Jaelyn glances up at her little brother and then back at the retreating tail lights of her parents pickup. The visit was much shorter than she expected and went much better than she first thought. Only thing now clouding her mind was the urge to be with Tyson.

Back in the house she changes into her favorite shorts to sleep in and crawls in her bed. She takes her laptop in her lap and starts a FaceTime call with her boyfriend. The third ring makes her tap her fingers on the keyboard. "Come on Superman I know you're home," she mutters. After a couple more rings the blue screen turns bright with the white of his room walls.

"Hey Sweet!"

She smiles and relaxes a bit. "Hey Superman. How was your drive?"

He chuckles slightly and shakes his head. "Same as normal, really long. So what exactly happen last night?"

"Cane got himself drunk and dad and mom came to get him. It was really weird though, he wasn't mad about dad making him go home with them. It was almost like he wanted to."

"That is weird. Is Karl still going to stay with you and help out?"

She smiles and nods. "Yeah he said he likes it here."

A grin rests on Tyson's lips. "Of course. Who wouldn't since you are there with your shining smile?"

She laughs and shakes her head. "I don't think that's what keeps anyone here."

He frowns deeply and crosses his arms. "And what about me? What do you think makes me want to come back? Or keeps me staying longer?"

She laughs at his fake stern look and shakes her head once again. "I have no idea, Superman. Maybe it's the scorching heat and dry dirt. Or it could be all the cactus that likes to hang around my house."

He rolls his eyes at her and shakes his head. "You might happen to be right. I do like the prickly pare cactus, but only because it reminds me of you. You're sharp and sometimes hurt, but once you get past it there is the sweet you that makes me want to melt."

She sniffles.

"Jae sweet why are you crying?"

She giggles and wipes the tears away. "You are too sweet!"

"Am I really?" He pauses a second before adding, "My little cactus." 

She raises her eyebrows with a smile.

"You okay with that?" He asks his own eyebrows raised.

She giggles again. "Of course I am."

His smile reappears making hers grow. "I wish I could kiss you."

She nods with a small laugh. "Me too, Superman, me too."
***

Tyson drags himself out of bed and to the tiny kitchen between his and Calvin's room. He spoons coffee into the coffee maker, adds water and hits start. Wiping the sleep from his eyes he bangs on his roommates door. "Wake up!"

A groan comes from the other side of the door. "Do I have to?"

"You'll be the one missing class," Tyson answers with a shrug, not that Clavin can see him. The door swings open and a half asleep Calvin stumbles out. "Don't pull the pot-" It sizzles and Tyson shakes his head. "-out."

"Sorry man," Calvin says sliding it back.

"I'm the one that's been gone. What's your excuse?"

Calvin smiles. "I'm tired. How was the trip anyway?"

Tyson shakes his head. "No no you aren't getting out of telling me what is really the matter. I'll tell you about the trip later."

Calvin sits down in the recliner and drags his hands across his face. "I failed a huge exam in biology."

Tyson shrugs. "So retest it's not that big of a deal. I failed it too when I took that class last year."

"But it's not the same Tyson! You are always at the top of the class and don't have parents breathing down the back of your neck to pass everything. You choose to be a vet, I didn't I was told to."

Tyson nods now understanding what his friend meant. "If you don't want it why don't you tell them?" He shrugs and walks back to his room to dress for the day of classes in front of him.

He sends Jaelyn a good morning text with lots of emojis. A silly grin creeps onto his face as he hits send. Just as he pulls his boots on his phone buzzes making the grin reappear. He quickly puts in his password and reads her message.

Morning to you too Superman. I see you are in a hyper mood this morning. 😝😝😜😛😋

He laughs at her emojis and answers before checking his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He grabs a cup of coffee and a piece of toast on his way out the door. His animal anatomy class is called to 'order', as the professor likes to call it, just as he slides into his desk at the back.

The hour long class drags on as they discuss things that Tyson learned in kindergarten. He begins to doodle on his notebook and is only pulled out of his trance by the scuffling of chairs and the sudden noise of students all talking at once. Quickly he stuffs his things in his backpack and follows the stream out the door.

He heads to his pickup where he dumps his backpack in the back seat and heads to the College Station Animal Clinic. He works as a vet assistant, but also gets credits towards earning his degree. Because of this he only has two classes that he attends, but also has tons of hours to log at the clinic.

"Tyson, that you?" Nathan, his boss, yells from one of the five examination rooms.

"Yeah! What's the load down?"

Nathan appears carrying a poodle puppy. "Just got this guy in. Looks like he has parvo. Garden, the rabbit, is being released today. Harvey, the mini Aussie needs his daily shot. I think that's about all you need to know for now because I need you to come with me in a field call."

Tyson clocks in while listening to the drill with a smile. He nods at his boss and follows him out only looking back to call over his shoulder to the desk manager. "Later Mrs. Black!"

"Glad you made it back all in one piece. So I take it went better than you were prepared for?"

Tyson chuckles, everyone is suddenly interested in his personal life now that he is back with Jaelyn and not 'moping around' as Calvin called it. "Yeah I guess you could say that. Nobody got hurt so that's a start. Tell you what she's coming here this weekend so you can all meet her and stop asking me am insane amount of questions about what she is like."

Nathan glances from the road for a minute. "Really? I can't wait. Maybe I can even sweet talk her into lunch while you are stuck with kennel duty."

Tyson rolls his eyes. "Sure Nathan and put your favorite kennel boy out of a job? We both know you won't."

His boss laughs and claps his shoulder. "Hate to admit it, but you're right."

A/N

SO so so so sorry this was not up sooner! I am just now getting through some writers block so chapters should be up sooner now. I really hope you enjoyed this one and can't wait for your comments.