For the next week of the vacation, my parents insist that I stay inside and spend time with them and my sister, as if I've been doing anything else. I even spent a day with distant relatives that drove up from the South. When my sister returns to school and my parents to work, I'm itching to spend time with someone I'm not related to. So when Dominic texts me, it's no surprise that I respond immediately. But then again, I'd have responded immediately either way.

Dominic: Are you free?? I have to show you something!!

Me: Yes.

Dominic: I'm coming to pick you up now!

It takes seven minutes for him to get here and I don't bother scolding him on how fast he must've been going. I note his excitement and get in the car. I wait for him to tell me what he's so happy about. When he doesn't say anything, I look at him and raise my hands. "What do you have to show me?"My grin matches his as I rack my brain for what could excite him this much.

"Wait!" he pleads. We head in the direction of his house and I tap my foot anxiously. Now I'm kind of nervous. We pull up to his house and he immediately turns off the car and rushes me to the sidewalk. He hastily guides me up to his house with his hands on my shoulders. "Okay, now open the door," he instructs. I do it with a confused look on my face. I turn the knob and push it open with a quirked brow. I hear a barely audible thudding noise and my eyes fall upon a small, brown puppy. It gazes up at me with crossed eyes and a chain collar hanging from his neck.

"Awe!" I squeal as I fall to my knees and scoop the dog up in my arms. It licks me excitedly, wagging it's tail at lightning speed. "Where'd you get him? Did you steal him from someone, Dominic?"

"No, I didn't steal him!" Dominic he shuts the door behind us. He drops beside me and watches me play with the puppy while wearing a happy look on his face. "My parents got him this morning while I was asleep. I guess they've been in the process of adopting him from the shelter for a while. It finally went through and here he is!"

"What's his name?" I hold the puppy up in front of me. It's a boy. I kiss his forehead and scratch behinds his ear, mumbling quietly to him about how cute he is. He yips excitedly as he paws at my hands.

"I don't know yet. I didn't get that far. I just discovered him on the couch a half hour ago," Dominic confesses. "I feel kind of bad because he was just here alone. I was awake for two hours before I even left my room. I wonder if he's hungry."

He stands up and heads to the kitchen for food while I pet the pup. "You have to think of a name!" I move from the floor to the couch with the dog. I take pictures of him and he seems to be enjoying the love and affection.

"That's why I brought you here. Help me think of one." He slowly comes into view as he walks from the kitchen to the living room. He puts down two bowls of food and water. I lower the dog to the ground and watch as he runs to the bowls.

Dominic sits down beside me on the couch and pulls my legs onto his lap in a swift motion. We stare at the puppy happily before I speak. "I don't know. It's your dog; you name him."

"I was thinking Nox," he replies as he turns his attention to me. "I want to combine Dominic and Nova but Noc and Dov sound stupid and Nom isn't even a contender." He lightly rubs my legs and I let a giggle escape. Nommy. 

"How about Lucky?" I propose and receive a confused head tilt from him. "Short for Lucky Number 15."

He rolls his eyes as far back as they'll go. "Shut up, Nova," he retorts. Oh, how the tables have turned.

"You know, you still have a week to take her up on her offer." Dominic shoots me a glare.

"Aren't we not supposed to talk about this anymore?" He's got me there. "Back to naming the pup, please."

"I like Nox. It's cute." I stare at the small brown dog and try to envision him as a Nox. It suits him.

"You're only saying that because it has remnants of your name in it," he replies before a playful grin falls onto his lips. "I have a feeling our kids are going to look more like you. In fact, I hope they do."

"Why? You're the better looking one." I don't think before I speak but that seems to make him happy.

"I don't think so," he answers flirtatiously and I immediately turn my attention to the dog.

"Nox!" He looks up from the water bowl before practically drowning himself in it. I shrug as I glance at Dominic. "Do you know what kind of dog he is?"

"Mixed...just like us...and our future kids." This earns a flat, but amused, look from me.

We watch the puppy jump around and play with Dominic's shoes. I eventually have to pee so I extend my arms for Dominic to yank me up. He tugs me but I only slide onto his lap. I stare at him for a second before quickly regaining my strength and getting off of him. "I didn't mean for that to happen!" he calls after me as I head to the bathroom.

"Sure you didn't...pervert," I respond as the dog trails after me, nipping at my ankles.

+++

"Hey," my dad greets me as he enters my room.

"Hi." Isn't he supposed to be at work or something? I suddenly realize it's Sunday and shake my head. These days are just blurring together now.

"How's school?" I offer a shrug in response. I'd say it's average.

"It's fine. I'm doing okay. Classes aren't too bad. I have a few friends." And by a few friends, I mean two...or four if you count West and Jack.

"Any boyfriends?" He takes a seat on my bed and I look at him over my laptop screen.

"No, dad, no boyfriends."

"Girlfriends?" I let out a loud sigh at his pestering.

"No, dad."

"Dominic hasn't tried anything on you, right?" Awkward.

"No, dad." Now my cheeks are going red. I definitely have tried things on him, though.

"What about his friends?" Why is he randomly coming with all these pressing questions?

"Dad," I groan.

"I'm just making sure you're focusing on what's really important at school." He lets out a laugh and I shake my head at him.

"Yes, dad, I'm not in debt to get a boyfriend." After giving me an approving point, he tilts his head.

"How is Dominic, by the way?" Why can't he ask about my other friends?

"Good. He's doing really well in his classes." I should probably tell him I'm proud of him.

"You should invite him over for dinner," my dad encourages.

"Really?"  My father likes Dominic but I didn't think he liked him enough to invite him to our house. He was very cautious when he found out I had a male friend. I think when he actually saw Dominic, he was even more worried. I narrow my eyes at my dad. He's up to something.

"Yeah. I want to thank him for keeping you alive over there." Sounds suspicious but okay.

"Okay." I still think this is a bad idea.

"See if he's free tonight," my father insists as he motions to my phone.

"Alright, dad, alright." I grab my phone just to please my overeager father.

"Let me know what he says."

About two hours later, my parents are preparing dinner and Dominic is on his way over. When he arrives, I usher him to the living room- the only place we can really hang out with my dad present. My father doesn't like Dominic being in my room for reasons I sum up to him just being a father. So I sit beside Dominic on the couch, where I create a big enough gap between us to avoid suspicion. Maritza stares from the recliner with a curious look on her face.

"Hi, Dominic," she greets him from across the room.

"Hey, Maritza." He offers her a small smile and she nods approvingly.

"College has been treating you good, I see." Cue her creepy little grin. "You've been working out a lot, huh?"

"Maritza." I glare sharply at her and she offers us both a broad smirk.

"What? I saw it all the other day." She's quiet for this one. "I figured I'd pay him a compliment."

My face burns red and Dominic chuckles awkwardly. "Sorry about her." I look at him and shake my head but he just shrugs it off.

"Hey, you don't have to apologize for me." Except I do because you're gross.

"Dinner's ready!" my father calls and Maritza practically dives into the kitchen. Dominic and I get up and he exhales shakily.

"Why am I so nervous?" he whispers.

"Because it's my dad that invited you this time." I offer him a soft smile before leading the way into the kitchen.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Camacho," Dominic greets my dad with a smile.

"Hey, Dom," they respond in unison.

Dominic takes a seat beside me. My mother sits at the head of the table and my father sits beside Maritza. My parents say a quick prayer before we dig into the food before us. I notice Dominic's leg shaking beneath the table so I kick him with my foot. He glances at me but I ignore him and continue to pile food onto my plate.

"So how's college?" my dad asks Dominic, who quickly swallows his food to answer.

"It's good. Classes weren't too bad last semester." Wow dad, what do you know? It's the same thing I told you just two and a half hours ago!

"You and my daughter hang out a lot, right?" Uh-oh, I don't like where this is going. Dominic glances at me and it's clear that he's unsure of what to say.

"Yeah." Good thing my dad doesn't pick up on his hesitation.

"She doesn't have a boyfriend, right?" Oh here we go.

"No, of course not," Dominic answers. My eyebrows shoot up and he begins to backtrack. "Not that you can't get a boyfriend; you just don't have one. You've never been one to date."

"Why so nervous?" Maritza blurts and Dominic shakes his head.

"I'm not nervous." 

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Why is she allowed to interrogate him now? And why aren't my parents stopping her?

"No." Dominic tries to keep his cool under the rapid fire questions but Maritza isn't looking to bust us.

"Interesting," Maritza mumbles and my father gives her a stern look.

"My daughter doesn't have any male friends, right?" Why is he still going with this? 

"Dad." He offers me a small smile as if he's not using Dominic to get different answers than the ones I provided.

"Other than me and my friends, no." I thank Dominic for being thorough but keeping my business private.

My dad eyes Dominic suspiciously but he doesn't cave. Instead, he nods slowly before turning his attention back to his food. The conversation flows to a less tense topic and everyone joins in. I nudge Dominic's thigh with my knee and give him a small smile. At least he didn't break.

The dinner eventually comes to an end and Dominic thanks my parents for having him. As soon as we leave the house, his shoulders drop with relief and he exhales noisily. "Your dad scares the shit out of me." I look at him and chuckle.

"Why?" We slowly amble to his car.

"Because I feel like he just...knows." His shoulders rise and fall rapidly as if he can't explain himself well enough.

"Knows what?" This gets another laugh from me. My father doesn't know anything; that's why he called Dominic in to see if he could squeeze any information from him.

"I don't know! Everything! I feel like he just knows everything we've ever done and every thought I've ever had," Dominic explains and I immediately scoff.

"If he did, we'd both be dead. He uses you to get information about me." Thankfully he's not a snitch.

"I know. I just can't help but feel like he knows." He gives me a nervous look and I wave my hand 

"You did good," I say as we stand outside of his car. I feel the urge to kiss him so I avert my gaze.

"Thanks, I felt like I was going to break and tell him everything and beg for forgiveness." When I look at him with wide eyes, he laughs and shakes his head. "Joking, Nova."

"He's watching us from the window." Dominic lets out a quiet breath before lowering his voice to a whisper.

"I'm telling you- he knows."

"Just get in your car." He walks over to his side of the car and hesitates before opening the door.

"Do you think he can read lips?" Dominic glances over my shoulder and I shrug.

"I don't think so." My father's never needed a reason to read lips, I don't think.

"You look really good tonight. And if we hadn't jumped back a couple months, I'd tell you I want to kiss you." I wasn't expecting any of that. I thought he'd tell me he loves me and leave it at that.

"Bye, Dominic," I dismiss him with a red face. He laughs boisterously and taps the roof of his car.

"Nox and I send our love." He opens the door and gets in the car.

+++

I don't see much of Dominic for the rest of the break until it's time to go back. He pulls up to my house bright and early at 10:00AM after asking me last night if I was ready to get the hell out of dodge. Clearly, I am. My parents help me pack up his car before kissing me goodbye. My sister insisted that I text her more often to keep her updated on my life; I told her to do the same. Then, in a matter of minutes, Dominic and I were off.

"How was your break?" I decide to start off the conversation.

"It was good..." he trails. "Kind of."

"What does that mean?" I hope I didn't ruin it.

"I got to see my friends. I also got to see how I grew apart from them a bit. Obviously not West and Jack, but everyone else." I frown a little for him.

"That's normal, though. Sad, but normal." I don't think he'll drift from them completely.

"Yeah, I know." He lets out a sigh and I fight the urge to reach for his hand that isn't on the wheel.

"Adrian's an asshole anyway." He lets out a quiet chuckle and bobs his head up and down for a few seconds.

"You can say that again." It's not like I've been saying it for two years.

"I don't think he liked me at all in high school. I don't know what game he was playing at the party." Whatever game it was, I didn't like it.

"He wasn't playing a game." He quickly catches himself and purses his lips. "It's a long story."

"We've got thirty minutes." And it's not like I have anything else to do when I get back to school.

He opens and closes his mouth a few times before giving me an innocent smile. "Can I get a raincheck?" I roll my eyes.

"Sure, if you answer one question for me." Risking a glance at me, he offers up a slow nod.

"Why'd you tell the guys my type?" It's been irking me since Adrian mentioned it at the party.

He blinks a few times before exhaling. "Jeez, you put me on the spot." Now you know how it feels. "Okay, well, we talk about you sometimes. Believe it or not, they do know who you are and they like you. They ask how you're doing. I perhaps mentioned Eli, maybe once or twice."

"Dominic!" How could he just air out my business like that?

"It was when you first started hanging out with him a lot! They would ask where you were and I would tell them that you were with your boy." Like that's supposed to make it better.

"You didn't tell them anything I did with him, right?" I feel my stomach drop at the thought of them knowing the things I've done with Eli.

"Of course not! I promise I didn't. I would never." He doesn't have to say anything else because I believe him. "I was just angrily ranting to them a little..."

"But how did my type come up?" He hesitates again.

"They asked what Eli looked like and I briefly described him. I may or may not have said that he's a knockoff 2009 Justin Bieber. I don't recall my exact words." I repress my laughter. I'm supposed to be scolding him.

"Dominic," I attempt to yell but I break out into laughter mid-sentence, "stop being a jerk."

"I'm just being honest." He looks over at me and smiles.

As planned, we pull up to the diner for breakfast and he leads the way inside. "What can I get you guys?" the waitress asks. I vaguely recognize her from the high school. I think she's a senior now and I'm pretty sure she was in my gym class last year. She doesn't even glance at me and keeps her eyes locked on Dominic, whose gaze is on me.

"You can go first," I insist. I didn't even get a chance to look at the menu because I was too busy assessing the girl working. Dominic orders his food and the girl smiles girlishly and laughs. She makes a comment about orange juice that gets a chuckle from Dominic, which sends her into a fit of giggles. She finally turns her attention to me when Dominic asks if I've decided. I tell her my order and she quickly nods and heads to deliver it.

"You always get the same thing." He unravels his silverware from the napkin.

"And you always get hit on. Why is that?" I note without thinking. He looks up from his task with a smirk.

"I don't know." By the smug curve of his lips, I can tell he knows why.

"I hate going out in public with you." I match his actions and get my silverware.

"Why?" He sits back and crosses his arms with a face of sheer amusement.

I begin blinking rapidly and lean in close to him. "Dominic, oh my god, you're so hot. We should totally, like, hook up. My parents are gone for the week and you should come over. We can catch up and stuff if you know what I mean," I dramatically reenact, finishing it off with a rough lip bite and wink.

He laughs so hard he has to put his head down. When he finally looks up, he bites back a smile. "You know, that sounded oddly familiar."

"Did it?" I ask when I see the waitress approaching with our drinks. 

"Your food will be out shortly," she informs us as she offers Dominic a flirty smile. She places our cups on the table and walks away, which earns a pointed look from me. 

"See?" I stare at the retreating waitress and look back to find him smiling sheepishly.

"I can't help it." Of course he can't. 

"I know. You're just..." How do I say this?

"Just what?" He eyes me and waits for me to speak up.

"Too cute," I mumble back.

"What was that?" He cups his ear but from the broad grin on his face, I can tell he knows exactly what I said. 

"I said that you're too cute," I reply a little louder and he grins at me. Placing both of his hands under his chin, he wiggles his eyebrows.

"You think so?" I blow my straw wrapper into his face and he returns to his previous position. His arms cross on the table and he leans forward a little, staring at me.

"All the girls want you." I take in his pretty features and wish I could kiss them all.

"I don't want all the girls." He stirs his coffee with the little stick and keeps his eyes locked on his dark drink. Before I can ask what he means, the waitress reappears at our sides.

"Here you go!" She offers Dominic a large smile as she sets the stack of waffles in front of him. I roll my eyes when she slides my plate over to me with no more than a glance. 

"That was fast," he comments as he grabs the syrup from the end of the table.

"We're a little dead and I told them you were in a rush." She winks at him. "Can I get you guys anything else?"

"We're fine," I blurt suddenly and she looks at me and offers a slow nod. She turns and walks away, which gets a little chuckle from Dominic.

"You're so mean." He smiles up at me as he continues to drench his waffles in syrup.

"Like I said, all the girls want you," I reiterate and he rolls his eyes in response. I wait until he has a forkful of waffles in his mouth to speak. "Speaking of, did you sleep with Raven yet?"

He coughs on his food for a minute, blinking back tears as they threaten to fall. I slowly sip my apple juice as he regains his ability to breathe. He inhales deeply and stares at me with a drained look on his face. "I almost died and you weren't even worried," he acknowledges, which earns a loud slurp of juice from me. "No I didn't sleep with her. And there is no 'yet.' It's not going to happen."

"Sure," I reply sarcastically and he tilts his head at me.

"Aren't we not supposed to talk about relationships?" Ah yes, I did make that rule.

"So you're in a relationship with her?" I let my eyebrows rise judgmentally and he closes his eyes for a second and sighs.

"No, Nova, I'm not." He lowers his voice after heaving a small sigh. "I didn't realize how jealous you get."

"What was that?" I blurt with a small grin on my face.

"Nothing." He shakes his head. "I said nothing."

"That's what I thought."