Happy birthday to my good friend, Ava, I hope you have the time of your life today. - lyss.

"Okay well what about best two out of three?" Dakota gasps as we reach the picnic blanket, his hands on his knees.

I have to admit, I'm a bit winded as well. The distance from here to the pond is larger than I anticipated and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't impressive that Dakota made it there so fast the first time with me in tow.

"No." I deadpan, standing straight as water drips from my clothing, my jeans shorts feeling heavy. "I won fair and square."

"You did not." He rolls his eyes, "You got a head start."

"So?" I laugh, squeezing the liquid from my shirt, the cold water hitting my foot. "I still won."

He sigh before his hands cross and grasp the end of his shirt, pulling it over his head and twisting it in his hands. "Fine. But, since you won, you have to read me some of that poetry." I open my mouth to argue it he stops me, "It'll be my birthday present." He smiles innocently.

My face falls and I huff, half of my hair sticking to my back uncomfortably. "Okay fine. But I'm hungry so let's eat first."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." He winks, leaning down and taking everything out of the basket once again. This time two small towels emerge from it. I recognize them as the white material I spotted earlier.

"You planned to throw me in the water?" I ask him, my mouth agape as I watch him rub the water from his hair.

He looks at me sideways, his head bent as he dries off. "No, actually." His chuckling lightens my expression, "I have one of Sam's suits in there for you but I figured just jumping in there with you would be more entertaining."

"You're despicable." I shake my head, grabbing the other towel from his grasps and wrapping it around myself.

"So you've told me." He winks before looking down, using the towel to squeeze the legs of his Nike shorts.

I look away from him, my face burning when I realize what he's referring to. Back in the elevator when all he did was infuriate me, though not much he changed since then, he tried to kiss me being his stupid self. I find it funny to look back on now even though it's only been one week.

"Ready to eat?" He asks me, gaining my attention. I nod in response, sitting down atop the towel and praying the sun will dry me soon.

I grab a sandwich, unwrapping it and taking a bite. My stomach growls hungrily as I take another chunk from it. "So," I begin, swallowing. "What do your parents do?" I ask him.

Dakota shrugs, chewing at his own sandwich. "My dad is a professor at the community college part time but he also writes a ton of theological novels and all that. He's helped with a few of the college's text books as well." He tells me, taking another bite.

I nod, my eyebrows raising. "That's actually really cool I'd love to talk to him about that." I say, interested.

Dakota raises a brow at me, "Seriously?" He asks with a chuckle.

I laugh, tucking my wet hair behind my ear. "Yeah for real. Reading is something I love and I find writers intriguing. They always have something interesting to say. All you have to do is ask and they'll go off on all these amazing thoughts they've been having." I explain excitedly.

He smiles a little at this but he looks to be repressing it a bit. "Interesting." Dakota says, his green eyes cast downward at the food, looking deep in thought.

"What?" I chuckle. "What did I say?"

He quickly shakes his head, his eyes meeting mine. "Nothing. Want some lemonade?" His hands are already twisting the cap of the beverage loose.

"Yes please." I smile as he pours it into a clear glass and hands it to me. My hands grasp it to still find it slightly chilled. "It's still cold." I say, surprised.

Dakota nods towards the basket, "It doubles as a cooler. The inside it lined like one."

"Intriguing." I smile softly as I sip the tarte liquid, feeling immediately refreshed. "Did your mom pack this for us?" I ask suddenly, a small smirk on my lips as he gasps.

"What? Of course not." His mouth says but his facial expression holds a lighthearted smile.

"Mmkay." I chuckle, siping at my lemonade. After I've had enough, I set it aside on the grass and lean back on my hands.

While Dakota continues eating, I look around taking in my surroundings once again. It's hard to believe that somewhere so beautiful was almost hidden right under my nose. To be honest, I've never even been on these backroads.

Maybe this is the downside to my slightly introverted personality. I've never even tried to wonder if there was more outside of my comfort zone. A part of me envies Dakota and his never ending seize-the-day attitude. Another part of me can't help but believe that maybe he was brought into my life for a reason. Maybe I need a friend who will push me to live and quite literally push me into water.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks me, rolling up the paper, his sandwich now gone while mine still remains half of what is was in my lap.

I purse my lips to the side, thinking on whether or not I should express my thoughts. "I was just thinking about how little I've forced myself to live."

He gives me a serious look, crossing his legs in front of him. "How so?"

I shrug. "I've always liked the inside of my comfort zone a lot better than stepping out of it. I favor books and my imagination over doing and experiencing. I don't regret the life I've lived so far I'm just thinking that maybe I'd like to change it up a bit." My smile at the end pulls one out of him.

He nods. "Would this have something to do with almost dying in an elevator?" He chuckles a little, taking a drink from his glass with his green eyes on me.

My eyebrows furrow. I hadn't even thought about that. "No." I decide. "I don't necessarily live my life in fear because I wasn't afraid to look for a solution or keep a level head when we were in there. I think it's mostly just real life. You know, expressing my own emotions and connecting with the world around me." I explain, the more I talk the more I realize that what I'm saying is true.

"Hm." Dakota hums, "I think we all get that way."

"Really? Even you?" I tease with a smile but on the inside I genuinely find it hard to believe that Dakota finds it difficult to express emotion and live on the edge.

He chuckles at my expression, setting down his glass as he looks away, his green eyes seemingly set on the slightly murky pond in the distance. "Believe or not, I actually don't have a hard time expressing my every thought."

"No way." I say sarcastically, earning an eye roll from him.

"Shut up." His head shakes at me disapprovingly, "As I was saying, it's not hard for me to express my thoughts but, like most people, my emotions is where the expression stops."

I pause, licking my dry lips. Reaching for my lemonade again, I think on this before replying, "I think every person in this day and age must find it hard to express feelings. Because, in a world where we can do everything at a distance with WiFi, phones, etcetera, a lot of people don't even know how to communicate. I think that's why I find it more comforting to be surrounded by books and being unconnected from the world at Books and Bagels. I feel more...I don't know, free to know myself better I guess." I finish my rant with surprising ease even though Dakota's eyes have been locked on me throughout the entirety of it.

We both pause but it's a comfortable kind of silence. The kind where you know you've had a good conversation and you're both just kind of replaying it in your mind.

"I think you're right." He finally breaks the silence. "And I also want to congratulate you on actually roping me into a semi serious conversation. It's a feat that not many have accomplished." His joke brings a smile to my face.

"Well then I feel honored." I laugh, reaching for a strawberry and plopping it into my mouth.

"You should." He shrugs nonchalantly and I roll my eyes at his statement, grabbing a few more berries.

"What's the laptop for?" I speak through a mouthful of food as I cover my mouth with one hand and point to the other in the direction of the MacBook sitting beside him.

Dakota looks where I'm pointing and grabs it, opening the laptop. "I thought you might want to watch a movie before we go back to the house for the party."

"I'm down if you want to." I say before admitting, "I do like just enjoying the day though."

He looks up, his eye meeting mine with a smile. "Yeah, me too. I'll put it away."

"Later then?" I ask hopefully.

"Later it is." He nods once, sliding the device I to the basket and closing it carefully. "More strawberries?" His hands pick up the container of red treats and it's held up to me. I quickly accept the offer, grabbing a handful.

"Don't mind if I do." I take a bite of one before chewing slowly and swallowing. "So you told me what your dad does but not your mom. Is she a stay at home type of mom?" I ask him curiously.

He considers this, running a hand through his now mostly dry hair. Lucky him because, sadly, mine is still a wet moppy mess. "She is but she also volunteers a lot at food pantries, hospitals, homeless shelters, you name it. She also has a lot of hobbies. Lately she's been super into yoga since Winter's mom is a yoga instructor." He chuckles as if the thought of his mom is stretchy pants saying namaste to a bunch of other middle aged women is a hilarious thought.

"That's cool." I nod, "I've always wanted to try doing yoga." I tell him.

"Really? Me too." He gasps.

"You're lying." I deadpan.

"You got me. I think it's weird but if I saw you doing it I don't think I'd find it weird anymore." Dakota smirks, earning a loud laugh from me.

I shake my head at him. "You somehow manage to make everything sound weird." I laugh again.

He chuckles, looking like some odd version of Casanova over there with his sun bleached hair and bare chest which makes me laugh even harder. "It's my specialty I guess."

"I suppose so." I finish laughing, also finishing off the last of the strawberries. "We're out of snacks." I stare sadly.

Dakota holds up a finger before reaching into the basket and digging around for a moment before coming out with two pockets of skittles, one soir and one normal.

"How did you fit all this stuff in that basket?" I ask, bewildered.

"I didn't" He shrugs, "My mom did."

"Oh right." I mumble, reaching for the sour skittles but he quickly snatches them from my reach.

"But," He enunciates, "I did pack the skittles. And the sour ones are also my favorite."

I frown at him, staring longingly at the sour treats. "But they're my favorite." I say sadly, earning a stern stare from him.

"Fine." He sighs, "We can share. On one condition." Holding up a single finger to signal for me to wait, he continues, "We can share the original and keep the sour in the middle but when one of us wants to take one, we have to tell a secret." Dakota says mischievously with a grin, opening the bright green packet and sticking it in the middle of us on the blanket.

"Is this a real thing?" I ask.

"No I made it up." He replies casually, opening the red packet and popping an orange skittle in his mouth and then holding it out to me.

"Yay a yellow one." I munch on the candy happily but give him a confused look when he looks at me oddly. "What?" I ask.

"The yellow ones are the worst. Everyone knows that the yellow are the worst and the red and orange ones are the best." He says as if I'm some sort of alien from another planet.

"Well not me." I scoff, "So it works out. Now I get all the yellow ones."

He raises a brow at me. "Okay fine that works." His hand reaches for the sour skittle bag but I slap it away. "Ouch."

"You have to tell a secret." I say smartly, crossing my arms.

"I was hoping you forgot."

"Well I didn't." I chuckle, grabbing a few skittles from the red packet and popping them into my mouth.

"Well..." He begins, thinking, "When I was in my junior year, I met this girl at my friends birthday party and obtained this huge crush on her."

"And?" I egg him on.

"And I never told anyone about it because she ended up being his cousin that he really hated so instead of telling him, I kissed her at his Christmas party." His brows bob up and down once and he eats a purple sour skittle.

"You're so stupid." I laugh, shaking my head. "What happened to the girl?" I ask him curiously.

He smirks, leaning closer. "Why? Jealous?" He winks teasingly.

I laugh, pushing him away. "No, I'm definitely not. Just curious as to what happened to the love of your life."

"More like love of my two weeks." He snorts, "And she ended up being evil just like Cody said so I ditched." His nonchalant explanation makes me chuckle.

"I see. I'm assuming Cody was your friend that turned out to be her cousin?"

"Yeah." He sighs, "We're still friends we just don't see each other much. I haven't heard from him in a while."

"Maybe she killed him."

"Yeah probably." He smiles brightly, "Or he found out I kissed his cousin."

"That's more likely."