A/N: Please read and review!

Language Barrier

She nudged her friend. 'Er ist heiß, neh?'

Her friend looked at her like she'd gone mental. 'Why are you speaking crappy high school Deutsch?' she asked, bemused.

She made hurried shushing motions. 'So he doesn't know we're talking about him,' she continued in German. 'Although you probably just ruined it all, Aly,' she said reproachfully.

Aly caught on fast. 'Oh, I see,' she replied in German, looking around the crowded train compartment curiously. Finally, when nobody who fitted her definition of "heiß" met her eye, she asked, 'Who were you talking about, Jen?'

'Please, don't look around like that,' she pleaded, her voice slightly panicked. 'It'll seem too obvious. It's the guy sitting near the door reading.'

"Der Junge" in question had his eyes fixed on the textbook he was reading, a small smile playing about his lips. At the time, neither of the girls registered this detail as being slightly odd.

Aly scrutinized him (discreetly, of course). 'He's okay, I guess. But what's up with the glasses?' It was a good thing they were still speaking in Deutsch; Aly was now talking at her normal volume – audible to half the carriage. That was the consequence of wearing an iPod earphone and talking at the same time, Jen supposed. But he never did that – he would concentrate fully on either his conversation, his book or his music. When he listened to his music, she could tell what he was listening to. Not because it was so loud that half the carriage heard it, but because the song's mood would be reflected on his face.

Jen got instantly defensive. 'What do you mean, what's up with that? He wears glasses because he reads a lot – I like that! And he reads heaps of the books I read!' It was true. And every time he read, she would watch him, watch every little smile, every tiny frown, every small laugh. And she would wonder if the same things made him smile, made him frown, made him laugh.

Aly rolled her eyes. 'You mean he shares your Austen/Gaskell/Bronte fascination? How boring – you two really are perfect for one another. Why don't you go talk to him?'

Before a flustered Jen could answer, the train pulled up to his station and he got up and walked to the door. He looked straight at her, smiling a brilliant smile that was full of laughter and happiness at once.

Then she noticed the textbook he was carrying: Schaum's German Grammar.

Oh God. She promptly fainted.

A/N: Based on stories I've heard of people insulting others who are within hearing range in another language and the person being insulted actually knowing the language. I decided to make it something positive instead.

So how was it? Please do review with any comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc.!