totally sure," she said breezily. "Let's change the topic. Please."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"I'll exchange you one embarrassing story of my own for the bird one," Lee said eagerly, grinning at Madeleine's face.
This could be very interesting...

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Oooh, tempting, but let's not," replied Madeleine, aware that she was blushing... again. What was it about having these people in close proximity that made her colour up like this?
He opened his mouth again, but she shook her head. "Really, please don't. Besides, I can get all your stories from Kira anyway..."
Her face fell a little at that as she remembered Kira's expression from that day in the hospital wing. She and Kira hadn't been on the best terms for a while now, but she'd foolishly hoped that maybe Kira would warm to her. She knew that Lee didn't like it, and that upset her more than any cold stare that Kira could give her.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee pressed his lips together at the mention of Kira, but quickly rearranged his face into a smile. And it was easy enough to smile. There was something particularly gorgeous about that warm, pink flush to Madeleine's skin...
Crud. Her mum's a telepath.
He hoped she hadn't heard that one.
"Fine, I'll leave it," Lee promised her. "I swear."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine smiled sideways at Lee gratefully, wondering why he looked slightly sheepish for a second.
She'd ask later.
Her mum glanced at her watch and sighed. "I'm sorry sweetie, but we're going to have to go now. We met one of our old school friends the other day, and we promised that we'd meet up... we'll see you tomorrow though, okay?"
"Sure," she replied, slightly crestfallen and relieved at the same time. "What-?"
"Lee," her dad said gruffly. "Can I speak to you for a moment? Over here?"
"Oh no you don't," Madeleine cried, turning to him. "Anything you have to say, you'll say it in front of me. You promised that you wouldn't be..."
He sighed, but smiled gently at her. "Fine."
Madeleine glanced at Lee in an I'm-so-sorry way, before her dad started speaking.
"Lee," he said seriously and sternly, looking straight at him. "I hope I don't need to tell you that you had better take care of her, okay? She's my little girl, and I won't have her getting hurt..."
Little girl?
Madeleine moaned, sliding down in her seat again. "Dad..."
He ignored her. "Especially after what's happened in the past year...If you hurt her in any way... well, let's just say that you'll regret it. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Understood?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

It's funny how you react under stress.
"Good thing you weren't here a few weeks ago," laughed Lee.
Then stopped suddenly.
Oh... fluff.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Good thing you weren't here a few weeks ago."
Oh, no. Uh oh.
Well, that was a total understatement.
Madeleine shook her head warningly at Lee to stop him from saying anything else, while her dad glanced at her. "Something you didn't tell us about?"
She didn't even want to think about what the strain in his voice meant.
"It's all water under the bridge, Dad," she said honestly. "Really. And it was my fault more than Lee's. So... don't, okay? It's all over with."
He opened his mouth, but Madeleine interrupted, keeping her words nice and her tone soft. She knew that he was only trying to protect her. She'd heard some of the conversations her parents had had, and she knew that they'd been fighting the idea to wrap her in bubblewrap for a while now. And she was glad they didn't.
But sometimes the overprotectiveness was just ridiculous.
"Look," she said softly, looking at her dad earnestly. "I don't think you really need to worry about. After all, he was the one who came looking for me when I was missing on the field. He brought me back to the Carers - he saved my life. And the whole time I was comatose, Lee was there, holding my hand. And -" her dad would appreciate this one- "last night he punched a guy for insulting me. So seriously, don't worry."
Taking a breath, she watched her dad's reaction carefully. Several expressions flickered across his face before he spoke - but to Lee, not Madeleine.
"I guess I ought to be thanking you, then," he said, extending his hand across to Lee.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee had never felt more hopelessly in love with Madeleine than he did at that very moment.
"Don't mention it," he said blankly, shaking her father's hand, amazed this was going so well. "I mean, it was nothing. Really. I should be able to do so much more-" he glanced at Madeleine sheepishly- "I want to do so much more. Because I haven't done enough. Not yet. Probably never will."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine bit her lip. She hadn't thought that it was possible for her heart to swell any more, or that she could possibly feel any warmer when she looked at him.
She was totally wrong.
"You're wrong," she said quietly. "You've done far too much; more than I'll ever deserve. Thank you."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

All he could do was smile back blankly.
Again, her parents had ceased to exist- that is, until her father cleared his throat and wrenched his hand from Lee's limp grasp.