"Crazy girl don't you know that I love you. I wouldn't dream of going nowhere. Silly woman come here let me hold you. Have I told you lately...I love you like crazy, girl..." I sang as I took out the garbage the next morning in pajamas. I was in such a good mood that I didn't care who saw me in my fluffy pajama bottoms.

I threw the trash bag over the trash bin and then started to dance back to my house, but as I rounded the corner from the alley, a familiar person appeared there.

Maybe I did care who saw me in my fluffy pajama bottoms.

"Crazy girl," Dastan scoffed. I pulled out my earphones and threw them around my neck.

"You know, I don't even care what you say at this point, because you should be at home getting over your hangover," I said, passing by him. I noticed that he followed.

"I meant the song," he said. I turned to face him before I pressed the elevator button.

"You know country music?" I asked.

"Some of it," he shrugged.

"Hmm," I hummed and then started to trot up the stairs. I got inside of my quiet house and then there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Dastan, once again.

"Good morning," he greeted as if it was the first thing of the day. I leaned against the door. He sort of frowned. "I know we're not the best of friends, and I came here to change that, but what's with the grin on your face?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," I said, trying to slap the look off my face. I stopped leaning on the door. "Why are you here?"

"I came to hang out," he smiled. It was eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. I frowned, but learned not to question him. "So can I come in or—"

"No," I said, placing a hand on his chest as he tried to step in. "As much as I'm actually willing to hang out with you, I'm sure that my brother wouldn't be."

I was lying and not lying in the same time. My body told me that I wanted to hang out with Dastan—forgiving him only because of my good mood—but Sebastian made it clear he wouldn't care. Even more so because he had left late last night and left a note on my door saying so; just like our parents. So then why was I denying Dastan? Oh right. Because I still couldn't stand him.

"Then let's go out," he said.

"It's eight in the morning and—"

"Angie?" a tired voice said from behind. I looked to see Jem appearing, his hair sticking up in all directions. He wore no shirt and a pair of shorts as pajamas. He looked just like Sebastian when he was that age. "Where's Sebastian?"

"He had to take care of something this morning, why?" I replied. Jeremy noticed Dastan at the door, but his grogginess gave him enough energy to stay focused on our conversation.

"We were gonna go to the Central Park Zoo today," he yawned.

"You mean, you've lived here for this long and you still haven't been to the zoo?" Dastan asked him, amazed. I looked back and his face was lit up with amusement. I looked back to Jem. "I'm definitely taking you there today."

"Yeah right. Not only am I sure that Sebastian will be back in a matter of time, but you're not taking my little brother with you on your motorcycle," I scoffed, crossing my arms.

"You have a motorcycle?! That's so cool!" Jem yelled, completely amazed. Great. Dastan gestured to the excited boy and then slowly hid his smile.

"If you have such a concern then you can tag along," he said as if I was a burden. Um, hello? Jem is my little brother. He'll be the one that's a burden!

"Sure," I said, only to make him believe I didn't trust him. "But no motorcycle."

"Aw..." Jem mumbled.

"Maybe some other time," Dastan winked to Jem. Before I could say anything, he looked to me. "I'm just gonna take my bike home and grab my car. By the time I get back you two should be dressed and ready to go."

"Sounds like a plan," I said, somehow. He left shortly after Jem ran excitedly upstairs to his room, and it's a good thing he did because I was hit with a realization when I got to my room. Dastan just lured me into spending the day with him by using my little brother. Great.

I watched Dastan zoom off with his Harley before I started to get dressed. When I walked out of my bathroom, ten minutes later in a cute yet casual outfit, I noticed something hanging from my window. A note.

I pulled it off and looked around, only to see a stylish black truck parked along the street that I'd never seen before. I pried my eyes away from it, assuming it was Dastan's, and then opened the note.

I'm giving you a fair warning that includes three words: I. Saved. Cheyenne. Be prepared for the ranting -P

Great. That means when the time is inconvenient like usual, Cheyenne will talk my ear off about Proliator saving her. However, I laughed at the fact that Proliator left me this silly note.

I folded it up and shoved it into my purse that I grabbed on my way out, only to notice that Dastan was waiting downstairs with Jem. I reached for my phone that was on the dining room's counter and Dastan raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't have a new phone," he commented. I completely forgot. He was there when it broke and I had lied when he needed my number for Journalism. But that didn't really matter because he had texted my old number (however he got it) since then.

"Guess I do..." I said, awkwardly.

"She got it as a gift from some mystery person," Jem blurted.

"Jem!" I hissed.

"Hmm," Dastan said, walking over to take it out of my hand. He pressed the screen a few times and then handed it back to me. I questioned what he did, but didn't check my phone. I mean, I rarely used it anyways.

"Can we go now?" Jem whined. I shot him a look.

"Calm down, kiddo. It's only ten minutes away," Dastan actually laughed. The curves in his smile gave him a new youth that I loved to see. However, I never really did because he was always having a need to be a bastard around me.

"Sorry. He hasn't really been to a zoo since our mom died," I said, trying to produce an assuring smile.

"It's fine," Dastan nodded with a composure that said 'it's alright. I understand'.

"Let's gooooooooooo," Jem cried out. Suddenly, Dastan tore his gaze away from me and swooped up Jem over his shoulder and started running out of the house and I heard Jem's bouncy fits of laughter go down the stairs. I only rolled my eyes playfully as I locked the door and took the elevator.

***

"So how long has it been since your mother died?" Dastan asked me in a soft voice. We were now sitting on a bench at the zoo eating ice cream and watching Jem waltz through the petting zoo. The joy in his eyes proved that he missed the animals in the comforts of our farm...he wasn't the only one.

"When I was about...ten," I answered, eating a spoonful of ice cream. This was the first time anyone here, in New York, besides Cheyenne asked me about my mom.

"What was she like?" he asked.

"She was...perfect. She loved my dad and us, kids, and...life," I smiled at the thought of her. "She cared for everyone and everything. She was funny and incredibly...gorgeous and...remarkable . She's was my hero. Jem was too young to really miss her, but I miss her a lot now and then."

"She sounds amazing," Dastan commented.

"She was," I said with a smile.

"Just like you," Dastan muttered. With that, I had to look over at him and immediately, he started to twist his mouth in an attempt to form words. "I, uh...um. So what's your favorite animal?"

"I don't really know," I shrugged. I grew up around animals and I couldn't really fancy an animal outside of them. "What's yours?"

"Lions. Definitely lions," he smirked. He shook his hair and made his hand into a clawed paw to produce a lion roar. I busted out laughing.

"You did not just do that," I laughed. Unbelievable.

"I think I did, but you can't do anything about it," he said.

"Says who?" I asked.

"Says me," he proclaimed.

"Yeah right!"

"Can we go to the carousel now?" Jem's voice said out of nowhere. We looked back to him.

"You don't want to eat first?" I asked him.

"There's an awesome pizza place down the street," Dastan informed. Jem's face twisted as he made a decision.

"I think I'll just ride the carousel first," he chose before running off in that direction.

"Jem!"

"He'll be fine," Dastan cajoled. I couldn't help but be worried about my eleven year old brother running through crowds of people in a place where he'd never been before. I looked up to Dastan and all that worrying went away.

"I think we should at least walk in that general direction—"

"Nope," he denied. I was taken aback by his interruption. "It's time for you to figure out your favorite animal."

I gave him a second of my confused look and then he took my hand and pulled me through the zoo.

That time spent with Dastan was beyond unexpected. He was like some enthused spokesperson, trying to relate me to any and every animal so I could choose my favorite by the end of the day. He said things like: "Parrots; they like to backtalk just like you" or "The elephant; loud and hilarious. Did I mention you both belong in a circus!"

However, his comments didn't make me mad for once. They were...cute and in a joking manner that I couldn't be mad at. Of course we caught up with Jem and then the auctioning got even worse. The boys would stand in front of the cages and act like the animal; crawling on all fours with a growl or hopping around with some chirping noise. I loved every second of it though.

***

Dastan and Jeremy watched every bite I made to my lip and every sip I took from my Dr. Pepper. It was time.

"Undecided," I finally said.

"UGH!" both boys complained, throwing up their hands.

"It's not this complicated, Warden," Dastan said, taking a drink of his Root Beer.

"Yes it is," I reasoned.

"It's your favorite animal," Jem reminded. "Which one do you like the most?"

"A horse," I produced. Both of them threw a fry at my face. I swear, their brains were now wired together.

"That doesn't count," Dastan decided.

"What? Why not? It's an animal," I said.

"That's a pet," Jem rolled his eyes. Only for us country folk...

"That's just like saying your favorite animal is a dog," Dastan scoffed.

"Oh really?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. Dastan hummed a yes and nodded. "Then I like...zebras."

"You're just saying that because zebras are related to horses," Jem accused.

"Kid's got a point," Dastan noted as he took a bite of his pizza. I scoffed and threw a used napkin in his face.

"Says the guy that likes a cat."

"A lion is in the feline family and so is a cheetah and tiger and leopard and—"

"So what?"

"It's just not a cat! It's a fearless, brave, king of the jungle!" he pressured like a little kid losing an argument.

"Yeah. Uh huh, whatever you say," I laughed. He stuck his tongue out at me before he continued to eat and then I gladly returned the favor. Dastan and Jem messed around at the table like typical boys and I happened to check my phone. 3 missed calls from Sebastian and 6 texts from Cheyenne. Shit.

"Ohhhh, you cussed," Jeremy scolded. I guess I said that out loud.

"My bad," I rolled my eyes. I started to slide out of the booth and sent a reassuring glance to Dastan for a second before stepping outside of the pizzeria to call Sebastian.

"Sebastian, I know you're mad but—"

"Where are y'all?" he asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Eating pizza," I told him. Silence. "Jem said you were gonna take him to the zoo and he woke up early so then we just kind of left—"

"It's fine," he said in a breath. "I was just checking to see that you weren't abducted or running away something with Jem."

I smiled at his care.

"No. We're fine," I said.

"However, I do want my brother back, so do you think it would be possible for me to pick him up from wherever y'all are so we can have some real fun?" Sebastian asked, hinting that there was a smile plastered on his face. I rolled my eyes, playfully, and entered the pizzeria. I handed the phone to Jeremy. He placed the phone against his ear.

"No. Sebastian, it was awesome! I had so much fun, I can't believe you missed it! We totally have to come back over break or maybe Christmas time," Jeremy ranted. I smiled at his glee and he continued. I looked over to Dastan, who now had an unreadable look on his face. When he looked up to me, he nodded his head and started to slide out of the booth. I followed. We moved a booth down and he still sat across from me.

"What's wrong?" I asked him with a tilt to my head. He seemed so happy the entire day, but now? Fatigue oozed from him with something else.

"I think I like your brother way more than you," he confessed with the same dull look. I winced into perplexity. "Therefore, that means either you have to live up to his level...or we need to spend some more time together alone."

I had to smile at him, but I didn't know how to reply. And I bet anything that he thinks I'm opposed to spending more time with him.

"However, his level is really high in my books right now so I don't know about—"

"Shut up," I ordered with an amused smile. His mouth closed. "Sebastian is going to pick him up soon. Do you want to do something for the rest of the day?"

Wow. Now it was me wanting his presence. Odd, but...familiar.

"Wait. You really want to?" he asked. And what happened to the arrogant guy that expected girls to cling to him! I was shocked to say the least. But there was something else...

"But you have to promise to be this Dastan," I told him. He didn't question me with his words or his eyes. He knew well what I meant by that. I didn't want the asshole from school or the hateful side to him that he normally showed. I wanted the fun-loving, silly, adorable guy that I had just spent four hours at the zoo with.

"For you, of course," he said with a dead-serious tone. Suddenly someone tapped my shoulder and I turned to see Jem. He handed my phone and then walked over to Dastan

"'Bastian wants you to drop me off at home first," Jem said to Dastan in sort of a glum voice. Dastan noticed it as well.

"Don't be sad about that; he's your brother," Dastan said, smiling to hope Jem would mimic it, although I knew Dastan had nothing to smile about when it came to Sebastian.

"Yeah...but I was having fun with you and Angela today," he pouted. Dastan didn't have to look over to me to know what he was going to say. He had a way with Jem and I'm pretty sure he could've said "well, I didn't have fun. Let's try it again some other time," Jem would be okay with it. That wasn't really the case.

"You know what that means right?" Dastan asked him. He shook his head. Dastan smiled, deviously. "That means you have to go have even more fun with Sebastian and then the next time we hang out, I have to try to outdue him and it'll just continue so much that you'll just have way too much fun with the both of us that you'll just never care who you're having fun with!"

With that, he sent a hand of the Tickle Monster into Jem's abdomen and immediately a smile took over his freckled face. It was so contagious that it spread to mine.