"SHAKE IT OUT, SHAKE IT OUT! SHAKE IT OUT, SHAKE IT OUT, OOOAAAH. AND IT'S HARD TO-"

I pick up my phone to stop the ringtone from continuing. I glance at the time and groan. I place the phone next to my ear.

"Hello?" I ask tiredly.

"Hey, Jor!"

I look down at my phone again. Of course it's Ray. Who else would be calling at this hour?

"Why are you calling me at three in the morning?" I demand, rubbing my eyelids.

I hear him sigh. "Look out your window."

I furrow my eyebrows and pause. "You're kidding me, right?"

Silence.

"No?" Ray answers after a moment.

I slowly get up and step my feet onto the floor. I wrap my arms around myself, attempting to keep warm. That's really hard when you were just cozy in your blanket. I take small steps towards the window before drawing back the curtains.

Sure enough, down in the backyard stands Ray. He's looking up at me, smiling.

"Oh my gosh," I mutter under my breath.

"Why hello, Jor," Ray yells up to me.

"Why don't you talk louder?" I call back. "Wake up the whole neighborhood, will you."

Ray laughs. "You should come down here."

He can't be serious. "Ray Pearson, this is the most cliché thing you could possibly do. When did you become so corny?"

"What can I say? I do love me some veggies," he shrugs.

I laugh. "Corn is a grain."

And with that, I grab a blanket before departing down to the yard.

Ray is sitting on the bench just outside the door. His eyes light up when he sees me. He stands up and pulls a hand from behind his back. He's holding a handful of roses and gives them to me. I sniff them and let out a sigh.

"Thank you," I smile. "They're beautiful."

I should have thought this through a little more. I came down here in pajama shorts, T-shirt, and a thin blanket I've had for years with no shoes and/or socks on. My feet are going numb so I go ahead and sit down on the bench where Ray just stood up from. I wrap my blanket around my feet in an attempt to make them warm.

Ray sits down next to me and wraps an arm around me, making me immediately feel warmer.

"So," I say. "You're here." He nods. "At three A.M." Another nod. "Any reasoning behind this arrival?"

"I couldn't fall asleep," he shrugs.

"So you decided to wake me up."

Ray grins. "But you're glad, anyways."

I roll my eyes. "How can you be so sure?"

He smirks at me. "Because you're desperately in love with me."

My eyes widen and my face flushes. "W-what? I... n-no, I-"

Ray laughs, letting his eyes fall closed. "I'm kidding, Jor. You're cute when you're all flustered."

I slap his arm away and scowl at him. "Jerk." I am immediately cold again, and really want his warmth around me again. Of course, I won't admit that.

He doesn't hesitate before grabbing me and pulling me back against him. I easily decide it's not worth it to move. Instead, I rest my head on his shoulder and let out a content sigh.

"How was your day?" I break the silence.

"Usual."

"Usual, as in...?" I ask, letting my eyes fall closed.

"Being boring. Sitting outside and stuff," he says. "Life's pretty boring when I'm not hanging around you, Jor."

"But you've got Luke and Cole and Shannon, too. They can keep you company," I point out to him.

He shrugs. "I suppose."

We both sigh at the same time.

"Jinx," he whispers into my ear. "You owe-"

I turn to face him. "No, I am not giving you a soda."

He smiles. "That's not what I was going to say, but okay."

I quirk an eyebrow. "What were you going to say?"

He moves closer to me, lifting my chin so I am forced to look into his eyes. He touches his lips to mine softly. Ray leans away only a centimeter and whispers, "That you owe me a kiss."

********************************

I must have fallen asleep at some point when I was outside with Ray last night, because I'm now in my bed and I don't remember getting here. He must have carried me when I was sleeping.

I turn my head towards my alarm clock on the bedside table. Except there is something in the way. It's a vase with the flowers Ray gave me last night. I smile.

There's a note beside it:

Jor-

I'll see you tomorrow, have a good night. P. S. You're adorable when you're asleep.

-Ray

My face turns red.

There's a knock on my bedroom door and I quickly hide the sheet of paper under my pillow.

Jacob walks inside, smirking.

"What?" I ask him, stretching my arms over my head.

"Oh, nothing," he still has that mischievous look on his face.

I give him a blank stare. "Come on, Jacob. Spill it."

"Hmm, just wondering what you were doing up so early this morning," he takes a step closer.

"It's ten," I raise my eyebrows.

"Last night, I was awoken by the creaking of a staircase at around three in the morning. I got up to search for the producer of this noise and the back door was cracked open. Care to explain?" He takes another step forward.

"I don't-"

"And where did these flowers come from? I am fairly certain that these were not, in fact, here yesterday," he pulls off a pedal from one of the roses to examine it.

"Um, well..." I look at my toes. Ew, gross. And, I look at my blanket.

"Then, it just so happens that a while later, Ray comes inside, carrying you while you were fast asleep," Jacob smirks.

My eyes widen.

"Oh, Jordan, there's no way to hide it anymore," Jacob says, sitting on the edge of my bed. "You've fallen for him. Hard."

"What are you, some love expert now?" I ask, rolling my eyes.

"You're just making your feelings really obvious, Jordan."

I open my mouth to deny the fact, yet no words come out.

My phone buzzes. "SHAKE IT OUT, SHAKE IT OUT!"

Jacob and I make eye contact for a split second before we both lunge for it. He tackles me to the ground and grabs my phone. I claw at his arm, but he answers it.

"Hello, Ray," he winks at me.

"Yes, this is Jacob." A pause. "Yes, Jordan is here." Another pause. "Sure, I'll tell her." I attempt to grab the phone again, but he moves out of my reach. "Okay, sure. Bye."

He hangs up the phone and drops it onto my bed. I stare at him angrily.

"Ray said he's going to pick you up later. Be ready," Jacob smirks again before leaving the room slowly.

*******************************

"Hello, Jor," Ray says when I open the door.

I smile. "Hey, Ray."

"Hey Ray!" Jacob shows up behind my shoulder. I elbow him, and he winces.

"Hi, Jacob," Ray laughs. "Weird meeting you here."

Jacob winks at him. "Don't have too much fun."

"Shall we?" Ray holds out his hand to me.

I take it. "Let's."

We head out the front door, leaving Jacob behind, peering through the window at us. Ray opens my door, allowing me to enter and starts the car.

"Where exactly are we headed?" I ask, turning to face him.

"That, Miss Jordan, is a surprise," Ray says, keeping his eyes on the road.

I groan. "Really? I hate surprises."

Ray smiles. "I know."

I roll my eyes, though he can't see me. "How considerate."

After a few moments, he asks, "Does Jacob usually get up at three in the morning?" He sounds amused.

"Only when he's snooping around," I tell him. "What'd he say to you?"

Ray shrugs. "Just asked what the heck I was doing with his sister in my arms that early. Then he started laughing and poured himself a bowl of cereal."

I nod. "That would be Jacob."

The car slows to a stop. "We're here," Ray announces.

He walks around the car to let me out. I'm immediately hit by a cold gust of air. I shiver and wrap the scarf around my neck on tighter. Ray takes my mittened hand and pulls me towards some place I've never been inside before.

We enter quickly, anxious to get out of the cold. I kick the snow off my boots and follow Ray up to a counter. A girl sits at the desk, typing something on her computer. She looks up when she notices us.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She asks cheerfully.

Ray answers, "Two entries to the ice skating rink, please."

My eyes widen. "Ice skating?"

He smiles at me. "It'll be fun. I'll help you."

Yeah, fun until I embarrass myself by falling on my face. I have horrible balance.

The girl looks back at us, taking our wrists and placing a neon bracelet around them.

After we've gotten on our rented skates, Ray and I enter the rink. I look around the huge place and hobble on the thin foundation I have to balance on. Ray steadies me and helps me into the icy arena.

There a few other people here, none that I know. I take a slow and cautious step forward, clutching Ray's hand for support.

"Try to glide, not take steps," Ray says, sliding his feet forward, forcing me to come with him. I'm basically being dragged along behind him helplessly.

"You've got to at least move your feet," Ray advises.

I try, once again, and move forward ever so slightly. And again. And again. I start moving forward tiny glides at a time. I start tipping backwards, but Ray easily catches me before I actually fall. Glide, glide, glide.

"There, that's it," Ray smiles brightly. "I'm going to let go now."

"Wait, no-"

But it's too late, he releases my hand. He gestures for me to move forward on my own. He even goes ahead of me and tells me to meet him there. I force my feet to slide carefully. They move about an inch at a time.

Slowly but surely, I make my way to where Ray is. He smiles proudly. "You've got the hang of it."

I let myself smile. "I suppose so."

"I'm a great teacher, aren't I?" Ray smirks at me.

"Are you kidding me?" I raise my eyebrows. "That was nothing. Is like to see you get me to wrestle an alligator. Then I'll be impressed with your teaching abilities."

Ray nods. "That can be arranged," he says. "I've just got to find an alligator..."

I smile. "Right. Super easy."

He grins. "Yeah, I've just got to break into a zoo."

"Simple."

He nods. "See? Not so hard. I've just got to try not to get arrested."

"That would be unfortunate."