Chivalry Resurfaces

I know chivalry's dead. I know it's supposed to be dead but Nick keeps proving me wrong. Is it because he's really a *real* gentleman (very likely because his mom sounds like the type to drill it into him) or is it because he's a military officer (also very likely)? Either way, it was...*searches for the word*... well, I don't know how to really describe the feeling. Really nice? 'Nice' doesn't encompass the feeling. It was incredibly sweet (that sounds a bit silly). He made me feel petite (in a good way and that's no easy feat because I never feel small), safe and protected. :)

Anyway, as we were heading towards the door, leaving Ceroc, he waved me forward to walk before him but as we approached the door, his hand reached out and pulled open the door for me before I could do it myself. When we got to his car, he opened the door for me again. Then when we got back to my place, he reached in front of me again to open the door that leads into the apartment block.

These things don't happen to me! I mean, I've had guys hold open doors for me before but it's always been if they were walking in front of me, never while walking behind me and then reaching in front of me to open it for me. Goodness me.

As we walked out of the venue, three guys stumbled drunkenly out of the pub across the street and started walking ahead of us. They were England football fans - you can totally tell because the England shirts and England flags tied behind them like capes are total give aways - and apparently we won because were hollering and yelling in an enthusiastically drunk-happy way.

Now, it's a fact of life that football fans can get rowdy no matter if the team wins or loses so I kept a wary eye on them. I glanced up at Nick and he was doing the same. That's when I realised he was slowing down and then he held out his arm to stop me, saying that we should give them a bit of space just in case they get rowdy, y'know. If they did get rowdy I know he could've taken them on no problem, but I was there so that's a whole 'nother story.

They stopped at the next pub and we passed them on our way to Nick's car, which was about 10 minutes away. Uneventful until we were about a block away from the car. It was already sometime past 10 so the streets were pretty much empty on that side of town. We were coming up to a corner and there was a guy leaning against the lamppost, looking very dodgy. Nick must've noticed him the same time I did because just as soon as I thought to myself, 'Ooh, careful, dodgy looking guy,' he said, 'Let's switch places.' Up until then I'd been walking on the outside of the sidewalk. He switched places so that when we turned around the corner, he'd be on the outside and between me and the dodgy-corner guy.

I'm shaking my head in slight disbelief right now. No one, let alone a guy, has ever watched out for me like that. It's not that they don't care; they just don't do these kind of things because they just see me as a very capable and independent person who can take care of herself without their help, which I am and can. I know Nick knows that I'm quite capable of taking care of myself but he still thought to put himself between me and potential danger.

*Sigh* It was such a novel experience, to feel so protected.