(Mike's POV)

I checked my watch impatiently, watching the hands spinning around the dial, forever in motion.

It was 10:12, and Zoe was 12 minutes late for our... What was I supposed to call a meeting where I explained that my Best Friend was actually innocent and then convince her to help me get them back together? A recruitment meeting maybe...?

I sighed, and took a sip of my Coffee, wincing as I burned my tongue slightly.

Simply put, I had been stood up.

I signaled the waitress, who promptly came over to my table, recognizing me. "Can I have a glass of ice water?" I asked politely. She nodded her head fervently, blushed, and muttered something, and came back a half minute later with an ice water in her grasp. She blushed as my fingers brushed hers lightly as I reached for my water.

I rolled my eyes inwardly, although on the outside I thanked her politely. She blushed even harder, probably surprised that I, a football player, actually had manners.

Dratted stereotypes.

(Zoe's POV)

I hesitated when I reached for the glass door, seeing Mike casually chatting up the waitress. I clenched my hand into a fist, and unclenched it. I had no right to be jealous. I had, after all, rejected him, a day I could still remember clearly, and whole heartedly regretted.

I watched as her cheeks turned red as his fingers brushed hers, and shook my head bemusedly. He really had no idea the effect he had on women. I strode purposefully towards the table, sitting down across from him, and steepling my fingers together in front of me as he looked at his watch face, at me, and back to his watch face.

The waitress backed away awkwardly, and immediately busied herself with filling another order.

"So." He looked pointedly at me. "So." I responded, meeting his cold gaze levelly.

He sighed in annoyance, "You're almost thirteen minutes late." He said brusquely. I shrugged my shoulders, and replied "What can I say? I'm a busy woman." His gaze only got colder. "You know you're the one who set the time, not me, right?" He spat, visibly upset with me.

"Let's just get down to business," I sighed. "I just want the best for Ben and Erica."

"As do I!" He protested. "It's just that you showed up 13 minutes late!"

"Well maybe if you hadn't been flirting with the waiter I would've come in sooner!" I shot back.

"Why would you care? You've made it pretty clear that you don't like me that way, and that you want nothing to do with me!"

I gritted my teeth in annoyance. This is not how I imagined our chat would go like. I really had no idea what I had expected, but it definitely wasn't this.

"Fine. I'm sorry I was late. Now please, let's get down to business." I told him.

"To defeat... the Huns!" He murmured. A flicker of a smile passed over his face, but it vanished as soon as his eyes found mine.

I found myself mentally tracing every line of his face, the tiniest little birth mark on the junction between his jaw and cheek bone, the scattered smattering of freckles over his nose, and a lock of his blond hair hanging loosely over his forehead.

His hazel eyes had glints of gold in them, and more than anything, I longed to have said yes to him that day on the field.

I cleared my throat suddenly, halting the moment that was building up to a stop.

"Back to the plan!" I exclaimed in a voice that seemed to be a few octaves higher then it had been previously, an effect that Mike seemed to have on me.

He nodded feverishly, and tried to form a sentence, tripping over his words.

"Why don't we try to get them to go to Cody's at the same time and parent trap them?" He suggested. "That would work... except neither of them have really wanted to go outside recently." I mused.

An hour later, we weren't any closer to forming a plan, and empty coffee mugs had been sitting in front of us for over 50 minutes.

I waved a quick goodbye, and ducked out of the door.

(Mike's POV)

Now that that's done, on to the second order of business. Rescuing Ever.

That meant I had to adopt her, which meant going through a whole process, but I could probably get some of the process streamlined due to my celebrity status.

Still, I had to look presentable, so I headed to my actual house (Moping best friend free!) and picked out a button down, slacks, and a grey and white checked tie, and to finish it off, a grey-black blazer.

I ignored several wolf whistles as I strode down the streets near Erica's house, knowing that foster home  would probably be near there. And then I realized that I was being incredibly stupid. How was I supposed to tell which house Ever lived in?

I scanned the crowded streets for the wide-eyed young girl I had ran into yesterday, and came up with nothing.

I ran a hand through my hair, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Looking for me?" Came a small voice from behind me. Ever's face lit up when I nodded and flashed a grin at her.

"I think I have a plan. I don't really know why, but a year ago, when my girlfriend at the time had been given the news that she was almost completely infertile, I had begun looking in adopting. I actually got a license to foster, which makes it easier to adopt a kid if you have that. So the process might go a bit faster, considering I already have my license to foster, and I'm a well known celebrity."

Ever grinned, and I noticed a small gap in between her two front teeth, causing my heart to melt.

"Anyways Ever, I should probably go talk to your foster mother, so, lead the way!"

(Ben's POV)

I was sitting on a picnic blanket by a lake... all alone.

I opened the basket, but there was no food inside. My stomach growled, and as it growled, a crack in the earth appeared becoming wider, and wider.

Eventually the gaping maw of the crack swallowed me up, and I was falling through the darkness. My hands scrabbled helplessly, trying to find some purchase in the earthy terrain.

I fell away, arms reaching upwards helplessly.

I was inches away from hitting the ground...

I sat up, heart racing, breathing in large ragged gasps.

It was clear what that dream had represented.

I was falling. And there was no one there to catch me. I was alone.

I actually did some research, and found that although adoption is a long process, it goes faster if it's domestic adoption, and not intercountry. Also, if you have the means to pay for an expensive adoption attorney, the process can be streamlined pretty quickly, so this process with Ever should actually be pretty accurate!

Also, next chapter do you want to see the rejection on the field? You guys are going to see a lot more of Mike now, he's one of my favorite characters!