"What?" Grant choked.

"Before you freak, hear me out." I examined his demeanor. He was nervous and confused.

He nodded. "Okay, yeah please explain."

"You care about me. I know it'll mean something to you. I know so many people who regretted their first time because it wasn't with someone who truly cared about them. I'm 22, it's not like I'm too young. You have a lot of experience. You can sort of let me know what to expect, maybe give me pointers and tell me what I did wrong. You're the only one I trust enough to do this with." I felt myself going all over the place with my speech.

"Give you pointers?" Grant looked at me, dumbfounded. "Rinnie, you've had too much to drink. You would've never said this sober."

"No, but I would've thought it."

He squinted at me. "What about us? What does that mean for us?"

"Nothing has to change." I scooted closer to him. "We just do this one time, have the experience and then we don't talk about it again. Just sex, no strings."

"Remind me not to give you anymore alcohol." He shook his head. I couldn't read his face.

"Grant, please." I said softly.

  He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I'm not going to lie. It's really hard for me to say no."

"Then don't." I looked at him, pleading.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to take advantage of you." He leaned back against the couch. I was still sitting on top of him.

"No, you aren't. It was my idea. I want this." I kept my eyes on him.

He laughed. "Rinnie, you're drunk. You probably won't remember any of this tomorrow."

"Yes, I will." I insisted.

Grant sighed. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. If you remember this conversation tomorrow and still feel the same way about it, my answer's yes. But, if you don't, we drop it."

I considered his proposal. It was fair, I decided. I felt kind of tired anyways. "Okay, that's fair."

"Alright. Great." He said, throwing me over his shoulders.

"What's happening?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at him.

  "You are getting some sleep." He entered his bedroom and sat me on the bed.

I crossed my arms. "What if I'm not tired?"

"You'll fall asleep." He leaned against the bed post, still in his police uniform.

  "You wear that uniform in here a lot?" My drunken state seemed to have led to word vomit.

Grant chuckled and shook his head. "You already know I like handcuffs." He lifted the covers. "Since when have you been so interested in all this anyways?"

"I don't know, I'm just curious. It's like this exciting second world you live in that I've been kicked out of." I stared at the covers. "What are you doing with the covers?"

"Tucking you in." He looked at me sternly. "It's late Rinnie. You've had a long day."

I scooted over and let him tuck me in. "You're so good to me."

"I'm starting to question if you know what the word good means." He turned and headed to the door. "Goodnight Rinnie, for real this time."

"Goodnight." I watched as he walked out the door. I fell right asleep. I began to dream. Fred snuck in the window and started dancing like a chicken. He told me I would 'never know what he knew'. I asked him to tell me then, but he said 'that wasn't part of the plan'. Then all his animals started coming through the window one by one, crawling up and laying down next to me. Grant then busted in and arrested Fred for breaking and entering. Fred broke down crying and saying he 'wanted the peacock to be his lawyer'. I was for some reason the judge at his trial and decided to allow it. We went through hours of court with a peacock defending the crazy-haired maniac. In the end, I sentenced him to three years. He jumped up and down, relieved. Vanessa and the twins were sitting front row, cheering.

The sunlight crept through the windows, waking me. I opened my eyes and sat up. Grant was standing in the doorway, smirking. He changed into a blue t-shirt and black sweatpants.

"Grant?" I asked through squinted eyes.

Grant moved to the end of the bed. "What were you dreaming about Rinnie?"

"What? What makes you think I was dreaming about anything?" I crossed my arms.

"You were sleep talking." He looked amused. "You were yelling something about a peacock representative, and you said my name a few times."

I stretched. "I had a weird dream about you arresting Fred. There may or may not have been a lawyer peacock." I shrugged. "Also, I'm thinking maybe I should change my major, become a judge. After court last night, I'm starting to think I'd be a good one."

I was working towards a business major with a minor in English. I enjoyed school, but my dream was to act. School just let out for break, and we were all trying to make the most of it.

Grant chuckled. "Do it. I'd really benefit from having someone on the inside."

I laughed. "What makes you think I wouldn't turn against you?"

"Hey! You know you'd never be able to do that."

I shook my head, smiling. "How long were you watching me?"

"Eh, just long enough to be creepy." He leaned against the bed frame.

"Sounds just like you." I put my pounding head in my hands.

  "Hangover's kicking in, huh?" He looked at my hands. I nodded. "Check the nightstand."

I turned to see Tylenol and a glass of water sitting on the nightstand beside me. "Thanks." I smiled at him. Then I noticed he put the picture of us I'd knocked down back on the nightstand. "You picked it up."

"It's where it belongs." He looked away nonchalantly. I remembered last night. "You hungry?"

I nodded. "A little."

"Vanilla Greek yogurt and one of those little bananas?"

He always made sure to have Greek yogurt and bananas for me when I came over. He knew it was my favorite. "Please."

He left and came back with the food. "Here you go madam."

"Thank you."

"Sure thing." He sat down on the edge of the bed, watching me. My mind once again returned to last night. The flashbacks came back in small waves. First, I saw myself leaping on top of him. Then, I saw me telling him I felt like I was missing out. My request followed shortly after. Finally, the deal we had made replayed in my head. I took a spoonful of yogurt and washed it down with a glass a water. I was grateful that Grant refused to do anything last night. I had been far too drunk for it to have ended well. I considered my sober opinion of the idea. Everything I said last night was true. Grant was someone who cared about me and I knew it would mean something. I still wanted experience before I settled down with someone forever. I took a deep breath, debating what this meant for me.

"You're being quiet." Grant looked at me skeptically.

"Just processing." I took another sip of my water.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He laughed.

"Thank you for last night." I scooched my back farther into the pillow.

"What'd I do last night?" His eyebrows raised.

"You did what you always do, you took care of me." I smiled at him.

He shrugged it off. "I didn't do anything that warrants a thank you. Therefore, I'm sorry but I can't accept it."

I rolled my eyes. "Grant."

"What?" He leaned in, his dimples showing.

"You didn't take advantage of me. It would have been so easy for you to." I met his gaze.

His blue eyes were wide for a second, but he quickly composed himself. "I don't think you would've been able to go through with it anyways."

"I would've." I retorted.

He looked at me for a minute. "Really? You think?"

I nodded. "I do."

"We are talking about the same thing here, right? Your not so small favor?" He searched my face, watching my expression to see if I knew what he was talking about. I did.

"Yes. We are." I sat my finished yogurt on the nightstand and moved to my banana.

Grant stood up. "I should let you finish your breakfast in peace."

"Stay." I patted the bed. "It's okay."

He hesitated. He walked slowly back into the room and sat down. "You're probably going to regret inviting me back in, I'm a handful."

"I doubt it." I said confidently. He stared at me. "Let's talk about it."

"What are we talking about?" He said, looking at the picture on the nightstand. I wondered if he was remembering us as kids like I was. How our relationship would be altered drastically if we did what I was suggesting. I knew this, but I wasn't so sure the change would be a bad change.

"Last night, we said some things." I didn't know how to start this conversation. "We made a deal." I took a deep breath, looking at his defined jawline. "Grant, I remember."

His eyes shifted from the picture to me. "Rinnie, it's cool. You were drunk. You don't have to explain anything to me, I get it."

"The thing is, I still feel the same way as I did last night. I've been thinking about it for awhile. I just needed a little liquid courage to say it out loud." I spoke slowly.

Grant watched me and shook his head. "You're not seriously asking me to hook up when you have a banana in your mouth. That's so not fair Rinnie."

I blushed. I hadn't even realized. "We made a deal." I laughed.