The brief interaction with Billy made my mind a jumble of emotions and incomplete thoughts. If Billy's voice could soothe me and scramble me this much, what would it be like when he was within blocks of me? Panic ebbed and flowed through my body with every inhale and exhale. It was just barely 5 pm, but I couldn't hold out any longer. I needed to talk to Sam.

He picked up on the second ring. "Hey, babe. Miss me?"

"Yes." I finally felt like I could breathe. I did miss him. I'd been missing him all afternoon.

"I'm sorry. Tomorrow, I'll be home." There was an edge of concern in his voice. "Are you at my place?"

"No, mine." I laid back on my bed.

"You can stay at mine if it helps," he offered.

"I may end up there; your bed is much more comfortable."

"Tell me about it." He let out a laugh.

"Hey, so you know my friends Tess and Tim?"

"Tess, dress picker extraordinaire. Yeah, they ring some bells." His toying voice was welcoming.

"They're going to be in town a week from Saturday. I was hoping you'd be free to meet them." Shyness crept into my tone.

"Ah, a week from Saturday." I could hear the torn pitch in his voice. He had plans. "Were you thinking about lunch or dinner?"

"Lunch," I quickly answered.

"Oh, that'd be perfect. I have a surprise for you that night, but we'd be able to do lunch." Relief saturated his voice.

"A surprise? I want to know now!" I teased in my best Veruca Salt voice.

"Well then, it wouldn't be a surprise," he teased.

"Ugh, fine. But I can confirm lunch?"

"Confirm away. Hey, I'm in an Uber and pulling up to my hotel. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yeah, of course. I love you."

"Love you too," and he was gone.

I laid back on my bed and let the lingering comfort of a plan wash over me. As much as Billy tore me apart, Sam and his dependability calmed me. After a few minutes in the post-Sam stupor, I gathered my things and headed to his place.

The days slipped by in a blur of final thesis papers. I spent more time at the library than at Sam's and my place combined. Before I knew it, Sam and I were heading out to meet Tess and Tim for lunch. The nerves of Sam meeting them had dissipated to excitement. I wanted to pull Sam deeper into my life, which meant him meeting my friends.

"Tell me again why we're going to Green Elephant?" Sam murmured as I clutched his arm to avoid slipping on the ice patches that littered the Portland sidewalk.

"Because it's good and will annoy Timmy," I reminded him again.

"And you make decisions to annoy your best friend?" He continued.

"I do."

"This should be interesting. And you're also the only one that calls him Timmy?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm sure he'd let Tess, but I've never heard her call him Timmy."

"Well, I'm sure this entire event will entertain me." Sam smiled down at me.

"Oh, I know it will. Tim is hilarious, and Tess is the sweetest girl in the entire world."

"Oh, I don't know about the sweetest," he murmured as he kissed my temple.

We got there first, which wasn't surprising since Tess was always running late and, therefore, always making Tim late. If it were anyone else, it'd drive Tim crazy, but Tess got away with everything. Sam and I settled into a table, and I tucked myself under his arm to stay warm from the cold air that came in each time the door opened.

"You look beautiful today," he whispered down to me. "Red suits you," he added as he pinched my red sweater. "It's very festive."

"Thanks. It felt fitting for the season." I smiled. "So, any chance I could get a hint as to what we're doing tonight?" I'd been trying to figure it out for days. Sam didn't understand that I didn't like surprises; I liked the expected.

"Nope, my lips are sealed."

"If I wanted to get it out of you, I'm pretty sure I could." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"In the middle of a restaurant that your friends will be coming to at any minute. I think I'll take my chances."

"Oh, really?" I teased as I pushed up, meeting his lips.

He wrapped his arms around me and leaned into the kiss. A guttural moan came from deep within him and caused my lips to curl into a smile.

"Hey, don't make me get the hose," came from above us.

"Timmy!" I peeled away from Sam and hopped up into Tim's outstretched arms. "I missed you so much!"

"I bet that's something you never expected to say," he teased, but pulled me tighter to him. "How have you been, Lil?" He murmured as he broke away from our hug. "You look thin; Mary would be very disappointed in you."

"She looks amazing," Tess chided, as she slapped Tim's shoulder.

"Talk about looking amazing," I noted as Tess and I pulled each other into an embrace. "You look incredible."

"I missed you." She sighed as she leaned heavier into me. "I spend too much time with boys. We can't go this long without seeing each other ever again!" She demanded as she pulled away.

"Agreed." I smiled and sunk into Sam's side. "So, this is Sam."

Tim outstretched a hand to him. "Nice to meet you, man. I've heard very little about you, but Tess has heard a lot." He nodded with a sly smile.

"I hope all good things," Sam offered as he took Tim's hand.

"Oh, I've heard very good things, and I'm a hugger," Tess added as she pulled Sam in for a hug.

We settled into the table and easy chatter.

Tim perused the menu. "Soy-meat, tofu; Lil, you haven't seen me in months. I only asked one thing of you, and you give me soy meat and tofu?" He slapped the menu down.

"Wait, I thought you wanted a vegan place," I teased.

"I take back everything I just said. I've not missed you, you look terrible, and I dislike you immensely." He crossed his arms in protest of the situation.

"Dislike me immensely?" I frowned. "Oh, Timmy, you can't dislike me immensely."

"I can, and I do," he stubbornly spoke.

"Ah, guys," Sam awkwardly interjected.

"Don't bother," Tess added. "Just let the children work it out themselves."

"Timmy," I said in a sing-song voice. "Tim-Tim-Aroo..." I continued.

"It won't work, Lil. I want meat, real, dead meat." Tim diverted his eyes from me.

"Oh, Timmy-Timmy-Doo, you can't be mad at me; I have too much dirt on you," I added.

Tim's eyes snapped to me. "Careful, Lil. We have dirt on each other."

"Yeah, but yours is embarrassing." I winked.

"I like dirt." Tess leaned in, more interested in our spat now.

"No dirt here," Tim quickly shot. "We're both clean as a whistle, right, my dear friend, Lil?"

"Sure thing, Timmy." I smiled at him and gave his shin a gentle kick.

"That was..." Sam shook off the exchange. "So, what brings you guys to town?"

I felt my muscles tense at the question.

"Oh, work," Tim absently said. "All the boring things," he picked up his menu to accent his disinterest in the question.

"Where are you guys staying?" I asked.

"Um, the Westin?" Tess said as she looked at Tim.

"I thought it was the Eastland?" Tim was still scouring the menu.

"It's both," Sam offered. "It used to be the Eastland, but it was bought out by Westin a few years ago. The sign is considered a landmark, so they kept it."

"Oh, cool," Tess smiled. "And confusing."

"You know, I heard Bob Dylan stays there when he's in town." Sam smiled down at me. "Did you guys know this one is a huge Bob Dylan fan? She's been to like a million of his shows."

"I think I knew that." Tim smiled.

"She doesn't listen to anything current. I played her a Billy Collins song a couple of weeks ago, and she didn't know who he was." He let out a chuckle at how seemingly adorable the anecdote was.

"I knew who he was; I just didn't know the song," I corrected.

"I think I'm going to get some soy meat," Tim interjected.

"Yeah," Tess said as she reviewed the menu.

"I get the spicy vegetable medley," I offered.

"Oh, I was looking at that," Tess murmured, lost in her thoughts.

"The pad thai is pretty decent here, too," Sam added.

"Yeah, you may want to get some for later." My mind flickered to Billy and how much he loved Pad Thai.

"Not a bad idea," Tim agreed with a subtle wink.

The server arrived, and we began our orders. Tim caught that I forgot to ask for no bell peppers and corrected the order before the server departed.

"Thanks, Timmy; you're a lifesaver." I smiled.

"No problem, I wouldn't want another Cleveland meltdown," he teased.

"Cleveland meltdown?" Sam asked.

"Clean as a whistle, right Timmy?" I reminded him.

"Yep, no Cleveland meltdown because someone forgot to ask for no peppers ever occurred," he toyed.

"I remembered; they messed up my order," I protested.

"You're the only one that remembers you remembering. It was three to one," Tim argued back.

"Ugh, you're the worst." This time, I gave him a real kick to the shin.

"I believe you, babe." Sam squeezed my shoulders.

"Thanks." I smiled up at him and gave his cheek a peck.

The rest of the meal continued in the same manner, with an easy flow of conversation peppered with bickering between Tim and me. I didn't realize how much I had missed Timmy until he was across from me, making terrible jokes and teasing me relentlessly, but when Sam excused himself to the bathroom, his teasing took a new level.

"So, you've never heard of Billy Collins?" Tim shot as soon as Sam was out of earshot.

"I never told him I didn't know who Billy was; I just didn't recognize the song," I protested.

"Which one was it?" Tess asked.

"Um, Sam said it was his first solo single," I shrugged.

"How did you manage not to hear it once? It was number one for like thirteen weeks!" Tim laughed so hard that he almost knocked over his water.

"I avoid the radio," I reminded them both.

"Well," Tess' voice came louder. "I like Sam. He seems sweet and totally smitten with you."

"Yeah, I don't hate the guy," Tim agreed. "And I was trying to dislike him," he added with a smirk.

"I like him a lot. He fits," I added as I watched Sam pace back to the table.

"What did I miss?" He smiled as he slid into the table.

"Oh, we were just talking about you," Tim offered.

I gave him a stern look back.

"What? He's not an idiot; of course, we were talking about him. I bet he didn't even need to use the bathroom; he was giving us a moment to discuss if we approved or not." Tim looked at Sam.

"Yeah, he's right. I didn't need to use the bathroom." Sam let out an easy laugh.

"Well, you fared well," Tess soothed.

"Yeah, man; I was trying to hate you, but I don't. So, more power to you, and good luck with this mess." Tim gesture to me. "Personally, I think she's more trouble than she's worth, but I can't seem to shake her."

I gave Tim another swift kick under the table, resulting in a loud howl from him.

"Now, now, children," Tess scolded, sounding suspiciously like Mary.

"Unfortunately, we have to get going," Tim added as he glanced at his watch.

A sudden surge of sadness filled me. "Yeah," I mournfully said. "I guess it's that time."

We exchanged hugs as we parted, promising not to go so long without seeing each other, but we all knew the odds were it would be another year or more before we'd see each other again.

Sam and I headed home in silence as I clung to his arm again. My mind whirled on the warm feeling of Tim's laugh and Tess' calming presence. The tears mounted in my eyes.

"I'm sorry you don't get to see them very often," Sam quietly soothed. "They seem like great people. I can see why you're so close to them."

His words pulled a tear from my eye. "I didn't realize how much I missed them." As we headed into his apartment building, I dipped my head deeper into Sam's shoulder.

"Why don't you take a shower? That always clears your head. And I still have your surprise. I think it'll distract you."

Sam was so sweet. I gently smiled at him before kissing his cheek and following his advice.