☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

°•. ┊ Daylight┊.•°
✧ ˚ ━ don't wanna keep secrets, act two

CHAPTER ONE — suzie, do you copy?

✧

I'm awoken from my nap by my sister offering to let me join her and The Party for their movie date in about twenty minutes. "Pass. I am not on babysitting duty and have no urge to move at the moment."

"Fair enough. But you're hanging out with me within the next few days. It's been a month since summer began and we've barely seen each other."

"Ah yes. The unfortunate side to having boyfriends." I smile. "Have fun." I say as she leaves my bedroom. Exhaustion starts to take over again. Sleep during summer break is always limited, but lately when I do sleep, it's not long before I wake up in a sweat from a nightmare that consists of the same key factor. A man. The same one every time and I have no clue who he is or what my subconscious is trying to convey with the dreams. Instead of fighting it, I allow sleep to consume me, relaxing into my mattress once more...

I'm running through the woods as fast as my feet can carry, constantly looking behind me for whatever I am running from. At this point, I'm not sure I can identify the very thing that has me terrified. I see a house not too far in the distance and push myself to run faster, only for the distance to increase. When I realize that I'm not making any progress, I stop, and take a breather. I turn to face my fate only to find nothing there. My shoulders relax and I return my gaze to the house and prepare to walk the rest of the way. As my trek begins, I feel a rush of wind blow past my face and a man appears before me. His eyes are a yellow-gold color and veins are visible underneath them; he's holding something out to me. It seems as though the man is flickering in and out of clarity. I can finally make out what's in his hand and it's something covered in blood. I take a step forward, trying to get a better look, when I can finally place it. It's a heart. Human or otherwise, it's creepy. I start to breathe rapidly, fear coursing through me once again. I start to run away from him, before tripping and falling into mud...

I awake in my bed, sweating, and breathing heavily. Just a bad dream. That's all it was. An extremely vivid and twisted nightmare. I look at my alarm clock and the time reads '2:47 am.' Great. A huff escapes my lips, as I sit up and run a hand through my hair. I remove my phone from the hook and start dialing.

Hello?

Hey, sorry to wake you, I know that you have work in the morning. I just-

Don't apologize. What's wrong?

Why do you think something's wrong?

For one, you're calling me at three in the morning and for two, I can practically hear you messing with your hair.

I drop my hand and sigh loudly.

Right. Uh, I just had a bad dream. It's nothing. I'm sorry, just go back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow.

Woah, wait a sec. Clearly, it wasn't nothing. Come on, Firefly. Talk to me.

Okay, it was this really weird situation where I was running in the woods, running from something, and I could see a house or a cabin in the distance and yet, I wasn't getting any closer to it no matter how fast I moved. And I couldn't tell what exactly I was avoiding, until I stopped to face what was chasing me, but there was nothing there. I turned back to the cabin and there was a man standing in front of me, with his hand out.

A man? What man?

I don't know.

You've never seen him before?

No. Which just made it weirder. I read something in a psychology study once, that said the people we see in our dreams we have seen in real life. Now, I could have just seen this guy in passing, but the entire thing gives me the creeps.

Understandable.

Yeah, but there's something else...In his hand there was a heart.

A heart? Like a human heart?

I'm not sure. It's possible. It looked like a human heart, but it could have belonged to a pig or some other animal. Steve, his hand was covered in blood. And it seemed like he wanted to tell me something or show me something. I don't know. His eyes were a yellow-ish color. The entire basis of the dream was strange. Anyways, we should probably go back to sleep.

Yeah. You sure you're okay? You don't need me to come over or anything?

I'm okay. I promise. You have work. And I'm sure someone's gonna pull me out of bed too early for the summertime, so stay home. I'm fine.

If you say so. I'll see you soon. Love you, bye.

And with that he hung up. Just like that. His words replaying over and over in my head. He loves me? We haven't said those words to each other yet. I didn't expect him to say it first, let alone over the phone. He didn't even give me a chance to respond. I would've said it back. I've wanted to say it for a while, I was just afraid he didn't feel the same or that it would be too soon and I would scare him off. I'll mention it casually tomorrow or maybe not. I don't know. I lay back down and stare at the ceiling, trying to shut my mind off. I start to drift, until I'm out like a light.

The next morning I decide to shower, letting the hot water cascade down my body, and relieve the tension between my shoulders. I spend a long time in the shower, marinating with my thoughts. Thoughts about what Steve said. It was nothing, right? I can't expect him to remember that he said it. It was the middle of the night and he definitely didn't mean to say it. Frustration with my overthinking takes over and I kill the water aggressively. On my way back to my room, I'm stopped by Billy. "Hey, is your clock working?"

"Yeah, why?" I ask, shifting my weight between my feet.

"The power went out last night, yet all the clocks have been reset. I don't know. Just weird." He states.

"Very. Maybe Max did it when she came home." I suggest. "Anyways, if I'm not wrong you have to get ready for work and I'd really like to put on some clothes, so."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." He moves to the side, letting me pass, and walks through his own door. I put on the first bra and a pair of underwear in my drawer and towel dry my hair. I grab one of Steve's t-shirts and jean shorts, tucking the front of the shirt into my bottoms. I shove my feet into a pair of converse and pick up my bag and keys off my desk. I return to my bedside table, lifting my phone once again, calling Delilah to tell her I'm on my way to pick her up. After that, I get into my car and start my journey to the Henderson residence. I have all of my windows down, my radio blaring, and a pair of sunglasses on my face. 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna playing, as the wind whips through my hair and I embrace the season. I pull up to the house and honk a few times to signal Lila to come out. She runs out barely closing the door behind her and almost trips on the driveway, causing me to laugh.

"So not funny, Sam." She huffs, sitting in the passenger seat. I continue to laugh, which angers her even more. "Will you just drive?!" Still laughing, I put the car into drive and head towards Starcourt. The drive over is short, but filled with very loud and offkey singing. I pull into a parking spot, one of the few left, and turn off the ignition.

"Okay, I need to tell you something before we go inside." I state, causing her to halt her movements and turn towards me. "Last night, I woke up from a nightmare and decided to call Steve to calm me down. And-"

"Oh god, did you guys have phone sex? Because a part of me is dying to know details, but the rest of me is begging you to keep it vague." She interrupts me with a cringe.

"What? No. God, Delilah, why is that where your mind goes?" I question. "You know what, doesn't matter. No, I told him about my dream and then insisted we go to sleep because of his job, but the thing is that when we were saying goodbye...he said and I quote, 'love you, bye.' Just like that."

"Seriously?" She sits up. "Did you say it back?"

"I didn't get the chance to say anything. After he said that, he hung up." I explain.

"Would you have said it?"

"Obviously, I would have. I've loved the guy for longer than I'll ever admit." I say. "But what if he doesn't remember that he said it? Because it was really late and I woke him from a dead sleep, so-"

"Sammy. Take a breath." She commands. "Even if he doesn't remember or if he said it by accident, he still said it. Which means that he wants to tell you, but is probably as scared as you are."

"Yeah, you're right." I sigh. "I just need to let whatever is supposed to happen, happen."

"Exactly. Now, can we go get ice cream? Because you turned off the car and it is grotesquely hot." She says with a laugh. We get out and start walking into the building that is swarming with people. The two of us go the same route we do most days of the week, finding ourselves in front of 'Scoops Ahoy!' Lila takes out her compact and fixes her hair and lip gloss.

"Could you be more transparent?" I question with a laugh.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Right. So you aren't making sure you look your best for a certain blonde, sophomore, ice cream slinger?" I tease.

"Nope." She lies, moving past me into the shop. I drop my head and laugh. This is gonna be fun. We walk straight to the counter, causing Steve to whip around dramatically.

"Ahoy, ladies!" He nearly shouts, causing me to jump a bit. "Didn't see you there. Would you guys like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain...And I'm totally going home single." Delilah, Robin and I are losing it.

"What the hell was that?" I ask.

"I don't know." He admits. "The usual? Mint chip and USS Butterscotch."

"Yep. And make it snappy. We don't have all day." Lila speaks, causing Steve to scoff and roll his eyes. "Hey, Robin." As she greets the girl, Steve and I share a knowing look.

"You know, my break starts in like five minutes if you wanna-"

"I am not making out with you in the back room, Harrington." I state, taking my ice cream from his hands, while Robin pulls out a whiteboard.

"And another one bites the dust." She says, adding a tally. "You are o-for-six, Popeye."

"Yeah, yeah, I can count." Steve huffs, crossing his arms over his chest

"You know that means you suck, right?"

"Yep, I can read too."

"Since when?" She teases. "You know that you have reached peak suckery when your own girlfriend won't make out with you."

"She'll make out with me, just not here." He tells her. "Why am I explaining myself to you? It's not like you're dating anyone."

"Children, please." I shut them up. "Now, we have some shopping to do. Don't bite each other's heads off while we're gone." I give Steve a kiss, waving goodbye to Robin, and grab Lila's arm, dragging her out of the ice cream parlor and towards the nearest shoe store. "Isn't Dustin getting home today?"

"Yeah, I figured he'd want to spend time with The Party, which gives me the perfect excuse to-"

"Flirt with Robin?" I tease.

"Hang out with you." She finishes her sentence. "And I don't appreciate this assumption of yours." I look at her like she's insane.

"Screw you, Delly!" I shout, catching the attention of neighboring shoppers. "You continuously made comments and assumptions about Steve and I. So, payback is a bitch."

"Whatever." She brushes me off. "Aren't you having a friend come to town soon?"

"Such a blatant change of subject." I point out. "But yes. My childhood friend, Genesis, is coming here to spend a few weeks with me."

"The original best friend meets the new best friend. Seems risky. What if we hate each other?"

"I can assure you that won't happen."

"And why are you so sure?"

"Because I know both of you better than you know yourselves, which means that I am without a shadow of a doubt positive that you guys will get along. Probably better than you guys get along with me." I explain with a smile. "Is Griffin meeting up with us?"

"That's what he said yesterday, but who knows anymore." Lila takes another bite of ice cream. "Him and his slew of dates, mean that he has no time for little ole us." We continue our rounds of the stores in the mall, which takes about four hours. Neither of us found anything worth buying, so we returned to Steve and Robin, empty handed. A few minutes after being back at Scoops, Griffin showed up. He looked disheveled and had hickeys on his neck that he was not doing a good job at hiding.

"Well look who it is, the town pump." I announce, louder than I should have. Griff flips me off, then wraps me in a side hug. "What's the unlucky girl's name?"

"That's classified." He states. "But she was very, very lucky."

"Or she was pretending to be lucky, to protect your ego." Robin offers, earning a laugh from the group. I catch Steve's eye and he doesn't look too happy. He's casing Griffin like he kicked his puppy. I take into account that Griff still has an arm around my shoulders, but I don't get why Steve would be jealous all of a sudden. I'm just gonna talk to him about it later. The next hour is us making fun of Griffin's nightly hobbies and eating more ice cream than anyone should in one sitting.

"Hey, so, I'm thinking movie. Lils, Sammy, you down?" Griff asks.

"Why not."

"I would, but nothing about going to watch a movie is really appealing right now." I laugh a bit. "You guys should go. I'm good here." Lila gives me a confused look, suggesting that she knows my reason is a lie. Thankfully, she keeps quiet and the pair leave. I turn my gaze to Steve, who's gesturing for Robin to get lost. She takes the hint and says that she's going to get a slushie. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Sup with you?"

"Don't give me attitude. What's your problem, Steve?"

"You really wanna know?" He asks, earning a nod from me. He directs me to the back room, where our discussion continues. "Griffin. He's my problem and has been for months. Always hanging on you and being too friendly. And you let it happen. I get the ego boost from someone flirting with you, but not shutting down a person that you're friends with and continuously hang out with, is just wrong."

"Okay. I would disagree with the assumption that Griffin has feelings for me. And if you have felt like this for months, why haven't you spoken up about it until now?"

"Right. Because I'd say something about it and you would tell me that I was paranoid or seeing something that isn't there. But there is, Sam. I know the way guys think and he is trying to swoop in and break us up." He whisper shouts.

"Steve." I breathe. I take a step towards him, encasing his face in my hands. "Nothing and no one is going to break us up. Griffin is my friend. That's all. If he ever tries to make a move, the friendship is over. I can promise you that, okay?"

"Okay." He shakes his head yes, closing his eyes, and grabbing one of my hands, moving to place his lips against it. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. I get it. You got jealous and I guess, I was not helping the situation. I'm sorry too." I speak softly. He places his forehead against mine and we stay like that for a moment, breathing each other in. I debate whether or not to say those three words, only for that decision to be made for me, when Robin returns.

"Shit. Sorry." She says. "But I got us slushies and didn't want them to melt, so when I came back and there was no talking, I figured things were good. So, are they?"

"Yeah, they're good." Steve answers, keeping an arm around my waist, while taking one of the slushies from Robin, me following his actions. The three of us spend the remainder of their shift talking a lot about nothing. Delilah and Griff went home after their movie, stopping in to say goodbye. Steve and I part ways with Robin and he walks me to my car. "Stay at my place tonight?"

"Are you asking or telling?"

"That depends, what's your answer?"

"I say, no. But I'll come back and bug you during your shift tomorrow."

"Why not? It's been nearly a week since the last time you spent the night." He all but whines.

"I know. I miss my books. I usually read all summer and I have yet to finish my second book. So, I plan on doing that tonight, meaning I am all yours tomorrow." I tell him.

"Promise?"

"I make no promises." I state, opening my door and tossing my bag into my passenger seat. "Bye, Stevie."

"Bye, Doll Face." He places a kiss to my forehead and then moves to my lips, before heading to his own vehicle.

[word count: 3064]

lexi's letters; season three is gonna be fun-