Heres the next chapter! I hope you enjoy and let me know your thoughts!
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July 11th, 2017

I sat on my bed sipping a hot cup of tea, writing down my thoughts on the last few days in my journal. My set my cup down, grabbing my pencil to jot down thoughts that popped into my mind.

The sun was shining through the open window and the birds chirped on the tree branches. I felt at peace and warm with joy.

I thought about Dylan. About what happened yesterday...

July 10th, 2018
"I like you Sam!"

"You're my happiness...and I want to be your happiness. Every time I saw you and Ben spend time together and hear how much fun you and Ben have...I felt like we wouldn't be as close"

"I can be a real screw up sometimes but please, please forgive me"....

At that moment was when I knew I had true feelings for him. It's that instant when someone you care about says something heartwarming to you and it feels deeper than a friendship..

Those things I felt weren't just then. I had these feelings a while ago, maybe longer back than I realized...

June 20th, 2017
Kevin nodded at me, "Soo, what's your type of guy?"

I looked at my sandwich as two boys stared at me for my opinion, "I don't know. Someone who shares my interests. Someone who can laugh with me. Someone who likes to have fun...that will want to go on adventures. Someone who will love me as much as I'd love him,"

Then I thought about how lonely I really was.
Living by myself, just with my cat, my mom was dead and my dad was in the hospital.

No one knew that my dad was in the hospital. It was just my own burden and I can handle it myself.

I couldn't talk anymore, so I finished the conversation, "but yeah, that'd definitely be the priorities." I just shoved the sandwich into my mouth in silence....

I wrote this in my journal, thinking about my small apartment. How could I really start a family here? On Saturday nights I'm just at home stuffing my mouth with ice cream while my cat sat on my lap watching the most random show on T.V.

Then I thought about Dill again, when it was his birthday....

June 21st, 2017
Dill, Kev and I had planned on meeting up at the pizza place to celebrate Dylan's 26th birthday. It's crazy how close in age the two guys were to me. It was glad to finally have some that were even people...

I walked from the bus stop after grabbing a special gift for the birthday boy, DILL PICKLES. Ever since I called him Dill Pickle at work one time, it just stuck like glue so why not take this advantage to be funny?

I headed over to the restaurant and as I crossed the street, I saw a familiar silhouette standing by their car.

"Dylan!" I called out to him.

He turned around and made eye contact with me. He was wearing a casual outfit, with his hair gelled up. I walked over towards him as he continued to stare at me.

He smiled at me, "Hey, Sam."

"How funny is it that we arrived here at the same time?"

"Yeah what a coincidence."

I took a whiff of the air and sighed, "Man, you can smell the pizza from out here! I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Dylan laughed, "You're speaking my language."

...

We later sat at a bench, watching the sun disappear from sight. The two of us talked about alot of deep information. I shared stuff about my mom and dad, even crying in front of Dylan. I never imagined myself doing that, but for some reason I felt comfortable sharing with him.

"I just want to let you know I'm no where comparing my experience to you losing your mom..," Dylan said. I could tell he was sympathizing with me.

A tear travelled down my cheek, "I know...I just thought I would share that with you."

He smiled at me. He always had an amazing smile. I don't think he ever realized how much impact his smile really had on someone. You can tell how genuine his facial expressions really were. How could Jasmine cheat on this amazing man?

Dylan wiped my cheek with his finger, "Thank you for telling me that.. It really gives me perspective on how to move forward with my life."

He began to express his own feelings, "I've just always wanted to have a person that would always be there. Jasmine left me and it tore me apart because I worried I'd never have the life I've always wanted. Someone...I could spend the rest of my days with, you know?"

I nodded. It sounded almost exactly what I wanted...I never really realized it at the moment, "Yeah, I totally get it."

We sat there a little longer till we began to walk back to their vehicles....

I sipped my tea as the memories flooded into my mind...

June 26th, 2017
Some time passed since Dylan's birthday gathering and now we were back at finding him a new girlfriend. I was willing to help him because I knew how much it meant to him to find someone. However, Dylan did not seem too enthused to scan Tinder that day. Something was up with him but I wasn't sure what.

He blurted out, "Sam, wanna go take a walk around?"

"Sure, where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere but here."

...

So then we just walked to the park, walking side by side. Then he asked why I could talk to Dave like I'm his boss. Well, I sorta am. If he lays a finger on me, he could go to jail and he can't do anything about it. I wasn't afraid of him, but the things he did were a little crappy..

Soon, I have no clue how, Dylan and I are racing in the park to see who is the most strongest out of the two of us. It's obviously me..even though we're both pretty weak. We ran back and forth across the field, almost running into poor civilians.

I was having so much fun with Dylan..I didn't want it to stop. I'd take running and sweating my @ss off with Dylan than go to my sad house any day.

I jogged, already fatigued, to the finish line. I was going to win..or so I thought.

I felt arms wrap themselves around my waist and a chest leaning against my back. It was Dylan. He grabbed me and pulled me into a tight spin.

We were both laughed historically, our heads spinning and getting dizzier by the moment.

"You totally cheated just now!" I yelled at him, still laughing.

"Are you serious?? You didn't even finish your push ups!"

"Yes-yes I did! I was lightning fast that you couldn't see it."

Soon we stopped spinning and I twisted my body around towards him.

Dylan and I couldn't stop laughing, both of us panting heavily from exhaustion.

I giggled still and then opened my eyes and there was his face. He was staring at me with a look I couldn't comprehend. It was a nice stare but it felt like more than that.

I felt myself get caught in his eyes and my heart began to beat against my chest. My cheeks flushed a little. And it hit me, he still was holding me around the waist.

I think he realized that because he let go of me with an awkward laugh.

All of a sudden, it began to pouring rain above us. There was a gazebo nearby and so we ran over there, the thunder shouting and us laughing.

It was downright pouring now and we stood in the protected fortress. He and I were shivering from the cold but never stopped laughing.

Dylan and I stood together and looked at the deary weather in front of us. I really enjoyed watching the rain, it gave me a sense of refreshment and peace.

I just grinned, "Man I didn't expect that, huh?"

"Yeah me either."

Then I thought of something, we haven't done what we were supposed to do that day. Dylan was going to look for a girl to be interested in and I was supposed to help him. I kinda felt bad, "Oh Dill, do you want to go back to your house and search tinder again?"

"Oh," he said, and he did something I didn't expect him to do, he just smiled, "Let's just stand here for a little bit."

What? He wanted to just stand and watch the rain? Why did he look so unfazed? I just stared at him for a moment. Just as long as he's happy, that's what matters, "Alright."

We stood there side by side and watched the rain continue to fall....

I smiled at that moment with him.

And then I thought of Benjamin. Ben was my friend from college and I hadn't seen him in a long time. We were always close but we lost touch, until he messaged me and wanted to meet up.

So we did. He came to work and we chatted up a storm. It was really good to see him; however, some things felt off... There was some cocky edge he had that I never remembered from him.

I didn't wanna worry so much about it.

It was probably nothing.

Come to think of it, that's when Dylan started to act distant from me. Was it because of Ben and I this whole time?! Did he feel like he was being replaced? That's why he snapped at me...it was my fault.

I sat up on my bed and sighed, "Shoot."

I have to make it up to him.