I rolled over and cracked my eyes open, checking the time. It was late morning, which made me feel both lazy and fantastic. God, I loved sleep.

                I sat up and rubbed my eyes, kicking my covers off. Sleeping in was always a great way to start the weekend.

                After taking a quick shower, I dressed and went down to the kitchen. Mom was scanning through the newspaper at the table and dad was making bacon.

                "Any plans for today, Junior?" mom asked, looking up from the paper as I sat down across from her.

                I shrugged. "I don't know. I'll either hang out with my friends or I'll just go back to bed and sleep until Monday."

                "Don't be lazy," dad said, setting a plate of bacon down on the table.

                "It's the weekend. Weekends are meant to be lazy," I reminded, snatching some bacon and eating.

                My phone buzzed and I tossed it on the table, unlocking it. I read the message and sighed. Maybe I wasn't being lazy today.

                From: Rhys

                Want to come get ice cream with me and Hyde?

                I texted him back that I had to get dressed. "I guess I'm hanging out with Rhys and his dog."

                "Who is Rhys? You'd never mentioned that name before, but now you're hanging out with him all of a sudden," mom said.

                "Uh..." I texted Rhys, asking for his last name. "Hang on a second."

                "This sounds safe," dad said.

                Rhys texted me back an excessive amount of laughing emojis, followed by his last name. I scowled and locked my phone. Well...I bet he didn't know my name either!

                "Rhys Vieno," I said. "He's my age. He's one of the kids always trying to recruit Piers, and that's how we met."

                "So...he's an athlete?" mom said in confusion. "Why are you hanging out with an athlete? You complain if you have to walk up the stairs."

                "Five is an athlete," I reminded impatiently. "Why do you have to expose me like this?"

                I ate another piece of bacon before getting up and leaving the kitchen. I brushed my teeth and fixed my hair, changing into clean clothes.

                I left the house and drove myself down to Rhys' house. He was outside, playing fetch with Hyde.

                "Hey Robin," he greeted as I got out of my car.

                Hyde barked and raced over to greet me, pressing his body against my legs until I pet him. He panted in content.

                "Sorry, he's a little needy. I figured I'd walk him to the ice cream place up the street from here," Rhys said, kneeling. "Hyde, here boy!"

                Hyde ran over to Rhys, who hooked a leash on him and pet him. Rhys got to his feet and started towards the road.

                "My mom was just saying I'm not athletic, but look at me walking," I said proudly.

                Rhys laughed. "I usually bring Hyde out on a run with me, but I figured you wouldn't want to run."

                I stared at him in horror. "God, no."

                "No wonder you and Piers are such good friends," he said, shaking his head.

                "Still not leaving him alone?" I guessed.

                "Nope. I cornered him in the halls yesterday," he said, grinning a little. "I doubt he'll ever give in, but it doesn't hurt to try. It's a shame, too. We lost one of our best swimmers a while back to a shoulder injury and another good swimmer moved away. Piers could help us out."

                "I'm offended you're not trying to recruit me. I could carry the whole track team," I said.

                "Well, I don't want you to outshine the others," Rhys said.

                "A smart move. My skills would put them all to shame," I said with a sigh. "I'm so fast they'd change my name from Robin to Kid Flash. Wally would be jealous."

                "Speaking of, what is your real name?" he said. "I think I get the privilege to ask. You were asking about my name."

                "Your last name!" I said, glaring at him. "My last name is Gray. Now we're even."

                He shrugged. "I'm just a little curious. How bad could it really be? Have you seen some of the names kids in our school have? I used to be friends with a guy named Judeikas. Honestly, Robin, your name can't possibly be that bad."

                "Unfortunately," I said. "I have math with a kid who I'm pretty sure slammed his fists against a keyboard and called it a last name. But I'm also hanging out with a guy who spells Reese R-H-Y-S."

                He scowled at me. "My parents spelled it like that, not me! And quit trying to change the subject! What's your first name?"

                "Fine, fine," I grumbled. "My name is Richard. Richard, Jr. if you want to be specific about it."

                "That's not so bad," he said in confusion.

                "My dad passed along his name to me, but that also means he passed along his nickname. Dick, Jr. at your service." I gave a small bow.

                "Oh," he said sympathetically. "Right, immature people must drive you crazy."

                "Absolutely insane," I said.

                "I'll make sure to stick to Robin," he said, stumbling forward as Hyde tugged on the leash. He regained his balance and we quickened our pace a little to please the dog.

                We reached the ice cream place and ordered (Rhys ordered lactose-free ice cream, gross). Rhys got a small bowl of ice cream for Hyde, and we picked a table outside to sit down at. Rhys set the bowl down and Hyde happily dug in as Rhys tied the leash on his wrist.

                "I hope he tries to run while you're eating your ice cream," I said.

                "Hyde is a good dog. He's pretty calm most of the time," Rhys said.

                As if on cue, Hyde wandered under the table for shade. He curled up and rested his head on Rhys' shoes, promptly going to sleep.

                "I showed Wally that picture you texted me. I think he might try to steal Hyde," I said.

                Rhys grinned. "He's going to have to get past my mom to do that. Good luck to him. Hyde is my mom's baby."

                "What, you're not?" I said.

                Rhys shook his head, a few pieces falling free of his bandana. "Hell no. Hyde is her favorite child."

                "Hey, why do you wear that bandana everywhere? Do you at least wash it?" I said, nodding at it.

                He reached up and ran his fingers over it. "I own a lot of bandanas, and yes, I wash them. I don't know, it's something Strike and I did as kids. I just keep it up."

                "Wait, wait," I said, holding a hand up. "I've seen another kid around school wearing a bandana all the time. A short blond kid who was always in the library when I'd go during study hall last year."

                Rhys gave a weak smile. "Yea, that's Strike."

                "So he was your best friend?" I asked, realizing that I didn't really know much about Rhys. I didn't know any of his friends, but he knew all of mine.

                Rhys nodded. "We've been friends since we were kids. We went to the same babysitter and played on a youth soccer team together when we were four years old."

                "What was he like?" I said.

                Rhys dropped his gaze to his ice cream and shrugged. "He was a good guy. He was a really good guy. Sometimes he came off as bossy, but I knew he never meant to."

                "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be questioning you about it," I said.

                "No, it's okay. It's karma for me questioning you about your name." He gave me a small smile. "I wish I hadn't ruined my friendship with Strike, but I have no one to blame but myself for that."

                "Why don't you try apologizing to him?" I said.

                Rhys shook his head. "It goes deeper than what I said to him that day. You have..." He bit his lip. "You have no idea how badly I hurt him. I betrayed him. It's better for him to be rid of me."

                "Shouldn't that be his decision to make?" I said, and Rhys picked his head up in surprise. "If Wally and I got in a fight, I'd want to be the one to decide whether or not it was better to be rid of him."

                "People don't always make the smartest decisions when they're clouded by memories and emotion," he said. "No offense Robin, but I see that happening with you and Josh."

                "It sounds like enough time passed for Strike to make that decision on his own," I said, ignoring his very accurate observation.

                "Someday I'll talk to him again," Rhys mumbled.

                "You're scared," I said.

                "Can you blame me? I said horrible things to him. I treated my own best friend like trash," he said.

                I could remember the joy of Wally and I teasing each other on the lawn. "Maybe you two could work through it."

                "Maybe," he said. "But it sounds like Strike is finally pulling himself together after what I did to him. I won't go charging in to tear him apart again."

                "Do you have any other friends?" I asked, then realized that I sounded like a giant asshole. "Whoops, that came out sounding meaner than I meant it to."

                Rhys laughed and lightly punched my arm. "Jerk. Yea, I have other friends. Guys from the swim team and the track team. That guy you saw me with the other day when you asked me about Strike. The guy who was timing us. I guess he's the closest thing I have to a best friend now."

                A breeze came through as I finished the last of my ice cream. It blew my hair into my eyes and I held it away with one hand.

                "See? Bandana comes in handy," Rhys said, tapping his head. "Want one to hold your bangs back?"

                "Are we in a gang now?" I asked.

                Rhys untied the bandana that had been on his wrist. "I thought the black one I was wearing might get too hot so I put a lighter color on my wrist. Here, be cool like me."

                I rolled my eyes but took it from him and tied it around my forehead, pushing it up until my hair was out of my eyes. "Wow, I feel like a fuckboy already."

                "I am not a fuckboy!" Rhys said indignantly.

                "How do I know? You could be a massive fuckboy trying to get to me by charming me," I said. "I'll have you know, I am very prude boy. My body is a temple."

                Rhys snorted. "Sure, yea, I believe that."

                I grinned. "What? I'm a good boy. I'd never let you and your sinful fuckboy ways corrupt me."

                "Something tells me you're more of a fuckboy than me," he said, raising an eyebrow.

                It was my turn to be indignant. "I've only fucked Josh! I am not a fuckboy!"

                "What happened to be a prude boy with a temple body?" he said.

                "Okay, sometimes I lie, sue me over it," I said.

                We both laughed. Rhys finished his ice cream and stood up, untying the leash so he could hold it.

                "Time to walk back. Hyde could probably use some water and air conditioning." He knelt down to pet the dog. "Right, Hyde? I'm sure mom will have ice cold water all ready for you, you spoiled brat."

                Hyde panted happily and licked Rhys' cheek. Rhys got back to his feet and the two of us took off down the road back to Rhys'.

                "It's pretty warm out today. You're free to stay over and swim," Rhys offered.

                My phone buzzed and I sighed. "Something tells me that's Josh texting me. I swear he has the ability to detect when other guys are asking me to hang out."

                Sure enough, when I pulled out my phone, it was a text from Josh inviting me over. I texted him back and tucked my phone away.

                "I'm going to head there for a little, but maybe we can swim later on?" I said.

                "Sure," Rhys said, nodding. "I'm free all day. Thanks for coming with me and Hyde, by the way."

                "Your dog is so cute, how could I say no?" My eyes widened and I whipped my phone out, taking a snapchat of Hyde and sending it to Wally. "Wally would've killed me if I didn't send him a picture of the dog while I was with it."

                Wally snapped me back almost immediately, and it was just a video of him squealing in excitement. Rhys and I laughed and I shook my head.

                "Oh Wally," I said fondly, sticking my phone in my pocket again.

                We reached Rhys' house and he waved to me as I got in my car. I drove myself down to Josh's house and got out, praying we could get through another day without fighting. Hanging out with Rhys had put me in a good mood, and I really didn't want Josh to drag that down.

                I knocked on the door and Josh's mom let me in. I went up to his bedroom, throwing the door open and letting myself in.

                Josh spun around and stopped. I stared at him in confusion before I realized what he was staring at.

                "Oh, shit," I groaned.

                "Explain." His voice was flat, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

                I kicked his door shut. "I went and got ice cream with Rhys. He gave me a bandana just to hold my bangs back. It's like girls sharing a hair tie. It doesn't mean we're fucking, Josh."

                "You hang out with him and hide it from me!" he said.

                So much for not fighting.

                "Because you overreact!" I said, gesturing at him. "Exactly what you're doing right now, by the way. We just went and got ice cream. You hang out with your male friends and I don't get jealous. Let me hang out with mine."

                "If it's no big deal, then why do you always feel the need to hide it?" he demanded.

                "I literally just told you why. Because you overreact whenever I hang out with any guy, but especially Rhys," I said in irritation. "Speaking of which, I'm going to go hang out with him right now. I'm going to go swim at his house. I'll send you pictures so you know I'm not cheating on you, since you don't trust me."

                I spun around and put my hand on the door handle. Josh crossed the room and caught my arm, pulling me away from the door.

                He pushed me onto his bed, my back against the mattress. "I didn't invite you over to fight," he said, crawling on top of me and kissing my neck. "I don't want to fight. I'm sorry. Can you just start telling me when you're hanging out with Rhys? I just get mad because you go behind my back to do it. That makes it seem suspicious."

                "Yea, whatever," I said, trying to sit up.

                Josh put his arm around my waist and pulled me up until we reached his pillows. He let my body drop back down and kissed at my neck again.

                I closed my eyes as he began to suck at my soft spot. I put an arm around his waist, letting him rest his weight against me.

                "Josh," I mumbled as he continued to use my neck to tease me. Shit, I was going to have a hell of a mark there when he was done. "Cut it out."

                He finally brought his lips away from my neck and kissed me. His body shifted against mine, his hands trailing under my T-shirt and up my stomach to my chest.

                He tugged my T-shirt off as our kissing deepened. His hands caught my back, drawing me up against him, our legs tangling together.

                I helped him get his shirt off and he tossed it to the floor. He broke away from my lips, trailing kisses down my jaw. He moved his head down, his hands gripping my waist as he kissed down my stomach slowly.

                He reached the edge of my jeans and I helped him fumble to get my belt off. Some part of me begged me not to do this with Josh, not right now, not while everything was so jumbled between us. But another part of me screamed that this was normal, this was the intimate part of our relationship. We had trusted each other with our bodies, we had the comfort that came from a strong emotional bond.

                Still, my hands trembled as I drew Josh up to kiss his lips again. I traced my hands over his body, wondering when the familiar feel of his skin had become so frighteningly unknown.

                Josh ran a hand up my thigh and I traced one down his spine. I wanted to get lost in his touches, in the feel of his breath mingling with mine, in the rush of skin.

                My phone buzzed to life in my pocket, shocking us both out of our kisses. Josh pulled his hands away as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

                "Hello?" Shit, I was too breathless.

                "Are you okay, Robin?" Wally said.

                "Yea, I'm fine," I said, clearing my throat. "Why, what's up? Is everything okay?"

                "Um, yea, I just, um...Never mind, Robbie. I'll call you later," he said and hung up.

                I frowned down at my phone. He had sounded so upset at the end.

                Josh put his arms around me and kissed my bare shoulder. He took my still trembling hands in his.

                "You have to tell me if you don't want this," he said quietly. "I can't know unless you tell me things."

                "I did want it." That was a lie. I didn't know what I wanted.

                He picked my shirt up off the floor and handed it to me. "I know that look. You're going to go to him. Something happened."

                "I don't know what happened," I said, pulling my shirt on. "He sounded upset, though. I'd come to you if you called me upset, and you know it. Don't be mad."

                "I'm not." He ran a hand through his hair and grabbed his own shirt, tugging it over his head. "Go on, then."

                He leaned over and kissed me. I got up and left his room, heading outside and climbing into my car.

                I didn't know why Wally was upset. I just knew that his feelings were more important than making a mistake with Josh.