By the time Friday rolls around, it's like the weekdays have flown by. I try to savor each day spent in the store and at least try to have fun with Sam but it's like every day slips through my fingers even faster than the last.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks me as we push a large cart of books through the isles. "You seem a little more...down than usual."

I sigh, stopping us at the coloring book section (one of the largest in the store by the way considering we carry both adult and children's coloring books). "I'm okay. Just thinking about how fast this month is going to fly by." I give her a sad smile.

Sam hands me a stack of Frozen coloring books as I slide them into their correct places. "I feel you." She tells me before pausing and asking, "Why are we restocking when we're closing in less than a month?"

I think on this, stopping my movement. "Huh. I guess I didn't think about that." I reply quietly, "Maybe it was too late to cancel the shipment? Amelia didn't know about the closing until after she ordered the new books."

"I guess." Sam shrugs, hanging me another stack from the cart. "This just doesn't seem fair."

"What do you mean?" I ask her, pushing the coloring books into place.

"I mean...where are all these books going to go? Is he going to donate them? Is he going to ship them to his house and sell them on eBay? Like, come on, there's probably thousands of books in here. This is the biggest book store I've ever heard of so why shut down so early when there's still so many books? It just doesn't make sense." Samantha mumbles, leaning against the shelf with her arms crossed.

Something I've noticed about Sam is that her opinion is very important to her. She likes to be heard and she's honestly rarely wrong...at least so far. Her moral compass is strong and that's something I respect about her.

"Sam..." I sigh, "I think that the more we question things the more we'll get angry and the less we'll enjoy our last few weeks here. I'm sure Mr. Ward has his reasons for closing. He's probably just losing way too much money and that's a common thing with books stores. Especially one with three stories." I snort, grabbing a stack of Tangled story coloring books and struggling with them until I manage to get all of them on the shelf.

Sam stands there, brows pulled together and face scrunched up. I look over at her with a raised brows. "You seem to be thinking awfully hard over there." I chuckle.

A small smile perks up her lips. "I am actually."

"Care to share?" I ask her, continuing the task at hand and not really bothering to ask her for help considering it's more of a one woman job anyway.

Sam chews on the inside of her cheek. "I just had a thought." I give her an expectant look and she sighs, laughing, "Okay I'll tell you. It'll probably sound like a stupid idea but what if Mr. Ward, you know instead of closing the entire building and potentially losing all the money he's already lost forever, just...I don't know - converted the different floors of rows and rows of books into something else? Like a gift shop or maybe even expand the bagel store to stretch over the whole floor and add a coffee shop or something?" She looks at me warily as if I'll shut her down. "I don't know...it's just an idea."

I think on this, my brows furrowed. "Sam..." I begin, "that's a fantastic idea! I mean, sure, he'd have to put some money into it but he could potentially gain back all the money he's lost and then some. It could get him out of the hole!" I exclaim excitedly.

"You really think he would go for that?" She asks me.

I shrug, grinning like a fool. "He just might. It's a great idea and he'd be crazy not to at least try."

"Should we tell Amelia about it?" Sam's she's light up, catching onto my excitement.

"Yeah I think that she should be the one to - " My voice is cut off by the sound of the bell on the door, alerting us of a customer.

"I got it." Sam smiles before dashing off to assist whoever walked through the door.

I grin, happily pushing books into their respected positions. I feel a newfound sense of hope but I push it down, not wanting to be disappointed. Sam and I are a couple of teenagers so what do we know about high rise guys who own book stores? It might not even actually be about money. There could be other personal reasons for his sudden urge to close the entire store.

All I know is I feel hopefully so, even if it doesn't work out, I'm thankful for that at least.

✰✰✰

It's dark by the time Samantha and I finish organizing the new shipment of books and has Amelia left us to close up.

Apparently Sam presented her idea to our lovely aged manager but it was quickly shut down. Despite Amelia's opinion that Mr. Ward would never go for it, I still believe that it could work and he could definitely turn this around and it'll work out for everyone involved. But I guess there's not much I can do.

"Dakota is here." Sam mumbles at her phone before looking up at me, "Need a ride?" She asks me this every day and I always say yes but I appreciate the fact that she never assumes I do or don't.

"Yes." I chuckle, grabbing my belongings from behind the register and following her out the door.

As soon as I step outside, a sigh emits from me. The sun beats down on us as it hangs high in the sky, scorching my skin. All the sun ever does is remind me of how pale I am. Not considerable pale but pale from my warped point of view that I don't bother fixing.

"Well if it isn't Miss Perkins, the lady of the hour." Dakota smiles at me as I approach the vehicle and I notice he only acknowledges his sister with a single nod. She doesn't seem to mind though, in fact, she ignores him altogether and hops in the backseat.

"Hey Dakota." I laugh, "Sam...you can get shotgun if you want it." I jut my thumb in the direction of the seat, Dakota shaking his head at me.

"No I think that I'll drive better if you're in shotgun." Dakota tells me with a sly smirk.

Sam rolls her eyes, buckling in. "That makes zero sense but I'll let you have your fun." She sighs, pulling out her AirPods and shoving them into her ears.

I laugh, getting into the car. "You actually got her AirPods?" I ask Dakota as he begins to pull out of his parking space.

He looks over at me, the sun shining through his golden hair as he squints against the harsh rays. "Yeah, I did."

"And did you make her into a meme?" I ask him, remembering the previous comment he made back when we were stuck in the elevator together.

Dakota chuckles, looking at his sister in the rear view mirror who is bobbing her head cluelessly. "More than you know. I'll send them to you later." He smiles at me as my ponytail whips wildly in the wind.

I'll never admit to it but riding in Dakota's Jeep with him has become a normal thing and I'm afraid that I'm incredibly spoiled being driven around in this thing. I've become accustomed to the feeling of the warm summer wind on my skin and the sensation of feeling slightly out of place and unsteady when the Jeep comes to a stand still.

I think for a moment as I watch Dakota subtly, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel as he listens to a song in his head. I obviously can't hear it but sometimes I think that I can somehow feel the beat and rhythm he hones into each time he's behind the wheel.

"Well..." I start, earning his attention. "What if you just showed them to me at my house?"

Dakota pauses, his hands stilling in the wheel. "Is this your way of asking me to come over?" He gives me a sideways smile and I roll my eyes.

"Oh get over yourself. I just figured that since we've been friends for a little over two weeks, my dad might want to meet you and he'll be home from work early today." I explain, doing my best to be heard over the wind. I feel strange saying it though because it feels like it's been so much longer than two weeks.

"Oh so now you want me to meet your dad? Slow down there, Lillian." Dakota gives me a crooked grin before laughing and saying, "I'm just kidding. Of course I want to meet your dad. After we drop off Sam we can head to your place."

"Okay great." I give him a small slightly shaky smile.

I haven't invited anyone over to meet my dad since my mom left; both friends and boyfriends. Not that I've had many boyfriends. Only a couple from freshman to sophomore year; back when I had no idea how much work I actually had to put into a relationship. I haven't had one ever since. I guess I haven't met anyone that's worth all the emotional bondage.

As soon as we drop Sam off, her head turns to shoot me a small smirk before she ducks her head, fixing her AirPods and jogging to Winters front door. I witness their usual ritual; a smile, a hug, a kiss, and a laugh. I grin, signaling Dakota to go ahead and leave.

"They're pretty cute I have to admit." Dakota says lowly as we drive slowly through our neighborhood to my home.

I smile, looking over at him, his green eyes looking lighter against the brightness of the now setting sun. "Yeah." I say, "They really are."

Silence greets us as we walk through my front door and I immediately feel the need to fill it.

"Do you want anything to drink or eat? Maybe a - " Words are cut off when Dakota walks past me, his shoulder hitting mine. "What are you...?" My eyes watch him as he makes a beeline for the kitchen.

I follow him, confused, until I see him opening and closing my cabinet doors. When he finds my dad and I's snack and candy cabinet, he grins. "Bingo."

"Dakota." I deadpan, crossing my arms over my chest. "Are you incapable of having manners?"

His face is hidden by the cupboard door, his head peaking inside as his hands search for the right snack. When he his peaks out from behind the door, I spot a packet of Skittles between his teeth. I sigh, surging forward and grasping the candy in the hand.

"Hey." He exclaims with a frown. "You just offered me snacks and now you're taking them away?"

"I didn't expect you to go foraging in my kitchen." I chuckle, opening the sour Skittles packet, "I should have known you'd choose these." I hand them back to him but not before taking a red one from the pack.

"Thank you." He takes them from me, plucking out a yellow one much to my distaste. "Got any coffee? I stayed up until three in the morning last night watching YouTube videos and I'm exhausted." He huffs, leaning against the island.

"Sure..." I say, walking over to the pot and opening the top. "What were you up watching for so long? Must have been interesting." I say absentmindedly as I fill the compartment with coffee grounds and then the faucet on.

"Not really." Dakota says before grunting. I look back to see him hopping up onto the island to take a seat, "I honestly don't even remember what I watched. Just a bunch of conspiracy theories and Doctor Phil roasting a bunch of bratty kids." He says dryly.

"You're so odd." I shake my head, chuckling as I start the coffee maker. "The coffee is on so now we just wait."

"Great." His heels kick the cabinet beneath him as he gestures to the spot next to him, "Here. Sit."

I sigh, saying nothing as I pull myself up onto the countertop of the island next to him. We sit here in silence as Dakota types something on his phone. I look over at him, trying not to be nosy as to what's so important.

After a few seconds, he seems to notice that I'm sitting here quietly and clears his throat, shoving his phone into his pocket. "Sorry about that, I get distracted pretty easily."

"It's okay." I laugh, tucking my hands underneath my thighs. "I don't mind."

"No no." He quickly shakes his head, "No more being on my phone while I'm here."

"No I didn't mean to - "

"Stop, Lillian. We're hanging out so I'm not going to be on my phone. It's not a big deal." He laughs before rubbing his hands together, "Now for coffee."

My eyes glide over to the pot. "Yeah it looks about ready. What do you take in your coffee?" I ask him, hopping off of the island.

He follows suit, his shoes hitting the hard floor with a thud. "Lillian, have I ever told you that I make a mean cup of coffee?"

"No you have not." I smile, opening the fridge and taking out all of our creamer options.

"Well." Dakota stands behind me, reaching above my head for the can of whipped cream. "Allow me to demonstrate."

"Demonstrate." I echo with a small snort, turning around and freezing in place when my face meets his chest, the can of whipped cream in his hand. "Oh...sorry." I mumble with a nervous laugh.

Dakota looks down at me with. "For what?"

"I don't know..." I laugh again, leaning to the right to indicate that I want to get out of his way but he leans to his left. When I lean to my left, he leans right. I give him a dead stare, "Okay, Dakota, you're hilarious now let me out. It's cold." It's true. The cold air from the fridge hits the back of my neck and it's giving me uncomfortable chills.

He leans down, almost nose to nose with me as he pretends to think. "I'll let you go...when you admit that I'm awesome."

"You're awesome now step aside." I place my hand on his chest and push slightly, effectively getting him to step back as he looks at me with confusion, scratching the back of his head.

"Well I thought that would be more difficult." He mumbles, "Anyway, take a seat. I'll make you the best cup of coffee you've ever had." Dakota winks as I close the refrigerator doors with a closed lipped smile.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask him, grabbing two mason jars from the shelf and two metal straws from the drawer.

Dakota sighs, giving me a bored look. "Lillian...don't underestimate me please."

"Okay okay." I laugh, holding my hands up in surrender. "Just remember, I take mine iced."

"Just like your cold cold heart." Dakota smirks, looking at me sideways to see my reaction.

"Shut up." I slap his back lightly and he pretends to flinch.

"That hurts, Perkins." He pauses, "Almost as much as the sheer rejection I face with you every day."

"Dakota, shut up." I laugh, fake glaring at him.

"Never."

"Yeah I didn't think so."