The evening was cool and crisp, and the fire was blazing. The sun was just starting to go down. They sat around the fire drinking margaritas while roasting hotdogs and marshmallows and munching on the various snacks Lexi had bought.

They hadn't had much luck fishing earlier; it was too cold, which suited Rocco just fine. After all her bragging, Dani would have to show off her fishing skills another day. He didn't mind another chance to spend time with her, for whatever reason.

Dani crouched next to Gavin, showing him how to roast his marshmallow properly. He was concentrating as hard as she was on it.

"Perfect!" She said happily as they pulled the stick from the fire.

"That's not how you do it!" Dante scoffed.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed a marshmallow, using the tried but true "set it on fire" method.

"Wow!" Gavin's eyes were as wide as saucers as he watched Dante blow the fire off the marshmallow.

"I wanna do like Uncle Dante!" He ran away from Dani and towards his uncle. The perfectly golden marshmallow was forgotten.

"Rejected." Dani laughed and sat down next to Lexi, who patted her leg.

"Well, boys and fire, hard to compete with that," Lexi said.

"True." Dani agreed.

They all watched for a bit as Dante helped Gavin with his marshmallow. Gavin's little eyes twinkled in delight as he blew out the fire.

"I mean, that does look more fun." Lexi giggled as she nudged Dani.

"It is fun, Lexi!" Gavin told her.

His face was a mess of melty marshmallows and chocolate. Alyssa would be having a conniption fit, Rocco thought as he watched Gavin. He was having so much fun. These were the memories he wanted to build with his son. This was just the beginning; he was growing more and more excited about their new life.

"This is so much fun!" Lexi agreed happily. "You know, Bobby's family has a cabin on a big lake. We should all go sometime."

"And there it is," Dante said in a dry voice. "I think she almost made it an hour this time."

"What are you on about?" Lexi looked up sharply at him.

"How you can't go five minutes without mentioning Bobby." Dante wrinkled up his nose at the name.

"Excuse me?" Lexi shot back, "So I'm excited about a guy. Sue me."

"I would, but I don't have a proper cause," Dante remarked.

"Dante, I thought I told you. if it's not funny at the office, it won't be funny out of it." Rocco cringed, to which Dante just rolled his eyes.

"I thought you liked him?" Lexi stood up, and Rocco could see she was getting angry.

"He's a grown man that calls himself Bobby," Dante said as if that answered everything.

"So what?" Lexi threw her hands in the air. "You always do this, Dante! It's so unfair!"

"I didn't do anything." He huffed a hint of defense to his voice.

"Maybe we should go make some more margaritas," Dani suggested.

"That is exactly what I need right now." Lexi stood up and rushed into the cabin, with Dani quickly following her.

"Gavi helps!" Gavin started running to catch up. Dani stopped and smiled at him, she opened the door, and he slipped inside with the two girls.

"Really, Dante?" Rocco groaned.

"What?" Dante exclaimed. "What did I do?"

"You do this every time. You nitpick and complain. You're ruining stuff for her before it gets off the ground."

"It's hardly my fault that she keeps picking the worst possible guys." Dante defended, "Besides, if she liked someone, why would my opinion matter?"

"A better question is, why do you get so bothered whenever she's dating someone?" Rocco countered, raising an eyebrow. "Harboring some not-so-brotherly feelings, Dante?"

"You, of all people, should not be talking to me about harboring hidden feelings," Dante said, and Rocco flinched at the words.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit." Dante gave him a hard look. "I'm not blind, Rocco. You haven't had that gross moony little expression on your face in a long time..."

"Dante, don't," Rocco warned.

He wasn't ready to talk about this stuff yet; what he felt in his heart and thought in his head was still so confusing.

"I don't think I have to warn you how dangerous this is..." Dante added in a more cautious tone.

"I said don't," Rocco said, his look softening into a pleading one.

Dante remained quiet, but he looked concerned.

**

Dani was blending some margaritas on the counter, and Gavin was watching her. Lexi was sitting at the table, still stewing over her little argument with Dante.

"I can't believe him!" Lexi muttered. She grabbed the tequila bottle and took a sip straight from it. Dani gently took it away from her and set it aside.

"Hey!"

"You're upset," Dani said softly, "This won't help."

"I thought this time would be different," Lexi said miserably.

"Lexi is sad?" Gavin ran over and climbed up on her lap.

"Oh, you sweet thing." Lexi gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek. "I'm just fine, don't you worry."

"Gavi, I bet your dad and uncle Dante need someone to make sure they don't slack off on the s'mores." Dani said, and he started nodding enthusiastically as he climbed down from Lexi's lap.

"I help!" He yelled as he raced back out the door. He'd probably had more than enough sugar at this point, but it was vacation.

"You okay?" Dani asked in a soft voice.

"Why can't I just be happy?" Lexi groaned. "I get it. Misery loves company, but we'll be in our nineties and STILL alone and miserable!"

"Not exactly alone..." Dani teased. "You'll be miserable together."

"It's ridiculous." Lexi sighed. "Every single time, there's something wrong."

"I think he just wants to protect you..." Dani tried to consider her following words carefully, but Lexi was already getting up with the tequila bottle.

"I know he does!" She was sighing and making her way toward the bedroom. "But just because he got screwed over doesn't mean I will."

"I'm sorry, Dani. I can't deal with it, not tonight," Lexi groaned. "I'm gonna drink a healthy amount of this; call Bobby and pass out."

Dani studied her friend carefully and decided tonight probably wasn't the night to get into her suspicions about Dante's feelings.

Lexi's cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glazed over. She was in no place to hear it. Not was it Dani business to tell her that anyway. It was still new. She was still getting to know this newfound group of friends, even though she felt herself blending in so easily. The last thing she needed to do was read something wrong and cause any trouble.

"I'm probably not far behind you." Dani nodded as Lexi gave her a feeble smile and turned to disappear into the room.

With the big climb ahead, the more sleep she got, the better.