Wait to start the song.

It wasn't the rattling of Josh's window that woke him from his latest nightmare about Jenna. It was Jim shooting up in bed so quickly that it nearly gave Josh a heart attack. He scrambled out of bed when Jim ran to growl up at the window. Josh could barely breathe, grabbing his baseball bat out from a box under his bed before peeking out of the window. Solána raised an eyebrow at him from behind the glass. It was raining outside, making her thick curly hair hang a bit heavier. He dropped the bat and shoved the window open for her, whispering to Jim to be quiet, which the dog obediently did.

"Do you know what 'leave the window open' means?" Solána asked him irritably.

She slid her backpack off before taking off her raincoat. It was dark outside, even darker than it should be due to the ominous black clouds blocking the moon. Solána shivered slightly as she unzipped her backpack and pulled out a gallon-sized bag of poppyseed muffins. Jim edged closer to her with interest.

"I forgot," Josh told her quietly, already digging through his closet for something she could put on to replace the wet jeans and t-shirt she was wearing. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she replied a bit irritably, pulling what looked to be a homemade dog biscuit out of her backpack and giving it to Jim, who had clearly decided she was the greatest person he'd ever met. She smiled though when Josh handed her pajama pants and a hoodie. "Are we having a sleepover now?" She asked amusedly.

He smiled nervously before sitting down on his bed. Jim hopped up next to him. Solána handed Josh the bag of muffin before shuffling out of her wet clothes. She made no attempt to hide her pale green thong and lack of bra from Josh. He averted his eyes anyway while she dressed in his clothes. She climbed onto his bed with him then.

"Jenna wasn't too happy you weren't there for lunch or to walk her home. Hayley said you looked pretty freaked when you left in the middle of first period though," Solána told him calmly as she opened the bag of muffins for him and handed him one. "Eat that. It should help."

Anxiety filled Josh though. "Why would it help?" He'd been offered too many secretly toxic things to eat in this town to trust these.

Solána giggled. "They're comfort food." She broke a piece of his muffin off and popped it into her mouth, smiling at him as she lied down on her back atop his bed. "You're a worrier, aren't you?"

Josh scoffed, lying down next to her and taking a bite of his muffin. "You have no idea," he told her once he'd swallowed it down. It was probably the best muffin he'd ever had in his entire life.

"Is that why Jim has a service dog vest?" Solána asked conversationally, pointing to the vest on the floor.

"Yeah. I forgot to bring him to school today. I was supposed to," he told her simply, scratching Jim behind the ears. "Can I tell you something weird?"

The girl beside him smiled as she broke off a piece of his muffin and ate it. "Fire away."

Josh hesitated before telling her, "Jim really liked Jenna until after I left her house. He kept growling at me until I showered, and he growled at Jenna's underwear today too. I don't know why he's doing that."

Solána looked confused. "He was growling at you? What does that have to do with Jenna?"

"It was after Jenna and I...you know...for the first time. He kept growling until I threw up a bunch of those weird pomegranate seeds, and then he wouldn't leave my side. He keeps looking around my room like he's expecting something to come into it too," Josh explained.

Of course, now that someone was actually here to witness that, Jim was completely calm. He was fast asleep with his head on Josh's thigh. Still, Solána looked down at him for a moment before looking to Josh.

"That is weird," she agreed. "I'll see what I can find out. You should relax right now though. Stop being so tense. The only thing you have to fear right now is the wrath of my father if he ever finds out I've been talking to you, but he's on a business trip this week."

Start the song. It's After the Storm by Mumford and Sons.

Josh sighed, looking up at his ceiling. "I want to go back to Columbus so badly."

When tears gathered in his eyes, Solána rested her head on his chest and draped an arm across his waist, pushing his shirt up just a little to soothe her fingertips along his side. Her wild hair was in his face, but he didn't try to move it. His tears made his vision blurry anyway as he stared up at the ceiling.

"You can cry if you want to," she told him softly. "I won't tell anyone."

Josh didn't dare though. Today had already been humiliating enough. "Are you sleeping here?" He asked her.

She kissed his shoulder gently before snuggling closer against him. "Your house was my last stop tonight. I can stay here as long as you need me to," she told him gently. "Even if you just want me to stay until you fall asleep."

That seemed just as embarrassing as crying in front of her, but he was probably going to wind up doing that anyway. "Can you stay?" He asked nervously.

Solána answered him with an affirmative hum and a soft kiss to his neck. "I'm not going anywhere, baby. You just close your eyes and get some sleep."

Josh glanced at her nervously, but found himself being surrounded by the soothing smells of various fresh herbs. His eyelids were becoming heavy, and his body was relaxing. Solána's hand kept rubbing his side gently as he drifted off to sleep, hearing Jim snore comfortably beside him.

---

Josh woke up before his alarm, suddenly feeling like something was terribly wrong. Jim lifted his head when Josh started to sit up, but Solána mumbled something to him sleepily and laid him back down. Josh's eyes were shooting all over his room, trying to find the source of his anxiety. His room was exactly how he'd left it though.

"You're okay," Solána told him drowsily, snuggling closer against his side. "Deep breaths. Relax your muscles."

The scent of herbs was back, but Josh couldn't control the tension in his body. "Was someone else in here?" He asked Solána fearfully.

She lifted her head, clearly having been asleep this whole time. "What? No. Baby, you're just having nightmares. That's completely normal. Just try to relax. I've got you."

Josh was getting too anxious though. "I don't know if I can relax," he told her shakily.

Smut warning! Proceed to the next author's note.

He was surprised when Solána started to kiss his neck lazily. She slid one of her legs up to hook around his as she trailed open-mouthed kisses along his throat. Her delicate and perfectly manicured hand slid his shirt up, tracing the lines of his stomach with her nails gently. Her hand slid down his stomach before light rubbing at the front of his sweatpants. His breath caught in his chest as she massaged him through his pants.

"You don't have to-" He cut himself off with a quiet moan as her hand slid into his sweatpants before she was giving him the same attention through his boxers.

"Better?" She asked him with a sleepy grin.

He nodded, his eyes falling shut as her hand disappeared into his boxers. Her touches started off slow and soft, but once she'd pulled her hand out and wetted her palm with spit, her movements became more diligent in getting him off. She sped up a bit and squeezed him a little tighter, alternating between kissing his neck and telling him all about how sexy he looked and how good he was going to feel once he came as she edged him closer and closer to his release. When he did come, it was an instant relief. He moaned a bit too loud, making Solána smile as she wiped her hand off on his sweats and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

It's safe to read again. It's important that you know Solána gave Josh a handjob.

"Can you relax now?" Solána asked him gently.

Josh nodded, all of his muscles feeling like they were made of raw dough. "Definitely."

She chuckled, shifting to snuggle against his side again. "Get some sleep then. I'll wake you up before I leave in the morning so you can get ready for school."

"I'm not going back to school until next week," he told her, slinging an arm around her waist as he closed his eyes.

"Looks like I'll have to make a few more house calls then if I want to hang out with you. Don't expect an orgasm every time I come over though. I'm serious about us just being friends," she told him as she burrowed her face against his chest and closed her eyes. "Besides, I'm already risking making my hair ridiculously frizzy by staying the night here."

Josh smiled slightly. "I owe you one, I guess. Thanks. Really. It means a lot," he told her.

"You owe me two," she mumbled against his chest. "Now shut up and sleep. You may not have school tomorrow, but I do."

He nodded, relaxing into the bed beneath him. He could smell herbs again. They were soft smells like sage and lavender. He yawned quietly, letting sleep pull him under again. This time, he didn't have a nightmare. He just dreamed about sitting in a garden with Solána while she planted bright yellow flowers. They didn't speak to each other in the dream, but Josh felt safe in it. He didn't feel afraid like he did when he dreamt of Jenna. Solána was a comforting presence, not a dominating one. Despite her confidence and outspoken personality, she also excelled in nurturing. The fact that she'd brought him comfort food tonight was proof enough of that. He liked dreaming about her. He wished he could dream about her all the time.

---

True to her word, Solána woke Josh up before she left. She kissed him awake softly, causing his eyelids to flutter open in confusion. He smiled into it when he realized who was kissing him though. She giggled, sitting back look him in the eye as she stroked a sleeping Jim's back.

"Thanks for the sleepover," she whispered to him. "I left the muffins on your desk. Try to eat more muffins than pomegranates today," she said with a smirk.

He laughed tiredly, slinging an arm across his face to hide his blush. She snickered, climbing back up onto the bed and straddling his hips. She was still wearing his clothes, but she'd tucked her own into her backpack. She laced her fingers with his, grinning at him warmly.

"You know what I think?" She asked him cheerfully.

"What do you think?" He asked amusedly.

"I think," she told him seriously despite how wide she was smiling, "that you and me are going to be best friends."

He laughed. "Oh yeah? And why's that?"

She pressed their linked hands down against his pillow beside his head, resting her forehead against his and giggling. "Because I trust you, and I want you to be able to trust me. I want to be able to protect you from the weird shit that goes on in this town and to make sure you're eating more than just Jenna's pussy," she said through a giggle, especially when Josh blushed again. "And you're just a genuinely good person. You let me borrow clothes and let Jim come across the street to meet me and Ashley. I think you're being manipulated for your good nature, and that's bullshit. I'm on your team. Tag me in if you need me. Got it?"

"Got it," he replied with a smile.

Solána grinned, kissing his forehead softly. "Get some sleep, best friend." She looked to Jim then. "Take good care of him, okay, baby? He's a special guy."

Jim whined his agreement, wagging his tail. She smiled, kissing Jim's forehead as well before releasing Josh's hands and climbing off of him. She pulled her raincoat back on before slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Have a good day at school," Josh told her tiredly as he watched her drag his desk chair over to the window and climb up onto it.

"Have a good day hanging with Jim. I'll come back soon with more goodies and gossip," she told him cheerfully as she climbed up onto the windowsill and eased herself through the window.

Josh watched her go, letting out a quiet sigh when she disappeared from view. Being around her was so much better than being around Jenna. She was so calming, and it was so easy for Josh to feel comfortable around her. Apart from the terrible company she kept, Josh couldn't find a single flaw about her.

If Josh had to make a checklist of all of the qualities he'd want in a person to spend the rest of his life with, he'd just be describing Solána. That was so clear to him when Jenna wasn't around. Jenna was obviously gorgeous and sexy, but Solána was gorgeous and sexy and a good cook and kind and comforting and self-assured and reliable and funny and supportive and brave. She was amazing. How could he ever want anyone besides Solána now that he knew the perfect girl existed, and she lived right next door?

It only took a few minutes for Josh to fall back to sleep, feeling like a loser when he hugged the pillow Solána had slept on to his chest. It still smelled like the dizzying aroma of sage and lavender that clung to her skin at all times, soothing his anxiety and clearing his mind of anything unpleasant. Yeah. He and Solána were definitely going to at least be best friends.