Joey kidnaps me early in the morning. He drags me out of bed in a tired and grumpy state, and he's lucky I don't gouge his eyes out.

"I'm taking you somewhere," he says once we're safely into the kitchen.

"What? Where? Why?" I ask, rubbing my eyes. What is it, two in the morning? How is he wearing a smile right now?

"I can't tell you where-"

"Has nobody gotten the memo that I hate surprises-"

"-but I can tell you why. You're always spending time with that icky boyfriend of yours and I want to have a bestie morning," Joey says with another huge grin. "Now go put some clothes on and get in my car."

"I'm wearing clothes," I lean against the wall and close my eyes. "Can I sleep in the car at least?"

"I guess so. But you won't have a really long nap. We aren't going far. We're going to my favorite place on planet earth, though," Joey says.

"Oh, gosh," I stand up again and walk towards the staircase. I take each step slowly and feel like I'm going to fall over in exhaustion. When I reach the doorway to mine and Clarin's room, my hand stops on the handle. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It's just a room. And all I need to do is take my clothes and walk back out. No big deal.

I hurry inside and shuffle through my bag on the floor, where I take out a pair of jean shorts and a Led Zeppelin T-shirt. Then I all but sprint out the door and into the bathroom to change. There. That wasn't so bad.

Once I make it back downstairs where Joey is waiting for me, I'm somewhat more awake than I was. He's shoving a piece of toast down his throat and hands me a banana. Through his disgustingly full mouth, I can somewhat make out the word, "Eat."

I take it and peel it like a civilized human and I can see the impatience on his face as I eat the banana bite by bite. I stare at him the entire time and he is tapping his foot anxiously. When I near the end, he lets out a groan and pulls the peel at of my hand to slam dunk it into the garbage can with all his might.

"Come on, we've got to go have a good time already!" Joey exclaims, dragging me out the door and to his car.

"Chill," I roll my eyes as he practically throws me into the passenger seat.

"Excite."

"Don't tell me what to do," I let out a huff as I put on my seatbelt. He's the one who dragged me out of the house at six a.m. "Tell me where we're going."

As he peels out of the neighborhood, he glances over at me with a huge grin. "Don't tell me what to do."

And not within five minutes do we pull up in front of the last place I would have expected. This is a huge building full of blow-up bouncy houses and slides and crap. My eyes widen in disbelief. I turn to him, prepared to laugh.

"Wait," Joey says, holding up both hands in surrender. "You remember everything. So can you think back to all our many conversations and tell me why I brought you here?"

I tilt my head at him, narrowing my eyes in concentration. A bouncy house place? I have no idea. But then it hits me.

"Oh," I nod. "You and Owen met here. You were... What, nine?"

"Ten," Joey corrects. "And yes, that is correct."

"And... You spent every summer when he came back up here with him? Until you moved down to Pearlin University. Yeah, I remember."

"Good girl," Joey grins at me, ruffling my hair. "Now let's get in there and I'll show you how it's done."

"Wait," I say, grabbing his shoulder before he opens his car door. "Aren't we too old? Are we even allowed in there?"

"Brinley, Brinley, Brinley," Joey sighs, shaking his head. "We are never too old for some childish fun. And besides, this place is basically shut down. We'll most likely be the only ones in there, they won't care."

"Are you telling me this from experience?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

He only grins and hops out of the car. I follow behind him in a hurry and when we enter the place, I realize that he was right. It is basically shut down. It's completely silent and smells like dirty socks, and one sorry employee is sitting at the desk with his face on his hand looking like he's ready to die of boredom.

"Welcome to Bounce-A-Palooza, how may I help you?"

"We want two entries, please," Joey says, pulling out a twenty dollar bill and handing it to him.

"Sure, sure," the guy says, giving us both a wristband and shooing us into the play area.

"I'm filing a complaint about the customer service," Joey mutters as we walk over to the shoe drop-off.

I grin and elbow him. "Because you would have a good attitude if you worked in a giant rotting shoe."

"You get used to the smell," Joey smirks. "And if I worked here, I would be jumping all over these things because nobody would be here to stop me."

I nod thoughtfully, looking around. "Where to first?"

"No, no, no, that's not how this works," Joey shakes his head. "You run. I'm coming after you in precisely one minute."

I don't waste any time. I sprint away as fast as I can towards the back of the building. The furthest bouncy house is way too obvious. I get there, though, then sneak all the way around the backs of every single bouncy house until I reach the front of the building again.

But the problem is, when I peer around the corner, Joey is no longer there. My heart skips a beat.
He's out there somewhere. Crap.

I back up against the wall as far concealed as I can get. Is this what it feels like to be hiding from a murderer in your house? Because that's how terrified I am right now.

I decide to take a very dangerous risk and look around the corner again. Joey isn't there either. So I do something certifiably insane. I walk out of my hiding spot and full out sprint across the no man's land.

"Oh, I've got you now, Blondie!" Joey yells from across the building.

Instead of hiding behind a bouncy house like would probably be smartest, I jump into the obstacle course one and scurry through it like my life depends on it.

I can hear Joey's footsteps behind me and all the adrenaline in my body kicks in to drag me through this course like nobody's business. When I slide the final slide, I think I've achieved victory and I'm about to celebrate and sprint the heck away...

But Joey is right at the exit to greet me. He tackles me down to the ground, laughing in my face.

"Ha-hah!" Joey says, still sitting on top of me. "I am the master."

"Ugh," I groan, shoving him off of me. I hate losing. Call me a sore loser, go ahead.

My butt starts vibrating and for a second I am very concerned but then I remember that we're in the 21st century and I own a cell phone.

"Hel-"

Joey rips the phone from my grasp and presses it to his own ear. "Hello? Owen? What do you need? No! I kidnapped your girlfriend. Fine, let's see how good your memory is. Where did we meet?"

And then he hangs up and hands it back to me. I pocket it and scowl at him.

He just grins at me and then stands and bolts away before I can do anything. "Come and get me, B!"

I groan and pull myself off the ground. No way he's getting away with this. I'm going to introduce his face to the ground and see how he likes it.

I run in the complete opposite direction that he went, climbing around back like I did last time. I keep my eyes and ears peeled so that I can catch that culprit. I finally hear shuffling and I know where he is. I turn around and silently move towards the entrance of this gigantic slide. And I duck my head to climb the ladder.

"Nice try!" Joey yells with a wicked laugh and he goes whizzing past me on the slide.

I waste no time being angry. I hurdle myself across the barrier and slide down as well, sprinting as fast as my legs will carry me. And then once I'm in reasonable distance, I chuck myself at him and fly through the air a full four feet before I come in contact with him and we both hit the ground.

I start cracking up and so does he and I just feel happy, so happy for the first time in too long.

"I love you, B," Joey says, turning over to smile at me.

"Do you?" I smirk at him and stand up.

"Wait-"

But I'm already running away with a psychotic laugh. I run up the stairs of another random bouncy house and sit at the top where I have a perfect view of the entire Bounce-A-Palooza.

"You can't hide from me forever, B!" Joey yells, but instead of intimidating me, all he does is make me snicker. I can see him coming from a mile away.

It takes a full five minutes of me sitting up here to get bored and then I just slide down and give up my plan of seeking him out from above.

And then I hear an evil laugh and I'm sprinting again in the opposite direction.

I'm stopped suddenly with my heart in my throat. Strong arms wrap around my waist. I'm lifted into the air and spun around, my own laughs echoing through the entire building. That familiar smell makes my entire face light up in a giant grin.

"Owen."

"Hello, Brinley," he says, setting me down with his arms still tight around me from behind. His chin rests on my shoulder and when he talks, his breaths tickle my ears. "I didn't even see you there."

"Oh, shut up," I smile, leaning my head back.

"Ugh, PDA," Joey whines, walking around the corner. "This is why I had to drag you out so early. I hate third wheeling."

"Then don't," Owen says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

Joey rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "You foil all my plans, Michaels."

"Hey, you were the one who said I could come if I found you," Owen protests.

"I didn't think you would possibly remember," Joey groans and rolls his eyes again.

"Like I wouldn't remember where we met," Owen scoffs.

"Because you love me?"

"Because I love you."

And then Owen releases me and throws his arms around Joey. They have their broseph moment and for this short time I realize how awkward it really is to third wheel.

"Hey," I say, pushing my hair back behind my ears. "Can we get out of here? I need fresh air. Can we go to the beach?"

"Not today," Owen smiles. "We'll go to the beach tomorrow."

"Ugh," I groan.

"Just wait, you won't be sad you did," Owen says. "Why don't we go get some frozen yogurt and call it good?"

"Hey, today is not your day with Brinley, it's mine. I make the plans," Joey says, throwing an arm across my shoulders.

"Fine, go for it," Owen nods.

"Why don't we get some frozen yogurt and call it good?"

<•>•<•>

The day is full of laughter and smiles, and I could not have asked for anything else. This is what I've needed. With Jonathan and Ian in jail and all my mind issues finally sorted out, spending time with my friends is all I could ask for.

"You okay?" Owen asks, walking over to me.

I'm sitting in this little rocking chair and staring out the window. The sky is dark and it looks like it's going to rain. The sight and smell makes me all too content. But I can see why he would mistake all this for me feeling depressed.

"Yes," I say with a smile.

"Good." He leans over and plants a kiss on my forehead.

"It's going to rain."

"It is," he nods.

"I'm going to dance in it."

"Okay."

"And you're going to join me," I say, turning back to him. His bright green eyes catch mine. He shakes his head with a heart stopping grin.

"Am I?"

"Yes."

Five minutes later, I'm in my cute little red rain boots and blue jacket, blinking as I stare up at the grey sky. Owen stands beside me, hand held in my own. I run out towards the forest of trees and drag him with me.

Rain drops are coming down harder and harder by the second. I slip on the muddy ground and almost fall on my face, but luckily I had the foresight to grab onto Owen to save myself. That safety only lasts about one second before we both end up skidding to the ground.

My jeans, sweater, boots, and hair all turn dark brown with mud all at once. I crack up laughing when I roll over and find Owen next to me trying to brush the mud out of his hair.

He laughs as well, pushing himself off the ground. Once he's successfully stable on both feet, he helps me off the ground too.

"Come on," I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him further into the woods.

"Where are you taking me?" Owen asks, voice hardly audible over the rain and thunder.

"You'll just have to wait and see," I smile at him.

"It isn't safe out here when there's lightning," Owen says.

"Like the lightning would hit us," I roll my eyes. "No way."

Trudging through muddy woods with now-muddy clothes is a rather difficult task. I fall about five more times before we actually arrive where I want to be.

This is the little clearing in the trees that Owen once claimed to be his hiding place. It contains only a little bench and a cooler full of random items.

I look over at Owen to find a smiling expression.

"I should've known," he says, walking into the opening where no trees provide shelter from the raindrops shooting down at us.

I run out across the rain, laughing like an idiot. I'm already completely drenched and the droplets stream down my face. I stand right in the middle, eyes closed, arms outstretched and twirl around. When I laugh, rain falls into my mouth and it makes me laugh even harder.

Owen's arms come around my waist and stop me momentarily before he lifts me up and spins me around, just as he did earlier today. I smile as he rests his chin on my shoulder and the rain makes our shirts cling together. He presses his lips to my cheek. I turn my head to face his completely and then he grabs my face with both hands and kisses me. I wrap my arms around his middle and trace his spine with the tips of my fingers. The rain pouring down both of our faces makes me smile and when he pulls away his green eyes illuminate in the darkness.

"This moment," I say, "is one I never want to forget."

"And you don't have to," Owen says. I lean in and rest my head on his shoulder, my arms wrapping tighter around him.

He's right. I never have to forget again.

**************
Please go read Just Friends<3 thanks guys